Holy Farglesnot!

Engineers and Words

2005-07-25T22:53:00.000-07:00

(this could also be filed under "words -- that aren't words")

Non-words I've heard engineers use:

Databasable
Genericize
Definitional

::sigh::

And now for something competely different...

2005-07-25T22:32:00.000-07:00

Some preliminary research regarding on IT Lifecycle Management opportunities has been promising.

I'm now going to build out a proof-of-concept prototype. It could be considered an enterprise application; I'll be using or strongly considering the following technologies. I'm interested to hear if there are equivalent/similar MS-focused things. The list is Java-heavy, because:

My perception is that there are more tools in this area.
The Java/FOSS application stack requires a much smaller upfront investment, especially for prototype work.
I need to learn 1337 J2EE skillz.
I've got my dual-boot box, stuck in teh Linux (FC3).

J2EE Model-View-Controller Framework: Spring Framework
Takes much of the muck-work out of building a J2EE app, handles some stuff behind the scenes. Similar to Struts.

Object / Relational Mapping: Hibernate or JDO
Behind-the-scenes conversion of data to/from its relational database representation (physical model) to its class representation (logical model).

Aspect Oriented Programming (AOP): AspectJ
Crazy ninja-programming stuff. Adds the ability to execute code at specified "cut points" -- function calls, exceptions, etc. Looking into this; it's rather funky.

Build Management: Apache Ant and Maven
Apache Ant is THE defacto standard for Java build scripts -- I think it would come in handy for non-Java build stuff, too -- however, Java is the tool's focus. It's similar to MAKE, but everything is explicitly spelled out in very human-readable XML files. Maven calls itself a "project comprehension" tool, and they're not kidding. Check out the build-time reporting capabilities offered. It's good stuff.

AJAX
Cool shit.
....How can I experiment and prototype without trying to wedge this one in? (Yeah, I know this one is platform-agnostic.)

Strictly Ballroom

2005-07-25T22:24:00.000-07:00

My significant other has finally twisted my arm into taking ballroom dancing lessons. By the time "Dancing With the Stars" ended its run, we had intro lessons scheduled at a local studio.

So far, I have learned the basics of:

Foxtrot & "Oops" Step
Rhumba
Cha-Cha
Swing w/Single and Double Underarm Turns
Arizona Two-Step
Lindy Hop
Tango

Holy Farglesnot!

2005-07-19T00:03:00.000-07:00

Trolling around on the web turned up an employee-badge-looking-photo of someone many of us know. (I was actually looking for JDE in the news, honestly.) And you know, a badge-ish photo could come in handy for orientation, first day of classes, meeting frosh, April Fools' Day....

From: http://web.singnet.com.sg/~cae12345/

Btw, anyone wanna take a crack at ...well, cracking those non-English characters that are giving Firefox fits?

Random Ranting

2005-07-18T22:56:00.000-07:00

Still alive. Switched over to Java/JSP on the webapp project. Finished Harry Potter on Saturday night. Researching some opportunities in the area of IT Lifecycle Management / Application Lifecycle Management. I think it's interesting, at least.

Oh, and it's HOTTER THAN BLAZES down here. Seriously -- 100, 150 years ago, what numskull is wandering through the middle of the freaking desert, and says, "Oi, I say to myself, I say this looks like good place to sit down! In fact, I'll settle down here. That's the ticket!" Yeah, like I need a hole in my head. The end result is that there is some piece of civilization -- and I think I may be ashamed to count myself among them -- has decided to take up full-time residence in a location where the last week and a half has been ABOVE 110 degrees! (That's ~70 degrees Celsius, for you Canadians.) ...Did you know that cactus actually wilt??

Speaking of num-nuttery, let's talk about soccer. (That's "le football", for you French Canadians.) Soccer, as you know, is a sport where grown men borrow colorful short-shorts from the NBA circa 1970 and punt a spotted volleyball ball around the turf. Soccer, as you also know, is a noble sport with a long and storied tradition. Contrast that with an acutal game of soccer, which is simply long. And bizzare.

...Did you know it is possible to win a soccer match (I should have corrected myself earlier -- their long and storied games are called matches). Recently, the United States played Costa Rica. Neither team scored. The clock ran out. And instead of overtime, the game ended in a score of 0-0. Or a "scoreless tie". And somehow, the United States 'won'. Even though Costa Rica had doubled our score.

PHP can stick it.

2005-06-27T00:08:00.000-07:00

Why is the general opinion that PHP r0x0rs teh intarwebs, while VB6 development in ASP 3.0 suX0rs?

My experience with the former, so far, is pretty similar to the latter.

....and I want a reason other than VB is the spawn of Microsoft.

Randomness

2005-06-26T23:23:00.000-07:00

Have I done anything interesting, you ask? [Ed: You mean software process quality isn't interesting?]

Here you go, in no particular order, or guarantee of excitement:

Flickr Montager
Create photo montages/mosaics using the photos tagged in the Flickr database.
Batman Begins (Gamecube)

James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (Gamecube)
Awesome game. If you've ever wanted to be Bond, you gotta play this. Picked it up on the discount shelf at Target, and I think it's the best money I've spent on a game yet. The game is treated like a film feature production -- A-list actors, original theme song, decent story (for Bond) -- and the character modeling is sweet. The digital actors (Pierce Brosnan, Willem Dafoe, Shannon Elizabeth, etc) look like their real-world counterparts. (HF! Word of the Day: doppelganger) There's a goodly mix of shoot-em-up action, stealthing around for bonus points, vehicular maneuvering (Porsche Cayenne Turbo SUV, Daytona Triumph motorcycle, and an Aston Martin Vanquish. Yeah, baby.) Oh, and there's the usual complement of Bond gadgets, too. Like Batman Begins, 007:EoN is produced by EA Games. Simply, they kick ass -- the modeling and controls rock. Tom says: 9.0, buy at $40; it's a bargain at any lower price.
Wildfires in the Southwestern USA (USAToday.com)
These are keeping life interesting.
High Court OKs Personal Property Seizures (CNN.com)
I couldn't believe that the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that it was permissible for a city to take private property from one citizen and give it to another. For example, the city could take property in an 'economically depressed' area, boot out the residents, and turn the property over to commercial real estate developers. Evidentally the need to provide the government with an increased socialistic ability to redistribute weath (for the 'greater good') outweighed 'compassion' and personal property rights. I really couldn't believe that 'liberal' judges on the court were the ones who thought this was a GOOD idea!

Here's a scenario:

President Bush wants to take land from the fuzzy creatures of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and give it to the oil companies, because Mr. Bush "formulated an economic development that [he] believes will provide appreciable benefits to the [country]." Holy hell ensues from all corners of liberal-dom: Greed is bad. Evil capitalist tendencies are decried. Life on Earth will end, because the government has just provided (its own) land to corporations to use for profit. Cue media exposes, TV investigations, "You Can't Grow Home Again" reruns, and copius amounts of tree-hugging and spotted owl snogging.

