It's been an amazing day. I've wanted to see Barack Obama in the White House for years now, and it's finally happened. I don't have the words to describe how I'm feeling about this. For the first time in my life, I've felt a passion for a politician and what they're trying to do for our country, and now that man is the most powerful man in the world. Let's see what he can achieve.
I've heard a song on CNN.com's coverage (which I've been watching rabidly all day long) that fit perfectly with how I'm feeling right now, so I thought I'd share it.
Lyrics:
I'm taking my freedom
Pulling it off the shelf
Putting it on my chain
Wearing it 'round my neck
I'm taking my freedom
Putting it in my car
Wherever I choose to go
It will take me far
I'm…
Chorus:
Living my life like it's golden
Living my life like it's golden
Living my life like it's golden
Living my life like it's golden
Living my life like it's golden, golden
(Repeat)
Verse 2:
I'm taking my own freedom
Putting it in my song
Singing loud and strong
Grooving all day long
I'm taking my freedom
Putting it in my stroll
I be high-stepping ya'll
Letting the joy unfold
I'm…
Chorus:
Living my life like it's golden
Living my life like it's golden
Living my life like it's golden
Living my life like it's golden
Living my life like it's golden, golden
(Repeat)
Verse 3:
I'm holding on to my freedom
Can't take it from me
I was born into it and it comes naturally
I'm strumming my own freedom
Playing the God in me
Representing His glory
Hope He's proud of me!
Yeah!
Chorus:
Living my life like it's golden
Living my life like it's golden (Hope he's proud of me!)
Living my life like it's golden
Living my life like it's golden
Living my life like it's golden, golden
(Repeat)
Hook:
Living my life, Like it's golden, golden, golden, golden, golden, golden
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Simpsons on the couch
I grew up on the Simpsons and it's managed to remain one of my favorite shows even now. I stumbled across this little compilation of every couch scene from the opening credits and thought I'd share:
Blathering about the Holy Land
I am so sick of the Middle East, and especially the whole problem of Israel and the Holy Land. How dumb is it that the three biggest religions (I think - I'm pretty sure Hindus and Buddhists don't have the numbers to crack into the top 3), which all share a common background and should at least be somewhat civil to each other, claim the same 10,000 square miles as their holy land (or one of its holy lands in the case of Islam)? Couldn't at least one of them have just picked southern Europe? Or Africa? Or ANYWHERE else, just to make things easier for the rest of us?
Sure, officially religion isn't at the heart of the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It's "just" a matter of the Palestinians displaced by the United Nations' creation of the Israeli state - but it's still a religious matter at heart. Given the fact that both sides have been saying for more than a dozen years that a two-state solution is an acceptable one, why is this still going on? Oh, that's right - Hamas is dedicated not only to achieving independence, but also to the utter destruction of Israel itself. Man, I never would have thought that I'd be missing Yasir Arafat, but with the way things have devolved since his death, I have to say that I actually do. He at least managed to sort of rein in the extremists on the Palestinian side of things and offered a singular path of negotiation to try and get a solution figured out.
Still, given the fact that Islam shares the same tradition of Abraham and Moses with Judaism, you'd think they could figure something out that's acceptable to both sides. I mean, if you believe that Moses was a prophet and that he received the 10 Commandments (which I think is a common belief for both religions, but I could be wrong about Islam), then that basic concept of "Thou shalt not kill" is ingrained in both, so where's the peace? Tell me - WHERE... IS... THE... PEACE?? At the very least, can't they bond a bit over the fact they were both persecuted horribly in Europe for most of the last 1000 years?
Sure, officially religion isn't at the heart of the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It's "just" a matter of the Palestinians displaced by the United Nations' creation of the Israeli state - but it's still a religious matter at heart. Given the fact that both sides have been saying for more than a dozen years that a two-state solution is an acceptable one, why is this still going on? Oh, that's right - Hamas is dedicated not only to achieving independence, but also to the utter destruction of Israel itself. Man, I never would have thought that I'd be missing Yasir Arafat, but with the way things have devolved since his death, I have to say that I actually do. He at least managed to sort of rein in the extremists on the Palestinian side of things and offered a singular path of negotiation to try and get a solution figured out.
Still, given the fact that Islam shares the same tradition of Abraham and Moses with Judaism, you'd think they could figure something out that's acceptable to both sides. I mean, if you believe that Moses was a prophet and that he received the 10 Commandments (which I think is a common belief for both religions, but I could be wrong about Islam), then that basic concept of "Thou shalt not kill" is ingrained in both, so where's the peace? Tell me - WHERE... IS... THE... PEACE?? At the very least, can't they bond a bit over the fact they were both persecuted horribly in Europe for most of the last 1000 years?
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Thoughts on Bertrand Russell's "A History of Western Philosophy", part II
"In all history, nothing is so surprising or so difficult to account for as the sudden rise of civilization in Greece. ... They invented mathematics and science and philosophy; they first wrote history as opposed to mere annals; they speculated freely about life, without being bound in the fetters of any inherited orthodoxy." - p. 3, Part I.
It really is amazing to look at what the Greeks did and the ensuing progress in the West. I've always been impressed by what they achieved and the impact that they've had on civilization ever since, even down until today. But when you frame the way Russell did here - they not only excelled at what they did, they excelled at it with nothing to build upon - it's truly mind boggling. Every great philosopher/intellectual has had at least some prior work to pull from and add to, but not the Greeks. And yet, they still pushed human thought so far forward.
I mean, the geometry we learn today is at heart the same as what the Greeks formalized 2,300 years ago. It's even still called Euclidean geometry, and is sufficient to describe nearly the entire universe under "normal" human conditions. How freaky is that to think that basic Greek mathematics is still being taught 23 centuries later??
