May 31, 2006
Karl Kraus quote
"War, at first, is the hope that one will be better off; next, the
expectation that the other fellow will be worse off; then, the satisfaction
that he isn't any better off; and, finally, the surprise at everyone's
being worse off."
-- Karl Kraus, writer (1874-1936)
Why Do We Refrigerate?
Today's "Al's Morning Meeting" contains some thoughts on whether it's really necessary to refrigerate all the things we tend to keep in the fridge.
If I heavily edited my refrigerator, I bet I could free up most of the racks on the door. My wife refrigerates bread (I hate cold bread) and she chills barbeque sauce so you have to use a jackhammer to get it out. What a public service you would do if you could liberate the public from its over-reliance on refrigerators.
Read the rest (you'll need to scroll down a little more than halfway to see the section called "Why Do We Refrigerate?".
May 28, 2006
Sugar in my coffee, ick!
I got a weekend pass, and I'm visiting the lakehouse for part of the holiday weekend.
I've become a Splenda person lately, but there isn't any here, so I'm using sugar in my coffee. Tastes different.
May 25, 2006
10-Day Forecast Audit, Day 4
Wednesday's forecast: a little cooler. For the weekend: weather unchanged, still rain on saturday, but the temps are higher for each day.
What the heck is this about?
Interview with an Insurgent
Get this video and more at MySpace.com
Bob Hoover footage from BBC
Bob Hoover was one one of the greatest airshow performers I've ever seen. He's retired from flying now. But he was the best.
May 24, 2006
10-Day Forecast Audit, Day 3
Wednesday's forecast: the rain is gone, only partly cloudy, and warmer, but still not as nice as the original 10-day forecast.
For the weekend: weather unchanged, but cooler on sat and sun, warmer of sun.
May 23, 2006
10-Day Forecast Audit, Day 2
Colder and wetter than what they said yesterday.
Pretty much the same, except warmer on Monday.
Soylent Green is People!
Google is in the news this morning with their announced plan to add video advertising to their repertoire.
This might be a good moment to point out that we web-surfers are no longer Google's customers. We are their PRODUCT!
Google makes most (almost ALL) of their money by selling access to us to advertisers. Marketing 101 is clear that your customer is the one who pays you money for something.
This might be a benign situation: We get the information access we want, and all we have to do is ignore the ads. But don't forget that in many, many subtle ways, Google will favor the ones who give them money, over the inventory. So don't be surprised.
Google Inc. will begin distributing online video ads for the first time later this week, continuing the Internet search engine leader's effort to diversify beyond the static written messages that generate most of its profits.The video expansion, announced late Monday, will affect thousands of Web sites that rely on Google to post ads related to the surrounding material on a page.
May 22, 2006
10-Day Forecast Audit
Something I've been curious about. How much do the Yahoo! Weather ten day forcasts change over the span of their lifetime? For the next ten days I'll watch the forecast for May 31. Let's see what happens.
And while we're at it, here's the forecast for Memorial Day Weekend.
Wired News publishes AT&T NSA documents
I haven't read these yet, but they claim to be some, or all, of the secret documents which the court has sealed, and which the Bush administration is fighting to have kept hidden.
...we are publishing the complete text of a set of documents from the EFF's primary witness in the case, former AT&T employee and whistle-blower Mark Klein -- information obtained by investigative reporter Ryan Singel through an anonymous source close to the litigation. The documents, available on Wired News as of Monday, consist of 30 pages, with an affidavit attributed to Klein, eight pages of AT&T documents marked "proprietary," and several pages of news clippings and other public information related to government-surveillance issues.
[via digg.com]
May 17, 2006
Aaron Sorkin returns
Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing, and the cult fave, Sports Night, will return to primetime TV next fall with Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Among the cast will be West Wing alum, Bradley Whitford, and Friends' lifer/West Wing recurring guest, Mathew Perry.
Here's a writeup about it on Wikipedia.
There's a bunch of other good people in the cast: Timothy Busfield (The West Wing), Judd Hirsch (Taxi), Nate Corddry (The Daily Show), others.
UPDATE: Just watched this 6 minute teaser. Now I desperately want to see this series.
UPDATE: The 6 minute preview has been taken down. Hopefully it will resurface soon.
