Did you know ….
We get our game ‘monkey in the middle’ from the French game ‘furet’ which roughly means ‘ferret’ as in the fuzzy animal (see http://en.bab.la/dictionary/english-french/furet.html).
The rules are sort of like monkey in the middle but while playing you sing a song intended to taunt the person in the middle. (see http://www.mamalisa.com/?p=118&t=es&c=22) and players stand in a circle holding a cord strung through a ring. Each player sets there two hands on the cord and passes the ring from one hand to the other; then from there hands to there neighbours hands. The person in the middle tries to guess who has the ring and in which hand.
I discovered this while reading an English translation of ‘L’univers, les dieux, les hommes: récits grecs des origines by Jean-Pierre Vernant. Vernant describes the triumph of Perseus over the Graeace in terms of a cosmic game of furet ..which got me thinking ..what the heck is a game of fruet.
For those unfamiliar; the Gareace were three young gods who where born with the skin of old women (in fact it is supposed to look like the skin of old milk which is wrinkled, yellow and clumpy). As if this were not odd enough these three women share one tooth and one eye which they constantly pass among them selves. In order for our ‘hero’ Perseus to triumph over them he must intercept the eye and hold it hostage until they tell him where the Gorgan is hiding; so he can kill Medusa and be the utterly tragic echo of a hero we now know him to be.

Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

Being a programmer is usually not a very exciting job to most outsiders. Sure there are the sexy number tricks and language quarks that make nerds laugh and groan; but these are like inside jokes, things the external world simply doesn’t notice or care about.

The past few months have proven to be quite different and my simple programmer’s hat has quite a few new bold feathers.

It all started when with a broken air conditioner. Our Network Operations center employes two air conditioners, a traditional unit and a less traditional unit. The less traditional unit failed. I call it less traditional as this was no normal air conditioner; but, rather a super expensive closed geo-thermal air conditioner. According to my CIO (who is known for telling a tall tail or two (see: the roof of the library is held in place via air pressure)) this technology was based off of systems with which the US Navy outfitted there diesel subs.
Finding repair men to work on and fix this system proved difficult and costly so the decision was made to completely replace the failing system with a new system. In the mean time we would just set up a fragile system of air movers to circulate the air from our one working unit around the Network Operations room.
This has proven to be a viable solution, albeit ridiculously noisy. For the past two or so months the whine of thousands of BTU’s flying past my sore ear drums has been the norm.
Then there was the jack hammering and e-mails which read something like ‘please pardon the sound of a nematic hammer braking apart hundreds of pounds of concert 20 feet or so from your cubicle’. Yesterday our one working air conditioner failed and we added more air movers as the temperature soared and alarms sounded. Our maintenance staff quickly repaired our more traditional unit but the air movers wine on.
Today, when trying to get coffee I noticed several tons of industrial air conditioner standing between me and the coffee pot. Undaunted I sip my coffee and notice the sweet hum of screeching electric fire alarms; the tinny wail of traditional metal alarms and the refreshing flash of strobe lights. I know however that all is right in the world as my e-mail box asks me to kindly disregard these emergency notifications. Apparently our maintenance staff is rerouting the sprinkler system which hangs above our server room and that is the cause of the alarms. So with this peace of mind and a peaceful, relaxed spirit I press my laptops buttons.

Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

While walking back to the ol’ cubical from the drinking fountain a co-worker asked me, “Richie if everything in the universe doubled, would anyone notice?” It’s moments like these that make me glad to be a human being; forget the local sports team, or the latest season of ‘LOST’ lets talk about Cosmology! I told my co-worker I would get back with to him and thought about the answer on way way back to my cubical. I found the question closely related to a classical cosmological question often addressed in terms of the Big Bang’s ‘Expanding Universe’.
I am no cosmologist but given some basic reasoning it seams to be we can desearn a answer who’s meaning is concomitant to the question.

If everything in the universe were to double in size but not distance, we would surly notice. if everything in the universe were to double in distance but not size we would surly notice (and have!). If everyTHING in the universe doubled without effecting non-things (i.e. gravity) we would certainly notice. If everything in the universe doubled effecting all things and non things then your question would be; if everything in the universe doubled would we notice if everything in the universe doubled would we notice; or perhaps if if everything everything in in the … or maybe even iiff eevv … or perhaps i f e v …. or i i f f e e v….. absurdum. This loosely illustrates a fundamental understanding of the ‘universe’ as infinite; double infinite is absurd (as in inconsistent with reason or logic or common sense). Thus perhaps your question is; dose the universe fallow rules of logic. If logic is reflective of the rules of the universe, then yes; the universe dose fallow the rules of logic.

My answer brakes down in asserting that ‘non-things’ are infact non-things and that these ‘non-things’, or some of these ‘non-things’ have physical affects. Thus it must be understood what is meant by thing (hello metaphysics).

Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

DVD in Firefighter’s Coat Blocks Bullet

Notice the location: ‘a Waffle House restaurant…’

Filed under: Life | 1 Comment »

Another one from the Freakonomics Blog:

Is MySpace Good for Society? A Freakonomics Quorum

This one caught my eye since I am sort of a MySpace / Facebook ‘hold-out’ as they say (though I did have Facebook in the early days for 6 – 8 months or so).