Back in Connecticut, Susette Kelo and several other homeowners in a working-class neighborhood in New London, Connecticut, filed suit after city officials announced plans to raze their homes for a riverfront hotel, health club and offices. Working-class Americans are being displaced by corporations, and it's ok because "The city has carefully formulated an economic development that it believes will provide appreciable benefits to the community, including -- but by no means limited to -- new jobs and increased tax revenue," Justice John Paul Stevens wrotefor the majority.

::Boggle::

"Agile Management for Software Engineering"

2005-06-26T22:48:00.000-07:00

Man, talk about your unholy alliance between operations management and software engineering (and my friends -- can you imagine what the love child of THOSE two professors would be like? Heaven help us.)

During my reading, I came across this book -- which is subsequently scheduled to arrive on my doorstep O(1 July 2005): Agile Management for Software Engineering: Applying the Theory of Constraints for Business Results (Amazon.com)

Here's the blurb from Book News:

Anderson (a software development manager) applies Goldratt's approach (outlined in his Theory of Constraints) to the challenges of software development--in terms of both project management and business goals. He offers guidance on creating management discipline for all phases of the engineering process, implementing realistic financial and production metrics, and focusing on customer value. Copyright © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Based on the "Look Inside!" Amazon Excerpt feature, it looks like one of the things that Anderson proposes is to identify the customer's assigned value each requirement. For example, Req. SW_123 is 'worth' $4,000 (or rather, creates $4k of value) and SW_500 is 'worth' $7500. Then, you treat these req-values as 'inventory' in your system, and measure and monitor their progress accordingly. And since we're talking op-management here, don't forget you want to minimize your inventory on hand, along with its time spent in the system.
I'm interested in the book, because I believe it attempts to map classical operations management techniques and theories to a software development methodology. And believe it or not, "methodology" is not such a horrible word. Properly applied, a defined, repeatable, measurable process will improve your software's quality. The question is, will your dev team get killed by all the overhead? ...The alternative isn't pleasant either -- witnessing unstructured dev is like watching sausage get made...close your eyes and hope for the best.

The advantage of agile-style methodologies is that they are light-weight and responsive. However, management doesn't always like that. Suppose that you get paid in stages -- and in one of those stages, payment is proportional to the number of requirements you've written -- you're in a spot if you're using an agile methodology. In agile, requirements are developed and elaborated over time. The same thing goes for code development. This means that we need to have a new way of measuring value (beyond requirement count and SLOC), so that we can accurately describe the value created and progress made during each stage.

Agile methodologies provide for customer responsiveness. The "Agile Management" book looks at how we can apply established organizational management techniques to agile. If it's practical and can be successfully applied, you will have created a win-win scenario -- for the customer, and for you.

BONUS! Google Ogle: Google Print Search for Theory of Constraints, Robert E. Stein.

Agile Quality Management

2005-06-19T23:53:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Editorial on "Lean Programming"

I was doing some reading and I think that Total Quality Management (TQM) is largely compatible with the Agile Software Development methodology. (The TQM Principles aren't from an 'official' site, so if anyone has a more formal source, I'd really appreciate it.)

The Manifesto for Agile Software Development
We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

The Principles of TQM

Quality can and must be managed.
Everyone has a customer and is a supplier.
Processes, not people, are the problem.
Every employee is responsible for quality.
Problems must be prevented, not just fixed.
Quality must be measured.
Quality improvements must be continuous.
The quality standard is defect free.
Goals are based on requirements, not negotiated.
Life cycle costs, not front end costs.
Management must be involved and lead.
Plan and organize for quality improvement

Agile-TQM Mapping

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

(2) Everyone has a customer and is a supplier.

(3) Processes, not people, are the problem.
(4) Every employee is responsible for quality.
(5) Problems must be prevented, not just fixed.

Working software over comprehensive documentation

(1) Quality can and must be managed.

(3) Processes, not people, are the problem.
(8) The quality standard is defect free.

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

(2) Everyone has a customer and is a supplier.

(9) Goals are based on requirements, not negotiated.

Responding to change over following a plan

(7) Quality improvements must be continuous.
(11) Management must be involved and lead.
(12) Plan and organize for quality improvement.

I couldn't find a place for "(6) Quality must be measured." without really forcing it.

Can Down!

2005-05-30T22:12:00.000-07:00

I just exploded a can of Diet Coke in the freezer. It's a mess. It's also the inauguration of frozen soda in this fridge -- the last time I pulled off this stunt was almost 19 months ago in November 2003. Trivia: this time it was a (newly re-branded) Diet Cherry Coke; last time it was the old-school stuff.

Mission Accomplished

2005-05-30T18:16:00.000-07:00

Here at Holy Farglesnot!, we take our mission -- "searching for the absurd in everyday life" -- seriously. Very seriously. ...Very, very seriously.

So imagine the twitter around HF! Central when we find something that validates our purpose:

'Prophet' ["Prophet Yaweh"] summons UFO for camera, Las Vegas TV station captures, broadcasts images

Domain Update

2005-05-29T03:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I guess I was expecting too much out of creating a page that said "Holy Farglesnot! Your page can't be found. Anyways, I think the site is starting to look pretty respectable. Still learning the different scripts and goodies available to me though. One of them is domain forwarding. For example: blog.holyfarglesnot.com. Cool, huh? I've also got email forwarding setup, so you can drop me a line at {my_first_name}@holyfarglesnot.com. How's THAT for an email address?

The site has three sections at this point:

Forums
The forums relate to the development of the Portfolio Manager.
Portfolio Manager
I know someone who wants to learn about web development, so we'll be creating a "Stocks and Bond Portfolio Management" website over the next couple months. He's new to SQL, JSP, PHP, CVS, XML, etc. so this will be a fun learning experience. I'll be trying to steer the ship using some Agile methodologies for project management. Oh, I can't install CVS on the webserver, so I'm going to try out SourceForge's capabilities.
MyGoogleMaps
Other folks have started to hack Google Maps, notably MyGmaps and this HousingMaps (super cool). I'm currently a young Padawan following in their footsteps. Like I have anything else to do. :o)3

HolyFarglesnot.com

2005-05-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

www.holyfarglesnot.com

I can't wait to make the 404 Error page.

Economics

2005-05-10T22:39:00.000-07:00

An economic discussion of why people don't have more sex. A sampling:

"2. The average utility of sex is high but the marginal utilities are falling off a cliff" or

"5. Sex stops being fun when you do it to close a gap between your marginal utilities. It requires spontaneity or some other quality inconsistent with the classical model of the consumer and the equation of marginal rates of substitution."

If you enjoy that sort of thing, I humbly recommend my favorite blog post: An Application of Economics Theory and Calculus at Spaghetti Works.

Linux Lovin, II

2005-05-09T00:40:00.000-07:00

Just D/L'd the Linux NTFS filesystem reader rpm at the Linux NTFS Project.

And then, with the help of this trusty command:

mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/windows -t ntfs -r -o umask=0222

I was able to view everything on my formerly inaccessible WinXP partition (woot). I was able to simliarly mount my Fat32 partition as well. So at least, before debugging my BIOS/bootloader, I'll be able to backup my stuff. Phew.

