Your very own cyber-pumpkin
Posted on 2005-10-31 at 08:05
To carve to your heart's content. Happy Halloween, everyone.
Now Playing
Posted on 2005-10-31 at 08:04
Cecilia Bartoli performing Caldara's "Vanne Pentita A Piangere"
Web 2.0
Posted on 2005-10-31 at 08:03
This is the new buzz. Expect my thoughts on this so-called "Web 2.0" in the next couple of days.
All Hallow's Eve
Posted on 2005-10-31 at 08:02
Tonight will be Cadence's first Halloween. She will go dressed as a ladybug. She will beg the neighbors for cady that her mother and I will then take from her and eat. This is the way of Halloween. Don't judge us.
The Case of the Haunted Hayride
Posted on 2005-10-31 at 08:01
I, Denise, Cadence, Brent, Kyoko, Hanna, Chris Susko, and Chris Susko's woman all went to the Hunt Club Halloween thingy last night.
Firstly, regardless of what lies others might spread in the wake of this event, I carried myself with dignity and respect.
Secondly, much fun was had by all. There were long lines and stupid, lying pizza men, but once you get past that, the night was brisk but not cold and the events were well done. Those that didn't go are worse for having abstained.
Denise and Kyoko and the children (Hanna and Cadence) spent most of their time in the main barn area with the music and dancing and *GASP* karaoke! You haven't lived til you've seen a drunk dude in a poor wolfman costume singing along to Warren Zevon's Werewolves of London. It hurt my ears and soul in ways unspeakable.
Named Blogs
Posted on 2005-10-28 at 08:03
Ya know, everyone else names their blogs. I should give mine a name besides "Tom Caudron's Web Log". Maybe something like "Tom's Amazing Blog Elixir and Colon Cleanser" or "What're Ya Looking at bitch?" I dunno. I should think about it for a bit then give it a name.
Mark has a blog now
Posted on 2005-10-28 at 08:02
You can read it over on LiveJournal.
I've found my new hero
Posted on 2005-10-28 at 08:01
Is it wrong to say that I wanna be like this guy?
A small gig
Posted on 2005-10-26 at 08:03
The people I spoke with today have handed me a small (as in just a few days long) gig. This is a good way to spend my time while I wait for other larger work to come through. It's small enough that it won't interfere with any of the larger possible gigs I have pending.
When it rains...
Posted on 2005-10-26 at 08:02
I had another successful meeting with a potential client today. Just as with the CBN thing, this client would be a great group to work with. Of course, one of them needs to actually call back now. :)
Just to make a point about statistics
Posted on 2005-10-26 at 08:01
I was talking with someone about correlation and statistics today. My point is basically summed up in the absurdity of this graphic:
Ed Nather, professor of astronomy at UT Austin
Posted on 2005-10-21 at 08:01
"A University without students is like an ointment without a fly."
Dashes---En, Em, and plain
Posted on 2005-10-20 at 08:01
I just sent out an email to someone about this, and it seemed like something that could be of general use to others.
The en-dash (the length of the typographic "N" or 2 times as long as the single dash) means "through", so you'd use it when saying 3--8 or January 8th--January 15th, but the em-dash (the length of the typographic "M" or 3 times as long as the single dash) is used to establish a break in the sentence flow. For example, I could use an em-dash in place of a parenthetical demarcation. In any case, no space either leads or follows a dash of any sort except the hanging hyphen (like when I'd say "The Judeo- and Islamic-Christian cultures of the Middle East are completely whack"). You have no idea how often I see the various dashes being used incorrectly---sometimes in major publications!
Now you are fully versed on the grammatic intricacies of the various dashes. Keep it secret. Keep it safe.
Technical Interview followup
Posted on 2005-10-18 at 08:02
The technical interview went well enough. He is going to recommend that they proceed to the next stage. I may end up with a contract at CBN afterall. Nothing it set in stone, and the details haven't yet come out, but if the stars align correctly and all the pagan signs are right I may be contracted soon.
What am I good at?
Posted on 2005-10-18 at 08:01
"We all need to be like the boy trying to hit fly balls to his dad. He threw a ball up into the air and said, 'I'm such a good hitter.' Then he swung and missed. He threw up another ball, missed the ball again, and said, 'I'm such a good hitter.' After the third and fourth failed attempt to hit the ball, he just threw the ball up in the air again and said, 'I'm such a good pitcher!' When we embrace our blessings, just like when we embrace each other, we must do so honestly."
Technical Interview
Posted on 2005-10-17 at 08:02
I'm gonna be chatting with a "Senior Architect" on weighty technical matters (yes, goober, that's a joke) at 4:30 today. It may lead to a contracting gig just down the street from my house at CBN. By all accounts it's a pretty decent place to have a gig. The people are friendly and the facilities are clean. The theology is incongruous with my own, but that doesn't really bug me all that much. Their theology doesn't really matter so much to my programming duties. Frankly, I probably agree more with their underlying motives and beliefs than I do with the greed-driven motives of Corporate America.
Before you know it, I'll be Laying Hands on a crashed server. ;-)
The Good News About War
Posted on 2005-10-17 at 08:01
According to the Human Security Report funded by the governments of Canada, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK, war has dramatically decreased in both frequency and intensity since the end of the Cold War.
The number of conflicts has fallen by more than 40% in the past 13 years, and the number of very deadly wars has dropped by 80%! The average deaths per conflict has fallen from 38,000 in 1950 to just over 600 in 2002. It's 600 too many, but a great deal better than we've ever done in the past.
