(Ft. Worth, TX, USA)

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Random Ramblings

Friday, July 24, 2009

Another Lesson

Aside from “don’t show your ass to the police in public,” there seems to me to be another lesson to be learned from the Cambridge Incident:  make sure your neighbors know you. 

Now you don’t have to go over and spend a lot of time with your neighbors, but it certainly helps if they at least know you by sight, if not by name.  It would have saved everyone a lot of grief if the neighbor who spotted Professor Gates breaking into his house knew that it was him, and not some random thief.  If I were to have to break into my house at some point, I know that at least the neighbors around me know that I belong here.  And if I saw one of my neighbors trying to get in through a window, I’d probably go over and see if I could help somehow.  But it sounds like in Professor Gates’ neighborhood no one knows anyone else, which is truly unfortunate. 

Monday, June 29, 2009

Grimly Amused

When I got my medical first responder certificate I built myself a first aid kit using the recommendations from the textbook.  I used several online suppliers to get some of the things you can’t find in stores so now I get emails from a couple of them with their specials.

I was slightly amused to open my email a few minutes ago to see that one of them was running a July 4th special on products for treating “burns, blisters, infections and 4th of July injuries,”  including the WaterJel 5’x6’ Fire Blanket. 

Let’s hope that none of us has the kind of 4th that requires a fire blanket.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Nothing New Under The Sun…

It would appear that modern man does not have a monopoly on bad taste:

The glittering “grills” of some hip-hop stars aren’t exactly unprecedented. Sophisticated dentistry allowed Native Americans to add bling to their teeth as far back as 2,500 years ago, a new study says.

Ancient peoples of southern North America went to “dentists”—among the earliest known—to beautify their chompers with notches, grooves, and semiprecious gems, according to a recent analysis of thousands of teeth examined from collections in Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (such as the skull above, found in Chiapas, Mexico).

Make sure to click on the link to the article to get a glimpse of an ancient skull with gem stones embedded in its teeth.  I wonder if the next discovery will be the remains of ox-carts with giant wheels and spinners. 

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Funny Product Warning: Run Away!  Run Away!

As part of my pre-SCHIP cigar acquisition program I also bought a couple of inexpensive humidors through eBay.  They came with analog hygrometers but I decided that I would add a digital one to each humidor that also included a thermometer, since you have to maintain both humidity and temperature for optimal cigar storage.

I ordered two of the Western Humidor Caliber III units and they arrived today.  Analog hygrometers usually require calibration and there are a number of methods that usually involve water, salt, and plastic bags.  This digital one, though, does not require calibration and it had the following warning on the sheet that accompanied it:

WARNING:  This is an electronic instrument.  To maintain the warranty of this product and enjoy many years of error free operation, do not attempt to perform the following; DO NOT wrap this gauge in a wet towel to test the accuracy.  DO NOT attempt to perform the salt test.  DO NOT submerge the gauge in water!  DO NOT microwave or insert in an oven.  Should anyone suggest any of the above to test the accuracy of the CALIBER III ™, we recommend that you run from them immediately!  If you need help to any questions, please call us directly…

I have to give credit to the folks at Western Humidor for making my day with this product warning.

Monday, January 26, 2009

No Favors

Jeff, at Alphecca, had a post over the weekend in which he commented about people who abandon puppies and kittens.  Perhaps some people suffer under the delusion that pets can somehow be “returned to nature,” but that’s not the case for domesticated animals.  It’s a cowardly, evil practice, and it does the animals no favors to do so.

I wrote about this topic a few years ago and this occasion seems like a good reason to recycle that old post (it’s environmentally friendly!):

Donor Animals

A recent case of evil animal cruelty got me to thinking a little about a somewhat related topic: unwanted animals.

Growing up in a rural area of East Texas, we frequently would have dogs or cats show up at our house after their owners had dumped them nearby.  Some people have the mistaken idea that releasing an animal in the country is somehow better for them than taking them to a shelter or otherwise taking responsibility for them.  In case anyone is still operating under this delusion, I’d like to give a few details of the reality of life for an abandoned animal in the country.  They don’t end up living a life of luxury with Farmer Brown or Rancher Joe.  On rare occasions, an animal may make its way into someone’s home (like the old lady that used to live across the road who named her dog “Donor,” hence the title of this post, or my own dog, Boots.).  But this is the exception, since none of us have room for all the animals that show up.  Generally, it’s a nasty, brutish, and all too often, short, life.

The first hazard to Fluffy, after being dropped, terrified, on the road, is the road itself, especially the nearby highway.  We would often see dead cats and dogs along the road that were unfamiliar to us.  When you consider an animal that has lived inside or in someone’s yard all its life, it’s easy to see why it wouldn’t understand the dangers of roads.

