tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-110988022011-07-28T07:22:53.667-04:00Life, code and music.rissernoreply@blogger.comBlogger1111100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-88212280247009261792010-09-28T13:49:00.000-04:002010-09-28T13:49:45.121-04:00

http://www.cockeyed.com/citizen/poker/lottery_simulator100.php I played 5 times, "50 years".  Only once did I match four balls.  I spent a total of $5200 and brought in about $584 bucks.  Yikes.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-60176034709980538542010-06-30T13:05:00.000-04:002010-06-30T13:05:18.453-04:00

http://darryl-cunningham.blogspot.com/2010/06/homeopathy.html http://darryl-cunningham.blogspot.com/2010/05/facts-in-case-of-dr-andrew-wakefield.html These are good reading & help to explain some of the background in the different issues.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-90641095735747367862010-06-29T12:00:00.000-04:002010-06-29T12:00:24.986-04:00

This is why I fared so poorly in Probability class in college. Let's say I flip two coins.  I call you up on the phone and say, "Hey, I just flipped two coins and one of them is heads."  Guess what the odds are that the other coin is heads. Did you say 50%?  Nope.  Turns out the odds are 1 in 3.  Here's the breakdown: if I flip 2 coins, there are four equal possibilities: heads / heads heads /

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-81622833534247584662010-02-15T10:13:00.002-05:002010-02-15T10:18:43.177-05:00

Here's an excerpt of a list of songs I listened to over the past couple of days. It thought it was funny how the song titles read like a narrative.Devil with a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly (Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels)Get Ur Freak On (Missy Elliott)Got a Feelin' (The Mama's & the Papas)It's Showtime! (David Lee Roth)Kiss the Rain (Billie Myers)Let's Talk About Sex (Salt N Pepa)Maniac

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-78448853722525112792010-02-12T09:02:00.002-05:002010-02-12T09:08:37.154-05:00

Pay attention. The problem isn't just the most recent SCOTUS ruling reaffirming corporations as individuals protected under the constitution. The problem is that we've been duped into believing that the framers actually believed that companies had the rights and privileges due to human beings.Wrong.They believed that humans were inherently endowed with rights. Corporations are the creations of

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1719966850553046622010-02-09T09:13:00.002-05:002010-02-09T09:20:00.704-05:00

I actually heard someone say, and I quote, "See, I think [Obama] is both a Muslim and a communist..."Okay, you can say he believes in big government, and you can even say he has socialist tendencies. I'm not sure I believe that, but you could probably make a cogent argument. But a Communist? Do you even know what that means?And he's not a Muslim. Even if he were a Muslim, he's obviously not

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-3408473735621625112009-11-25T14:39:00.002-05:002009-11-25T14:40:58.020-05:00

In celebration of Thanksgiving, I posted another preemptive song to Topeka. Head over and grab it if you're interested. Also, let me know if there is anything you are interested in learning more about.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-63167697444361284172009-11-20T09:55:00.002-05:002009-11-20T09:57:51.254-05:00

Hey, if you're interested in tunes, why not visit Topeka? It's my preemptive attack on a New Year's resolution to (a) write more and (b) share music I love. Hopefully there'll be a new tune every weekday of 2010, but right now there's one up for testing. Go visit, set your RSS readers and spread the word!

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-49926261215797360952009-08-13T09:57:00.003-04:002009-08-13T09:59:04.742-04:00

Why is it that vampires can't go out in the sun, but they aren't bothered by the moon. I mean, the moon's light is just sunlight right? Just not quite as much...

rissernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-81473530655197166082009-08-03T09:39:00.002-04:002009-08-07T12:30:25.295-04:00

This clip reminds me why I love Bobby McFerrin.

rissernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-17017760770303378072009-03-09T15:17:00.004-04:002009-03-09T15:20:00.426-04:00

Actually, this is one of the saddest things I've seen. It's one thing to think, well, maybe I'm not as good as I could be, but I've got time to work on it. It's another for the whole rest of the world to let you know they think you suck. Imagine being mocked by stadiums full of people. I'm not sure I could deal with it, if I were being mocked for something I actually was trying at & cared

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-35904240972538690352008-12-12T08:32:00.003-05:002008-12-12T08:43:34.222-05:00

"Inflation officially hit 231 million percent in July, but John Robertson, an independent economist in Zimbabwe, estimates that it has now surged to an astounding eight quintillion percent — that is an eight followed by 18 zeros."- New York TimesSo, when do we, as Saviors of the Universe, step in and remove this ruthless octogenarian from power? Is raw flowing sewage in the streets not enough?

