What the Web brings to news

we were quite surprised to hear the radio news yesterday. The lead story was about the tractor-trailer that that flipped over in Chicopee (MassLive.com). It's rare to have a Boston station carry a story, let alone lead with one, that comes in from west of 128.

The newspapers and broadcast outlets got the basics just about the same - how this truck driver swerved to avoid a car that had stalled on the highway, how the gasoline and diesel fuel exploded, the heroics of a passer-by who helped the truck drive escape, the mixed safety record of the trucking company. Overall, it was a scary story that could have been even more tragic.

The worldwide web, in the meantime, finds additional, different ways of looking at tragedy. For example, there is a site called truckspills.com that focuses on the weird and varied stuff that trucks have spilled as the result of accidents.

Then, there's the granddaddy of them all, Bus Plunge.It's been around since the start of the decade and brings gripping and grim tales of buses going off of the sides of roads.It's what the web does best - bring you answers to questions that you didn't know you are too embarrassed to ask.

Families are wonderful, for most folks

Sometimes, a family is just too much:





















And, you can never trust those realetors.

What kind of thinker are you?

Your Thinking is Abstract and Random

You are flexible, adaptable, and creative. There's many ways that you can learn - and you're up for any of them. You relate well to other people, and you do well working in groups. You can help people communicate together and work with each other's strengths. You don't work well with people who are competitive or adversarial. You prefer to work toward a common goal... not toward conflicting goals.

What Kind of Thinker Are You?

A walk through suburbia

It's not as serious as dodging sniper fire on the tarmac in Bosnia, but these suburban roadway present their own hazards. Many of the roads don't have sidewalks and can be quite narrow, particularly when SUVs in a hurry are taking up both lanes. Fortunately, the snow banks have melted away, so Marley and I can step into the safety of someone's muddy lawn.

Although most people associate Holden with the land of mega-houses, there are a lot of five-, four-, and even three-room houses nestled along the older side streets, houses built 50 to 75 years ago on a quarter-acre tucked into what had been woods. These houses don't always age well. They weren't built with the best of materials or by the best carpenters. Nevertheless, they were and are someone's home.

Yesterday, as Sandra, Marley, and I walked to the Worcester line, two large shadows passed over us, blocking the noon sun. Two hawks were flying low, looking for lunch.

T&G - Arrest made in church vandalism

Last week, someone painted anti-Christian and other not-nice graffiti on churches in Phillipston and Gardner. The suspect turned himself in yesterday. What I found most interesting in the story, Worcester Telegram & Gazette News: "Arrest made in church vandalism," is that the reporter used the suspect's MySpace info (NSFW).

This week's RoasterBoy playlist

• Electric Flag - Another Country (Tuesday, Mar 25 at 08:37 PM GMT)
  As with so many talented folks, Mike Bloomfield died too young, died of just too much of too much. He founded the Electric Flag after leaving the Butterfield band in 1968. The one album, A Long Time Comin', had rich talent - Nick Gravenites, Buddy Miles, Harvey Brooks - and laid out a rich set of complex tunes with amazing blues threads holding it all together. The sweetness of Easy Rider sits up there with Peter Green's Albatross in my blues licks hall of fame.
• Wormtown Underground Radio Network (Monday, Mar 24 at 07:29 PM GMT)Wormtown Underground Radio Network
  
  BTW: This was post #100 on the Playlist.
  
  
• 3 Mustaphas 3 - Soba Song (Monday, Mar 24 at 06:59 PM GMT)
  Let's see, we have a west Texas swing song extolling the virtues of a Japanese noodle soup, modulo some klezmer and middle Eastern woodwinds. It's like tuning into four or five radio stations at once.

A great big bucket of "It ain't fair!"

[Update 3/25/08: Smokey passed at home away this afternoon.]

M&L's cat, Smokey, has been losing weight for a while and has shown little interest in eating, even the good stuff. I brought him to the vet on Friday and today received the results of the blood tests. In brief, his body isn't producing any new red blood cells even as it destroys the ones that he has. It sounds like cancer in the bone marrow.

We concluded that the best thing to do is nothing, except to try to keep him comfortable. He doesn't seem to be in any pain. He's lethargic and, as mentioned, has little interest in eating. At yesterday's Easter gathering, he just wanted to sit on the carpet in the middle of everything. We'd move him out of the way and he'd come back to the same spot.

Smokester is the mellowest cat I've known, particularly for being an outdoor cat. He'll spend a day in the woods hunting and then come home to be carried around like towel in a family of six kids.