Provided that Fluffy manages to avoid being pancaked on the highway, he will likely show up at someone’s nearby house.  However, people need to know that there is no organized animal control that people in the country can call to remove stray animals.  To get an idea of the problem, take a look at this post from Petville.com (in fact, this is only a couple of miles up the road from where I grew up).  Generally, there will be a county humane society, but the animal has to be caught and taken to them.  People out in the country often have to take care of things themselves, and given the lack of availability of animal control, this is no exception.  We were the nice ones in the area, in that we’d generally just try to run stray animals off the property.  My mother’s dog was good at this, as she was genially territorial (i.e. she could be persuaded, on occasion, to put up with another dog).  Any animals that tried to stick around despite my mother’s dog were subject to being shot at with a BB-gun (only one or two pumps, though, as the intent was to scare them away, rather than to cause injuries). 

However, our neighbors were not so kind.  Any stray dogs found on their property were subject to being shot.  This was mostly defensive, since dogs (especially hungry, desperate ones) will often kill chickens and ducks.  In the country, any time livestock is subject to predation, you can expect the landowner to take decisive action against the predator.  They don’t have time to fuss around with traps or drive 30 miles to take the animal to the humane society (or for that matter to take the risk that the animal they’re trying to catch is rabid).

So, if Fluffy survived the highway, and learned to stay away from livestock, and avoided getting shot (and buried behind a barn somewhere), he’s home free, right?

Not exactly.  Out there in East Texas we have wolves, coyotes, bobcats, rattle snakes, copperheads, and water moccasins (cottonmouth).  I’ve personally seen rattlers (nearly stepped on one) and have had to shoot water moccasins.  I’ve heard the wolves at night.  Sometimes they would come right up to our front porch.  Other times we’d hear them and discover they’d been into the watermelons the next morning.  There is also rumored to be an occasional cougar (or some other similar big cat).  I haven’t seen it, but I’ve heard something screaming at night that’s hard to describe, but that I’ve been told is their call.  Oh, yeah, don’t forget the occasional rabid skunk or raccoon.  If Fluffy is lucky enough to avoid being attacked and/or eaten, there’s always rabies…  And if I see a rabid animal, it’s getting shot.  Period.  End of discussion. 

It seems to me that someone who truly cared about little Fluffy wouldn’t have abandoned him in the country.  It’s a fairly simple matter to just go ahead and take him to the shelter or find someone else to take him.  There’s no shame in admitting that you can’t care for him, or that you can’t stand him chewing on the furniture anymore.  In fact, that’s the adult way:  you admit your responsibility and take action to see that the animal is properly cared for.  Dumping an animal in the country is for pathetic cowards.

Genetic Fiddling

I noticed recently that a little girl was born in England who had been genetically engineered to lack the gene for breast cancer.  I can’t help but wonder what else that gene does in the human genome.  I certainly hope that the scientists who did this fully understood the implications of their actions.  Let’s hope that this gene doesn’t also control some subtle aspect of humanity that can’t be seen until the child is nearly grown.

Anyhow, once they get all the kinks worked out and cover all the big items, I have a few smaller items that could use their attention.  To start with they can get to work fixing the gene that causes hair to start growing out of our ears as we get older. 

Monday, January 12, 2009

Back To The Grind

My department was given a bonus week of time off last week, so I’m just now getting back into work after being gone for 2 1/2 weeks.  It hasn’t been made any easier by the fact that I somehow managed to turn my schedule around during the break so that I was going to bed at 12:00 or 1:00am and getting up at 8:00 or 9:00.  Today’s 6:00am alarm was physically painful and it doesn’t help that I feel like I’m coming down with something (hopefully not the flu, although I completely spazzed and forgot to get a shot so it’s possible). 

Anyhow, once I wrestle the email monster into submission, I might just be able to get something done (it’s not as bad as it could be—only about 175 emails—since most of my partners in crime were also away on vacation).  Regular programming should resume sometime late today or early tomorrow (I’ve got a couple of issues I’m fired up about, given that the Texas legislative session is starting, but haven’t got time for nanny slamming at the moment).

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Johnnie Walker - Earworm

The latest Johnnie Walker “Striding Man” commercial features an interesting and energetic instrumental track.  It kept bugging me because I knew that I’d heard it somewhere before.  It turns out that they used a remix of a piece by Karl Jenkins (part of his “Adiemus” project) called In Caelum Fero.  I recognized it because it’s on an Adiemus CD from 1995 that I have in my collection.

In researching the above I also rediscovered the old Johnnie Walker Black ad featuring Never The Same by Supreme Beings of Leisure.  I’d forgotten how much I liked that song. 

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Move Aside, Let The Man Go Through

Thanks to a commercial for the Chrysler 300 I've got this song stuck in my head. So I've decided to share the misery with you. Be careful, that hook is sticky...

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

A Matter of Taste

There was a Cabela’s circular in today’s mail touting their big gun show/sale this weekend.  While they had the usual complement of regular and synthetic-stocked hunting rifles, there were also a few in camouflage, such as the Remington Model R-15 VTR:

If there’s an aesthetic trend that I can’t stand, it’s camo on a gun.  It’s the ordnance equivalent of nails on a chalkboard to me.  I generally prefer wood stocks, although I don’t mind synthetics (and in some cases, some guns just cry out for synthetic stocks).  But as far as I’m concerned, camo is right out.  The only way I’d have a camo gun is if someone gave it to me.  And even then I’d probably have to think about it for a bit. 