One of the great things about Linux: even when things seem totally fubar'd, it's usually possible to save some small part of your hide.

For Jesse: the original Linux Lovin'.

Good grief, II.

2005-05-08T22:41:00.000-07:00

I'm transitioning from daily use of WinXP to Fedora Core 3. I've really enjoyed the switch so far...uber-customization and *nix goodness at the command line. But Linux 2.6.* has serious issues with partition table geometry. As in, my 'dual'-boot into WinXP is momentarily nuked. There are several possible solutions on the RH Bugzilla site. Argh.

Good grief.

2005-05-08T22:39:00.000-07:00

Geena Davis is going to portray the first "female commander-in chief". Are there any political dramas on TV that aren't the result of liberals waking up with drool on their pillows?

This Just In....

2005-04-24T22:21:00.000-07:00

Exploding Frogs Baffle Experts (Headline, "Local6" News)

And don't miss the "More 'Exploding Frog' Story Images" link.

Capitalism At Its Finest

2005-04-20T23:22:00.000-07:00

Did you know you can buy shares in blogs? Seriously. You can purchase 'shares' of blogs to fill your 'portfolio'; a blog's valuation depends on its number of inbound and outbound links.

If you visit BlogShares.com, you will find:

Holy Farglesnot! is available to trade.
Current 'valuation': B$2,235.51
A Veritable Cornucopia of Useless Information (swid.blogspot.com) is also available to trade.
Current 'valuation': B$2,563.37
A certain Mr. Scott Johnson was actively buying and selling (~10 transactions) significant quantities of stock in October 2004.
My belief reconfirmed that people buy the dumbest stuff. Remember, here at Holy Farglesnot! our mission: find the absurd in everyday life.

Farglesnot is teh lol

2005-04-20T18:31:00.000-07:00

Can you find teh lol?

Whither Spomer?

2005-04-20T18:25:00.000-07:00

Spomer -- what happened to your blog?

When I try to visit travisspomer.blogspot.com, I'm redirected to www.blogger.com/start. I don't think you've deleted your blog, because wifiwatch.blogspot.com (a deleted blog of mine) returns a Not Found exception.

URLs, URLs, URLs

2005-04-19T23:42:00.000-07:00

Jakob Nielson (Alertbox, March 21, 1999) writes in his article URL as UI:
It is likely that domain names only have 3-5 years left as a major way of finding sites on the Web. In the long term, it is not appropriate to require unique words to identify every single entity in the world. That's not how human language works.

The proposals to open up new top-level domains like .shop are a poor solution from a usability perspective since there is no easy way to remember which domain ending is associated with which site. The only new TLD that's useful is .sex which would allow very simple ways of filtering content that's undesired (or desired, as the case may be).

New addressing schemes are likely to be introduced with better support for ambiguity and the ability to find things without knowing the exact spelling. Search engines and directories are an early attempt, but we can surely do better.

Because of the conservatism of Web users, we will have to cater to old browsers, old software, and old habits for many years, so good domain names will continue to be important for many years. The remaining useful life of a domain name may be as much as ten years.
At least as much as ten years, from when that article was written. The challenge remains: an elegantly simply graphical method to represent most people's needs of a URL.

URLs

2005-04-19T22:44:00.000-07:00

How often do you really, truly use the URL of a webpage? Displaying it should be an option left for power users and web developers -- and obviously we need URLs for the web to work -- but as far as a normal user operates, there should be a simpler way.

I mean, you type in Google.com, Amazon.com, or even HolyFarglesnot.blogspot.com... but how often do you care about the rest of the crap in there?

Our daily use of the URL is left over from when command-line driven systems were the only thing in town, and entering cumbersome text commands were simply something you did.
Welcome to the 21st century.
From the (non-tech savvy) user's perspective: The concept of a specific resource being tightly coupled to an exact URL is bad design. The URL is an interface that exposes the mechanics of how the task is accomplished, rather than representing what is supposed to be accomplished.
As a user, I am interested in accessing a particular resource and navigating to its associated relations. I could care less about the actual URL. It is simply a means to an end.
For example, Amazon recognizes this concept. Which of the following is the correct way to access Amazon's 'Books' resources?

www.amazon.com/books
books.amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/283155/002-1866287-2792020
All three will work, but the first two simply redirect you to the 'true' URL.
Amazon recognizes the user doesn't care about the true URL, and thus provides URL short forms. It's a step in the right direction, but a very basic one.

Other thoughts:

Do you think 'www' has any true meaning to the user, other than they expect it to be in most web addresses?
Ditto for 'http'. What gives? That you can look at it as say "well, https tells me I have a secure connection!" (Pardon the expression, but...) Holy Farglesnot, Batman! That seems to be an HMI bug, rather than a feature.
There should be an alternate, graphical-based method for specifying a URL.
(Yes, I know, the full text specification gives you much more power, but who truly needs it? I'm not saying take it away, just that it's more than the average user needs. As a developer, I'm addicted to *nix functionality; as an end-user, I prefer Windows/Mac ease of use.)

Star Wars 1337 Trailer

2005-04-17T23:49:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen it, you should really check out the "1337 h4X0R" sub-titled Star Wars Episode 3 Trailer.

BONUS (classic) link: The Star Wars Kid.

In the Mail

2005-04-15T01:06:00.000-07:00

I would post more, but it's getting late and I'm starting to become incoherent.

Suffice to say, I have two major areas of professional interst:

City-wide wifi types of services, and

The use of information technology to perform bioinformatics work.

To better understand what's out there: I've ordered these books from Amazon:

Bioinformatics for Dummies
Jean-Michel Claverie (Paperback)

Developing Bioinformatics Computer Skills
Cynthia Gibas (Paperback)

Good nite.
--Tom

A Modest Proposal

2005-04-13T22:19:00.000-07:00

If you work for an IT company, you damn well better know not to open email with strange attachments, or from people you don't know, or about Nigerian scams, etc, etc, etc. If you didn't, you had better wise up -- quickly.

If you were responsible for a huge, major, pain-in-the-ass, "we're gonna have to repair the email server software" problem, here's what the 3 Strike program at my company would look like:

Strike 1

A personal warning from me to you.
For the following month, the nameplate on your office would be changed to "Grade AAA Dumbshit".
Everyone would refer to your by your official title, "Captain Numbnuts".
Probation: Use AOL Dial-Up for your next 1000 hours on the Internet. Even when you're at work. And none of this "free hours!" crap. You're paying for every last one of them.

Strike 2

You're fired.
Don't let the door hit you on your way out.
Use as much free AOL you like.

Stttteeeeeeeriiikkke 3!

Strike three? There ain't no stinkin' strike three.

New AIM Screenname

2005-04-13T07:46:00.000-07:00

On the topic of instant messaging...

If you know who you are, then you know where to find my new nic.

I hope it's only a kludge until I can resolve the issues with my original one.

