jkOnTheRun

A belated farewell Dan Fogelberg

Back in December of last year the music world lost one of the greatest songwriters and performers of my time and I have been remiss in paying my farewell respects.  Dan Fogelberg died of cancer at the young age of 56 and I want to touch on how the music of this great musician touched my life in ways I can barely describe.  Dan burst on the scene in the early 70's, a time of my life when I as an aspiring musician was striving to define my art and thus very impressionable.  Mr. Fogelberg wrote what I consider some of the most personal and touching music that holds up even today.  While his music styling was very beautiful the lyrics of his songs were such that they touched my soul very deeply over the years and I consider it a lamentable fact that I never met him.

I am sure that some of my feelings for Fogelberg's music lie in the fact that my young voice was straining for a vehicle and his music provided that in many different ways.  I am no doubt biased by the fact that my young singing voice was very similar to Dan's making his music a favorite of mine to perform back in the day but if you sit down even today and listen to the messages that are shared in his songs I am confident you will be moved as I still am.  Those of you who are too young to be familiar with Dan's music have probably heard some of his greatest songs and not realized it.  His "Same Old Lang Syne" that is played every year at New Year's is classic and his "Run for the Roses" that is still played each year for the Kentucky Derby here in the US both demonstrate how his lyrics can capture an event in unyielding clarity that we all can empathize with.  The tribute to his father, "Leader of the Band" is one of the most moving songs you will ever hear if you truly listen to the lyrics of this hit.

I had the good fortune to see Fogelberg every chance I could and his performances were always such that you found him to be even better live than on his recordings.  His ability to pour the essence of himself in each of his performances resulted in his songs touching each and every one listening in a way unique to each one.  He was one of those rare songwriters who could conjure up a mirage through his music that listeners can experience deeply.  You only have to listen to his epic "The Reach" to understand what I mean by that.  So farewell Mr. Dan Fogelberg.  I thank you immensely for letting me share your music that has touched my life in such positive ways.

Dan Fogelberg official web site (caution, music will play when opened)

The gnomes are coming- hide the children!

A healthy breakfast just got a whole lot better

As a diabetic I try to watch what I eat, not as often as I should but when I can.  Each morning I usually eat a hot bowl of oatmeal to get me going as it's healthy and the trick is to make it taste good without compromising the healthy benefits of it.  No chocolate syrup for my oatmeal in other words.  The way I usually fix my oatmeal is simple, I start with an envelope of Quaker Instant Oatmeal, sprinkle cinnamon on top, pour in a modest amount of Mrs. Butterworth's Sugar-Free maple syrup and then add a dash of water.  Microwave that for a minute and instant healthy, hot breakfast.  The syrup gives it a nice maple, buttery flavor which coupled with the cinnamon makes it taste pretty decent.  This has served me well for years and it's a good way to start the day.  Today I was making the oatmeal as I've done thousands of times before and decided to try something a little bit different.  The trick is to not add anything terribly unhealthy so after I pulled my hot, steamy bowl of oatmeal out of the microwave I added a teaspoon of creamy peanut butter.  Oh my God, the peanut butter turned my normal breakfast into a gourmet's delight!  The peanut butter in such a small quantity didn't adversely affect the health benefits and the additional flavor in the oatmeal was wonderful.  This has nothing to do with mobile tech but it's a big deal to me so I'm sharing it anyway.  Anybody got any other good ideas to make my oatmeal special?

The power of blogging- reaching out and touching people

Blogging is a phenomenon of epic proportions, of that there can be little doubt.  A lot has been written about blogging and how it's become the new form of journalism but to me it's so much more than that.  I have done a lot of self-reflection lately and realize the power of blogging is in the platform it creates to reach out and touch folks.  Blogging is much more personal than journalism by design and it is astounding how it can allow bloggers to touch readers.  I have made it a personal goal to touch at least one person a day through my blogging and I can tell you when that happens it feels good.

Touching people is a fuzzy phrase that can mean a lot of different things.  It can be simple advice to improve someone's ability to do their work or it can be something that truly affects someone's life in a big way.  I am fortunate to have a big audience with the blogging that I do.  My blogging is read by millions of people over the course of a year which blows me away when I think of that.  That readership is bigger than the circulation of all but a handful of newspapers in the US I'll bet.  Think about that for a moment, blogging has given me the potential to touch millions of lives over time.  The trick is to make the best of that legacy.

I hear from people all the time who describe how something I blogged has affected them.  Sometimes in a good way but sometimes not so good.  Either one is OK, it shows that something I blogged has touched them in such a way that made them think about it.  There's nothing wrong with that.  I've heard from folks from all over the world who told me that something I blogged touched them deeply.  It doesn't matter what was blogged if it touches someone that way.  There are very few things in this life better than the feeling I get when someone tells me they have been touched in a good way.  How many opportunities in life do we have to do that?  Blogging opens up this in a tremendous way and it's a great thing for me. 

