Etcetera

Words from EdC.

My favorite baseball blogger, Ed Cossette, of the late, lamented, "Bambino' s Curse" blog, has surfaced from his post-winning-the-world-series blog silence. He tells us about his new baseball blog "Invinsible Summer" which will get started in the Spring.

Reputation and Identity on the Internet

In describing his thought process for selecting where to send money for tsunami relief, David Weinberger has given a great description of how reputation, trust, and ultimately, identity, work on the net.

In a situation like this - especially since I'm responding to a stranger - I want a source whose intentions I trust 100% and whose research I can trust to be responsible. I trust Amazon because I trust Jeff Bezos. I trust Google because overall they've shown themselves to be interested in making the world a better place. (We can argue about the exceptions later.)

I find institutions to be much more trustworthy than individuals in this regard. If a friend told me I ought to contribute to Bob's Missionary because they're do such great tsunami relief work, the tie between my friend and Bob would have to be tight - almost first-hand - before I'd donate.

Reliance on branded authorities leads to more money going to the Big Brand philanthropies at the expense of smaller, more local efforts that may be more efficient and effective. But in a big world that has tricksters and con artists, trusted institutions can be a necessary intermediary.

Is it safe to cross the ice?

Let Scott try it, he'll try anything.

[Photo hosted by Flickr.com]

The Boston Snowplow Game

Play it online. Flash application.

[Thanks Al's Morning Meeting]

Low cost Mac?

Over on TechPopuli, I've pointed to a juicy rumor.

World Series Winter

This is just exactly what I needed, to help get through the winter. NESN, the Redsox' TV sports network, will be rebroadcasting past World Series starting on Jan 3rd and running through Feb 26, ending just in time for Spring Training.

They'll be doing the '75 Series, the '86 Series, the '04 ALCS, and the '04 Series. Good stuff. Boston Dirtdogs lists the schedule.

Baby Pics

Former roommate RobH has posted pics of the recently arrived Allison.

Breaking the ice... err...

Here are the first people I've seen out walking on the ice this season. I'm not convinced that the whole lake is safe yet, but large parts are, including where we see these folk.

[Crossposted from infoPawtuckaway.com]

Long Zoom

Boing boing described this well:

Zoom through an hypnotic series of paintings

This Flash app allows you to soom through a long series of illustrations, looping one after the next. The effect is hypnotic and genuinely beautiful, like disappearing into a series of paintings. Link

Three hours from San Francisco

Dave Winer has posted some pics from Truckee. Beautiful country. Who says they don't have snow in California!?

Snow Devils

We got about 2-4 inches of snow here at the Lake in the past 24 hours. I was talking to someone in Newburyport, Mass, who tells me they got A FOOT down there.

The snow here is very light and dry. The wind is whipping it all around. I'm seeing lots of pretty cool "tornados" out on the ice.

UPDATE: SteveG reports that he got a foot of snow in Jamaica Plain.

Reacquainted with an old friend

About seven years ago I went through a bout of stomach problems. After consulting with my doctor, I basically came to understand it like this: My stomach is not what it used to be. And from time to time -- more often if I don't eat right -- it will act up.

What a drag!

But then the doctor introduced me to my new friend. Tagamet.

Tagamet, aka Cimetedine, is basically a super antacid. Within minutes of taking it, it calms the chemical warfare going on inside. You can actually feel it doing it's thing. It's a miracle!

Seven years ago, Tagamet was a huge help in getting me through the learning experience of what my stomach would deal with. Eventually things stabilized, and I haven't needed it in years.

For the past couple weeks my stomach has been sending out warning rumbles. At first I wasn't sure what it was, but over the holidays it became pretty obvious. Although I've been eating pretty good since getting on the SoBeDi, (aka the SBD), I suspect that lately I may have been neglecting my fiber.

When I first met Tagamet it was prescription only. But around that time it became over-the-counter, and the other day I picked some up.

And it's still a miracle drug.

That's Respect

During his negotiations for a new contract, Pedro Martinez repeatedly made a big deal about wanting to get "respect" from his team. But most everyone eventually realized that for Pedro "respect" only meant "money".