May 16, 2006
Survivor: Exile Island -- Season Finale
I agree with the folks in comments who are saying that this Survivor was disappointing. Maybe next time.
BTW, I correctly predicted the final two outcome.
Possible spoilers ahead...
Cirie loses tiebreaker, goes to Jury... Astoundingly, Terry and Aras both fail at final three immunity challenge, leaving Danielle in charge... she choses Aras to go to final two, Terry to Jury... Final TC vote 5-2 for Aras.
Original Tribes Scoreboard
Casaya, Older Women -- 0
La Mina, Older Men -- 0
Bayonetta, Younger Women -- 0
Viveros, Younger Men -- 1
Tribes:
Gitano
Aras, Yoga Instr., 24 (was Viveros then Casaya)
Won Reward
1. La Mina, Viveros, & Casaya
2. La Mina
3. La Mina
4. Casaya
5. Casaya
6. Casaya, combined reward/immunity
7. -- none --
8. Bruce, Aras & Sally (Cocoanut Boat Challenge)
9. Courtney, Terry, Bruce & Sally (Bungie Cord Flag Grab)
10. Cirie (takes Aras & Danielle) (Know Your Fellow Survivors Quiz)
11. Terry, Danielle, Courtney (Follow the Rope-Line Obstacle Course)
12. Terry (Obstacle Course Redux)
13. Aras (Counting Puzzle)
14. Terry
Won Immunity
1. La Mina, Viveros, & Bayoneta
2. La Mina
3. Casaya
4. Casaya
5. La Mina
6. Casaya, combined reward/immunity
7. Terry
8. Terry (Obstacle Course with Puzzle)
9. Terry (Cheeseburgers or Memory Puzzle)
10. -- none --
11. Terry (Hold Your Weight Endurance)
12. Terry (Balance on a pole, water collecting)
13. Aras
14. Danielle
Banished to Exile Island
1. Misty
2. Bruce
3. Bruce
4. Terry (Found Idol)
5. Terry
6. Sally
7. -- none --
8. Austin & Danielle
9. Aras
10. Terry
11. Aras
12. Danielle
13. Terry & Danielle
Voted Off
1. Tina, "Lumber Jill", 45, Casaya Tribe
2. Melinda, Singer, 32, Casaya Tribe (was Casaya)
3. Misty, Engineer, 24, La Mina Tribe (was Bayoneta)
4. Ruth Marie, Retail Leasing, 48, La Mina (was Casaya)
5. Bobby, Attorney, 32, Casaya (was Viveros)
6. Dan, Astronaut, 52 La Mina Tribe (was La Mina)
7. Nick, Financial Sales, 25 La Mina Tribe (was Viveros)
8. Austin, Author, 24 (was Viveros then La Mina) (Jury)
9. Sally, Social Worker, 27 (was Bayoneta then La Mina) (Jury)
10. Bruce, Karate & Art Teacher, 58 (was La Mina then Casaya) (Medical) (Jury)
11. Courtney, Performance Artist, 31 (was Bayoneta then Casaya) (Jury)
12. Shane, Entertainment Marketing, 25 (was La Mina then Casaya) (Jury)
13. tiebreaker Cirie vs Danielle
14. Cirie, Nurse, 35 (was Casaya then Casaya) (Jury)
Terry, Airline/Fighter Pilot, 46 (was La Mina then La Mina) (Jury)
Danielle, Medical Sales, 24 (was Bayoneta then Casaya)
Park your boat in Harvard moat.
On TV this morning I heard a local official pronounce FEMA as "fee-mer".
Bush Declares War on Mexico
...will deploy 6,000 new National Guard troops to the Mexican border, build new space in detention centers, and use high-tech identification cards to verify workers' status, as he seeks to generate momentum for a comprehensive remaking of the nation's immigration laws.
Just in case we win the "War in Terrorism", it's always handy to have the "War on Illegal Immigration" standing by.
May 14, 2006
Survivor: Exile Island -- Episodes #11,12,13
[I haven't watched the finale yet. Here are my catchup postings for the eps up to the finale. I'll be posting on the finale soon.]
Getting to the Final Four... and beyond.
Possible spoilers ahead...
