Singularis

Sometimes I feel singular. Not necessarily lonely. It's more of a detached feeling. It is as if I am an observer and not actually participating in this reality. This feeling happens in a crowd or when I am the only person around. The physical space between the other humans and me is irrelevant; they can be within inches or miles away. I am far away from them, observing them as one would watch ants collecting food. Even if the other bodies brush up against mine as I move through the crowd, I exist in a different reality.

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The image is a photo by Marco Iozzi. To me it conveys a sense of peaceful solitude. From this viewpoint it is far away from the others. Yet, if the photo had been taken from another viewpoint it joins their group. Of course art is about interpretation. Each person will see it differently, from their own singularity.

A Novel is Fictional

Fox News (and other media outlets) has discovered that a novel is fictional. They had to consult a freelance writer to determine that "The Da Vinci Code" is fictional. Since the book claims to be a novel, it would be unreasonable to believe otherwise. I don’t understand why people are so upset about a work of fiction that they try to prove that it isn’t truthful. By definition it is not truthful. The author claims it is fiction. Those two facts should end any and all debate concerning the “accuracy” of the story. You might as well question the accuracy of Harry Potter.

Silly Solutions

US President George Bush wants to use National guard troops to help the Border Patrol on the Mexican border. Mexican President Vicente Fox apparently didn't want to be left out of the silliness so he's planning to sue the US over it. Looks like President Fox's re-election company slogan is "Working hard to help Mexicans find a better life, in another country." Wouldn't the Mexican government be better off making Mexico a place that Mexicans want to live? I don't think it's a good idea to use the national guard as border patrol. However the Mexican government needs to take ownership of this problem. When millions of your people are willing to do whatever it takes to go to another country and do the worst jobs for less than the citizens there will take, you have a problem. This is not a US problem. It's a Mexican problem. The Mexican government need competent leadership or it's economic policies will continue to be inept.

Sleep

I usually wake up at least once during the night. Last night I slept for seven hours straight, without taking sleeping pills. I felt great this morning. At peace with the world. It reminded me of how I felt when I went on a road trip to Monterey and Santa Cruz. I found the image at Visitortips.com.

Earthquake Prediction

Researchers have found a correlation between plankton blooms caused by an increase in water temperatures and earthquakes. I wonder if anyone has tried monitoring soil temperatures to try to predict a quake?

Before Shock

One of the first questions people from outside of California ask when they find out you live or have lived in California is “Aren’t you afraid of earthquakes?” My typical reply is “Aren’t you afraid of <insert natural disaster most likely to hit their state />?” I’ve been through more than ten earthquakes and no one I know has died or been injured by one. I’ve known people who have died and people who have been injured by a tornado. The only thing that scares me about earthquakes is the fact that we haven’t figured out how to predict them yet. Countless studies have been done hoping to figure out how to predict an earthquake. None of them has succeeded in producing a reliable way to predict an earthquake. One of the most promising studies I’ve read about is being done by a guy named Friedemann Freund. His research has shown that when a rock is squeezed it generates a small electrical current. He plans to use this concept to develop a method to predict earthquakes. It is going to take a decade of research and millions of dollars, but it sounds like it might work. Wired.com has the story.

"He who dies rich, dies disgraced."

The quote in the title is from Andrew Carnegie. It was used in a BBC News article Washington diary: Culture of giving . It an interesting look at philanthropy in the US.

Patrick (Pillpopper) Kennedy Was Drunk

According to the police officers that drove him home after he crashed a car, Patrick (Pillpopper) Kennedy was drunk. He was given special treatment because of his family or his job. Either way the equal protection clause was violated. Patrick Kennedy, the capitol police, and all of those involved in this obstruction of justice are guilty of discrimination.

Why hasn’t the media treated this incident the same as they did when Dick Cheney was involved in a hunting accident? Even M.A.D.D. isn't very "mad" about it. They are either biased or being paid off.

AOL Censorship

In a previous post “Censored Email?” I expressed my concern that AOL’s plan to charge bulk mailers to send email to AOL email addresses. My concern at the time “I see an opportunity for AOL, or one of its employees, to censor based on their personal beliefs.” was well founded. In April AOL did just that. They blocked all email to AOL customers that included a link to http://www.dearaol.com/. Dear AOL, is opposed to the AOL “email tax”. The EFF website has the details.