It really is amazing to look at what the Greeks did and the ensuing progress in the West. I've always been impressed by what they achieved and the impact that they've had on civilization ever since, even down until today. But when you frame the way Russell did here - they not only excelled at what they did, they excelled at it with nothing to build upon - it's truly mind boggling. Every great philosopher/intellectual has had at least some prior work to pull from and add to, but not the Greeks. And yet, they still pushed human thought so far forward.
I mean, the geometry we learn today is at heart the same as what the Greeks formalized 2,300 years ago. It's even still called Euclidean geometry, and is sufficient to describe nearly the entire universe under "normal" human conditions. How freaky is that to think that basic Greek mathematics is still being taught 23 centuries later??
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Thoughts on Bertrand Russell's "A History of Western Philosophy", part I
I've gone through this book a few times, and I always stumble across bits that stick in my mind. I've decided to read it again, and I figure I'll take notes on it and give some of my thoughts on it here for my own use later and for anyone else who might be interested. This will be an on-going project as I make my way through this again as a secondary philosophical pursuit while I also tangle with Jacques Derrida for the first time (an undertaking which is kicking my intellectual behind right now, btw).
"Science tells us what we can know... Theology, on the other hand, induces a dogmatic belief that we have knowledge where in fact we have ignorance, and by doing so generates a kind of impertinent insolence towards the universe. Uncertainty, in the presence of vivid hopes and fears, is painful, but must be endured if we wish to life without the support of comforting fairy tales. ... To teach how to live without certainty, and yet without being paralyzed by hesitation, is perhaps the chief thing that philosophy, in our age, can still do for those who study it." - p. xiv, Introductory.
This really brought into focus what it is about Russell that's first appealed to me. In my struggles with religion and belief and where it is that I stood, I had never been able to accurately describe what I was or what I believed. I bounced between calling myself a doubter or an atheist, but I knew I had unmanageable problems with the atheistic approach. It wasn't until I read Russell's description of agnosticism and why he embraced it that my own stance was crystallized and became clear. I'm a firm believer that we don't, and in all likelihood can't, know the answer of whether or not there is any form of God out there (regardless of how much we might lean one way or another). With that inability for certain knowledge on either end, the only logically sensible position is to remain undecided and keep searching and pushing. The result can either end up in finding proof of God or in coming asymptotically close to "proving" God doesn't exist (as proving non-existence of anything is rather tricky even in much simpler cases). And so the discussion keeps marching forward.
As a totally irrelevant tangent, this is the first time I've delved into philosophy using an eBook as the text. It's an interesting experience. I've always had that comfort of holding the book in my hands and having that smell of a book as integral parts of the experience, and now I'm just looking at the screen while digesting the words, as my music plays away in the background and I keep cmd-tabbing over here to type some more. It's not better or worse - just a different experience of reading.
"Science tells us what we can know... Theology, on the other hand, induces a dogmatic belief that we have knowledge where in fact we have ignorance, and by doing so generates a kind of impertinent insolence towards the universe. Uncertainty, in the presence of vivid hopes and fears, is painful, but must be endured if we wish to life without the support of comforting fairy tales. ... To teach how to live without certainty, and yet without being paralyzed by hesitation, is perhaps the chief thing that philosophy, in our age, can still do for those who study it." - p. xiv, Introductory.
This really brought into focus what it is about Russell that's first appealed to me. In my struggles with religion and belief and where it is that I stood, I had never been able to accurately describe what I was or what I believed. I bounced between calling myself a doubter or an atheist, but I knew I had unmanageable problems with the atheistic approach. It wasn't until I read Russell's description of agnosticism and why he embraced it that my own stance was crystallized and became clear. I'm a firm believer that we don't, and in all likelihood can't, know the answer of whether or not there is any form of God out there (regardless of how much we might lean one way or another). With that inability for certain knowledge on either end, the only logically sensible position is to remain undecided and keep searching and pushing. The result can either end up in finding proof of God or in coming asymptotically close to "proving" God doesn't exist (as proving non-existence of anything is rather tricky even in much simpler cases). And so the discussion keeps marching forward.
As a totally irrelevant tangent, this is the first time I've delved into philosophy using an eBook as the text. It's an interesting experience. I've always had that comfort of holding the book in my hands and having that smell of a book as integral parts of the experience, and now I'm just looking at the screen while digesting the words, as my music plays away in the background and I keep cmd-tabbing over here to type some more. It's not better or worse - just a different experience of reading.
Quotations
I've always wanted to keep track of some of my favorite quotes, so I'm going to start doing that on here. Most of them are things that have made me think, or things that I agree with, or things that were funny enough that I laughed out loud when I read/heard them. Others just found their way into the land of my mind by whatever means they employed. So here's a few that I've collected over the last couple of years as a start to all this.
