Geistbear Musing

Weblog panel Yesterday The Idler presented their panel at the National Press Club "Inside the Blogsphere: The Weblog Phenomenon". While it was disappointing that there were alot of last minute cancellations, which had a definite impact on the discussion, the Bloggers in the audience seemed to balance out the experience and make for a thoughtful event. The speakers were: Dennis Loy Johnson, Mobylives.com Doug McLennan, Artsjournal.com James Taranto, "Best of the Web," OpinionJournal.com John Hiler, Microcontent News Johsua Micah Marshall , TalkingPointsMemo.com Alice Goldfarb Marquis, The-Idler.com The panel did discuss a lot of points in the previous discussion at AFF, but I think the Idler event was not adorned by this notion that blogs are only to be used by journalists and pundits. The panelists and audience made it clear that this was a personal experience and that personal passion drove this medium. There were certain words that seemed...

Clear Channel Communications Inc.the nation's leading radio broadcaster, defended its business practices Thursday, saying it had no accounting issues or irregularities. You know I think I agree with this report , because payola , music play lists , and monoploy tendencies, excuse me market share leader...are just a normal day at the office for them.

Damn, maybe I should just stay at work Lileks and the Professor will both miss today's panel.

Expect the normal insanity of postings here at Bear Droppings until Noonish when I am off to the Blogging event at the Press Club.

This site has some great background material on the fires in the Southwest. Although they list the fire at 409,000 acres, I have heard that is yesterday's numbers and the current number is closer to 417,000, but I don't have outside confirmation. The Daily Sun has some good coverage and even better photos the most telling perhaps the picture of the prescribed burn area and how that helped control the fire. The Desert Pundit is asked a question on why the Arizona Republic has not mentioned how much of tribal forest land was burn and the resulting economic impact, while the Repulsive is ducking this story the Daily Sun has noticed it. Finally the fire quote of the day is from a friend who reports the following One of our firefighters just came back last night (after being switched out with another one of ours)" Try to imagine flames 200 ft high coming straight at you, embers falling on you, and propane tanks landing like hail around you " And this guy spent the la...

All I can say from last night is Hookahpundit see BeingJenRaj later for more details...too much work this morning check back this afternoon.

How hot is the fire in Arizona? Hot enough to melt a road? Yes Hot enough to melt a car? Yes How about a group of cars? Yes They are starting to contain it, but it's a long ways from over. (Thanks to Tastes Like Chicken for the car picture)

My newest favorite blog, why the PoohPundit of course, he is " The New York Times of the bearbloggers ".

You know I think I like Crookdimwit's Cliff Notes posting style more than his regular posts. ( Just kidding Matt )

Poetry Wednesday For Poetry Wednesday I wanted a poem to remind people of the firefighters working so hard out in Arizona, this isn't quite right, but considering what the weather is like in DC today, I suppose it will due. Fire and Ice Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favour fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice. - Robert Frost

Lunchtime Thoughts I am downstairs grabbing lunch and noticing there is no place to sit. I think for a minute and decide to sit outside if it's not too bad. So while it is hot, humid, and you are basically breath pure smog, once I sat in the shade it wasn't really all that terrible. Especially with a bit of Jazz from the deli and the breeze occasionally sneaking around the corner. So I am feeling very good about myself as I eat my salad (at least until I decide it needs some company like a bunch of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups later on). Pondering lifes ponderables, okay so another year ring in the tree is just about due, another round of mortality, and the age old question of humanity facing me, no not the question about the dryer and the missing sock. The other question so what the hell am I doing? In a funny way I am starting to find the answer, as I started thinking about tech and politics and how they interrelate, I do understand it alot more than I did three years...

Government Efficiency As many of you know, I used to work for the government. When I left I told the new system admin give my account 2-3 months then pull the account and I set all my email to automatically forward to my Yahoo email address. In August, I have been working my new job for nearly 2 years and yet I still get email occasional from that account, for the first year it was event and coalition emails, now a days most folks have cleaned their lists, so it's sale announcements and the odd business group. By the way Land's End has a big summer sale evidently...( yes the account is still running...I'd tell them to fix it, but I just am amazed and wonder how long it will continue )

But sometimes that's just the way the Jell-O judicates. Don't expect me explain, go see Jim Treacher .