Episode of Pure Repression

This is the poem that the Politburo Admistration at Wyoming Valley West High School in Pennsylvania is not allowing the students to publish. "Episode of Pure Defiance" To my locker I went walkin’ And that’s when she came stalkin’ And the hall pass I’d forgotten Gave enough for my recapture To the office I went cursin’ And the situation worsens I was heard by another person Yeah, a teacher And now, if you’ll be believin’ To the principals I’m screamin’ "The beast is such a demon!" Even though I was at fault Appraising phone calls all came in When my friends heard what I did "But you’re suspended!" Not to worry-At least I go in glory The Times Leader has the full story.

Just when you thought they weren't inbred hicks...

"Kansas Lawmakers Set Minimum Marriage Age to 15"

Drink, Don't Drive

A friend of mine emailed this pic to me. Is beer cheaper than gas? Depends on the beer.

Take Drugs and Drive

You can drive while taking drugs and not go to jail. Even if you crash your car in front of a police officer to whom you appear intoxicated. As long as you are Ted (Chappaquiddick) Kennedy's son. At least he hasn't killed anybody yet, that we know of. Here's the link to the story about Patrick (Pillpopper) Kennedy.

Do you use unit tests in your ASP.NET applications?

I read a lot of programming websites. In my current job I write ASP.NET applications, so a site I read often is http://www.asp.net/. They have a poll of the week feature that asks a multiple choice question and displays the results. This week the question was “Do you use unit tests in your ASP.NET applications?” I can’t imagine writing an application of any type without unit testing. So I voted for “Yes, throughout the application:”. Since the most popular answer was “What are unit tests?:” I’ll give a brief explanation of a unit test. A unit test is testing a piece of code separate from the rest of the application. The goal is to make sure that specific part of the code functions properly. Let’s use a car as an example. One item you would want to unit test would be the steering “module”. You would do this simply by verifying that it performs as expected. If the wheels do not move when you turn the steering wheel to the right, you will need to fix that module. Hopefully this was the number one answer because developers are not familiar with the terminology. I can’t imagine building anything and not testing units as they are built or put in place. Which is why I was surprised to see the second most popular answer was “No, we're not using them:”. That would be the equivalent of writing an entire novel without reading any of the chapters until you reached the end, and then having someone read it and tell you if the novel “works”. Not an effective way to create something. The screenshot shows the poll results as of May 4, 2006 1:41pm Pacific Time.

Random Google Image

I was reading my friend Mark’s blog and saw a post titled “There is No Spoon, Only Wheaties”. So I searched Google Image Search for “no spoon”. The image I liked the best was found at Katzura Hoji Space. I can’t tell you much about the site since it appears to be in German and I don’t know German. Clicking on the image will take you to the full size one.

Wireless-N

I'm the last person to argue against a faster network. But at what cost? "Wireless-N" (802.11n) wireless networking equipment is being released. The problem is the 802.11n standard is in it's draft stage and therefore it may change by the time it becomes an actual standard.

What does that mean to consumers buying an 802.11n product today? It means you may not be able to buy a computer that will work with the router you buy today unless you buy enough network adapter to fill the needs of all computers you may want to put on the network in the future. If the 802.11n router you buy today goes out in the future, you may be stuck with network adapters that won't work with the equipment that is on the market then.

For most people I would recommend 802.11g until 802.11n becomes a real standard.

Related link:

Wireless-N Could Stand For 'Not Interoperable'

"The servers are down. Go home"

It’s “A Day Without Immigrants” day. Millions of people in the US are taking the day off in protest against proposed immigration reforms. Here in Sacramento the weather is expected to be perfect for a day off. I’m going to work because I can’t afford to take the day off.

I support immigration. Without it most Americans would be Europeans. Illegal immigrants are a more complex topic. Yes, they are breaking the law. Many Americans broke the law during prohibition. Most people didn’t consider that to be a problem. Therefore, prohibition was repealed.

The largest employer of illegal immigrant day laborers is homeowners. Do you check the documents of the guy who mows your lawn? Most people are happy to pay a good price for a job well done. One of my coworkers put the issue in perspective, “I’m not concerned with whether or not we have illegal immigrants. I just don’t want to spend $20 for a head of lettuce.” I doubt that the majority of US citizens want to see a significant increase in the cost of food. If we get rid of all of the illegal immigrants and keep more from coming in, that will be one of the consequences. Higher costs for producers = higher costs for consumers.

I haven’t seen a plan that actually improves the situation and I don’t have one. Therefore I think we should use the system we’ve been using.

Related links:

CNN/Fark.com

San Jose Mercury News

a Day Without a Mexican