tomawesome's infosnacks

Health Care Reform Restart: Watching "Sicko" is a Pre-Requisite to Discussion

2010-02-08T13:14:00.000-08:00

Just saw Michael Moore's film recently. In the interest of spreading key info, I've transcribed and highlighted a bit of dialog. You fact-checkers can read the whole screenplay here (but I recommend you also watch it)... Birth of the HMO2/17/71 taped White House conversation between Nixon and Ehrlichman --Ehrlichman: "...narrowed down to one issue and that is whether we should include these

Antarctica Weirdness

2010-01-19T11:55:00.000-08:00

from an email I got today:It is the coldest in Antarctica that it has been in decades. Amazing Striped Icebergs Icebergs in the Antarctic area sometimes have stripes, formed by layers of snow that react to different conditions. Blue stripes are often created when a crevice in the ice sheet fills up with meltwater and freezes so quickly that no bubbles form. When an iceberg falls into the sea, a

if a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it...

2009-12-26T09:25:00.000-08:00

I just heard an interesting discussion on philosophybites.com about different "levels of reality" and perception -- why quantum mechanics can describe a world equivalent and yet completely different from ours.john-campbell-on-berkeleys-puzzleOver a century later Berkeley's thought experiment was summarized in a limerick by Ronald Knox and an anonymous reply:There was a young man who said "God

MoreOn Intelligence...

2009-11-04T21:20:00.000-08:00

Continuing on the topic of my last post, interesting ideas by Barry Kumnick in 2008 reprinted here:We cannot use symbolic information or symbolic computation as the basis for the development of sentient systems due to multiple DEEP PROBLEMS in the fundamental representation of information. I consider these deep problems because all logic, mathematics, natural and artificial languages,

AI: Unreal Intelligence?

2009-10-13T18:53:00.000-07:00

Isn't "Artificial Intelligence" an oxymoron? I find it interesting that it is so hard to express how we know what we know. For example, how hard is it to make a robot that get on and ride a bicycle? Pretty hard I'll venture... try Googling it.Anyway, these are some source notes of ideas I'm developing into a project of sorts. Mostly things to cogitate upon and you can come up with your own

"a word is worth a thousand pictures" by James Sedgwick

2009-09-10T20:18:00.000-07:00

James Sedgwick passed away in 2003. I've enjoyed his material @http://thecertaintysite.com/and am not certain (:P) how long that site will be around. For that reason, I'm posting some of his essays. Here's the first:A Word is Worth a Thousand PicturesDo you hate words? Many do who think they don't. They regard a word as a poor substitute for a picture, a gesture, a mathematical formula. Words are

Nigerian Scam Response or "Have Fun With Police Brutality"...

2009-04-07T13:43:00.000-07:00

unfortunately, I don't think Dr. John West really read my response...-----Original Message-----From: Tom HaughtonSent: Monday, April 06, 2009 4:45 PMTo: 'johnwest1@post.ro'Subject: RE: You Have A Package.Dear Sir,I have directed your information to my good friend Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Marvel Akpoyibo at the command's headquarters in Ikeja. He will be arranging for proper

Mood buttons you can't wear to work

2009-02-26T19:52:00.000-08:00

Ryan Seacrest Leaks "Coachella Lineup"

2009-01-28T22:32:00.000-08:00

here is the 2009 lineup that was pulled and was officially stated to be "completely wrong":FRIDAYNine Inch NailsMorrisseyOrbitalFranz FerdinandPusciferKaty PerryDigitalism (live)The PresetsK's ChoiceConor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band XMetricThe Black KeysShpongleTurbonegroBassnectarFair To MidlandLadytronCageBrian Jonestown MassacreHercules & Love AffairMickey AvalonThe Gaslight AnthemLaura

"feeding the chicken"...

2009-01-13T18:55:00.000-08:00

a project management term I coined.Deep in the heart of every software project is a guy whose job it is to feed a chicken that is supposed to type out all the code and documentation. Usually the guy finds it easier to do the chicken's job himself.Do you ever find yourself feeding the chicken?

it's a Death Valley Christmas!

2008-12-23T13:03:00.000-08:00

click to get the full wide angle shot

burning questions...

2008-11-18T19:35:00.000-08:00

getting evacuated from your home is stressful. the freeway complex fire this past weekend came within a mile of our home. I don't know anyone whose home burned, but I do know at least 4 families who got evacuated. all the homes on one coworker's street in Yorba Linda burned except for hers. I thought of calling my boss in Diamond Bar, but I wasn't ready to hear bad news -- so I chickened out and

so twitter is down...

