How would an unlimited airline ticket change your life?

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-0506-golden-ticket-20120506,0,3094073,full.story

reads to /bin will hit the disk only once every month or so

Blows my mind:

Then there is the frequency with which you reboot your computer. It's true every item must be read at least once, but, with enough RAM, it's read only once per boot - if you keep your machine on for a month at at time, reads to /bin will hit the disk only once every month or so. Disk writes can be trickier, since waiting for the physical write may halt the thread for a while, but, unless you specify writes to be synchronous, there is no reason not to trust the OS with the data and let it flush the cache when it's more convenient. And subsequent reads to the data you wrote won't hit the disk again until the memory is needed for something else. Reads from RAM are still orders of magnitude faster than reads from disk.

Via 

Wolfenstein 3D in a web browser

http://wolfenstein.bethsoft.com/game_NA.php

150 for $20

How we serve 150 free lunches for less than 20 cents each using homebrew equipment
http://izbicki.me/blog/how-i-serve-150-free-lunches-for-less-than-20-cents-each-using-homebrew-equipment

Crushing kibble

Blender

Scissors

Plastic cutting board + book

Plastic wrap

Introverts

YES

"A mountain of studies has shown that face-to-face brainstorming and teamwork often lead to inferior decisionmaking. That’s because social dynamics lead groups astray; they coalesce around the loudest extrovert’s most confidently asserted idea, no matter how daft it might be."

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2012/03/st_thompson_introvert/

Movie: Last call at the oasis

The "Hoover Dam...will stop generating electricity in four years if water levels continue to fall at current rates." o_O

http://www.npr.org/2012/05/03/151471280/for-americans-water-its-last-call-at-the-oasis

Trailer #1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LSUyrF3p-s

UC-Davis Sword and sandals secret society: lamest ever?

Lamest looking secret society meeting ever:

http://daviswiki.org/Sword_and_Sandals?action=Files&do=view&target=IMG_1245.jpg

Via: http://daviswiki.org/Sword_and_Sandals

Davis apartments

The very first line: "Apartments are things in which most non-freshman students live (except engineering students, who live in Kemper Hall)."

Possible locations in Davis:

Cranbrook apartments
http://daviswiki.org/Cranbrook_Apartments

Hanover apartments
http://daviswiki.org/Hanover_Place_Apartments

Aspen Village
Silverstone Apartment Homes
Arbors
Alder Ridge Apartments
La Salle Apartments
Sacramento:

The Lofts at Natomas
Medici Apartment Homes
Heritage Park Apartments
Regatta Apartments

EXPO 2005 AICHI JAPAN

These monsters came from the EXPO 2005 AICHI JAPAN. They even built a replica of the My Neighbor Totoro house--which apparently came from 1950's Japan.

First Recordings — Electronic Music Winners

Wanting to listen to this album including a work by Paul Lansky, after listening to the first 10 minutes of Mild und Leise on YouTube.

Radiohead/Lansky

The sample from Idioteque : o)

Mike Birbiglia

Listened to a May 5, 2009 rebroadcast of Mike Birbiglia on NPR's This American Life, recounting his story of a traffic cop finding him at fault after a drunk driver hit his vehicle and sped away, later hitting a tree.

Emily

"Did you know that most of Emily Dickinson's poems can be sung to the tune of "The Yellow Rose of Texas"? It's true! Go ahead and give it a try."

Via

Losers

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/12/magazine/12QUESTIONS.html?...

"Q (Deborah Solomon for the New York Times): What is your I.Q.?

"A (Stephen Hawking): I have no idea. People who boast about their I.Q. are losers."

Clutch

Reading about replacing clutches this evening and remembered why I chose to not get my hands dirty repairing engines. A man has to know his limitations. :o)

Tempting, still....

Davis: "anal probing world capital"

:o)

Someone has placed a sign of an alien's head on the Davis Chamber of Commerce Welcome Sign on Richards Boulevard, with the text, "anal probing world capital."

Cute.

Woodstock's Pizza + Beer

Dawn and I visited Woodstock's Pizza in Davis, CA this evening.

We tried the medium Pesto Primavera (Pesto Sauce, Broccoli, Red Onions, Artichoke Hearts, Fresh Tomatoes) and a medium Vegetarian (Black Olives, 'Shrooms, Onions, Green Peppers, Fresh Tomatoes).

Dawn had a Fox Barrel Pacific Pear Cider and I had an Anderson Valley Brewing Company Bahl Hornin' Imperial Boont Amber Ale.

Bomb.com

:o)

From a Yelp review.