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-34913548464462759982008-11-26T16:38:00.000-05:002008-11-26T16:39:09.811-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbIGbZ6gq_Y

rissernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-49400694652907230572008-11-06T07:10:00.004-05:002008-11-06T07:19:17.014-05:00

Okay, this guy is a bit of a ... liberal? Not really. Tin foil hat guy? Kinda. I don't think he's anti-capitalist, and he's certainly not socialist/marxist. He reaslly is more a back-hills-of-Montana tract scribbler. Except I don't think he wants to blow anybody up.However, deep within, after you dig through some of the rhetoric, are, I believe, some core truths about the way we in America

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-89498719216438370302008-11-04T23:39:00.001-05:002008-11-05T08:07:00.051-05:00

This makes me happy. It's strange to think my children will grow up in a world where this is not only a possibility, but it actually happened. Given the world I grew up in, I only understand on an intellectual level why this is such a big deal. On a personal level, a person's race is such a non-issue, I have trouble making that big a deal about it. For my children, this is even more so. They

rissernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-85066816948249916582008-10-20T09:43:00.001-04:002008-10-20T09:43:52.906-04:00

My brain hurts.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-58276728052487718742008-03-10T11:05:00.002-04:002008-03-10T11:06:53.139-04:00

Oh my god, they did it.In college, my friends and I talked about how hilarious it would be if we spent a whole day as if we were in a musical, spontaneously singing and dancing on the tables. These folks did it. Huzzah!

rissernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-16652510321683155382008-01-04T15:02:00.001-05:002008-01-04T15:02:58.717-05:00

For some reason, I really liked this story. Long live the interweb.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-70896897511117741492007-11-29T14:04:00.000-05:002007-11-29T14:07:47.844-05:00

Have I really degenerated to a YouTube parroting blog?Looks that way I guess. Still, here's a nifty short-film by Muppet master Jim Henson. It's got a goofy surrealistic thing going on, but the tying together of the percussion-based soundtrack with the visuals makes the movie itself very rhythmic and musical. It's pretty cool. It also makes clear what drove Sesame Street (and the muppets) to

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-17419400750896080722007-11-14T10:14:00.000-05:002007-11-14T10:15:22.940-05:00

I've been suggesting this for years. And I can't have been the only one.

rissernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-84789455204864698672007-10-18T09:51:00.001-04:002007-10-18T11:13:21.681-04:00

So, I think I'm going to start a band. And I'm going to call it:El Emennopi Queue.And the first album will be called:El Emennopi Queue Are Esti Yuvie: Double Yeweck Swighzy.Neato.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-42717557614810865342007-08-09T09:20:00.000-04:002007-08-09T09:25:37.474-04:00

Not to toot my own horn, but I managed to impress my 16-yr-old son the other day. We were watching Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert and they did something about robots taking over the world. In any case, part of the titles went by in binary and I was able to translate the binary into ASCII letters and into English. For example:0100000101010000010100000100110001000101broke down to:01000001

rissernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-72139095080141346812007-08-02T08:22:00.001-04:002007-08-02T08:23:12.069-04:00

So, can you spot the car with the bomb?I can't imagine living like this every day.Peter

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-21043620468589628132007-07-10T12:55:00.000-04:002007-07-10T13:03:08.464-04:00

I don't understand how the so-called conservatives can still stand behind their W. How can those that claim "patriotism" and constantly pledge their loyalty to the United States of America and the republic for which it stands stand by and watch while these bozos completely trash everything we supposedly stand for as a country?How can they stand behind someone whose vice president claims with a

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-37658008030598878092007-07-03T07:55:00.001-04:002007-07-03T07:57:24.800-04:00

Well, finally, I'm on the YouTube train. I stumbled across this one by accident, but it's pretty damn funny.Here's the shortened edit, which is probably all you need to get the idea:And here's the whole thing:While we're at it, this is pretty funny too (and short):

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-7613069134528209612007-06-11T11:51:00.001-04:002007-06-11T11:51:27.916-04:00

I can't get over the muzak in my office. The range is pretty broad. I've been considering this for a while, but the last 2 tunes I've heard (only in the bathroom) finally drove me to it. I'm gonna log all the tunes I hear on the muzak, just for giggles. You can find the last.fm profile here. Enjoy!

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-18634616615867782972007-06-05T15:29:00.000-04:002007-06-05T15:35:17.727-04:00

So, there's this song by Run-D.M.C. called Peter Piper, which is a great tune. It features a kalimba(?) sample from Bob James' Take Me to the Mardi Gras, which is actually a song by Paul Simon. Fun enough, but then Missy Elliott samples it in her hit, Work It. I'm almost positive that it's a sample from RunDMC and not from Bob James, because there's extra bass beat involved.Okay, let's add

rissernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-65198646823797558272007-05-09T07:53:00.000-04:002007-05-09T08:02:39.780-04:00

It occurred to me that we keep talking about the War In Iraq, as opposed to the War With Iraq. We didn't go to war "in Germany" or "in Japan". We went to war with them or against them. We knew who we were fighting, and when it would be done. We would be done when Germany and Japan gave up. And they did. And the war was over.The problem with this war is there are no defined goals. Even if

rissernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1163775301684892012006-11-17T09:45:00.000-05:002006-11-17T09:55:01.696-05:00

