Intellectual Poison

With 2007 breathing its last gasps and 2008 about to roll in to town I thought it was about time to lay some goals down. They are, in no particular order:

1. Financial stability - being out of work for 8 months takes a wicked toll on savings. I'd just as soon avoid anything even remotely resembling such a layoff.
2. Push inventions - I've got several good ideas that I'd like to get off my drawing board and into production.
3. Regular exercise - exercise makes the body work better and the brain is part of the body so keeping my body in shape will allow me to better deal with the stresses of raising two kids.
4. Better quality time with family - not having financial issues hanging over us should help with that.
5. Trips - I'd like to return to Spring Training in Arizona and take some camping trips this year. It has been too long since I've been back to Big Sur.
6. Create and develop additional revenue streams - I take a decent photo and would like to monetize those skills more to make my family less dependent on a single source of income. And there's a couple of websites that are in development as well.
7. Clean out the junk - my garage is all but unusable because of the accumulated junk in it. I want to clear it out, clean my office out and not have so much clutter all around.

Not bad goals if I do say so myself. I have a couple of other goals but they're a bit personal so I'll keep them to myself for now. But I will note them if and when I am able to complete them.

Labels: 2008, goals

Here it is, the last Cheddar X of 2007.

1. What single personal event in 2007 stands out?
The most defining moment of 2007 for me was getting laid off way back in February and went a long way towards making 2007 a forgettable year for me.

2. What single news event in 2007 stands out to you?
So many stories to choose from, so many political scandals (wide stance anyone?), so many tawdry celeb-gossip stories. Its very difficult to choose. I think I'm going to go with Michael Vick, former NFL star quarterback, getting indicted for running a disgusting dog fighting ring on his Virginia property and participating in the execution of sub-par animals.

3. Who do you think the Person of the Year for 2007 should be?
Britney Spears because she provided more laughs and drama than any other ten people combined. But I also think she should be institutionalized and her mother euthanized.

4. What was the worst thing that happened to you in 2007?
See #1 above.

5. What was the worst thing that happened in 2007?
Blatant criminals like Alberto Gonzales, Karl Rove, Scooter Libby and other bastards from the Bush camp continue to walk free when they are traitors to this nation and the ideals upon which it was founded.

6. What are you looking forward to in 2008?
Putting 2007 behind me, having, holding and keeping regular employment with benefits. Seeing my two boys grow up a little bit more. Riding my bikes alot more, maybe seeing my westwardly mobile brother and his family more, spring training in Arizona, starting the process of taking some of my inventions from drawing board to retail shelf. Continuing my growth and learning as a photographer including more professional (read that: paying) gigs. And oh yeah, getting me an iPhone!

Labels: 2007, best thing, cheddar x, retrospective, worst thing

The New England Patriots completed the regular football season tonight with a perfect 16-0 record. A feat unmatched since the 1972 Dolphins.

It was a pretty good game that kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through to the end. Despite the bumbling commentary from Bryant Gumble and Chris Collinsworth.

Collinsworth in particular said some pretty stupid stuff, including that the Pats need to win the Super Bowl to have a truly successful season. Um yeah. They won all 16 regular season games and he requires a Super Bowl win to count them among the best teams of all time. Why not count the three Super Bowls they've won in the last six years.

And someone should let Gumball know what the difference is between the third and fourth quarters. At 4 minutes left in the third, he said the game had 4 minutes left. Nice work, dumbass.

The game was enough to overlook the crappy ass commentary though. Eli Manning played well, the Giants played well but not quite well enough to defeat the balanced and superb Patriots.

Bill Belichick might be an ass with a hole but he's also one hell of a good coach and I tip my hat to him, his coaches and his players. Now the real season begins!

Labels: football, Patriots

I came across an article on Real Tech News about the Tony-b Machine, its an online virtual synthesizer controlled via keyboard and mouse that's pretty fun to play around with. I'm not a mixmaster by any stretch but it is pretty easy to lay down some funky beats, add some cool sounds over it and then record the whole thing to share with others.

Get your groove on and have some fun!

Labels: music, online, synthesizer, virtual

I am battling yet another cold, my fourth or fifth in the last few months now. The result of working in the school and being exposed to a six hundred times the germs I am usually exposed to.

Only this latest sniffling bugger of a cold didn't come from the school, it came from a shopping cart or some other public spot. And I kicked the door open wide for it to come and make itself comfortable in my nose by not getting enough good sleep and being really stressed over the last week or so.

To help combat these repeated and tiring battles between my beleaguered immune system and the galaxy of pathogens, I'm educating myself on what I can do to strengthen my defenses and stay healthier.

To that end, I read Using Your Immune System to Stay Well at WebMD. The distilled advice is pretty simple with a couple of surprises tossed in.

1. Get enough sleep.
2. Wash your hands thoroughly and often.
3. Chicken soup, mushrooms and green tea can help boost immune response.
4. Listening to music can help elevate IGA (a protein from the immune system that helps fight infections) levels in the short term and can last beyond the last note. Music can also help de-stress which is good for both mental and physical health.
5. Sex can also boost IGA levels as well as just a loving touch.
6. Echinacea alone will not help but has long been thought to boost immune response when used in conjunction with other herbs.

To that end, I'm going to go and have myself some soup while listening to some Cake. But I'll be taking my tissues with me.

Labels: cold, immune system, sick

You have, no doubt, heard or read or seen the news about the fatal tiger attack at the SF Zoo on Christmas Day. It was and is a tragedy that ended the lives of two creatures, a 17 year old kid and a rare Siberian tiger named Tatiana.

As more and more information about the escape and attack comes out, it appears more and more likely that the three friends who were attacked were being jerks and taunting the animal. They must have about shat themselves when the 400 pound wild animal got pissed off enough to escape and exact some retribution.

Not that being a jerk means you should be mauled to death by a tiger but common sense dictates you don't piss off killing machines. Not only is a good sign that you're an asshole but, occasionally, those killing machines get loose and they remember jerks.

The investigation is on going, of course, and, if it turns out, that the three men were innocent victims of a tiger with a bad attitude then I will apologize for my words above. However, all signs are pointing to these three throwing stuff and then dangling a leg into the enclosure.