Please be sure to rewind your DVD... Nothing like some monumental cluelessness to start off the day, enjoy . (From MiFi )

Update from Arizona 330,000 acres by 11 p.m. Monday. That's 517 square miles -- an area bigger than Los Angeles. At least 375 homes destroyed, but none destroyed Monday. That's right folks, bigger than L.A. and while they have had some success protecting Show Low so far they still have no containment. The Daily Sun also has an interesting Editorial on stopping the finger pointing and fixing the forests.

So I told you I am participating in the Blogathon , but something has come up, a buddy of mine is having a party in New York that same day, so I got to thinking, I know he has a wireless access and a cable modem at his place. He emailed me saying I could use his machine, so guess what I am pondering... Live from New York it's Bear Droppings There are plenty of internet cafes in New York and wireless access ports. And the city never sleeps...I am seriously pondering this, what do you think?

John Ellis has a great column over at Fast Company on why Yahoo has seriously screwed up. Well worth the read. He also mentions the following on his blog , which is very relevent to my friends and readers who use hotmail. If you are someone who has a Microsoft "Hotmail" e-mail account, you may not be aware that Microsoft is "sharing" your personal profile data. If you would like Microsoft not to share your personal profile data, take the following steps: 1. Go to your Hotmail Account. 2. Click on "Options," which is on the menu bar above your incoming email messages. 3. Click on "Personal Profile." 4. Scroll to the bottom and you will see that MSN has added two new boxes, pre-checked, that allow your personal info to be shared. 5. Uncheck them and click on update at the bottom.

I have been meaning to point this out, but never got around to it, Rapmaster and JenRaj take my write up of the AFF panel and the issue of blogging and it's meaning to a whole 'nother level, so check it out.

Monday Mission 2.25 1. Do you wear glasses/contact lenses? If so would you consider going through Lasik surgery? I don't currently wear glasses, never have needed them, but I have noticed my eyes getting worse, partly due to age and partly due to working at a computer all day so it will probably only be a matter of time. In regards of Lasik, I don't know if I ever would, a buddy of mine had it done and loved the results, though his wife got sick of him always bragging about his vision afterwards. After thought, I read Cunning Prose and she reminded me of my only real concern about Lasik is we don't really know the long-term effects as of yet, do we? 2. Did you ever have to wear braces? How are your teeth? I never had a need for braces and only a few minor fillings over the years, now a days my teeth are stained due to smoking and coffee. 3. What (if any) recent movies have moved you emotionally? Which one and how so? I was going to say no, but after some thought ...

One interesting story in the Wall Street Journal this morning is on the black market for Kinder chocolate. (I'd give a link to the story, but it's a pay per view site and I don't have account with them, so you will have to find a copy on your own) Basically there is a thriving market for these chocolates via the internet and people are asking them to be shipped into the states. Why would a chocolate be illegal? Well these eggs have a chocolate outer core and then inside the egg a little toy, the toys are too small and children could choke on them so the government wants to protect you from being an idiot so they won't let these eggs be sold in America. It's sad too because the chocolate is pretty tasty, I get them once or twice a year when friends bring them over from Europe. The toys are very cool, not unlike Cracker Jack toys. In fact, I think it's time to email a friend who is over in Germany right now and order contraband....anyone want some chocolate?

Rodeo Fire The national press is starting to give coverage to the Rodeo fire out in Arizona, but I got to wondering, how it compared to the Hyman fire in Colorado. The current Forest Service estimate is the Hyman fire is 137,000 acres, while the Rodeo fire has burned 300,000 acres so more than double the size. The Forest Service has some pictures of the fire here . I was in contact with a friend works for a Arizona fire department that had sent people to the fire and he had heard the following from a professional fire fighter who has been doing this for 10 years or so " It's incredible, I've never seen anything like this. " He had another quote from someone who has been fighting forest fires for 20 plus years. " The fire kicked our butts today " His own personal opinion on the matter was "They are screwed". So the basic facts are the fire isn't contained and it may not be anytime soon. The Arizona Republic has a lot of coverage available...

