Out of the Mouths of Babes
My 5-year old son and I were driving home from Taekwondo last night and had an interesting discussion. We were both tired after a good workout and for the first half of the ride home we just sort of sat there quietly listening to the wind whip around through cab from the open windows of my truck. While we were sitting at a stoplight he just asked me out of the blue “Why can’t you see your nose when it is right between your eyes?”
Ok. This isn’t the “meaning of life” question but it was rather startling to come out of the blue from a 5-year old. After I finished stammering a little bit, I tried my best to explain that his two eyes actually act to focus on a single point out in front of his face past his nose. His response was a simple “Oh.” That was it. How do you read into this?!? I asked if he understood and the look on his face clearly showed that he didn’t, but knew I was struggling to explain it to him and he was attempting to save me the trouble. I love that kid.
Before we left the Do-Jahng, his mother told me that he had acted up that afternoon and that he was to have no Easter candy and no X-Box for the night. I acknowledged this and there was no argument from him. After we had our deep discussion about why he couldn’t see his own nose, he responded by asking if he could have some birthday cake for desert when we got home. I reminded him that his mother said he wasn’t to have any treats tonight because of his behavior that afternoon. He repeated word-for-word what she said: “No Easter candy… no X-Box…” followed up by “She didn’t say I couldn’t have cake.” What could I say to that logic?
He had cake for dessert. :-)
It Made Me Ponder
I frequently listen to audio books and recently finished one called The Footprints of God by Greg Iles. It was a particularly good book in that it not only quickly grabbed and held my attention, but it had me pondering some of its theories well and beyond the finish of the book.
The book is not a religious book. I dare say it is a techno-thriller utilizing the platform of a religious theory. I won't ruin the whole book for you here, just in case you want to read or listen to it for yourself, but I will discuss the theory that has had me pondering.
The general principle is that of the theoretical question: "What is God?" There are a group of scientists that covet the theory that "God" is ultimately the answer to the question: "What is left if you take away all mass and energy?" This seems like a trick question but their theory indicates that "consciousness" is what is left. So their definition of God is "Pure Consciousness without form or energy."
Here is the root of their arguments for this theory. First, everything in nature is cyclical - from the birth and death of a star to that of a single celled organism. Using this logic, they take the opposite end of the "Big Bang" theory to the "Big Crunch" theory. Yes, in time all that has been will simply reduce down to a speck of nothingness with ultimate density, thus completing a cycle.
The next part of their fleshing out of this theory was evolution. Their argument was that from the beginning, all things have been evolving to support a high form of consciousness. At this time, on this planet, human beings are the only known species that has evolved into consciousness and we are the culmination of that evolution to date. We supposedly started as nothing but rocks and dust, then added light, then water, etc. on until we came to be as "human".
The next part of this theory was the questioning of where we go from here. This is the frame of mind that the story really takes place in and is the most technically oriented. As more and more time passes, humans are becoming more interfaced with machines. At some point in the not so distant future, we will have the means and ability to "download" or "copy" the data collected in a brain for retrieval, with the ability to sort and call up specific pieces of data on demand. Evolving at nearly the same rate is the ability to store data in ways that requires less and less physical medium. The folks at IBM have shown that they can rearrange platinum molecules to spell their name. They have used lasers to engrave holographic date stored in a crystal with the ability to store terabytes of data in a physical medium the size of a grain of salt.
Is it possible to create a data state that doesn't require a physical medium in order to maintain its existence? Is it possible to create an artificial intelligence that can utilize the complete data stored in this medium in order to enable what would appear to be a duplicate copy of the conscious person? If so, is that not just a hairs breadth away from having consciousness without physical form? If so, then we would be at a level of consciousness without matter. Just one more step to achieve that level of "God" before the big crunch.
I want to point out that there is much more to this theory. The way the theory was painted in the book, there was a perfect blending of science with the teachings that were found in the bible and elsewhere. It seemed like a seamless blending of two worlds that before now seemed to be opposite. This theory sort of shows how they are two halves of the same puzzle; not so much opposites as they are perfect match to each other. As it was pointed out early in the book, a philosopher's job is to come up with questions regarding our surroundings. A scientist’s job is to come up with answers.
I don’t necessarily believe any of this but I do find it fun to ponder other points of view. I think only ignorant people find comfort in closing off possibilities outside of their current belief systems. I also don’t give credence to many theories without proof and this theory definitely needs some proof. None the less, I think this book was highly entertaining and would recommend it to anyone with an open mind. Great fun!
Bonzai Book Score: 4.5 out of 5
New Computer?
I think I'm taking my current home PC to its limits and I'm starting to itch for a new machine. I have had this one for about 3 years +/- and it has been a good machine. It is a desktop/tower computer though and I think my next one is going to be a laptop. But...
