in8snotesThis portion of my site is powered by Blosxom. Blosxom is a perl script whose functionality here is extended through several plugin scripts in order to dynamically assemble a multitude of separate plain text files stored in a directory tree on the server into a cohesive, dated and RSS enabled weblog. Now in daily (r)sync with the directories on Nate's Powerbook.
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On my Macbook running Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS:
Last saved: 11/04/2012
Insightly feature request I added
Oct 3, 2012 We're using Insightly to improve communication in our sales force. Great product. One thing that is much requested is an easier way to map organizations. What I've been doing is exporting a filtered set of organizations, manipulating in Calc/Excel so I have two columns (address, tooltip) and plotting them in a Google Doc with the Google Map Gadget. This works, but its labor intensive. The boss wants to know if there are plans in the works to add this kind of functionality in the future? It would obviously be great if you could then proceed to use the Google route plotting intel to map out the most efficient travel routes but you can't do that using the Gadget. Thanks!
Last saved: 10/03/2012
by Al Watsky
December 27th, 2010, 04:44 PM from http://www.tdpri.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-251040.html
Last saved: 10/01/2012
posted on G+ as a comment This is a pretty complex moral and social pickle we're in, given that it seems like it is perfectly socially acceptable for folks to decide to use drugs to artificially increase their fertility (in cases where God seems to have other plans) while at the same time aborting unwanted issues of that increased fertility is often perceived as a crime against that God. Let alone the moral quandary of choosing fertility drugs at a time when our planet can barely support the huge population of humans it already has.
Last saved: 06/06/2012
The topic of how best to charge cell phone batteries and ipods or run a small nebulizer while camping has come up before. This file is just some notes I don't want to lose. We might choose to use a battery and an inverter. Optionally we could charge the battery from a 50W solar panel. Today, to run an oscilliscope off a battery we used the following equipment:
Vector 225 Watt Inverter
Lifeline GPL-U1T battery For camping we should really get a deep discharge battery (scooter and marine batteries) since these are designed to be fully discharged unlike car batteries which are always being charged by the alternator and don't like being fully discharged. To calculate how long stuff will run, do some back of the hand calculations. You need to find out the wattage each device uses. For a single laptop which uses a transformer rated at 65W (obviously this is a peak value and will not use this much power all the time). Assuming we find a 55Ah deep discharge 12V battery we could run that laptop at peak power for about 10 hours. 55Ah (battery rating) * 12V (battery voltage) = 660VAh / 65W (device wattage found on transformer) = 10 h Since its unlikely that we'll be playing with a laptop for 10 hours while camping, but instead just charging cell phones this seems entirely doable.
Last saved: 12/01/2011
I'm almost embarrassed to send anyone the latest Bardic Circle CD after listening to the Revelwood tracks Bragg gave me. While the Revelwood recordings are neither polished or perfect, they all display great musicality and originality. The stuff I've been doing of late seems to lack both of these characteristics. It's gotten me to start thinking about making a change musically, we'll see. The first three CDs I did were when Tim and I were spending a lot of time together in 2006-2008. We would invite other folks over to play with us, and I did a lot of the recordings by myself (many without Tim) just tracking the various instruments. After 2008 we started playing more seriously with Sport and Cate (and Sean) and what got recorded became more limited. We were no longer practicing at my place, but over at Sport's so we didn't have the gear - and we were trying to create a new sound. Then we ended up doing gigs and our practices were more geared toward that goal. As Tim started having less time to get together with us, we transitioned to recording so we could get some of the tunes down before they disappeared entirely, but it was too late. We had a couple recording sessions and Tim and Sean were apparently totally out of the picture (hopefuly this is only temporary, but it seems unlikely), and as Samhain 2011 approached and it was rumored that there was likely to be a fairly large turn out, I decided to attempt to put together a collection which represented what we had been doing for these three years. We didn't have a lot of time, but I brought the recording stuff out to Sports several times to capture some of the stuff we three had been working on alone this year, and I dug into the old recordings to try to find tunes with Tim and Sean that were worthy. I'm a bit disappointed with the result, but happy that I took the time to compile it anyway, because while it doesn't really do our efforts over these years justice - it does serve as a marker in time so we don't forget the great times we had together doing this stuff.