I heard from someone this past weekend who has a disability who shared that advice I blogged enabled him to put something together that has made a big impact in his ability to do things in life.  How much better can it get than that?  Knowing that something blogged has made such a big impact on someone who needs all the help they can get is priceless to me.  Blogging provides a platform to do good things and these deeds aren't always obvious as such.  Those are the best kind, the simple blogging that makes someone's life better.  It makes this all worthwhile so those of you who blog think about that.  You are appreciated.

Are bloggers journalists?

A topic has been discussed recently by a bunch of A-list bloggers that crops up from time to time as apparently these A-list bloggers are a bit obsessed by it.  The conversation deals with whether bloggers are journalists and how bloggers should act if so.  I know this is a bit off-topic for jkOnTheRun but it keeps coming up and I want to share my thoughts on it.  Now I know that these A-list bloggers will not even see this as they only read each other but here goes anyway.  First of all I understand why these bloggers are concerned about it as there comes a certain level of responsibility when a blogger gets outspoken enough to get a big audience.  With a public forum comes a level of awareness with what the blogger says that means the blogger should act with an appropriate deportment whether he/she likes it or not.

I don't particularly worry about whether I should be considered a journalist or not.  I have been referred to as a journalist by main-stream media (MSM) for what that's worth but I don't really care.  You see the way I view it it doesn't matter if the blogger thinks he/she is a journalist or not.  It also doesn't matter if MSM thinks the blogger is a journalist or not either.  The only group that matters at all is the readers.  Yes, these bloggers should only worry what their readers think of them, not each other.  With a public forum comes a big responsibility in what bloggers say and do.  A few simple rules that I follow would go a long way to alleviating the concern in the minds of the A-listers.

1. Always tell the truth.  It doesn't matter how trivial the topic or how serious.  The truth will set you free and keep you that way.
2. Opinions matter but only if they are clearly identified as such.  Don't pass opinions off as fact and your readers will keep trusting what you say.
3. Never quote a statistic without revealing the source.  Bloggers are starting to fall into the same pit that MSM journalists often fall into by quoting some arcane statistic that is meaningless.  Let the reader decide if the source means it's a reliable statistic or not.

These rules may seem to be simple common sense as they are but they are violated so much every single day by bloggers and even MSM journalists.  Trust is earned and must be kept and these rules will help see that it lives.  Trust is the key ingredient in the relationship between bloggers and their readers and is not guaranteed nor should it be.  Earn it with the truth and you'll keep it a long, long time.  Until you violate one of these rules and your intentions start getting questioned.  That's my take on it, anyway.

Having a stroke- from the inside

Something we don't do very much here on jkOnTheRun is write about personal type stuff.  We figure that's not what you want to hear about on a tech blog and we like to keep some personal things private.  I broke that rule when I originally wrote the "from the heart" series about my heart surgery and it's resonated with a lot of people all over the world.  I am getting a lot of requests from friends and readers who heard about my recent stroke who wondered if I planned to write about that experience the same way.  I have been told that a lot of people would be interested to find out what the stroke experience was like and how it all went down.  I must admit that I had not planned to write about this experience as I didn't think there would be much interest in it but since I still keep getting asked about it I changed my mind.  Thankfully, changing my mind is something I can still do, it could have been much different.  If this experience interests you read on after the jump, if you're only interested in tech stuff then skip on and it will be business as usual.

Best Idol season yet

The cost of health technology

This post is totally off-topic and is purely an opportunity to vent a little bit  I am a Type 2 diabetic and I control my glucose level with a combination of oral medication and insulin that I inject 3 times daily.  I use a FreeStyle glucose monitor 3 - 5 times a day to keep an eye on my glucose level so I know when and how much to inject of the insulin.  I have only had this FreeStyle monitor for a month and I am very pleased with how well it works.  You just pop the little test strip into the bottom of the monitor and touch it to a tiny dot of blood and in about 10 seconds the monitor spits out your blood glucose level.  It's painless and easy.  The test strips can only be used once so a supply of 100 strips lasts me about a month.

Yesterday I went into my pharmacy as my first 100 test strips had almost all been used and I needed to get some more.  The look on my face must have been priceless as the cashier rang up my test strips as she asked me if everything was all right.  You see, these 100 test strips rang up at $102 which shocked me.  I mean I was totally unprepared for these little things costing so darn much.  That's over a dollar each and while I am sure the technology is sophisticated and all that this high cost still just floors me.  You have to realize that diabetics have to use these things multiple times a day for their entire life so this cost is staggering when you look at it that way.   Oh I paid my $102 and took my test strips home and I'll continue to do so but it doesn't make the expense any more tolerable.