120,000 acres on fire in Arizona, take care people and stay out of the way, two-three weeks until monsoon hits and it's going to be a long summer. On one level it breaks my heart, on another I know it is the natural process in the forest and will promote future growth, like the fire in the 20's promoted growth around Flagstaff. Just be careful out there...I want a state to return to..

Do Bloggers Merge? If you have read Less than Zero , an 80's cult hit movie , the book early in the first or second chapter quotes a central theme " People don't merge in L.A. " which for all the layers implied basically meant people and especially in L.A. were to self-absorbed from the rest of the world. What does this really have to do with the topic of the post, very little, or perhaps more than I think. Do bloggers merge? Well in DC the truth is we know it is happening, as Scully and Nisa prove. I have been waiting until they posted before I published, so they could have first honors at making a public declaration. But it leaves me pondering deep, deep questions and wonder how they will deal with this new relationship together. Nisa Rant and Terrapin Gardens , when they merge will it be Terrapin Rant or Nisa Gardens? Or even perhaps Nisa Rants@Gardens? These questions will have to be answered, but in the interim while they work these details out, I say con...

Eve has her take on the AFF Blogging event I mentioned earlier...( She has a great plug for Dave 's site! )

Friday Five (.org) 1. Do you live in a house, an apartment or a condo? I live in a small house. 2. Do you rent or own? I rent, but the owner lives in the house as well, which really works out well because that way if the plumbing has an issue or there is some other household trouble, he solves it quickly since it effects him as much as me. 3. Does anyone else live with you? The owner of the house and one other roommate, I have remained there for alittle while, but the other roommate tends to cycle, I have seen 6 in my 3-4 years here. 4. How many times have you moved in your life? 12-13 times but that is only counting most of my time in Flagstaff as one move, if I count all the little moves while living there I would probably go over 20. 5. What are your plans for this weekend? Atomic tonight, a conference tomorrow followed by a party, and maybe alittle golf on Sunday.

More on NPR's link policy from Cory Doctorow, he's alittle harsh, but I like it.

Happy Birthday Beatriz

AFF Blogger Event They presented a great event, filled with strong views, knowledgeable speakers, and a fun attitude. How fun? I have never been to a speakers panel before where in the middle of the event a six packs of beer wear passed through the crowd, it made for a very laid back and congenial attitude, definitely a hit. Attendees were a mixed crowd from around town. Among the bloggers I did see Heather Hosford , Jen Rajkowski , and Alex Singleton . (Plus I am sure I missed a couple more) The speakers did a great job. Stan Evans was the Admiral Stockdale of the meeting, but was surprisingly open about not dismissing blogging out of hand and seemed to be open to it's potential, especially considering he didn't really know much about it. Joshua Micah Marshal was interesting to see and hear live, I have been a critic of his blog in the past so it was a little weird to see him on a panel and agree with most everything he said. Eve Tushnet gave a common blogger on the ...

I'm off to America's Future Foundation Blogging event . Have a good evening.

NPR is living in the pre Web world, they want permission to link to them Linking to or framing of any material on this site without the prior written consent of NPR is prohibited. Please use this form to request permission to link to npr.org and its related sites. Oh I am linking , oh I am linking without permission , what are you going to do to me, take away my totebag? (That last comment stolen from Boing Boing ) Come on guys wake up to the web. This is just silly.

24 Hour Blogathon I heard about the blogathon concept last year and thought it was a wonderful idea. Unfortunately, I didn't really have a blog at the time. But this year I do, so I just signed up. What is a blogathon you might ask? On July 27th starting at noon I am going to blog for 24 hours straight, every 30 minutes. Sound crazy, sound insane? Well yes it probably is, but it is for a good cause, because you drum up sponsors and then if you survive they give the cash to a charity. My charity is Vital Ground . They do great work supporting bear habitat, I'll talk more about them in the upcoming days. Oh, one last thing, go to the blogathon and sign up as a sponsor for me! POSTSCRIPT: Thanks for sponsoring me brother

The Professor has a first hand account of the fire in Colorado sent to him via Blackberry.