Jason Varitek made no secret of the fact that, in these latter days of his playing career, he wanted to be well-compensated for his outstanding contribution on and off the field. But Jason never whined, or moaned, about respect. And in the end Jason got his payday, and what's maybe more, he received a real show of respect from the team.

The contract concessions that the owners made, and being named official Team Captain are a genuine recognition of what Tek means to his teammates, and to all of Red Sox Nation.

Realignment

I once told a Portsmouth friend, that I thought Portsmouth felt more like Maine than NH. He just gave me a funny look.

Portsmouth Herald:

This week, a Maine state senator ... unveiled legislation that would investigate the possibility of incorporating the greater Portsmouth area and the entire Isles of Shoals chain, a portion of which lies in New Hampshire waters, into the state of Maine.

What would you call that noise?

I'm back at the lake after a couple days down in the big city.

While I was gone the temp here reached 60 degrees, and they had 1.5 inches of rain in a three hour period last night. As a result the ice and snow cover took a beating.

The ice has thinned out, and though the lake had been dropping, the rain runoff is raising it again. This is causing the ice a fair amount of stress.

It's cracking and groaning.

My favorite ice-sound is a science-fiction-phasor-gun sort of sound, as a crack suddenly splits across the surface. It's a cool sound, and I've been trying to come up with a word that describes it.

"Groaning" isn't right. It's a little reminiscent of "thunder", but that's not quite right either. I've been thinking something like "screaming", or "wailing".

Ideas?

Happy Christmas Eve

I know that most of you won't make it to the blog again till after the weekend, so Happy Holidays to all.

Varitek staying with Redsox?

The Boston Globe is reporting that Redsox "captain", catcher Jason Varitek and the team have agreed to a new contract. Yay!

Speaking of my nephew

Like I said, he's a big Redsox fan.

He's already been to try-outs for next year's little league. He made the team, but the team he was assigned to is called the "Yankees". Now he's having second thoughts about playing. Good kid.

[By the way, who names a little league team in this area the "Yankees"?? What were they thinking!? A kid could be scarred for life.]

I love the Redsox, but

I was out tonight doing last minute Christmas shopping.

My nephew is a big Redsox fan. I wanted to get him a logo hoodie sweater, but any piece of clothing with a Redsox logo on it was a minimum of $50.

That's too much.

David Brin on Accelerating Change, and the sins of George Lucas

I just listened to SF author David Brin's talk, "What Limits Our Ability to Cope With Accelerating Change?", at this fall's PopTech conference. That led me to his Salon essay, "Star Wars despots vs. Star Trek populists", which condemns the values promoted in George Lucas' stories. Interesting stuff.

Above all, I never cared for the whole Nietzschian Übermensch thing: the notion -- pervading a great many myths and legends -- that a good yarn has to be about demigods who are bigger, badder and better than normal folk by several orders of magnitude. It's an ancient storytelling tradition based on abiding contempt for the masses -- one that I find odious in the works of A.E. Van Vogt, E.E. Smith, L. Ron Hubbard and wherever you witness slanlike super-beings deciding the fate of billions without ever pausing to consider their wishes.

Lucas' quote, "But there's probably no better form of government than a good despot." is very similar to a notion I've always held, of the 'benevolent dictator'. Brin argues that this is dangerous foolishness. I guess I'm gonna rethink.

Topsy Turvy

In the ongoing pondering of the 2004 Presidential Election, here's one that I keep coming back to...

How did things get turned around? How is it that the Republicans ran a guy who is perceived to be a plain-spoken, man of the people, and the Democrats ran a guy thought to be an uncaring billionaire?

What's up with that?

No clever headline

ACLU press release:

A document released for the first time today by the American Civil Liberties Union suggests that President Bush issued an Executive Order authorizing the use of inhumane interrogation methods against detainees in Iraq.

...

