Takin' it to Intertubes

The fight has been the talk of Holden (and, I presume, other towns in the Wachusett district). We don't get on the Boston TV news very often, so this was a big deal. Fight posted on Internet fast: “Fox News had it before we did,” (Holden Police) Chief Sherrill said. “It just goes to show you how instantaneous the Web is. It just spread like wildfire.”

The Wetware Crisis: the Dead Sea effect : Bruce F. Webster

Regressing to the mean - organizations, IT or otherwise, tend to drift toward mediocrity: The Wetware Crisis: the Dead Sea effect : Bruce F. Webster

IBM and the Art of Acquisitions | Xconomy

There's no way that an acquisition can be done without challenges. (Having my job go away when IBM acquired Rational, for example, hit a nerve.) Nevertheless, IBM is one of the few companies that does a good job with acquisitions. The Rational acquisition, I believe, was helped by the experience that Rational had in the past. It had done several acquisitions in a few short years and built a successful company and brand.

CSM - A downside to bird feeders

A downside to bird feeders (from Christian Science Monitor)

Backyard bird feeders have become almost as ubiquitous as garden hoses. One result: the northern cardinal's range has grown significantly since the early 1960s. Yet scientists know little about the long-term effect the explosion in feeders is having on bird populations.

So a group of biologists in Britain has pulled together a look at what is known. They find that most of the effects from supplemental feeding seem to be positive. But seed-laden feeders have the potential to trigger long-term changes in species' range and breeding patterns.

In reviewing studies from the past 30 years, the team finds that supplemental feeding led female birds to lay eggs significantly earlier than is typical for their species. For some birds, such as Florida scrub jays, this put the young out of sync with the natural food sources they needed at that stage of their development. For one species of flightless parrot in New Zealand, a feeding campaign to increase the birds' population actually led to the birds hatching more males over time than females.

The biologists add that some of the less desirable effects of supplemental feeding could be reduced if more people follow best-feeding practices, such as those outlined by Project Feeder Watch, led by researchers as Cornell University. The results appear in the current issue of Frontiers in Ecology.– Peter N. Spotts

Friendship 2.0

I'm very fortunate to be able to keep in touch with real friends via email, blogging, and Twitter.

This week's RoasterBoy playlist

Alabama 3 - Woke Up This Morning (remixes)

Their Remix Bonus CD includes several different flavors of their classic (also known as the theme from The Sopranos). 04/15/2008 03:08 PM

Garnet Rogers - Get a Witness (Live) Good tunes of being on the road too long, lots of different roads, including a strong cover of Brother Stan's Northwest Passage. "There's no Hank or Merle or Johnny, now. You can't hear them anymore. Just redneck clowns in stupid hats ..." 04/14/2008 10:37 AM

Curtis Mayfield - Pusherman FARK.com: Fark YouTube Player (3532587) Curtis Mayfield perforns "Pusherman" on the wildly unpopular show "Night Music" 04/13/2008 04:56 PM

YouTube - Al Green Tired of Being Alone Live Happy Birthday, Rev. Al. YouTube - Al Green Tired of Being Alone Live 04/13/2008 04:50 PM

Otis Redding - Try A Little Tenderness As powerful a love song as you'll find anywhere - YouTube - Try A Little Tenderness Live- Otis Redding It's easy when listening to the explosive vocal performance to miss the simple beauty of the rhythm section, the simple clicking of the drummer, the nifty loop of the base and guitar players (Duck Dunn and Steve Cropper?), and, of course, the Bar-Kay horn section. None better. 04/11/2008 10:53 AM

Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited

This album is pretty consistently #2 on my favorite Dylan album list. (Blood on the Tracks is always #1.) From the time I first heard it on an old record player at the camp (the album owned by my mother's college friend, Joe C.) until listening on my iPod on this morning's walk, the music always delights and challenges. Although most of the tunes rock out with an all-star band, the album's anchor is the acoustic Desolation Row. 04/1

Jacketless journey

The temperature is leaning on 60 so it was nice to go out without a jacket. Marley walked slowly today. I couldn't tell if he was tired or if his feet were sore. We finally found a pace that was good for the both of us as we walked to Worcester on this fine day.

Lots of people have been working hard on their yards, cleaning up the winter debris, spreading the lime and fresh grass seed, and laying in new plants. The tulips in our yard are showing their greenery, but no blooms yet.

Several people let their dogs off-leash, including one just around the corner. Marley and this beagle got into a brief tangle as the beagle took exception to Marley being anywhere near her property.

Marley is respectful of other dogs on their own property. When they bark to say, "This is my home," we won't even turn his head. Occasionally, they'll challenge him, saying, "This is my home and, if I wasn't tied up, I'd beat the kibbles out of you." In those cases, Marley wants to answer the call and I have to work hard to pull him along. There are a couple of small dogs who particularly aggressive. They look like bowls of spaghetti with legs and Marley would dispatch them with the same vigor that he would take care of the same amount of pasta. Their yard has one of those electronic fences, so the pasta pups run right up to the side of the driveway and stop, yelling their epithets as we walk away.

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We assume that this sign at the town line means that Holden cares in a good way. The sign in the background introduces the first of many rules for our fair town - no overnight parking on any streets any time of the year. The town is known for its fussiness on matters great and small.

Nerdful co-existence - An Engineer's Guide to Cats

This is making the rounds on the Intertubes, so you may have already seen it. If not, here's An Engineer's Guide to Cats

Man not best friend to black dogs

We've adopted three adult black labs over the years. It was shocking, then, to read this article:

Worcester Telegram & Gazette News: According to animal shelter officials, big, black dogs like Gozer have more trouble finding a happy home than do other dogs. Some shelters even have a name for it: “Big black dog syndrome.”