It's only a stroke, I will be back sooner than you might want

Kevin has done a great job holding down the fort here on jkOnTheRun while I have been goofing off in some hospital.  He gave you the basics about my absence but it's time to give you the real scoop as to where I have been.  First up I want to give a huge THANKS to all of you who sent your well wishes, they have made me push to get back on the keyboard again which is totally therapeutic.  :)

Last Sunday night I was sitting in my study when I got very dizzy all at once.  I sat in the chair for a couple of minutes to see if it would pass and it did not.  I also noticed that the left side of my mouth was asleep, you know how it feels if you sleep on your arm and it's tingly when you wake up?  Like that.  The two symptoms occurring at the same time made me fear I had/ was having a stroke given my history of cardiac affairs.  My wife was not at home so I lay down for a few minutes to see if I felt better.  When she arrived at home I called her in and told her I think I had a stroke and I needed to get to the hospital.

That's where I have been since then and I have experienced a battery of tests including MRIs, CT scans, ultrasounds, and a lot of blood work.  The testing so far has confirmed that I experienced a mini-stroke in the back of my brain, but there is no detectable loss of function of any type as a result which is awesome!  This stroke was likely caused by a heavy spike in blood pressure.  My white cell count also indicated a massive infection so I may have brought something unintentional back from Vegas, maybe this could have been the reason the BP spiked up.  Who knows?  The three doctors who have been treating me feel I will probably be released tomorrow, which will be great as I hate hospitals.  I haven't had a decent sleep since I got here, I need to go home to rest up.

I hope that I will get to go home tomorrow, that will depend on another MRI I am scheduled to get in the morning so hopefully that test will back up what has already been determined.  I am very ready to get home and to talk about all of the big things going on by some people called Apple.  Be back soon!

Who's the luckiest man in Vegas tonight?

Why that would be our very own Kevin Tofel who is right now waiting to collect his jackpot winnings from a $1 slot machine of $10,000.  Yes, that's a 1 followed by four zeros!  Congratulations on the big winning Kevin!  I couldn't live blog it as they frown on electronic gadgets in the casino but rest assured his smile was a mile wide!

Happy New Year!

Happy holidays from jkOnTheRun

Kevin and I want to wish each and every one of you and your family a very safe and happy holiday!  It is a time of year to spend good times with friends and family and we hope you get the chance to do that.  We appreciate all of you as you are the reason we do what we do here and we are enriched by the interaction with you.  Take the time to reflect on this past year and what is important to you.  We will take the holiday off today and be back tomorrow so happy holidays everyone!

The Geek's Night Before Christmas

‘Twas the geek’s night before Christmas, and all through the house,

Not a hard drive was whirring, not a single clicking mouse;

The gadgets were charging in their docks with care,

In hopes that St. Nick shopped at Best Buy this year;

The geeks were all snuggled all warm in their beds,

While visions of smartphones did dance in their heads.

With a click and a whir there arose such a clatter,

As the PDAs and UMPCs began to all chatter;

A song they did sing to ring in good cheer,

In their sleep geeks were smiling for what did they hear?

Nothing, because it was all flash drives here,

And as they settled their heads back down in the bed,

They dreamed of the gadgets that might be colored red;

A Zune, an iPod, or an HDTV,

Could that be what they’d find underneath the tree?

As the geeks fell asleep with their eyes all aglow,

And the visions of electrons did come and did go;

With a whoosh down the chimney the gear did alight,

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

It's fall in Houston

No question that Houston is one of the most temperate cities in the US and it's rare to see a change of seasons like in other areas.  I had to capture this photo as it proves that Fall has arrived in the Space City:

That's it, you can return to your regularly scheduled programming.

Dodging the Humberto bullet

We were all prepared in Houston for Tropical Storm Humberto but little did anyone expect it to strengthen overnight to hurricane strength and turn northeast.  That turn spared Houston, our thoughts are with those to the east who were not so fortunate.

Happy birthday to Marc!

Happy birthday big guy!  The big 5-0 as in Hawaii.  :)  You don't look a stardate over 49.98.  Enjoy.

That's it, I'm building an ark

Goodbye Sally, hello C70

I am sad to report that Sally and I are no longer an item.  As happens in many relationships, Sally has recently been requiring more and more of my attention and the only thing that made her happy was to throw ever increasing amounts of money her way.  So we parted as friends and it's no surprise it didn't take me long to find another to make my days a bit brighter.

This is my 2001 Volvo C70 convertible that I picked up through a really good deal.  I have long admired the C70 convertibles and now I have discovered first-hand why that longing has been justified.  The C70 has a 2.3L 5 cylinder high-pressure turbo charged engine that delivers 26 mpg highway while pouring out a respectable  236 HP.  It rides like a dream and is in very good shape, inside and out.  Raising and lowering the top stops passersby every time as it is quite a show the way the top cover opens up to capture the lowering top and vice versa.  Overall a very pleasant driving experience.

I will miss Sally but have a feeling I'm going to really love the Volvo.  :)  More snaps after the jump.