The two-page e-mail that references an Executive Order states that the President directly authorized interrogation techniques including sleep deprivation, stress positions, the use of military dogs, and "sensory deprivation through the use of hoods, etc." The ACLU is urging the White House to confirm or deny the existence of such an order and immediately to release the order if it exists. The FBI e-mail, which was sent in May 2004 from "On Scene Commander--Baghdad" to a handful of senior FBI officials, notes that the FBI has prohibited its agents from employing the techniques that the President is said to have authorized.

Has the White House responded to this?

Thinking outside the intersection

Hans Monderman is a Dutch traffic engineer who has hit upon the idea of making roads safer and more efficient by making them feel more dangerous.

The Planning Livable Communities blog summarizes and quotes from a Wired article:

In one Dutch village, “what was once a conventional road junction with traffic lights has been turned into something resembling a public square that mixes cars, pedestrians, and cyclists.” Those on foot, bicycle and motor vehicle have shared the space without serious accident since 1999.

This trend is actually making its way across the Atlantic to a few select portions of the New World. “In the US, traffic engineers are beginning to rethink the dictum that the car is king and pedestrians are well advised to get the hell off the road. In West Palm Beach, Florida, planners have redesigned several major streets, removing traffic signals and turn lanes, narrowing the roadbed, and bringing people and cars into much closer contact. The result: slower traffic, fewer accidents, shorter trip times,” the Wired article notes.

Mini Moon

Apparently the upcoming December Full Moon, will be a special one.

No Rudolph? No problem. This year there's going to be a full moon to light up the nights around Christmas.

It's a special full moon, too: the smallest of 2004. Soaring high in the sky, it might remind you of a shiny white Christmas ball for your tree. Don't bother reaching for it... it's 406,700 km away!

Roundin' up them doe-gies. (cowboy accent)

Seen last week in the lot of the Epping NH Walmart. This radio controlled tug pushes a train of shopping carts as they are collected from around the lot. The operator steers by pushing the front cart, and starts and stops the tug with a handheld remote control.

[Crossposted with infoPawtuckaway]

UPDATE: It's been bugging me the way I tried to phonetically spell 'doggies' with a cowboy accent. "doe-gees" was just not right. So I changed it to "doe-gies"

Happy now?

For those of you who get worked up each year about my annual "shortest day" milestone... today is the conventional shortest day of the year. Longest night too.

But it's still not the shortest morning. That doesn't happen till after New Years.

Yikes!

From everything I've heard, LiveStrong, the charity of champion biker Lance Armstong, is a very good cause. So it's a really unfortunate coincidence that the yellow wristbands that you get to display your donation, look a lot like the "do not resuscitate" wristbands that some hospitals use.

Here's a story about this from the Tampa Bay paper.

Green Grass in December is for Wimps

At 9:30 pm the outside temp is plus 2 degrees F. [See re green grass.]

Using Type effectively

Thinking with Type. "...the on-line companion to the book Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students, by Ellen Lupton."

Lots of free advice. Here's one bit: "Think more, design less. Many desperate acts of design (drop shadows, gradients and the gratuitous use of transparency) are committed in the void left by a strong concept."

Be careful what you wish for.

It started snowing around 7 this evening. There's a pretty good dusting now. Should be interesting by morning.

Sick Funny

In comments over at the words-a-day site, they were talking about "the intelligence of pigs and our schiziod relationship with animals". To illustrate, Patrick W relates this story.

A city fellow was invited to spend a weekend at a friend's farm. Several things were new to the city fellow, but the strangest thing he saw was a pig with a fancy artificial limb.

When asked about it, the farmer replied "That is no ordinary pig. Last year our house caught fire while we were sleeping, and that pig knocked his snout against our bedroom window, woke us all up, saved our lives. Another time, little junior was swimming in the creek and hit his head on a rock. The pig dove in, grabbed Junior by the trunks and hauled him out. A pig like that, you don't eat 'em all at once."

He went to school to become an architect...

My brother Dave and his family made Gingerbread houses which won awards in their local contest. There are more pics at his Flickr site.

Ice Pic

I posted a pic of the ice on the lake over on the Pawlake site.

