Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Roaster Boy's Playlist
Roaster Boy's Playlist
Music on my iPod, YouTube, or old-fashioned radio.
September 23, 2008
iTunes Genius Playlist, based on I'll Fly Away
Alison Krauss & Gillian Welch - I'll Fly Away"Down From The Mountain: Live Concert Performances By The Artists & Musicians Of "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
Lyle Lovett - If I Had A Boat
Pontiac
Hank Williams - I Saw The Light
Hank Williams 16 Greatest Hits
Patsy Cline - I Fall To Pieces
Patsy Cline Story
Kris Kristofferson - Why Me?
The Austin Sessions
Willie Nelson & Johnny Cash - (Ghost) Riders In The Sky
Storytellers [Live]
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Will The Circle Be Unbroken
"Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Vol. 2"
Tennessee Ernie Ford - Sixteen Tons (1955)
16 Tons Of Boogie: The Best Of Tennessee Ernie Ford
Lyle Lovett - Private Conversation
The Road To Ensenada
Willie Nelson - Good Hearted Woman
Willie & Family Live (Disc 1)
"Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris" - To Know Him Is To Love Him
Trio
Joaquin Phoenix - I Walk The Line
Walk The Line (???)
Alison Krauss - Down To The River To Pray
"O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
Alison Krauss & Union Station - Wild Bill Jones
"Down From The Mountain: Live Concert Performances By The Artists & Musicians Of ""O Brother, Where Art Thou?"""
Johnny Cash - Orange Blossom Special
At Folsom Prison / San Quentin
Randy Travis w/ Dolly Parton - Do I Ever Cross Your Mind
Heroes and Friends
ZZ Top - "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide"
Greatest Hits
Willie Nelson - Blue Skies
Stardust
Wayne Hancock - Thunderstorms And Neon Signs
Thunderstorms And Neon Signs
Patsy Cline - Sweet Dreams
Patsy Cline Story
Bill Monroe - Blue Moon Of Kentucky
Smithsonian Folkways American Roots Collection
Emmylou Harris - If I Needed You (w/ Don Williams)
Duets
Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris - Love Hurts
"Warm Evenings, Pale Mornings, Bottled Blues 1963-1973"
The Stanley Brothers - Angel Band
"O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
Lyle Lovett - Nobody Knows Me
Lyle Lovett and his Large Band 1 Day ago
September 22, 2008
cbs2.com - Presidential Candidates Barack Obama, John McCain Reveal Top 10 Songs
CBS reports the favorite tunes of our presidential candidates. FWIW, only one of the songs, "What's Going On," would make my top 10, although there's some pretty good music here.Here's the complete list according to Blender.com:
Number 10:
Obama: "Yes We Can" by will.i.am
McCain: "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" by The Platters
Number 9:
Obama: "City of Blinding Lights" by U2
McCain: "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond
Number 8:
Obama: "Think" by Aretha Franklin
McCAIN: "I've Got You Under My Skin" by Frank Sinatra
Number 7:
Obama: "You'd Be So Easy to Love" by Frank Sinatra
McCain: "What A Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong
Number 6:
Obama: "Touch the Sky" by Kanye West
McCain: "Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys
Number 5:
Obama: "Sinnerman" by Nina Simone
McCain: "As Time Goes By" by Dooley Wilson
Number 4:
Obama: "Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones
McCain: "If We Make It Through December" by Merle Haggard
Number 3:
Obama: "I'm On Fire" by Bruce Springsteen
McCain: "Take a Chance On Me" by ABBA
Number 2:
Obama: "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye
McCain: "Blue Bayou" by Roy Orbison
Number 1:
Obama: "Ready or Not" by the Fugees
McCain: "Dancing Queen" by ABBA
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
2 Days ago
September 17, 2008
Did we slip through a tear in the space/time continuum and wind up on April 1st?
According to a report on WNBC and shown on the PETA website, PETA is asking Ben and Jerry's to consider using human breast milk in their ice cream.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Where to put your money in times of trouble
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported
We can be grateful then, that Harriet Carter has a solution for them and for us: the "Fanny" bank, with up to six flatulent sound effects.
"The desperation was especially striking in the market for U.S. government debt, long considered the safest of investments. At one point during the day, investors were willing to pay more for one-month Treasurys than they could expect to get back when the bonds matured. Some investors, in essence, had decided that a small but known loss was better than the uncertainty connected to any other type of investment." (link, WSJ subscription required.)These wise people believe that it's better to lose a small amount with certainty than to risk losing a lot in an uncertain investment. You'd think, smart people that they are, that just putting the cash in a known repository would be better than losing money. You'd think.
We can be grateful then, that Harriet Carter has a solution for them and for us: the "Fanny" bank, with up to six flatulent sound effects.
OK, now this is officially creepy
You can get a fake pet that fakes breathing and, if you're lucky, snoring.
Look closely at the picture and you can see the pseudopooch breathing.
When competition makes you stupid
This article goes along with my rant that wireless companies are more interested in control than innovation, to the point that they're making less money than they could if there was a more open wireless system in this country. I'd gladly pay the extra $50/month or so for wireless broadband if I could get a good signal at our camp. There are three companies that give 1-bar or less coverage. If they didn't have to duplicate their coverage, they could blanket the area with more towers and give us higher capacity connections.
The real reason carriers are limiting services and charging more is to maintain control of what people can do on their networks.
On teachability
When I was a manager, I tried to hire people who were temperamentally suited to the job. Lack of skills or knowledge, the reasoning went, can usually be overcome by training. (Of course, in technical fields, you do have to have a basic understanding and aptitude in the domains in which you are working.) A key to that right temperament was teachability, the ability and, most importantly, the willingness to learn and change. Knowing what you don't know is the basis for all learning.
We're hiring a president. We want a president who not only knows enough, but is capable of learning even more. Then, with that knowledge, the president can act with wisdom, prudence, and imagination, inspiring us as we move through troubled times.
So, it's a bit surprising to see a leading conservative voice, George Will, sounding off against the Republican candidate in McCain Loses His Head:
We're hiring a president. We want a president who not only knows enough, but is capable of learning even more. Then, with that knowledge, the president can act with wisdom, prudence, and imagination, inspiring us as we move through troubled times.
So, it's a bit surprising to see a leading conservative voice, George Will, sounding off against the Republican candidate in McCain Loses His Head:
It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?
Obvious. Paging Captain Obvious. Pick up the white courtesy phone ...
Technorati Confirms: Blogging Continues To Be Pitiless Work that Doesn’t Pay | TekPopuli
blogging continues to be a thankless, pitiless and lonely effort for the vast majority of bloggers,Of course, most of us aren't in it for the money. Blogging is, at least from this writer's corner, a chance to keep in touch with family and friends and to get ideas out into the ether before they get knotted up like so much fishing line.