Automatic cat feeders with multiple cats

Purchased!

UPDATE 2012-05-06: turns out it works great for Hill's Prescription Diet c/d (Multicare Feline Bladder Health - Dry), but not Hill's Prescription Diet t/d (Feline Dental Health).

The c/d kibbles measure approximately 1/2" on all sides, while the owners of the Super Feed recommend 1/4" kibbles.

I believe they originally marketed this for feeding fish, which makes sense. One comment on Amazon.com suggests the company will soon have a product supporting larger kibble.

Contrasting bumper stickers

Just messing with people: put contrasting bumper stickers/magnets/what have you on your vehicle.

For example, the National Rifle Association (NRA) contrasted with something written by Michael Moore.

KMA233

Saw KMA233 on a license plate frame while walking to work this week. Seems like a public safety radio frequency out of the Santa Cruz area?

Green coffee beans seem to burn fat fast

Dr. Oz plans to visit Sacramento on Monday to present. I honestly do not know much about him, so I visited his web site.

I randomly saw one of the front page rotating articles included a guest blog post by Lindsey Duncan, ND, CN, which spoke about the benefits of Green Coffee Bean extract in burning fat.

The authors of the original study have published it online, for free.

Sphygmomanometer

A wonderful word :o)

Origin: 1860–65; sphygmo- + manometer:

• sphygmo: From Greek sphugmos (pulsation), from sphuzein (to throb)
• manometer : From French manomètre, from Greek manos (loose, rare, sparse) + metron (measure)

So, measure loose/rare/sparse pulsations. :o)

Marketing

“The art of marketing is really about telling true stories that people already believe,” he says. “If you don’t tell stories that people believe, it’s very expensive to try to convince them.”

Via

My Neighbor Totoro Blu-ray

Comes out in July, 2012...in Japan.

10160 Totoro

From Wikipedia:

"A main-belt asteroid was named 10160 Totoro after the film's central character Totoro."

Old French, Gaulish, and High German

Reading about languages on Wikipedia.

For Dawn

The Civil Wars cover of "Dance me to the end of love"

http://youtu.be/bgFh1rEr5dM

Hospital overbed table

A creative idea for experimenting with sitting/standing desks.

Printer

Down to two choices monochrome printer:

http://www.amazon.com/Brother-Printer-Wireless-Monochrome-HL2280DW/dp/B004QM8J8S/

http://www.amazon.com/Brother-HL-2270DW-Compact-Wireless-Networking/dp/B00450DVDY/

http://www.amazon.com/Brother-HL4570CDW-Printer-Wireless-Networking/dp/B00439GOKY/

Facial expressions

I noticed Kimbra's remarkably expressive facial expressions (about 15 seconds in) in a video on her web site from last Tuesday, while listening to her collaboration with Gotye on "Somebody That I Used to Know."

960.gs

Planting a seed:

http://960.gs/

Johnsonville Brats: How I Learned to Let My Workers Lead

One philosophy. Revisionist hagiography or actual philosophy? Hrm.

How I Learned to Let My Workers Lead
http://people.wku.edu/rich.patterson/CFS-452/Readings/stayer.htm

Alien anal probing welcome sign for Davis, CA

The Davis, California Chamber of Commerce's "Welcome to Davis" sign on the south side of the Richards Boulevard underpass in Davis, California, features--in addition to Soroptimist International, Rotary, and other organizations--a sign with an alien face and the text "Anal probing...."

We have not figured out what the rest of the sign says but I smile every time I see it.

Sarah Vowell

On Tuesday, I heard an interview with Sarah Vowell on Tuesday evening as part of San Francisco's City Arts & Lectures series. She candidly and insightfully discussed Hawaiian history as part of her book, "Unfamiliar Fishes," which details "the short and awful history of Western intervention in Hawaii."

Oh City Arts & Lectures, why have you not podcasted your programs yet?

The Education of Little Tree

On Friday I heard a remarkable NPR story of the origins of the novel The Education of Little Tree, written under the pseudonym Forrest Carter by Asa Earl Carter, noted white supremacist and speech writer for George Wallace.

Sacramento Japanese Film Festival Annual Community Spring Screening

We attended the Sacramento Japanese Film Festival's Annual Community Spring Screening this Friday evening and watched "A Matter of Size" (2009, Israel; Hebrew: סיפור גדול‎‎, lit. "A Big

Prior to the event, however, we felt hungry. So, after surveying the local options, we stopped at Pizza Hut and ate a medium pan pizza with artichoke hearts, mushrooms, and garlic.