2008-11-13T12:54:00.000-08:00

(right now anyway... click the link above to see current status) and here I had a little thing I wanted to post. I'll do it here instead --- so I thought up this word "thongathon" and wondered what would google up on the term... found a flickr site, but it wasn't what I expected. check it out.

twittering. tweets available...

2008-11-04T06:17:00.000-08:00

I'm posting on twitter in case you were looking for an update here. But I haven't abandoned this blog, honest! see what the lazy guy is doing at: www.twitter.com/tomawesome

making good decisions

2008-09-25T21:29:00.000-07:00

my son just made this video for his 7th grade health class... where'd he get such talent?

Mt. Baldy Speedo Hike 2008

2008-09-09T14:02:00.000-07:00

My son and I hiked up Mt. Baldy last Saturday with his boy scout troop.No we weren't participating in the 2nd annual wearin' of the speedos. One of the adults said "I didn't need to see that!". he may have been referring to the guy in pink briefs that said "no boys allowed" in the back (sorry, no pic). I applaud this minor rebelliousness to those social mores that dictate decency. it helps us

on the lighter side...

2008-08-10T16:46:00.000-07:00

this is my new meez avatar. feel free to make your own and leave a link to it. be sure to give tomawesome the referral credit. ciao for now!

a little perspective

2008-08-04T21:37:00.000-07:00

I'm going to a funeral tomorrow. it's for a neighbor of mine. he was my age and had brain cancer. it seemed to happen very fast. like my wife heard about it, went to visit and he was gone the next day. I'm sure he had time to reflect on his life; accept his approaching demise with dignity. at some point there is nothing left to do except reflect on what you've accomplished with your life. no

disaster looms! are you prepared?

2008-07-03T12:09:00.000-07:00

I watched "The Omega Man" last night w/the kids. They said it was a crummy version of "I am Legend". anyway, these end of the world scenarios are fun indulgent fantasies. here's some I got from a blog post by Amat Lim (Now if the earthquake prediction comes true you can't say you weren't warned!):Future Prediction by Juseleeno Nobulega Da Roose (Jucelino)Posted by limns on May 27, 2008Some of

is this blog dead?

2008-06-23T12:41:00.000-07:00

no... but I do need to come up with some material. been too busy on ebay lately!

fear and trembling: the ethical question

2008-05-15T13:09:00.000-07:00

Kierkegaard's book analyzes the old testament story of Abraham and Issac. basically God told Abraham to murder his son, an indefensible, unjustified and unethical command with which he complied.the fact that at the last moment God said "stop, I was just testing you" is irrelevant. Abraham was carrying out an act of murder and so had accepted that mindset. this submission to a perception of

our educational system...

2008-05-14T13:08:00.000-07:00

"Creative minds have always been known to survive any kind of bad training." - Anna Freud just a quote I thought to throw out to let you know I was around :)

Toys for Justice

2008-05-06T22:52:00.000-07:00

join the cause now!

nature pics

2008-04-22T22:35:00.000-07:00

I have a new flickr account and picked some of my recent favorite shots to share.see them here

my body is working...

2008-04-21T13:15:00.000-07:00

one of the things I like about weekends is sleeping in -- you get time to lay in bed relaxed and mind cleared of most of the banal distractions. anyway, I can think better. this past week I was occupied with plenty of activities: saw the Body Worlds exhibit in LA, sold a vehicle, bought a new car, went on a business trip and dealt with airport travel, group dynamics and new surroundings. with all

the world beats a path to my door of perception...

2008-04-02T18:57:00.000-07:00

I've nothing more to add now, but will come up with something clever shortly my friends! in the meantime, try "indicating the formal aspects of the idea of existence"...on an unrelated note, when you're in my neighborhood, I recommend the bbq pork pho at pho tay bak. it's places like this that make so cal an international food fest :)

Obama is not Usama!

2008-02-26T18:58:00.000-08:00

no, he's not even a Muslim. of course now that I've planted that idea, you're associating our next president with a terrorist. oops, I did it again. I'm such a tool for HRC :)more realistically, I'm thinking of comparisons of Obama with Jimmy Carter. both were good speakers promising the kind of change that only an outsider can do. seems to be a winning combination!actually, to me personally,

Vitameatavegamin Buy it Now!