I'm all for questioning authority. I think it's extremely important you understand the true motivations of what people are telling you today.But some people mistake "question authority" for "reject authority" and that's not it at all. If you reject everything out of hand that "The Man" tells you, you're still not questioning & thinking for yourself. You've got a knee-jerk, anti-authority

rissernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1163653744468395842006-11-15T23:42:00.000-05:002006-11-17T10:07:07.390-05:00

Here's an interesting take on who is ultimately responsible for the war. The kicker comes on the second page, so make sure you get there. The sad thing is, he's totally right. I've been against this war from the beginning, and to see people coming out against it now is a relief, but also a goddamned shame.It pisses me off most of all that these morons wanted war three years ago, but weren't

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1155316005483220402006-08-11T13:05:00.000-04:002006-08-11T13:06:45.510-04:00

Here's a very sensible article (PDF) discussing the risks around terrorism and the potential cost in wasted man-hours and dollars fighting terrorism in an inefficient manner. Well-written and smart.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1154970155442300402006-08-07T12:54:00.000-04:002006-08-14T17:56:51.660-04:00

After the rape and murders, he wrote that he began to grill chicken wings.What the fuck are we doing? I wept the other day thinking about what's going down in the middle east these days, and wondering what's going to be left for my children. And then realizing that the world will never ever have peace. It just won't happen, even if we somehow came up with magical, unlimited resources.As human

rissernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1144670686345314002006-04-10T07:38:00.000-04:002006-04-10T08:04:46.366-04:00

I did perhaps one of the worst feeling things I've done as a parent so far. It was by accident mind you, but it has had probably the most deleterious effect on me of anything I've done.Yesterday, due to circumstances that arise (you know...), we had to explain to our nine-year-old middle child that my wife and I were the Easter Bunny. And Santa Claus. And the Tooth Fairy.Not a big deal, really

rissernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1144252305713311282006-04-05T11:51:00.000-04:002006-04-05T11:51:45.776-04:00

Some people wonder why I get so upset/paranoid about even the slightest encroachment on my rights. Only recently have I come up with a pertinent analogy.In the township in which I used to live, old farmland is suddenly worth a lot of money as the surrounding areas explode with new population. Many farms are selling to land developers who are putting in half-a-million-plus homes. Meanwhile,

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1144242184625085652006-04-05T09:02:00.000-04:002006-04-05T09:03:04.643-04:00

One of the key problems in our excursions in the Middle East is that too many people think that Democracy is the key to freedom, and that if we just get these people to vote, they'll all see the wonders of freedom and prosperity that we see. But, it's just not the case.One of the things I keep repeating to people is that the success of our nation is not it's foundation on Democracy. A democracy

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1142545088281943132006-03-16T16:29:00.000-05:002006-03-16T16:38:08.313-05:00

This is a missive I recently sent to a Bush supporter in response to yet another scattershot and random defense of the president/attack on democrats. (Why are they so fascinated with Clinton's dick?) I'm weary of the unfocused, irrelevant and illogical rhetoric that passes for debate with these people. Please, if you aren't willing to acknowledge that Bush has ever made a mistake then there's

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1139500195948655452006-02-09T10:00:00.000-05:002006-02-09T10:49:56.000-05:00

You know, the furor over this cartoon is based in the idea that Islam forbids representations of Muhammed, in order to prevent idolatry. And yet, ironically, these very folk who are supposedly rebelling against this representation of Muhammed are, by definition, engaging in idolatry, in that they are clearly blindly and excessively devoted to their cause. Not to mention, they seem to be

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1139247376381478672006-02-06T12:23:00.000-05:002006-02-06T12:36:16.406-05:00

Whatever your feelings about President Bush's authorization of spying on American citizens, I think Jon Stewart made the best point of all. We've got plenty of information. We had the information that said there was going to be an attack on the World Trade Center. The problem isn't getting more information. The problem is sorting through and making sense of the information we've got. And I

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1139246596158072752006-02-06T12:22:00.001-05:002006-02-06T12:23:16.170-05:00

"Hey, stop stabbing your penis with the fork!"Babies are weird.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1138899974861381502006-02-02T11:52:00.000-05:002006-02-02T12:06:14.880-05:00

Somebody printed a political cartoon in a Danish newspaper, showing the prophet Mohamad wearing a bomb-shaped turban with a lit fuse. In response, armed militants stormed hotels and embassies, looking for foreigners to kidnap and/or kill.It's an inconceivable behavior for us, in a country where whole races of people were denied their basic rights, and only a meager few threatened to take up arms

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1136990064199005342006-01-11T09:31:00.000-05:002006-01-11T09:34:24.213-05:00