It's the season

I've been a little under the weather the past couple days.

I woke up on Thu with early symptoms of the flu. It hasn't -- knock wood -- developed into full-blown, knock-you-out, flu. But I've been sneezing and sniffling, aching and paining, occasional light fever, drinking lots of liquids, and napping.

I'm hoping that by mid weekend I'll feel a lot better... but maybe much worse. Last year at this time I got the flu, which made me miserable for about 4 days, then it hung on as an annoying, not-quite-100% well, thing for the better part of a month.

Let's not do that again.

275

Just FYI, I just added some new ones, so there are now 275 quotes in the database that is used to display the saying near the top of this page.

I think this word means something different to you...

Over on TechPopuli I've posted a little rant about Blockbuster's claim that they've "eliminated" late fees.

The thing is, they actually haven't eliminated them, just reduced them, and changed the structure.

My Winter Coat

Way back in the winter of 1987-88 I bought a new winter coat.

In the fall of 1988 I moved to California. I took that coat with me, but used it only one weekend a year, when a bunch of friends would share a condo on the shores of Lake Tahoe.

When I returned to New England in the fall of 2000 the coat came with me, and I enjoyed the fact that I spent that first winter wearing the same coat that I had when I left.

During my first full year back east things changed, for example, I discovered Chocolate Frappes (ice cream shakes!) at the Icehouse in Portsmouth NH. Other things too. The upshot of all this was that my waistline grew, kinda dramatically. So by my second winter back here, my dear old winter coat didn't really fit.

I put it into the closet, and spent the next three winters wearing unsatisfying alternative outer-wear. I had almost forgotten about the old-timer.

Last night I was going through my closet and found that coat. As some readers will know, my waistline has been heading in a good direction lately -- down 3-4 inches since August!! -- and I was pleasantly surprised to find that my old winter coat fits again.

Yay!

It's not the most attractive coat, but it's comfy, and warm, and I like it. And now I can wear it again.

Pedro screwed?

The buzz is that Pedro Martinez might fail his physical with the Mets. They're saying that he may have major shoulder damage which would show up in the MRI.

If he gets rejected by the Mets, and becomes damaged goods, then this whole thing could be even more interesting.

Time

Researching an article, I revisited this site. It's always fun to explore.

The Directorate of Time which is part of the larger US Naval Observatory.

Brighter! Longer!

One of my favorite seasonal milestones.

The days are getting longer again. Yesterday the sun set at 4:08, today at 4:09. Spring must be just around the corner.

8bitpeoples

My friend CindyWB really likes plinkety-plink computer music. I do too. Thanks to Boing Boing, here's a rendition of "Let it Snow" (2.4meg mp3 file)

More of the same here.

Starry Night

Thanks to Dowbrigade, here's a site that has collected ALL of the works of artist Vincent Van Gogh.

Show me the money!

As Sherman has reported in comments, Pedro Martinez has reportedly accepted an offer to go to the New York Mets.

I wish him the best.

I don't think he'll be happy there.

Survivor Vanuatu

Well, not the best Survivor ever. But the ending was satisfying.

Spoilers in the Continued and comments.

I do give Chris credit for playing well, especially from the time he was the only guy trying to hang on against the women.

One thing that he did that was particularly notable was that he didn't stop playing after it got down to the final two. Instead of having this warm-fuzzy final day, Chris worked on Twila to get her wound up, in the hope that she would piss them off in the Final TC. And it worked.

Snow there, not here.

I went along with my brother on a quick dash up to Lebanon NH to hand off some cartons that are continuing on up to Warren VT.

The cartons contain calendars that he helped make, that are being sold as fundraisers.

About halfway up I-89 from Concord it started snowing. It was snowing pretty heavy at our destination. Scott was kinda bummed that the snow thinned out and ended as we drove back south.

Maybe tomorrow.

Wild man

In the first big move by the Redsox during this offseason, they signed left-handed pitcher David Wells.

I've always kinda like Wells. He pitched an unlikely no-hitter -- or was it a perfect game? -- a few years back, and I've been a distant fan.