Ep 11: Shane's blackberry... Cirie loses Reward challenge for Shane and Aras... the product placement challenge (to give away the SUV)... Cirie catches a fish... Terry wins indiv immun again, he's the only one to have won it, and he still has the special immunity in his pocket... Cirie looking more like she's controlling the game, she's trying to get courtney voted off... tribal council... bruce appears, looking healthy... the vote is aras 2, danielle 1, courtney 3. courtney voted off... when the second vote for courtney appeared, shane looked surprised. and when she was voted off, he is shocked. he's thinking, "who is really running this game?"
Ep 12: I missed the first 10 mins... Reward Challenge: obstacle course redux... winner gets to assign various visiting-loved-ones rewards... shane given best reward, danielle worst... ciries husband spends nite in camp. he's horrified by the conditions... next day, aras is angry at the choices terry made... standing on a pole collecting water immunity challenge... terry wins again... the politicking seems to be to either send danielle of shane home. danielle knows she's at risk. shane is clueless.... it's shane! cirie is the swing vote, broke the tie... Shane to remaining survivors: "Oh man, I'm gonna have a chocolate ice-cream bar in about one minute!"... Terry salutes Shane as he leaves... VERY INTERESTING that the final four are one each from the original four tribes.
FINAL FOUR: Terry, Cirie, Danielle, Aras.
My final two result predictions:
Terry vs Cirie, Cirie wins
Terry vs Danielle, Terry wins
Terry vs Aras, Terry wins
Cirie vs Danielle, Cirie wins
Cirie vs Aras, Cirie wins
Danielle vs Aras, Aras wins
Cirie wins 3 combinations
Terry wins 2 combinations
Aras wins 1 combination
Dnlle wins 0 combinations
Ep 13: Terry goes off after TC... counting stuff reward... terry and aras tussle during challenge. trash talking... aras wins. terrry complains about the rules... aras takes cirie on reward... terry and danielle to exile island. they agree to go to final two together... cirie makes fire... puzzle immunity... aras wins... terry and aras make nice... firemaking lessons. anticipating a tiebreaker... at TC... it is a tie. Cirie 2, Danielle 2... firemaking tiebreaker... to be continued.
Original Tribes Scoreboard
Casaya, Older Women -- 1
La Mina, Older Men -- 1
Bayonetta, Younger Women -- 1
Viveros, Younger Men -- 1
Tribes:
Gitano
Terry, Airline/Fighter Pilot, 46 (was La Mina then La Mina)
Cirie, Nurse, 35 (was Casaya then Casaya)
Danielle, Medical Sales, 24 (was Bayoneta then Casaya)
Aras, Yoga Instr., 24 (was Viveros then Casaya)
Won Reward
1. La Mina, Viveros, & Casaya
2. La Mina
3. La Mina
4. Casaya
5. Casaya
6. Casaya, combined reward/immunity
7. -- none --
8. Bruce, Aras & Sally (Cocoanut Boat Challenge)
9. Courtney, Terry, Bruce & Sally (Bungie Cord Flag Grab)
10. Cirie (takes Aras & Danielle) (Know Your Fellow Survivors Quiz)
11. Terry, Danielle, Courtney (Follow the Rope-Line Obstacle Course)
12. Terry (Obstacle Course Redux)
13. Aras (Counting Puzzle)
Won Immunity
1. La Mina, Viveros, & Bayoneta
2. La Mina
3. Casaya
4. Casaya
5. La Mina
6. Casaya, combined reward/immunity
7. Terry
8. Terry (Obstacle Course with Puzzle)
9. Terry (Cheeseburgers or Memory Puzzle)
10. -- none --
11. Terry (Hold Your Weight Endurance)
12. Terry (Balance on a pole, water collecting)
13. Aras
Banished to Exile Island
1. Misty
2. Bruce
3. Bruce
4. Terry (Found Idol)
5. Terry
6. Sally
7. -- none --
8. Austin & Danielle
9. Aras
10. Terry
11. Aras
12. Danielle
13. Terry & Danielle
Voted Off
1. Tina, "Lumber Jill", 45, Casaya Tribe
2. Melinda, Singer, 32, Casaya Tribe (was Casaya)
3. Misty, Engineer, 24, La Mina Tribe (was Bayoneta)
4. Ruth Marie, Retail Leasing, 48, La Mina (was Casaya)
5. Bobby, Attorney, 32, Casaya (was Viveros)
6. Dan, Astronaut, 52 La Mina Tribe (was La Mina)
7. Nick, Financial Sales, 25 La Mina Tribe (was Viveros)
8. Austin, Author, 24 (was Viveros then La Mina) (Jury)
9. Sally, Social Worker, 27 (was Bayoneta then La Mina) (Jury)
10. Bruce, Karate & Art Teacher, 58 (was La Mina then Casaya) (Medical) (Jury)
11. Courtney, Performance Artist, 31 (was Bayoneta then Casaya) (Jury)
12. Shane, Entertainment Marketing, 25 (was La Mina then Casaya) (Jury)
13. tiebreaker Cirie vs Danielle
Hey Noah, I want you to build an ark.