At work, I'm currently working on two code streams, one development and one maintenance. For giggles, I've switched my editor colors to match Commodore 64 colors. With that, and bolding all the text, it's very flashback-y. Yay.

rissernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1136818367057659072006-01-09T09:48:00.000-05:002006-10-05T04:01:30.083-04:00

I have a disease. Or something. My son got an iPod for Christmas, and I want one. Bad. Except, I already have a 512MB iRiver player that sits basically unused, and there is literally no place for me to use this thing, as I use my computer at work, the stereo at home and Satellite radio (or the iRiver) in my car.But I still *WANT* one. So, fine, so does everyone.But now, I want one of these

rissernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1135869039999561832005-12-29T10:09:00.000-05:002005-12-29T10:10:40.016-05:00

Not that it's any of your business, but since September 1st, I've lost 50 lbs (255 to 205) and have gone down 3 belt sizes from a 42+ to a 36. Yay me.

rissernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1134496314089535872005-12-13T11:20:00.001-05:002005-12-13T14:40:10.140-05:00

They killed Stanley Williams in California today. There's a couple of things I think are worth discussing, besides the obvious question of whether or not it's right for the state to kill someone on the recommendation of 12 average folk.First, although he founded the Crips and was convicted of murder, Stanley had pretty much completely reformed himself in the time he'd been in prison, writing

rissernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1132147729236166122005-11-16T08:25:00.000-05:002005-11-16T08:28:49.236-05:00

A friend of mine, Nick Franceschina, has put up a musical "challenge", to make as many versions of the Jack the Ninja Mouse song as possible. If you're interested, you can hear the existing versions here. What I was most amazed at was the real musical virtuosity existant in my small cadre of friends. It's depressing that none of these reasonably talented people have done more with that.I blame

rissernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1132147539901553432005-11-16T08:24:00.000-05:002005-11-16T08:25:39.916-05:00

Out of curiosity, how do Chinese people put things in Alphabetical order?

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1132149517927336752005-11-16T08:18:00.000-05:002005-11-16T08:58:37.943-05:00

From the "Handy Tips for Living" department, here's a note I wrote to someone about home filing systems and our personal filing system in particular. I thought somebody might find it helpful.For any filing system, I think there are 2 things that you need to balance: - Getting it filed quickly/easily - Find it quickly/easilyThe problem is, these two actions are counteractive. To increase the

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1130937728573176802005-11-02T08:08:00.000-05:002005-11-02T08:22:08.596-05:00

You knew it was coming. I gotta tell ya, there are two reasons I've clammed up on this blog. First, I'm not a diary writer. I just don't log my daily events well, never have, even though I regret it later. And two, trying to keep up with the political swirl was just completely draining. The sheer amount of bullshit, idiocy and hypocrisy that whips by in a day is just mind-boggling, so, since

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1127224462604993432005-09-20T09:33:00.000-04:002005-09-20T09:54:22.613-04:00

I've been trying to figure this one out for a while, but only recently has it become more clear to me what's going on.There are people who believe that the government should regulate the TV we watch, the radio we listen to and the games we play. They advance this agenda under the banner of "protecting the children" and they are more than willing to spend government money on programs, commissions

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1125676477818899032005-09-02T11:53:00.000-04:002005-09-02T11:55:14.100-04:00

Yet another thing Bush either lied about or handled completely incompitently. His administration's inability to deal with a disaster of this magnitude only underscores his complete ineptitude, because it's nearly exactly the same problem as if some terrorist had exploded a nuclear weapon or some biological agent in New Orleans. (For example, exploding a couple of nuclear devices on the levees.)

rissernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1124452667543673632005-08-19T07:55:00.000-04:002005-08-19T07:57:47.553-04:00

After a series of 5-6 hour nights of sleep, occasionally interrupted for a bottle or a pacifier (not for me, for the baby), last night I went to bed at 11:30, woke up at midnight, went back to bed at 12:15, woke up at 3:30, went back to bed at four and woke up again at 5:30 to take Matt to school and go to work.I'm to tired to even figure out what that adds up to, but it's not a lot. Plus, a

rissernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1122554329163135532005-07-28T08:38:00.000-04:002005-07-28T08:38:49.170-04:00

My machine has been randomly blue-screening recently, plus it has a nasty virus/trojan/worm/whatever that I can't seem to shake. I bought a couple of new hard drives, thinking it might be because one of the drives is corrupt. I got those installed, formatted and up and running, so I decided to take the plunge last night and reinstall Windows XP.I have to say, it was a pleasant experience. I

rissernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1121433495862372372005-07-15T09:07:00.000-04:002005-07-15T09:18:15.866-04:00

Okay, I lied.I'm on the fence about the war itself. If Iraq comes out as a true, tolerant democracy, I think it'd be a great thing.However, whether you think we should have done it or not, I think the way we got into it was shady. And I think the administration has pretty much ham-handed every aspect of it, from the diplomatic angles to the actual deployment and warfare. I think they had no

rissernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1121432799321123722005-07-15T09:02:00.000-04:002005-07-15T09:06:39.320-04:00