Poetry Wednesday Ev , the big chief over at Pyra that makes this wonderful software blogger ( yeah it has issues, but remember how much i have paid so far, that's right Nada! ), pointed over to a new print publication called the San Francisco Reader . I liked the poems and alot of the writing there so I selected one for today. I Write Poetry to See If I'm You I write poetry because we're always absurd, no matter what. I write poetry rather than carry antlers through the street, I have no gun and no knife anyway. I write poetry to keep the labyrinthian sound of my own echo in the roads of my head from swallowing me. I write poetry because the old oratorical rhythms of words in the howling wind make me feel more powerful. I write poetry because shakti-birds fly from my fingers when I point at the moon, a lifter of fingers to cloud-heavens. A wise wilderness taoist once taught me to fly himself; He was my own "I" and so I write po...

Ken Layne discusses why the CIA isn't like Bond, James Bond.

David points us to this site of geek irc quotes . It's very funny stuff where else would you read things like The problem with America is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?

Light posting today off to a meeting/workshop/conference thing for a good chunk of the day.

Willkommen Deutsche leute von Martin Roell's weblog und bitte enschulding mein deutsch.

Josh Marshall has said alot of stuff that has sounded like BS from time to time, but you know, his theory on Deep Throat makes sense, more sense than I would like to admit. If you have ever wondered about who it could be go read it and give it some thought. He may just be right.

Beatriz has been making a big effort to get into blogging this past week. So drop by, read, and then send her further encouragement. I even will be adding a permanent link on my blogroll if she can find a name for it. ;-) (purposely ignoring mentioning how cute she is...)

WOW! US beat Mexico in the World Cup and now faces Germany, US vs. Germany which should I cheer that is a tough one. I may have to actually watch that match.

Previews are back at NAU, that is very cool news. It brings back many fond memories, not because I attended previews the summer before I moved to Flagstaff, no we went up a year early and hung out with a buddy who was due to go that year. Another friend and myself slept on the floor of the door room. We got the chance to wander around town and even play some catch in the Skydome.

I had an odd dream last night a good friend got mentioned in Tapped and my response to the them, well it's not Instapundit , but that's cool. The thing is I don't read Tapped. Confused, so am I. I wish I remembered more of the dream to make sense of it all.

The Colorado fire evidently was started by a Forest Service employee, didn't they start the Los Alamos fire as well? Best quote I heard in regards of it... You know, this kind of stuff wouldn't happen if we federalized the U.S. Forest Service. (Thanks Professor )

So it's 1am and I still haven't made my way to bed. Part of me is pondering staying up and watching the USA vs. Mexico world cup match with my roommate when he gets up to watch it. The part of me that has to work tomorrow morning is suggesting bed. Bed will win good night all. Good Luck USA, I think you'll need it.

Busted... Okay, party is over everyone out of the pool. My folks caught on to this blog, cat is out of the bag, nothing to see here anymore. Still here? Okay, good then you probably guess I was kidding, yes in fact they do know I am here ( Waves to Mom and Dad in case you are reading :-) ). The reality is I told them I was here, not directly, but if they followed a simple chain of links they would find it of their own accord and it was fine. Not that I have hide my blog in any regard, there has been a link from my static page since day one and they knew that url. Truth of the matter is once you put something on the web it's public, that's the way it works and I realized it a while ago when some information I had removed had returned to the web. Never you mind the details, don't concern you. But even before then I knew the axium, never send anything in a email that you didn't want posted on a billboard on the Interstate. When you blog you put your life on d...

