Tue, 29 Jan 2008
Today's topic for discussion is:
| If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be? |
Sun, 27 Jan 2008
Today's topic for discussion is:
Fri, 25 Jan 2008
Today's topic for discussion is:
Thu, 24 Jan 2008
Today's topic for discussion is:
| Earth, Air, Fire, or Water? |
Wed, 23 Jan 2008
Today's topic for discussion is:
| Spring Training is a month away. |
Tue, 22 Jan 2008
Today's topic for discussion is:
| Necromancer, Paladin, Sorceress, Barbarian, Assassin, or Druid? |
Ron Paul for...?
| I wish all the enthuiasm spent pushing Ron Paul for President would instead be spent pushing Ron Paul for House Appropriations Committee membership (if not minority leader on that committee). Heck, I'll take Ways and Means membership, for that matter. |
Sun, 20 Jan 2008
Lightning Strikes Twice?
Happy Snow Day (again!) from Apres Diem!
It didn't stick to the pavement, but what did hang around, froze last night. Also of note: When cooking with a slow-cooker, do not place dried fruits or vegetables above the waterline. They will scorch before the water gets warm enough to steam them. |
Today's topic for discussion is:
| Warrior, Wizard, or Rogue? |
Fri, 18 Jan 2008
Lunch at Alon's
I finally got around to Alon's this week, and I didn't know there was a deli in there! Not just a deli, but a phenomenal deli that leverages the bakery for its bread and pastas. Expensive, yes, but it's definitely worth the trip.
NEWS FLASH: HERE COMES THE SNOW AGAIN!!! ZOMGWTFBBQHAX!!!! NWS forecast:
Saturday: Periods of snow. High near 34. North wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.
1 to 2 inches???? Holy shit, this is going to be a free-for-all. At least it's a Saturday. :D |
Today's topic for discussion is:
| I find your lack of faith in the Force...disturbing. |
Thu, 17 Jan 2008
Slushie, Sloppy Day.
| The weather sucks today, and that is good. The water will get a better chance to soak into the ground before evaporating or running off. |
Today's topic for discussion is:
| Remember that whole "Drought" thing? Yeah, by the way, we're still drying out. |
Wed, 16 Jan 2008
SNOW DAY!
w00t! Here's a snowman. |
Batter Up!
| I forgot Ru San's has a lunch buffet. Egad. |
Michigan Primary: A loss for Authenticity.
This Ron Fournier guy says it better than I can.
Two other angles here: First, I think the Democrats have shown themselves (again) to be a not viable party, by withholding some candidates from the primary. The Michigan voters took the opportunity to tell that party to fuck off. And in doing so, they gave the Party's selected choice (Clinton) another feather for her cap. And in doing so, they handed Romney a large margin of victory, percentage-wise.
Second, it's interesting to note that the "home" candidates are doing very well: Obama and Huckabee in Iowa, Clinton in New Hampshire, Romney in Michigan, winning against wide fields. That speaks to the lack of consensus (and viability) of the candidates of either party. |
Today's topic for discussion is:
| Mech, HERC, Glitter Boy, or Mobile Suit? |
Tue, 15 Jan 2008
No Jug of Milk is Safe
In the northern latitudes, home of Real Winter(tm), the fun starts as and after the snow falls. In these parts, however, real fun can be had in the runup to the frozen weather. With ice and snow in the forecast, it's almost worth taking a day off to find a grocery store, pull up a lawn chair, and watch the melee over milk, bread, and eggs.
On the flip side, 50 years from now, you'll be able to tell the grandkids about how the only rain we got during the Great Drought was frozen, and dried up before it melted, but not before you had to walk through five miles of ice to get to school.
In other news, Primary Season continues with Michigan checking in. "And hilarity ensues." I'll reserve further comment until tonight.
|
Today's topic for discussion is:
| Warrior, Elf, Valkyrie, or Wizard? |
Sun, 13 Jan 2008
Bullshit Quote of the Day:
Mother Nature plays a huge role in this, and government can't do anything about that."
Ronnie Orston, realtor, quoted in AJC in opposition to limiting development. Apparently, the reservoirs that are currently emptying, built themselves. |
If I only had a Brain...