8 random things about me

Marc Orchant has tagged me in the "8 random things" meme (I'll get you for this) so here are eight random things about me:

1. I've been to Paris 11 times.
2. The longest trip I've been on was 20+ hours flying from Houston to Muscat, Oman.  I returned after an 8 hour meeting.
3. I have lived under martial law for 3 weeks.
4. I have witnessed first-hand a civil war in the making.
5. I learned to program on an IBM 1130 mini in high school.
6. I have owned 4 convertibles.
7. I was a singer in a rock band.
8. I want to write a novel about someone accused of a crime because the GPS locator in his phone puts him at the scene of a murder when it happens.

OK, that's all for me.  Here are the lucky people I am tagging:

Kevin Tofel (you knew you weren't getting out of this, right?)

Matt Miller

Dwight Silverman

Hugo Ortega

Remembering Federico Rojas

I am sorry to report that Federico Rojas, father of engadget founder Peter Rojas, passed away this week unexpectedly.  Peter is a friend to both Kevin and I and he has written a moving tribute to his father and the loving role he played in Peter's life.  Please join Kevin and I in offering heartfelt condolences to Peter and his family in this most difficult time.  Peter, it is clear your father was an important role in your life, no doubt very proud of all you have accomplished in a short time, and we thank you for sharing the impact he had on your life.  Take care my friend.

Happy Fathers Day!

On this Fathers Day we wish all of you Dads out there a very happy day!  May you spend it with family and friends.  My father is no longer with us and I will spend this day reflecting on what he meant to me and the impact he had on my Life.

High school football hits prime time

You may have followed the course of my stepson's high school football season here on jkOnTheRun as I posted about it from time to time.  Football season is long past but this weekend is bringing it back home again for a couple of reasons.  First up, Michael's high school graduation ceremony is taking place this evening, the big moment when all Cy-Fair High School 2007 graduates bid farewell to friends and grade school.  Reflection on the past school year naturally falls back to the football season where our Bobcats made it deep into the state championship run, dominated by junior running back sensation Sam McGuffie, whose unbelievable season of 3,121 yards and 43 touchdowns has caught national attention, helped along no doubt by the video of him hurdling a defensive back.  I blogged that here and it has been downloaded over 430,000 times on YouTube.  I'm including it at the end of this post for posterity's sake.  McGuffie has caught national attention since he will be back at Cy-Fair High School next year, and he's received offers from every major university in the country.  Punctuating just how much in the national spotlight he is the Houston Chronicle reports that ESPN2 has signed a contract to broadcast live the Cy-Fair Bobcats play the Cy-Falls Eagles on October 18th in the fall.  I'll bet they are hoping Sam will hurdle someone else during the game, something he actually did 2 or 3 times during the past season.  Congratulations to Michael and the rest of the 2007 graduating class and good luck to seniors everywhere.

Off topic- the Virginia Tech tragedy

No doubt everyone has heard about the tragedy at Virginia Tech yesterday where a madman walked on campus and killed 32 people, wounded many others and then turned the gun on himself.  It's just so senseless that decent people will never understand what motivates someone to do such a heinous thing to fellow human beings.  Unfortunately, now begins the debacle that we will surely see that follows tragedy like this.  The news media has already begun greasing the wheels of the legal system by jumping on the question why the university didn't notify students sooner of the danger as the situation played out.  The first two news accounts I read of the tragedy were playing up the "university at fault" meme by the third or fourth paragraph.  Soon we will see TV news reporters offering up experts who will make claims that some of the victims would likely have been saved if earlier warnings had been given by Virginia Tech officials.  A monster walks onto campus killing people indiscriminately and we blame the university.  When did we as a society come to expect the authorities in our lives to protect us from absolutely everything?  Ask anyone living in a Middle Eastern hotspot and they'll tell you there is no total protection from madmen.

What's even sadder than the tragedy is the scores of lawyers who were no doubt contacting the victim's families before the bodies were even cold.  It won't be long before we see dozens of lawsuits filed against Virginia Tech for not protecting (or warning) their loved one quickly enough.  Oh they'll sue the madman's family too to make it look like they're not after the money but the lawyers will make sure they sue the university with the deeper pockets.  This whole cycle sickens me as much as the act of the evil madman who perpetrated the act.  Bad people do bad things, why does someone have to get money as a result?

My heart goes out to the families of the victims and even the shooter.  No one can understand the depth of your loss.

Random musings of no importance

It’s the kind of weekend that has me thinking about goofy stuff that doesn’t really matter but I have to get them out of my system.  Here they are in no particular order:

As bad as the food is at McDonald's why are their French fries so much better than other fast food chains?  They’re just so golden brown and tasty.  Why haven’t the other food chains figured out how they do it by now?

Speaking of McDonald's, ever notice how the beeping of the fry machines sounds just like the beeping of life support machines in the intensive care units in hospitals?  I guess that’s kind of appropriate, isn’t it?