In a comment post, Zam asked, "Iraq War, right or wrong?" I'm not taking the bait except to say that, in something so complex, to try and label the whole thing right or wrong is silly. Clearly, there are some aspects that are better than others and some that result in bad consequences.Let me ask a different question though. Let's say that somehow, just pretend, if you killed 10 random people

rissernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1121367595292816462005-07-14T14:42:00.000-04:002005-07-14T14:59:55.300-04:00

Zam posted:"I don't think that simply thinking the issues through puts you in the center, if your positions tend to fall consistently in with the left side of those issues. Again there's nothing wrong with that, but a centrist as I define it is on the perceived left of the majority about half of the time, and right the other times. Maybe talk some more about the issues where you ARE

rissernoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1121284597277187192005-07-13T15:50:00.000-04:002005-07-14T14:36:27.880-04:00

I was recently, in a roundabout way, tagged as a leftist.First, I'm not a lefty, I'm a centrist. Which means that, if you are an arch-conservative (or even a conservative), from where you're sitting, I'm left of you, so I look lefty. But I'm no tree-hugging, commie pinko, buddy. :) (Why is it those of us who work so hard to preserve our American, constitutionally-endowed freedoms from

rissernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1121176217123446792005-07-12T09:30:00.000-04:002005-07-12T09:50:17.133-04:00

In other news, I see that the Catholic church has started a campaign against the death penalty in the US. I have to say, I applaud this. Nothing drives me crazier than hypocrisy and the way this administration and particularly its executive officer proclaim their desire for a "culture of life" while still supporting the death penalty (and, uh, war) is just hypocrisy in action. So, I'm glad to

rissernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1121175046187448632005-07-12T09:28:00.000-04:002005-07-12T09:30:46.193-04:00

I just ran across this word (I'd seen it before, but forgotten about it), and I have to say, it pretty much captures what this administration is up to. Here's the definition:Extreme nationalism characterized especially by a belligerent foreign policy; chauvinistic patriotism.Can anyone argue that this doesn't apply to today's adminstration and their fervent supporters? I can see I'm going to

rissernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1120649993594904122005-07-06T07:26:00.000-04:002005-07-06T07:47:46.640-04:00

An article by a fellow who used to have Top Secret clearance and who was named one of President Bush's original 1000 points of light, yet who somehow ended up on the TSA's terrorist No-Fly watch list and is about to see his entire public speaking livelihood head down the sewer in the name of National Security. Some of the more important lines:I'm embarrassed that it took my own ox being gored

rissernoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1120573633324599672005-07-05T10:21:00.000-04:002005-07-05T10:27:42.773-04:00

Found a guy pretty much exactly like this on our front porch yesterday evening. I caught him in a bucket, showed him to the kids, and then set him free. We've moved to a wooded area and there is much wildlife to be found, including beetles, fireflies, deer, crayfish, spiders, woodpeckers, fish, toads, snakes and so on. I like that we've got that sort of biodiversity you don't get in most

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1120312279281181012005-07-02T08:59:00.000-04:002005-07-05T10:32:58.146-04:00

So, there's this mathematical puzzle called the Monte Hall problem. Here's how it lays out.There's three doors, and behind one is a car. Monte asks you to choose a door, so you do. Then he says, "Okay, before we reveal the door you've chosen, let me show you a door." He shows you a door that you didn't choose, of course with no car behind it. Then he asks, "Do you want to switch doors?"What

rissernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1120144791626193312005-06-30T09:31:00.000-04:002005-06-30T11:22:54.556-04:00

We were debating the flag burning amendment issue and the whole subject "Why bother debating?" came up. The assumption was, the other guy has already chosen what he wants to believe and most people aren't interested in learning anything new or changing their minds. Mainly, they're in it to convince you that they are right and you are wrong, a battle of wits in a sense.I like debate, but not for

rissernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1120059356648915192005-06-29T11:32:00.000-04:002005-06-29T11:38:06.453-04:00

Can someone check the math on this for me?"The 20-gigabyte model can hold about 5,000 songs and costs $299, while the 60-gigabyte version holds 25,000 songs and sells for $399."Let's see... three times as much space; five times as many songs. Man, that Steve Jobs can sure work wonders.

rissernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1119975331855875662005-06-28T12:10:00.000-04:002005-06-28T12:15:31.860-04:00

I think if I were a conman, I'd do everything I could to be as British as possible. The more you sound like a befuddled Hugh Grant, the more you can get away with."Oh, I'm dreadfully sorry, I seem to have accidentally stabbed your husband to death with an icepick. I'm just so terribly sorry. Would you happen to have a towel I could borrow?"I'd need to throw in more British-isms, like "flat"

rissernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1119883818862003372005-06-27T10:48:00.000-04:002005-06-27T10:51:34.716-04:00

