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April 30, 2001
Took an online personality test,
Took an online personality test, the Kiersey Temperament Sorter II, and while it had a better set of profiling questions than most, it was still lame. Here's why.
Posted by John at 12:57 PM | Comments (0)
April 28, 2001
You know that click that
You know that click that you can almost hear when someone describes a feeling, a moment, an event or a situation that we all are sort instinctively aware of, but hasn't ever been named? I had one of those when I ran across this site, www.jumptheshark.com. It is a site that chronicles the absolute pinnacle, the ne plus ultra, the crowning moment for television shows -- that one moment or one episode after which everything went downhill. So named for the Happy Days episode where Fonzi did the waterski jump over the shark tank. Since the defining moments are defined by site visitor voting, and a lot of the shows' listings are mostly visited by fans of the shows, there are a lot of "never jumped" votes, but if you ignore them I found the consensus events pretty much right on. Very entertaining.
Posted by John at 01:16 AM | Comments (0)
April 27, 2001
Just in case you're wondering,
Just in case you're wondering, and at some point we all do, here are the really big numbers. Note that at 1078 you're at about the number of atoms in the universe, and at 1084 you're at about the volume of the universe in cubic inches, so I'm not sure what you're counting beyond that....hypothetical stuff. And the table leaves out the standard 3rd grader's trump card big number, the googleplex, which is 10google (google is mentioned as a sidebar on the web page, not in the table). This page goes even further (up to 10120) but doesn't list the scientific notation, so is a little more inconvenient. And finally, here are the large and small prefixes (to get funky names like the "yottameter" noted below, and to come up with the really small numbers).
Posted by John at 01:55 AM | Comments (0)
April 26, 2001
This link was offered up
This link was offered up in one of the MeFi discussion threads. Powers of ten. Starting at a scale of 10:1, you're looking a guy lying on a blanket in the park. You can then zoom in or out by powers of 10 (or 100 or 1000 if you're the impatient type). Zoom in and you enter his hand, exploring down to the subatomic level of Quarks (10-16 meters = 100 am = 100 attometers). Or zoom out to the edge of the known universe (1025 meters = 10 Ym = 10 yottameters (~1 thousand million light years)). Yottameters? This site is very good for establishing perspective, although I'll confess I don't grok it yet. Too much difference between the two extremes to wrap my brain around. FYI, a Google search on "big numbers" finds 1.9 million (106) pages mentioning the topic. (That alone is a big enough number for me to count anything I need to count.) Funny - after writing this note I did hesitate as I typed "google" in the address bar.
Posted by John at 11:54 PM | Comments (0)
A front page article in
A front page article in today's San Francisco Chronicle provides some details on Federal government intervention in energy pricing in California during the coming summer months. In a futile attempt to find a workable middle ground between letting the free markets find the clearing price and setting hard price caps that will drive suppliers away from selling to California at all, they've come up with a sort of "moving average" cap that isn't really a cap, just a point at which if that price is exceeded sellers risk being ordered to rebate "excess" profits. Basically what it does is force suppliers to justify to FERC each new, daily, high point in prices. Of course, given that PG&E's bankruptcy leaves 10,000 creditors wondering how many pennies on the dollar they're going to have to settle for (ummm, sorry about that Bank of New York, Bankers Trust et al!), I can't see power suppliers lining up to do business with California anyway. Especially since electricity is, in economic terms, a "fungible" commodity (power from source A looks pretty much like power from source B), moves freely interstate and is pretty price inelastic everywhere. Which means that California's premium pricing will spill over into neighboring states at the speed of, well, electricity. Things in the Golden State are going to get u.g.l.y this summer -- brownouts and blackouts longer than anyone anticipated, prices higher than anyone anticipated, and the economic effects of extended price inflation of energy on individuals and small businesses are going to start to get serious. Horror stories coming soon. Ugh.
Posted by John at 09:02 AM | Comments (0)
Who Let the Blogs Out?
Who Let the Blogs Out? Woof, woof.