The zoo is apparently somewhat at fault for not having a more secure enclosure but if you piss off an animal enough it will figure out a way to get back at you. It is appearing that Christmas was payback day.

The whole thing is sad and was totally avoidable.

Labels: attack, avoidable death, tiger

Digital photo frames are a very cool innovation as they allow all kinds of different photos to be displayed in one place. But they have disadvantages, like having to load images onto a media card and putting it in the frame and then having to repeat that process whenever you wanted new pictures.

So, my idea is to web-enable a digital frame, be able to point it at a Flickr photostream and display new images as they are uploaded to the website. This way, I could give a frame to my mom that's preconfigured to download the latest pictures of her beautiful grandchildren.

The frame could also include a card slot to save favorite images for transfer to computers, printing or for a slideshow in the frame.

I'm sure someone is already working on this and it'll be pretty sweet when they're widely available.

[Update: Easy was kind enough to provide the confirmation that this product does, in fact, already exist. Made by The Original Digital Picture Frame Company Ceiva. It isn't quite exactly what I had in mind but it is a web-enabled digital picture frame, the only drawback I can see is that the updated pictures need to be subscribed to and cost $100 a year or so. I guess I'm looking for a non-subscription set up that I can point to any photo stream I'd like. But it is definitely a great start!]

Labels: convergence, Flickr, invention

Today's new word is inspired by the massive police presence on the highways and byways during this holiday break (236 DUI arrests over the last couple of days in the Bay Area).

Copupied - (pronounced cop-u-pied) when you're out driving on the road and see a cop and, even though you've done nothing wrong, you are acutely aware of his presence and become preoccupied with him.

Labels: nwotd

The day is done, my boys are asleep in their beds (well, Grady's sleeping in my bed right now) and my wife and I got a chance to talk some stuff over that needed talking over (ooh, doesn't that sound ominous?).

In between all that, we visited with friends we haven't seen in far too long, had a good time at my in-laws with a full house of family and kids and presents and ham and turkey and stuffing and gravy and more.

I got some pretty thoughtful and thought provoking gifts (thanks Mom!) and enjoyed seeing my two beautiful boys open and have a ball with their new things. Sully's big win for the day is a toy ride on Kawasaki ATV that makes noises and is pretty kickass for an 18 month old (or a three and a half year old as the case may be) to tool around on. Grady's big wins include a Leapster portable learning/gaming system and a Geo Trax Grand Central Station which has been added to our collection so that now we can quite literally take over the entire living room with snap together trains.

Also, my gloom and doom mood has, largely, lifted as the day passes into yesterday. I've still got a bunch of stuff to do and stuff to mail but that's alright, I've still got a couple of weeks off work to do them. And to start putting some plans together for 2008, including camping, weekend biking trips, family vacations to spring training (perhaps) and much, much more.

Labels: christmas, xmas

Folks, you may have the most compelling stories ever on your blog, you might even be trying to tell me how to not be such a grumpy asshole during the holidays. But you know what? I stopped reading your latest blog entry because it became rather glaringly obvious that you didn't bother to proof your writing. Skipped words, misspelled words and sentences that end in a dangle without a real finish.

Content may be king but formatting has gotta rank in there somewhere too.

Note, today's screed was brought on by reading a "professional" photography blog that had at least four things screwed up in the first paragraph and the mistakes didn't slow up. I stopped reading after three paragraphs and a migraine.

Please, for the love of grammar, proof your posts or, better yet, have someone else proof them before they go live. The language you are beating into a bloody pulp is my language and it doesn't need anymore abuse, it gets plenty of that from rap lyrics and drunkards.

There now, back to your revelry and last minute shopping.

[Update: As nearly always happens when I rant about bad proofing of posts, I didn't proof this one as carefully as I should have. As Pedant gently pointed out. But the flubbage (nice eh?) has been corrected almost as if it never happened.]

Labels: grammar counts, spellcheck, spelling counts

I read this article on SFGate, Tough Odds for Gambling Addicts knowing that I wasn't really going to learn too much that was new.

Casinos exist because they make money, lots of it, off of chumps and addicts. They are not in existence to lose money and make everyone a winner. Casinos are designed, lighted and created for the sole purpose of extracting as much of your money as possible before you break free and get away.

One bit of info in the article was new and kind of a shocker.

At the root of that growth is Indian gaming, which has exploded in California from a limited-game $1.4 billion business in 2000 to a $7.7 billion behemoth today that draws more than 10 million gamblers a year - and has eclipsed Las Vegas' $6.5 billion annual take to become the premier gambling region of America.

California now does more gambling business than Las Vegas (at least above the board legal gambling) and that's both eye-opening and really depressing.

I understand why gambling is addictive, its the lure of easy money, its the natural human tendency to pave over bad experiences and remember the good ones (i.e. you forget losing money and only remember winning even if you lost ten times what you won), its flashing lights and bells and whistles and mayhem. The instant you set foot in a casino, you are on their turf and they control literally everything in order to coerce you to lose your money faster.

I gamble when I go to casinos, not too much but some. And I almost invariably lose whatever money I take. The trick is to not take very much money or just avoid the casinos altogether.

Labels: addiction, gambling

Until the end of the awful Christmas ads.

I'm trying not to get all bah-humbuggy but it is all but impossible sometimes. The bombardment to spend, spend, spend to prove, prove, prove your love for your family and friends is incessant and wears you down. Not unlike a trip to Las Vegas where you don't gamble at all the first day but slowly, slowly they get their hooks into you and, before you know it, you're blowing twenty bucks a hand on blackjack and down a thousand bucks.

One more day and then the world starts to return to whatever passes for normal. Actually more like 36 hours since today has just begun.

I wish I could find even a speck of holiday spirit but I'm so thoroughly beat down and tired of the whole stupid ass charade that I am just in a holding pattern until the storm passes.

Let's face it, Christmas for adults sucks. Not that it shouldn't but there's so much run up, so much hyping and then the actual day is, without fail, a depressing letdown.

On a mildly positive note, I did, eventually, get some cards printed up to send out. I guess they're called holiday cards since there's no chance they go out before Christmas. Not that it matters really, does it?