Shark attacks? Why worry about small time terrors like that when you can fret about the next big quake to hit the midwest? That'll be an interesting day.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1119873659279540952005-06-27T07:59:00.000-04:002005-06-27T08:11:35.366-04:00

This morning I put my shoe on, and there was a lump of something in there. Maybe paper or mulch. I wasn't sure. I turned the shoe over and shook it and out fell a dead toad, about the size of a key lime.I don't think it was dead when I put the shoe on. Eck.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1119564029256486502005-06-23T17:52:00.000-04:002005-06-24T13:09:48.970-04:00

I always knew we were just renting our property from the government. (What happens if you don't pay your property taxes? You get evicted.) But, this is ridiculous. So now, any place Wal-Mart wants to build a new store and elects to take a few key city council members on golf outings and fact-finding missions to key areas like San Francisco or NYC, they'll get to evict your ass and build their

rissernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1119539874990292052005-06-23T09:43:00.000-04:002005-06-23T14:58:07.900-04:00

Since when is burning a flag a crime? Oh, yeah, it's not yet, at least until we get an Amendment to the constitution passed. Why are these people so anxious to make burning a flag a crime? I'm not familiar with the pro arguments, but I think it boils down to:Burning a flag disrespects America.Burning a flag is desecration of the flag.Passing the amendment will show support for the troops

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1119355592105093632005-06-21T07:54:00.000-04:002005-06-21T08:06:32.113-04:00

I saw a news story on this auction yesterday morning. I liked the part where they showed random people two pieces of art, one done by a chimp, one a "masterpiece" hanging in a museum, and asked to choose which was the chimp. They almost always chose the human.But what interested me most about the story on the chimps wasn't that people bought their art. I mean, as far as I'm concerned, you buy

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1118848617792092872005-06-15T11:12:00.000-04:002005-06-15T11:16:57.796-04:00

Found it. Ironically enough, there is a lot of bluster about speeding being very dangerous, etc., but no indication, except for a reference to another report that increased speeds may have increased the fatality rate by 35%, that increased speeds is actually a problem. There's a lot of 'concern'. For example, concern that strides made in vehicle safety and DUI crackdowns "might be" offset by

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1118778668231086332005-06-14T14:49:00.000-04:002005-06-14T15:51:08.240-04:00

This article from USA Today about traffic safety and speeding is yet another example of how people bend statistics to meet their needs. Let's break this down. First, the allegation. Or, really, the hypothesis."Motorists in most states get a free pass from police for driving 5 to 10 mph above posted speed limits, a policy that contributes to 'carnage' on the nation's roadways, an association

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1118412264991028832005-06-10T10:00:00.000-04:002005-06-10T10:06:20.726-04:00

See: schroedinbug.The funny thing is, it's so, so true.See also: Heisenbug, Bohr-bug, Mandelbug.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1118319754830552652005-06-09T08:19:00.000-04:002005-06-09T08:22:34.833-04:00

"Bacon is the crack of meat."So very true. The other night I had some appetizers that were faux-crabmeat wrapped in bacon and fried in oil. My wife asked, "Are they good?" Are they good? I just said, it's bacon and faux-crab, fried in oil. How could they not be good?I think even the toothpicks were fried.Yum.

rissernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1118244847974502682005-06-08T11:33:00.000-04:002005-06-08T14:45:04.020-04:00

died Friday. That makes me sad. I liked him.He sang "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" and did a TON of voices for Disney movies and parks over the years. But his main claim to fame was as Tony the Tiger, which I think he did until he died. Sometimes it's weird to think about these people who have had some small effect on your life even though you have no idea who they are.Plus, his name really

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1118238026705745862005-06-08T09:31:00.000-04:002005-06-08T09:40:26.710-04:00

So, there are some people who are down on Mark Felt because he "broke the trust of his office" and "lied" (when he said he wasn't Deep Throat). Clearly, he committed a small "injustice" because he saw that a bigger injustice was being done. But couldn't you argue that Nixon committed his small injustice because he was afraid, should he lose, a larger injustice would be done to America?I'm not

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1118236053456312842005-06-08T08:51:00.000-04:002005-06-08T09:10:44.330-04:00

So, I think our priest lied to us yesterday. Well, I guess he just whitewashed the facts a little. Either that, or he really doesn't have as a good a grasp on world history as a seminary-educated individual should have. He was talking about Pope John-Paul II's new book Memory and Identity and in passing mentioned, as apparently suggested by this book (which I haven't read), that the history,

rissernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1118234981893784362005-06-08T08:42:00.000-04:002005-06-08T08:49:41.896-04:00