Posted by John at 08:49 AM | Comments (0)
April 25, 2001
I started a series of
I started a series of web logs at work, around general topics such as Product Development, Competition, and so forth. Seven of them. The goal was to create a centralized repository of info that anyone in the company could refer back to, trace the history of particular issues and the surrounding discussion. Access from anywhere you can get a web connection. Encourage open dialog. Trying to be a forward-thinking CEO, leveraging off some the ideas from Jim Carroll's article. Given (1) the time spent bringing new employees up to speed on old issues, (2) the technical hurdles for secure access from home at a company which does not do telecommuting, and (3) the unmanageable volume of email, one would think that a forward-looking progressive young cutting-edge web-based company would embrace this idea, right? Right? Ha! Instead, I got a lot of push back from the managers about learning a new tool, how we could use Outlook instead, the Blogger site is too slow, don't have time to visit the pages regularly, etc., etc., etc. Bunch of whining babies. Never fear, I will prevail.
Posted by John at 02:06 PM | Comments (1)
Woodcut, Etching, Lithography and Screenprint
Woodcut, Etching, Lithography and Screenprint processes explained in a Flash demo from the Museum of Modern Art. Short and sweet, simple and interactive -- what Flash should be.
Posted by John at 08:53 AM | Comments (0)
April 24, 2001
World RPS offers a comprehensive
World RPS offers a comprehensive site that will take you deep into the mysterious world of rock-paper-scissors. Even lets you play against an "artificial intelligence."
Posted by John at 11:09 PM | Comments (0)
April 23, 2001
Coolest guy over 50 - maybe 30
Christopher Walken just usurped the title of Coolest Guy Over 50 from Sean Connery, at least in my book, tripping the light fantastic to this little ditty from Fatboy Slim and the Master of Badass. Watch, enjoy.
Posted by John at 09:18 PM | Comments (0)
April 20, 2001
Back when I was a
Back when I was a Cub Scout (Cretaceous period), we had a merit badge we had to earn called "Family Fun". These days, with 4 kids, Julie and I could earn one of those just about every day. Yesterday's adventure involved Nick and Colin. Colin is a feisty young man of 7 years, but with 3 older brothers he periodically gets in over his head and has to throw the flag. Mom or Dad step in to referree. For which Colin gets branded a tattletale. That's how the world works. Yesterday, Nick called Colin a "loser". We don't tolerate the kids putting each other down, so Nick was instructed by Julie to write a paragraph on "Why Colin is Not a Loser". (Parentally speaking, those writing "punishments" are great - makes them practice their writing skills, settles them down as it's hard to be rambunctious when you're writing, gets them to think about what they did... all good things.)
Nick, 13-going-on-20, whose mouth is frequently two steps ahead of his brain, responds, "Fine, I'll just have to write a paragraph about what a suck up he is." To which, Julie replies, "That's two paragraphs now, sport." (Julie knows how to play this game.) Herewith, Nick's treatise.
Posted by John at 11:07 PM | Comments (0)
VH1 announces that, to supplement
VH1 announces that, to supplement its current offerings of bland, badly lip-synched overproduced egovids, it's launching a slate of original programming. Because, one presumes, what we really all need to see are more third-tier actors in low-budget, made-for-cable movies about rappers in parachute pants and big haired 80's metal bands. I mean, "TV movies based on the lives of MC Hammer and rockers Def Leppard"?? That's VH1 for you, fingers on the pulse and all that. If VH1 was a standalone company instead of a part of Viacom, I'd short that stock in a heartbeat.
Posted by John at 09:27 AM | Comments (0)
Received a funny email this
Received a funny email this morning from Steve with such interesting factoids as, "If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee."
Posted by John at 08:47 AM | Comments (0)
Time to get your costume
| Time to get your costume on.
The city needs you! E-V-I-L is afoot! This is quite amazingly cool. Another gem from the MeFi board. With this little Flash application, you can create superheros, villains, fantasy characters, and sports characters. You control everything right down to the color of your character's eyebrows. Just don't think you're even going to create anybody who can mess with MY guy, or he'll have to open up that can of whupass on you. Full size picture right here, no autographs. |
Posted by John at 12:25 AM | Comments (0)
April 19, 2001
Stick figure ninja fighting seems
Stick figure ninja fighting seems to be making the rounds, both on the boards and in my email inbox. Some of them are pretty good. Like this one. This one too. Oh, and *especially* this one (note the film tribute to The Matrix at the end). Music, violence, ninjas, cartoon gore. Wheeee!
Posted by John at 11:58 PM | Comments (0)
April 17, 2001
Diving for beer!