Blasphemy

2005-04-13T00:05:00.000-07:00

In the name of all that is good and holy, I don't know why I was so mixed up. I had an electronic profile where I described myself as wearing "crimson and cream" on Saturdays in the fall.
Good sweet Lord.

The formerly offensive section now properly reads "scarlet and cream".
Many thanks to Will for pointing this out, and rightfully embarassing me.

IMing during class...

2005-04-12T23:14:00.000-07:00

...is near and dear to my heart. In some classes it kept me sane, and in others it kept me awake. And always, AIM was an awesome distraction.

So with a hat tip to Instapundit, I found Ann Althouse's proposal for an innovative use of in-class IMs at law school:

My colleague Asifa Quraishi said the students are already using the classroom WiFi to IM each other, and maybe it hasn't been so bad. We got going on the subject of how maybe we should outright encourage the students to IM, including sending tips and cues to a student who is engaged in Socratic dialogue with the lawprof. What's wrong with students pooling their expertise on the fly?

I think it's worth trying out, but my friends were -- and still are -- a bunch of smart asses who are more likely to test your composure than your skills with Socratic dialogue.

The Truth Hurts

2005-04-12T00:44:00.000-07:00

COBISOR: Pronunciation: 'kO-bi-sar
Function: (n.)
: Cold b****-slap of reality.

Administered often and frequently, the cobisor is utilized by others to prevent you from having any delusions of grandeur. Applies equally to friendly and hostile situations.

Subliminininimality

2005-04-11T23:01:00.000-07:00

For some reason, Microsoft's current Office advertisement campaign involves dinosaurs.
A consumer might say that Microsoft is a large, slow-moving, monolithic company.
A sixth-grader would tell you that dinosaurs are large, slow-moving, monolithic creatures.
A sixth-grader would also tell you that dinosaurs are extinct.
...
Perhaps Microsoft's ad agency is trying to tell us something.

UPDATE: I Googled for "microsoft office dinosaur", and the general consensus is that the ad campaign is...well, less than inspired. A rant from AdScam/The Horror!:

All I want to know is how the people responsible for this shit can go home at night, look their loved ones in the face, and admit they just spent the day inflicting this crap on the American public? The concept sucks. The copy is appalling, and the art direction is pathetic. Bill Gates should take five minutes out from saving Africa and do something about saving his advertising. Jesus, Bill, put Melinda on it. Better yet, get Balmer to do one of his freak out acts on McCann. Just ask yourself this question… Would Steve Jobs ever let his agency get away with shit like this? Man, he’d drown the fuckers in the bathtub before he’d allow them to produce such an embarrassment.

Pretty much.

Current Reading List

2005-04-11T21:58:00.000-07:00

When You Ride Alone, You Ride With Bin Laden
Bill Maher

Product Description from Amazon:
"33 dynamic new posters and several classics from our government's archive, accompanied by text from one of our leading pundits and cutting-edge comedians make this the perfect book for this time in our nation's history, the zeitgeist of one-year-past-9/11 America. This will help Americans make the connection between what we can do and how it will help our troops to victory."

Tom's Take:

Looked intriguing, flipped it open and checked out a couple (brief) chapters.
Worth taking home for a closer read.

Mostly Harmless
Douglas Adams

Product Description from Amazon:
Douglas Adams is back with the amazing, logic-defying, but-why-stop-now fifth novel in the Hitchhiker Trilogy. Here is the epic story of Random, who sets out on a transgalactic quest to find the planet of her ancestors.

Tom's Take:

Read on Slashdot about the terrible hack job on the Hitchhiker movie, and the contrast with the precise comedic dialogue written by Adams.
Stumbled across this book (the only Hitchhiker-related book I could get my hands on), which happens to be the fifth and final book of the Hitchhiker trilogy.
Finished the book already, great read. I'll probably have a separate post on the book. Short summary: My favorite parts were the adventures of Ford Prefect, and Colin, the deliriously and eternally happy security robot.
This is a book that would be even better were it read aloud. Why you would want to severely tweak stuff written by Douglas Adams is beyond me.

High Tech Start Up
John L. Nesheim

Product Description from Amazon:
"This revised and updated edition of Nesheim's underground Silicon Valley bestseller incorporates twenty-three case studies of successful start-ups, including tables of wealth showing how much money founders and investors realized from each venture. Acclaimed by entrepreneurs the world over, this practical handbook is filled with hard-to-find information..." [Did they mention the great marketing people they had, who wrote the jacket copy? -Ed]

Tom's Take:

You expected me to see this on the shelf and not take it home?
Going to start reading it, since I finished Mostly Harmless.
The book is copyrighted 1997 and renewed in 2000.
I'm expecting it to be interesting from either (a) a useful information point-of-view, or (b) a "wow, it's no surprise the dot-com bubble burst" perspective.

National Animal Identification System

2005-04-06T00:40:00.000-07:00

Some of you will find the politics of this more interesting than others:

The USAIP is deprecated. It is now known as the National Animal Identification System (APHIS NAIS).
The Nebraska animal ID effort gets more paragraphs in this article (10 Mar 2005) than any other state (among Missouri, Texas, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and South Carolina).
Nebraska and Wisconsin are the only animal ID programs with consumer-friendly domain names. But honestly, Nebraska's is better (www.animalid.info, as opposed to www.wiic.org).
RMS Research Management Systems USA, Inc. is providing a "LivestockTrust Livestock Identification & Tracking System" to a consortium composed of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, the Hopi and Ute Mountain Ute Tribes, the Navajo Nation, and the Mexican States of Chihuahua and Sonora.
"Global Animal Management" is providing the system for Idaho, Nevada, and Utah.
NAVE Bug Report: You cannot electronically enter the Nebraska Premises ID System? I clicked the text "Enter the Premises ID System", which contained this hyperlink: http://www.animalid.us/Premises/Login.aspx?State=NE. The www.animalid.us page refreshed. Boooo.

Deep Thought of the Day

2005-04-06T00:29:00.000-07:00

"McCain" commented over at WizBang:

I've always considered men of power to arrive by means of hard work and good fortune. Brains are not part of this 2-variable equation.

Posted by: McCain at April 6, 2005 02:02 AM

That should be framed. Brilliant.

p0wnage

2005-04-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

If you recognize these screens, drop by the owner's dorm room. He's got some awesome shows lined up.

( Click here for larger version )

( Click here for larger version )

Travel Reading List

2005-03-31T00:36:00.000-08:00

Restoring the Lost Constitution (Start), and American Exceptionalism (Chpt 2)
Application-Driven Web Resource Location Classification and Detection (Microsoft Research, MSR-TR-2005-32)

Poisson D'Avril

2005-03-30T21:59:00.000-08:00

I hope to see most of you in Kauffy Kauff on Friday. I'll have my mobile with me during the entire trip; my number's posted on IT.

Seriously.