We arrived 10 minutes late, but did not seem to miss much. The event, like previous years, showed subtitles in white, which made them difficult to read from the back. One man stopped the movie momentarily to decrease the projector brightness, which helped, but the event staff need to come up with a solution to change the subtitles from white to yellow.

I struggled to relate to several of the characters; I have lived as a beanpole my entire life. I found Geola, the diet coach, (played by Evelin Hagoel) an unbelievable character, as I did Zehava's (played tenderly by Irit Kaplan) quixotic nutritionist efforts within the local prison. Why would a nutritionist serve only broccoli for the inaugural meal to a captive population? It makes no sense, nutritionally, and any nutritionist worth her salt would know it.

The movie pigeonholes several characters into trite gender and sexual roles; Zehava acquiesces and accepts sumo has no place for women. Gidi (played by Alon Dahan) comes out of the closet. Women, as a whole, do not come out so well in this movie: I cannot remember any really successful women portrayed; they nag, they fail, they acquiesce, they scheme naively. The men also seem stuck. However, through the help of Kitano (wonderfully played by Togo Igawa), they transform themselves mentally--and physically--through embracing their physical stature.

"A Matter of Size" does shine, though. Herzl's (played by Itzik Cohen) desperate pleas to Zehava moved me. The cinematography of rural training and the fights looked gorgeous. I laughed and silently cheered as the sumo trainees walked back into town, getting lots of attention from passers by. The Japanese food (for example, chakonabe) seemed delicious. The subtle sexual flirtation between Herzl's widowed mother Mona (played by Levana Finkelstein) and Kitano seemed believable, as well as Kitano's barely perceptible smiles after his first sumo lesson with Herzl.  Zehava's quickly sexualized relationship with Herzl seemed genuine.

"A Matter of Size" has a number of things to like and represents an unconventional story: an Israeli film about Japanese sumo wrestling. I give it 3/5 stars. :o)

After the movie, event organizers opened up an enormous table of treats for attendees, many things handmade, including mochi, lychee jello, lady finger brownies, multiple rice ball treats, fruit, popcorn balls, tea, and coffee--and much more.

This year, the event organizers moved the movie to the basketball gymnasium, which looked new and shiny. They must have had 100-200 people in attendance--a good sign.

Looking forward to mid-July for the festival itself!

Cat cam

:o)

http://thedailywh.at/2012/04/20/another-movie-trailer-of-the-day-21

Mock oranges

Blooming outside our home and the perfume perfectly fits the sense of spring arriving.

Sean Young's video of the making of Dune

Cute :o)

Lots of younger looking people: Sting, David Lynch, Sean Young, Patrick Stewart, Francesca Annis, Linda Hunt, Max Von Sydow....

Despite the 59% fresh rating at Rotton Tomatoes, I have fond memories of watching Dune (1984)...I think I have seen it several times, including the 137 minute theatrical release as well as either the 190 or the 177 minute special/extended version.

Also, too: "I will kill him!" ;o)

Movie trailer of the day

Hilarious:

"So a bunch of Muslim-American comedians travel across the country, and… that’s the punchline! In a new documentary — called, naturally, The Muslims Are Coming! — they fight Middle America’s misconceptions and prejudice with humor and wit, and they document the fallout so we can crack up alongside them. They’ve got $4,938 up on a $40,000 goal needed to complete the movie and counter the hate."

"The one song that captures how love really feels"...or not?

Emi Guner writes:

"Have listened to this song thousands of times, it never fails to have a physical effect on me. Eyes well up, muscles relax, and I get a very strong notion that LOVE IS ALL."

Maybe it will grow on me, but I did not feel the same way?

Barney Frank: If It Feels Good, You’re Doing It Wrong

Wise words:

"I believe very strongly that people on the left are too prone to do things that are emotionally satisfying and not politically useful. I have a rule, and it’s true of Occupy, it’s true of the gay-rights movement: If you care deeply about a cause, and you are engaged in an activity on behalf of that cause that is great fun and makes you feel good and warm and enthusiastic, you’re probably not helping, because you’re out there with your friends, and political work is much tougher and harder. And I think it’s now clear that it is the disciplined political work that we’ve been able to do that’s won us victories. I am going to write about the history of the LGBT movement partly to make the point that, in America at least, this is the way you do progressive causes."

Via.

Flossing

Some tips.

Lavar

Read an article today in SacTown magazine which stated Lavar Burton grew up in Sacramento :o) Nice.