I've been stricken with Lesser Plague (aka "a cold") this week; this one is markedly different, because I haven't been able to think straight for days. Let's count the fuck-ups:
- Tuesday: I completely scotched my best Nethack character, ever, by deciding it would be a good idea to fight with (basic-skill) +1 dagger instead of (expert-level) +5 bow.
- Thursday: When you wash clothes, it helps to use soap.
- All Week: Mental deficiency splatted many a Nethack character, far more than the normal screwup of forgetting I was carrying some beneficial item.
- Sometime this week: I couldn't remember how to calculate half-lifes, or any other non-linear decay pattern. WTF?
- Yesterday: I tried to state agreement with a blog posting, and ended up with the original poster's name in my own 'name' field.
- This morning: In a crowded sunday morning coffeehouse, I couldn't figure out that I can move a stack of newspapers off a small table (instead of a larger table by myself).
All the above are abnormally dumb, and at this rate, I should be reduced to counting toes and watching network TV by this time next week. |
Today's topic for discussion is:
| As it turns out, curried chicken and biscuits make a great combination. Especially the "mopping up the skillet with the second biscuit" part. :) |
Sat, 12 Jan 2008
Food and Beer in Atlanta: 2007's Most-Searched
Part of the fun of maintaining a dining page (linked from atop this blog) is gathering the searches that take place over time. Even sleepy little corners of the Web like mine will get traffic from time to time. So, here are my top-5 restaurant searches which brought people to the front porch:
Apres Diem: 27
Oyster House: 22
Royal Oak: 11
Satay House: 8
Fincher's: 7
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eBay: Juicing like Minute Maid
So, I sold some stuff on eBay this week. I normally wouldn't, but boxes of CCG cards won't really sell at a local yard sale. Now that the dust has cleared, let's take a look at eBay pricing, and see if it's still a ripoff:
| Sale Item |
Insert Fee |
10-day Fee |
Final Value |
Paypal Fee |
Total eBay Fee |
Gross Sale |
Ebay's Cut |
| vtes 2 |
.40 |
.40 |
2 |
1.83 |
4.63 |
54.5 |
8.5% |
| vtes 1 |
.40 |
.40 |
2.22 |
1.83 |
4.85 |
61.5 |
7.89% |
| anarchs |
.40 |
.40 |
2.32 |
2.21 |
5.33 |
66 |
8.08% |
| black hand |
.40 |
.40 |
2.48 |
3.4 |
6.68 |
79.5 |
8.40% |
| bloodlines |
.40 |
.40 |
4.48 |
3.905 |
9.185 |
129 |
7.12% |
|
| final nights |
.40 |
.40 |
4.51 |
3.905 |
9.215 |
130 |
7.09% |
| Totals |
2.40 |
2.40 |
18.01 |
17.08 |
39.89 |
520.5 |
7.66% |
Note: That cut is off the Gross sale price, and the Paypal fee applies to the shipping charge as well (so that charge is included in Gross Sale column). You'll have to buy, pack, and ship the item for that margin to break even.
If you take away the extra 40 cents for the 10-day auction (vs. standard 7-day auction), you're still stuck with an overall rate of 7.2% juice.
So yes, they're a ripoff...if you don't realize that Paypal's a premium service, that is. Remove that from the picture (remember what eBay was like before Paypal? I do), and eBay's overall cut drops to an aggregate of 4.38%(10-day) or 3.92%(7-day). That's a whole lot better. |
Today's topic for discussion is:
| Note to the ignorati: 1600x1200 (landscape) != 1200x1600 (portrait). |
Fri, 11 Jan 2008
Debate time!
| I'm watching the replays of the S.C. debates (which I slept through last night). My early take is: "grim". And, Brit Hume is a tool, and the Fox people are Fred! fans. |
Today's topic for discussion is:
Thu, 10 Jan 2008
Outside the fog
Well, the University of Oklahoma actually hosted their 'summit' last weekend, and had their press conference on Monday. I didn't hear a single word about any of it during the entire week. Especially not during New Hampshire primaries. So, I've surfed around a bit,and come up with the following:
Opening and Closing Statements (U of O)
Vidbites of David Boren, Sam Nunn, Mike Bloomberg, from the post-summit conference
Reports from the conference
Dallas Morning News
The Oklahoman
NY Bloomberg beat writers:
WNBC, from the conference.