Why does the gas pump ask if you want your transaction to be debit or credit?  The only difference at the gas pump is if you choose debit you have to enter your PIN number.  Credit you don’t so why ask?  And why would you choose debit?

Why do people who can’t even operate an electric can opener think they can scan their own groceries at the U-Scan lane in the store?  While the line of people behind them wait for the employees to help them, of course.

As great as the MacBook Pro is there’s nothing better than sitting in the easy chair in front of the basketball game using the Tablet PC like I am now.  It can’t be beat.

Why is Saturday Night Live so bad?  Is the current show so bad due to the lack of star quality or due to bad writing?  Or all of the above?  Remember Jim John Belushi, Dan Akroyd, Gilda Radner and Chevy Chase?  There’s nothing memorable about any of the shows today.

Why do kid’s sport leagues let every team in the division into the playoffs?  Doesn’t that make the whole regular season pointless?  Just ask your kid and he/she will tell you the regular season games don’t matter.

Speaking of kids why do schools try to eliminate competition in schools?  Is it just to protect kid’s delicate psyches or does it stem from the belief that competition hurts self esteem?  A little healthy competition is actually good for kids, it builds character.  If we don’t show our kids how to succeed they can only succeed by accident.  At least that’s obvious to me.

Cancer through the eyes of a patient- CancerDiva

You probably know I blog for the Houston Chronicle and one of the blogs they run is one that I can't miss.  Terry Hayes has colon cancer and is blogging the experience on her blog CancerDiva, icky parts and all.  She is facing her situation with aplomb and a bit of humor if you can believe that and her work is just a wonderful tribute to the human spirit.  Highly recommended.

The de-sensitizing of Starbuck's

If you’ve been a regular visitor to jkOnTheRun you know that my work sees me running around most days and Starbuck’s has been a frequent stop for years.  I first started frequenting the mega-coffee house(s) when they teamed up with T-Mobile and started offering WiFi.  Not cheap WiFi either but then again it’s consistent and I never find the connectivity is down.  I’m a coffee lover which helped make my relationship with Starbuck’s a perfect match.  I love my triple venti sugar-free Vanilla cappuccino.

A memo from Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbuck’s hit the news this week and it seems he thinks Starbuck’s has “lost its soul”.  He wants the chain of coffee shops to regain its lost appeal and more importantly the lost atmosphere that early stores provided.  Mr. Schultz, you are right about that, modern stores are almost antiseptic in appearance.  When you visited one of the early stores you felt like you were in some artist’s loft in New York or San Francisco, but not now.

In his memo Mr. Schultz thought that the automatic espresso machine eliminated the romance of a visit to Starbuck’s.  I think he’s off the mark with that observation.  So why do modern Starbuck’s locations not provide the same homey atmosphere the chain was originally famous for?  The answer is pretty simple to me so here’s my two cents.  The coffee shops began to lose the appeal when the wildly popular Frappuccino was introduced.  There are few things so irritating like the blenders that sound like a 747 is taking off at the next table.  It is flat near impossible to relax and read or work in the shops with all that racket going off constantly. 

I used to walk into a Starbuck’s and find at least one or two people sitting in the easy chairs reading books or newspapers and generally taking a respite from the hustle and bustle of the day.  I don’t see that very much any more and I believe it’s because it’s nearly impossible to relax with all the noise.  It’s to the point that if I get a business call while I’m sitting at a table I have to walk outside so I can hear my call and not have to explain where I am.  Mr. Schultz, you know you have a noise problem when the party on the other end of the phone call understands why the call is so noisy when you tell them you’re in a Starbuck’s.  What kind of relaxing atmosphere is that?

Speaking of those tables, what’s up with the uncomfortable chairs?  You can’t sit at one of those little tables for very long without your butt and thighs going all numb.  It’s hard to continue on with your day when your butt is numb.  Get us some comfortable chairs or at least put a little cushion on them.  Unless you believe it’s in the company’s best interest to keep turnover high at the tables then your plan is working.

Lastly Mr. Schultz, and this ties into the whole noise thing, when you started selling music in the stores the order was obviously given to play it 24/7, and play it loudly.  It must have been a successful plan because every Starbuck’s is doing it now, and over time the volume has been cranked up to the point that now a visit to a Starbuck’s is like a visit to the record stores of old.  Loud annoying music makes conversation darn near impossible, and sitting down with a good book an exercise in futility.  There’s nothing wrong with softly playing music, heck I love music.  But it can’t be the dominating part of the Starbuck’s experience.  You’ve got the non-stop blenders for that.

Off Topic: Consider donating to the James Kim Memorial Fund

Sorry for the OT post, but the lost of James Kim hit me hard and was a blow to the entire tech community. Dave Zatz is trying to round up donations for the James Kim Memorial Fund, and working with the Director of TiVoCast Operations, came up with a unique raffle prize. For every $10 donation Dave collects, he'll award one raffle ticket for a TiVo-branded toaster. No, it won't go rewind your toast back to plain bread, but it's an interesting item that few folks have and it does put the TiVo logo on that morning toast.