Bloomberg: “Sacramento Is Fresh Victim of Bad Stadium Deals”

Call me a skeptic; I am relieved the arena deal fell through...for many reasons detailed at RanSACked Media and the Apr 16 Bloomberg article:

• Overblown estimates
• " It’s about the foolishness of city officials who pin urban renewal hopes and taxpayer dollars on sports complexes despite the public’s declining willingness to pony up the cash…"
• “…These deals are not about economic growth, but civic pride... Second-tier cities believe that professional sports put them on the map, although all they do is provide some unexceptional entertainment and enrich team owners, who cleverly manipulate the local inferiority complex to gain arena subsidies…”

One article I read this week says, however, the "process for leasing out the "public" parking facilities is moving forward regardless." Yuck.

Previous.

Have you ever noticed...

... how repeating a phrase over and over again causes it to lose all meaning?

Yes!

For me, it was the word "city."

Radiohead: The King of Limbs Tour

For Dawn's birthday present we attended a Radiohead concert the evening of April 11 at the HP Pavilion arena in downtown San Jose.

Dawn purchased these two tour items:

Crying minotaur: Dawn's is black with the grey minotaur's tee desgin

Purple bearhead dolman: 100% certified recycled plastic PET bottles and certified organic cotton

We parked at the Almaden Financial Plaza Garage at the corner of Almaden and W Santa Clara St via a recommendation on Yelp, for $10. A short walk later, we ate at the Bijan Bakery & Café, also per Yelp. :o) Very good!

Police controlled traffic and we passed this art installation featuring a half-windmill. We entered the arena without any problem and debated whether standing in line for merchandise. A passerby instructed us to walk further away from the entrance to find similar items, and we did. After failing to find the purple tee Dawn wanted at the first booth, we found it at a second one. With 15 minutes before the show, we elected to purchase the items rather than take the risk of not getting it afterward. By random chance, we chose the slow line, and heard the opening act (we thought Radiohead had started) begin to play. Finally, we reached the front of the line, made our purchase, and hurried to our seats. It turns out we could have waited. We sat in section Upper 228, Row 14, Seats 9 and 10:

Imagine a stage between the blue line and the faceoff circles....

At 20:30, Radiohead took the stage. The setlist:

1. Bloom
2. 15 Step
3. Morning Mr. Magpie
4. Kid A
5. Staircase
6. The Gloaming
7. The National Anthem
8. The Amazing Sounds of Orgy
9. Climbing Up the Walls
10. Karma Police
11. Identikit
12. Lotus Flower
13. There There
14. Feral
15. Little by Little
16. Reckoner
17. Encore: Separator
18. I Might Be Wrong (Tour debut)
19. Myxomatosis
20. Everything In Its Right Place
21. Encore 2: The Daily Mail
22. Planet Telex (Tour debut, first performance since 2009)
23. Idioteque

I thought the lighting and artistic video screens looked well done. One note: during the encore song "Everything In Its Right Place" the video screens showed the lyrics...it looked like they used Comic Sans. ;o) We remember the lyrics "Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon...."

The show wrapped up sometime between 22:15-22:30, about a two hour performance.

We neglected to anticipate the place getting smoked up--marijuana and tobacco seemed fairly abundant and Dawn seemed visibly distracted during a few pieces. On a positive note, people had no problem getting up and dancing in our section. We both felt tired and fairly restrained, but appreciated the energy of others.

After the show, everyone exited peacefully. We passed someone dressed in a furry costume. Rain began lightly coming down as we walked. Street vendors sold delicious-smelling meats and older tour shirts. We left the parking lot out the back way onto W San Fernando, then south onto Market to 280 East—almost no traffic. :o)

Got home around 1:00...no incidents, a bit of rain made for some slowness but no problems.

Ignorance: how it drives science

'Ignorance: How It Drives Science' In his new book "Ignorance," neuroscientist Stuart Firestein argues that science is less about an accumulation of facts and more about embracing what we don't know. Using case histories on topics ranging from astronomy to psychology, Firestein demonstrates how discoveries often arise from cultivated, high-quality ignorance.

This program featured a reference to Václav Havel's quote, “Keep the company of those who seek the truth- run from those who have found it."

Radio song

Melbourne, Australia-native Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" 2011 single on the Eleven label. Audio. Vocals like Sting, in a good way.

Minimalist philosophy

http://io9.com/5900394/minimalist-posters-explain-complex-philosophical-concepts-with-basic-shapes

Bad opinion generator

http://theweek.com/article/index/218150/bad-opinion-generator

Best advice never taken?

I forget where I heard this...but I thought I would add my story...nothing too fancy.