Anyway, without getting into too much of it, I'm having a crappy holiday break. I think I need to get away for a day or two and see if I can regain a little perspective.

Labels: advertising, christmas, holiday

Just what the title says, how do you do your Christmas or Hanukah or Kwanzaa or Festivus or Jolly Days?

Do you pile presents under a tree and await the morning of the 25th to explode into an orgy of pretty paper shredding frenzy? Or do you open a present here and there on the way to the 25th? Is the holiday season all about traditions and decorations? Or is a non-stop party? Are you focused on children or parents or favorite cousins?

I come from pretty traditional Christmas celebrations with stockings hung on the mantle with care, a pile of presents under the tree and weeks of anticipation. Which was fun and fine.

But now we do things a little differently for a number of reasons. One, we don't wait until Christmas morning to open a pile of presents. The main reason for this is that it just overloads people with too much all at once and its hard to give each present the attention it deserves. Most especially with toys for the kids. Grady and Sully have been getting a present here and there over the last week or so and it gives them a chance to play with and appreciate the gift.

In Grady's case this is working out quite well because he gets a full day to play and appreciate each toy. And it also gives Sully a chance to play with the toy too. Though I will admit to a little nostalgia for the orgy of gift opening on Christmas morning and the piles of wrapping paper and bags full of loot.

One thing I do love is that both boys really like to make sure the Christmas tree is lit up whenever we're downstairs.

Labels: christmas

If all goes according to plans, I'll be a unionized employee of the school district in a few weeks. Which definitely has some quality perks to it and I'm looking forward to having them. But gaining an understanding of the impact of the union on positions within the district makes me question the uncommon goals of the educational system and the union that represents the workers.

Uncommon meaning that the educational system has a goal of graduating every child with a certain level of skills. The union has a goal of getting as much as possible for the workers it represents. And affording those workers a strange sense of job security even if they happen to do a really bad job.

That's one of the things I don't get about unions. They protect really crappy workers. People, who would normally bounce out after a few months and go on to find something they were actually good at, can sit and fester in their position. They can do a bad job for a long, long time and still draw a paycheck just for occupying their seat at their desk.

There are also some bizarre job claiming rights things going on. If my current temp position's job requirements are rewritten and hours are added to make it full time then the position is opened up to anyone qualified person with seniority (pretty much everyone) in the district to decide they want it can come and take it and force me to work somewhere else. Oh, and the school has no say in it either. Does that make any sense? The school that will be dealing with the tech can't say no to the person coming in to occupy the lab and work around the campus.

Just because they can pass a fingerprint background check doesn't mean that there aren't some pretty freaking creepy geeks walking the earth. Some say over who works at your school would be, I don't know, polite at the least and smart bureaucracy at the best.

I don't pretend to understand even half of the nuance of union relations and definitely not very much of the educational system. But I have a little knowledge of bureaucracy and its special forms of tortured process. It involves lots and lots of meetings and meetings drain life force.

If there are any union folks reading this, enlighten me as to the value of retaining obviously sub-standard workers.

As an aside, someone should make a funny movie called Bureaucrazy modeled after Office Space, it would be instantly accessible by far too many enslaved 'crats.

Labels: bureaucracy, employment, unions

Jamie Lynn Spears pregnant at 16 which is to say, she's setting a great example for all those young fans of her show.

Not that she had much chance at a normal life given the frenzied retardations of her big sister.

But still, anyone that gets excited about a 16 year old getting knocked up needs to get knocked upside the head.

Though I do have to admit that she's pretty darned cute. There's no word on whether the father of the child, Casey Aldridge, whose age is not disclosed in the article, will face statutory rape charges.

Labels: teen pregnancy

On December 18th, 1865, Slavery was abolished. At least the original kind of slavery was abolished. I'm still waiting for wage-slavery to be abolished but it isn't going anywhere anytime soon. And until then, I'll have to be subservient to the hand that signs my paychecks (if I ever get one).

Labels: slavery

I don't know about where you are but it isn't looking at all like Christmas here, unless you celebrate Christmas at the bottom of a lake. We're getting absolutely drenched with rain today and, apparently, all this week.

But they are talking about two FEET of fresh powder up in the Sierra so it'll be looking like Christmas there. And who knows, maybe we'll take a trip up north to go see the snow. Not like I don't have the time to do it since today is my last day of regular work until the 11th of January.

Yeah, yeah, don't get all hateful on me, 99% of that time is unpaid. But it is time off so there is that. And we've got two projects to keep us busy during the break so that will help some. But I will probably be working on some of my other projects to keep me from going too crazy.

I know I get zero sympathy from folks living where it is real winter now. But that's alright, I'm just kvetching during the current deluge. You won't hear any complaints when the sun is back out and I'm going riding in late December!

Labels: christmas, rain, snow, weather, winter

As with most Survivor finales, I wasn't overly excited about this one. The three finalists were an interesting mix but none of them, in my estimation, really deserved to win the game this time around.

Courtney, the ultra-skinny waitress moppet from New York had coasted through the game despite being physically overmatched at every turn.

Amanda had just gotten irritating with her sad puppy dog look. I figured she had the best chance at the win because her alliance partner, Todd, was a back stabbing liar.

Todd was a back stabbing liar who orchestrated votes and played a strategy game from Day One. Of the three, he was the most deserving but he's also the most weasely of the bunch and I found myself just not liking him at all. That and the hair was just annoying.

Overall, this season turned out alright but they never turn out the way I expect them to. I would have rather seen James or Frosti win the game because they were both great competitors and, seemingly, pretty decent people.

But its another season in the books, more all-stars to cull for future special shows, another crop of reality stars to seed through the rest of the reality landscape, more so during this, apparently, never ending writer's strike.

As an aside, I always hate how sharp the change is from when the votes are cast to when the votes are read. Two weeks passes and the castaways get their weight back, get cleaned up, shaved, their hair done and more and, sometimes, don't even resemble the characters they'd been just a moment (in tv time) before. Courtney in particular went from grungy jungle babe (albeit way to skinny) to a club kid.