There's something about Tablet PCs that turn my crank. Don't know what it is, but I want one of these. My only concern is that Lenovo might not keep up the amazing quality of the ThinkPads. Not to knock Chinese products, but quality hasn't always been their strong point. I hope they don't sink the brand.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1117555498778764082005-05-31T12:03:00.000-04:002005-05-31T12:04:58.783-04:00

A quickie article over at Ars that discusses the tenuous link between copyright infringement and terrorist activities. My favorite quote:"In other news, I hear that it's a proven fact that Hezbollah gets some of their money from people who sell gasoline on the open market, right out in front of God and everybody. But don't expect Congress to trumpet that particular terrorist connection, much

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1114776504799216792005-04-29T08:02:00.000-04:002005-04-29T08:08:24.800-04:00

I'm ecstatic. I'm ecstatic because I got a wall at work. It's not even a full size wall. It's a little tiny half-cubicle wall, and it's only on one side of my desk. But it's a wall, and I've got it. I can hang things on it, like drawings from my kids and my coat. My coat! I can hang my coat right by my desk. How cool is that?I love where I work, but they do this "open floor plan" thing,

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1109948199741081702005-03-04T09:54:00.000-05:002005-03-04T09:57:16.143-05:00

Okay, this is lacking context, but in an effort to publish routinely, here's something to consider.This is one example of where Religious Morality, without thought, can bring you:"[T]he blacks are justly captives by just sentence of God for the sinsof their fathers, and that in sign thereof God gave them that color."- Dominican Fray Francisco de la Cruzhttp://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1109515707000199912005-02-07T13:52:00.000-05:002005-02-27T09:48:27.080-05:00

I finally caved and bought a new ring. It wasn't quite as expensive as I'd thought, but still, it was a little painful. It looks pretty much like my old ring though. I wonder if there's a way to fit these with RFID tags. That'd be an interesting application of the technology. That and the remote control.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1109515653535739642005-01-25T18:44:00.000-05:002005-02-27T09:47:33.536-05:00

I haven't found it. But then, it's so tiny and the world is so big, after you've looked in the obvious places, where could you look?Anyway, a few people have chimed in with some psychic help. A friend of a friend, noted for her previous semi-psychic help at finding things suggested, over the phone to my friend, "Dark green."Another friend of mine who experiments with remote viewing had this to

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1109515603615595842005-01-24T12:31:00.000-05:002005-02-27T09:46:43.616-05:00

I lost my wedding ring.It turns out that, short of my kids or my wife, there's nothing I could have lost that would have meant more to me.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1109515531651983982005-01-20T11:59:00.000-05:002005-02-27T09:45:31.653-05:00

From a Ween FAQ:Ok, apparently the sample of Ali was supposed to end up on the end of "Powder Blue", but the rights to use it hadn't cleared. A whole bunch got pressed before the mistake was caught, and consequent printings have been with out it. Rumor has it that most of the sampled copies went to Canada, so good luck getting it up there, eh? That doesn't help. I think I'm screwed.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1109515484321739962005-01-18T11:44:00.000-05:002005-02-27T09:44:44.323-05:00

I was listening to Ween's 12 Golden Country Greats in the car on the way to work. It's a great album that's really grown on me, I must say.Anyway, song six, Powder Blue, has a bit where he introduces the band, then says, "Ladies and Gentlemen, Mohamad Ali". Now in the version I've, uh, previously borrowed, there's a sampled quote from Mr. Clay, and then a minute more of song. On this disc, the

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1109515438375833002005-01-13T23:43:00.000-05:002005-02-27T09:43:58.376-05:00

Imagine the trouble you'd cause if you released an album under the band name "Various Artists". Man, there'd be some wicked problems.Right now I'm listening to a collaboration between the Ruins' drummer (and founding member) Tatsuya Yoshida and a pianist named Satoko Fujii. It's like Ruins with piano instead of bass. Ni-i-i-ice.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1109515370533829552005-01-13T22:10:00.000-05:002005-02-27T09:42:50.536-05:00

Here's an example of a biographical piece that I wasn't going to post. But, I'm posting it, as it relates to music and I want to force myself to post more and self-censure less. So here it is:So, as a Christmas gift to myself, I bought a bunch of CDs, like 50+. But I hadn't bought CDs in a long time and people weren't giving them to me for Xmas or Birthdays, so I treated myself. This is stuff

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1109515306056505922005-01-12T17:54:00.000-05:002005-02-27T09:43:12.433-05:00

You can't tell now, because you're already here, but I have done a little work on the site format. I mean, that's not the most exciting thing, but that's where we're at now. I've updated the background, added a place for articles and other links and so on. This is good stuff, even if it's 'behind-the-scenes' stuff, as it means the blog is moving forward. Even if you can't see it.Posting has

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1109515240769437832004-12-23T13:00:00.000-05:002005-02-27T09:40:40.770-05:00