Washington Post
Bloomberg article aggregator:(with similar articles...Dobbs running for president? wtf?)
Crosswinds: dissonant chatter, mainly from left-wing shills (They have more to lose this time around):
Consonant chatter: (It's a book sales pitch, but that's the only concurring post I've found so far).
LaGrange (GA) News
My take on this conference, and Bloomberg's appearance, is that the two are separate efforts toward the same goal: a truly American administration. Actually, the assembled panel looked more like a president, VP, and cabinet. And it's now occurred to me that's exactly what's been presented: an alternative administration. Go back and look at the Opening Statement, then match the lineup with their respective cabinet positions.
Also, the view that Obama's Iowa win has taken the steam out of the independent movement is completely flawed:
- 40-something-percent of independents voted for Obama in Iowa, presumably under the notion that Obama represents moderation (aka reason). Somehow this is seen as "defeating" Bloomberg, when it's more realistic to say that any candidate who wins a nomination, by running against his/her party's leadership, will render Bloomberg's candidacy unnecessary.
- Super Tuesday hasn't happened yet. Specifically, the voters who pushed Obama to a win in Iowa are simply not welcome by the Democrat party leadership (being allied with the Europe's socialists), who will assert their muscle by convention time.
- Obama's still a Democrat, not an Independent. I think there are still very open questions about intent and how an Obama administration would look.
Ditto for McCain, who should run into another wall of taliban opposition in the coming weeks.
|
Today's topic for discussion is:
| Holy cow, we got inches of rain to close out 2007. |
Wed, 09 Jan 2008
Today's topic for discussion is:
| I think we've all run into the Fifth Guy at some time or another. |
New Hampshire Disbelieves
Yet again, John McCain has won New Hampshire. Here's to hoping for some momentum this time. If he's still on the ballot come Super Tuesday, I'll vote for him in the primary.
...And it looks like the New Hampshire Democrats remembered who they're supposed to vote for. Some combination of Hillary Clinton making correct adjustments, Barack Obama making mistakes, and probably some good party whipping from the party elders, has given the press a big middle finger to stare at for the next week. |
New Hampshire Primary
[originally written 1/8; corrected]
And today, New Hampshire gets on the Obama bandwagon casts their votes for presidential nominations. I can't really be optimistic about this; Obama seems to have captured--for the Democrats, mind you--the desire to cleanse at least one party of their cancers. It's almost as if the independent types believe Obama isn't a Democrat, and that the Democratic Party is something other than bottom-feeders. They will be hugely dissapointed in a few years. |
Tue, 08 Jan 2008
Today's topic for discussion is:
Mon, 07 Jan 2008
Software as Technology
[I found this writing in an old notepad of mine; I'll clean it up as time progresses.]
Every once in a while, I'll run into claims that software is technology. Either explicit as in "______ Technology", or implicit, such as a lot of "IT (Info Tech)" articles and conversations.
Well, it's bullshit. All of it. Software is crystallized thought. Software enables technology. Technology is the canvas, brushes, and paint, software is the painting.
Why? Technology is easily commoditized into discrete parts. Bits per Tin, Throughput, steps, number-of-processes, etc., are all easily counted, reported, and stacked up against one's competition and/or budgets. Software, being crystallized thought, is measured in functionality, and how well the software meets the desires of its users. Because technology is supposed to be commoditized and labor is supposed to be commoditized the "technology" label is slapped onto software to make it (and its development) more palatable for people and businesses who pay for software and its development.
So, this "tech tag" exists for such reasons, half psychiatric, half political. The tech world itself, which seeks to present more inspiration than it provides, the consumers, which cannot grasp (or tolerate) the notion that software is intellectual in nature, and those who know better, whose make their careers by either minimizing damage or picking up the pieces, or salvaging other dead projects that result from the "Software is Technology" line of thought. |
Back to the Bit Mines!
| And so, vacation has come to a close. I return to the office in the next few hours, to take stock of what has occurred, catch up on anything that failed over the holidays, and find out what new assignments I'm up for in '08. |
Flying Bullshit
If this wasn't Georgia, and these weren't Republican/Libertarian types, I'd say this Peach Pundit post was a case of someone trolling their own site. But this is, and they are, so I have to file this under the "Flying Bullshit" tag.