I think we ought always to entertain our opinions with some measure of doubt. I shouldn't wish people dogmatically to believe any philosophy, not even mine. -- Bertrand Russell
The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. -- Bertrand Russell
I wish to propose for the reader's favorable consideration a doctrine which may, I fear, appear wildly paradoxical and subversive. The doctrine in question is this: That it is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatever for supposing it true. I must, of course, admit that if such an opinion became common it would completely transform our social life and political system; since both are at present faultless, this must weigh against it. -- Bertrand Russell, "Skeptical Essays I" - taken from "Contact" by Carl Sagan
The tragedy of one successful politician after another is the gradual substitution of narcissism for an interest in the community and the measures for which he stands. The man who is only interested in himself is not admirable, and is not felt to be so. Consequently, the man whose sole concern with the world is that it shall admire him is not likely to achieve his object. -- Bertrand Russell, "The Conquest of Happiness", p. 20
Drunkenness, for example, is temporary suicide: the happiness that it brings is merely negative, a momentary cessation of unhappiness. -- Bertrand Russell, Conquest, p. 22
And not only is love a source of delight, but its absence is a source of pain. -- Bertrand Russell, Conquest, p. 34
"Finding someone is like finding yourself a home
If the key fits - just open the door
'Cause you're never gonna spend a lonely day here
Come and watch your fear fly away
And you'll never hunger for a greener side than here"
-- "Cottonwool" by Lamb
All difficult things have their origin in that which is easy, and great things in that which is small. -- Lao Tzu
"Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish it's source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings." -- Anais Nin, quoted at http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp12092005.shtml
If science is considered a closed priesthood, too difficult and arcane for the average person to understand, the dangers of abuse are greater. But if science is a topic of general interest and concern - if both its delights and social consequences are discussed regularly and competently in the schools, the press and at the dinner table - we have greatly improved our prospects for learning how the world really is and for improving both it and us. -- Carl Sagan, "Broca's Brain", p. 14
If a man is in the forest and his wife isn't there, is he still wrong? -- Fortune on Worldwinner.com
"Spinoza was persecuted during his lifetime, and after death his works were condemned as profane, blasphemous and atheistic. And yet it is probable that few men more sincerely religious than he have ever lived and taught. His doctrine was one of abnegation of self and patient devotion to the eternal. He was in love with the Infinite; it was Nature that fluttered his pulse; it was the Spirit of the universe that filled his heart with living springs. ... But in all sincerity one may ask which is the more blasphemous, nay, which is the more vulgar, the mind that pictures the Deity as a jealous tyrant who keeps the world as a separate establishment, or the thinker who seeks to banish the dream that veils the part from the whole, and who shows the soul of man and of the universe to be the same? -- Edgar Saltus, "The Anatomy of Negation"
"Aggrandise God; free Him from the captivity of temples and creeds. See Him everywhere, or say that He does not exist." -- Denis Diderot, quoted in "The Anatomy of Negation"
"Lastly, in admitting the doctrine that an Intelligence presided over the formation of the world and still watches over its well-being, it is hard to reconcile the theory of that Intelligence with the idea of infinite wisdom and power. For, to the misfortune of humanity, this world of ours is very far from being the best one possible. With the best of intentions, we are therefore unable to recognise any other God than one who, at most, is material, limited and dependent. I do not know whether this view is the correct one, but certainly it is not that of the Deity's partisans, who would much prefer to have us atheists than the Spinozists that we are. To mollify them, let us turn sceptic and repeat with Montaigne, Que sais-je?" -- Jean le RondD'Alembert, quoted in "The Anatomy of Negation"
"When an intelligent man expresses a view which seems to us obviously absurd, we should not attempt to prove that it is somehow true, but we should try to understand how it ever came to seem true." —- Bertrand Russell, p. 39, "A History of Western Philosophy"
I think we ought always to entertain our opinions with some measure of doubt. I shouldn't wish people dogmatically to believe any philosophy, not even mine. -- Bertrand Russell
The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. -- Bertrand Russell
I wish to propose for the reader's favorable consideration a doctrine which may, I fear, appear wildly paradoxical and subversive. The doctrine in question is this: That it is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatever for supposing it true. I must, of course, admit that if such an opinion became common it would completely transform our social life and political system; since both are at present faultless, this must weigh against it. -- Bertrand Russell, "Skeptical Essays I" - taken from "Contact" by Carl Sagan
The tragedy of one successful politician after another is the gradual substitution of narcissism for an interest in the community and the measures for which he stands. The man who is only interested in himself is not admirable, and is not felt to be so. Consequently, the man whose sole concern with the world is that it shall admire him is not likely to achieve his object. -- Bertrand Russell, "The Conquest of Happiness", p. 20
Drunkenness, for example, is temporary suicide: the happiness that it brings is merely negative, a momentary cessation of unhappiness. -- Bertrand Russell, Conquest, p. 22
And not only is love a source of delight, but its absence is a source of pain. -- Bertrand Russell, Conquest, p. 34
"Finding someone is like finding yourself a home
If the key fits - just open the door
'Cause you're never gonna spend a lonely day here
Come and watch your fear fly away
And you'll never hunger for a greener side than here"
-- "Cottonwool" by Lamb
All difficult things have their origin in that which is easy, and great things in that which is small. -- Lao Tzu
"Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish it's source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings." -- Anais Nin, quoted at http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp12092005.shtml
If science is considered a closed priesthood, too difficult and arcane for the average person to understand, the dangers of abuse are greater. But if science is a topic of general interest and concern - if both its delights and social consequences are discussed regularly and competently in the schools, the press and at the dinner table - we have greatly improved our prospects for learning how the world really is and for improving both it and us. -- Carl Sagan, "Broca's Brain", p. 14
If a man is in the forest and his wife isn't there, is he still wrong? -- Fortune on Worldwinner.com
"Spinoza was persecuted during his lifetime, and after death his works were condemned as profane, blasphemous and atheistic. And yet it is probable that few men more sincerely religious than he have ever lived and taught. His doctrine was one of abnegation of self and patient devotion to the eternal. He was in love with the Infinite; it was Nature that fluttered his pulse; it was the Spirit of the universe that filled his heart with living springs. ... But in all sincerity one may ask which is the more blasphemous, nay, which is the more vulgar, the mind that pictures the Deity as a jealous tyrant who keeps the world as a separate establishment, or the thinker who seeks to banish the dream that veils the part from the whole, and who shows the soul of man and of the universe to be the same? -- Edgar Saltus, "The Anatomy of Negation"
"Aggrandise God; free Him from the captivity of temples and creeds. See Him everywhere, or say that He does not exist." -- Denis Diderot, quoted in "The Anatomy of Negation"
"Lastly, in admitting the doctrine that an Intelligence presided over the formation of the world and still watches over its well-being, it is hard to reconcile the theory of that Intelligence with the idea of infinite wisdom and power. For, to the misfortune of humanity, this world of ours is very far from being the best one possible. With the best of intentions, we are therefore unable to recognise any other God than one who, at most, is material, limited and dependent. I do not know whether this view is the correct one, but certainly it is not that of the Deity's partisans, who would much prefer to have us atheists than the Spinozists that we are. To mollify them, let us turn sceptic and repeat with Montaigne, Que sais-je?" -- Jean le RondD'Alembert, quoted in "The Anatomy of Negation"
"When an intelligent man expresses a view which seems to us obviously absurd, we should not attempt to prove that it is somehow true, but we should try to understand how it ever came to seem true." —- Bertrand Russell, p. 39, "A History of Western Philosophy"
Saturday, December 27, 2008
A holly, jolly Christmas
Well, this has been an enjoyable Christmas. I've really started to like the holiday since I've had kids, and it's getting more and more fun as they get older. Anisa was REALLY into it this year and Jasmine started to more at the end. Next year is going to be a blast when they're both old enough to be fully into the Christmas swing.
Santa came through for them with a bike for Anisa, a Sit'n'Spin for Jasmine, a Koby bear that listens to the kids and interacts with them, and some books and movies, too. I'm always amazed that Santa makes the rounds as much as he does and that he manages to stay as relatively slim as he does. He must have some awesome workout program to stay in shape after eating millions of cookies and drinking tons of milk!
I hope you all had a happy holiday season!
Santa came through for them with a bike for Anisa, a Sit'n'Spin for Jasmine, a Koby bear that listens to the kids and interacts with them, and some books and movies, too. I'm always amazed that Santa makes the rounds as much as he does and that he manages to stay as relatively slim as he does. He must have some awesome workout program to stay in shape after eating millions of cookies and drinking tons of milk!
I hope you all had a happy holiday season!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Is it February yet?
Whine of the day:
What really sucks at work lately is the fallout of recent layoffs. It was sad to see people go, but I could understand the reasoning behind it and at least most of them volunteered for it. What I don't understand is why my department didn't lose people and yet is having to shoulder the brunt of the discomfiture. The thing is, the way it's all shaken out, my department actually is "losing" a person since they're being shifted to doing different work and yet we're not allowed to do anything less. So the desk with the smallest staff in the room is expected to "do more with less" and nobody really seems to care. And somehow, it falls on me to *cue Tim Gunn voice* "Make it work!" Yeah, doesn't that make sense? Stick the guy who's been in management for less than three months with the responsibility of doing 5 people's worth of work with only 4 people. Awesome!
Now, it does make me feel good in a way, knowing that they trust me enough to pull this off after the short time I've been doing what I do. And I'm managing to find ways to sort of make it work, but it just means the next month is going to suck. And what really sucks about that is, I've really been enjoying the actual "work" part of my job lately. I've been doing some fun things with coding and data that I think will make things present better all around and has let me really tap into the computer geek I am a lot more. But, when I can only find time to work on that stuff maybe 30% of the time while I'm dealing with everything else, it's just hard to enjoy it as much as I should.
Non-whiny stuff:
I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year. The girls are getting so excited about Santa coming. At dinner last night, Anisa looks over at me and says, "Only two mare days until Christmas Eve, daddy!" and had the hugest smile on her face and a twinkle, a gleam, and maybe even some sugar plums dancing in her eyes. Jasmine is still not quite old enough to really "get" it all yet, but she's feeding off everyone else's excitement and is bubbling about it too.
I can't wait until we put the presents out tomorrow; they've stayed in our closet so far since the first present we put out didn't last more than a couple of hours before the girls decided it needed to be unwrapped. I guess we'll just have to wait until next year to try having presents stacked out there for a couple of weeks. :)
Alright, time to head to work. Whee!
What really sucks at work lately is the fallout of recent layoffs. It was sad to see people go, but I could understand the reasoning behind it and at least most of them volunteered for it. What I don't understand is why my department didn't lose people and yet is having to shoulder the brunt of the discomfiture. The thing is, the way it's all shaken out, my department actually is "losing" a person since they're being shifted to doing different work and yet we're not allowed to do anything less. So the desk with the smallest staff in the room is expected to "do more with less" and nobody really seems to care. And somehow, it falls on me to *cue Tim Gunn voice* "Make it work!" Yeah, doesn't that make sense? Stick the guy who's been in management for less than three months with the responsibility of doing 5 people's worth of work with only 4 people. Awesome!
Now, it does make me feel good in a way, knowing that they trust me enough to pull this off after the short time I've been doing what I do. And I'm managing to find ways to sort of make it work, but it just means the next month is going to suck. And what really sucks about that is, I've really been enjoying the actual "work" part of my job lately. I've been doing some fun things with coding and data that I think will make things present better all around and has let me really tap into the computer geek I am a lot more. But, when I can only find time to work on that stuff maybe 30% of the time while I'm dealing with everything else, it's just hard to enjoy it as much as I should.
Non-whiny stuff:
I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year. The girls are getting so excited about Santa coming. At dinner last night, Anisa looks over at me and says, "Only two mare days until Christmas Eve, daddy!" and had the hugest smile on her face and a twinkle, a gleam, and maybe even some sugar plums dancing in her eyes. Jasmine is still not quite old enough to really "get" it all yet, but she's feeding off everyone else's excitement and is bubbling about it too.
I can't wait until we put the presents out tomorrow; they've stayed in our closet so far since the first present we put out didn't last more than a couple of hours before the girls decided it needed to be unwrapped. I guess we'll just have to wait until next year to try having presents stacked out there for a couple of weeks. :)
Alright, time to head to work. Whee!
Monday, December 22, 2008
The oppressive tyranny of the cold
This is just getting ridiculous. It was down in the teens over the weekend, and I check the weather this morning before heading to work and it's FOUR DEGREES. I am not pleased about this development. As I mentioned earlier, I left Wyoming - It should not be this cold in Missouri!
I swear, I could move to Ecuador, on the flippin' equator, and still find myself looking at single digit temperatures at some point in the winter... Ugh.
The bright side? At least there's no ice storm! How much would that suck, an inch of ice on everything while hovering near 0ºF.