Last saved: 11/23/2011
Exactly. If the names appear to be real (hint: "Dark Star" is glaringly NOT a real name) then its going to be a lot easier to sell that data to business. I'm just suspicious that perhaps (if this is really happening as a concerted purging effort at all) Google really doesn't care so much that you are using an alias, but instead doesn't want it to appear that you using an alias to whoever they are planning to sell the data. Google can match up your IP to any of its mega-databases of information anytime they want to, and IP to location translation is now accurate to street level! I just think this isn't about Google not knowing who they're dealing with, its about the PERCEIVED quality of Google's product (information about you).
Last saved: 07/25/2011
"We are all made of atoms which were here when the Earth formed, lo these many years ago" In a general sense you're right - and its a profound thought. Technically, the earth gains about 100 million kg of mass each year due to meteorite impacts (at the same time its losing some similarly insignificant amount of mass from the atmosphere as well). Since some meteorites contain iron or nickel we could theoretically have some atoms in us that weren't actually on earth when it formed.
Last saved: 07/25/2011
I like the Wuala model of cloud based data storing better than dropbox. Client side encryption means that your key is stored on your personal machine. Wuala encrypts not just the connection (like Dropbox) but the data itself. If this is still true, then Wuala can't peek in on your files, but also means (unlike Dropbox) that they can't restore your password. The groups/social aspect of Wuala is better implemented, but no good iPhone integration - since I won't buy an iPhone this doesn't bother me. You can share up disk space with Wuala to get more storage space (they use a distributed model for redundant backup). Wuala is from Lacie (the usb/firewire drive company that Mac users like cuz they have artsy hardware designers).
Last saved: 07/25/2011
Trying to troubleshoot a "Premature end of script headers" error with the Blosxom install which suddenly appeared totally unbid. Turns out something must have changed since now the calendar plugin no longer works. Also a couple ^Ms in the content-type.html file appears to have contributed to the annoying server error 500 that was popping up.
Put this line right under the path to perl to see CGI errors in the browser:
Last saved: 03/02/2011
Stuff I do ...not inconsiderable amount of time spent working (or commuting to and from it), the requirements of being a husband, father, and homeowner, playing in a band, mountain biking (in season at least), historical re-enactment projects, planning, and participation, the care and feeding of various websites (including this one), tabletop wargaming and figure painting, board games with the kids, as well as the occasional graphic arts or desktop publishing project. If I could just figure out a way to not have to sleep I would have time to do a bunch of things that seem to keep getting put on the back burner - like painting the hallway or chopping some trees down - but I know I'd probably just end up gaming more instead.
Last saved: 02/19/2011
Evolution has been happening for billions of years. The process of evolution is driven by physical changes that add up to make an organism better able to compete for resources and mates than its neighbors. An organism that can move is better able to compete with organisms that can only blindly float about and scoop up whatever happens to float by. An organism that can see and hear is better able to compete for resources than an organism that cannot. An organism that can interpret what it sees and hears can hunt for or track down resources better than those that cannot. An organism that can store experiences into long term memory and access those memories later for comparison to current events is better able to choose correctly and compete in the future than one who cannot. An organism that can communicate with its fellows is better able to compete than an organism that must act alone. It makes sense that an organism whose brain has evolved to interpret its surroundings and has a large store of memories shared with others through communication would attempt to make sense of everything it and its fellows have seen, heard, or remembered (either individually or collectively) in the same manner. This is the motivating physiology behind religion which is at its core an attempt of the brain to interpret things that it has seen and heard. The currently inexplicable must have an explanation and those organisms that get the explanation correct will be better suited to compete for the prize than those who get it wrong.
Last saved: 10/13/2010
Here's something to think about while you gaze out that window. What you're looking at when you see the Helderbergs is the result of what is called "differential erosion". The very top of the "scarp" (as its called) is made up of (Hamilton group) shales (like weak slates) that don't erode as quickly as the underlying Helderberg limestones. (This is the same principle that is seen at and is the reason why there is a Niagra Falls). The result (from millions of years of erosion as rainwater sought what is now called the Mohawk River) leaves a "scarp" (a precipitous drop where trees and grasses can't always get a good hold so in places you'll see the rock layers). These layers (both the shales on top and the limestone below are evidence that where you are was once at the bottom of a huge sea because shale and limestone are only formed only at the bottom of seas. Limestone is a "sedimentary" rock (rock that is made up of lots of little bits of something compacted together) in this case, composed of grains of calcium carbonate (most grains being the skeletal fragments of marine organisms that have died and settled to the bottom of a sea. Geologists think that the shale layers (made of particles of mud and other bits of rock) on top are all that is left of the huge mountains that once rose out to your left (I'm assuming you're looking south by southwest). Even though the ground upon which the room you're in sits seems solid enough, it is rising imperceptibly still, because all the weight of those ancient mountains has been eroded away and the land as far as you can see every year weighs less and rises higher above the more dense rock upon which it "floats" like the froth at the top of a boiling brew pot. If you dig into these layers you should be able to find fossil evidence of sea creatures from the Silurian and Devonian periods (~400-340 million years ago) when where you are right now was within about 10 degrees of the equator! Finding anything which has been identified as being from a more recent time than the Devonian would completely and utterly destroy the entire theory of "deep time" which is the basis of the theories of geology and evolution (unless it could be explained somehow). Enough field work has been done that I am confident that this will never happen. The only creatures that lived during the Silurian (whose dead carcasses formed the lower limestones) were sea-going, though the very first amphibians have left evidence in that top shale layer (the Devonian). What you are seeing out there is the earth's untidy basement. The very beginning of everything you can see and recognize as life.
Last saved: 10/13/2010
Mark B. Evans Don’t forget the Punitive Expedition in 1916 to arrest or kill Pancho Villa in retribution for his raid on Columbus, N.M. earlier that year, which was the largest of more than three dozen incursions in the United States by Mexican rebels and bandits in 1915 and 1916. Gen. Blackjack Pershing led that fruitless search, accompanied by a feisty lieutenant, George S. Patton. It also featured one of the last rides of the storied 10th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers. Later, in 1918, U.S. and Mexican forces, who were supported by German military advisors, fought in Nogales on Aug. 27, 1918. The 10th Cavalry was also involved in that engagement. http://tucsoncitizen.com/view-from-baja-arizona/2010/07/27/invade-mexico%E2%80%A6again/
Last saved: 10/12/2010
post by Loubie, Apr 14, 08 This method allows you to extract the audio using VLC grafical user interface. The mp3 file generated will also play in other media players like Winamp, Windows MP and Real:
1. Open the flv file with VLC and stop it as soon as it starts playing. Once the bar runs it course, repeat exactly from 1 through 6, except for: a) Choose the MPG file you just created as your input file, b) Change the encapsulation method as RAW and b) Save the new file with the extension MP3.
Last saved: 07/20/2010
find . -exec touch -t 201010310000 {} \;
Last saved: 05/30/2010
For most of pre-history, human societies had words only for "one", "two", and "many". We can easily remember patterns of twos and threes, but give most people a set of 10 numbers to memorize and our eyes glaze over. Humans have an even tougher time conceiving of truly large numbers. Our penchant for the lottery is evidence of this - if we understood the odds better we'd probably never play. Many people confuse million and billion even though they are vastly different in scale - all those zeros make our heads spin. We are just not "designed" to be able to appreciate the vastness of space and time and so I'm not sure that its so much an arrogance as a real disability that makes it difficult for humans to accept that it is extremely unlikely that we are alone in the universe.
Last saved: 05/12/2010
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Last saved: 05/06/2010
Response to Gary's Facebook post about Arizona law and immigration problem
While I understand and appreciate the argument of this well-heeled lawyer from New York, please understand he's only showing one side of the problem. Yes, people are breaking (our) law by crossing the border illegally. The other part of the problem is that owners of landscaping firms, construction businesses, restaurants, and big agribusiness (and many others) hire undocumented workers because they know they won't complain, can get away with paying them low wages and can skate on taxes and health care - leaving that bill for the emergency rooms (us). This is creating a demand which migrants are risking their lives to supply. Blaming migrants for disrespecting our laws is probably disingenuous since hungry people will do what they can to feed their families - but greedy business owners (and a voracious American appetite for drugs) has created this problem - they wouldn't be here otherwise. The Russian guy doesn't mention that you can't walk here from Russia and so only the rich can make it here anyway. its not as simple a problem as our friends at FOX would like everyone to believe. The reality is that during WWII the US and Mexico established the 'Bracero program' where about 500,000 Mexicans migrated to the US to work on farms while US males were at war. The program lapsed in 1964, but of course the migration didn't - it was, by then a way of life. Since US jobs pay about 10:1 to Mexican jobs the migration is almost entirely economic. Since that time the US has resisted any kind of bill to authorize the migrant workers and Mexico decided that if doing nothing about it was the US desire, why should they stand in the way? Mexico has an official "policy of no policy" on this issue. After all, a lot of this money goes back into the Mexican economy! Why should they worry about it? In the 80s, reactionary laws began to get put in place by the states and those who were formerly migrants only, soon decided to become legal citizens to avoid getting in trouble (laws like the one in AZ turned migrants into "immigrants"). Now the "circular" migrants who really lived in Mexico most of the year were settling down and bringing their whole families up. This problem is the same problem its been since 1964 its not new at all - the only difference is that now Mexicans are coming for all sorts of jobs not just agriculture so people see them. Until the US (on a national level) decides to make a legal way for these people to come here and work and easily go home again, we will never solve it. Walls won't solve it neither will poorly thought out NAZI-like programs of stopping people in the street demanding their papers. Of course stopping people on the street and asking them to prove they are a citizen is fascist. I'm not denying there's a crime problem along the border, but we're already free to check resident status on criminals. Sometimes I feel like I fell asleep and woke up in a foreign nation. Hopefully the AZ law will force Obama to move the problem up on the priority list so we can actually start work on fixing the problem. Of course, then you'll hear nothing on FOX except why Obama is wasting time on immigration when he should be creating jobs (and since when did it become governments responsibility to create jobs? That doesn't sound like laissez-faire capitalism to me!) Here's a way we could solve the problem without Congress getting involved: All those people out of work could just drive down to Huntington or Farmingville every day at 6am and stand on the corner by 7-11 and wait for day labor jobs. They'd have to actually work for the money but with all the competition perhaps the migrant workers would just pack up and go home.
Last saved: 05/06/2010
A quick aside which is somewhat relevant to the discussion: I remember in 1982, 4 kids came in dressed as KKK goons (my district was about 16% black at the time which was about the national average, but for Long Island's massively segregated schools it was high). Somebody got offended and they banned dressing up entirely from then on. What if some kids decided to wear swastikas? Or better yet - tattoo themselves with Nazi symbols? At some point somebody is going to get offended whether you like it or not. Donning an American flag shouldn't be an issue in an American school - except of course when it is not worn appropriately. I remember someone being sent home for having the flag sewn on to her bum. It was considered disrespectful. In the context of the recent immigration issue, certainly what the kids did was provocative, but I don't this it could really be proven disrespectful - but a school is no place for making political statements. What I think is funny though is that Cinco de Mayo celebrates the Mexican victory over the French in 1862. Perhaps if the kids really wanted to rile up the Mexicans they have chosen to wear French flags? Personally I'm offended by green beer on St Pattys Day, but I won't raise too much of a fuss about it. @Gary: You know I agree with you that the administration was flat out wrong on this, but surely you can see how expressing pride and opinions can offend people who aren't of the same socio-economic background? Like when I say this is a white nation - statistically that is still correct (though perhaps not for long). Should I wear a 'White Pride' tee shirt to school on a day we're celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. day? Surely you can't tell me there's anything wrong with being proud of my race? MLK was a great civil rights leader for blacks, but I'm a pasty white guy. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that it might be a problem for some people. Perhaps almost like I am going out of my way to make a statement that something that is important to them is worthless. Going out of your way to show disrespect for someone's culture isn't American. Perhaps its even a little bit like how non-Christians must feel when America is referred to as a "Christian nation" because it implies that if you are not Christian you're not really a true American.
Last saved: 05/06/2010
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