Labels: finale, survivor

Four friends killed in head-on collision in San Diego County

I've been wondering about drunk driving and how it could be addressed in a more proactive and preventive way. My latest idea comes as a result of reading the linked article above. The short story is a likely intoxicated guy veered into oncoming traffic in his Yukon (big ass truck) and killed four people in a Camry.

Why not offer lowered insurance rates for cars that get equipped with a breathalyzer that's connected to the ignition. Blow safe or the car doesn't start.

It'd be mandated for previous offenders but people who just wanted a break on rates and maybe prevent their drunker and dumber selves from killing four people.

How much would it have to save you per year before you'd let them install one?

Labels: car crash, death, drunk driving

Have I ever mentioned that Sullivan's most enduring nickname is Faceplant Johnson? It is with good reason. The kid loves to climb up on stuff, fall and land so he hit his head. And then he'll do it again and again.

He delights in stepping off his big brother's bed into space, usually to be caught by his mom or dad but occasionally crashing down to the carpet below. His grin upon the successful planting of his face is pretty comical and I think he might be developing into a class clown sort of kid.

He loves showing off, loves trying to do what his big brother can do, delights in being an annoyance and really enjoys wrecking his big brother's very, very carefully arranged car scenes.

I just hope he eventually grows out of his need/desire to faceplant all the time so we can move on to a less ignominious nickname.

Labels: nickname, raising children

Lieberman Endorses McCain

And with that, the race narrows just a little bit more because an endorsement from Chinless Joe is a pretty clear sign your candidacy is circling the drain.

I was just reading Mark Morford's latest column about his Christmas wish list and he mentioned what is the funniest t-shirt slogan I've heard of in a long, long time.

Via T-Shirthell (which I cannot view from my school connection) the slogan is:
"Every time you see a rainbow, God is having gay sex"

Guaranteed to cause your narrow-minded associates and family paroxysms. And also pretty damned funny.

My personal favorite for a t-shirt or bumper sticker is "Are you evil or just stupid?"

Labels: blasphemy, funny, slogans, t-shirt

So, it may be news to some readers that I am now employed as a computer tech support and instructor at a local elementary school. I am presently a temp but am working towards a full-time (read that, with paid time off, great insurance and some job security) position.

This is my first ever foray into the hallowed world of academia and so far I've found quite alot more pros than cons.

Some of the cons are easy to list off: my computer lab is a balmy 51 degrees right now and, if I'm lucky, it'll hit 65 by quitting time.

But really the pros are outweighing bad stuff by a good margin.

The teachers are grateful to have a positive and helpful tech again after the last guy, who was a grumpy jerk for the most part. The last guy also burned his bridges badly when he left by emailing the entire school district with his resignation and then descending into personal attacks with curses and other stupidity. I understand not liking your job and quitting because of it but I cannot, for the life of me, understand why he felt the need to burn every single contact in the district. That's just short sighted, stupid and demonstrative of a piss poor worker.

I've also gotten a little bit of insight into the workings of the public education system which has been interesting and welcome. More on those later.

Right now I'm closing in on my first paycheck since I started working here almost seven weeks ago. And yes, this is my first real and substantive gripe about the position. One, I dislike being paid once a month. Two, I made sure all of my payroll paperwork was completed and turned into HR well before the deadline because I wanted to make for damned sure I got my paycheck as soon as I could.

The only problem is that my paperwork wasn't processed for ten full days after I turned it in. Five days too late to be processed for the current pay period. The solution they offered? Just wait until January. My response was polite but quite firm that No, I needed some damned money now, not next month but thanks for trying to weasel out of your laziness in not doing your job very well by screwing me over. Thanks ever so much.

With just a little prodding the issue got kicked up the chain and, with some luck, will be resolved later today by the special drafting of a revolving check. The HR director was very helpful in blasting through the red tape and getting this done and I'm appreciative of his help.

Because working for nearly three months without so much as a penny to show for it is absolutely crazy and it would have given me an awfully strong reason to keep my currently idling job search process going at full speed.

As it is, I'm looking forward to the holiday break but not looking forward to no income during that time so I'll be doing what I can to keep the duckets rolling in.

Overall, I really like my job, the kids are great, the teachers are grateful and very nice, the administration is open to suggestions and the hours are really pretty sweet. Oh yeah, my commute is whopping 3 miles which totally kicks the buttocks and I'm looking forward to riding my bike to work soon (once the winter weather has gone away).

Labels: education, employment, work

Brace yourself, its a pretty big list. Broken down into three groups: No Doubters, Probablys and Purt Damn Likelys.

Sadly, a good number of players I like(d) are among the named names. I don't know what the impact of the report will be but hopefully the game of baseball will emerge as a better, cleaner sport.

The following players were connected to steroids, either use or possession, in the report:
Chad Allen
Mike Bell
Gary Bennett
Larry Bigbie
Ricky Bones
Kevin Brown
Ken Caminiti
Mark Carreon
Jason Christiansen
Howie Clark
Roger Clemens
Paxton Crawford
Jack Cust
Brendan Donnelly
Chris Donnels
Lenny Dykstra
Matt Franco
Ryan Franklin
Eric Gagne
Jason Grimsley
Jerry Hairston
Phil Hiatt
Matt Herges
Glenallen Hill
Todd Hundley
Ryan Jorgensen
Wally Joyner
Mike Judd
David Justice
Chuck Knoblauch
Tim Laker
Mike Lansing
Paul Lo Duca
Exavier "Nook" Logan
Josias Manzanillo
Cody McKay
Kent Mercker
Bart Miadich
Hal Morris
Daniel Naulty
Denny Neagle
Rafael Palmeiro
Jim Parque
Andy Pettitte
Adam Piatt
Todd Pratt
Stephen Randolph
Adam Riggs
Brian Roberts
F.P. Santangelo
David Segui
Mike Stanton
Ricky Stone
Miguel Tejada
Derrick Turnbow
Mo Vaughn
Ron Villone
Fernando Vina
Rondell White
Jeff Williams
Todd Williams
Kevin Young
Gregg Zaun

The following players were cited under "Alleged Internet Purchases of Performance Enhancing Substances By Players in Major League Baseball" in the report:
Rick Ankiel
David Bell
Paul Byrd
Jose Canseco
Jay Gibbons
Troy Glaus
Jose Guillen
Darren Holmes
Gary Matthews Jr.
John Rocker
Scott Schoeneweis
Ismael Valdez
Matt Williams
Steve Woodard

The following players were linked through BALCO in the report:
Marvin Benard
Barry Bonds
Bobby Estalella
Jason Giambi
Jeremy Giambi
Benito Santiago
Gary Sheffield
Randy Velarde

Labels: baseball, mitchell report list, PEDs, steroids

I heard on the radio the other day that Oprah has a daily viewership of over 9 million. And then they said, 75% of which are women. Which means that 25% or 2.25 million men across the country watch Oprah.