Wind powah in Wustah
Last Friday, I attended the first of five sessions in my W.I.S.E. course. We walked around the Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center and Wildlife Sanctuary, a leisurely two-hour walk that took us through thick woods (all hardwoods, interestingly) and across the eponymous meadow. Our guide pointed out a tower in the distance, a tower that would soon be a wind turbine.
Wormtown Taxi via kwout
They're playing our song
As ships of various registry make their way along the St. Lawrence, the crew is often surprised to hear their national anthem bursting from the hillside. As one captain's log records, "There is a gentleman who lives high on a cliff overlooking the St. Lawrence who salutes each ship as it passes by with the national flag of the ship and its anthem. He has a large flagpole with yardarms and a gaff on which he runs up the flag. He also has a huge sound system that blasts out the anthem across the half mile river."
It was probably 20 years ago when I first heard this story. At the time, the man playing the national anthems would likely have had CDs or even vinyl recordings of the various anthems. Today, with the wonderousness that is the worldwide web, he could go to a site such as nationalanthems.info and, with a few mouse clicks, find the needed tune. (Did you know that the Finnish anthem is identical to the Estonian melody?)
It was probably 20 years ago when I first heard this story. At the time, the man playing the national anthems would likely have had CDs or even vinyl recordings of the various anthems. Today, with the wonderousness that is the worldwide web, he could go to a site such as nationalanthems.info and, with a few mouse clicks, find the needed tune. (Did you know that the Finnish anthem is identical to the Estonian melody?)
Good dog. Well dog.
It's a maxim in the dog kingdom that even a trip to the vet's includes a ride in the car.
This morning, I brought Marley to the vet's for his annual physical. For a 12, almost 13,-year-old dog, he's doing fine. It takes a bit more effort for him to jump in the car. He's lost a half-pound since his last visit. His heart rate is nice and slow. Sometimes, his hearing needs a boost, but he finds a way to listen to what he wants to listen to.
Now that the cooler weather has arrived, he spends more time in front of the wood stove, enjoying the warmth, waiting for the next good thing to happen.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Knowing less after you read a sign than before
I've discussed how some things are fixed in documentation - people choosing to put up signs that warn you of some thing rather than fixing the thing in the first place. This one's different. I was contentedly waiting for the red light to change until I saw this sign. After reading the sign, I knew less what to do than before.
I think that this means that traffic going in either this direction or the opposite gets a green light sooner than the other. That probably makes a difference if I'm going to take a left turn, which I am not.
Roaster Boy's Playlist
September 17, 2008
iTunes Genius Playlist, based on O Mary Don't You Weep
Bruce Springsteen & The Sessions Band - O Mary Don't You WeepLive In Dublin
Bruce Springsteen & The Sessions Band - How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live
Live In Dublin
Bob Dylan - Thunder On The Mountain
Modern Times
Bob Dylan & The Rolling Thunder Review - A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall [Live]
Live 1975 - The Rolling Thunder Revue (Bootleg Series Vol. 5) (Disc 1)
Tom Waits - Tom Traubert's Blues
Small Change
Van Morrison & The Chieftains - Irish Heartbeat
Irish Heartbeat
Cowboy Junkies - Misguided Angel
The Trinity Session
Bruce Springsteen - If I Should Fall Behind
Lucky Town
The Rolling Stones - Shine A Light
Exile On Main Street
Rod Stewart - Mandolin Wind
Every Picture Tells A Story
The Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes
Live MCMXCIII
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
Highway 61 Revisited
Paul Simon - Graceland
Graceland
John Mellencamp - Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)
Mr. Happy Go Lucky
George Harrison - If Not For You
All Things Must Pass (Disc 1)
Bruce Springsteen & The Sessions Band - This Little Light of Mine
Live In Dublin
Bruce Springsteen - Jacob's Ladder
We Shall Overcome - The Seeger Sessions
Bob Dylan - I Shall Be Released
"The Bootleg Series, Vols. 1-3 : Rare And Unreleased, 1961-1991 [BOX SET]"
Neil Young - After The Gold Rush
Live Rust
Patti Smith - Smells Like Teen Spirit
Twelve
Bonnie Raitt & John Prine - Angel From Montgomery (Live)
John Prine Live
Derek & The Dominos - Bell Bottom Blues
Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs
Warren Zevon - Keep Me In Your Heart
The Wind
Bruce Springsteen - Out In The Street (Live)
Live in New York City (Disc 1)
Paul Simon with The Jessy Dixon Singers - Mother And Child Reunion
Live Rhymin'
4 Days ago
Insert your own 'World has gone to the dogs' joke here
OK, now this has passed the point of being silly. Last week, I posted a note about a sign I'd seen while Marley and I were out for a walk in our fair town. Now we learn that Israeli hamlet plans DNA database for dog poop. Maybe someone should remind them that Katyusha rockets might be a more serious threat to the well-being of this village than Caleb's leavings.
We should be grateful, I guess, that Superman doesn't really have a dog.
We should be grateful, I guess, that Superman doesn't really have a dog.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Headlines that make us go "Whaaa?"
This is an article that briefly describes a new content management product is based on another's open source product. The title, however, seems like Zippy's free-association ramblings.
1K of RoasterBoy
This is the 1024th post to this blog. In computer parlance, that's 1K or 210. As with most milestones, such as birthdays, New Year's, or, also today, the anniversary of the passing of my mother, it is, as friend used to say, a chance to look back down the hill.
My mother had the spirit of blogging decades before we had the web. It was the Hakkarainen Clipping Service, "No obligation to read, acknoledge, or return." She used the U.S. mail to send news and notes to friends all over. We were the only family I knew of who had a mimeograph machine for personal use. My mother used her letter-writing and clippings not only to advocate peace, but to practice it.
So, it's fitting that today is also International Day of Peace.
Rest in peace, TJL.
My mother had the spirit of blogging decades before we had the web. It was the Hakkarainen Clipping Service, "No obligation to read, acknoledge, or return." She used the U.S. mail to send news and notes to friends all over. We were the only family I knew of who had a mimeograph machine for personal use. My mother used her letter-writing and clippings not only to advocate peace, but to practice it.
So, it's fitting that today is also International Day of Peace.
Rest in peace, TJL.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Crime in suburbia
From The Landmark (subscription required):
Holden
Sunday, September 14
6:32 p.m. Ongoing problem with neighbor walking dog without leash and dog pooping in neighbors' yard; asked to stop in past and hasn't (Editor's note: ?)Paxton
Thursday, September 11
8:28 p.m. Suspicious activity , West St. Woman said her son ran upstairs saying he thought someone came in to the house; checked by two units and it appears it was family petRutland
Monday, September 8
10:36 a.m. Resident advising there is a nest of bees in a bush, Prescott St.Thursday, September 18, 2008
Hello, I must be going.
Nice sign that welcomes people to the outpatient mental health facility (aka the Farm House) at UMass Memorial.