The problem I have is that he played for the Yankees for awhile, and as you know, I have pretty strong feelings about loyalty.

On the other hand, he's not on the best of terms with the bombers, so maybe he's one of us after all.

Weird food

I went to a party yesterday at Mountain Road Trading Post, our local sporting goods place. It was an annual, open-house, given by proprietor George Beaumont for local customers.

I got to socialize with some of my neighbors who I know, and meet some that I don't... or didn't until now.

One cool thing about the party was that it was a sort of pot-luck for foods that you can hunt, catch, or gather.

I had three forms of oysters: deep fried... raw on the half shell... and one that was new to me, "oyster shooters", the oyster in a glass, with a dollop of cocktail sauce, and a splash of vodka. I also had trout chowder, some rabbit stew, and venison sausage. There was moose (bullwinkle, not chocolate), but it was gone by the time I got there.

Nice spread.

Rockin' and Rollin'

I'm a little jealous, cause this post is so cool, it could become a web classic.

MGA over at the Concrete Frog:

"Did you ever get a tune stuck in your head..."

Snowy Panorama

Taken yesterday. The mouth of Neals Cove looking out onto Pawtuckaway's south lake.

I'm dreaming of a....

We're getting our first serious snow here in S. NH. It started late last evening and apparently fell gently all night. There's about an inch accumulated right now, and it's falling pretty steadily.

Only "One Year" Now

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to someone
Happy birthday to you

YAY!

Huh?

Reuters via Yahoo!:

Forecaster Sees Fewer Atlantic Hurricanes in 2005

Next year's Atlantic hurricane season will again be more active than usual but is unlikely to be a repeat of this year's disaster, a noted storm forecaster said on Friday.

AP via Yahoo!:

Major Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast

Hurricane forecasters are calling for an above-average Atlantic hurricane season again next year after one of the most destructive seasons on record.

Survivor Vanuata - Eps #9, #10, #11, & #12

Written after Ep #12, Dec 2, 2004. This post, and its comments, may contain spoilers....

Previous Survivor: Vanuatu reports:
7: Naps and Scorched Earth
6: Pig Chasing and Tiki Puzzles
5: Mix and Match
4: A visit from Dah.
3: Just be one of the girls.
2: C'mon, give me a little hug!
1: An Age Imbalance.

Episode #9 "The Pecking Order" (Nov 11)

Ami: "We shocked the shiznit out of them."

Chris: "Julie and Twila are at the bottom of the women's pecking order. The game's not over, anything can happen."

Sarge is ready to snap.

Skulls-a-fire Trivia Reward.Eliza pissed at Scout for being eliminated. Leann wins, takes Julie with her.

"Eliza could go before Chris."

Chris: "That challenge really showed weakness in the women's alliance. It showed people the pecking order."

While away at reward: Julie: "I really love these people." Leann: "Me too."

They bring back leftover chicken for the women. They save the bones for the men, and make them think that's what they all got.

Eliza finds a pig. Sarge and Twila want to eat it.

"Estrogen City."

Immunity Challenge. Ami wins. Ami worries that immunity makes her a target for women.

Chad and Chris talking with Scout about Eliza... Eliza and Ami talking... Ami may turn on Scout cause she's fraternizing with the men.

What is it with the pig?

Sarge and Twila re-bonding... Chad' s idea: The men with Twila and Eliza as an alliance. (No! Twila and Scout!)

Tribal Council: Rory Syndrome. Sarge is revealing too much! Is Jeff hypnotic? Ami keeps the immunity though she earlier thought it was a liability... Chris votes for Sarge! Has he allied with the women?

Sarge out.

Twila voted for Sarge! Under the radar: Leann? Chad?

Episode #10 "Protect us from the Butt Cracks." (Nov 18)

Twisty Rope Maze Reward Challenge. They keep blurring the video of Julie's butt crack, but there's cleavage galore! Chris-Chad-Eliza-Ami win. They win a feast trip. They trade the pig for another pig, which they leave behind. Chad: "Kava..."

