November 17, 2008 @ 9:40 PM

More Food Science

I may have either crossed a really odd boundary here, or come up with my most perfect fusion... in either case it is this.
If nothing else this latest mashup is the combination of some of my favorite past-times & passions: computers, food, and building things.
Thus with a few dollars worth of materials from the hardware store (cooler, light bulb, light socket, dimmer), a bit of hacking (the dimmer), a micro-controller (Arduino), a sensor (temp/humd) , and some programming (Python) the result was this:
A computer controlled Tempeh incubator... the status of which can be checked on-line.

October 12, 2008 @ 8:24 AM

Hadron@home

Ok so maybe I'm not exactly colliding sub-atomic particles (... and how cool would that be?! Although I'm not sure what I do with 10,000 tonnes of liquid nitrogen in my living room...), but it's sure starting to look that way...

Soon I'll post photos and details about what I'm really doing

October 8, 2008 @ 11:13 AM

Benefits of dying

This was just too good not to share... http://journeytoforever.org/fyi_previous3.html#240801

September 15, 2008 @ 9:15 PM

Well fancy that...

Being a car owner I have been a long time member of AAA. It's a service I've been pleased with over the years, and which comes with the "added benefit" (insert sarcasm here) of stuffing my mailbox every other month with "AAA Living" which, for those of you have never seen it, I would not describe a "stellar" magazine. In fact at best I might thumb through it once before putting it straight into the recycling.
However this month (I just got it today) I couldn't help noticing the the front page, "Alaska Your Way".
Now if you think like me then you already sense the possible irony that this particular topic might come up this particular month. And I will concede that this might just be a case of my own rampant cynicism, because I do understand that magazine articles are often planned, as well as printed & distributed, well in advance of shifting political winds... but still it's hard to get around this...
Also on the front cover, at the bottom, are listed three other featured articles: "Outside in Tuscon | Candidates Talk Transportation | Chicago's Green Side"...
I'll leave it to you to decide how coincidental that is.

August 24, 2008 @ 3:17 PM

So WTF is the point of an insurance "co-pay"?

If the point of insurance is that I pay, on a regular basis, to have the assurance that the services I need to be paid for will be... they how is it that I am then asked again to pay for the services that I have already paid for?

November 16, 2007 @ 12:26 AM

Quote-of-the-Day

"The Google API is a bitch. Their security is tighter than some freshman I have f***ed"

May 26, 2006 @ 10:48 AM

Good Guys 1 : Bad Guys 0

Ok, I said I would not use my blog as a bully pulpit, however I believe this issue to be important enough to warrant me sharing my personal views on it, namely the Enron verdict.
To say that I am "pleased" with the outcome would be a wrong use of words; if anything, as I have watched the details unfold, I have been saddened by the fact that these two men (Lay and Skilling) allowed themselves to let something as simple, and possibly even avoidable, as greed destroy their lives. Add to this that, given their ages, their impending incarceration will shorten their lives even more, I can not help but pity them.
However, given the sweeping aftermath of their actions (and the actions of others), jobs lost, businesses brought down, and (most of all) the public trust defiled... I believe the verdict was fitting. But more than that (and the real reason I am blogging this) is that it is symbolic...

In these times, finding ourselves constantly reminded how often those who wield power and influence often abuse it, that the final verdict of Enron was a clear and unquestioning "guilty", is to me not only an emblem but a cry that such abuse will not be tolerated.

December 30, 2005 @ 9:07 PM

Deep

The following was "excerpted" from the end of a corporate press release:

[We] use words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "predict," "project" and similar expressions [snip]. When we make forward-looking statements, we are basing them on our [snip] beliefs and assumptions, using information currently available to us. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in [such] statements are reasonable, these forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions [snip]. If one or more of these or other risks or uncertainties materialize, or if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may vary [snip] from what we projected. Any forward-looking statements [snip] reflect our current views with respect to future events and are subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions [snip].

just struck me as interesting how, with only minor editing, legal jargon can become so philosophical.

September 4, 2005 @ 6:35 PM

Figures...

Ok, I try to curb my cynical tendencies, but this is truly pushing it:
As posted here (which is mostly heartbreaking pleas to help find loved ones):
"Story: You may not have a home anymore, but don't forget to mail in that mortgage payment... That's what the good folks at Standard Mortgage have to say on their web site: http://www.stanmor.com and at the phone number they post for the "help" they want to provide.
WE ASK THAT ALL PAYMENTS BE SENT TO US, AS YOU WOULD NORMALLY DO, TO THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS:
STANDARD MORTGAGE CORPORATION P.O. BOX 53426 NEW ORLEANS , LA 70153-3426. Their "thoughts and prayers" are with us, but not much else.."

I checked the link above and, sure enough, that's what it says.
And it's not hard to imagine that they are seeing, along with everyone else, their inverstments literally going down the drain with the receeding flood waters... but still...
anyone who could as quickly post such a message could also easily show some compassion.

September 3, 2005 @ 2:30 PM

In Response

I started to write about my emotional reaction to the events of the last few days (ones I might still share) but stepped back and decided it would be better to share, from my privileged "cyber-bully-pulpit", my social reactions:

The first is my dismay over what a "white gloved" president our country has. CNN reports "After returning to Washington late Friday from nearly seven hours spent touring some of the most devastated areas of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana..." CNN
Seven hours? "nearly seven hours"? more like merely seven hours. That's less than the average work day that most most American work every day, year round.
And yes the man might be Head of State and accordingly needs to be in Washington tending to business, but still... only one short day spent surveying the battered region amounts to little more than a "polite appearance".
What would it have taken for him to roll up his sleeves and assist in a physical way, helping to clear debris shoulder-to-shoulder with the unfortunate citizens of the region?. Nothing. And perhaps he did, although I doubt it "...what he experienced of the crisis there was mostly by air. He avoided the lawless parts of New Orleans,..." - again CNN .
And, true, G. W. Bush moving a few boards around would not do anything, would not matter, to the 17,000 people in the Astro Dome but the significance of the gesture would have been vital to the spirit of this country. And it's hard not to imagine that there would have been other leaders in the past who would have know this and done so.
Instead Bush returned to Washington and delivered a speech from the comfort of the Rose Garden while "... [issuing] a memorandum saying Hurricane Katrina had created a "severe energy supply interruption" that could damage the national economy.." - again CNN.

August 12, 2005 @ 7:42 PM

A Start...

I have finally decided to join the masses and start "blogging" this site.
I use that word liberally because, although I do not believe my thoughts are so profound that I MUST share every intimate (or mundane) brain-fart I have moment-to-moment, day-to-day, I do belive that having a website entails a certain responsibility to encourage open discourse and dialog. So my intent is to periodicaly share my toughts on culture and art, with the hope that you (the reader) will in turn share back.
Unfortunately, given the current trend of 'blog spamming' the best I can offer for feedback (short of asking people to create an 'account'... yuk) is direct email.
Hopefully, as this blog grows, you will reciprocate and share your thoughts, and I will in turn re-post your comments, feedback, etc.
- rd