It might be a bit more welcoming, however, particularly given the
clientele, if you could see the sign on your way in, rather than as you leave.
It might be a bit more welcoming, however, particularly given the
clientele, if you could see the sign on your way in, rather than as you leave.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Cocktails for Two - Miss Cellania - Miss Cellania
Don used to be able to do a wonderful rendition of the hiccups in this classic Cocktails for Two - via Miss Cellania
Nippies
As you come into downtown Brattleboro on VT Route 9, the first store that you see on Main Street says that you're in some place, um, special.
It'd been more than 30 years since I'd been in the downtown. Then, the brick buildings of the old mill town didn't look so good. The storefronts have been loved up nicely, sprinkled with patchouli, and given a mission and a passion.
Unlike their kindred spirits such as Northampton or Cambridge, Brattleboro drivers aren't as charitable toward pedestrians. People on foot are expected to obey the traffic signals and cross at crosswalks. We heard one driver scold a pedestrian for crossing the street at the wrong time.
So, we're sitting on plastic chairs on a very slanted sidewalk in front of Mocha Joe's cafe in Brattleboro. The late afternoon sun is sliding behind the hills. There's an empty chair next to Sandra. A young man sits down and begins to talk with us (well, with Sandra, mostly). He's from a lot of different places and has lots of ideas. Did you know that the water in L.A. goes through five different uses before it gets to the kitchen tap? He likes Vermont because it has first-run water.
We identify ourselves as aging hippies. Sandra asks if he thinks of himself as a hippie. "Nihilist," he says. "Nihilist hippies. I guess, that makes us nippies."
Soon, a young woman, his wife, sits down on his lap. We briefly mention dogs, at which point, she hops up, lifts her shirt, and shows a tatoo in the southeast corner of her tummy. The tatoo is of her dog, Peaches, who died not long ago at age 23. Lovingly, she says that her husband is the reincarnation of Peaches.
They say that they have no money, but they do have tickets from JFK airport in New York back to the west coast. They're looking for a ride to New York. We mention that we're in town for the Pete Seeger concert and that there might be people from New York who'd help them out. They liked the idea. Then, he notices passer-by who has a shopping bag from Sam's Outfitters in one hand and a small bag of popcorn in the other. "Is Sam's giving away free popcorn?" Peaches asks. The passer-by nods in the affirmative. Taking their leave quickly, the two head into Sam's.
It'd been more than 30 years since I'd been in the downtown. Then, the brick buildings of the old mill town didn't look so good. The storefronts have been loved up nicely, sprinkled with patchouli, and given a mission and a passion.
Unlike their kindred spirits such as Northampton or Cambridge, Brattleboro drivers aren't as charitable toward pedestrians. People on foot are expected to obey the traffic signals and cross at crosswalks. We heard one driver scold a pedestrian for crossing the street at the wrong time.
So, we're sitting on plastic chairs on a very slanted sidewalk in front of Mocha Joe's cafe in Brattleboro. The late afternoon sun is sliding behind the hills. There's an empty chair next to Sandra. A young man sits down and begins to talk with us (well, with Sandra, mostly). He's from a lot of different places and has lots of ideas. Did you know that the water in L.A. goes through five different uses before it gets to the kitchen tap? He likes Vermont because it has first-run water.
We identify ourselves as aging hippies. Sandra asks if he thinks of himself as a hippie. "Nihilist," he says. "Nihilist hippies. I guess, that makes us nippies."
Soon, a young woman, his wife, sits down on his lap. We briefly mention dogs, at which point, she hops up, lifts her shirt, and shows a tatoo in the southeast corner of her tummy. The tatoo is of her dog, Peaches, who died not long ago at age 23. Lovingly, she says that her husband is the reincarnation of Peaches.
They say that they have no money, but they do have tickets from JFK airport in New York back to the west coast. They're looking for a ride to New York. We mention that we're in town for the Pete Seeger concert and that there might be people from New York who'd help them out. They liked the idea. Then, he notices passer-by who has a shopping bag from Sam's Outfitters in one hand and a small bag of popcorn in the other. "Is Sam's giving away free popcorn?" Peaches asks. The passer-by nods in the affirmative. Taking their leave quickly, the two head into Sam's.
Like a tree, standing by the water
Last Saturday night, Sandra and I saw Pete Seeger in concert. He performed in Brattleboro in a benefit for Strolling of the Heifers, an organization that provides micro-loans and other support for Vermont farmers. Pete appeared with his grandson, Tao RodrÃguez-Seeger, and Guy Davis.
Pete's leaning on 90 and doesn't tour much. The (mostly gray-haired) crowd was there not just to hear him perform, but, primarily, to thank him. We thanked him for nearly 80 years of music that strengthened us when we were weary, comforted us when we were lonely, and inspired us when our moral vision was dim.
Because he makes it sound so natural, we forget that he's a formidable musician. His voice may have softened, but his banjo-picking is clear and clean. Tao and Guy are also world-class performers. Together they took us on a grand tour of music's expanses of space and time. Even those of use with 3/4-octave sang along. As Pete has often said, his mission is not to put songs in people's ears, but on people's lips.
Tears welled up from the first song, Midnight Special. Our eyes stayed wet through the closing number, This Land Is Your Land, because it really is our national anthem and because it was time for one of our greatest servants to go home. There's plenty of work to be done, but Pete has earned his rest.
Pete's leaning on 90 and doesn't tour much. The (mostly gray-haired) crowd was there not just to hear him perform, but, primarily, to thank him. We thanked him for nearly 80 years of music that strengthened us when we were weary, comforted us when we were lonely, and inspired us when our moral vision was dim.Because he makes it sound so natural, we forget that he's a formidable musician. His voice may have softened, but his banjo-picking is clear and clean. Tao and Guy are also world-class performers. Together they took us on a grand tour of music's expanses of space and time. Even those of use with 3/4-octave sang along. As Pete has often said, his mission is not to put songs in people's ears, but on people's lips.
Tears welled up from the first song, Midnight Special. Our eyes stayed wet through the closing number, This Land Is Your Land, because it really is our national anthem and because it was time for one of our greatest servants to go home. There's plenty of work to be done, but Pete has earned his rest.
Back to school
Tomorrow morning, I'll return to school. It's not your typical course so I won't be buying a new lunch box or pocket protector. Instead, I'll show up at 9:30 at the Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center and Wildlife Sanctuary in Worcester and be prepared to look at and listen to birds.
The course is an offering from W.I.S.E. (Worcester Institute for Senior Education), an innovative program of non-credit educational offerings sponsored by Assumption College. (Here's the Fall 2008 catalog in PDF.) The semester is divided into two parts. In the second session, I'll take a course titled Einstein’s Theory of Relativity for Laypeople. I don't think that they'll let us near the Large Hadron Collider, but we might understand a bit better why the world didn't implode when they turned on the LHC.