Back in high school, I visited the guidance counselor to discuss career options. I said I was interested in pursuing computer science...he told me not to go for that but to go for electrical engineering instead.

So glad I never took that advice!

Thai hot

We visited the Thai Cottage restaurant on Saturday and I tried "Thai hot" (out of mild, medium, hot, and Thai hot).

Fairly strong burning sensation but not what I expected. I ate it slowly and drank a Thai ice tea every once in a while to cool things down.

Perhaps Thai hot no longer means what it used to?

Tell me how you were loved...

...and I'll tell you how to make love"

An interesting subtitle.

Trench coat

Wet weather reminds me of my desire to own an affordable wool, navy, ankle-length, double-breasted trench coat...

Since 2009, Newport Harbor online seems to have gone offline.

By distributor...
Yahoo shopping: nope
Amazon shopping: nope
Zappos: nope
6pm: nope
ClothingConnectionOnline

• Vittorio St Angelo

ContempoSuits: nope
Gap: nope
Overstock: nope
J. Crew: nope
Lands End: nope
REI: nope
Allegri Milano:
DKNY:
Acne:
Express:
Sierra Trading Post: black and taupe
Banana Republic: nope
Nextag: led me to Neiman Marcus, but otherwise, nope
Neiman Marcus:

• Valentino Leather-Trim Trenchcoat... no

Bluefly: nope

ShopStyle: some leads on vendors...

• Alibaba: wow, lots to choose
• Doublju (also known as Jiniy): 

DHGate: nope

By vendors...


7 Diamonds
ASOS
Alexander McQueen
Alfani
Allegri
Band of Outsiders
Ben Sherman
Beverly Hills Club
Billy London
Burton
Buyers Picks
D&G Dolce & Gabbana
DKNY
Diesel
G-Star
Jacob Siegel
Joseph Abboud
Kenneth Cole
London Fog
Melinda Gloss
Nautica
New Monarchy
Prada
Ralph Lauren
Shades of Grey

History


http://artofmanliness.com/2010/10/20/man-guide-trench-coat/ 

Radio song

Heard on 89.9 FM KXPR out of Sacramento, CA:


Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 2 "Mysterious Mountain"
Dallas Symphony Orchestra / Andrew Litton
Dorian 90224
Audio

Englebert

The Nugget casino out of Reno, Nevada rented a billboard promoting an upcoming concert for Englebert Humperdink on April 27.

The billboard simply said "Englebert Humperdink / April 27" in black text on a yellow background, with a promo pic of his face.

What more does one need? I have known about him for years...great voice. Discovered an LP my mom had of his music many years ago. My friend Tim and I have joked about him as a stereotypical lounge act.

Kent

We listen to Capital Public Radio 88.9 FM KXPR classical radio in the morning drive to Davis...really a nice way to open the day...sun rising, everything fresh.

For the longest time, now, we have had no idea whether the host of the morning show self-identifies as Ken or Kent Teeters...turns out he says Kent.

My banana was out of control

Dawn and I tuned-in and heard this phrase, out of context, on the radio last week and laughed....

Turns out it comes from an KQED 89.3 FM perspective:


How to Peel a Banana
Luke Pease discovers that even peeling a banana comes with a dose of cultural relativity.

Love Isn't All You Need: 3 Relationship Building Reads

Loved listening to author and psychologist Harriet Lerner's voice as she shared her three favorite relationship-building books. Full of emotion, humor, wisdom, and grace.

"It takes two to couple up, but it takes only one to make things a whole lot better."

The books:


We Love Each Other, But ...
Simple Secrets To Strengthen Your Relationship And Make Love Last
by Ellen F. Wachtel, paperback, 215 pages



Mating In Captivity
Unlocking Erotic Intelligence
by Esther Perel, Paperback, 244 pages



Geography Of The Heart: A Memoir
by Fenton Johnson, Paperback, 239 pages


Via KQED 89.3 FM out of North Highlands, Sacramento, on NPR on April 26, 2012.

Human Connectome Project

Heard on 89.3 FM KQED on March 29, 2012, via All Things Considered.

Radio radio

The Tivoli Audio Songbook

My institutional work space denies staff from streaming internet radio. I want a radio I can walk up to in the morning, turn on, and begin privately listening to.

My idea for USB FM radio did not pan out--I do not want to install drivers on the PC on my desk at work. I had an idea for something like this (does not meet my need for aesthetics or functionality--and seems unavailable for purchase anyway).

Which seems to leave desk radios as an option.