The coolest laptop I have seen out there is from Alienware. These machines are set up for gaming and have tons of gadgets and options. They have all of the power of a box packed into the compact frame of a laptop. They even have dual CD/DVD drive bays! The sound and graphics cards simply rock and they have great options for building them just the way you want them. What's the problem then? They don't have a docking station or a port replicator! I was surprised to read the ads for keyboards, monitors, speakers, mice, and other peripheral devices and then learn that they would all have to be connected individually to the computer itself. What a pain!
I currently use a laptop for work and, though it isn't exactly a powerhouse PC, I do have port replicators with a standard setup in the two different offices I work in. This makes life very easy because all I have to do is plop the laptop in the docking station and I have a full size keyboard, mouse, speakers, monitor, external drives and printers automatically connected. No fuss, no muss. Plug and play, baby! You would think the folks at Alienware would get a clue on this. Why would you have a laptop, ideally a portable computer, that isn't designed for the ease of use with portable peripherals?
So, I start my search again, looking for a good powerhouse PC, dockable, for a decent price. Dell has some decent PCs but nothing that comes close to Alienware. Gateway? Yeah, right! Anyone have any ideas?
Cool Proggie: Trillian
After fighting several problems with MSN Messenger & Yahoo! Messenger, I had just about had enough of the whole IM thing. An associate asked me yesterday if I had ever heard of the Trillian chat client. I checked it out and installed it. After using it for just a few hours, I must say that I like it. A lot. The coolest thing about this particular proggie is that it makes my life easier. Yes, I'm selfish that way, but I'll bet you like this too. Trillian manages several chat clients (MSN, Yahoo!, IRC, AIM and ICQ) combining them into a single client. It's easy to use, a breeze to install and I don't have to juggle a bunch of different chat windows! All of my contacts are on a single list, organized the way I want them, regardless of the client they are using. Too easy!Anyway, I thought I would share my new discovery. Let me know what you think or if you have had any problems with this program. Click the following link to find out more about the Trillian chat client: Cerulean Studios
You know you're a Gen X'er when..
You're up with your 3 month old at 2 in the morning, and run into a Miami Vice Marathon on Nick At Nite and say to yourself "Hmm, if they play these in order, if I stay up for 90 more minutes, I'll see the episode when the Ferrari gets blow up with a bazooka, cool" You then see that the entire 1st season is remastered on DVD in Dolby 5.1; a crazed little voice is speaking to you now that you have been watching pastel suits for hours on end you wonder if the wife will kill ya if you get the debit card out....
New concoctions?
So, what has been new on your homebrewing front? The wine/Mead logs look as empty as mine this year....
I reflect back on how much fun it was to make everything that we did, I would love to get back into it again once Tracy is a bit more comfortable with it. After the past 2 years we have had, we picked the wrong year to abstain from a beautifully brewed beverage!
The TKD Kid
This is Duncan displaying his trophy after winning first place in his first tournament in Taekwondo. He was very proud that he won a trophy but he didn't really get the point of competition. He came up to us and said "Look! They gave me the biggest trophy! I'm so lucky!" It took a couple of attempts to get him to understand that they didn't give it to him, but rather he earned it by scoring the most points. It took half a day for the concept to sink in, but it finally did. This photo shows him wearing his white belt with yellow strips (9th Gup). He has since advanced to yellow belt (8th Gup).
Raindrops keep falling on my head...
We are having some minor thunderstorms this morning... at least I think they were minor. I crawled my way through traffic coming into work as nobody here knows how to drive in any condition other than clear sunny skies. It doesn't seem to matter if there is a flurry of snow on the road or 2 inches of water, they just hit the brakes and pray. Anyway, I'm sitting here going though my morning desk routine and hear a quiet, ever so slight tapping on the ceiling tiles above my head. Not good. A quick inspection tells me that it probably isn't anything to worry about since there isn't any sign of water down below.Fast forward 15 minutes.Now I'm getting wet. That faint dripping has turned into a steady drone and the drops are falling freeling right on my head. The ceiling tile above me is 25% soaked through now and there doesn't seem to be an end to the rain in sight. It seems to be tracking across one of the ceiling tile supports toward my computer. Figures. I have a feeling I'm going to wind up moving to another location before the day is out. It is Wednesday, right? It feels very much like a Monday right now.