The real kicker is that Smokey and Tess are just about the same age, a few weeks apart. They got Smokey shortly after Tess was born. They've grown up together. Tess will have go on without him. Ouch.

TJL's letters

XP08B - Lebeaux, Thelma Jurva (c1925-?) née Hakkarainen, wife of Lincoln Lebeaux - Letters from Edward Glover to Thelma Lebeaux (ref. P08)

(Thanks to brother Mike for the tip.)

No late-night radio, eh?

I've had satellite radio (Sirius) in my car for the past couple of years and so don't listen to AM or FM much at all. Occasionally, I check the local news or traffic reports, but that's about it. Time was, however, when I'd listen to lots of different radio stations. One in particular, CBAM, the CBC Radio One station out of Moncton NB, delivered a powerful signal after dark. When commuting home during the winter months, I'd get to listen to the CBC news The World at Six and As It Happens.

CBAM-AM is going off the air in early April. The locals have a high-powered FM station, giving them a better signal all day long. And, the CBC national feed is available on Sirius.

One less AM station to bounce off of the night-time sky.

Easter for many, but not all, Christians

Bronislaus Kush wrote a very interesting and informative piece, Split in churches rises with Easter, about the differences between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Most notable today is that the western churches, including the Roman Catholic and Protestant denominations, are observing Easter today. The eastern churches use a different calendar and different method for calculating the date of this movable feast; they will observe Easter in about five weeks.

There are also many profound differences between the east and west, divisions that stretch back through more than three-quarters of the Christian era. This includes the primacy of the bishop of Rome, the role of the national churches, and many details in the Mass itself.

Because most American Christians are affiliated with the western churches, today is our day for sunrise services, chocolate rabbits, and Peeps.

[Update: Here's some more info about how the Easter date is calculated (for the western churches) from God Plays Dice: Easter's early this year. Deal with it.

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Along the lines of the questions regarding the historical churches, I have a couple of questions that I hope some reader might be able to answer:

• Why do many Protestant churches (Anglican/Episcopal and Methodist notably) refer to various saints who were elevated before the Reformation?
• Have the Anglicans, or other churches, for that matter, elevated any new saints?
  

Ah, families

Sandra has been collecting genealogical information for her family for quite a while. She and her cousin, Jeanette, share information from a variety of sources. Sandra organizes the information using Family Tree Maker software. It's work that requires close attention because names are often reused and, well, as she observed, "It gets confusing when cousins marry." By one account, she's her own third or fourth cousin.

Sawzall and the sounds of spring

This is a noisy time of year. We're still a month and a half before the leaves have returned. The snow is mostly gone; what's left is hard-frozen or just plain ice. So, when the birds fill a tree or when Sandra gets out her Sawzall to cut up some scrap wood, the sound carries full volume a long way. The strong northwest winds that we've had for the past couple of days do shape the direction of the sounds, so we're hearing more from Main Street. When the winds let up, we can hear more from the stream behind the houses across the street.

We went for a walk through the woods that surround Alden Labs. Tree cutters have been busy, thinning the woods. Most of the big logs are gone so the fire road is littered with oak, pine, birch, and maple branches. The sawdust helps with traction over the ice, but it's work to keep your balance when climbing through the brush. We're expecting that the wood crews will return with chippers to take away the brush.

On the walk, we get to see neighbors whom we've not seen in a while. One neighbor proudly showed off the crocus buds that are just peeking above the ground. We shared news about this neighbor and that and heard the news of others.

We have a small front yard and so can use the excuse that, when we're outside, we're usually out back. That's true, but it's also true that we're shy. (Well, that I am.) Shyness begets shyness, even when we get a sunny day on this first weekend of spring.

Travels with Mr. Sniffy

One of our regular walks takes us to the Worcester line and back, about three miles round-trip. The intersection of Chapel, Shrewsbury, and Holden streets can be tricky, but we're not in a hurry.

I let Marley walk on the lawn side of the sidewalk. It makes for a slower walk, but, again, we're not in a hurry. The lawns, particularly this time of year, are giving up interesting smells. Marley will plant his nose in the ground like a hook anchor and sniff out all of the goodness that the dirt has to offer.

Several households leave their dogs outside, either in a pen or on a run. All of the dogs have something to say about Marley's proximity to their homesteads. Marley, knowing that he's the visitor, is quiet and generally looks straight ahead. If the roles are reversed and a dog passes in front of our house, he'd have much to say. Some dogs, such as the St. Bernard at the corner of our street, seem more playful than protective. In any case, we keep walking.