Monday, September 15, 2008
All that you dream
Lynn's brother, Tom Henrickson,is the subject of this week's cover story in Worcester Magazine.
Tom has written and produced a theatrical short called The Third Date. The article tells the story about how Tom developed and wrote the movie, how he built a network to get the film produced, and how he's continuing to expand the network in the hopes of making The Third Date into a feature-length film. Ultimately, though, the story is about a middle-aged guy with a dream to, as they say in minor league baseball, make it to the show.
Good luck, Tom.
Tom has written and produced a theatrical short called The Third Date. The article tells the story about how Tom developed and wrote the movie, how he built a network to get the film produced, and how he's continuing to expand the network in the hopes of making The Third Date into a feature-length film. Ultimately, though, the story is about a middle-aged guy with a dream to, as they say in minor league baseball, make it to the show.
Good luck, Tom.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Measuring hurricanes
There are some real, and potentially deadly, problems with our reliance on the Safir-Simpson scale for gauging the size of hurricanes. Wind speed is just one component in measuring the destructive power of a storm. Other factors, in combination with and even on their own, make such storms deadly.
- Storm surge. As we're seeing with Ike and as we saw with storms such as the New England Hurricane of 1938, can kill more and faster. The slow-moving tsunami pushed by the storm as it makes its way across the ocean can raise the water level from a few inches to many feet in minutes. In Providence in 1938, "the surge hit the downtown business district. In Exchange Place, water which had been just a few inches deep was waist deep within minutes. It rose to a remarkable 13 feet 8-1/2 inches, exceeding the level marked on the Old Market Building after the Hurricane of 1815."
- The dimensions of the storm. Again, from the National Hurricane Center, "Ike remains a very large hurricane and hurricane force winds extend outward up to 120 miles...195 km...from the center...and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 275 miles...445 km." Most hurricanes, even ones with much stronger winds, are half that size. The range of destruction is spread across a much wider area.
- Rainfall. Fay, a tropical storm when it reached Florida's west coast a few weeks ago, had top winds that barely reached 60 mph. It moved so slowly, however, meandering around central Florida like someone's drunken aunt, and delivered up to two feet of rain.
Friday, September 12, 2008
RoasterBoy playlist
September 11, 2008
Tom Rush - Galveston Flood
As we watch Ike intensify and take aim at Galveston, this old song about the 1900 Galveston flood keeps spinning around my head.
1 Day ago Wasn't that a mighty storm
Wasn't that a mighty storm in the morning
Wasn't that a mighty storm
It blew all the people away.
Powered by ScribeFire.
September 9, 2008
iTunes Genius Playlist
I am trying out the new iTunes 8 feature called Genius. In brief, you give the Genius the name of one song in your music library and it builds a playlist of stuff that a good DJ would put together. The first song that I chose was The Green Manalishi.Fleetwood Mac - The Green Manalishi
Live At The Boston Tea Party (Part One)
The Band - The River Hymn
To Kingdom Come (Disc 2)
Neil Young - The Loner
Live Rust
Savoy Brown - Louisiana Blues
Blue Matter
Cream - Deserted Cities Of The Heart
Wheels Of Fire - In The Studio
Quicksilver Messenger Service - Who Do You Love (Part 1)
Happy Trails
Yardbirds - Train Kept a Rollin'
Yardbirds Reunion Jam
The Velvet Underground - I'll Be Your Mirror
The Velvet Underground & Nico
John Lennon - Cold Turkey
The John Lennon Collection
Traffic - Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory
On the Road
Fleetwood Mac - Man Of The World
The Vaudeville Years - 1968 To 1970 (Disc 1)
Pink Floyd - Astronomy Domine
The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
Cream - N.S.U. (BBC Sessions)
Cream: The BBC Sessions
The Yardbirds - "Over, Under, Sideways, Down"
Roger The Engineer
Jeff Beck - Shapes Of Things
The Late 60's With Rod Stewart
Savoy Brown - Train To Nowhere
Blue Matter
Jefferson Airplane - Today
Jefferson Airplane Loves You (Disc 1)
Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks - I Scare Myself
Striking It Rich
The Electric Flag - Groovin' Is Easy
"The Monterey International Pop Festival,Volume"
Janis Joplin - Combination Of The Two
Janis (Disc 2)
Fleetwood Mac - Black Magic Woman
Fleetwood Mac - The Collection
Blind Faith - Presence Of The Lord
Blind Faith
Cream - Those Were The Days
Wheels Of Fire - In The Studio
Country Joe & The Fish - Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine
"The Monterey International Pop Festival, Volume 1"
Jefferson Airplane - Plastic Fantastic Lover [Live]
Jefferson Airplane Loves You (Disc 2)
September 8, 2008
Phil Ochs - Pleasures of the Harbor
The title song from this album, Pleasures of the Harbor, is an edgy tale of sailors home for brief shore leave. With Ochs's wiggling vocals and the gentle, stringed backing, sets you up for one of the most disturbing songs anywhere - The Crucifixion. Ochs opened some pretty strange doors in his brief time with us.
4 Days ago Powered by ScribeFire.
September 6, 2008
Woody Guthrie: Jesus Christ
You might recognize the tune and even some of the lyrics from Woody's Jesse James: MilkandCookies - Woody Guthrie: Jesus Christ 6 Days ago September 3, 2008
MilkandCookies - Pink Floyd: Us and Them, Original
MilkandCookies - Pink Floyd: Us and Them, OriginalIn a Rolling Stone interview, David Gilmour remarked that Pink Floyd wasn't very good musically and had to find other ways to be successful. Guess that it worked. Dark Side of the Moon was on the Billboard charts for more than 1500 weeks. 1 Week ago
iTunes shuffle playlist
I Hear A Rhapsody - Bill EvansBill Evans - "Montreux II"
Banquet Hall - Loreena McKennitt
To Drive The Cold Winter Away
Anu - Adrian Legg
Guitar For Mortals
Take My Hand, Precious Lord - Thomas A. Dorsey
Say Amen, Somebody
And - Grateful Dead
Terrapin Station (Capital Centre, Landover, MD 3/15/90) (Disc 3)
Treacherous Cretins - Frank Zappa
Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar (Disc 1)
Help Me - Elvis Presley
Amazing Grace: Elvis (Disc 2)
Buzzard Keep On Flyin' Over... - Simon Rattle cond.
Porgy And Bess Disk 2/3
Cousin Mary (Alternate Take) - John Coltrane
Giant Steps
Shango (Chant to the God of Thunder) - Babatunde Olatunji
Drums Of Passion 1 Week ago
September 2, 2008
YouTube - U2 BAD Live Aid 1985
There was so much great music at the Live Aid concert. No doubt, a lot of the energy came from the worthiness of the cause. Also, though, many bands were at the top of their games. Even the long vamp at the end of this one, while Bono dives into the crowd, adds to the haunting sharpness of the tune. 1 Week agoWhy people make fun of tech writers
Sad to say, I've written headlines like this, up to and including the split infinitive.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Do the math
I was reading this article about falling oil prices in today's Boston Globe. The subhead notes that the price of a barrel of oil is down 30% from its peak in July, but that prices could be rising again.
