Elephant Memory
Posted on 2006-08-29 at 20:03
In 1986, Mkele Mbembe was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from college. On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air.
The elephant seemed distressed so Mbembe approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot, and found a large thorn deeply embedded in it.
As carefully and as gently as he could, Mbembe worked the thorn out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot.
The elephant turned to face the man and with a rather stern look on its face, stared at him. For several tense moments Mbembe stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled.
Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned and walked away.
Mbembe never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.
Twenty years later he was walking through a zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Mbembe and his son Tapu were standing.
The large bull elephant stared at Mbembe and lifted its front foot off the ground then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.
Remembering the encounter in 1986, Mbembe couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant. Mbembe summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder.
The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of the man's legs and swung him wildly back and forth along the railing, killing him.
Probably wasn't the same elephant.
Shantih Shantih Shantih
Posted on 2006-08-29 at 08:08
The average pencil is 7 inches long with only a quarter of an inch of eraser on the end. If that doesn't convince you that we are an inherantly optimistic people, then I don't know what will.
That makes me happy in an otherwise depressing sort of day.
Back to work
Posted on 2006-08-28 at 08:09
My mini-vacation is over. Looks like it's time to trudge back to work. I'll be back in the office starting this morning. As I understand it, I'll be working on an ASP app for the same group I was with last time.
I'm also currently working on some other business venture plans with two partners. I'm hoping this pans out. The ideas kicked around so far are promising. In a week we get together again to move things forward.
Even doing fun stuff like ASP.NET development has a faded bloom to me. I enjoy it---don't get me wrong---but I'm ready for bigger challenges.
I'm considering law school. I'm not saying I'm definitely going to do it, but I am saying that if the stars align just right I might consider it. What do you guys think? Good? Bad? Stupid? Evil?
I could just be a fry cook at McD's. That's be fine too. Then I could spend all my newfound free time doing things that challenge and interest me more than yet another database driven web app implementing stupid management-driven business logic in a time frame set by someone who has no clue how a successful IT project should be run.
Why are you looking for a Tivo replacement, Tom?
Posted on 2006-08-25 at 22:14
In my last entry I mentioned looking for a Tivo replacement. Why? Unbelievable bad luck, that's why!
I've been waiting for 2 years for the Series 3 to hit the shelves. I want an HDTV Tivo DVR. It's due out in October of this year (about a month and a half from now) and what happens? A mere month and a half from when I can move to my sweet sweet Series 3 Tivo and the modem dies in my Series 1. WTF? Really? It's like the gods of time-shifted TV have conspired with fate to see me suffer! Odysseus never had it so hard as me! He was only lost for a few years. I'll have no Tivo for over a month!!!
My final solution is to manually record what I want by time/channel until the Series 3 is in my greedy paws. The Tivo works, but without a modem I can't get the guide information, which means no working Season Passes. Seriously, couldn't Tivo have just stabbed me in the gut instead? The betrayal would have been less and my insurance would cover that problem.
Windows Media Center Edition 2005 blows vomit
Posted on 2006-08-25 at 21:55
OK. It's a bit of an overstatement, but...
When you buy a Media PC with a stereo rack component look and feel that bills itself as a replacement for your Tivo, it should be able to fill that role. Windows Media Center Edition 2005 does not. The system would go into suspend mode and require a reboot to return to normal operation. It wouldn't play many of the media files I threw at it. I understand not playing flac files out of the box (it's a bit obscure, I suppose) but many AVI files and even some MPGs were non-working. All those files, for the record, played just fine in Linux. The guide information was regularly incorrect. And finally, when I finally decided to show it to someone else, I fast forwarded through the commercials of a show only to find that it would not leave fast-forward mode.
Needless to say, the system was returned. I want to be clear, the system, an HP Media Center PC, was not the problem. The problem was entirely Mirosoft's. All the problems had patches which fixed those problems and added new ones. In the end, I found myself performing maintainence on a box that was supposed to be a stereo rack component. I don't have to do this for my DVD player, nor for my extant Tivo. I don't feel that I should have to do it for my Tivo Replacement.
Total satisfaction score: 3 out of a possible 10. The idea has promise, but the software implementation was a miserable failure. I suspect MythTV would have been a better choice for HP to put under the hood.
Writing Tip of the Day: See only the birds eye
Posted on 2006-08-21 at 12:27
First read this story of Arjuna and the bird's eye, then apply that to your writing.
When you approach a writing task, always know ahead of time what one thing you want conveyed. Start there. Be there. End there.
Start your writing task by jotting down a one sentence summary of your point or reason for writing. Some examples include "I want to meet you about the open position I saw in the newspaper", "There are motherf*cking snakes on a motherf*cking plane", or "I will need more resources to accomplish the task I've been assigned".
As you write, refer back to your synopsis periodically to refocus yourself on the task at hand. When you are done, edit your work culling everything you can that doesn't matter to your summary point.
Thus endeth the writing lesson for today. More will come.
Word of the Day: Pollicitation
Posted on 2006-08-21 at 11:09
(puh-lis-i-TAY-shuhn) noun
A promise or an offer made but not yet accepted.
Pollicitation comes from the Latin word of the same name, which itself comes from the Latin word polliceri---meaning "to promise".
"With what broad gestures of invitation, and also with what subtle almost imperceptible hints and suggestions and pollicitations, she lays herself out to cajole us, to notify her eagerness." - Christopher Morley; Inward Ho!; Doubleday; 1923.
Matt has reproduced!
Posted on 2006-08-17 at 15:39
Belle was born on August 12th, 2006. The good news? She's a happy baby girl! The bad? This means her birthday falls on GenCon every year. Dude, see if you can change the birth certificate before she's old enough to know better!
The pweor of the hmuan mnid
Posted on 2006-08-17 at 15:03
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Amzanig huh?
Dratkcuf
Posted on 2006-08-17 at 15:00
I'll admit it's a bit wierd, but the parents names are Toidi and Norom so this is a HUGE step up!
I'm a travelling man
Posted on 2006-08-04 at 09:22
I'm headed out of town to Danville to visit family after work today. I'll be back sometime Monday afternoon. I'll be leaving again on Wednesday for GenCon and not coming back until late Sunday evening. So from this afternoon until the 14th, I'll be out of town, excepting Tuesday, the 8th, when I will be in town briefly between trips.
While out of town, I'll be blogging offline, which means that after I get back, you may see a bunch of backdated posts added to the blog all at once.
Happy Birthday, Cadence
Posted on 2006-08-04 at 08:14
OMG PONIES!!1!!!eleventy-one!!!11!!!!
Your Kung Fu is Strong
Posted on 2006-08-02 at 08:56
Generally, I try to limit the number of videos and whatnot I post here. I prefer to post original content. That said, this was interesting and worth watching. Their technique was solid.
Expect more blogging after this assignment is over in a week or so.