Please consider a donation and raffle entry; in my opinion, James Kim's valiant efforts to save his wife and children was nothing short of heroic, so I've got a donation on the way. If you're not able to donate, that's fine; consider hitting up the Digg link to really help spread the word. Thanks!

The Geek's Night Before Christmas

‘Twas the geek’s night before Christmas, and all through the house,

Not a hard drive was whirring, not a single clicking mouse;

The gadgets were charging in their docks with care,

In hopes that St. Nick shopped at Best Buy this year;

The geeks were all snuggled all warm in their beds,

While visions of smartphones did dance in their heads.

With a click and a whir there arose such a clatter,

As the PDAs and UMPCs began to all chatter;

A song they did sing to ring in good cheer,

In their sleep geeks were smiling for what did they hear?

Nothing, because it was all flash drives here,

And as they settled their heads back down in the bed,

They dreamed of the gadgets that might be colored red;

A Zune, an iPod, or an HDTV,

Could that be what they’d find underneath the tree?

As the geeks fell asleep with their eyes all aglow,

And the visions of electrons did come and did go;

With a whoosh down the chimney the gear did alight,

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

 

Happy holidays everyone!  May you spend time with friends and family and appreciate these things that really matter. 

Meme time for JK too

OK, another pesky meme tagging, this time my buddy Kevin has tagged me to name 5 things about myself that others probably don't know.  Here they are in no particular order:

• I lived in Caracas Venezuela for 6 years.  I moved there speaking no Spanish in order to force myself to learn it quickly, which I did.  The best method to learn Spanish while there?  Watching cartoons on TV in Spanish.  Surprisingly this worked very well due to the simple language used in most cartoons.
• I am a professional geophysicist by accident.  You got that right, my educational background is in what was then called Computer Science.  I started working in computer rooms for oil companies and picked up geophysical principles by watching their computer runs to the point that I was helping the staff geophysicists out so after 5 years I was promoted to a practicing geophysicist.  Honest.
• The high school I attended in Pasadena, Texas had one of the first computer curriculums in the country.  I attended that course for 3 hours per day for my last two years in high school and my final project was an inventory program for a men's clothing store.  It was written in COBOL and was still used by the store 5 years after I left high school.
• I began using WIndows CE devices the day they were released (the old Handheld PC).  I began writing about mobile technology at that time and was given an autographed copy of the first ever Microsoft Press book on Windows CE for those efforts.
• I once had to attend a one day meeting in Muscat, Oman that materialized at the last minute.  I fflew for 23 hours from Houston to Oman and arrived at my hotel at 3 am.  I attended the meeting all day, went directly from the meeting to my flight out at 7 pm for the 23 hour return trip.  I was so exhausted that when I changed airports in London I left my briefcase with my laptop inside at the security X-ray carousel.  I searched the entire airport before hearing my name paged in the airport to return to the security checkpoint, where I was given my briefcase with all contents intact.  Thank goodness this was pre-911.

I am not going to tag anyone else for this meme because the holidays have me too tired. :)

The mighty Cy-Fair Bobcats have fallen

Our Cy-Fair Bobcats Cinderella season ended today in a thrilling defensive battle with the Pearland Oilers in the Texas State High School playoffs. The game was a defensive battle as the two teams met at Rice Stadium in Houston. Each bringing in one of the top offensive teams in the country, the two defenses clashed on the field in a thriller that saw the Oilers score a touchdown with only 15 seconds left in the game to clinch a 16-15 victory.

The Bobcats began the season unranked in the state and put on a season that ended just a few quarters away from a State Championship and we couldn't be more proud of the effort of our boys.   We tip our hats to the Pearland Oilers for a great effort in a fantastic comeback to advance into the next stage of the playoffs and wish them good luck in the next round.  BFND

Cy-Fair high school football juggernaut rolls on!

You can tell from the past posts about the Cy-Fair High School playoff run that it's a hot topic around my house, what with stepson Michael Castillo being the starting center and all.  Each weekend has brought an exciting playoff game on our quest for the state championship and last weekend was no different.  Our Cy-Fair Bobcats defeated the Hightower Hurricanes 49 - 7 to keep the dream alive for another week and this weekend we will face the Pearland Oilers in Rice Stadium to draw ever closer to the San Antonio Alamodome, site of this year's state championship.  The game against Pearland is the Division 1, Region 3 5A championship and it should be an exciting game- Go Bobcats!  BFND.