So, the price has dropped 30%. In order for it to return to that level, however, it will have to rise 50%. You go down 30% and up 50% to get to the same place?
In order to understand this, I guess that we should consult with Sarah Palin, whom John McCain says “knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the United States of America.”
So, the price has dropped 30%. In order for it to return to that level, however, it will have to rise 50%. You go down 30% and up 50% to get to the same place?
In order to understand this, I guess that we should consult with Sarah Palin, whom John McCain says “knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the United States of America.”
Powered by ScribeFire.
Crime in suburbia
From The Landmark (subscription required):
...
9:46 p.m. Skateboarders on Main St. 10:07 p.m.
10:39 a.m. Caller on cell phone says she's lost in the woods at Trout Brook; OK, dog got her back to the trail
4:48 a.m. 911 Caller scared because of no hot water
Rutland
12:05 p.m. Man got stuck in tree while trying to rescue cat, Wildbrook Dr.
Sterling
Holden
Monday, September 1
6:53 p.m. Skateboarders in roadway on Main St. causing a hazard...
9:46 p.m. Skateboarders on Main St. 10:07 p.m.
Tuesday, September 2
8:31 a.m. Animal in back yard with foul smell on Salisbury St.10:39 a.m. Caller on cell phone says she's lost in the woods at Trout Brook; OK, dog got her back to the trail
Friday, September 5
8:40 a.m. Two children waiting for bus throwing acorns at passing cars on Wachusett St. 8:41 a.m.Saturday, September 6
10:25 a.m. Caller reporting dead mouse in coolata left in car overnightSunday, September 7
4:48 a.m. 911 Caller scared because of no hot water
Rutland
Monday, September 1
12:05 p.m. Man got stuck in tree while trying to rescue cat, Wildbrook Dr.
Sterling
Monday, September 1
8:36 a.m. Officer wanted, Rugg Rd./ Maple St. Woman forced off road into poison ivy by bicyclists riding abreast in the roadTuesday, September 2
12:01 p.m. Loose pig in area of Justice Hill/Rowley Hill RdsFriday, September 5
5:06 p.m. Loose chickens in road in front of funeral home, Worcester Rd.Ike is a scary storm
According to Dr. Jeff Masters, Ike is more powerful than Katrina.The way that it is strengthening, by increasing its windows further out from the center rather than wrapping tightly around the eye, is producing a massive storm surge on the dangerous northeast quadrant.
Ike will probably inundate a 180-mile stretch of Texas coast from Port O'Connor to just north of Galveston with a 10-15 foot storm surge. This will occur even if Ike is a Category 1 storm at landfall. The latest experimental storm surge forecast From NOAA's SLOSH model (Figure 1) shows a 10% chance that Ike's storm surge will exceed 15-21 feet at Galveston. The Galveston sea wall is 17 feet high, so it may get overtopped.Reminds me of Tom Rush - Galveston Flood
Powered by ScribeFire.
New feature on this blog's home page
I've added a new widget on this blog's home page. It shows updates from some of the blogs that I'm following. It uses a new feature in Blogger. Many of you, I know, read this blog via RSS or email and so may not need to see the home page. If you happen to check it, please let me know what you think.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
What I learned from the sidewalk trash
It's a cool and clear morning. There's plenty of water around from the overnight dew and yesterday's rains. Marley and I didn't walk yesterday because of the weather. The day off and the cooler temperatures gave Marley some extra energy today. We walked to the Worcester line and back at a steady clip, as steady as a curious dog's nose will let us proceed.
I've been taking an extra plastic bag so that, along with cleaning up after Marley, I can also pick up a bit of roadside trash. It gets me out of the cycle of my own thoughts as I try to imagine who tossed the trash and why.
According the Centers for Disease Control, Marlboro is, by far, the most popular cigarette brand in the country. (The 2007 report is here.) My unscientific curbside analysis shows something different. About half of all of the cigarette packs that I pick up are Newports, with Marlboro, Parliament, and Camel filtered making up the balance. I rarely see the cheap, generic brands. Holden must be doing pretty well.
I've been taking an extra plastic bag so that, along with cleaning up after Marley, I can also pick up a bit of roadside trash. It gets me out of the cycle of my own thoughts as I try to imagine who tossed the trash and why.
According the Centers for Disease Control, Marlboro is, by far, the most popular cigarette brand in the country. (The 2007 report is here.) My unscientific curbside analysis shows something different. About half of all of the cigarette packs that I pick up are Newports, with Marlboro, Parliament, and Camel filtered making up the balance. I rarely see the cheap, generic brands. Holden must be doing pretty well.
When content aggregators get the blues
Apparently, this site, allaboutdepression.info, generates articles by locating topics related to keyword, collecting the topics, and publishing them. In this case, the keyword was depression. The aggregator didn't bother to notice that there are many different meanings and uses for the word depression and its derivatives.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Old becomes new, rinse, repeat
Friend Kevin and I were talking recently about some popular new technologies that are showing up in the workplace. One is a netbook, a light-weight laptop or portable computer that relies primarily on web services to provide you with what you need - applications, communications, and storage. Related to the netbook, is PC-as-a-Service. The same basic principle applies - all or an important part of your computing capabilities is handled by services that reside on servers inside or outside your company's data center. The overall idea is that it's difficult and expensive to maintain an operating system and the requisite applications on hundreds or thousands of employee computers. It's far more efficient to consolidate those capabilities back in the computer room or out there in the cloud.
Kevin and I found this both interesting and amusing. See, more than 20 years ago, when we worked at Digital Equipment Corporation, we managed X Windows systems that put a big monitor on the user's desk while all of the serious computing was handled by a server someplace else. (Purists may want to quibble about the use of the words client and server in the X Windows context. Quibble away.) When it was time to update the operating system or other programs or to add more storage or computing power, you took care of it in the computer room, rather than going to dozens of cubicles and performing the same task on each user's system.
Of course, then and now, a highly-reliable, high-speed network is essential. (What's the definition of a networked solution? A system that you didn't know about in a place that you never heard about is keeping you from doing what you want to do.)
For lots of people, that kind of connectivity is available at home, at work, and at their favorite coffee shop. Using the Firefox browser, I have many days when I don't need to use any desktop application. My email, calendar, task list, music, newspapers, and time-wasters are delivered by the web. Twenty years ago, we had comparable solutions, although the systems were at least 10 times more expensive and the networks were 1% of the current speeds. It makes the brain hurt to think about what the next score of years will bring.