Geographical Link-Fest

2005-03-30T21:45:00.000-08:00

The Minuteman Project starts April 1 [KimDuToit.com] (could make US-Mexico border relations much more interesting, if there's an international incident)
Good news from urban Phoenix [Wired.com]
Blog logs ARE good for something. (Other than this crap.)
A shout-out and congratulations to Travis Benning, a fellow Nebraskan blogger. And a friend of Will, I do believe?
Travis' post about The Minuteman Project

Grammer, Part Deux

2005-03-30T21:34:00.000-08:00

Travis: Precisely speaking, I think, yes, you are correct.

Unless you are participating in the act of driving the plane ("flying/flying the plane"), I think the proper -- or at least, most correct -- way to state the situation is to say that you rode in the airplane.

Harrumph -- just checked Webster.com. The fifth definition of fly "to operate or travel in an airplane or spacecraft."

Hmmmm. I'll change my original point and settle on this final one: "The tank shall be light enough to fly" is a bad systems requirement.

If we're in a systems/software review, and your requirement is: "The tank shall be light enough to fly," I want to know:

Define tank. Which/what tank are you referring to?
Generally, what does it mean "to fly"?
Specifically, what does "to fly" mean with respect to the tank?
What on earth is meant by "light enough"? That's neither specific nor measurable in any sense.

And Spomer is correct. Impreciselessly, too. :)

Grammar

2005-03-28T23:44:00.000-08:00

Spot the error in this paragraph:

Army officials issued a stop-work order in January for the network that would link Future Combat weapons, citing its failure to progress. Those officials said this month that they did not know if they could build a tank light enough to fly.

Do you see it? It's not an "oh-my-gosh, they've got a dangling subjunctive!" type of error -- it's more of a stated-flat-out-wrong type of error.

Here's the part that gets me:

"...they did not know if they could build a tank light enough to fly."

Personally, I think the weight of a flying tank is irrelevant. Tanks don't fly because they don't have wings.

Right Tool for the Job

2005-03-28T23:38:00.000-08:00

Overheard today:

"That's a flaw with real-time... it doesn't support Java!"

Sportsmanship

2005-03-27T22:05:00.000-08:00

Sportsmanship:

The [Mexican] crowd booed the U.S. national anthem and a spattering of fans chanted "Osama! Osama!" before play started, and shortly after Lewis' goal.

Did the nuttiest moonbats from DU invade the soccer stadium, or is this indicative of the general mood down south?

Your Tax Dollars At Work

2005-03-24T18:13:00.000-08:00

Schoolhouse Crock (New York Daily News, 3/22/05)

A Bronx teacher who repeatedly flunked his state certification exam paid a formerly homeless man with a developmental disorder $2 to take the test for him, authorities said yesterday.

The illegal stand-in - who looks nothing like teacher Wayne Brightly - not only passed the high-stakes test, he scored so much better than the teacher had previously that the state knew something was wrong, officials said...

...Brightly, 38, a teacher at one of the city's worst schools, Middle School 142, allegedly concocted the plot to swap identities with Leitner last summer. If he failed the state exam again, Brightly risked losing his $59,000-a-year job.

The "Oklahoma drill"

2005-03-22T21:36:00.000-08:00

From Tuesday's (3/22) OWH Husker Notes:

As part of Callahan's goal to renew Nebraska's blue-collar work ethic, the Huskers will set aside practice time each day for the Oklahoma drill, named "after my favorite team," the coach said. The jaw-rattling drill pits blocker against tackler in a confined space.

"I want to make sure we have a drill that is physical in nature where we can line up and master the one-on-one fundamentals of drive blocking and block protection on both sides of the ball."

Heheheh. I'm cautiously optimistic "physical" football is a sign of good things to come (actually, back to the way they were).

And Oklahoma being Coach Callahan's "favorite team"? Remember the Ruf/Nek incident from the 2004 OU-NU Game?

As Callahan walked off the field to a shower of boos and heckles, he shouted "(expletive) hillbillies!" to the [Oklahoma] crowd. Callahan said Monday he regretted his choice of words.

(More details.) And because of that, Callahan's tongue-in-cheek reference to the Oklahoma drill being named after his "favorite team" is great. I like that attitude. I hope it translates to some on-the-turf butt kicking this fall.

Travel Tips, Frozen Wasteland Edition

2005-03-21T21:21:00.000-08:00

The international calling code for Antarctica is 672.

-40° Fahrenheit = -40° Celsius

Polar bears natively inhabit the polar regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

Penguins natively inhabit the Southern Hemisphere.

Google Desktop SDK

2005-03-20T08:08:00.000-08:00

Google's released a Google Desktop SDK. Has it been out that long? I just noticed it in an ad on Slashdot.

Luke Days 2005

2005-03-20T07:48:00.000-08:00

As I've mentioned before, I've planned on going to the local airshow at Luke Days 2005. It's been awhile since I've been to an airshow on an Air Force base, and certainly was before 9/11. So, the morning started off with parking in a large dirt lot, a quarter/half-mile hike to the main gate, and long wait in a calm mob to receive a wanding-over by the Air Force ROTC.

Once we were inside, everyone headed to the tarmac for the static displays and the air performances. There were a variety of cargo planes, fighter jets, helicopters, and historical planes on display.

A-10 Thunderbolt II

F-18 Hornet

F-16 Fighting Falcon

C-5 Galaxy

F-84F Thunderstreak
One of the original Thunderbirds

An A-10, F-15, and two P-51 Mustangs flying in formation

Camelback Mountain

2005-03-15T23:13:00.000-08:00

My brother was in town recently, and we hiked Camelback Mountain one afternoon.

We embarked on the Cholla trail, located on the east side of the mountain. The City of Phoenix Camelback Trail Guide describes the trail as 1.5 miles long, with an elevation gain of 1200 feet. The summit of the mountain is 2,704 feet above sea level. The later third of the trail is accurately described as "strenuous"; parts of it including rock scrambling -- those of you who aren't huge fans of heights should probably avoid it. The Echo Canyon trail looks milder.

Here are some photos we snapped.

Cholla Trailhead

An Ocotillo Cactus

A Cool Rock Outcropping, En Route

Camelback Summit, Looking West at Piestewa (Squaw) Peak

Ebay Material

2005-03-10T22:08:00.000-08:00

I pulled a couple Diet Coke with Lime cans out of the box this morning, and stuck them in my cooler for consumption later in the day.

And then at work, I noticed -- one of the cans was au natural. The Coca-Cola label was not printed on it at all; there's only a serial-type number and expiration date on the bottom. I'll post pictures as soon as I get them.

Surely SOMEONE wants to buy it from me.

President Bush Announces Iraq Exit Strategy

2005-03-09T21:59:00.000-08:00

Breaking news:

WASHINGTON, DC — Almost a year after the cessation of major combat and a month after the nation's first free democratic elections, President Bush unveiled the coalition forces' strategy for exiting Iraq.

"I'm pleased to announce that the Department of Defense and I have formulated a plan for a speedy withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq," Bush announced ... "We'll just go through Iran."