Cy-Fair High School advances to next playoff round

Another weekend, another round of the Texas High School Football playoffs have come and gone.  I am very happy to report that our Cy-Fair Bobcats defeated the Lamar Redskins 29-7 and now progress to the next round of the playoffs.  I have posted links to videos of star running back Sam McGuffie depicting a few of his masterful plays but don't have any this week.  The Lamar defense did as good a job containing Sam as any team this year and the result was a "poor" performance of only 195 yards, one of his lowest rushing totals all year.  As always, Sheri and I are both very proud of Cy-Fair starting center, MIchael Castillo, and Sheri was able to capture this photo of son Michael when he appeared on the Jumbotron at Reliant Stadium:

Go Bobcats!  BFND

Texas high school football playoffs have begun!

I first brought Cy-Fair high school junior running back phenomenon Sam McGuffie to your attention last week with the now famous “hurdle run” video that has been picked up nationally.  Friday night we played our first playoff game against Katy Taylor and won handily 35–7.  Katy Taylor recognized the threat that McGuffie brings to the gridiron and like every team before them this season tried to “stack the box” to attempt to stop Sam but to no avail.  McGuffie doesn’t just use speed and maneuvering to break free for his long runs as you can see in this video highlight from the game on Friday.  Sometimes he uses brute leg strength, which most defenses don’t realize he can do.  Word of his special athletic ability has spread far and wide and people are coming from all over the state to see this kid run the ball.

Next up, Reliant Stadium, home of our NFL Houston Texans where we will play Lamar in round 2 of the state playoffs.  Kudos to the entire Cy-Fair Bobcats football team including Sam and especially the entire offensive line which clears the way for McGuffie’s runs.  Special kudos to my stepson, Michael Castillo, starting center, for keeping the offensive line running like a well-oiled machine.  Go Bobcats!

Happy Holiday!

To all our readers in the US we wish you a Happy and Safe Fourth of July Holiday!  Enjoy your day off with family and friends!

What are you doing at 3pm today?

Sorry for the off-topic post, but it is a national holiday today here in the United States. I found some interesting information regarding Memorial Day and thought to briefly share.

- I read in the Sunday paper that over 1,000,000 Americans have died in wars since 1775.
- When children were touring the U.S. Capitol and were asked what Memorial Day means, they responded "That's the day the pool opens."
- A Gallup Poll indicates that only 28% of respondents knew the meaning of this holiday.

Today at 3pm local time, Congress has asked that Americans observe a moment of remembrance; one minute of silence to respect the many who lost their lives. By all means, enjoy this day off by spending time with your family and friends; let's just not forget those who won't enjoy today so that you can.

(via the White House Commission on Remembrance)

Calling all bird watchers

Today I noticed a large bird in a tree in my back yard and I have never seen this type of bird in my area.  The bird is brown, has a beak about 3 inches long, yellow legs I estimate to be about 4 – 5 inches long, and a body that is around 12 inches long.  When standing on the limb in the tree he/ she is about 1 1/2 feet tall.  This bird is huge compared to all other bird life in the area.  I snapped some photos using a telephoto lens since the bird was very high in the trees so here is “Big Bird”:

Does anybody know what kind of bird this is?

-jk

Evolution of dance video- hilarious

We don’t do many off-topic posts on jkOnTheRun but if you do just one thing thing today then watch comedian Judson Laipply performing a six minute history of dance, from the early Elvis days to hip hop.  It is extremely funny.  You get major points if you can actually remember doing all of these dances.

(History of Dance via BoingBoing)

-jk

Never mow your grass again- ain't science grand?

This post is totally off topic for jkOnTheRun but what the heck?  It is Saturday and because the weekend means yard work I can’t be the only one this appeals to.  Howard Hughes Medical Institute scientists have reported “success in determining the signalling pathway for steroid hormones that regulates growth and development in plants”.  That phrase is a mouthful all right but breaking it down for you and me it means they may be able to develop lawn grass that never grows beyond a certain height.  Can you say no more mowing the lawn?  Hello, sign me up!  Seriously there are many wonderful implications for this science but I just can’t get past that no-mow lawn.  Yowza!

(HHMI via Science Blog)

Hit and run update

Last week I mentioned my wife’s hit and run accident and how the police used the impression from the offender’s front license plate to make a positive ID on the car.  Today my wife went to the body shop that is repairing her car and snapped some photos of the impression and I though I’d share them.  With only this partial impression the Houston Police Department has made a positive ID on the owner of the car.  These photos were taken in the Service Manager’s office as the bumper has already been removed from the car and it’s being held for State Farm, our insurer.

Don't hit and run

My wife called me yesterday morning all upset.  On her way to work someone in an older car slammed into her car from the rear and then took off, leaving us in the unenviable position of having to deal with the damage using our own insurance.  Luckily Sheri wasn’t hurt, just furious that this person would hit her at about 40 miles per hour and then take off.  Since she was momentarily disoriented after the impact she couldn’t get the car’s license plate number so we thought there would be little chance the offender would ever be tracked down.