Kevin and I found this both interesting and amusing. See, more than 20 years ago, when we worked at Digital Equipment Corporation, we managed X Windows systems that put a big monitor on the user's desk while all of the serious computing was handled by a server someplace else. (Purists may want to quibble about the use of the words client and server in the X Windows context. Quibble away.) When it was time to update the operating system or other programs or to add more storage or computing power, you took care of it in the computer room, rather than going to dozens of cubicles and performing the same task on each user's system.
Of course, then and now, a highly-reliable, high-speed network is essential. (What's the definition of a networked solution? A system that you didn't know about in a place that you never heard about is keeping you from doing what you want to do.)
For lots of people, that kind of connectivity is available at home, at work, and at their favorite coffee shop. Using the Firefox browser, I have many days when I don't need to use any desktop application. My email, calendar, task list, music, newspapers, and time-wasters are delivered by the web. Twenty years ago, we had comparable solutions, although the systems were at least 10 times more expensive and the networks were 1% of the current speeds. It makes the brain hurt to think about what the next score of years will bring.
Powered by ScribeFire.
Monday, September 08, 2008
Even more on pharmacies
OK, so, I look through the advertisements in the Sunday papers and see that Rite-Aid, our neighborhood chain pharmacy, is offering a deal on vitamins. Vitamins are good for us.
I make my way to the store and then to the vitamin aisle. The sticker on the Nature Made vitamin shelf says BOGO .00. I look around. There are BOGO signs in lots of places. I go back to the front of the store, pick up the flier, find the ad (above), and then, shocking as it may seem, I ask for help from a clerk. "Are these items on sale, buy one, get one free?" I ask.
"Yes," she replies.
"Ah. BOGO. Buy One. Get One."
"Yes. We're trying to educate the customers on what BOGO means."
Uh, huh. Bogo.
Powered by ScribeFire.
Online tunes
I've been kicking the tires on several Internet song services - last.fm, Pandora, Tun3r, Songza, among others. They're all trying to something both the same and yet be different. They offer access to lots of songs online and have various ways of trying to figure out what you like. (Amazon pioneered this service with its recommendation service.) The good news is that they let you decide what you want and offer new stuff that you may not have heard. The bad news is that none of these sites is terribly intuitive. It's easy to find yourself in odd places, being asked odd questions, and not being able to get back to the place where the music comes from.
Also, as they try to comply with copyright constraints, you often find that an obvious feature has been turned off. For example, Pandora lets you search for and select a song you want, but won't let you listen to it. (They play something that they think is like it.)
Also, as they try to comply with copyright constraints, you often find that an obvious feature has been turned off. For example, Pandora lets you search for and select a song you want, but won't let you listen to it. (They play something that they think is like it.)
Powered by ScribeFire.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
So, this person will be ready to assume the presidency?
McCain campaign manager, Rick Davis, has said that the campaign won't make Sarah Palin available for news interviews until the time is right and the reporters are well-behaved.
From Fox News:It's up to Governor Palin to be ready, not the media. What's going to happen if she needs to have a summit meeting with Vladimir Putin or Hugo Chaves or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Angela Merkel? She's not going to meet with them until they promise to play nicely?
Palin to Do First Television Interview on ABC - America’s Election HQ: "So until at which point in time we feel like the news media is going to treat her with some level of respect and deference, I think it would be foolhardy to put her out into that kind of environment."
Paths in the woods last a long time
Tropical Storm Hanna brought us heavy rains, but modest winds. We'd closed all of the windows last night, save one, so the house was still stuffy when I got up this morning. With the back door open, I could smell the wet pine scraps that we've left on the wood rack on the back deck.
Across the street, the little stream sounds like a torrent. The little stream feeds a small pond which feeds another stream that runs through the Alden Labs. This afternoon, we took a walk through the woods around the labs. Back in the spring, there had been a lot of trees cut down in those woods and branches left across the fire roads where we walked. It was treacherous at times, stepping through the branches and brush. It's still not clear what they were trying to accomplish. There are still a lot of hardwood logs, good for firewood, lying on the ground. It isn't an easy walk, but the exercise is good.
Paths through the woods last a long time. It's difficult for new growth to establish itself on the hardened ground. Eventually, of course, left to themselves, the woods will reclaim everything, but that can be years, even decades.
Along the way, Marley stopped by the rushing stream to have a drink of the hurrying water.
The river bed is orange, a sign that there's dissolved iron in the water. That's common around here, but it's a bit surprising, then, that we don't have iron ore in the ground.
We walked out of the woods and past the lab buildings, learning along the way, how fish are able to graduate from one grade to another in their schools:
Across the street, the little stream sounds like a torrent. The little stream feeds a small pond which feeds another stream that runs through the Alden Labs. This afternoon, we took a walk through the woods around the labs. Back in the spring, there had been a lot of trees cut down in those woods and branches left across the fire roads where we walked. It was treacherous at times, stepping through the branches and brush. It's still not clear what they were trying to accomplish. There are still a lot of hardwood logs, good for firewood, lying on the ground. It isn't an easy walk, but the exercise is good.
Paths through the woods last a long time. It's difficult for new growth to establish itself on the hardened ground. Eventually, of course, left to themselves, the woods will reclaim everything, but that can be years, even decades.
Along the way, Marley stopped by the rushing stream to have a drink of the hurrying water.
We walked out of the woods and past the lab buildings, learning along the way, how fish are able to graduate from one grade to another in their schools:
McCain has difficulty finding a tune.
During last night's Republican convention, the sound system erupted with what is, IMO, the best rock and roll song ever - Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode. Berry hasn't formally objected to the use of his song, but he's made it clear that he prefers Obama.
In the meantime, the Republicans are also try to adopt a Van Halen tune, Right Now. The band objects. The songwriter, formely VH frontman, Sammy Hagar, doesn't mind so much, but the current band, re-formed with David Lee Roth, doesn't like the idea of any party using the song for political purposes.
Update: Washed-Up 80's Rockers Clamor for McCain-Palin Infringement
In the meantime, the Republicans are also try to adopt a Van Halen tune, Right Now. The band objects. The songwriter, formely VH frontman, Sammy Hagar, doesn't mind so much, but the current band, re-formed with David Lee Roth, doesn't like the idea of any party using the song for political purposes.
Update: Washed-Up 80's Rockers Clamor for McCain-Palin Infringement
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Crime in suburbia
From The Landmark (subscription required):
1:31 p.m. Suspicious person sleeping on side of Mason Rd.; OK, waiting to go to appointment
9:33 a.m. Several reports of male in vehicle yelling, Mason Rd.
5:12 p.m. Individual with items for sale taking up part of roadway, Mason Rd.
12:15 p.m. Large swarm of bees, Holden Rd.
6:17 p.m. Dog in fight with skunk, Indian Hill Rd
5:50 p.m. Caller found carrier pigeon sitting under vehicle in yard, Birch Dr.