Army Speak

2005-03-08T21:50:00.000-08:00

I learn new things all the time. Here's a sample from today:

Gnat's Ass: An excessive level of detail.
Ex: Man, she was telling me everything about her damn weekend, right down to the gnat's ass!
Suck the Egg: To share a common resource.
Ex: All the guys were sucking the egg, circled around the kegerator.
Turd in a Punch Bowl: To be an unwelcome presence, or to perform an unwanted action; esp. when playing the devil's advocate.
Ex: I hate to be a turd in the punchbowl, but who's paying for the beer?

I dare you to keep a straight face when those show up in a meeting.

The Day Dan Rather Lied

2005-03-07T21:45:00.000-08:00

Recorded by my favorite drive-time hosts at 550 KFYI, Austin Hill and Tom Liddy: "The Day Dan Rather Lied" (WMA)

To the tune of Don McLean's American Pie (short version), with lyrics here.

Decision 2008

2005-03-07T00:05:00.000-08:00

Do you wonder who will be running for the Republican nomination in '08?

Electronics

2005-03-06T21:37:00.000-08:00

I'm finally in "the 21st century," as everyone around me seems to have put it. Today, I broke down and purchased a cell phone and its two-year agreement. Talk about your electronic leash. I'm thrilled to have a new electronic gizmo, but I'm not sold on all the ramifications of it. Yet.

In other news, I traded in a couple of Cube games at EB for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It's a diverting puzzle game with good graphics, and doesn't require a huge time committment. The learning curve isn't bad either. My girlfriend really took to it -- and as a result, I haven't played much. I was called in, however, to perform some mop-up duty to defeat a hellish-looking cast-iron creature. I had to bust out some techniques from LOTR:ROTK, and turned that stove into toast.

Holy Farglesnot!

2005-03-01T22:43:00.000-08:00

Go to http://www.askjeeves.com and search for "logical proverbs" (without the quotes).

....Check out the #1 search result.

Good gracious, no wonder Search is in such a dreary state these days.

Fun Stuff

2005-03-01T22:18:00.000-08:00

A personal to-do list of fun stuff in the area, in no particular order.

Political stuff

2005-03-01T22:10:00.000-08:00

Short post over on FMA about a Republican Senator from Alaska who wants to slap indecency fines on satellite and cable media.

norm4eva

2005-02-28T21:32:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine from college -- Alan -- has recently started playing bass in the band norm4eva. Turns out they're an acoustic group; I'm a huge fan of acoustic guitar stuff.

Check 'em out -- the music will start playing when you visit their website: http://myspace.com/norm4eva.

Groovy album cover stuff.

Whoopty Doo!

2005-02-28T21:22:00.000-08:00

I'll be seeing many of you between March 31 and April 3. I'm not sure how long I'll be at the University, but it will be long enough to see some folks again.

Details will come as I get everything figured out.

Software Engineers and Words

2005-02-28T21:17:00.000-08:00

For the record:

"Databasable" is not a word.

Corollary:

"To database" is not a verb.

And,

If you meant "able to be stored in a database" -- just say so.

Holy Farglesnot, I'm in the search engines...

2005-02-28T01:53:00.000-08:00

Checking out my referrer logs, I've discovered:

My post at FMA on some bullsh*t in my Organizational Behavior class is Search Result #5 4 [It's moved up since I first drafted this post. Score. -ed] in a Yahoo! Search for: "Organizational Behavior" GMA. I thought (and still do) it is rather silly to call out the fact that most jobs require General Mental Ability (GMA). Writing that post was terribly therapeutic. Check it out.
#1 Yahoo! Search Result for "HOW TOM MAKE FETTUCINE ALFREDO" is my Grand Unified Theory of Fettucine Chicken Alfredo Satisfaction (title: "Applications of Economics Theory and Calculus at Spaghettic Works"). It sounds more impressive than it is. I was punchy, and I wrote it during finals week.[Rats. The link's gone. They actually improved their search engine. -ed]

Programming note: Anything I write like those posts in the future will live here at HF.

Oh, I recommend Extreme Tracking as decent, free vistor tracking mechanism. You get all kinds of fun logs -- unique vistors, referrers, geo tracking, browser details, and some other goodies. It's a free sign-up (use a throw-away Hotmail address) and go to town.

AIM

2005-02-27T22:21:00.000-08:00

Someone [An Anonymous Coward...sheesh, people. Blogger does let you leave your names now. -ed.] asked me to get on AIM more often. I'd love to, but I'm having password issues at the moment. I had some technical issues several weeks back the required a WinXP re-install. AIM, which as dutifully remembered my password for years, no longer let me in the system -- for wont of a password. Yes, I know. Alas, and alack. I'm working to resolve the situation.

The Oscars

2005-02-27T17:52:00.000-08:00

They just played the title theme from Star Trek: The Next Generation as the segue music for the first commercial break. What gives?

UPDATE: Jerry Goldsmith composed the ST:TNG theme, along with other Star Trek scores such as ST:Voyager. Sadly, he also passed away since the last Oscars -- and I'm thinking that's why they played the TNG theme.

Did you notice the orchestra played the theme from "The Magnficient Seven" to shoo Hillary Swank off-stage? Elmer Bernstein composed it; he too, passed away.

Matthew: I don't know what's up with "The Terminator" theme, however. Mr. Brad Fiedel composed it, along with the two later Terminator flicks, and -- according to IMDB.com -- appears to be alive and kicking. ...Was it introductory music for someone?

UPDATE II: And what's with the college football gameday/bowl game heralding trumpets interstitials?

Back from hiatus

2005-02-26T10:11:00.000-08:00

The Great PVR Experiment of 2005 is over. And consequently, I'm returning to blogging.

The test setup for PVR'ing involved having my computer on the floor in a corner -- difficult to use at the best of times, and very uncomfortable for writing blog posts. The quick summary on the PVR experience for me is: not yet. I'm thinking of keeping my PVR-350 card so that I can record historical-type things when I need to. But since we just had the State of the Union and the political conventions are over, I can't think of much else of interest. Hmmm.

PVR-350 installed

2005-02-08T22:24:00.000-08:00

Got the -350 installed and working on WinXP. I've added a screenshot as proof -- note the Phoenix public access TV in the lower-left corner. Full-screen video is running my Athlon XP 1500+ (1.33 GHz) at ~50% CPU utilization. Picture quality is good, but I'd like better. I'll be able to judge better when I can get output to my TV -- right now video's playing to my CRT, and TV >> CRT always been slightly underwhelming, I think.

Getting the signal to my TV requires a trip to Radio Shack, unfortunately. I need an "A/V Output" >> Composite connector. My TV has dual composite inputs, so I can maintain my "Durabrand(tm)" apartment-theatre-in-a-box system indepedently from my PVR.

Hi Brad

2005-02-07T21:15:00.000-08:00

The picture at Mindsmith.net has been updated to a smashing picture of the Vancouver BC skyline.

w00t.

UPDATE: That's such a Spomer font, you typographic whore.

The Nebraska Guitar Militia

2005-02-06T22:21:00.000-08:00

...and their hit album, Children of the Corn. Seriously.

The Apocalypse... now?

2005-02-06T22:12:00.000-08:00

!

http://www.mindsmith.net

A very well-appointed room, too. I expect furniture-blogging soon.