Posted by John at 04:02 PM | Comments (0)
U.S. delegates arrived in China
U.S. delegates arrived in China to beg for our plane back today. Meanwhile, the Chinese government has launched a propaganda campaign to turn daredevil stunt pilot, Wang Wei, into a hero of national defense, even putting up a website honoring him, providing space for visitors to leave their thoughts and expressions, etc., etc. On the other hand, there's the unofficial apology the U.S. reportedly had planned for the Chinese if they failed to let our boys go, which is closer to my own feelings in the matter. Obviously, Wang was flying dangerously in an attempt to harass the U.S. plane into leaving. While we probably shouldn't have been there doing that (at least, if you accept as a given that there is no way Dubya would tolerate Chinese planes doing the same thing over here), the answer is not to ram your plane into them. My only other pithy observation on the whole thing is this: Two planes collided, one made in the U.S. and one made in China. Guess which one broke.
Posted by John at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)
To set the stage: It's
To set the stage: It's Saturday morning and Julie is talking to our 4 boys, ages 7 to 17. Colin, the 7-year old, likes to get up early in the morning and wear his boxer shorts while he watches TV or plays a video game. The dialog:
Julie: "So you guys all have this week off for spring break.
Anything special you want to do?
Anything that you've always wanted to do but haven't had the chance?"
Colin is the only one who answers immediately. "Wear my boxers all day long!"
Remember when your needs and wants were simpler? The kid has inherited my lounging gene.
Posted by John at 02:08 AM | Comments (0)
April 12, 2001
Just had Memphis Minnie's barbeque.
Just had Memphis Minnie's barbeque. Consciousness fading. Must sleep.
Posted by John at 09:59 PM | Comments (0)
I love books. I love
I love books. I love reading them, browsing them, buying them, owning them, holding them. I love new books, old books, junky paperbooks and illuminated manuscripts and everything in between. The only signed first edition book I own is "You're Only Old Once (A Book for Obsolete Children)" by Theodor Seuss Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss. It was, as far as I know, his last book; it was published in 1986 and he died in 1991. So why, you may well ask, did Dr. Seuss come to mind this day? Because someone sent me a link that has a Star Trek story, as it might be written by Dr. Seuss. SeussTrek? Like this:
"Troi: I'm sensing anger and great ire.
Computer: Alert! Alert! The ship's on fire!"
Picard: The ship's on fire? How could this be?
Who lit the fire?
Riker: Not me.
Worf: Not me."
Posted by John at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)
April 11, 2001
I tried to keep a
I tried to keep a running list of all the stupid, misguided and just plain wrong initiatives coming out of Dubya's brand new administration, and to my horror it took way too much time, so I gave it up. Mike Morford, columnist for SF Gate, gives a pretty good overview in his characteristically acerbic-but-waggish style of the major travesties to date. And he doesn't even mention the election shenanigans.
Posted by John at 10:48 AM | Comments (0)
OK, so I was ranting
OK, so I was ranting earlier about the fact that it's 2001 and I still don't have my flying car, but check out this article on DallasNews.com where the Governor of Texas is showing up at a conference as a live, full-size 3-D hologram. The company, Teleportec, is offering the system as an advanced alternative to conference calling, where you can actually look the other person in the eye. This is the neatest newtech I've seen all year! [Link swiped from /usr/bin/girl:]
Posted by John at 10:05 AM | Comments (0)
April 10, 2001
Another barbeque joint in San
Another barbeque joint in San Francisco, Memphis Minnie's. Just got a rave review from Allen, and he sounds like a man who knows barbeque. I can't wait to check it out!
Posted by John at 05:54 PM | Comments (0)
Good article from The American
Good article from The American Prospect on why, if you don't like Bush's policies, you should blame the Democrats. Seems the tradeoff of popular votes from their constituents for supporting the party line is a little too stiff for some of them. Everybody wants to be "in the middle". Say what you like about the Republicans, at least they can count.
Posted by John at 05:40 PM | Comments (0)
April 09, 2001
My all-time favorite parody web
My all-time favorite parody web site, BonsaiKitten, has a banner! See bottom left. I wonder if putting this banner up will attract the attention of the Feds or the Humane Society, though. I certainly hope so!
Posted by John at 12:39 PM | Comments (0)
April 06, 2001
I stopped by Stacey's Booksellers
I stopped by Stacey's Booksellers on Market Street in San Francisco today, to get a copy of this month's Fortune magazine which has an article on the new Reuters CEO-elect. Since they own part of my company, I figured I better stay on top of the news. It's kind of funny that, although I can get it online, there are some things that I would just rather read in print. The thought provoking magazines -- Forbes, Fortune, Business 2.0, etc. -- are among those. Who wants to fiddle with a wireless modem and a laptop when you're riding the ferry home anyway? Which, BTW, is just about the coolest way to travel to work I've found so far... if only I weren't always running late and almost missing it. Anyway, the point is, I love bookstores. Big meta-uber-coffee-shop-and-music-store bookstores and little hole-in-the-wall used bookstores and B. Daltons and Waldenbooks in the mall, and online booksellers and everything in between. I usually spend a lot of money on books and magazines and music in these places, so I don't feel the least little bit guilty hanging out in the stacks and browsing magazines. Today, I picked up the current issue of the Harvard Business Review, and there's yet another 20-page article from Harvard B-School professor Michael Porter on Internet strategy. I did a speed-read on it, and can sum it up this way: Technology is cool but mostly it just lets you do all the stuff you used to do - faster. You still have to make money, too. All you dotcom managment teams, slap your foreheads and say "Doh!".
[Hehe. Funny. You know Amazon.com utilizes all the latest web monitoring technology to track your preferences and try to show you book offerings that are likely to appeal to you. Just now, when I went to doublecheck the URL for amazon -- actually, yes, I know it's www.amazon.com, but I was looking to link directly into the books section; give me a little credit -- my amazon cookie was still resident on my PC and so the site "recognized" me, welcomed me by name, and the featured title they chose for me was "A Short Guide to a Happy Life". I kind of like it that that's how they think of me.]
Posted by John at 11:31 PM | Comments (0)
Got intrigued with more of
Got intrigued with more of Ev's HowTo's, specifically rotating the photos in a blog using the date header. But since my Corvette photo was in the template, and the actual blog contents are brought in using an ASP include statement, it didn't really apply. No problem. The Javascript Source to the rescue! I just typed in "photo rotate" in the search box, and it gave me the code. Man, you gotta love the Internet. Hope you like the photos.
Posted by John at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)
I need to come up
I need to come up with a system for dealing with link rot. I'm noticing that some of the stuff I posted back in Jan-Feb has already gone to that great Recycle Bin in the sky. I think for now, I'm going to make one pass through and save image copies of the critical stuff that I want for future reference, and then I'll try to do that going forward. Some of the stuff that I've posted was just for fun, and it may be gone forever... [Note: it is amazing how much of the web those guys at Google have cached. You can often pull up a copy of a dead site through there. How much data storage capacity do you need to cache 1.3 billion pages?!]
Posted by John at 11:57 AM | Comments (0)
Another great link lifted from
Another great link lifted from MetaFilter. The Delphis Project studies intelligence in dolphins. I'm almost as fond of dolphins as I am of otters. If this site doesn't make you smile, you need serious help! I love the interactive touch-screen computer designed for dolphin use and the pictures of dolphins blowing bubble rings.
Posted by John at 10:16 AM | Comments (0)
April 05, 2001
Another note to self: Start
Another note to self: Start keeping a list of links/articles on management ideas and managerial tools and a list of links/articles on business strategy. I'm getting a lot of good stuff sent to me by friends and co-workers, and archiving emails is not a workable strategy.
Posted by John at 11:03 PM | Comments (0)
More synchronicity. We ran into
More synchronicity. We ran into a problem at work today about how the industry of banking should be organized in our system. I thought of my buddy Al, a good friend from my days in Atlanta 7-8 years ago and a veritable banking guru, but I had not spoken to him in about nine months. [I suck at staying in touch with old friends. Which is yet another reason for keeping a web log. Note to self: call 3 old friends tomorrow.] I had an old email address for Al, so sent a short message to see if it was still valid. An hour and half later he called me on something unrelated, hadn't even seen the email yet. Cool.
Posted by John at 10:58 PM | Comments (0)
Do you know your Bushisms?
Do you know your Bushisms? I scored 9 out of 10, and the one I missed was because I hadn't heard it before, and I was saying to myself, "No, he couldn't possibly have said something that stupid", and so marked it FALSE. Wrong.
Posted by John at 05:16 PM | Comments (0)
Microsoft IS big brother, and
Microsoft IS big brother, and if you're using MSN Messenger or Hotmail for your email, they OWN your emails. And they can publish them. With your name. That's what you agreed to when you clicked the little box that says "I Agree" at the end of the licensing agreement you didn't read. All Your Data Are Belong To Us.
Posted by John at 12:53 PM | Comments (0)
April 04, 2001
Got a funny email today
Got a funny email today in the form of an open letter to all non-Californians. It takes umbrage at the finger-pointing about "our" energy crisis, reminding them that CA ranks 48th in terms of per person energy consumption (I posted that we were 47th on 2/22, maybe that's changed in the last six weeks). It suggests that since California produces over half the nation's fruits and vegetables, maybe...we'll...just...keep...them. After all, if we can't refrigerate them when the power goes out, we're going to need something to eat. Oh yeah, and California is the number one dairy state. Got milk? Not to mention software, wine, satellite defense systems and the other critical state outputs. Want to see a blockbuster movie this weekend? Get in your car and drive to California, bub! [thanks, Allen, for the email!]
Posted by John at 07:46 PM | Comments (0)
In the "Fact and Comment"
In the "Fact and Comment" section (link requires free registration) of this month's Forbes magazine, Steve Forbes points out that the current energy shortage can be blamed on one international situation: property rights. The U.S. is unique in allowing landowners to exploit mineral rights underneath the property they own. Hence our production output of oil and gas here is many times higher than most other countries'. If Mexico, for example, which sits atop the same geological strata as we do, were to grant entitlement to landowners for mineral rights, we'd have oil and gas coming out our ears in no time. Food for thought.
Posted by John at 07:31 PM | Comments (0)
April 03, 2001
An article today in the
An article today in the New York Times discussing the theory of our expanding universe features a photograph of a distant exploding star, giving astronomers "the first direct evidence that a mysterious force swept through and still pervades the universe." I too have a theory, namely that because (a) it's so easy to come up with theories that nobody can decisively disprove, and (b) coming up with theories makes you feel smart and look smart, that we've got a bit of theory overload here. On everything from time and space, to singularities, wormholes, gravity and light. Is it working? Does my theory make me look smart?
Posted by John at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Corvette status update. Getting excited.
Corvette status update. Getting excited. Picking the car up from Marin Car Care tomorrow, where the "scuff and buff" should finally be done. Ken, the proprietor, is a craftsman. Putting that first shine on a car after painting and clear coat is an art. And like the first shine on a new pair of shoes, it's the most important step. I told him I just wanted it to drive around -- not a show car -- but he's had it for 7 days now (when he said it would take him 2) and he's making a videotape of it. It's such a beautiful car, I think he wants to use it to showcase his car care skills with a customer video. Go, Kenny, go! Saturday, she goes back into the shop to get put back together. Two more weeks, and I'm back on the road.
Posted by John at 09:59 PM | Comments (0)
William Gibson, whose primary claim
William Gibson, whose primary claim to fame is that he invented the term "cyberspace", author of Neuromancer, Burning Chrome and other cyber-fiction classics, has an article posted here which explores Japan, its special place in cyber-culture, its "fractal coherence of sign and symbol", and the reasons why so many of his stories are set there. A good read.
Posted by John at 12:15 PM | Comments (0)
Big Nate's Barbeque Complete review
Big Nate's Barbeque 
Complete review here.
[Note added 4/20: Allen, after reading the review, commented, "You can take the man out of the trailer park, but..." I am simultaneously offended, perplexed and proud. What do make of that?]
Posted by John at 12:06 AM | Comments (0)
April 02, 2001
Synchronicity. Listening to the news
Synchronicity. Listening to the news last night, I saw Big Nate's Barbeque (posted 3/23) featured because they -- among other restauranteurs -- had to raise prices 10% two weeks ago due to rising energy costs (see post 3/26). Taste test tonight. Then my Mom called from Florida and mentioned that her gas prices had tripled in the past year... I see what started out as California dot.com energy problem now has the likelihood of blossoming into a nationwide energy crisis that will turn into a panic later this year. You think I'm kidding, don't you? Wait and see.
Posted by John at 04:58 PM | Comments (0)