Other than the cold, it's been a pretty good weekend. Spent some time with the fam, watched some football, read quite a bit. Oh, speaking of reading - I've been digging eBooks lately. Maybe it's just the computer geek in me, but I actually enjoy reading books on my computer. It's just a handy thing. I typically listen to music when I read, so since my whole library of tunes is digital it's nice to not spend 20 minutes picking and burning a CD to listen to before I read. I just sit down at the 'puter, push play and start reading! It doesn't hurt that they tend to be a lot cheaper than paper copies.
My only worry is, what happens long-term? Imagine it's 300 years from now - how are people then going to read these things? With a paper book, you know that all they have to do is open and start reading. But with eBooks, there's that pesky encoding thing. Not only do they have to find the file somewhere on a hard drive, they have to know that this specific type of file needs to be opened by Adobe Digital Reader... oh, and it HAS to be on the same computer it was on because of the DRM restrictions. With music, I don't worry as much simply because until the last century and a half, there was basically no possible way to pass music on. Yes, there is sheet music but that's not the same thing as the actual performance of the book. Plus, music isn't all that "informative" - it's artistic and can be a commentary on life and the world, but it's not involved in the preservation and pursuit of knowledge.
And that's the catch with books - if they all go digital, there's going to come a time when knowledge might be lost simply because of DRM and file-typing issues. It's yet another reason why I look at Project Gutenberg and love the idea of what they're trying to do. Their goal is to ensure that any work in the public domain is put into a digital format that is readable for as long as we have digital capabilities. They don't rely on PDF or any other encoding scheme as the basic format; it's all just ASCII text that any basic computer system can read and is easily convertible to anything else going forward. I know Google is trying to do something similar with their book scanning program, but I don't know enough about it to know that they're looking far enough ahead to ensure that the descendants of the Digital Age of n00bism (that being us, still caught up in the birthing pains of digital life) can read and hear and share in all the content that we're populating the world's computers with right now.
I swear, I could move to Ecuador, on the flippin' equator, and still find myself looking at single digit temperatures at some point in the winter... Ugh.
The bright side? At least there's no ice storm! How much would that suck, an inch of ice on everything while hovering near 0ºF.
Other than the cold, it's been a pretty good weekend. Spent some time with the fam, watched some football, read quite a bit. Oh, speaking of reading - I've been digging eBooks lately. Maybe it's just the computer geek in me, but I actually enjoy reading books on my computer. It's just a handy thing. I typically listen to music when I read, so since my whole library of tunes is digital it's nice to not spend 20 minutes picking and burning a CD to listen to before I read. I just sit down at the 'puter, push play and start reading! It doesn't hurt that they tend to be a lot cheaper than paper copies.
My only worry is, what happens long-term? Imagine it's 300 years from now - how are people then going to read these things? With a paper book, you know that all they have to do is open and start reading. But with eBooks, there's that pesky encoding thing. Not only do they have to find the file somewhere on a hard drive, they have to know that this specific type of file needs to be opened by Adobe Digital Reader... oh, and it HAS to be on the same computer it was on because of the DRM restrictions. With music, I don't worry as much simply because until the last century and a half, there was basically no possible way to pass music on. Yes, there is sheet music but that's not the same thing as the actual performance of the book. Plus, music isn't all that "informative" - it's artistic and can be a commentary on life and the world, but it's not involved in the preservation and pursuit of knowledge.
And that's the catch with books - if they all go digital, there's going to come a time when knowledge might be lost simply because of DRM and file-typing issues. It's yet another reason why I look at Project Gutenberg and love the idea of what they're trying to do. Their goal is to ensure that any work in the public domain is put into a digital format that is readable for as long as we have digital capabilities. They don't rely on PDF or any other encoding scheme as the basic format; it's all just ASCII text that any basic computer system can read and is easily convertible to anything else going forward. I know Google is trying to do something similar with their book scanning program, but I don't know enough about it to know that they're looking far enough ahead to ensure that the descendants of the Digital Age of n00bism (that being us, still caught up in the birthing pains of digital life) can read and hear and share in all the content that we're populating the world's computers with right now.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Adele rocks my socks off
I stumbled across Adele a couple of weeks ago, and I can't say enough. That voice just makes my ears so happy - so bluesy and soulful - and it's superbly mixed with some jazzy melodies backing her up and some catchy lyrics.
What made me pick her up initially was a review calling her "what Amy Winehouse should have been" or something like that. Having loved Amy's "Frank" (i.e., the pre-crackhead Winehouse album) and enjoyed "Back to Black", comparing someone to her is definitely going to catch my attention. I haven't been disappointed, and it's a perfect comparison. Similar voices, similar sounds, but hopefully not similar career arcs.
If you love some powerful female vocals, give her a try. I doubt you'll be disappointed!
What made me pick her up initially was a review calling her "what Amy Winehouse should have been" or something like that. Having loved Amy's "Frank" (i.e., the pre-crackhead Winehouse album) and enjoyed "Back to Black", comparing someone to her is definitely going to catch my attention. I haven't been disappointed, and it's a perfect comparison. Similar voices, similar sounds, but hopefully not similar career arcs.
If you love some powerful female vocals, give her a try. I doubt you'll be disappointed!
Monday, December 15, 2008
WTF?
I moved away from Wyoming. I left it behind. I do NOT live there right now. So tell me this:
WHY THE HELL IS IT SO COLD RIGHT NOW???? It should not be 14 degrees out if you're not living in Wyoming any more!!
WHY THE HELL IS IT SO COLD RIGHT NOW???? It should not be 14 degrees out if you're not living in Wyoming any more!!
Springfield makes it onto Failblog
see more pwn and owned pictures
I've found this hilarious since we moved here. Glad to see it getting the recognition it deserves!