It’s a sampling of comments from various thinkers on the topic. A brief quote from one of the responses (Steve Chazin, about half way down):

“I believe social networking technology has changed our lives for the better, but at a cost…While all humans need to feel connected to each other or to some cause, there are also times when we simply want to disconnect, and disconnecting is becoming increasingly hard thanks to social networking technology…”

Filed under: Life, Technology | No Comments »

These days, I’ve been reading the Freakonmics Blog off and on. Tends to be fairly interesting – the content varies with posts from the two book authors, posts from guests, and usually a handful of links every day or two.

Today, they provided a link to the article below – it highlights research questioning the idea made popular by the book, The Tipping Point. I found that book to be an engaging read, so this article caught my eye.

Is the Tipping Point Toast?

Filed under: Life | No Comments »

A fairly interesting article from Wired on the iPhone:

The Untold Story: How the iPhone Blew Up the Wireless Industry

Filed under: Technology | No Comments »

In that time of year when film, music, and book critics are compiling their ‘best of’ lists for 2007, I decided to compile a little list of my own (not to be too presumptuous).

One slight deviation from the norm – this list represents the music, films, and books that I came across in 2007, not necessarily those that were released in 2007. Limited to a Top 5 in each category, in no particular order…

Music:

• Burial – Untrue: This album was one of those random music discoveries of 2007. I was converted as a fan more or less overnight after hearing a song from this artist on a Radiohead webcast. It’s quite amazing.

  To quote comments from Pitchfork, “No album in 2007 conveyed so much loneliness through the sheer palpability of its atmosphere.” Think of the perfect backdrop for a quiet, rainy night.

• Radiohead – In Rainbows: Another goodie on the mellower, subtle side of things. It’s one of those albums where it hits you a few distinct times during listening just how good it actually is. Big fan of Reckoner and Videotape.
• Cat Power – The Covers Record: Released long before 2007, but I finally picked it up this year thanks to the background track in one of the quieter scenes of V for Vendetta.

  That song was I Found a Reason – if you need no other reason to buy this album, it’s that song. 2 minutes of near perfection.

• Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds – Live at Radio City: The second official recording of these two playing together – like the first album, these song versions are refreshing acoustic takes of the standard full band sound.

  The initial three-track sequence of Bartender, When the World Ends, and Stay or Leave sets the tone for a fine live show.

• Jazz Artists – Miscellaneous Albums: For the final selection, it’s worth mentioning a number of jazz albums. I’ve been trying to expand my jazz collection (with a little guidance from the Jamey Aebersold list of recommended jazz albums).

  Some good acquisitions this year include Bill Evans – Live at the Village Vanguard, Bill Evans – Conversations with Myself, Cannonball Adderly – Somethin’ Else, and Herbie Hancock – Maiden Voyage.

Film / TV:

• Juno: I enjoyed this movie quite a bit. It’s surprisingly good even – some excellent moments throughout the film.
• Stranger Than Fiction: Filmed in Chicago with a good story, Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and a soundtrack that prominently features Spoon, what’s not to like?
• Children of Men: A dystopian thriller that doesn’t disappoint. To quote the NY Times review, it “…may be something of a bummer, but it’s the kind of glorious bummer that lifts you to the rafters…”
• Arrested Development: Finally got around to watching Seasons 1 and 2 this year and it certainly exceeded my expectations. Witty dialogue and a great cast comes together for a smart, funny show.
• Entourage: It’s true, I got hooked on this show this year as well. While in a different category than Arrested Development, there’s something about this show that draws you in.

Books:

• F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby: I’ve previously written about the wonders of this book…
• Arthur Koestler – Darkness at Noon: A novel somewhat in the vein of Brave New World or 1984 that provides a fascinating look into the thinking behind the Russian Revolution and ensuing years.
• John Steinbeck – Grapes of Wrath: Well worth the read – a moving tale that’s somewhat depressing, but quite good nonetheless.
• Ernest Hemingway – The Old Man and the Sea: Brief but potent.
• Virginia Woolf – Mrs Dalloway: I decided to re-read this in 2007, and was again reminded how good of an author Virgina Woolf is.

And that sums it up. My personal ‘best of’ from 2007.

Filed under: Film, Life, Music | No Comments »

One thing life needs is more awesomeness. It’s hard getting through the mundane tasks of buttering one’s corn, squeezing orange juice, spritzing with a lemon, and slicing a banana without a little help from the awesome power of carcinogenic, oil leaden plastic. Well thanks to modern technological advances the power of plastics continues to make contemporary living even more convenient!

A model of efficancy.

No more lemon in the eye!

No more MESS!

No more all night banana slicing sessions!

Filed under: Life | No Comments »

Have you ever wanted to smell like Vomit, a Sports Changing Room, or Mustard Gas ?
If you have been working on that personal sent to seduce Mr. / Ms. right, boy have I got the site for you:

http://www.daleair.com/acatalog/Aromas.html

Yep. The good folks at Dale Air Limited have captured the essences of all the above and more! Including the unforgettable scents:
Boiler Room
Brewery (recommended for car, the Police will LOVE you and mention it every time!)
Burning Peat
Cannon
Hospital
Coal Gas
Dinosaur
Farmyard
Fish Market
Japanese POW
A 1930’s street
Methane
Sweaty Feet
Urine
Volcano

Some of these scents are simply astounding but others are just plane lazy. Its been a while since I’ve gotten a whiff of a good fragrant dinosaur, but urine, come on. Give me a few cups of coffee and I could replicate that sent in mere minutes ..maybe I’m in the wrong line of work.

Filed under: Life | No Comments »