Raining a lot here. For only the second time in 40 years, my parents' house in Melrose has water in the basement. The first time was two years ago, in April, when we had another of these multi-day, major rain events.
It must be global warming. Climate change.
It's been raining for 4 days now. The forecast is for it to continue raining for the next 8 days.
Here's a page where I'm recording the daily rainfall totals.
May 13, 2006
Don't tease me about The West Wing
The E!online story about tomorrow's series finale of The West Wing includes this little bit (boldface added by me):
Sunday's finale... looks forward to a new administration that audiences will never see, barring a reunion movie or series sequel.
May 11, 2006
Rick in Revere
Over in comments they're all abuzz about newcomer "Rick from Revere".
Here's a pic of rickf in revere. But it's not the new Rick from Revere, nor is it my cousin Rick.
May 10, 2006
Navy Coffee
Over the years I've come to love a good cup of coffee. But my brother and his wife are the real coffee fiends, err, aficionados, in the family.
This description of a "real" cup of coffee is simultaneously intriguing and scary.
The power of Navy Coffee does not derive from the strength of the roast, but from the amount of coffee used, so as you can see, this one is stronger than most. Some old chiefs like the coffee so strong that it actually seems chewy (that comes from the tannins in the coffee and their effects on the tooth surface), but we don't need to go quite that far.
May 09, 2006
Redsox 14, Yankees 3
And Johnny Damon is 0 for 7 against the sox so far this season.
Yahoo!Sports game recap.
My first video blog
It's a little bit high-concept. (Click image to watch.)
May 08, 2006
Water is nature's wonder-drug.
In a pitiful, little, whiny voice, we hear Jack cry, "I'm sick."
Bronchitis is my guess. I was exposed to it late last week, and the symptoms started over the weekend. Last night I got a light fever.
But I'll be OK.
My own thoughts on self-treatment, are spot-on with those from Mother Nature.
May 07, 2006
The West Wing winding UP.
It's probably too much to hope that they *are* setting up some sort of sequel, movie, or cable series, or something...
Read more...
Why Colbert's speech was so significant
The blogosphere is ringing with praise, and some criticism, for Stephen Colbert's speech at last week's Correspondent's Dinner.
Doug Elfman of the Chicago Sun Time puts his finger on what really made it so important:
It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration.
Colbert's remarks were funny, but not hilarious. The most important thing was, as I saw it described elsewhere, someone finally "telling 'truthiness' to power."
May 06, 2006
May 03, 2006
Bush really is a uniter.
From the Pop!Tech conference in 2004, during one of the Q&As, Alex Steffin made this interesting observation about how many countries of the world are actually beginning to make progress toward making the world a better place, even though the U.S. isn't one of them.
Frank Zappa
"Politics is high school with guns and more money."
-- Frank Zappa
May 02, 2006
Bush Administration trying to squash lawsuit about its illegal eavesdropping
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is claiming in a lawsuit that AT&T acted improperly when it helped the Bush Administration to conduct unauthorized eavesdropping of U.S. citizens.
The government is attempting to use an arcane legal tool, the state secrets privilege, to stop the lawsuit by claiming National Security.
Here's a story from wired.com about the history of the state secrets privilege.
In this case, the government will be asking a federal judge in California to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation against AT&T for its alleged complicity in warrantless government surveillance of its customer's internet and telephone communications. The EFF alleges that AT&T gave the government access to a massive phone billing database and helped the NSA spy on its customers' internet use.
My take on this is that the Bush Administration, in this lawsuit, is effectively one of the plaintiffs. And for the suit to be dismissed simply because one of the plaintiffs says it should be, is, well, very dangerous.