One commenter leaves an excellent note--use a remote control. Brilliant. I can string a headphones cable from the radio to my work space and use the remote to tune it...then again, I probably will only listen to one station most of the time.

The Sangean WR-2

Tivoli produces the Model 10 clock radio which comes with a remote control.

Two outstanding non-remote control radios:

The Tivoli Songbook (pictured at the top of this post)...also, any of the Tivoli products.

The Kaito 1103 gets excellent reviews for FM reception:

The Kaito KA1103

So it really comes down to FM reception (connection to external antenna a plus), price, and aesthetics. Including the name of song, artist, and other information also represents a plus.

If I knew how to boost my FM reception via external antenna enough to pick up KDFC out of Angwin on 89.9 FM, it would represent the best possible scenario. As the crow flies, the signal travels approximately 98 miles from the transmitter at 38° 40' 09" N,  122° 37' 53" W and Sacramento, CA

Hawaii

My neighbor's first thought on awakening from hip surgery: the sensation of returning from a vacation in Hawaii.

She shared the doctor also "signed" her leg, to minimize mistakes.

Dr. Killam

No joke. My neighbor's anesthesiologist at Kasier has the Celtic name Dr. Killam.

She said she appreciated his somewhat mild sense of dark humor.

Bi-sole'r socks

What my neighbor called the non-slip socks given to her in the hospital.

Sweet potato Kit Kat bar

Where else?

All those flavors sound delicious.

Learned today Kit Kat started in the U.K. in 1935, reaching the USA market in the 1970's.

Stadium Arcadium

Like the retro guitar sound on RHCP's song Stadium Arcadium...wondering what else to listen to with that style.

USB FM radio

Noting only as something I want to purchase.

Dandelion & Burdock

Surprisingly yummy. Also purchased the Shandy but have not tried yet.

Lawrence Livermore @ UC-Berkeley

Golden slugs to golden bears

Very proud of Dawn; she will participate in Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LBNL) UC-Berkeley Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) program this summer. The United States Department of Energy's Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS) administers the program in collaboration with the DOE National Laboratories, which includes the LBNL.

The WDTS pays SULI participants a weekly stipend plus housing allowance plus partial travel reimbursement; not as nice as the full room and board plus stipend offered by UC-Santa Cruz, but...Dawn will still come out quite nicely ahead. Nothing to sneeze at, by any stretch of the imagination. And it really represents Dawn's dream work environment, working with other brilliant minds on advanced technology projects.

We have found at least one housing arrangement next-door to the LBNL which seems a very cozy place to stay for the eight weeks of the project.

Exciting times...will certainly make it easier to visit during the summer.

Sierpinksi carpet

Wanting:

Via

Generating every image possible

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3720672

Alpha Kappa Harp

Apparently no! They represent the co-ed Greek professional fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi.

Unlike some other Greek campus organizations, the letters do not seem to represent an initialism for a Greek motto....

Delta Delta Delta

"Let us found a society that shall be kind alike to all and think more of a girl's inner self and character than of her personal appearance."
-- Sarah Ida Shaw, founder of sorority Delta Delta Delta

Contrast that with the Saturday Night Live skit.

Clean out rod

I always wondered why they put pins in the end of mechanical pencil erasers.

Guilt and cigarettes

This afternoon I remembered lying in bed one night in Riga, Latvia in 1997, listening to a local radio station play an eclectic mix of American music, like Gene Kelly's Singing in the Rain followed by Aqua's Barbie Girl. Radio SVA (translation: USA), I believe. They had an interesting jingle I have since forgotten.

For some reason, the thought occurred to me that night how one might go about effectively arguing/convincing someone else as to the truth of an argument. I chose the topic of smoking cigarettes somewhat arbitrarily. And I  somewhat unexpectedly found I had nothing except guilt to present with. As in, "you shouldn't do that."

In a small way, I realized the weakness of blind conformism that evening. Smoking cigarettes causes many long-term health issues. However, judging smokers because they do not conform to one definition of morality simply represents a weak argument.

While guilt (would/could/should) takes into account the "what" we want people to do, it does not take into account the "why" we want them to do it. It poisons relationships and triggers defensiveness.

That is all...just thinking about that this week and wanting to make a note of it, nearly 15 years later....

Radio TIVO

Wondering about this today...looks like others have too:

http://www.whynot.net/ideas/163

Such a dead-simple idea...it would eliminate the "ending of my favorite song" phenomenon.

Poppies

California poppies in full bloom in northern California.

Bob the Bob

A fictional person whose job entails manually measuring the rising ocean levels by going out and standing out in the ocean every day. : o )

He would operate a blog called "Bob the Bob".