Note: Good Lord, Brad, if you're not a products photographer for a high-end furniture magazine... why not?

Dark City

2005-02-06T21:09:00.000-08:00

Was Wal-Mart the first retailer to offer bargain-basement prices on DVDs (i.e., the $5.50 DVD bin)? I don't get out much, so that's the first place I noticed it. Recently, I've seen Target and Best Buy with similar offerings. It's great; I love it. I've scored DVDs of Total Recall, Godzilla, Executive Decision, and D-Day (two-disc documentary set with 1940s newsreels, war-time cartoons, and the 1945 Academy Award-winning feature documentary, The True Glory).

Anyways, Best Buy has something similar. It was on the $6 display that I found an incredible deal -- Dark City. I know most of you have seen it. For those who haven't, you must! Allow me to give you this introduction by "Schtinky" from Amazon:

Dark City is an extremely interesting experiment of blending futuristic settings with an oddly 1940's style of society. Its dark atmosphere surrealistic imagery contain murky allusions of dread and foreboding, making a visually stunning treat for the eye.

John Murdock (Rufus Sewell) awakens in a bathtub in a strange place, and staggering from his seedy hotel room sees a murdered woman lying on the floor. But John has absolutely no memories of who he is or why he was in the room. Even stranger is the fact that when he emerges from the hotel, the entire city has stopped moving and everyone but him is asleep.

I'm afraid you're stuck with the teaser. Too much more, and I'll start to spoil the plot. Another reviewer called Dark City a cross between Blade Runner and The Matrix. Certainly in that ballpark; though I completely disagree with the remainder of the review.

Finally, some Dark City connections:

Director Alex Proyas
Most recently directed I, Robot; also of The Crow fame
Rufus Sewell, "John Murdoch"
He's mostly done some lesser-known or foreign film work, he's a pretty serious looking guy and I hope to see him in more films. Girlfriends will recognize him as 'the bad guy' opposite Heath Ledger in A Knight's Tale. Also slated for the next Zorro flick with Banderas and Zeta-Jones: The Legend of Zorro.
Kiefer Sutherland, "Dr. Daniel Schreber"
You'll probably recognize him from the TV-series, 24. He's been in many films; he was even one of the Three Musketeers.
Jennifer Connelly, "Emma Murdoch/Anna"
Movies she's acted in: House of Sand and Fog, The Hulk, A Beautiful Mind, Requiem for a Dream ...and The Rocketeer. Most of you (cough, guys) know who she is, I'm assuming?

BONUS: WMP Trailers | QuickTime Trailers

Technical difficulties

2005-02-04T19:03:00.000-08:00

Blogging has/will be limited for the short-term. I'm having some stupid technical problems.

My hard drive of four-and-a-half years finally died (we've been expecting its passing for the last 12 months), my D-Link router bombed out, and when I tried to recover a previous WindowsXP install on another disk.....I managed to jigger things even worse.

So, I'm now installing Gentoo (stage 2, if you're interested) on my 160 GB HD to get at the data on my 100 (and currently unbootable) disk. It's involved, but not too bad actually.

PVR Update

2005-01-31T21:18:00.000-08:00

A friend from work and I each ordered the Hauppage WinTV-PVR350 today. It supports hardware encoding/decoding and is supposed to have the best picture quality. There seem to be happy MythTV'ers with the 350, and it plays nice with SageTV too (my backup plan).

The current plan is to outfit my existing box with the -350/Myth combo. If it's a success, I'll get one of them fancy super-quiet cases to go live with my Durabrand home theatre-in-a-box. Yes, my video capture card cost twice my home theatre system. Your point?

One of my remaining concerns is the remote control. Like everything else with Myth, it appears to be DIY. One option is to create a solution using a "learning remote" with an IR keyboard. I'm also cautiously optimistic that the Hauppage website stated that the -350 came with an IR blaster. We'll see how things work out.

Linux Lovin', I

2005-01-31T01:27:00.000-08:00

Today's commands involve grep and pipes.

man | col -b
Use this command to get a de-paginated form of the man page for a topic. You could redirect the output to a file, or grep through it for something specific.
grep [-A] [-B] [-C] n
Use the -A n option to see the n lines immediately after your match. Similary, -B shows n lines before your match, and -C shows n lines before and after your match.

Peripheral Goodness

2005-01-31T01:03:00.000-08:00

While I was trying to find a retail copy of XP MCE at Microsoft's store, I saw this...

3-Button Microsoft® Optical Mouse by Starck

XP MCE

2005-01-30T23:57:00.000-08:00

Travis, I'd really consider XP MCE... but doesn't it come as part of an OEM package?

UPDATE: How have I survived without snagging The Daily Show each night? ...Hurtin' for that PVR.

PVRs

2005-01-27T21:40:00.000-08:00

I've recently had a strong yen for a Personal Video Recorder (PVR). I'd like to (briefly) record some of the weekly shows (like Lost) without dealing with the hassle of physical media, but there are other things (like the State of the Union) that I would like to permanently record.

Here's what I'm going to evaluate, so far. Please comment if you're aware of other good packages.

The PVR shall:

Function in every capacity using my current CRT TV display
Allow me use of my home-theatre-in-a-box with minimal hassle switching between watching DVDs and normal TV/PVR'd stuff.

If possible, I'd like to reuse the PIII 800 MHz processor/mobo and 256 MBs of RAM I currently have sitting around. A Mac Mini would be an attractive option, but I don't want to hack a PVR card into the box. I know, with my reuse guidelines....MCE is probably out. But hey, I'm trying to be equal opportunity here.

Hmmm.....I have a DVD burner scheduled for upgrade into my PC, but that could be dropped into the PVR box. Hmm, hmmm....there's also a 160 gB drive I bought in the post-Thanksgiving Day sale at Best Buy expressly for video capture stuff. (My hope was to create a digital archive of the Republican and Democratic 2004 Presidential Election material. Videos, commercials, party propoganda, blog posts, anything on the web. That'll have to be another story. If anybody can appreciate the effort, I hope Jesse can.)

I guess that settles it -- I'm building a PVR. Just need a case and a video capture card. And a NIC. MythTV or Sage? Linux or Windows? Both appear to have good user communities.

The plot thickens. Stay tuned.

Friends

2005-01-27T21:10:00.000-08:00

Just got a call from some friends back home - It was really good to talk with folks. My regret after high school graduation was not keeping in touch with my good friends. I'm afraid I'm letting it happen again now, after college. So . . . thanks for the call guys. I'm trying to do better, but it might take a little while.

Hasbro: Darth Tater

2005-01-20T23:09:00.000-08:00

Best Mr. Potato Head EVER.

Link [Hasbro.com].

UPDATE: Just pre-ordered at Amazon.com.

Holy Farglesnot!

2005-01-16T22:38:00.000-08:00

I got spidered by MSN Search -- sweet! One of my referers to A Free and Moral Agent came from an MSN search for "Is man a free moral agent?" W00t! I have officially made my mark on cyberspace! If you ask MSN Search such a philosophical question, you will get:

Result #27: FMA July 2004 Archives
Result #30: FMA March 2004 Archives

Incidentally, I don't show up in the Top 100 results of an identical Google search. I think we now know why MSN Search is still in beta.