From our crack Arizona reporting team we have this report: From the 365 Bottles of Beer for the Year Calendar "From man's sweat and God's love, beer came into the world." - Arnoldus Happy Friday Folks (Thanks Charles)

radio free beowulf has some further illuminations on the PwC Consulting name change to Monday from a musical angle. In particular, I like the line but whenever monday comes, you can find me cryin' all of the time Because you know I think that's what alot of people do when consultants are brought in.

Preparing for a webcast, as I am oft to do at work. So I go to the speaker's website to print a bio for tomorrow and contact them on a few details. But I immediately decide in the process that tomorrow's webcast will be a waste of my time and I better have a book standing by during their presentation. Why? 1- Excessive use of Flash for their corporate website. Granted that does not mean anything in and of itself, but it always gives me that Star Wars "I have got a bad feeling about this..." thought. 2- No email addresses easily accessable. I am doing a webcast next month with a big company, let's call them the Death Star. They have their email address accessable, tomorrow's company is hellova alot smaller and less important. 3- Bio, they have a wonderful scrolling feature in Flash that lets you scroll text, great except when you try to print it out and then you have a full page with only 20% of it the information you need, three prints later I have the w...

The student that sued to retake an exam in Peoria still is getting alot of coverage in the Arizona Republic. Yesterday they printed the lawyers response and a response by the teacher side by side, while I am not a fan of Republic I give them credit for reaching out to the teacher to include her letter as well as the lawyers. Today the opinion section is filled with responses in the letters worth reading. (I'd have links to the two letters, but I didn't get around to posting them yesterday and can't find the links) Later: Desert Pundit has all the links on this story.

More on Monday I am not the only one who thinks this Monday idea is good parody fodder . (Thanks Doc )

I'm very pleased with the results, though I have been compared more to the Wookie than Han. :: how jedi are you? :: Thanks to The Bill (of Rants)

Poetry Wednesday Knowing others is intelligence; knowing the self is enlightenment. Conquering others is power; conquering the self is strength. Know what is enough, and you'll be rich. Persevere, and you'll develop a will. Remain in the center, and you'll always be at home. Die without dying, and you'll endure forever. ---Tao Te Ching

Earlier this month… Scene - Office Meeting room over looking the East River in New York City A group of people file into room. The group consists of 10 white men in dark suits and ties between the ages of 25 and 35, along with one older male in his 50s, and a woman. Director: Okay so everyone knows why we are here... All: Yes, sir Director: Great, so let's have your name suggestions for PwC Consulting, after this Arthur Anderson mess the last thing we want is to be known by our accounting firm's name. Earnest Young Man #1: What about Accenture? Director: Naw, been done already... Earnest Young Man #2: JulyFirst, we could launch it next month? Director: That's been done before as well and it failed, who are you anyways, I don't recognize you. Earnest Young Man #2: I just started with the firm, sir! But I have been consulting for 5 years. Director: Who with? Earnest Young Man #2: MarchFirst Director: Figures, how many dot coms have you worked wi...

Instapundit is going to be in town....hmmm, I am going to have to check that out. Postscript: And of course I am going to blog it...

Check out Eric Raymond and quickly understand why if you are not a blindly following a partisan view in DC, it can be a difficult life. I think he's right on 90% of these...

Fire prevention gets serious in Arizona I have mentioned the fire danger in Arizona a few times this year, but now they are taking a really serious step . Oak Creek Canyon is one of the prettiest places in Arizona, but admittly it's a fire trap. There is only one road through the canyon state highway 89A and at this time of year it can take an hour or more to drive between Flagstaff and Sedona because of all the tourists going through the canyon and up the switchbacks. (As for contrast at other times of the year, I know some people who have made the Flag/Sedona run in as little as thirty minutes) If a fire breaks out in the canyon it can quickly sweep through it putting all the residents and tourists in jeopardy, perhaps even before the fire department has a chance to respond. They have equipment in the canyon, but with more than 12,000 cars passing through the traffic can make getting around difficult. So what do you do? They have decided to close the road with the exception...