Two point two five million.

I don't suppose there's any chance all of them are being tied up and forced to watch Oprah each day, is there? Because the alternative is that they are doing it voluntarily and that makes my head start shaking uncontrollably.



PS. Oprah, please don't send out your ninja assassins to make me pipe down.

Labels: math, television

Sources: Mitchell Report to name MVPs, All-Stars, won't address amphetamines and here's a link to PDF copy of the report.

Names like Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Jason Grimsley, David Segui, Jose Guillen and Jay Gibbons. Of course, it has just been released so the flood of alleged cheaters will be coming out for the rest of the day and, probably, into next season.

On KNBR they were talking about names that might be on the list but may not be. Guys like Jason Schmidt, Paul O'Neill, Marquis Grissom and a whole bunch of others.

Let's face it, the great American pastime is rife with athletes taking performance enhancing drugs. There's no ifs, ands or buts about it. Major League Baseball has a serious drug problem but it isn't just the athletes that are guilty, the owners, managers, trainers, pals and other assorted support personnel are as guilty but will, largely, go unpunished.

Does it diminish my love of the sport? Yeah, maybe just a little bit. Do I hope this is the first major step to cleaning up the game and re-levelling the playing field? Heck yeah.

Not only because PEDs undermine the integrity of the game, which is a big deal, but more so because younger players and kids look up to big leaguers and are getting the wrong message about drugs from them. They are getting the message that using PEDs is okay, that cheating to win and get that big contract is not only acceptable but encouraged. And that goes a long way to undermining the future of sport in America.

If some legacies have to be torched to clean up the sport then so be it. But let's not let the managers and owners get off scot-free. Let's punish every level of guilty party from the minors to the front office.

[Update: The player list originally sent over by my cousin is not the actual player list. I have a copy of the report and will add the named players when I get a chance.]

Labels: baseball, cheating, drugs, mitchell report list, PEDs, steroids

Movin' On Up: 5 Signs it’s Time to Call in Sick via the Express Personnel blog. All of the reasons below are expanded upon over there.

1. A high fever
2. A very sore throat
3. A cough
4. Stomach problems
5. Pinkeye

The best reason to call in sick is to help get yourself better, of course, but it should also be noted that keeping other people from getting the same flu or cold is just as important. A small office can be pretty well stopped dead in its tracks by a nasty flu.

So how do you keep yourself healthy during the runny nose season?

1. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water.
2. Do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth after coming in contact with anything else (i.e. touch these gateway places only after washing your hands or having just used a hand sanitizer).
3. Keep hand sanitizer handy and use it often.
4. Disinfect common areas and surfaces regularly.
5. Get enough sleep to give your body a chance to fight any attacking microbes.
6. At the first sign of a cold or flu, start really loading up on Airborne or one of those zinc based remedies. If you can shorten a cold or flu by even a day or two, it'll be worth it.
7. Get a flu shot.
8. Be aware of potential hot spots for germs (i.e. door knobs, toilet handles and any other public common use area) and make sure to disinfect or wash your hands after touching. I sometimes go so far as to use a paper towel to open doors that I know get a lot of traffic.

The best way to stay healthy is to become a compulsive hand washer. I wash my hands at least six times a day now and use an instant hand sanitizer after any contact with the regular computers in the lab. I know they're crawling with nasties so I murderize them every time. I am also starting to kill them en masse by hitting up each machine in the morning with a liberal dose of Lysol.

Labels: employment, sick, work

If you've got a dog then you know how quickly they wolf down their chow. Eating too fast can lead to gas, poor digestion and other, more serious, health problems.

So a couple came up with the doggie bowl for greedy eaters which is basically a bowl with plastic protrusions that make it harder for the dog to slurp up all of the food so quickly.

Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest ideas and I think I will want to pick one of these up for my speed-chowing hound.

And it reminds me that I've got a couple of inventions that I need to start driving again.

Anyone out there want to become an investor?

Labels: invention, life with a dog

IMO Meteor Shower Calendar 2007

"One of the finest, and probably the most reliable, of the major annual showers presently observable. This year, the waxing crescent Moon will set by mid-evening across the globe on December 14 (the actual moonset timing is progressively later the further south you are), giving mostly dark skies for all observers, especially those in the northern hemisphere."

A universally good year for the Geminids meteor shower so make sure you go outside and look up on Friday night. And if you live in an area where the light pollution won't dim most of the trails then more power to you.

Labels: meteor shower

You know what is supposed to separate us from the evil bad guys that want to exterminate us? We're supposed to have the higher moral ground. We're supposed to be above resorting to the use of torture and illegal means of coercion.

But, according to this article, Ex-CIA Agent: Waterboarding OK'ed at Top. We do not have the higher moral ground, we are down in the muck and mire along with the enemy that uses any and all means to try and kill us.

While I understand and can appreciate the Eye for an Eye mentality, it does nothing for our reputation around the world and diminishes our capacity to differentiate ourselves from the very people we are trying to fight.

Torture isn't acceptable, it isn't permissible in certain circumstances, the rule of law isn't an opt-in and opt-out arrangement based on the situation and need. That our leaders have seen fit to decide to fundamentally deny the nature of our country and the principles it was founded upon tells me that we're being led by traitors. Traitors to our way of life and traitors to the ideals our country is based upon.

The United States of America should not ever be resorting to the use of torture. To do so diminishes our standing and capacity to lead by example. We are becoming the world's cautionary tale and are no longer possessed of the moral authority to police the world.