Stacey's Mom

2005-01-16T21:21:00.000-08:00

This comes from the wrong-but-funny department; dedicated to Rusty.

Fountains of Wayne: Stacey's Mom Has Got it Going On
(Lyrics)

WMP: LOW | HIGH
Real: LOW | HIGH

...Do you think that Fountains of Wayne sound like a modern cross between Buddy Holly and the Early Beatles?

UPDATE: That's Rod Stewart's daughter and estranged wife in the video, btw.

Engineering the Perfect Pint, Part I

2005-01-12T21:43:00.000-08:00

[This series is dedicated to Jesse "Swid" Beer-Brewer.]

I'm going to detail, in proper scientific fashion, what makes a can of Guinness go tick. Or more appropriately, fizz and gurgle into a nice mocha head on your Irish stout.

Since this is an experiment, there will be a lab write-up detailed as follows:

Introduction
Hypothesis
Equipment
Procedure
Data
Analysis
Conclusion

And yes, there will be pictures.

1. Introduction
Guinness is the dark, stout beer of beers. Mr. Arthur Guinness set up business in Dublin in 1759, and Guinness has been brewed ever since. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I can enjoy a pint of liquid bread as if I were at a pub back in Dublin. "But how?" you ask, "The Guinness bottle rocket widget got all the attention a couple years ago...and everyone knows a rocket in your can never did anyone much good." Well, intrepid reader, I shall sacrifice -- for you -- a can of Guinness beer in the name of science.

II. Hypothesis
Something inside a can of Guinness draught gives the beer a head when it is poured out. And, it is not a rocket widget.

III. Equipment

1 can, Guinness Draught
1 Guinness pint glass
1 sharp knife

IV. Procedure
To be continued...

I have 'tendencies'.

2005-01-12T21:32:00.000-08:00

Holy crap. I forgot to mention the "sub-$500 headless Mac!" announced at MacWorld. Hot damn. The Mac has started to hit "hobby computer" range. Unfortunately, a USB KVM adds 20+% to the price. But still. For the price of five Gamecubes, I can now get all kinds of uber-sexy Oonix goodness with a GUI that gives me warm and fuzzies. Ever since Mac switched to a *nix core, it's been a question of when, not if. The time draws near.

(Image from apple.com/MacMini)

Finally

2005-01-12T21:26:00.000-08:00

Well, right on cue, the Omaha World-Herald is the last to know about slightly-weird hometown boy. As Jesse pointed out, Rainbow Rowell wrote an editorial about him today. The OWH only gets half-credit because it's not a news article.

Had a good, long (hour and a half) discussion group. So blogging at FMA will be lite to non-existant tonight. I might update the blogroll, if I am so moved.

The Road to Omaha

2005-01-11T21:29:00.000-08:00

Well, The Pride of All Nebraska landed on the front page of The Drudge Report. Oh, and it's a link to a TV news station in Orlando, Florida.

Britain >> Florida >> ??? >> Omaha
I don't WANT this guy getting even more attention, but I think it's really interesting how a story about an Omaha, Nebraska man is spreading. The Beeb does the first report, which has jumped across the pond to Florida. (...and Florida has video. How on earth did they get VIDEO? A search of Omaha's ABC affiliate's (KETV) website for "Andrew Fisher" doesn't show the story at all. Ditto for NBC (WOWT) and CBS (KMTV). And the Omaha World-Herald.

Slashdot / BBC >> Drudge / WKMG-TV >> ??? >> Omaha World-Herald
The convergence of the electronic media reporting is pretty interesting, too. Mentally, I see a graph. The x-axis represents time elapsed. You can decide what the y-axis is. The top-right quadrant represents highly-recognized news sites. There's a decreasing curve that's asymptotically approaching the x-axis. That asymptote represents Omaha news organizations. A similar curve is mirrored in the lower-right quadrant. That quadrant displays specialty-interest websites. The light red shaded margin represents the variance of the research desk at an Omaha news organization.

Coming Soon: Engineering the Perfect Pint

2005-01-10T22:36:00.000-08:00

The N stands for Knowledge. Or num-nuts...

2005-01-10T22:00:00.000-08:00

...or something. I'm a Nebraskan, and I don't want to claim this guy.

BBC News: Man auctions ad space on forehead

A 20-year-old US man is selling advertising space on his forehead to the highest bidder on website eBay.

Andrew Fisher, from Omaha, Nebraska, said he would have a non-permanent logo or brand name tattooed on his head for 30 days.

Mr. Fisher only scores points with me because he IS a Holy Farglesnot! Absurdity in everyday life.

...and how on earth did the British Broadcasting Corporation find him?

Road Closed.

2005-01-10T21:49:00.000-08:00

A road in California after the recent rains (image from the Yahoo! AP feed).

Party Like It's 1999

2005-01-09T23:33:00.000-08:00

While we're waiting for the 2005 Husker season to start, check out this classic clip from the 1999 Nebraska v. Iowa match. Second-string (and future Heisman-winning) quarterback Eric Crouch flattens an Iowa linebacker at the 10-yard line en route to a TD:

Eric Crouch lowering his shoulder, decking the LB....

...and again, in all its SLO-MO glory.

If that doesn't give you warm fuzzies, you're not allowed in my apartment on football gamedays. (Videostream courtesy NU Big Red Wrap-Up. QuickTime required)

Home furnishings

2005-01-09T22:50:00.000-08:00

I love Target's inexpensive assemble-yourself furniture.

Background, I: Before I even moved down here, I had outfitted myself with some cool stuff from their Metropolitan collection. Two end tables and a coffee table (doing duty as a TV/DVD player stand), to be precise. Note: This does NOT make me Metro-sexual.

Background, II: To this point, my phone has lived in the backwater of my living room. Truly, it's the Land the Vacuum forgot. The dust bunnies play the Dueling Banjos theme from Deliverance. An area the length of my couch and less than 12" wide has the ONLY phone jack in my entire living room. Answering the portable phone required some wicked positioning and contortionist movies. That's just not my bag, baby. Thus...

Today's excitement was the requisition/construction of the "Island Collection Plant Stand" for my phone. Yeah, w00t. The Ratan (wicker-looking-bamboo-like stuff) accents are pretty cool. The wood stain matches my current furnishings, and it's the perfect size. Assembly was under 30 minutes and required only a Phillips screwdriver.

Cheatsheet

2005-01-07T01:55:00.000-08:00

My blogs are focused like this:

Holy Farglesnot == Tom's personal blog
Free & Moral Agent == Deep thoughts from Tom

Read either at your own risk. My hope is that a little organization will help me stay blogging longer. Being anal retentive is not a bug, it's a feature.

Desiccated Coconuts...

2005-01-07T01:38:00.000-08:00

...would be an awesome band name.

In other news, desiccated coconuts are also key ingredients in chocolate-covered truffles.