Compare the above to this Remington Premier Competition STS:

I can’t help but find the STS much more pleasing to the eye.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Language Peeve

I was watching one of the local TV stations this morning.  Their reporter was reporting on the current DISD funding crisis and he was trying to explain that the district was $64 million in the hole because someone didn’t record the costs of hiring a large number of teachers last year.  He kept saying that the teachers were hired to reduce “classroom sizes” when he should have said they were hired to reduce “class sizes.” 

This really grated on my nerves, because unless the teachers were busy building new walls to reduce the sizes of the classrooms, they really weren’t reducing “classroom” sizes.  The unnecessary addition of ‘room’ to the word ‘class’ changes the meaning of the sentence such that it no longer makes sense.

Language matters, people! 

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

No Longer Flying Blind

My mother’s phone company has been offering DSL for about a year now.  Other than satellite, they are the only option for high-speed internet where she lives.  I’d been contemplating getting high-speed internet for her for a while, but the costs bothered me:

I suppose I’ve been spoiled by the options that are available here with Verizon FIOS and with the cable company.  But when you consider the subscriber density between the two areas I suppose it makes sense that it’s a lot more expensive to provide DSL out in the country.  So after the last visit when I was unable to ever completely download all of the Vista updates that her computer needed (130MB) I decided to go ahead and pay for her to get DSL (the 128/128 package) from ETEX. 

They completed the install last week, and it was active when I got there on Saturday.  I have to say that while it certainly can’t compete with FIOS, it was certainly much more usable than dialup, and I did verify that we were getting the full bandwidth that we’re paying for. 

Most importantly, though, is that I can now use remote support tools to help my mother when she calls with a problem.  The first thing I installed on Saturday was UltraVNC.  And it’s already paid off.  She called me yesterday evening complaining that something didn’t look like it used to.  I was able to connect back to her PC and take it over and fix the problem in a couple of minutes.

Those of you who have ever had to do tech support for a non-technical relative will appreciate just how handy VNC is in diagnosing and fixing problems.  If you try to do it just over the phone it’s a really frustrating experience.  It’s kind of like trying to fly an airplane where you can’t see the instrument panel and the person at the controls doesn’t know what anything is or how it works.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Transfer Ready

The files are checked into the source code control system, the build/config document is finished (I hope) and the handoff meeting is scheduled for tomorrow.  The code that I’ve been working on for the past nine or ten months is being transferred to a more-dedicated developer to finish up the last few odd and ends (finish implementing a couple of ‘nice to have’ methods and packaging it for a production deployment).  It’s kind of sad, though, because this will probably be the last bit of code that I get to write ‘officially’ on a project.  But it’s not unexpected, because my job has changed to the point that it’s impractical for me to write any significant amount of code.  My schedule is no longer my own, it seems, and I spend all day talking to other people about requirements and code, rather than actually getting anything done. 

For example, this is what the current week looks like:

Every one of those little boxes represents time spent talking to somebody about something unrelated to the project I’m handing off tomorrow (yes, technically I’m writing this from inside one of those boxes; in this case I got lucky and one of the key players never showed up, freeing up part of an hour, which I just used to check in the last of my files before starting this entry).  Without all those meetings I could probably have done the code in a third (or less) of the time it actually took.

From now on, any coding that I do will be for personal projects and it’ll all have to be after hours (which doesn’t preclude doing stuff for work; it just means that it can’t be on anyone’s official schedule or anything).

Monday, August 11, 2008

Gettin’ Schooled

I’m currently in Austin and I just finished day one of a two day seminar on the Agile software development methodology and how it might be applied in my company.  It’s an interesting idea, and there are some good concepts in it, but I’m not confident on how well it will work out in the long run.  We seem to have a nasty habit of always adding new processes and methodologies and never getting rid of the old ones.  It’s going to take some serious culture change to make it work. 

We’ve been promised a module on estimating and planning for tomorrow, which I am particularly interested in with regards to how to estimate an overall cost and date for a given project.  Because no matter how much upper management clamors for agile development, they still think in terms of “When will it be done?” and “How much will it cost?”

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Random Thoughts

I don’t know why this happens, but sometimes strange thoughts just seem to pop into my conscious mind seemingly from nowhere.  Just recently it occurred to me that while the Matrix was certainly interesting for its scary distopian view of a future where humans are used by machines to generate energy, I couldn’t see how the whole setup would generate more energy than it took in.

While humans are endothermic, they require energy in the form of food to produce heat energy.  Further, they require a climate-controlled environment (neither too warm nor too cold) to thrive.  It would seem to me that the process of growing the food and maintaining the human in a comfortable environment would use more energy than the human generated.  And that’s not even considering the amount of power required to run the stupid Matrix itself.  Or for that matter, the energy required just to monitor the human in its pod.

Or perhaps I’m over-thinking the whole thing.  Not that I spent a lot of time on it, but obviously some part of my brain thought it of sufficient importance to chew on it for a while before surfacing it.