6:01 p.m. Puppy (Scruffy) ran off again, Beaman Rd.
3:30 a.m. Report that someone put a scarecrow in road that looks like a person, Redemption Rock Trl.
9:10 a.m. Caller has sick rabbit and wants to know where to bring it for proper care, Leominster Rd.
Holden
Monday, August 25
1:31 p.m. Suspicious person sleeping on side of Mason Rd.; OK, waiting to go to appointment
Tuesday, August 26
9:33 a.m. Several reports of male in vehicle yelling, Mason Rd.
5:12 p.m. Individual with items for sale taking up part of roadway, Mason Rd.
Paxton
Friday, August 29
12:15 p.m. Large swarm of bees, Holden Rd.
Sunday, August 31
6:17 p.m. Dog in fight with skunk, Indian Hill Rd
Sterling
Monday, August 25
5:50 p.m. Caller found carrier pigeon sitting under vehicle in yard, Birch Dr.
6:01 p.m. Puppy (Scruffy) ran off again, Beaman Rd.
Saturday, August 30
3:30 a.m. Report that someone put a scarecrow in road that looks like a person, Redemption Rock Trl.
Sunday, August 31
9:10 a.m. Caller has sick rabbit and wants to know where to bring it for proper care, Leominster Rd.
Powered by ScribeFire.
More on modern pharmacies
I've written about the goofiness of adding a third national chain pharmacy to our fair town. The competition among these chains is fierce. It's even more intense because most health insurance plans strongly encourage clients to use mail-order pharmacies for prescriptions that treat chronic conditions. The cost of mail-order prescriptions is typically a third of the cost that you'd pay at the retail stores, even with insurance coverage. So, the pharmacies are having trouble making money on their primary business, selling prescription medications, and have to find new and different products and services to entice customers into their stores.
CVS, for example, has added Minute Clinics, allowing customer to come in and see a doctor or nurse practitioner about minor ailments - sore throat, rashes, and such.
Other chains, such as Rite Aid, offer new and different products at steep discounts:
CVS, for example, has added Minute Clinics, allowing customer to come in and see a doctor or nurse practitioner about minor ailments - sore throat, rashes, and such.
Other chains, such as Rite Aid, offer new and different products at steep discounts:
These times have been good for some
The Wall Street Journal reports that the number of ultraweathly, those with a net worth of $20 million or more, grew by more than 50% between 1998 and 2004. The total wealth of this group grew by two-thirds.
There was a similar jump in the number of people worth between $10 million and $20 million during that same time.
Remember, these numbers reflect growth from a time starting with the Internet bubble and ending after the bubble burst. The biggest asset for these folks was in publicly-traded stock.
How'd you do during those years?
By the way, here are the results of a CBS?New York Times poll in which the delegates to the Republican 2008 convention describe themselves:
There was a similar jump in the number of people worth between $10 million and $20 million during that same time.
Remember, these numbers reflect growth from a time starting with the Internet bubble and ending after the bubble burst. The biggest asset for these folks was in publicly-traded stock.
How'd you do during those years?
By the way, here are the results of a CBS?New York Times poll in which the delegates to the Republican 2008 convention describe themselves:
Powered by ScribeFire.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Austin Human Society’s Reading-to-Cats Program
RoasterBoy's playlist
September 3, 2008
iTunes shuffle playlist
I Hear A Rhapsody - Bill EvansBill Evans - "Montreux II"
Banquet Hall - Loreena McKennitt
To Drive The Cold Winter Away
Anu - Adrian Legg
Guitar For Mortals
Take My Hand, Precious Lord - Thomas A. Dorsey
Say Amen, Somebody
And - Grateful Dead
Terrapin Station (Capital Centre, Landover, MD 3/15/90) (Disc 3)
Treacherous Cretins - Frank Zappa
Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar (Disc 1)
Help Me - Elvis Presley
Amazing Grace: Elvis (Disc 2)
Buzzard Keep On Flyin' Over... - Simon Rattle cond.
Porgy And Bess Disk 2/3
Cousin Mary (Alternate Take) - John Coltrane
Giant Steps
Shango (Chant to the God of Thunder) - Babatunde Olatunji
Drums Of Passion 2 Minutes ago
September 2, 2008
YouTube - U2 BAD Live Aid 1985
There was so much great music at the Live Aid concert. No doubt, a lot of the energy came from the worthiness of the cause. Also, though, many bands were at the top of their games. Even the long vamp at the end of this one, while Bono dives into the crowd, adds to the haunting sharpness of the tune. 1 Day agoBefore the Republicans start chantng Country First, they might want to check their domain names.
Republicans have embraced the phrase Country First as a call to arms and a call to responsibility. It's an admirable sentiment, exhorting us set aside our parochial differences and think of solutions that are best for our nation, rather than those that might benefit our group, region, or selves.
As a strategy, however, the Country First campaign seems to have overlooked one of the basics of 21st marketing: register the domain before you utter a word.
CountryFirst.com is a parked domain, meaning that someone bought the name and is willing to sell it to you. In this case, the name is owned by a company in Australia.
Maybe, the Republicans meant America First. Oops, the domain name americafirst.org is owned by a credit union in Utah. They don't have have a web site, yet.
The America First party owns AmericanFirstParty.org:
AmericaFirstParty.com is also for sale.
As a strategy, however, the Country First campaign seems to have overlooked one of the basics of 21st marketing: register the domain before you utter a word.
CountryFirst.com is a parked domain, meaning that someone bought the name and is willing to sell it to you. In this case, the name is owned by a company in Australia.
It turns out that Country First is an Asian Indian movement that is championing "Respect and Dignity for all Indians," focusing on responsibility, anti-corruption, and electoral reform in India. http://www.countryfirst.org/
Maybe, the Republicans meant America First. Oops, the domain name americafirst.org is owned by a credit union in Utah. They don't have have a web site, yet.
AmericaFirstParty.com is also for sale.
Pillar Six - test links before deploying web site
Yesterday, friend C. sent me a pointer to a white paper entitled The Five Pillars of Engineering Document Management. While this topic might seem like an extra-strength dose of Nappien for most of you, it's closely related to the kind of work that I've done.
So, I followed the link to the company's site and filled out the request form. While waiting for the company to send me PDF file, I nosed around the web site a bit.
Imagine, then, what a potential customer might have to say when, after clicking on one of the links, this page shows up:
Nice, huh? And, when I click on the link that says Contact Us, I get the same error page.
So, I followed the link to the company's site and filled out the request form. While waiting for the company to send me PDF file, I nosed around the web site a bit.
Imagine, then, what a potential customer might have to say when, after clicking on one of the links, this page shows up:
Nice, huh? And, when I click on the link that says Contact Us, I get the same error page.