The Arizona Republic has an editorial worth reading, the topic is how far parents will go to abuse the education system. Evidently, a family threatened a lawsuit if a student didn't get to retake a test that she had failed. The worst part was the response of district officials that did not take a stand against this family. I would like to say this is an isolated incident, but far too often in Arizona this is the norm. The districts don't back their teachers with the confidence they should. I am not talking about matters of abuse, but in matters of everyday school procedure and grading. Teachers work very long hours for low pay and little real recognition. Then when cases like this come up the district rather than stand by these deadicated professionals, they put their head in the sand. I say this is the norm in Arizona and I know it all too well. I know a teacher who put in probably 60 hours a week(at least), she left generally before 7am in the morning and was rarely home ...

Monday Mission 2.23 1. Do you have a side of the bed on which you prefer to sleep? Do you sleep on that side even when traveling or does it matter? If your head is at the top of the bed and you are lying down I prefer the right side, I don't really know why, I don't know I tend to sleep alot better on my back and when I do I snore. 2. What is your favorite "Theme Park?" How come and when was the last time you were there? I don't go to them all that often the concept of pay 20-40 bucks to get in and then pay alot for cheap food doesn't really interest me. I did like going to state fairs every once and a while. Nothing like winning a silly little gift for a gf, to brighten her day. 3. What is you most and least favorite thing about staying in hotels? The smell in middle level and cheap hotels there is a certain cleaning smell that drives me nuts, probably from my experience working at a hotel. I think the main problem is most hotels designed anymore d...

The drought carries on in Arizona and it will for a while, they won't more than likely see any rain until after the first week of July when the monsoon season begins. The good thing of the monsoon season rain, though it can evaporate as quickly as it falls, the bad thing the lightening that often accompanies those rain storms. For those of you not from out West this is normally a dry time of year the difference is in Winter they normally get enough rain and snow to keep some ground water, this year it was very dry. So it's very dangerous. Take care Zonis.

So I worked last night and it's amazing to see the differences in conferences. This one has a much larger budget than the last one I attended, had a damn fancy opening reception with a pasta bar, full apps, and open bar. At one point at the registration desk they needed an icon of my work for some name tags. I thought no big deal I don't remember exactly where it was on our website, but I was sure I could find it. So I walk over to the person's laptop and said, okay start off at our website, the reply was "Oh ummmm we don't have Internet access." The funny thing is it is for the Networked Economy, but evidently no one thought with all that money to get Wi-Fi access (or even give the access for free and get listed as a sponsor). So need less to say I don't carry icon graphics around on my person, do you? So the badges were made up with out. It did really surprise me no net access, if we were in Cleveland, St. Louis, or even Flagstaff I wouldn't have...

I don't blog on the weekend I don't blog on the weekend, nor generally get on the computer at all until Sunday evening at the earliest. I started this habit a few years ago just to unplug from reading email, listservs, and all that wonder information the net is oft to provide ( like Tastes Like Chicken , granted the only reason I am linking is because of my sudden interest in BSD ). The reason for this unplug is generally being to get myself outside and a bit of fresh air, especially on a day like yesterday. Absolutely perfect day. I was able to enjoy a nice lunch out on a patio and then golfing in the afternoon. Today looks just as great so get out and enjoy. Will I be joining the lucky people outside? Not for very long, some idiot volunteered me to work registration for a conference this afternoon ( yes I am that idiot ) And if you are absolutely convinced you are going to stay in and wander the web, go read Lex , he has some fun posts on girl-watching from yesterday...

The Web is our Woodstock * Not the best of analogies, but to misquote the Beatles "All we are saying is give blogs a chance". Arrogant, assuming, fun and all the other baggage we carry around with us, hell not only that we put it in public display. Not just on display, we walk down Pennsylvania Avenue naked, dancing, begging, and hoping you will watch us for just a few minutes. And if you know what I look like, you quickly realize how ugly that honestly is. (Just like the grammar in that last sentence.) The nets a great love in, rock party and although people thought the bursting of the dot com bubble we would scatter us like roaches in a kitchen when you turn the light on. The truth is leave the lights on and join us, the party feels fine. Sure we all have to make a living, but if it ain't fun screw it, life is too short anyways. People thought the net would disappear with the bubble burst like 60's hippies getting jobs and cashing in. Truth is a far mor...