You know what word I hate? Blog. It's a stupid word, but I can't think of anything better, so I suppose I'm stuck with it.It'll do.Meanwhile, Scrum will hopefully undergo some changes. First, you'll see more posts, assuming you were paying attention at all. Second, it's shifting away from the "project" aspect, which was fun, but impractical given my current family situation. Instead, it'll

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1109515178713335552004-03-24T13:03:00.000-05:002005-02-27T09:39:38.716-05:00

I'm trying to decide how best to discuss this. I've come up with a reasonably elegant way to handle the connections between pegs, that allows you to easily see the next peg AND the peg beyond that, to test for possible jumps. I've also got a nice recursive algorithm to move the pegs around and search for solutions.Recursion is great. A few for-loops and a recursive call, and something that

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1109454120577165792004-03-16T18:31:00.000-05:002005-02-26T16:42:00.580-05:00

It's been coming for a long time. I've been trying to reach escape velocity and rocket away from my employer for a long time, but you know how it goes. The job starts to suck and that suckage combines with the overwhelming fear and dread of constant layoffs, so you decide it's time to get out and find something worth spending your time on. You throw yourself into the search, but then the job

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1109453911688616592004-02-08T10:42:00.000-05:002005-02-26T16:38:31.690-05:00

So, the project at work finally wrapped up, so I should have a little more time on my hands now that I'm not working 80 hours a week to finish it.However, in the meantime, John found this already-existing asynchronous Go server. Admittedly, it doesn't have all the features we were looking for, but it handles the basic task, so our quest has ended.Now we're looking for the next thing to do. We

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1109453705444176472003-10-24T01:52:00.000-04:002005-02-26T16:35:05.446-05:00

I suck.I'm 47 hours into work so far, and probably going to hit 55 this week. Suddenly, these past weeks, I've been totally swamped. Not a little, but completely. So, alas, the controller isn't going to get done.Oddly enough, I've been holding on to the hope that I could get it done for the past week or so, but no, there's just no way.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1109452864235637752003-10-18T02:55:00.000-04:002005-02-26T16:21:04.236-05:00

"Because Kilimanjaro is a pretty tricky climb you know. Most of it's up until you reach the very very top, and then it tends to slope away rather sharply..."Been banging around Python a bit. It's certainly a different feel than the classic Java/C++/C#/Delphi OO paradigm that I've been used to. I've finally gotten a basic class and unit test up and running. It's a pretty simple rectangle/area

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1109452114339959802003-10-13T09:33:00.000-04:002005-02-26T16:08:34.346-05:00

Dave had a few questions about the possible design of a game/board set of objects. I've posted them here, with my responses, slightly edited to remove some of our rambling:Dave: Now storing the game is something that I'm very interested in. I guess in the abstract it shouldn't be controlling what it looks like exactly because the user-preferences is allowed to affect that. I'd love to work on

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1109452030486910352003-10-11T11:37:00.000-04:002005-02-26T16:07:10.486-05:00

We're going out of town and I wasn't going to be able to have internet access. Still, I wanted to work on Python this weekend, so I buckled down and bought a Python book today. It's an O'Reilly, of course, Python in a Nutshell.There's some things that you can do with a book over a computer. You can take it on the pot, you can read it in bed, you can take it to a restaurant or out camping.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1109451842127767842003-10-09T23:27:00.000-04:002005-02-26T16:04:02.130-05:00

We broke up the work for the first iteration. I took the Container, which is something I've been wanting to study and work with for a while.I know, you're thinking, "What, you don't work with MVC today?" Actually, no. Where I work we somehow got stuck in model 1 MVC, with JSPs in charge of shuffling the user around. It's a pain, but that's the framework we have.A while ago I was studying up

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1109451724743942912003-10-06T20:29:00.000-04:002005-02-26T16:02:04.746-05:00

This weekend's meeting was interesting. John, Tom and Dave had all implemented Story 0, but mostly in true XP fashion: doing the needful as simply as possible. They all used DTML to generate the basic welcome page. But in the meantime, everyone got Zope installed and got some familiarity with how it worked.I'd say that's a success.This time we talked a lot about Zope and how it was different

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1109450889627207302003-09-29T13:14:00.000-04:002005-02-26T15:48:09.630-05:00

I took a look at PyUnit this weekend, and it looks just like JUnit. Except I don't understand it, because I don't speak Python. But the structure is the same, which is funny because it still seems completely incomprhensible if you haven't worked with it. Somebody needs to sit down and write out a nice high-level diagram, in English with pictures, discussing how the different parts fit together

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11098802.post-1109450769970042512003-09-26T00:44:00.000-04:002005-02-26T15:46:58.560-05:00

I started creating the stories for the server. Having never done this before, I'm basically brainstorming one liners. Things like:User should be able to choose graphics (board wood, stones, incl. size and color)User should be able to view "most recent move"The system should validate the move, reversing it if inappropriate.The system should be available to score a board but only when game is

rissernoreply@blogger.com0