2008-01-29T12:26:00.001-08:00

I was looking to buy some Vegameatavitamin (or is it meatavitavegamin)? unfortunately nobody has thought to create and market this product yet. yeah, you know what I'm talking about. it's not copyrighted by Desilu is it? well, actually I did find a poor facsimile of it. and here I thought you could find everything on the internet. here's a free unexploited idea for you get-rich-quick marketeers!

classic (old) must-see movies

2008-01-04T13:13:00.000-08:00

in celebration of the new year, I made a resolution to escape into a cocoon of self-improvement and develop my historical cultural awareness by spending 2008 in front of my warm 42" plasma watching these classic films: Bogart:1. To Have and Have Not2. Casablanca3. The Maltese Falcon4. The Big Sleep5. High SierraFilm Noir:6. Asphalt Jungle7. Touch of Evil8. The Third Man9. L.A. ConfidentialCary

get used to victimless meat

2007-12-13T18:16:00.000-08:00

back in 2005 the University of Maryland reported:In a paper in the June 29 issue of Tissue Engineering, a team of scientists, including University of Maryland doctoral student Jason Matheny, propose two new techniques of tissue engineering that may one day lead to affordable production of in vitro - lab grown -- meat for human consumption. It is the first peer-reviewed discussion of the prospects

truth or dare: the blogroll challenge UPDATE

2007-12-07T23:15:00.000-08:00

I try not to waste time, so when I needed to delete a comment from my last post I disabled showing all comments on it. because blogger does not obviously enough explain how one can delete a single comment -- which is what I wanted to do and I am too lazy, impatient and proud (qualities of a really useful programmer) to play blogger's game and search for the proper way. I still want to know how

truth or dare: the blogroll challenge

2007-11-30T06:04:00.000-08:00

ok, it's not really truth or dare but I thought it sounded good. anyway, here's the challenge: give a short review (25 words or less) for each site on your current blogroll - when and why you added them, what you think of them, how often do you read them.here's mine:The Cutting Edge: anti-liberal blather. not worthy of my blogroll.Dr. Helen: Mrs. Instapundit is a psych and raises good issues on

word of the day: poignant

2007-11-28T20:19:00.000-08:00

I've never used the word "poignant" in a sentence before. I thought about it and how it could be used. I wrote it down on a piece of paper at my nightstand and went to sleep. I then had this dream:I've entered and sat down in a movie theater or small concert hall. on the screen a movie starts and I see that the quality is lacking; for what has been filmed is a large flat screen television.

words, words, words...

2007-11-19T20:53:00.000-08:00

thought I should say a few words :)actually, I've been reading Shakespeare and you might recognize the title line from Hamlet (when Polonius asks "What do you read, my lord?").rich material to digest...it takes much time for me. and so, not much time for writing here. don't ask why, for I shan't explain.fare thee well and havest thou a thanks-giving day!

caliper assessment test redux

2007-11-01T12:59:00.000-07:00

over a year ago now I did a post on what might be a "caliper profile personality assessment" question and ever since, on almost a daily basis, someone (~them~ I think), has been pinging my blog as a google search result of the phrase "caliper assessment test". I've had no other contact from them but they are probably checking up on me to make sure I don't reveal any of their intellectual property

sock monkey behind the counter....

2007-10-29T18:05:00.000-07:00

so you walk in to get a burger combo at the local fast food place and staring back at you to take your order is a sock monkey. you're first reaction is "ok, this is some kind of joke...". you know someone is under the counter holding the monkey, so should you just act like everything is normal and place your order? what do you say? should you address the monkey? do you really trust the food here

my celebrity lookalikes...

2007-10-20T18:14:00.000-07:00

not to brag, but I've already heard these comparisons. ok, I am bragging :)they didn't mention some other ones people have said: Christopher Reeves and Jeff Goldblum.http://www.myheritage.com/collage

sea world story...

2007-10-15T05:54:00.000-07:00

my mother-in-law told me this about a friend of hers. she took her son down to Sea World in San Diego for the day recently. the boy has Down's but is pretty high functioning. they had fun watching the shows and exhibits but then, this being during the summer and the park being crowded, suddenly they were separated and the boy was missing. as any parent knows, this is very frightening. she looked

blast from the past

2007-09-18T19:38:00.000-07:00

for some reason today I joined classmates.com and looked up people I knew 30 years ago (westchester high, class of '77). haven't been in contact with any of them at all. didn't really have much contact with them back in high school either. so what was my motivation? why dig up these old memories, dwell and wallow in the past? is there something unresolved? I have a much better life now than those

a fish story....

2007-08-30T13:32:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share my first rather successful fishing trip last weekend in the foothills of the Eastern Sierras with the Boy Scouts.it wasn't an uber-survivalist camping trip - the creek was just stocked last thursday and googling revealed that the powerbait I brought probably was the best choice for attracting the trout. still, for me it was an adventure.I braved the weeds and mud and cold water

graffiti...

2007-08-17T14:35:00.001-07:00

a flickr comment on this pic above that I took a while ago (raw toast coming soon!) got me started on a new project exploring the artistry of graffiti. I looked at the commenter's stuff and found some interesting shots like this:and this:which led me to wander to places like this flickr freight train graffiti set (or this one or this and this -- thx guys). there's some talent out there busy dopin

musical postery

2007-08-15T13:33:00.000-07:00

first selection for today is "Invisible Ink" by Aimee Mann (from "Lost In Space"). I like her wordplay, her voice (good range, slight accent - Toronto?) and simple clean guitar strumming (reminds me of Jimmy Page on acoustic actually):There comes a time when you swim or sinkSo I jumped in the drinkCuz I couldn't make myself clearMaybe I wrote in invisible inkOh I've tried to thinkHow I could have

meditation news...

2007-08-02T13:32:00.000-07:00

yesterday I was listening to fox news while changing in the gym locker room. surprisingly, a guy was being interviewed about meditation (TM I think)."a little hippy-dippy for the faux", I thought. what are these guys up to? my google search on the subject doesn't pick up anything on the story (as of today), but I noticed it does find a fairly large number (197,000) of results linking "fox news"

tired old religious arguments...

2007-07-26T06:14:00.000-07:00

So I was having a conversation with a coworker. I mentioned how as we age and develop various ailments what’s happening in a sense is that we are dying in little ways. We avoid death by staying healthy and fit for as long as possible because it’s in our nature. She, being the fundamentalist christian that she is, replied that when she died she knew she would get a new perfect body. I argued, well

boring thoughts...

2007-07-10T22:50:00.000-07:00

ethics, bioengineering, neuroscience, thought, philosophy, sociobiology.these are all subjects in which I find interest and I'm discovering most people care nothing about! under which category of digg would posts about those topics fall under? general science? mahalo knows nothing about these things... I am figuring out why my blog remains unread. it's not due solely to the lack of quality. it's

becoming a positive deviant

2007-06-27T12:35:00.000-07:00

just finished reading "better" by Atul Gawande, the surgeon/writer who does frequent New Yorker articles. his goal in this book is to suggest how medical practice can improve (his answers are not what you'd expect). at the end he gives some suggestions that could apply to anyone looking to improve whatever they're into:1. ask an unscripted question: beyond the routine grilling, ask something off

just compensation for unjust imprisonment

2007-06-25T22:48:00.000-07:00

questions about our evolving legal system...what does the state owe for it's mistakes? what about culpability of the prosecuters? what about incompetent defense lawyers? is disbarment enough? payments are being made, so where is the accountability for us taxpayers? and if there is compensation, where does it end?should we punish juries that get it wrong?How do they figure the payouts for people

have you heard these lately?

2007-06-17T23:54:00.000-07:00

musically, this weekend for various reasons these oldies appeared:American PieGood VibrationsEarache My EyeGarden PartyI'll update with some lyrics soon. in the meantime, ponder (or plunder?).update 6/19:American Pie - simple song that's easy to sing along with in a group ('cause the chorus repeats at least 5 times). the lyrics sound Dylan-esque, but I think they're just bad poetry. I did think

ensoulment entrapment

2007-06-11T22:46:00.000-07:00

drawing lines on imaginary slippery slopes to preserve human dignity...this story is timely, but of deeper consequence than PH news. I'm referring to the recent mouse experiments which achieved creation of embryonic stem cells without embryos (Scientists Use Skin To Create Stem Cells).scientists have:"coaxed ordinary mouse skin cells to become what are effectively embryonic stem cells...all adult

the visionary is reading...

2007-06-05T13:29:00.000-07:00

my friend Jennifer at goodnessgraciousness.blogspot.com invites us to "blog about your vision of what is possible" because "We need to imagine a world healed from its illnesses. We need to allow the images of peace and goodness to enter our consciousness, our minds, and our souls. We need to believe a world of compassion and care is a real possibility."keeping that in mind, I was planning on

the mechanic's uncertainty principle

2007-05-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

best illustrated when you take your car to the mechanic and it doesn't make that nagging noise anymore. usually described as "unable to duplicate the problem", I come across the mechanic's uncertainty principle frequently at work helping people with their PC's: a printer doesn't work, a document won't format correctly, a file won't save, a database error, etc... they call IT for help, I look at

you're mormon or a member...

2007-05-22T19:07:00.000-07:00

...to have fun in Salt Lake City that is, according to someone in our party. I'm definitely not mormon and agree with Groucho Marx that "I'd never join any club that would have me as a member". yet here I was last weekend at Murphy's Bar newly bestowed with a lifetime membership (drinking only allowed in "private" clubs in Utah) and slamming down car bombs with the "wild cousins" in celebration

Hillary to win: a backlash to violence

2007-05-16T06:13:00.000-07:00

violence is it's own reward for men. that's my interpretation of a1987 rat experiment by Swanson and Schuster where high testosterone mice were preoccupied with maintaining dominance hierarchies (fighting) and low testosterone mice cooperated in a democratic fashion to earn rewards. while I myself admit to enjoying high energy testosterone induced levels of excitement, I sense that a shift is

'on earth as it is in heaven' indeed...

2007-05-07T06:01:00.000-07:00

Norman Mailer recently spoke about his latest book "The Castle in the Forest", a fictionalized biography of a young Adolf Hitler, a child loved by his mother who yet became history's evil incarnate as the unexplainable killer of millions. In an interview w/Micheal Silverblatt, Mailer describes his religious beliefs which provide structure for the story:"When George Bush speaks about 'evil', he

it's all new, it's all good...

2007-05-01T22:33:00.000-07:00

I was doing a little searching and came across something I posted elsewhere quite some time ago. it's interesting and maybe correct as much as it is, but also quite incomplete if you subscribe to the notion that you have in your head a set of "rules to live by". so why do I post it (again)? well, like the "eternal return", some things just keep coming back and never really get outdated. and the

currently reading...

2007-04-17T22:53:00.000-07:00

yes, it's time to post my reasons for not posting. besides taxes, here's what I've been spending time on:WickedAs reviewer: Growllingbear (Half Moon Bay, CA USA) - said in 1999:Raises disturbing questions about nature of evilIf you can find a better bang for the buck than Wicked, please let me know. I picked up Wicked, knowing nothing except that its subject matter was the Wicked Witch of the

"Stolen Car" by Beth Orton

2007-03-12T22:14:00.000-07:00

little change in direction here. this woman is a great vocalist and (I think) a pretty good lyricist too. may not make much sense to you, but who knows, maybe something will stick. here's the lyrics from a good 1999 song of hers:You walked into my house last nightI couldn't help but noticeA light that was long gone still burning strongYou were sittingYour fingers like fusesYour eyes were cinnamon

Vietnam: Johnny Walker, the B52's, Huey and the logistics

2007-02-15T20:21:00.000-08:00

war story relayed to me the other day at a party. a true story in the spirit of "Apocalypse Now", "M*A*S*H" and "Catch-22":it seems that in the military wherever you are there's always a shortage of something and too much of something else. it reminds me of a time in 'Nam when a buddy and I "borrowed" a helicopter (that is to say we took it without permission), in order to go make a pickup of

the Spanish-American war, Moro warriers and Colt .45

2007-01-17T13:48:00.000-08:00

100 years ago radical Muslim extremists helped correct a U.S. killing policythe Spanish-American War brought out plenty of man's brutality (maybe even helped bring about the Geneva Conventions?), but you can find that elsewhere. this is, instead, a war story about making death quicker and less brutal; it's well known among gun enthusiasts but much less so for the rest of us. being the eclectric

antiques roadshow moment...

2007-01-04T19:14:00.000-08:00

Sidney Richard Percy (1821-1886), Victorian landscape artist extraordinaire I'm no art expert, but I know what I like when I see it, and I saw quality.as they say at richard-green.com:"Percy was a master of his craft...The artist seduces us with perfection - in the composition, in his technique, in the overall effect of achieving sublimity. He captures the full interplay between time, place, the

surfbeanies...

2006-12-17T19:47:00.000-08:00

well since I'm in a promotional mood, check out surfbeanies.com. support the cause... here's a guy who works just enough to keep surfing. a friend of mine bought her surfbeanie at the Brea Farmers Market a while back and she told me about it. she thought he was living in Costa Rica, but from a quick glance at his blog it seems he is back in town. check it out and maybe do some xmas shopping...

robot dog & regular dog

2006-12-17T19:12:00.000-08:00

I just loves these cartoons... they're freakin' sweet!Robot Dog & Regular Dog: Boom Boom BeachRobot Dog & Regular Dog: Go Fly a KiteI wish the creator Jim Mehsling would make more of them. OK, that's my plug, go check em out!

the Russian 'Tobacco Rebellion'

2006-12-06T13:25:00.000-08:00

I heard first heard of this incident a couple weeks ago and did a little research. not a whole lot on the Internet about it; this story is from '96..."In the summer of 1990, the Soviet Union's terminal economic crisis descended upon the product that many Russians considered their most irreplaceable: cigarettes. Faced with mass shortages of Soviet-made brands, angry smokers in Moscow, Leningrad,

perfect male scents...

2006-11-27T20:34:00.000-08:00

cologne ratings seasonnow that gift buying time is here, check out these womens opinions about what they love on a man:Perfect? I love Romeo Gigli Cologne by Romeo Gigli... and Fahrenheit by Christian Dior but whether they are perfect for men... Fiona allessandro dell'aqua for man 4/4/2004 6:09 AMis my best for now. it's very organised and i feel it's like bracing air. i like moderate

cute pussy...

2006-11-21T20:46:00.000-08:00

she just adopted us and is very friendly and playful. her name is Miss Cookie.actually the purpose of post is to announce that I'm uploading to flickr again. and to maybe generate more web traffic :) anyway, click on the photo to see more of my better pics...

somethings for the reading...

2006-11-15T22:34:00.000-08:00

I've been reading a lot and writing less (you may have noticed). This is just a list of what I've been eyeballing and absorbing these past few months. I can pretty much recommend any of them, but you ought to check out the amazon links and read the reviews to see if the subject holds your interest.fiction-wise check out...oh yeah, all these books are available at my library, so if you've got a

caliper assessment test

2006-10-12T22:27:00.000-07:00

my sister emailed me with a question from the test she found puzzling (this is an evaluation for a V.P. position at a fortune 500 co):complete the sequence:<< content deleted because I don't want to help you cheat :p >>I found it absurdly easy... but I could still be wrong. can anyone explain why anything other than "D." might be correct?

no news is good mews

2006-09-30T18:13:00.000-07:00

wow it's been so long, I almost forgot my blogger logon info! not much to report, just a couple quotes (one apparently fake - see if you can tell) from Bjarn Stroustrup, inventor of c++"People who think they know everything really annoy those of us who know we don't". "Anyone with half a brain can see thatobject-oriented programming is counter-intuitive, illogical andinefficient."see the whole "

fine dumpster dining: tips for discriminating dumpster divers

2006-07-25T13:12:00.000-07:00

I heard a story recounted by John Lahr about Barry Humphries in his younger days (before Dame Edna):he would go to a bus stop trash can and bury a roasted chicken and a split of champagne -- wrap it up and bury it in the trash. he'd go away and dress up as a bum, then just for his own pleasure, just to see peoples response, he would root in the garbage and everybody sort of turns their head away

more on the robots...

2006-07-07T18:06:00.000-07:00

so I've been reading the book (see previous post)and checking out references about the singularity. here are some notables:kurzweilAI.netaccelerationwatch.comsingularity summit 2006 podcastsVernor VingeUtility Fog: The Stuff that Dreams Are Made Ofapparently this thing is snowballing. get with it people!Kurzweil talks a lot about how mankind will become more and more dependent on nanotech and

robots in our future...

2006-06-29T18:21:00.000-07:00

I just started reading Ray Kurzweil's latest "The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology". got interested after listening to the podcast. good conversational material and inspiring for the kids. but this amazon reviewer (who must be much smarter than Ray and I'd like to see what good things he is producing with that brilliant mind) poo-poos the book as infantile:Rather infantile.

14 billions years of subtle influence and here we are...

2006-06-08T22:45:00.000-07:00

I've been playing on a new keyboard lately, and I'm not talkin' pc...we bought a new Yamaha S08 from Guitar Center (memorial day sale I couldn't resist).yeah it's a real synthesizer with 88 weighted keys, lotsa cool sounds and MIDI2 - which I hookup via USB. so this new hobby presents a number of challenges I'm facing. beyond learning to play piano, how do I get it to work as a MIDI controller?

we're dancing animals

2006-05-17T20:18:00.000-07:00

Kurt Vonnegut talking about when he tells his wife he's going out to buy an envelope:Oh, she says well, you're not a poor man. You know, why don't you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet? And so I pretend not to hear her. And go out to get an envelope because I'm going to have a hell of a good time in the process of buying one envelope. I meet a lot of people. And,

you are standing at the end of a road before a small brick building. around you is a forest. a small stream flows...

2006-05-05T17:21:00.000-07:00

you may recognize that begininng of the classic text game "adventure" (use the link to play online). it was an inspiration for many early pc gamers. made before pc's (1973?) and now used by my 9 year old son in discovering the magic of imagination in interactive fiction. regular fiction is pretty good for that too. we just finished reading "the wind in the willows" together. on my own, I'm in

south dakota abortion bill much too liberal

2006-04-15T06:14:00.000-07:00

"senate ban does not except rape, incest... but still allows doctors to perform any abortion to save the life of a pregnant woman". sure we're talking matters of degree in a spectrum, but don't the pro-lifers believe all abortion should be terminated? if someones gotta die that's a tough choice, so which is it gonna be? the innocent baby or the woman that let herself get knocked up and now is

kill Moussaoui?

2006-04-11T19:06:00.000-07:00

the question on trial today is do we execute the "20th hijacker" for something he didn't do? his failure to act on the knowledge he had to prevent the 9/11 attacks may cost him his life because society demands this response to the horrors now being relived. so who will do the killing? what if society picked you to perform the execution? no problem? how about with your bare hands around his

how to get more female scientists...

2006-03-30T19:39:00.000-08:00

yes, another blatant reposting and repackaging of some pretty good material. this is kinda relevant based on an LA Times article today (see title link). I should mention that I got this from a google cache and it is not currently available live (AFAIK) enjoy!:July 26, 2005 PMThe Depp Conspiracy by Aaron VoorheesFor Immediate Release: New Public Relations Director for Science announced. Yes,

Travelissimo – You Can Travel Easy, Or You Can Travelissimo

2006-03-30T19:25:00.000-08:00

this is a guest post by fellow blogger Aaron Voorhees. I thought it was funny, so am blatantly (as in without permission) reposting here. so let's see if he can get a rise out of you readers:August 12, 2005 PMWhy All The Opposing?People often ask me, “Aaron why is it that you talk to an imaginary audience when you write your columns.” And I often say, “Please people, can you not see that I am

the intellectual snob test

2006-03-25T14:02:00.000-08:00

are you a snob?ok, just for yucks, I took the poll. here are the results (btw I'm not a snobby as the person who gave me the link):The Snob!You are 70% intellectual snob. Congratulations, you're a bonafide snob. You probably know your James Joyce, your Salman Rushdie, and you've seen "Rashomon." You are the meat and pototoes of the black-wearing, novel-toating, library-frequenting intellectual

quotes for today...

2006-03-22T14:03:00.000-08:00

"Nothing defines humans better than their willingness to do irrational things in the pursuit of phenomenally unlikely payoffs." - Scott Adams "Enjoy yourself. It's later than you think." - Chinese Proverb "All generalizations are dangerous, even this one." - Alexandre Dumas

predestination for dummies (or "orange you glad I wore green"?)...

2006-03-18T08:09:00.000-08:00

yesterday being a lenten friday, instead of celebrating st. patricks day with corned beef and green beer, we went to our local parish fish fry put on by the knights of columbus. there, during our meal, one of the topics my eight year old son was demonstrating to us his recent discovery of the middle finger hand gesture and it's meaning. some might have been shocked to see him do this at church,

the effect of Chris Pirillo...

2006-03-10T15:43:00.000-08:00

just heard a rumor about my old lockergnome buddy: that if you mention him in a blog post, he will leave you a comment. such is the amazing power of our search engines. hard to believe but apparently true. well, can you prove that it is really left by him and not one of his merry pranksters? yes, very easily as a matter of fact. if you subscribe to his email newsletter you know that he always

just do it (anyway)...

2006-03-05T17:56:00.000-08:00

this being Oscar sunday, what am I doing? went to church of course! first sunday of Lent, so seemed a good idea. (hey doesn't the statue look like he's praying?) heard a poem attributed to Mother Teresa that I wanted to share here. so as usual, I googled it to find the text and came across what seems to be just a bit of plagiarism. I guess we're all a bit sinner and saint eh?1. The version

chances are...

2006-03-02T22:46:00.000-08:00

I was lost inside a daydreamswimming through or sailingI looked at you and you breathed inbut that's the way it's always been.it all comes down to creating timeyou don't always have to make it rhymewe'll all drive far in our hybrid liveschances are,we'll make it back.I was doing time in the L.A. jailmy crime was living inside a failureno matter how, it don't matter nowrest assured, the rest is

quote of the day...

2006-02-22T12:33:00.000-08:00

"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?" - Albert Einstein

elemental states of being...

2006-02-16T13:48:00.000-08:00

water: this represents our attitude -- a constant flow of spirit that shapes and persists; seeming the same, yet always changing.air: our thoughts -- existence without substance. shifting and boundless flights of fancy. the realm of imagination where ideas fly and fall; communicated through the vibration of voices.fire: our feelings -- emotional intensity, passion and metabolism. the breaking

quote from my dad...

2006-02-14T06:30:00.000-08:00

"If you're not detested, you're not taking care of yourself."hmmm.

speak up! and let's hang together...