I made it to the bloggers happy hour here in DC last night. I'd like to thank Gene for posting the links to people and Radley for organizing the shindig. I had pretty low expectations for a Thursday night, not sure who would show up, but it was a great crowd. Nice to meet everyone and for those first time dropping by welcome! One other thing, after the happy hour Mike and I stopped by Julia's Empanadas . It wasn't fancy, but the food was great and the prices were just right. The perfect quick bite after a beer or two. It's always the hole in the wall places that contain the best food.

Great article on the state of the music industry and what's next from New York magazine . This is the most intelligent examination since Courtney Love's rant in Salon.

Let's just say for a moment you went on trial for corruption charges as a public official. Let's say you chose to defend yourself at the trial. Let's just say you are convicted of these charges. How many lawyers would you hire to get you out of this tough scrape? 4 according to Traficant. That's right he's back in the news again. While the sentencing hearing is not until June 27th, he is out fighting like a junkyard dog...but he's not alone. No he has friends for instance www.traficant.com and www.traficantlegaldefensefund.com , perhaps I let freejimmyt.com go too soon.

One of the more interesting bloggers out there has to be Moby , I mean while he calls it a journal it really does read like a blog. Example from May 21 i've just been told that '18' is the # 1 selling album in the world. whoo-boy, that's just nuts. i'm a little bald guy from the lower east side of manhattan and i make records in my spare bedroom. how have i ended up with the #1 selling album in the world? Very down to earth, no press filter, no BS, just honest thoughts...another example from May 12 no wonder i've been feeling a little bit homesick... the last time i was in nyc for more than 1 or 2 days was in the beginning of march. it is very nice to be home. home and doing stupid things. for example: yesterday i went to brunch and walked around and went to battery park and sat in the sun and then went to dinner and then went to see spiderman and then went and sang karaoke (i ended up doing 'missing you' by puff daddy. a duet with a friend of mi...

Brian and anyone else who has XP on their computer need to check this out , it's very funny.

Happy Birthday Jill !

Bravo

To those folks who were in NAU MUN with me look at this picture and repeat the words with me "But, But, they are imports!"

If you are interested in wireless news go check out 802.11b Networking News , Glenn Fleishman very kindly posted a webcast announcement for me this week so I want to say thanks and plug his site , so go check it out.

The Daily Babble discusses the whole stadium debacle in Phoenix. (Warning: His site has pop-ups ugh!) I have been vaguely following the whole thing and I think they majorly screwed up when they were offered free land for a stadium in the West Valley and did not take advantage of it. Since the completion of the 101 Freeway there would be sufficent road access to the location and honestly, the West Valley has needed it. It always has been the Red-Headed step child of culture within the neighborhoods. Yes, there is Desert Pavillion or whatever it's called these days is out there, but that never really helped out the area. The whole thing has gotten so tangled I suspect they will have a whole new team by the time they ever get it sorted out. But then I never was a Cards fan, I grew up without football team in the state and things are still that way ;-) Okay really I just grew up a Browns fan*. Don't look at me like that, they did pretty well last season, even better next seas...

I wonder if anyone else has noticed this, but in the past I generally got an email containing a virus every month or so, my virus protection warns me about the message and it's from someone I know or have a vague understanding of why they would have me in their list. Recently though in the last two weeks to a month I have noticed them arriving at a much faster pace like one or two a day and generally from an email address I have never had any contact with...so it's spam and it contains a virus the worst of both worlds no? So it makes me question if A - our screen from spam and viruses was very good and it's been falling down on the job or B - there really has been an increasing number of spam viruses, or perhaps C - spammers haven't been keeping up on virus protection software. What do you think?