Inspired by an NPR program "Facing the Rising Tide."

Lemon

Browsing the old Commodore 64 video games at Lemon64

Radio songs

Heard on 105.1 FM KNCI out of Sacramento, CA:

Sumter, South Carolina-native Lee Brice's single "A Woman Like You" on the Curb label. Audio.

Via the internet:

Teignmouth, Devon, England-based Muse's "Map of The Problematique" from their 2006 album "Black Holes and Revelations" on the Warner Brothers and Helium 3 labels. Video.

Heard on 88.9 FM KXPR out of Sacramento, CA:

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Sleeping Beauty Suite Opus 66 - Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra; James Levine, conductor; Label: Deutsche Grammophon; Number: 437806 BUY BUY  Audio.

Ruin

Bravo:

http://www.slashfilm.com/watch-ruin-awesome-animated-short-film-set-green-postapocalyptic-universe/

Common Lisp, Scheme, Clojure, And Elisp Compared

http://hyperpolyglot.org/lisp

Omcopter + RED video

Beautiful

http://www.notcot.org/post/46785/

Pillows

It should go without mentioning Google Image search returns lots of sushi and cupcake pillows.

Above: Dawn's current cute favorites. Apparently cute-plush.com ran out of the latter but etsy.com has the former.

She also recognized the burnt toast:

Buy it

Sushi pillow

Truth in advertising:

Buy it

Cupcake pillow

Truth in advertising:

Buy it

The secret weapon

The secret weapon:  http://www.thesecretweapon.org

Via

We're limited by being human

Why don't we act in our own best interest?
http://theenergyproject.com/blog/why-dont-we-act-our-own-best-interest

Om

Dave Winer points out Om Malik's new blog format:

http://om.co/

As a fan of minimalism, I applaud the simplicity.

He seems to use the Google font Crimson Text.

GTD, part deux

After coming back from an extended vacation last August, I started thinking about improving how I manage projects and workflows.

What structural changes in my routines can I make to work more effectively?

So I decided to explore GTD:

"Getting Things Done, also referred to as “GTD,” is a work/life management approach that is based on the principle that you have to get things out of your head and recorded in a system you can trust. This frees your mind from the job of remembering everything that you need to do, and allows it to concentrate fully on actually doing those things. 

Central to the GTD method is a simple thought process that you must go through with every task or problem that you are faced with. Two questions must be answered: “What is successful outcome?” And, “What is the next action?” By clarifying what must be achieved, and then deciding on the very next physical step that is required, we can generate a clear set of next actions that can be taken as soon as we are in the right context to do them. Thus, a key part of the GTD method is creating lists of tasks that are specific to a context, such as a list of calls to make or things to do at the office. 

The author of Getting Things Done, David Allen, summarizes the approach this way: “Get everything out of your head. Make decisions about actions required on stuff when it shows up–not when it blows up. Organize reminders of your projects and the next actions on them in appropriate categories. Keep your system current, complete, and reviewed sufficiently to trust your intuitive choices about what you’re doing (and not doing) at anytime.”

Still thinking through how this would all function as I transition between home and work environments.

Open questions...

Straight from the horses mouth says "Avoid cumbersome hanging files"...but how to organize non-hanging folders in file drawers?

Some definitions...

Project: A project is any outcome that will take more than one action step to complete.

Areas of focus: a high-level checklist of all the areas in life and work that you want to keep your eye on, ensuring that you are doing what you need to be doing to maintain them at your standards. Examples might be health, relationships, career, finances, creative expression, etc.; if the area is fine and “on cruise control,” no need. But if it’s not where it needs to be, you need to ensure that you have projects and actions to get them there.

Someday Maybe’s: things that you might want to do (about anything) at some point, but not yet. You just want to be reminded about them on some regular basis to ensure that you are OK with the fact that you’re not doing it yet. For example, learn Italian, climb Mt. Everest, own a vineyard. You will probably have “Someday Maybe’s” in many of your areas of focus as well as active projects.

On tools...

It's more important that it clearly serves the purpose of reflecting the reminders and information in the most appropriate way for you.

How should I choose which system to use (digital vs. paper)? Pay attention to your intuition, or just simply: What do you feel like using as a system? We’ve discovered people tend to resist the GTD implementation process enough as it is, so you need all the help you can get to be motivated to work the system. If you know you’d like to be digital, don’t waste time on a paper system. But if you like the look and touch and feel of a cool notebook, go for it. No system works unless you work it.

On getting started...