Guess what?  The car slammed into Sheri’s car so hard that the front license plate numbers were imprinted into the plastic bumper!  When Sheri went to file the police report she showed them the impression and in less than a minute they identified the license plate number through the general description of the car that ran away.  One solid match and the police turned it over to the Hit and Run Division and expect to get in touch with the owner of that vehicle pretty soon, who is responsible whether they were the driver or not.  That’s just cool.

UPDATE:  Sheri has posted about the experience with the police and license plate number on her blog.

The worst prose on the planet?

Every year the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest solicits the worst opening lines for a novel in salute to the phrase made famous by Snoopy- "it was a dark and stormy night".  Writers submit their entries from all over the globe and each year the "best" are chosen and published.  This year's winners have been acknowledged and their entries published on this web site so if you are in the mood for some funny writing don't miss it.  I mean these are bad, so bad that they are often hilarious.  Take the winning entry for example:

As he stared at her ample bosom, he daydreamed of the dual Stromberg carburetors in his vintage Triumph Spitfire, highly functional yet pleasingly formed, perched prominently on top of the intake manifold, aching for experienced hands, the small knurled caps of the oil dampeners begging to be inspected and adjusted as described in chapter seven of the shop manual.

Why ground the shuttles with one in space?

As discussion has intensified over potential problems with the shuttle re-entry due to the foam problems I can't help but feel a bit disappointed over NASA's public grounding of the shuttles while Discovery is in space.  This is something that could surely have waited until the Discovery is safely back home.  I know that NASA is trying to be more open with the public but let's give some consideration to the men and women up in space right now.  May they return safely and triumphantly.

ABC Nightline piece on Ireland

Nightline ran a great story last night that was right on time for St. Patrick's Day today.  Certainly that was no coincidence.  The show was a great one that chronicled how Ireland has gone from a country in great turmoil 30 years ago to the Ireland it is today that was recently named the best place in the world to live by The Economist Magazine.  Over the years I have worked with many good people who were forced to leave Ireland due to the many troubles in their homeland and it was wonderful to see how things have improved to the point that many Irish have returned home to a great life.  The show demonstrated how immigrants are flocking to Ireland as there are far more jobs than workers to fill them.  They even visited Google's headquarters in Ireland where they run their operation for all of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.  Great story and I felt it worth sharing this St. Patrick's Day.  Have a nice enjoyable and safe holiday today.

Windows XP security updates available

If you have not done so you need to run Windows Update on your Windows XP systems as the latest critical updates plug quite a few security holes.  I updated last night on my Sony U and it applied 11 different security patches.  An odd thing I noticed after the update, disk space is tight on my Sony U due to some things I am working on that eat a lot of space and before the update was applied my disk drive reported 1.6 GB of free space.  Immediately after the reboot that was required by the application of the update my disk drive reported over 3.2 GB of free space.  It seems that the update deleted 1.6 GB of files somewhere in the system.  Has anyone else noticed this?

We love our BrewStation

We are big coffee drinkers in our house, it is probably how we keep going on so little sleep.  :)  We go through a coffemaker about once a year since our water is so "heavy" the water pumps burn out so quickly.  We have tried just about every brand of maker out there, from the very cheap to the expensive and have determined that we like the flavor of the brews from Mr. Coffee makers the best.  The criteria we have for an acceptable maker are simple (besides the flavor)- programmable (so the first cup of the morning is ready when we wake up), at least 8 cup capacity and a thermal carafe.  My wife and I do not like old or burned coffee that you get from a maker with a burner so the thermal carafe keeps the flavor longer.

Blockbuster fee structure changes

In case you missed it the first of next year Blockbuster will change the late fee structure they have been using.  The video rental giant will stop charging late fees but with a catch.  They will give customers a one week grace period after the normal due date on rentals after which they will charge you the price of the video or game.  You can protest but no guarantee they will take the rental and give your money back.  You have been warned.

(via everybody)

Backdoor advertising- paying to get stories Slashdotted

Slashdot has evolved into such an influential web site that it has spawned a verb- slashdotted.  When someone publishes an article on their web site and it gets posted to the front page of Slashdot it can generate tens of thousands of visitors in just a few days, something that most web sites would kill for.  That's called being slashdotted and I know it generates tons of traffic, it's happened to jkOnTheRun.

Jeremy Wright has been a successful blogger as long as anyone and he has parlayed that into "real" work writing tech stories for other sites.  It seems that the web site he writes for commercially has run into some stiff competition and he has come up with a novel way to try and counter it.  Jeremy's article is an ad for a "Slashdot wizard" who will be paid to get their stories slashdotted.  Here's the request from his blog:

I work for a news site. A news site which will be negatively affected by a recent Google News announcement. A news site which needs to keep it’s traffic up.

So, we are looking for someone to specifically do just that, by getting stories approved at Slashdot. Do whatever it takes, nothing against the rules. Basically, every story you get approved is 50$ for you.

Sounds kind of like buying votes to me.