Mike and Lynn's cat, Smokey, is staying with us for a bit. The Smokester is staying in the apartment. There are two doors between him and Marley, enough thickness to keep Marley from being interested. At some time, no doubt, each will become aware of the other. We'll deal with that then. For now, Marley is much more interested in what I'm having for lunch and will I please share a bit of it with him.

Holy Week and A Prayer for an End to the Iraq War

RB Note: No one will confuse me with a Catholic, lapsed or otherwise. Nevertheless, in serious times, we draw from serious wells.
3/20/08 Update: Five protesters were arrested for praying this rosary outside the federal courthouse in Worcester. See Pie and Coffee » 5 arrested for praying the rosary in Worcester

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posted by Mike on March 18th, 2008

Editor’s note: This will be part of a Holy Week prayer service at the Federal Building in Worcester.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, under the inspiratrion of Blessed Franz Jagerstatter, who gave his life to denounce an unjust war, on the fifth anniversary of the latest US escalation of its 17-year-long war on Iraq, we gather to beg Your forgiveness for the sin of this war and to ask for Your grace to end it now. We make these prayers in the name of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. Amen.

For the over 88,000 Iraqi citizens killed since 2003, we pray:
Lord, have mercy.

For the 4,100 US soldiers killed in Iraq since 1991, we pray:
Christ, have mercy.

For the 200,000 Iraqis killed in the first Gulf War, we pray:
Lord, have mercy.

For the 1.5 million Iraqis, including 800,000 children, killed by US-sponsored sanctions between 1991 and 2002, we pray:
Kyrie, eleison.

For the thousands of Iraqis killed by “no-fly zone” bombings between 1991 and 2002, we pray:
Christe, eleison.

For our failure to speak out more forcefully against the sin of this long war on Iraq, we pray:
Kyrie, eleison.

Recalling that Pope John Paul II called war on Iraq “useless slaughter” and “unjust, immoral, and illegal,” we pray the rosary to Mary, Queen of Peace, that the ears of all those in the federal government might finally be opened to attend to the plea of millions of Americans who want the war to end now.

Pray a rosary:

The First Sorrowful Mystery: Christ’s agony in the garden.
Help us to end the agony of the Iraqi people and to return all American soldiers safely home.

The Second Sorrowful Mystery: Jesus is scourged.
Help us to end the torture our nation continues to inflict on prisoners in Iraq and elsewhere.

The Third Sorrowful Mystery: Jesus is crowned with thorns.
Help us to never again drop cluster bombs, depleted uranium, and other weapons onto the heads of the Iraqi people.

The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery: Jesus carries the Cross.
Help us to take up Christ’s cross of nonviolent love (even at the risk of criticism and jail) to end the Iraq War.

The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery: Jesus dies on the Cross.
Help us to love our enemies as profoundly as Christ did from his Cross and to reject this and all wars.

Close with the Salve Regina.

Doing business with a startup

A dozen years ago, I worked for a startup storage company for a couple of years. My primary job was documentation manager, but I also handled a number of tasks related to the web site and to customer service. One day, I received this message, sent to the company's general information account:















The product that the customer was waiting for was a 100GB file server. It was one of the fastest things on the market at the time and went for about $100K. Today, you'd have to work a bit to find a 100GB storage device; most are much larger. You can find a 1TB disk for $250-300. (A terabyte (TB) is 1000 GB.) The old system was a RAID-5 configuration, which provided redundancy in the case of disk errors. It was also limited to 10,000 files because of the limited memory for names. My desktop system now has more than 700,000 files and it's not even breathing hard.

Among smart and good people

One of the things that I liked about work was the chance to hang around with smart and really smart people. This ranged from people at IBM and Rational who get mentioned in articles such as Software that makes software better in The Economist to the somewhat lowly hardware engineer who did hexadecimal math in his head. I have several actual for-sale books in my bookcase written by friends and former co-workers.



Some don't write books, but contribute to the firehose that is Internet journalism.

So, even though I don't get to work with these folks, the 'net provides all sorts of ways of staying in touch.

Arlo, on being a security threat

I'm nowhere the threat I'd hoped to become.

Artists at work

Sandra and friend, Alicia, with Sandra's latest quilt creation:

Beware of success, eh?

Ken Olsen, then-CEO of Digital Equipment Corporation, in January of 1992:

"I tell people don't pray for good times. Just pray that the good times won't last so long so that when bad times come, it won't hurt you so terribly bad."

The bad times came. By June of 1992, Ken Olsen was out and Bob Palmer was in. By 1998, DEC was gone, sold to Compaq.

RIP, Arthur C. Clarke

From Indexed:















"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."