"Implementing and maintaining are two different things. To capture, clarify, and organize a lot of old backlog and set up a system from scratch may require two or more uninterrupted days of your time and focus. (Though we have never had anyone say that process wasn’t worth every minute of the investment!) Once you are current, it does require time and energy to keep it maintained, processing and organizing everything you collect (typically from 30 to 90 minutes each day). But what’s the option? It will take you at least that long, whenever you do it. It takes a lot more time and effort (and creates a lot more stress) to continually rehash the unprocessed stuff."

"Much of what happens with and around you during the week won’t be on any of your lists–it’s the ad hoc stuff, but having something that represents a stable inventory as best you can define it, to work against, is the only source of stability." (via)

The most complex-looking part of the process is the set of various lists for next actions (at phone, at computer, at the office, at my boss, etc.) (Via)

What can be done to keep from getting overwhelmed at work? Rigorously capture, clarify, and track every commitment you make–little or big, urgent or not urgent, personal or professional–in a trusted system (not your head). Make a clear distinction between the projects you are actually committed to finish, as soon as you can, and the ones that should be moved to a Someday Maybe list. Review and update your active projects list regularly, to mature your intuitive ability to know what your limits really are. Decide immediately the next physical action required to move each active project forward (call, email, talk to, buy, etc.), and organize reminders of those actions based upon the critical context for the action (does it need to be done with a phone? a computer? at home? at the office?). Review those lists whenever you have any discretionary time, in those contexts. (Via)

http://www.moleskineus.com/largeruled.html
http://markettorrent.com/topic/8774?page=1
http://www.gtdtimes.com/2010/08/02/which-list-manager-should-i-use-for-gtd/
http://www.david-web.appspot.com/cnt/GettingThingsDone/
http://www.davidco.com/faq%23gtd

Holi

Beautiful:

Via

~

The UNIX home directory equates to key '~' -- the above photo of Lear Siegler's ADM-3A computer terminal's full keyboard shows why.

It also shows why Bill Joy created VI with keys HJKL mapped to cursor position left/down/up/right:

0100 1000 H
0000 1000 BS (backspace; i.e., left)

0100 1010 J

0000 1010 LF (NL, line feed, new line; i.e., down)

0100 1011 K

0000 1011 VT (vertical tab; i.e., up)

0100 1100 L

0000 1100 FF (NP form feed; new page; i.e., right)

By selecting key 'Ctrl', the keyboard stripped the top bits, sending the HJKL key codes.

Note: per Wikipedia, "The Ctrl-H and Ctrl-J functions were standard, but the interpretations of Ctrl-K, Ctrl-L, and Ctrl-^ were unique to the ADM-3A." In other teletypes, VT means "down, a lot" and FF means "down, a page."

And why Mr. Joy chose key 'Esc' to switch modes--proximity.

The comments at Hacker News explain the other keys, such as why NUL equals ^@, why TAB equals ^I, why EOT equals ^D, and why ESC equals ^[ .

The Home key on the ADM-3A, incidentally, returned the cursor to the upper-left portion of the screen.

B.U.T.

In my teens, I read a book (I forget) which described the word "but" as an acronym for "Behold the Underlying Truth."

To this day, I mentally translate the word "but" into that phrase when I encounter it.

Also, via Marshall Rosenberg: "Don't put your 'but' in someone else's face."

Antipode

The antipode, or direct or exact opposite side of the globe, from Sacramento (38.57340069124239, -121.49093627929688):

(-38.57340069124238, 58.509063720703125)

which falls somewhere in the Indian ocean, between Madagascar and the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.

Via: http://www.antipodemap.com/

Know your memes

Know your memes:

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes

Cheap blood

Listened to NPR story "Flight From Syria: A Photographers Story," which included this line:

BLOCK: Let me ask you this, William. I spoke with one of the Syrian activists, Abu Bakr, who was in that same house where the two journalists were killed and where Edith Bouvier was injured and he said this. He said Syrian blood is so cheap and he talked about the thousands of Syrians who had been massacred, but that it took the deaths of these two Western journalists to really get the attention of the international community. 

I wonder, as somebody who was there at the time, as a Western journalist, what you think about that. 

DANIELS: Yeah, I agree. I really agree. That's why we think now, we must talk about what's happening there. But yes, this man is right. The Syrian blood costs much less than other blood.

Radio songs

Heard on 90.3 FM KDVS out of Davis, CA:

Shreveport, LA-based Miki Honeycutt's "Come On In This House" from her 1989 album "Soul Deep" on the Rounder Records label.