Powered by ScribeFire.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
RoasterBoy Playlist
Aug 27, 2008 1:52pm
18 years ago today, the sky was crying & created a Texas flood when Stevie Ray Vaughn left us
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas FloodAug 21, 2008 6:03pm
The Archive - Music Videos | thevine.com.au
The Archive - Music Videos | thevine.com.auOver the years Paul Mawhinney has amassed what has become the world's largest record collection. Due to a struggling record industry Paul is being forced to sell his collection. This is his story.
If you're lost in the rain in Juarez ...
You can use a herd of cows as your compass. According to the BBC, images from Google Earth show that cows tend to align themselves on a north-south axis.
Of course, cows won't tell you if it's going to rain. You'll need a weatherman to tell you the way the wind blows.
(With apologies to Bob Dylan's Tom Thumb's Blues and Subterranean Homesick Blues)
Of course, cows won't tell you if it's going to rain. You'll need a weatherman to tell you the way the wind blows.
(With apologies to Bob Dylan's Tom Thumb's Blues and Subterranean Homesick Blues)
Cutting costs in the most annoying ways
[I've got a feeling that this is going to be regular feature....]
- Air Canada Jazz, a regional affiliate of the national carrier, is eliminating inflatable life vests. You can use your seat cushion as a flotation device. (And, if you're traveling with a child, well, how well can Junior swim?)
- Colleges are removing cafeteria trays.
I took college.
It's college ranking time again. Although I never buy the magazine, I don't mind noting that US News and World Report once again rates my alma mater at the top of liberal arts colleges in the nation. (It's ok that we're tied with the other guys; we were slightly more selective among applicants.)
It's also important to remember that, as the Wall Street Journal tells us, for most people, college is a waste of time. Only once did my college degree come up in a job interview. That was during my first interview for a job in high tech. The interview was long and rambling, with only a little bit of discussion about the specific work that I'd be doing (editing and proofreading) and the skills that I would need to do the job.
It's also important to note that college can be a great big waste of money, too. Radar reports on the worst colleges in America. The biggest rip-off, for example, is that other college in Amherst: Hampshire College. "If college is an investment, Hampshire is a commemorative pewter tankard from the Franklin Mint."
It's also important to remember that, as the Wall Street Journal tells us, for most people, college is a waste of time. Only once did my college degree come up in a job interview. That was during my first interview for a job in high tech. The interview was long and rambling, with only a little bit of discussion about the specific work that I'd be doing (editing and proofreading) and the skills that I would need to do the job.
It's also important to note that college can be a great big waste of money, too. Radar reports on the worst colleges in America. The biggest rip-off, for example, is that other college in Amherst: Hampshire College. "If college is an investment, Hampshire is a commemorative pewter tankard from the Franklin Mint."
Powered by ScribeFire.
Commencing to beginulate
One of the regular characters on the Simpsons is Professor John I.Q. Nerdelbaum Frink, Jr.. The professor is pretty much an animated version of Jerry Lewis's Nutty Professor.
It's then a bit weird to see Frinkspeak in a real, commercial software product. Mozy backs up files on your computer to a server. The files are backed up when your computer is inactive, so you need only set it and forget it. We've been using it for quite a while and have been pleased with its ease of use. This afternoon, however, I wanted to check on the status of the backups and so launched Mozy as a foreground process:
According to the Urban Dictionary,"reticulating splines"is "the process of combining many short lines and curves into longer, interpolated ones called 'splines'." That's really helpful, isn't it?
My goodness, I've been redorkulated.
My goodness, I've been redorkulated.
A lot of people are at home
The other day, I was trimming a couple of branches that had been taken over by tent caterpillars. To do so, I had walk along the stone wall in front of our house. All of my steps were careful except for the last one. So, I've been hobbled by a mild sprained ankle which has slowed me to the same pace as Marley when we're on our three-mile walk.
In an informal survey, I noticed that slightly more than half of the homes we passed had at least one car in the driveway, this during the mid-morning on a workday. It's interesting to think that, even during these hectic times, there's someone likely at home at your neighbors' houses. There are few people in their yards, even on a delightful, late summer's day. Most houses also have the curtains drawn, at least in the street-facing windows. (He says, writing from his upstairs room where the shades are drawn to keep the room cool.) Ah, well. Suburbia is what it is. People are at home and yet ambulances can come and go from a neighbor's house and we would know what or why.
What we do know is that, because it's late summer, some yards are full to overflowing with all kinds of growth. In one stretch of sidewalk, you'd barely know that there was a sidewalk:
Naturally, an old dog will notice some very compelling smell deep in the thicket and will anchor his nose on that spot until he's inhaling dirt. Come winter, all of that will fall back and we'll have an open sidewalk once again.
In an informal survey, I noticed that slightly more than half of the homes we passed had at least one car in the driveway, this during the mid-morning on a workday. It's interesting to think that, even during these hectic times, there's someone likely at home at your neighbors' houses. There are few people in their yards, even on a delightful, late summer's day. Most houses also have the curtains drawn, at least in the street-facing windows. (He says, writing from his upstairs room where the shades are drawn to keep the room cool.) Ah, well. Suburbia is what it is. People are at home and yet ambulances can come and go from a neighbor's house and we would know what or why.
What we do know is that, because it's late summer, some yards are full to overflowing with all kinds of growth. In one stretch of sidewalk, you'd barely know that there was a sidewalk:
Some jokes pretty much write themselves...
Apparently, during the Olympics, Chinese authorities regarded bagpipes as "some kind of weapon." -- BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | South of Scotland | Bagpipes provoked Olympic alarm
New Orleans getting ready for a big storm. Thanks, SCOTUS.
The Gun Shots: Hunting, Shooting, Politics, Entertainment, Guns, Rifles: “I just left a sporting goods store and you would think that the number-one selling item would be plywood or potable water or gasoline right now,” he said. “Apparently it is AR-15s and .223 ammo. I watched at least 20 people buy AR-15s and cases of .223.”
* SCOTUS - Supreme Court of the United States. See the Court's ruling in Washington, D.C. v. Heller (PDF file).
* SCOTUS - Supreme Court of the United States. See the Court's ruling in Washington, D.C. v. Heller (PDF file).
These times have been good for some
The Wall Street Journal reports that the number of ultraweathly, those with a net worth of $20 million or more, grew by more than 50% between 1998 and 2004. The total wealth of this group grew by two-thirds.
There was a similar jump in the number of people worth between $10 million and $20 million during that same time.
Remember, these numbers reflect growth from a time starting with the Internet bubble and ending after the bubble burst. The biggest asset for these folks was in publicly-traded stock.
How'd you do during those years?
There was a similar jump in the number of people worth between $10 million and $20 million during that same time.
Remember, these numbers reflect growth from a time starting with the Internet bubble and ending after the bubble burst. The biggest asset for these folks was in publicly-traded stock.
How'd you do during those years?
Powered by ScribeFire.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)