Poetry Wednesday This weeks poetry Wednesday is from my buddy Reemul's Word Play page "Study nothing except in the knowledge that you already knew it. Worship nothing except in adoration of your true self. Fear nothing except in the certainty that you are your enemies begetter and his only hope of redemption." --Imajica If I ever go on a mad crime spree it's Reemul I'll call to raise hell with, but until that day comes that the law is chasing me down, I'll let him stick with his art . Dude knows a good cup of coffee too...and he's Robotic, I sware...human cyborg...

It's getting ugly out in California... "Ken Glueck, Oracle's vice president of government affairs, was in the audience during Tuesday's committee meeting, part of a state investigation into the controversial $95 million contract with Oracle. Glueck got up and left after state Sen. Steve Peace said he wanted Glueck--who on Monday had criticized the hearing process--to testify before the committee." The article really only gets better from there. Then as a follow up the San Jose Mercury News reports "Oracle sales representatives hoped their unprecedented deal with the state would lock their competitors out of vying for California's database software business, according to internal company documents released Tuesday." Bad for Oracle, bad for Davis. Zonitics also has some good coverage lately, with his chart-o-rama . PS- In the " how much of an Arizonian am I " category, Edward mentions the Cornfield Commentary, when I read it my first...

For those who have known me for a while it is common knowledge that I believe reading the comics everyday is one key element in living a long and happy life, it's worked so far. So I was really pleased to find Toonopedia this morning Calvin and Hobbes, Bloom County, The Far Side, they are all there and much, much more! Go stop by for a visit when you get the chance (Thanks Radley , and I think you are dead on how they would have reacted to the September 11th.)

Silicon Valley vs. Hollywood National Journal hosted a breakfast seminar this morning on "Silicon Valley vs. Hollywood" that examined both the issue of Broadcast Flags and Controlling Digital Copies. For those interested in the topic I'll share my impressions, excerpts from the speakers, and highlights. Panelists: Jeff Campbell, Cisco Systems Michael Epstein, Phillips Consumer Electronics Matt Gerson, Vevendi Universal Fred Von Lohmann, EFF Al Mottur, Senator Hollings Preston Padden, Disney Emery Simon, BSA John Mitchell, Seyfarth, Shaw Moderator: Drew Clark, Tech Daily The tough part of this whole discussion was the overlap in the conversation over the two topics, while Drew deserves a lot of credit for working to maintain a coherent flow and dialogue. Preston Padden spoke first and launched an enthusiastic defense of the Hollings bill and how industry didn't understand the bill, due to misreporting and it was the greatest thing since s...

Why do my parent's get along so well? I think this comic says it all. Thanks to Onthefastrack and it's creator Bill Holrook.

Monday Mission 2.22 1. Who or where do you go to when you need help for web-related problems? It depends on if it's account, network, or design issue, I have a good group of friends who each cover various niches among them. 2. There is a big mess of gossip going on in Blogland due to revelations about a very popular Blogger. I got very caught up in reading all the links to links about it until I stopped myself realizing it was none of my buisiness. Do you ever get caught up in gossip, either speading it or listening to it? How does it make you feel? Or have you ever been the subject of gossip? I think when I first was blogging I read alot of the pages to keep up, so I was reading it. But I don't really keep up with it as much now. As for spreading it, I don't find it worth my time. 3. In a relationship, when your other takes a dig at you (read: a fight), do you go for the jugular and get "in their face" or try to peacefully smooth things out and have a c...

All I ever needed to know I learned from MBA students... This weekend I had a number of encounters with graduates of a local MBA program that is highly ranked, but the lessons they taught me made me question the value of such programs. Commitment - We were set to golf this weekend. Thursday I called two friends, got voice mail in both cases and explained that there was one slot left on our foursome on Saturday, whoever called me back first got it. After the slot was taken the other guy and disappointed that he couldn't join us asked if he could set a time right next to ours and then golf 3 and 3, I said fine. He changed his mind the day of and backed out of the golf, leaving us with five people committed for golf. He did have an excuse that he couldn't get away, but mysteriously the excuse evaporated a few hours later after golf when he was available to join us for free food. Precision - After golfing we went out to the Chesapeake to hang out on a MBAer's family p...