I mean, really. The "poor and middle class people" (i.e., all those folks who are leveraged to the gills) are somehow disadvantaged as compared to "free market" scenarios where those same people would be stuck with "empty pit{s} or algae swamp{s}" in the first place. Or, that the blessed "property values" are now lower, vs. those in the Free Market Bizarro-World, where the hypothetical Water Market would prevent such "improvements" from occurring in the first place. (Whatever you do, you can't hire $3k of dirt and grass to fill in the pool. That just won't do, no sir).
This is exactly the type of article that shows the "free market" set as a bunch of selfish pigs. Maybe that's Erick's point, hence possibility of site-trolling.
And as far as I'm concerned, this restriction should have been put in place last summer.
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Today's topic for discussion is:
Sun, 06 Jan 2008
Wyoming? More like Wynothing.
I guess it's good to be in God's Country, as the second caucus of the year barely got a byline amidst all the press covering the leadup debate to the New Hampshire primaries. And so, the state went to the only candidate that did real campaigning, Mitt Romney.
Then again, this blurb from the buried article reminded me what we're dealing with:
The Republican National Committee has slashed half of Wyoming's 28 national convention delegates. National party leaders similarly penalized Florida, Michigan, New Hampshire and South Carolina for moving up the dates of their nomination contests.
Factoring out Wyoming's desire to get some attention from candidates, Florida RNC seems to have neutered their impact, presumably to blunt the effect of Giuliani's campaign. Likewise for New Hampshire (McCain), Michigan (Romney), and South Carolina (Thompson), leaving Mike Huckabee unscathed and with electoral advantage in the convention. Isn't taliban rule great? I think I'll go rent a hooker in protest. |
Today's topic for discussion is:
| Wood for sheep, sheep for bricks, and the kingdom for a generic port. |
Sat, 05 Jan 2008
Today's topic for discussion is:
| Bleed your prey, not your grand-prey. |
This is why I don't like to make the bed:
I found this spider hiding under the sheets last night; it's just under 1/2 inch long (you can see the threadcount in the background). Either this one, or one of its buddies, bit me last month, and that hurt for a few weeks. Normally I'm ok with spiders (even the occasional recluse), but this is a bit too cozy.
The fun part will be finding out exactly what kind of spider this is; the leg markings are similar to tiger-striped spiders that are common in these parts, although it's a bit smaller than normal. |
Fri, 04 Jan 2008
Today's topic for discussion is:
| Baccarat was very, very good to me. However, I did not reciprocate. |
Viva la Taliban!
And so, Huckabee wins in Iowa, with the "wink-nudge" game. From there, we can expect to see a free pass on New Hampshire, and the gloves come off in the southern states for Super Tuesday. Goddamn taliban shill, he is.
Then again, it figures that in a time we're looking for some form of neither, we end up with the worst of both.
I'm still not buying Obama's game, either.
I'll admit, though, the chances for a serious third party are getting riper; with Super Tuesday in a month, we may well have a real candidate by May. |
Thu, 03 Jan 2008
Lament of the Cheap Pizza:
I am an unashamed fan of the wonderful dish known as pizza. Growing up in Warner Robins in the 80's, we had a lot of fast food pizzerias to choose from. Although I get my pizza fixes these days at places like Osteria 832, Everybody's, and Mellow Mushroom (and soon to be: Fritti and Piebar), I still get a twinge for one of the following chains, most of which stood a bicycle ride away:
- Mazzio's: I thought this chain was completely gone from Georgia, but it seems two remain: Winder and Columbus.
- Shakey's: I can't beleive the old store is still open. As it turns out, it's one of three surviving franchises east of the Mississippi. The other two are in Wisconsin, making the WR store the only Shakey's in Sweet Tea Territory.
- Little Caesar's: I knew these guys didn't leave completely, but they seem to have made a recent comeback in recent years. There are several stores around Atlanta; one of those square pizzas is in my future.