Friday, December 12, 2008
Holiday greetings
A fitting holiday message, given that the source is me:
Kim sent this to me today. Does my wifey know me or what?? :)
Kim sent this to me today. Does my wifey know me or what?? :)
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Since I'm still up - time to Simplify!
I figure I might as well mention this, since I never have seemed to remember to before when I'm in a blogging mood:
GO GET SIMPLIFY MEDIA RIGHT NOW!!!!!
It is simply the best software out there for making your music library portable and sharing it with your friends. Any time I'm away from the house and have a 'net connection, I can tune in to my iTunes library with Simplify. It streams it all from your home computer and lets you listen. For friends, they can stream it as well. The only limitation is that DRM-enabled files (read: Stuff you bought from the iTunes store) will only play on authorized computers, so they can only see a subset of your library.
I've been using since they came out in 2007, and it's one of the coolest pieces of software I've come across. There were some growing pains, as I'd expect of any large, networked piece of software like this, but they've done a fabulous job. I'm happy for them that they've been so successful with their release of their iPhone app - they're finally making some money back from all their hard work! And if you've got an iPhone, why wouldn't you want to be able to stream all your music from home to wherever you are?? Just knowing Simplify is available makes me want to get one even more.... Santa will bring me one if I ask enough, right?? :D
We've got a few friends on our Simplify account right now, and it's a great way to get to know more about them and what they listen to. Call me weird, but I've always thought you can tell a lot about a person by the music they identify themselves with. I guess that makes me a rather eclectic individual! :)
GO GET SIMPLIFY MEDIA RIGHT NOW!!!!!
It is simply the best software out there for making your music library portable and sharing it with your friends. Any time I'm away from the house and have a 'net connection, I can tune in to my iTunes library with Simplify. It streams it all from your home computer and lets you listen. For friends, they can stream it as well. The only limitation is that DRM-enabled files (read: Stuff you bought from the iTunes store) will only play on authorized computers, so they can only see a subset of your library.
I've been using since they came out in 2007, and it's one of the coolest pieces of software I've come across. There were some growing pains, as I'd expect of any large, networked piece of software like this, but they've done a fabulous job. I'm happy for them that they've been so successful with their release of their iPhone app - they're finally making some money back from all their hard work! And if you've got an iPhone, why wouldn't you want to be able to stream all your music from home to wherever you are?? Just knowing Simplify is available makes me want to get one even more.... Santa will bring me one if I ask enough, right?? :D
We've got a few friends on our Simplify account right now, and it's a great way to get to know more about them and what they listen to. Call me weird, but I've always thought you can tell a lot about a person by the music they identify themselves with. I guess that makes me a rather eclectic individual! :)
Late night ramblings
• Man, there are a lot of crazies out there in the world of blogging. Every so often, I'll go through the Feedjit link here on the blog to see what else is being written around the area or browse the Google blog search and just read. Maybe tonight was abnormal, but I found several blogs that just sounded like the rantings of paranoid schizophrenics in the midst of a meltdown - only the posts have been coming for months now! With some of the hatred and prejudice I encountered, it made me a little uncomfortable seeing the dark underbelly of the First Amendment. I'm not of a mind to want to silence these folks by any means, but wow there's some crazy shite out there on the Wild 'n' Wooly Interwebs.
• I hate upset stomachs. I went to bed almost 2 hours ago, and couldn't sleep, which led to my stroll through Blogland. I should know by now not to eat snacks before bed!!
• Anisa was so funny on the phone when I called home during my lunch break. "Daddy, we got the good cheesy poofs! Not the ones that taste awful, like at Jake and Jenny's!" I was glad I was stopped at a red light at the time; I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. We spent the weekend up in Columbia with our friends. Their daughter is about nine months old now and had some of the baby cheese poofs as a starter food. As you can tell, they were not a big hit with Anisa. Jasmine, however, LOVED them. I think she likes the "good" ones even better, though. It was a fun weekend all around, though. I just wish I'd been in a better frame of mind so I could enjoy it a bit more. Everything that came down last week at work was just weighing on my mind.
I mean, could I have picked a worse time to be promoted? Well, I'm sure there are worse circumstances than this, but it still sucks. I wanted to be playing with numbers and coding some stuff up for the web, not jostling job duties and telling people that, like it or not, you're going to be moving to some night shifts. Maybe it's just me, but if there are 4 fewer people working at putting out a product, shouldn't that product be reduced by something close to 4 people's worth of work? Instead, we get to "do more with less!" Sure, we're cutting our output a little bit, but I'd bet that it isn't even close to 40 hours a week worth, let alone 160. Instead, we focus on efficiency and workflow. Layoffs are a big enough hit to employee morale, but working them harder when they were already being asked to do a lot is not going to make things better. I just hope that three months from now, everyone at work can look back and see this as the low point.
• At least there looks to be some hope for an auto industry bailout. On an objective level, I'm not overly thrilled by it. There's a reason why the U.S. companies are in the position they are, while foreign auto makers are still thriving (though not without suffering in this economic climate). They've made bad choices for years - decades even - and didn't have a plan on how to survive if everything went in the crapper. So now, the taxpayers should foot the bill? Ugh, how crappy. I understand there is a bigger picture here that it affects and it's probably in the best interest of the economy as a whole to try and prop them up until things get better, much like bailing out AIG was probably a good thing for the long-term health of the economy. It doesn't mean I have to enjoy it.
On a purely selfish level, I'm absolutely ecstatic about this. The one thing the print media industry can't afford is an even bigger loss in ad revenue from the auto companies. There's already been a big drop, and if any of the Detroit Three had gone under, that would have been a huge loss for us, too. We probably would have been looking at another round of staff cuts in our near future, and that's something I don't want to see again for at least another decade.
I keep hoping that the plan that was put in place factored in the projected troubles of the next year (and that those projections are either accurate or overestimated the troubles we'll face). I just want to be able to hold on to what we have, make it through this rough patch, and come out on the other side better for the experience. I don't want to be part of a company that goes through bankruptcy like the Tribune company has. I'm still shocked that the company that owns the LA Times and the Chicago Tribune is hurting that bad. I hope the commentary that they're the exception rather than the expectation for newspapers holds true.
• I hate upset stomachs. I went to bed almost 2 hours ago, and couldn't sleep, which led to my stroll through Blogland. I should know by now not to eat snacks before bed!!
• Anisa was so funny on the phone when I called home during my lunch break. "Daddy, we got the good cheesy poofs! Not the ones that taste awful, like at Jake and Jenny's!" I was glad I was stopped at a red light at the time; I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. We spent the weekend up in Columbia with our friends. Their daughter is about nine months old now and had some of the baby cheese poofs as a starter food. As you can tell, they were not a big hit with Anisa. Jasmine, however, LOVED them. I think she likes the "good" ones even better, though. It was a fun weekend all around, though. I just wish I'd been in a better frame of mind so I could enjoy it a bit more. Everything that came down last week at work was just weighing on my mind.
I mean, could I have picked a worse time to be promoted? Well, I'm sure there are worse circumstances than this, but it still sucks. I wanted to be playing with numbers and coding some stuff up for the web, not jostling job duties and telling people that, like it or not, you're going to be moving to some night shifts. Maybe it's just me, but if there are 4 fewer people working at putting out a product, shouldn't that product be reduced by something close to 4 people's worth of work? Instead, we get to "do more with less!" Sure, we're cutting our output a little bit, but I'd bet that it isn't even close to 40 hours a week worth, let alone 160. Instead, we focus on efficiency and workflow. Layoffs are a big enough hit to employee morale, but working them harder when they were already being asked to do a lot is not going to make things better. I just hope that three months from now, everyone at work can look back and see this as the low point.
• At least there looks to be some hope for an auto industry bailout. On an objective level, I'm not overly thrilled by it. There's a reason why the U.S. companies are in the position they are, while foreign auto makers are still thriving (though not without suffering in this economic climate). They've made bad choices for years - decades even - and didn't have a plan on how to survive if everything went in the crapper. So now, the taxpayers should foot the bill? Ugh, how crappy. I understand there is a bigger picture here that it affects and it's probably in the best interest of the economy as a whole to try and prop them up until things get better, much like bailing out AIG was probably a good thing for the long-term health of the economy. It doesn't mean I have to enjoy it.
On a purely selfish level, I'm absolutely ecstatic about this. The one thing the print media industry can't afford is an even bigger loss in ad revenue from the auto companies. There's already been a big drop, and if any of the Detroit Three had gone under, that would have been a huge loss for us, too. We probably would have been looking at another round of staff cuts in our near future, and that's something I don't want to see again for at least another decade.
I keep hoping that the plan that was put in place factored in the projected troubles of the next year (and that those projections are either accurate or overestimated the troubles we'll face). I just want to be able to hold on to what we have, make it through this rough patch, and come out on the other side better for the experience. I don't want to be part of a company that goes through bankruptcy like the Tribune company has. I'm still shocked that the company that owns the LA Times and the Chicago Tribune is hurting that bad. I hope the commentary that they're the exception rather than the expectation for newspapers holds true.
Monday, December 8, 2008
IsItFunnyToday.com
http://www.isitfunnytoday.com/
This has been a pleasant find. I've been reading web comics for years now, and what I like about this site is that it functions both as an aggregator of comics (which is really helpful) and a social network for comics that lets us all voice our opinions on comics while voting on their funniness. It's not a perfect site yet, but having just launched I think they have a solid foundation to build on.
Some upgrades I'd like to see:
• More complete access to archives of comics to vote going all the way back, with the archetypical "First Comic" link to take you back to the beginning and start from there.
• If you've already voted for a comic while logged in, the frame at the top should reflect that. As it is now, it will say "Sorry, you've already voted" when you try to vote a second time. It should say this before you even have a chance to vote.
I've quite enjoyed the site and they're adding more comics every day (What, no Goats.com yet??), so if you like your daily dose of web comics, give 'em a try.
This has been a pleasant find. I've been reading web comics for years now, and what I like about this site is that it functions both as an aggregator of comics (which is really helpful) and a social network for comics that lets us all voice our opinions on comics while voting on their funniness. It's not a perfect site yet, but having just launched I think they have a solid foundation to build on.
Some upgrades I'd like to see:
• More complete access to archives of comics to vote going all the way back, with the archetypical "First Comic" link to take you back to the beginning and start from there.
• If you've already voted for a comic while logged in, the frame at the top should reflect that. As it is now, it will say "Sorry, you've already voted" when you try to vote a second time. It should say this before you even have a chance to vote.
I've quite enjoyed the site and they're adding more comics every day (What, no Goats.com yet??), so if you like your daily dose of web comics, give 'em a try.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Number watching in an economic crisis
I've been keeping my eye on several numbers that are big indicators of where we stand as the economy melts down. The biggest one that I pay attention to is the unemployment rate, which officially spiked to 6.7% today. As the NYTimes blogged about today, that number doesn't account for the 637,000 people that have given up and stopped looking for jobs. If that number were included, it would push the unemployment rate close to 7% - a far cry from the peak of 25% reached in the Great Depression, but a disturbing number nonetheless. The percentage is even more disheartening when you think about the population of the country at both times.
Breaking it down to the heart of the issue in the article:
Yeah, that's not good.
Breaking it down to the heart of the issue in the article:
The share of all men ages and 16 and over who are working is now at its lowest level since the government began keeping statistics in the 1940’s.
Yeah, that's not good.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Why I love the Daily Show
A clip from Monday, Dec. 1:
Bits like this are exactly why I love the Daily Show: Serious news with a dose of profanity and humor tossed in to tell a better story.
Bits like this are exactly why I love the Daily Show: Serious news with a dose of profanity and humor tossed in to tell a better story.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thanksgiving thoughts
Well, it's been a busy week around here. My parents were out here to visit, which is always nice. The girls especially like having them around, since they've missed Grandma and Grandpa a ton since we moved out here. It will be even better when they get moved out here and can see the girls every couple of days instead of every few months!
I'm really happy about that. Family was something that I felt like I kind of missed out on growing up. It's tough to be close to people that you only see once a year around the holidays when everything is chaotic anyway! So I was really happy that we were in Laramie, just a mile or so away from my parents, and the girls would have a chance to grow up around them and get to be close to them. It was hard for me to decide to make the move to Missouri and that was a big part of why. But it was much easier when my parents said they would plan on moving somewhere in the Missouri-Tennessee area to be closer to all their grandkids. Heck, even if they had gone to Nashville, that would be close enough to make the trip in a day rather than the two days of driving it takes to get out here now. But, if they end up with the house they're going after now, it'll put them 10-15 minutes away, which is maybe as far as I have to drive to get to work - and that will be nice - for the kids, for them, and for us.
Having them around always gets me thinking about stuff like this, and Thanksgiving has made me think about it even more. I'm glad to have them around and to get a chance to know them more. I didn't get to know them as much as I could have growing up, especially my dad, since I was spending so much energy just trying to get to know myself and figure out who I was, but it's been nice the last several years getting to be an adult and deal with them as roughly equals rather than inside the parent/kid dynamic. It took me a few years of being out on my own and not being around them to really appreciate them simply as people rather than always thinking of them as "parents".
And none of us are perfect or even close to it, but when I hear about other families and what other people went through growing up, it always makes me remember just how good I had it and lucky I was to have the parents I did. We didn't always get along great, though we got along just fine far more than we didn't; we didn't always see eye-to-eye; I know my name is on a fair amount of the gray hairs up on their wizened heads. But even when I was being punished or didn't agree with them, I always had an understanding that they were doing what they thought was good for me. When so many parents don't keep that in mind as the primary motivation for being a parent, it makes me smile to know that mine always did.
I'm never all that good at vocalizing this kind of stuff and talking about it. I just have these thoughts and I've never had a good outlet for them, so I'm trying to take advantage this blog for stuff like this, since I've always been able to write better than I can speak.
So that's my Thanksgiving thought for this year - Thank you for being good parents and looking out for me without stifling me. It wasn't an easy job to do, but you pulled through admirably.
While I'm at it, I have more to say. I need to say Thanks! to Kim too. It's one of those things - I tend not to write about her or my thoughts about her on here. Mostly because I see her at home all the time and I feel like I say most of the stuff I think about to her. But when I really think about it, I don't. At least, not nearly enough. But, she puts up with my crap and manages to do it (mostly) with a smile on her face. I'm not an easy person to live with, but she always finds a way to get through it and make the best of it. So thank you for being my wife and for putting in the work it takes to keep our household and our life functioning in their own little way. And thanks for putting up with me and not smothering me in my sleep when I snore! :)
I'm really happy about that. Family was something that I felt like I kind of missed out on growing up. It's tough to be close to people that you only see once a year around the holidays when everything is chaotic anyway! So I was really happy that we were in Laramie, just a mile or so away from my parents, and the girls would have a chance to grow up around them and get to be close to them. It was hard for me to decide to make the move to Missouri and that was a big part of why. But it was much easier when my parents said they would plan on moving somewhere in the Missouri-Tennessee area to be closer to all their grandkids. Heck, even if they had gone to Nashville, that would be close enough to make the trip in a day rather than the two days of driving it takes to get out here now. But, if they end up with the house they're going after now, it'll put them 10-15 minutes away, which is maybe as far as I have to drive to get to work - and that will be nice - for the kids, for them, and for us.
Having them around always gets me thinking about stuff like this, and Thanksgiving has made me think about it even more. I'm glad to have them around and to get a chance to know them more. I didn't get to know them as much as I could have growing up, especially my dad, since I was spending so much energy just trying to get to know myself and figure out who I was, but it's been nice the last several years getting to be an adult and deal with them as roughly equals rather than inside the parent/kid dynamic. It took me a few years of being out on my own and not being around them to really appreciate them simply as people rather than always thinking of them as "parents".
And none of us are perfect or even close to it, but when I hear about other families and what other people went through growing up, it always makes me remember just how good I had it and lucky I was to have the parents I did. We didn't always get along great, though we got along just fine far more than we didn't; we didn't always see eye-to-eye; I know my name is on a fair amount of the gray hairs up on their wizened heads. But even when I was being punished or didn't agree with them, I always had an understanding that they were doing what they thought was good for me. When so many parents don't keep that in mind as the primary motivation for being a parent, it makes me smile to know that mine always did.
I'm never all that good at vocalizing this kind of stuff and talking about it. I just have these thoughts and I've never had a good outlet for them, so I'm trying to take advantage this blog for stuff like this, since I've always been able to write better than I can speak.
So that's my Thanksgiving thought for this year - Thank you for being good parents and looking out for me without stifling me. It wasn't an easy job to do, but you pulled through admirably.
While I'm at it, I have more to say. I need to say Thanks! to Kim too. It's one of those things - I tend not to write about her or my thoughts about her on here. Mostly because I see her at home all the time and I feel like I say most of the stuff I think about to her. But when I really think about it, I don't. At least, not nearly enough. But, she puts up with my crap and manages to do it (mostly) with a smile on her face. I'm not an easy person to live with, but she always finds a way to get through it and make the best of it. So thank you for being my wife and for putting in the work it takes to keep our household and our life functioning in their own little way. And thanks for putting up with me and not smothering me in my sleep when I snore! :)
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Daft Punk fan video - "Daft Hands"
Had I been blogging when this first came out, I'd have been all over it. But, alas, I was not. Anyway, I stumbled across this video again today and thought I'd share because it's so freakin' awesome!!
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