As for the leaders who authorized the torture of the top Al-Queda prisoner, they should be prosecuted for traitorous behaviour. Or they should just be dropped off, buck naked, in downtown Baghdad, that'd be fine too.

Labels: foreign policy, justifications, tenets, terrorism, torture, traitor

PAM's Individual Lifting Vehicle: the dual-rotor flying carpet

Flying carpet? No, not really. This thing is a flying lawnmower without a frame above the blades. The cool thing here is that they positioned the dual rotors directly under the pilot's position so that natural balancing keeps the thing flying. To go right, you lean to the right, and so on.

Its the world's most dangerous Segway! Plus you always get a nicely trimmed lawn when you land in your yard!

Labels: flying, lawnmower, personal flight

Mac Danzig against Tommy Speer

Technique against Power

Skill against Heart

Skill and technique overcame power as Mac pretty capably and handily whooped Tommy to win this latest season of The Ultimate Fighter. It wasn't an especially good fight though.

The best fight of the night was the main card, Huerta vs. Guida. Two very dynamic and dangerous fighters who put on a great show. Guida was leading after two rounds but Huerta got him in a slick arm bar and that was that.

With how dynamic and exciting MMA fighting is, I can't understand why anyone is interested in boxing at all anymore.

Labels: mma, the ultimate fighter, TUF

Tony Kornheiser is difficult to look at and to listen to. Two bad things for someone who works on TV by talking. The big headphones help a tiny bit because he starts to look more ridiculous that irritating.

He makes Monday Night Football almost unwatchable and definitely unlistenable.

Labels: football, monday night football

I've recently made a conscious decision to not allow myself to get as frustrated or aggravated with the world around me. It really has been as simple as choosing to not be as frustratable, to let the annoyances just slide off and go away.

That is, I do not bark back at the dog for being a dog. I do not lose my patience in dealing with my children. And I try not to let the world's stupidities, rudeness and general unfairness negatively impact me. Change those things you can but do not waste time being unhappy about things that are beyond your ability to change or fix.

It hasn't been easy all the time but it has gone a long, long ways to making me a better, happier and higher functioning person/husband/father/employee.

What brought about the change? Just a realization that being angry and frustrated does nothing but wastes energy, diminishes the possibility of fun and creates boundaries where they do not need to exist.

I'm happier and alot less frustrated because I don't get pissed off as easily as I have in recent months. Plus I bet my body is healthier too since stress is making us depressed, fat and sick.

If you're stuck in a cycle of frustration and irritation, take a step outside the cycle and break it. There's nobody but yourself keeping you locked into being unhappy all the time. And there's an awful lot of really good and fun things that you're missing. Like an 18 month old baby boy, who has dimples you could get lost in, thinking the height of fun is to use his poppa like a jungle gym.

If you're unhappy with your current reality then just change it, it really is as simple as choosing to decorate your reality with a different perspective.

Labels: attitude, perspective

Vick Gets 23 Months for Dogfighting

That feels about right. He'll probably get let out early and will start his comeback to the NFL as quickly as he can. Which makes sense since he's lost a pretty amazing amount of money over this really stupid and cruel dogfighting ring he bankrolled.

Do I ever want to see Michael Vick on the football field again? Nope. I'd just as soon he never appeared in the public eye again but it isn't up to me. I just hope neither of the Bay Area teams are dumb/desperate enough to sign him because I will make it a point to go and protest it.

Labels: crime, dogfighting, football

We got some good stuff taken care of over the weekend and I'm feeling fairly proud of us.

We got a Christmas tree last night after only two stops which is a huge step up for us. Sully is pretty curious and Grady is pretty excited, Nande couldn't care less but the cat has found a new shelter.

We moved the composter from the shady coolness behind the bushes to the corner of the yard where it will get excellent sun to keep the composting action underway. And, in the move, we discovered three mice living in the compost, a sure sign that it isn't getting hot enough at all. I expect there will be no mice in the new location.

I broke down the little shed I'd put together to keep inquisitive little boys from playing in the composter.

Three or four bags of dog poop from the backyard are now gone.

We foam sealed a rather larger and cold hole under our sink that let really, really cold air from under the house infiltrate. But with the foam seal in place, the air is having alot harder time making its way in.

And Paula made three draft blockers for three of the doors downstairs, the garage, bathroom and front doors, to help retain heat. They went into service last night and the floor was noticeably a bit warmer this morning.

Oh, and I bought a big can of Lysol to liberally spray over every square inch of my computer lab at least once or twice a week so I can, hopefully, avoid getting sick again so soon.

Plus, unless anyone lost less points, I've won our football pool for the second week in a row, which is totally bitching! And I may have just taken the overall lead for the league which is even better!

And, on top of it all, I get my first district paycheck today too! Nothing like working a month and a half for the first check! But they should be a bit more regular from here on out (at least for the foreseeable future).

Labels: checklists, checkoffs, christmas tree

Chris Anderson at The Long Tail (and also the Editor in Chief of Wired) has something to say, Sorry PR people: you're blocked

And he's got strong reasons for blocking them. Just because he's the EiC at Wired doesn't mean he's the catchall for your press releases. He's already really busy and can't be bothered to wade through 300 emails a day from flacks across the nation who are too lazy/busy/ignorant to do their work properly and target the specific editor at the publication who actually covers the space the press release is in.

This is one of the reasons I'm glad to be out of PR. Too many really crappy PR people make the job harder for PR people who actually try to do things the right way and researching proper contacts to craft targeted pitches to.

It is a problem of volume, number of touches per month (a deliciously worthless PR metric), resultant coverage (a decidedly worthwhile PR metric) and positive company exposure.

There are too many companies competing for too little press and the editors are covering too wide a swath to be able to cover it all totally effectively.

Even a perfectly targeted pitch sent to a single contact can be overlooked because it gets drowned out by the hundreds of shotgun marketed PR messages being sent out every second of every day.

Seriously, every editor I know personally can regale you with tales of never ending emails, many of which are poorly written, badly targeted and then followed up with even more annoying phone calls to verify reciept and to try and set an appointment or drive some coverage.

PR is, in large part, a nagging and pestering business. And I hated that I was a nagging cog in the big informational machine.