- Pizza Inn: This chain is on the list, not only for the WR store that hosted several hoots, but the Statesboro store made that town survivable, by way of one-meal-a-day buffet. The latter store is still around, along with several others in the low country and neighboring states. Covington currently hosts the only nearby location.
- Bertucci's: This chain holds a special place in my heart, for folding its Georgia operations. Two weeks prior to the closure, I signed a lease down the street from one of their stores, with full intent of walking to that store for dinner for the next year. It was several years before I patronized the sushi joint that set up afterwards. Today, Virginia is as close as those wonderful pizzas get.
I'll have to go visit the in-state locations at various times during this year. |
It's Showtime!
| Iowa Caucuses are today; my main take is that any candidate who can't last until Super Tuesday wasn't really running in the first place. Even so, I'd like to see McCain, Biden, or Paul place top-two, just to freak out their respective parties. |
Nanosolar is Printing Money Solar Cells.
[I promise to not fill this space w/ Slashdot headlines.]
This, folks, might be big. Actually, it is big. It might actually be earth-moving. The folks at Nanosolar have delivered their first order for thin-film solar panels. Basically, they're printing their photosensitive semiconductor layer with a proprietary ink.
Additionally, they're printing this ink directly on the bottom layer, which removes one whole layer (and level of complexity) from each cell. Add in a few other optimizations, and you have the capability to print 2/3 of each solar cell like a newspaper.
This means cheap production, which means commercially viable product. And printing energy sources is as good as printing money, in this day and age, and probably better. |
Today's topic for discussion is:
| This Zed Shaw fellow spews truth, with his lengthy rant on the cottage industry that is Ruby on Rails. Remember, if you throw enough money at the ground, the two will cease to touch. |
COLD!
| The temperature is: 3 touchdowns (w/ PAT). That's officially too damn cold to wander around outside, so I'll stay in and blather on a bit. More updates through the night... |
Wed, 02 Jan 2008
New Year's Resolutions: 2008
Hm...Do I actually make Resolutions this year? Probably so. Here's the offhand list of things I need to do to make a better 208 :
- Tell more people to jump in the river.
- File my tax return on time this year.
- Refrain from losing thousands on stupid option plays.
- Jettison more useless crap.
- Finish last summer's reading list by the end of this summer.
- Go to Florida for vacation.
|
Today's topic for discussion is:
| USC: University of Suckass Cowards. |
Happy Snow Day!
| There are patches of snowy clouds drifting around Atlanta tonight; it's 30 degrees, and windy, and it looks like NE suburbs are getting it at the moment. So this year is off to a great start already; except for the grocers, who've been unable to sell their entire stocks of milk and bread in four hours. ;-) |
2007: A Year in Review.
Since I've been lucky enough to survive 2007, and since every typing monkey with internet access has done a yearly review, I'll chip in my own perspective on...the year that was:
- January: We had mild enough weather to eat outside during daytime.
- February: It was cold, but not deathly cold.
- March: Lots of Cold and wind, but not a lot of rain.
- April: Baseball Started.
- May: Gone Fishing
- June: It was HOT, and what rain we did get, was very weird.
- July: More weird storms, and Damn Hot.
- August: 42.
- September: HOLY SHIT DROUGHT!
- October: HOLY SHIT DROUGHT!
- November: Turkey.
- December: RAIN! And ass-chapping cold.
|
Tue, 01 Jan 2008
New Year's Dinner:
Fried chicken, black-eye peas, sweet peas, biscuits, hush puppies, sweet (green) tea. As it turns out, sauteed onions do wonders for black-eye peas. |
Cloverfield == Gojira?
| I watched another remixed trailer yesterday morning, it occurred to me that the monster sound from the trailer sounds like a whale song, and it finally hit me: The monster we call Godzilla (and the movie of the same name) was originally named Gojira, literally translated as "Gorilla-Whale" or "Ape-Whale"; Big G's current form was derived during production of the original film, without changing the name. It may be that the Cloverfield crew have crafted their monster around that translation, restoring some legs once lost to evolution. Save the whales, indeed. |
Party Time!
Happy New Year's from Atlanta (and the folks at Front Page News):
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Today's topic for discussion is:
