E-mails and egos: "Justin Kruger, PhD, and his colleague Nicholas Epley, PhD, of the University of Chicago, have published research that helps explain why electronic misunderstandings occur so frequently. In a study in the December Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 89, No. 5, pages 925-936), they find that people overestimate both their ability to convey their intended tone-be it sarcastic, serious or funny-when they send an e-mail, as well as their ability to correctly interpret the tone of messages others send to them."
A good read, and definitely something to keep in mind.
-B
Monday, February 06, 2006
Super Bowl XL Commercials on Google Video
Super Bowl XL Commercials on Google Video
I love Google more and more. They've collected all the commercials from the Supebowl into one convenient place for easy viewing. Beacause, you know, the commercials are really the only reason to watch.
-B
I love Google more and more. They've collected all the commercials from the Supebowl into one convenient place for easy viewing. Beacause, you know, the commercials are really the only reason to watch.
-B
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Saturday, February 04, 2006
And then there were three...
We came home last night to find a happy cat waiting to get outside to use the pine straw, half an hour later he's uncharacteristically flopped next to his food bowl waiting for dinner and panting like crazy. This is so uncaracteristic of Mickey that we crated him up and off we went to the emergency vet, the same one we dealt with Luna with only six or seven weeks ago. They whisked him off to the back, took an amazingly quick look at him (I guess when a diagnosis is this solid and obvious it doesn't take long at all) and told us the prognosis: congestive heart failure and the related pulmonary edema, along with an acute thrombosis blocking bloodflow to his rear limbs. Treatment at this stage is difficult, and rarely effective for very long. So we made the always difficult decision to put him to sleep. They gave the shot while we were cuddling him and talking to him, and it was much like luna - one second they're there, the next they're not. I've done this for more than my share of animals recently.
He arrived in 2000, littermates with Minnie. He was always the big, gangling cat, seeming built like a basketball player (tough to imagine in a cat, I know, but just think very long legs.) He was the ham of the bunch, and was always ready with a dramatic flop to announce his intentions to receive some tummy love. Among the four, he was the get-along-with-everyone character, who bridged the divide and happily coexisted with both Minnie and the two marriage-induced arrivals: Sammy and JoyJoy. Now those three will have to work out the power structures all over again. He was the office cat, having taken over the study since the renovation. The picture was taken one day when he curled up for a nap on the opened scanner. (It's a cat scan!) He had a serious affinity for desk chairs, anything paper, piles of clean laundry, and high-denier nylon luggage. And he had the absolute loudest purr I've ever heard from a cat. And I'm really going to miss him.
Bye, Mickey.
-B
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Thursday, January 19, 2006
Xyzzy
Iraqi Invasion: A Text Misadventure
Revision 88 / Serial number 54892
Oval Office
You are standing inside a White House, having just been elected to the presidency of the United States. You knew Scalia would pull through for you.
There is a large desk here, along with a few chairs and couches. The presidential seal is in the middle of the room and there is a full-length mirror upon the wall.
What do you want to do now?
> INVADE IRAQ
You are not able to do that, yet.
> LOOK MIRROR
Self-reflection is not your strong suit.
> PET SEAL
It's not that kind of seal.
> EXAMINE CHAIRS
They are two several chairs arranged around the center of the room, along with two couches. Under one couch you find Clinton's shoes.
> FILL SHOES
You are unable to fill Clinton's shoes.
I about fell out of my chair reading this. It's the Bush presidency in the form of a Zork-esque transcript. The full thing can be read over at defective yeti. Give it a shot - it's an absolute hoot! I originally found this over at boingboing.
-B
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Tuesday, January 17, 2006
How to eat sushi
This is a very instructional video on how to eat sushi. It has details that I'll bet even the most devout sushi connoisseur didn't know.
I think I know what I'm having for lunch today.
Enjoy!
-B
(Found here.)
I think I know what I'm having for lunch today.
Enjoy!
-B
(Found here.)
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And now, your moment of zen...
It's the Falling Sand Game. Draw lines, plant plants, divert the sand around. It's amazingly addictive.
-B
-B
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Monday, January 16, 2006
Hooray for Maryland! (I think...)
This morning at Yahoo! News I found an article that made me happy. The state of Maryland has passed a law that employers of over 10,000 state residents are now required to spend a minimum of 8% of their income (or was it revenues?) on employee health care coverage. That sounds like a pretty broad law, does it not? That's what I thought. However it turns out that (guess who?) WalMart is the only employer in the state that meets that size requirement that's not already spending that magic 8%. Yet another reason that WalMart is an evil company and why "Everyday low prices!" has its cost in the community. And that, my dear readers, is a cost I'm not willing to pay. I have actively boycotted WalMart for a couple of years now (the number of times I've caved and had to run in for something I can count on one hand), and will continue to do so.
The 'I think...' part of the header comes from the slippery slope that is single-company-targeted legislation. On one hand if WalMart would just do the right thing (tm) this wouldn't be an issue, but on the other, I don't really like the idea of state legislatures targeting one company with a particular law. It seems sorta like Gov't micromanagement. So which is the lesser of the evils?
-B
The 'I think...' part of the header comes from the slippery slope that is single-company-targeted legislation. On one hand if WalMart would just do the right thing (tm) this wouldn't be an issue, but on the other, I don't really like the idea of state legislatures targeting one company with a particular law. It seems sorta like Gov't micromanagement. So which is the lesser of the evils?
-B
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Sunday, January 15, 2006
The Cow Game
The Cow Game is a great time waster. It's in German, but you don't really need the instructions to figure out how to play it. The big hit in our house is the the little swinging udders in the victory dance.
-B
-B
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Saturday, January 14, 2006
SWH3 600th Hash
SWH3's 600th Hash is today!! Woot!! It's a little cold and windy for my tastes, but hey, it January in NC.... whaddayawant?
On-on!!
-Bill
On-on!!
-Bill
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Friday, January 13, 2006
Fun Jobs!
It's a hell of a long shot, but I'm trying to get a mental-health sabbatical to go work for the Mouse. I want to burn all my available vacation (55 days, I think?) to go be Cruise Staff on the Disney Magic. The Cruise Staff are the crazy, loud people who jump around and yell and lead the deck parties, run the game shows, lead on-ship activities, call bingo, and in general make sure that everyone on board is having fun and has plenty of cool stuff to do. This job would be sooo much fun and be such a great break from 15+ years of computing.
So many things have to happen just so for me to actually pull this off. I started with my dear darling Susie and Bonnie, who consented for me to go off and do this wild hare idea. Then I went to SixthStar entertainment, the folks who do hiring and staffing for DCL. A brief email exchange taught me that this *was* possible, but the position I wanted was only available as a 4-month contract. Duke has limits on how much vacation one can take off in a year, so I'd have to get the 4 months split across a new-year boundary, which means Thanksgiving, Christmas, Anniversary, New Years and my Birthday would all be spent on-ship, away from my family. I talked to my director about it (he's a Brit and exceptionally cool, and damn smart as well), and he didn't say no. His words were that there were a lot of details (ie. all the HR stuff) to work out with my direct manager to make it happen.
So, although it's not a done deal, it's made it much, much further than I ever thought it would. I'll keep pushing, and talking to people, and see if I can make this happen.
-B
So many things have to happen just so for me to actually pull this off. I started with my dear darling Susie and Bonnie, who consented for me to go off and do this wild hare idea. Then I went to SixthStar entertainment, the folks who do hiring and staffing for DCL. A brief email exchange taught me that this *was* possible, but the position I wanted was only available as a 4-month contract. Duke has limits on how much vacation one can take off in a year, so I'd have to get the 4 months split across a new-year boundary, which means Thanksgiving, Christmas, Anniversary, New Years and my Birthday would all be spent on-ship, away from my family. I talked to my director about it (he's a Brit and exceptionally cool, and damn smart as well), and he didn't say no. His words were that there were a lot of details (ie. all the HR stuff) to work out with my direct manager to make it happen.
So, although it's not a done deal, it's made it much, much further than I ever thought it would. I'll keep pushing, and talking to people, and see if I can make this happen.
-B
Meta
I hate blog posts about blog posting, as it seems just like so much self-important navel-gazing to me, but here I am doing that exact thing. I've been paralyzed for a while on posting, because I have no clear idea of what I want this blog to be. Is is a personal diary for sharing with friends and family? Is it my soapbox to shout about what's right and wrong with the world? Is it a creative writing outlet? Do I want it discovered and read by the world? Do I care if someone finds it in 10 years when I'm running for public office? The truth is, I don't know. That is, I have no good clear answers for those questions. So, I'm throwing those blog meta-questions out there and getting back to writing. It's gonna be what it is. Read it if you want. Comment if you want (please!). I don't have a reason other than I want to do it. Enjoy.
-B
-B
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Procrastination wrap-up
Do you ever get that paralysis that comes from not blogging regularly enough? I do. I have. That's why there's been so much in the past month that hasn't shown up here. I know I won't do some topics justice, but here they are anyway.
By far the saddest news for December was about my dear Luna-dog. After hashing (first time in a couple of months) with her on the 11th, I came home from work on Thursday, the 16th, to find her lying in my bedroom, clearly out of sorts: tired, sluggish, not wanting to stand, and not able to stand for very long when I helped her up. I got Kris to stop by and take a quick look, and off to the Emergency vet I went for what I expected to be just an antibiotic shot for pneumonia. A blood test an x-ray later, I found out it was a couple of bleeding abdominal masses, combined with a septic infection. I rallied Kris and Susie and off to a better emergency vet in Cary, where the diagnosis was confirmed and refined. Luna wouldn't make it through the night if we did nothing, and her chances were slim-to-grave if we did pursue heroic interventions. Having her put to sleep was the most difficult thing I've done in a long while. Luna was coherent and *there*, surrounded by three of the folks who loved her most in the world, as the doc pushed the meds that dropped her off to sleep, stopped her breathing and then he heart. I know she felt cruddy, and I know it was the best (if not only) choice to have made, but that didn't make it easier. We all cried and said our goodbyes. It was by far the crappiest night of the year. I miss my Luna.
More wrap-up soon. Happy new year everyone!!
-B
By far the saddest news for December was about my dear Luna-dog. After hashing (first time in a couple of months) with her on the 11th, I came home from work on Thursday, the 16th, to find her lying in my bedroom, clearly out of sorts: tired, sluggish, not wanting to stand, and not able to stand for very long when I helped her up. I got Kris to stop by and take a quick look, and off to the Emergency vet I went for what I expected to be just an antibiotic shot for pneumonia. A blood test an x-ray later, I found out it was a couple of bleeding abdominal masses, combined with a septic infection. I rallied Kris and Susie and off to a better emergency vet in Cary, where the diagnosis was confirmed and refined. Luna wouldn't make it through the night if we did nothing, and her chances were slim-to-grave if we did pursue heroic interventions. Having her put to sleep was the most difficult thing I've done in a long while. Luna was coherent and *there*, surrounded by three of the folks who loved her most in the world, as the doc pushed the meds that dropped her off to sleep, stopped her breathing and then he heart. I know she felt cruddy, and I know it was the best (if not only) choice to have made, but that didn't make it easier. We all cried and said our goodbyes. It was by far the crappiest night of the year. I miss my Luna.
More wrap-up soon. Happy new year everyone!!
-B
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