The editors don't get off scott free since they feel no compulsion to update the profiles used by PR people to make their media lists and then get all aggravated when PR people send them stuff they no longer cover. Or the editors who put stuff like "DO NOT CALL ME EVER" in their profiles and then never respond to emails. Sorry, dude and dudette, your request for no phone calls when you don't respond to emails can't be honored. A simple email response of "Not interested" means the flack can cross you off and move on.

What the industry needs is a way to opt-in, respond and arrange followups quickly and without any hassles at all.

More on the explosion of stupid and ugly catfight at TechDirt and a follow up on The Long Tail complete with oh-so-professional PR flackery including insults, threats and bounties for stealing clients from other agencies. It all speaks so well for the industry that its no wonder people hate PR people.

How about some new words to share on this drippy Friday morning?

Nubility - treating someone like a king or queen because they are super hot.

Scooligan - scooter hooligan, inspired by the new Fuoco 500cc big brother to the Piaggo MP3 three wheel scooter.

Shiggles - a PC version of shits and giggles, the reason we do worthless but fun stuff.

Labels: nubility, nwotd, scooligan, shiggles

The flood of catalogs seems to have slowed back down to a trickle and the only mail we got today was a special loan offer from a company called American General Financial Services.

They wanted to make a special holiday offer to me because I'm such a great guy.

They wanted to loan me $3250 with an affordable monthly payment of $125.71 at a jovial and rocking 22.94% interest. Which works out to almost $1300 in interest over the three year repayment period.

The best part? At the very bottom of the offer is a bold statement, "Married persons may apply for an account in their own name." Huzzah! Now you can undermine your family's finances without even involving your spouse!

Whoops, my VIP certificate slipped off my desk and into the shredder, whatever shall I do? Jerks.

Labels: scam marketing

Zuckerberg Apologizes, Allows Facebook Users to Evade Beacon after just last week saying they wouldn't make it an opt-in deal.

I've had and still have serious issues with Facebook and, as a result, will never use the site for any reason whatsoever. Carefully read the Terms of Use and you will realize that you are signing over the rights to your words and images forever. No, I'm not kidding and neither are they. Use the site and you are granting them permanent use and derivative use of your words and images. Which is, of course, insane.

The latest stupidity is trying to monetize their massive user base by broadcasting purchases at affiliated sites. And there was no way to turn off the "feature" until this week when massive protests made it crystal clear that it was a patently stupid idea.

I'm not a social networking person really. I like my social groups, I enjoy my online and offline communities but I don't live for them. And, I guess, that's part of the reason why I find it easy to avoid crap like MySpace and Facebook, they don't really offer anything to me that I need.

Oh yeah, there's also the hypocrisy aspect where Mark Zuckerberg wants to have an article about him possibly stealing the concept for Facebook from fellow students at Harvard. Funny how people don't mind exposing other people's dirty laundry but get all lawyered up when their own dirty tricks get aired out.

I have no interest in handing over any of my rights to a hypocrite like Mark Zuckerberg.

Labels: privacy, soc.net

I didn't want anyone to try and spoil last night's Ultimate Fighter episode so I stayed up to watch it and I was really glad I did.

** SPOILER ALERT ** Do not read any further if you have not watched the episode and do not want it spoiled.

I didn't expect Matt Arroyo to drop out at all but he did have a cracked rib and that'll mess with your body as well as your head so I can't fault him. And I think it was bunkum that Mac had to fight John twice, the second fight to get into the finals. But he kicked his butt again. The rest of John's team came off like total lame suckers who didn't want to fight at all. Richie Hightower pretended to want to fight Mac but he really and truly did not and he fooled no one, Mac would have enjoyed beating him down too much. And Richie knows he's outclassed by Mac, by a good margin.

The real fight was Tommy against George. Power against skill. Technique against farmboy muscle and determination. Most folks had given the fight to George since he's such a better schooled fighter. But Tommy's strength can be overwhelming. I don't think he meant to poke George in the eye with his thumb but it happened and George couldn't see very well for a bit.

And then Tommy landed some good rights, dropped George and then jumped on him and knocked him out cold, a first for George. Tommy looked much sharper, more focused and stuck by his fight plan, basically to use his size and power to overwhelm George, which he did in impressive fashion. How much of a factor was the thumb in the eye? Hard to say but George really should have taken all the time he could to let the eye settle down and clear up for him.

But he didn't and paid for it by kissing the canvas and really being knocked cold. And, as a result, Tommy Speer made an extra five thousand bucks.

Saturday is the big finale show with Mac against Tommy, I'm not sure who's going to prevail. Mac is a very solid all around fighter with alot of experience, confidence and skill where Tommy is very strong and gaining skills rapidly. It should be a good fight and it makes me smile to know that all of Serra's fighters have been eliminated.

I'm still pissed that Serra got hurt and can't fight Hughes for the title but accidents happen and its hard to hold it against him, too much.

So, after a pretty limp season full of loser drama (Joey wants to go home to his girlfriend, Mac is a grump, the upper decker incident, blah, blah, blah) with annoying coaches (Serra is a painfully irritating person, Hughes is a Bible-thumping egoist) and alot of pretty soft fights (one fighter shows up, the other looks like a deer caught in the headlights) but, at the end of the season, a good finish can make up for a pretty poor start and middle.

And last night was a good episode with good fighting (props to John for taking the semi-final fight after Matt got hurt) and a big knockout of, who had been, the top dog in the house.

Labels: the ultimate fighter, TUF

Reserve A Spot In Heaven is a new, presumably, joke site that purports to guarantee passage beyond the pearly gates and into an eternity of pleasure, joy and elation.

I'd think they might want to add a sliding scale for the more sinful in the crowd that might need an extra push past St. Pete at the gate.

And I'm sure they are doing a brisk business despite the paradox of their money-back guarantee (you need to be dead to collect).

Besides, if you end up in hell there are plenty of lawyers to help you sue.