Back at camp. The loser guys unite against Eliza.

Tall post Hug Immunity Challenge. Order out: Julie, Chris, Scout, Ami, Eliza, Leann, Chad. Twila wins!

Ami campaigning for (against) Chad.

Have they been editing Ami to seem more evil than she is? Like Lex?

Tribal Council. It never ceases to amaze how much people blab in TC. Chad voted out.

Episode #11 "Twila the Puppet Master" (Nov 25)

Chris "narcs out" Scout and Twila.

Trivia Quiz for Loved Ones Reward. Apple iChat product placement. One minute teaser talk with loved ones back in the States via iChat. Are the loved ones actually just around the corner? Crissy is Ami's girlfriend. Julie vs Eliza tiebreaker. Eliza wins. Yes, the loved ones are right there.

Scout doing damage control. "Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Jury."

Why do people swear on their family members? Twila swears on the name of her son.

Loved Ones Blind Man's Bluff Puzzle Immunity Challenge. Ami and her girlfriend win. They're kinda adorable together.

Leann-Scout-Ami-Twila Summit. Decide to vote for Eliza.

Chris is told that Eliza is next, and that he's safe, and he's amazed. "It can be set in stone," he says, "then five minutes later..."

But then Twila tells Chris there's a way he can change things. Twila as Puppet Master? Or did Scout put her up to it? Twila-Scout-Chris-Eliza turn on Leann.

Tribal Council. Chris, shut up! "Six women."

The impromptu alliance holds and they vote out Leann. Wow! It worked. Chris is about to start giggling. Ami is pissed. Jury is ecstatic.

Episode #12 "Exhausted" (Dec 2)

Ami working on discrediting Twila for swearing on her son then reneging.

Over & Under Water Obstacle Course Reward Challenge. For Pontiac G6, and a feast, shower and bed... 1st, 2nd and 3rd get to go on reward. They are exhausted halfway through challenge. Chris and Julie dead even for third on the final lap!!! That may have been the toughest challenge ever. Winners are Eliza, Ami and Chris.

Shuffle Board Immunity Challenge. Chris wins immunity. Eliza is swaying on her alliance with Tw, Sc, and Ch.

Tribal Council. Ami is being cool. Still trying to discredit Twila. She's really working it. But it fails and she is voted off.

I must admit, I'm a little sad to see her go.

###

# Latest tribe list

# Order Out:
1 -- Brook, 27 (Lopevi)
2 -- Dolly, 25 (Yasur)
3 -- John P., 31 (Lopevi)
4 -- Mia, 30 (Yasur)
5 -- Brady, 33 (Lopevi)
6 -- Travis ("Bubba"), 33 (Yasur, was Lopevi)
7 -- Lisa, 44 (Yasur)
8 -- John K., 22 (Lopevi)
9 -- Rory, 35 (Yasur, was Lopevi)
# Jury
10 -- Lea ("Sarge"), 40 (Lopevi)
11 -- Chad, 35 (Lopevi)
12 -- Leann, 35 (Yasur)
13 -- Ami, 31 (Yasur)

Still making a list and checking it twice

I guess there's various kinds of "moral values". Reuters via Yahoo! News:

The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday accused the FBI and local police of spying on political and faith-based groups and formally asked the government for information about such FBI surveillance.

In Freedom of Information Act requests filed in 10 states and Washington, D.C., the ACLU sought information about the FBI's use of Joint Terrorism Task Forces and local police for what it called political surveillance.

It pointed to some documented examples of task forces' involvement in the investigation of environmental activists and anti-war protesters.

(Boldface added by Etcetera)

Megnut's rules

Megnut writes about her two rules for blogging. She posts these in response to a friend who's struggling with questions about starting her own blog.

1. I write about things I feel passionate about
...
2. I won't write something I wouldn't want my parents/grandparents to read

The envelope please...

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary tells us that the most looked-up word, for 2004, in their online dictionary is "blog". I'm not sure if that's a good or bad sign for blogs.

[Thanks Boing Boing.]