2006-02-07T02:34:00.000-08:00

"In Germany, they first came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Catholic. Then they came for me–and by that time

more inspiration...

2006-01-22T22:45:00.000-08:00

just finished an old (but new to me) classic: "way of the peaceful warrior" by Dan Millman. thx to Lisa Lipscomb for the reference (see her goal #16). it was a fun, easy and enlightening read. here's a snippet:"There is no need to search; achievement leads to nowhere. It makes no difference at all, so just be happy now! Love is the only reality of the world... the only laws are paradox, humor

psychotherapy and religion...

2006-01-20T06:11:00.000-08:00

“If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him!”. was a book I browsed years ago and was just reminded of. here’s a nutshell "eschatological laundry list" by the author that a reviewer on amazon shared:1. This is it!2. There are no hidden meanings 3. You can't get there from here, and besides, there's no place else to go 4. We are all already dying and we'll be dead for a long time. 5. Nothing

nonviolence: Martin Luther King and capital punishment...

2006-01-16T14:11:00.000-08:00

work in progress...Clarence Ray Allen - sick old dude, ordered killings from jail cellsome murders are more important than others, but for the victims loved ones it's just the samejustice is a balancing out, making up for...so capital punishment is a form of revenge? a dish best served cold? is that what we accomplish by killing an old man who's been in jail for 30 years?is this the best

new name...

2006-01-15T16:34:00.000-08:00

now my blog is not so blah :) "infosnack" is the trendy word of '05, so now it's not so trendy. and adoptable by me. I'm not good at being leading edge, but I'm pretty good at following the trend. anyway, my posts here are little morsels, tidbits of 30 second items, so it's more appropriate. so there you go!

"He is President, Not A King" -- Russ Feingold

2005-12-23T19:47:00.000-08:00

constitutional crisis, impeachable offenses. hey, can we impeach Cheney too?[UPADATE] ok, we need to censure first...reference: democrats using the "I" wordtags: bushitler wiretap fisa impeachment

Bush above law and following it AG claims

2005-12-21T05:45:00.000-08:00

since Jack Balkin et al say it so much better (them bein' law professors and all) I'll make like Instapundit and just refer you to their well written posts which I happen to agree with. To wit:"...The latest version is Attorney General Gonzales' assertion that the September 18, 2001 AUMF [Authorization for Use of Military Force] -- which gave Congressional approval to fight terrorism militarily-

now that flu season is here...

2005-12-16T14:32:00.000-08:00

let's discuss something good our president has done recently. as they say, "even a broken clock is right twice a day". you can question his motives (popularity polls and all that), but this could turn out be the best thing W has done for the country. too bad his own party won't let it be funded. if only he hadn't already spent all his political capital. well you can't fault the most powerful

tagging issues...

2005-12-14T05:47:00.000-08:00

so like it says at the top, this blog is a learning experience. this post is an experiment to see if technorati is really recognizing and publishing links to here. I've yet to see one of my posts appear there and I suspect that something is not working right (notice I'm not pointing fingers yet). I'm tagging this entry with "statistically improbable phrases" (as I think amazon calls them).

how to annoy people

2005-12-12T22:46:00.000-08:00

just to lighten things up a bit...How to Annoy CoworkersPage yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice. Find out where your boss shops, and buy exactly the same outfits. Wear them one day after your boss does. (This is especially effective if your boss is a different gender than you.) Make up nicknames for all your coworkers and refer to them only by these names. "That's a good point,

wow, this page is more readable!

2005-12-10T09:28:00.000-08:00

so I changed my template. now I'm using "minima" which does the job and I was getting tired of that big ol' orange "jellyfish" thing. as blogger warned, it wiped out all my javascript. oh well, no great loss. we're flexible, right? I can easily find what I need and fix it again. I'm thinking of changing the name of this blog too, but I forgot the idea I had. expect changes!tags: blog, gtd

Toookie Williams, Death Row, and Redemption.

2005-12-06T06:37:00.000-08:00

much can be said pro and con re capital punishment. but let's strip away some of of the gray areas - race and economic inequality, mental capacity, possible rehabilitation, doubt of guilt. let's take a hypothetical case where the subject admits guilt of a heinous crime, has no remorse, has gotten superb legal representation and is a white male. in other words, an ideal candidate for execution.

womb to tomb

2005-11-22T13:05:00.000-08:00

life: a temporary illusion we experience as "individuals"my seven year old had a facts of life question the other evening. not "where do babies come from?", rather, "where do babies come out?". I didn't have a good answer so just said "out of a woman's privates". being in the full-blown potty humor stage he asked "out her butt!?"..."no", said I, "another place...". I searched for a good