Labels: religion, satire

Ten Key Steps to Get Out of Debt

1. Canceled the credit card
2. Eliminated non-essential expenses
3. The spending plan
4. Cash and online bill payments
5. The emergency fund
6. The debt repayment plan
7. Debt is my first bill
8. Rewards
9. Increased income
10. More increased income

All of these are expanded on at Zen Habits but this is a good list to build from. Number eleven that I might add would be Choose a less expensive place to live. Meaning that I happen to have chosen to live in one of the most expensive places in the US, the Bay Area. Our housing prices are ridiculous, our gas is the most expensive in the nation (but I don't complain too loudly because Euros and Japanese have it waaaay worse) and everything is an hour or two apart. But, on the plus side, we do have the ocean, redwoods and only a passing understanding of how much winter really sucks.

But I've got more than a passing understanding of how much a debt load can suck. As well as I've got an understanding of how awesome it feels to make that final payment on a car, motorcycle or credit card and to get a statement with $0.00 balance. Or, even better, overpaying just a little bit and getting a check back from those people you've been paying for so long.

Labels: debt, howto, reference

Cops: More smoke toad venom to get high

Not so unusual except that instances of use are going up rather quickly. But, from further down in the article, is this nugget of pure disgust.

While smoking toad venom might sound extreme, an even more disturbing method to get high possibly includes sniffing fermented human waste. Vicky Ward, manager of prevention services at Tri-County Mental Health Services in Kansas City, said she has read e-mail warnings about a drug called jenkem.

The drug is made from fermented feces and urine.

That's right, kids are fermenting poop and pee to get high. There's no evidence that jenkem isn't someone's idea of a joke and, truthfully, the idea that kids are using it to try and get high is pretty funny if it is a joke. I mean, after all they're inhaling fermented shit and that's pretty damned funny.

Unless its your kid that's inhaling fermented dookie and then its just kind of a bummer. Of course, don't be all proud if your kid is the one scaring the toad to get the venom to dry it out to smoke it to get stoned. Though I do laud the effort required to catch a buzz.

Labels: buzz

I took the Select-a-Candidate survey at Minnesota Public Radio and learned almost nothing new about my potential vote for the next president.

Not anything I didn't already know.

My scoring looks like this:
Hilary Clinton: 27
Barack Obama: 26
John Edwards: 24
Chris Dodd: 23
Joe Biden: 22
Bill Richardson: 19
Rudy Giulliani: 15
Mike Gravel: 14
Mike Huckabee: 7
Mitt Romney: 7
Ron Paul: 6
Duncan Hunter: 4
John McCain: 4
Tom Tancredo: 4
Fred Thompson: 4

A couple of thoughts: Who is Mike Gravel or Duncan Hunter? I've never heard of either of them. I like that McCain is in the bottom, he's about as far from my inclinations and desires as Bush is. I'm surprised Grinning Giulliani scored so well since there's no chance he'd get my vote. The guy puts the Der in pander.

At this point, there's zero chance I'd vote Republican since they have been very good at showing what despicable hypocrites they are.

By the way, was I the only one who saw the previous sex partners and targets of Larry Craig coming out of the woodwork? Dude must be smoking crack (and pole) if he thinks his previous gay partners weren't going to appear. He doesn't have enough money or power to make them all disappear. And embattled doesn't even begin to cover this dude's existence. Not that he doesn't deserve every bit of ridicule and speculation because of his rampant hypocrisy. Note, I don't care in the least that Larry Craig likes gay sex, that's fine by me, the problem is that he is a public crusader against gay rights while being a private purveyor of gay pleasures. And that, friends, makes him a lame ass hypocrite.

Labels: candidates, politics

Some good news is that I finally won our local football pool this week. I've been near the top of the heap all season with a couple of notably awful weeks but this week I had the pool won before we got to Monday Night and the nail biter Pats win over the Ravens.

I also won three of four fantasy leagues this weekend, which is kind of nice as well but doesn't feel quite as good as cold hard cash, does it?

The bad news is that I stayed home sick from work yesterday to rest up and am feeling worse today. More stuffed up, more achy and just more sick. But I can't really stay home a couple of days in a row right now so I'm heading in to work. DayQuil will be my salvation or my sleep aid. If I'm feeling up to it then I'll probably leave a bit early but we'll see.

I'm sure the shower will be a calvacade of goo, horking and clearances. Oh boy!

Labels: news, sick

Gillian Gibbons has been pardoned for the sin of allowing her class to select Muhammed as the class teddy bear's name.

There were calls for her execution for such an affront to Islam. For naming a teddy bear something blasphemous to Islamic religious beliefs.

To which I, as an atheist, have to say, how seriously warped are your priorities that you want to put a school teacher to death for something as innocuous as a misnamed toy? And yet you wish to be dealt with respectfully?

Sorry, that's not going to to happen. Allow me to introduce you to my troop of performing dingleberries, the Muhammeds. And the sculpture of Muhammed I made out of ear wax and boogers. And I need to go use the toilet and drop off a few Muhammed's at the pool.

What other creative ways can I insult your intolerance? I could draw up a cartoon but that's been done (to great effect, I might add). Maybe I could start using Muhammed when I mean to say penis? As in, spanking the muhammed, draining the main Muhammed, my Muhammed has a burning discharge and he got kicked right in the Muhammed.

Have I done enough to piss off all of Sudan and the rest of the Islamic peoples? Note, I've got no problem with peaceful and thoughtful Islamic believes, I have a major problem with the fools who call for the execution of a teacher for something as stupid as a name. Radical fundies in whatever religion should be publicly humiliated until they remove their heads from their asses and stop behaving like such tools.

Labels: intolerance, religion

There's something kind of nice about seeing a job you wanted, interviewed for, interviewed again for and then they end up giving the job to someone else, there's something kind of nice about seeing the job posted again a month or two later. Meaning that the person they did hire ahead of me didn't work out. There's some measure of vindication in knowing they choose poorly and have to restaff the position again so soon.

And there are the three or four people who've taken on my old job at the research company since I quit. That's less than six months each, if you want to keep score. It was the opposite when I saw an ad for the place that laid me off earlier this year. Not that I'd consider going back and definitely not now that I work at the school.

I am, of course, keeping my options open and would not have a problem taking a better job if it were offered to me. But, for now, I'm enjoying my current job and that's pretty unusual for me.

Labels: employment, work