Indeed, though it's popular (and justified) to lament the situation in Iraq, it's worth noting that the big players (such as the U.S., China, and the UK) have gone longer without fighting a war between each other than they have in hundreds of years.
For the "Just the Facts Ma'am" crowd, here are the numbers.
On my way to Danville
Posted on 2005-10-14 at 08:01
Won't be posting til Sunday or Monday. Discuss the impact of Robertino Loretti on the modern American Boy Band amongst yourselves while I'm gone.
Now Playing
Posted on 2005-10-12 at 08:03
Al Di Meola's "Theme of the Mother Ship". This is from one of his best albums, "Heart of the Immigrants"
The Five Best Things About Unemployment
Posted on 2005-10-12 at 08:02
- Baths are for suckers
- There's none of that "wake up on time" jazz to interfere with my increasingly important "wallow in my own misery in the bed" time.
- Mooching is more socially acceptable if I don't have a paycheck of my own. It's like I have a mooch-for-free card that I get to flash to all my friends.
- I've had an opportunity to engage some really spectacular daytime television that I'd otherwise have never known about. That Dr. Phil really touches the human soul.
- Taking things slowly now means that I can enjoy the finer things in life, like enjoying my walk to the kwick-e-mart to buy a plain hot dog for dinner. The kwick-e-mart is a varied and interesting place if you take the time to look.
Full Remote Collaboration on Programming Projects
Posted on 2005-10-12 at 08:01
This Gobby thing is pretty neat! It allows multiple people in disparate locations to edit the same source code text file at the same time, and chat while doing it. Very cool. Not sure that I'd ever need it, but if I did at least I know it's there. I dig it.
Now Playing
Posted on 2005-10-11 at 08:03
Tears For Fears' "I Believe". I believe that if you thought for a moment, took your time / You would not resign yourself to your fate. That was a great band.
Surreal Thoughts
Posted on 2005-10-11 at 08:02
I found out yesterday that I live on the same street as Missy Elliott. That's who lives in that house down Indian River Road across from Indian River Plantation. So, does this mean I'm in a good part of the city, because I have a famous person living down the street? Weird.
Deep Thoughts
Posted on 2005-10-11 at 08:01
I am not sure how clouds get formed. But the clouds know how to do it, and that is the important thing.
How to Build a Better Brain Cancer
Posted on 2005-10-10 at 08:01
Step One: Run a high voltage line to a ceramic platter. Step Two: Let said platter bleed a power field all over the room. Step Three: Stand in the room all the time and bask in the glory of your newer, better tumor.
OK. Look it's way cool, actually, but I'm such a paranoid freak. You guys are just lucky I didn't accuse the ceramic platter of sending audio signals back to the NSA to spy on me!
It is begun
Posted on 2005-10-08 at 08:01
I submitted my first article proposal to a magazine yesterday. It might end in rejection (most do, statistically speaking) but I've begun now and I cannot be stopped. :) This was to Dragon Magazine. It was actually 5 different proposals, becuase they suggested including more than one idea per submission. I'm also pursuing getting something in either Portfolio Weekly or Hampton Roads magazine. I think I'll try to find a good story angle for Chinese adoption. It's somthing I know a bit about, have the contacts to get good quotes, and it could make for good Human Interest stuff. It just needs an angle....
Ubuntu 5.10
Posted on 2005-10-06 at 08:01
I'm using it. I'm loving it. You should use it too. Get it here. What is it? It's an Operating System. It competes with Windows and Mac OSX, but it's completely free and it rocks. Why is it free? For that you need to put your academic hat on and read what it means to be Free Software. Think Free Speech, not Free Beer.
The price of employment
Posted on 2005-10-05 at 08:02
Every day's another loss
Need the pay so please the boss
Through the sludge they mingle by the mile
Every worker looks ahead
Ah the kiddies must be fed
So they trudge along in single file
Honore de Balzac, novelist (1799-1850)
Posted on 2005-10-05 at 08:01
"Vocations which we wanted to pursue, but didn't, bleed, like colors, on the whole of our existence."
The Nature and Destiny of Man
Posted on 2005-10-03 at 08:02
Chapter Four
Posted on 2005-10-03 at 08:01
Life presents itself in chapters. It's important to know when a chapter is closing so that you know when to start looking for the next one. It helps make sense of the story and it helps keep everything moving along in a healthy fashion. My own story falls almost too neatly into three chapters. I'm not sure if this is dumb luck or if I'm just good at seeing when my current chapter needs a "The End".
I can remember the first chapter as if I'd just written it. Kelly was an important character, and my mother and grandmother too. It was in that chapter that I learned those skills that would help me cope in later chapters. What strikes me most sad about that chapter is just how few characters survived to the next. Still, it introduced a few that would become increasingly important.
The second chapter of my life was probably the one that holds my fondest memories. It was the one where I met Denise, reconnected with William (and by association, almost every member of my current circle of friends), built my friendship with Bryan, Marcus, and Joe, and began to feel comfortable in my own skin. Like any good story, there was conflict, but in the end, the good guys won and what was gained was greater than what was lost.
The third chapter of my story began when I entered the field of information technology. Why is it that my career choice marks the beginning of a new chapter? Because it changed everything. It began with my getting married in the summer of '92. I was in school for computer electronics, just getting started in that field. I was making a living, enjoying the fruits of adulthood, and making the decisions that I hoped at the time would shape the next chapter in a positive way.
The question on my plate now is whether or not I'm at the end of this chapter. It feels like I am, but forces that I can't control are demanding closure that can't be wrapped up neatly or quickly. This chapter is continuing to write itself even as I feel my pen's ink running dry.