The Red Salamander
I was contemplating if I should bottle my latest batch of mead when I get home tonight. I was thinking about what I need to accomplish the task and realized that I didn't have enough bottle corks. So... I call American Brewmaster, the only brew supply store in the area, to see if they have what I need. They are closed. Open weekends only. Great. I guess I'm not bottling tonight.Since then, the memories of visiting the Red Salamander have been floating through my head. Karl, the proprieter of the place, was always fun and helpful. The hours were great and he always had everything I needed. There was even a converted refridgerator there with tap handles coming out the side in which flowed the latest experiments and masterpieces alike. I recall one peculiar tasting beverage he dubbed "Uncle Fester" because it didn't turn out quite right. The Vinman and I just looked at each other and downed the rest of the sample. Compared to our first brews, it tasted fine to us.I used to love the smell of the place when you first walked in the door. The store is an old space located in downtown Grand Ledge, MI. It has old hardwood floors and high ceilings, and I'm guessing the building was probably built in the late 1800's or early 1900's. There was this awesome aroma that filled your nostrills when you first entered, a mixture of crushed grains, sweet malts, fermenting beverages, and a slight hint of unburned tobacco from the Lars Tetens behind the cigar counter. Ahhh... I can still smell it now. Then there were always the tasting events. Everyone in the group, be it wine or beer, would bring in a bottle or two of their latest brew. Karl provided these little 2 oz. sampling mugs and we passed the bottles around one at a time and sipped. We then would share with the group what we thought of the brew and gave any criticisms that seemed appropriate. It was a lot of fun. More than once, the Vinman and I would get caught up in discussion about... whatever... and the next bottle would come around for sampling. "Pace Car!" he would exclaim and we would both shoot whatever was left in our mugs. I miss those times so much I have considered opening my own store here and attempting to recreate them. Alas, I eventually come to my senses and just fade into those memories. I still make my mead and share with friends but it just isn't quite the same as those days at the Salamander. Perhaps I'll be able to make it up to see Karl again someday and share some home brew.CHEERS!! WASSAIL!! HAZAAA!!
The Lazarus Project
There are times that I just don't understand what people are thinking. I had been asked to work on a PC for a fellow employee here and I told him I would take a look. I asked him what he had and he said it was his old PC, he just wanted me to clean it up so he could send it to his nephew in Mexico. Ok, fine - I'll take a look.This thing is old. So very old. It still has ISA slots. Somehow it was upgraded to a Pentium S running at 100MHz with a whopping 16MB of RAM. That's about all I can tell you because every drive in the box was shot - HDD, CD (2X!!!), and the floppy - all dead.After a whole 5 minutes of looking at it, I told him to put it in the trash bin out back. He pushed on and wanted me to give him a number for repairing it and installing Windows 98 on it, stating further that it didn't really need anything else because his nephew was just going to play games on it and do homework. Right. I asked him with all seriousness what he felt was a comfortable amount to spend on such a project. His offer was $100 (labor included) and he needed it tomorrow. He was bummed that I turned him down. "I'm a technician, not a magician. I can't work miracles and that's what you need." I went through the painful process of showing him how to read the "minimum requirements" on various software packages and he winced when he realized that he doesn't even come close to the requirements for most games on the market. So what happens next? I become the bad guy. Shoot the messenger. He acted like I had a direct line to Bill Gates and proceeded to tell me all the things that were wrong with computers and software. I asked him if he wanted me to put the PC in his car or in the trash. He grabbed it in a huff, litterally threw it in his trunk and then peeled out around the corner out of site to the back of the building. A few minutes later, one of the service techs came running up saying "Dude!! You better get out here. Some guy is going postal on one of your computers!" I busted out laughing, giving the tech a description of the guy I was just talking to. "Yeah, that's him! He's doing a hell of a job on the thing. I doubt it's worth much anymore. I don't know, you might be able to fix it." More laughter, harder now. "You should see him. He was jumping up and down on it and the case barely dented." Laughing so hard I can't breath at this point - tears streaming freely.Joe, the tech, just stood there for a minute until I could compose myself. I thanked him for his concern and told him I would explain later. People wonder why I do this job. They say it's thankless and that people take advantage of us. On rare occasions such as today, I think we break even.
Poker Champ!
Well, last night was poker night at Bonzai's pad. My wife and I hosted another couple and we played various games of poker until 2:00am. I did pretty good, cleaning up the table by the last hand of the night. It was more of a challenge than normal though because everyone was sober this time. The couple that was playing with us didn't have a drop to drink - she was pregnant and he doesn't drink anything. My wife decided to drink coffee with them so I was the only one drinking - and it started to show after a while. It was clear that I was going to have to switch to something less volitile if I was going to win the night so, with a grumble and a shrug, I switched to Coke. I suppose it paid off but it just wasn't the same. Were there any other poker games out there this weekend?
This is what I find for video capture.
The goal is to be able to use my DV connector on my digital 8 video camera, and capture the footage andf burn it to DVD-R for archival
Also want to take old videotapes (VHS) and capture them too. Ya think this covers me, or is there something better out there that might be a more apprpriate option... Thoughts....?
An Honor and a Challenge
One of my sisters is getting married in August and has asked me to photograph her wedding. Wow! I was honored to be asked to do this and accepted the task. It wasn't until after the acceptance that I started thinking about my camera and other equipment.I currently own a Canon PowerShot G2. It is a great little digital camera coming in at 4 megapixels and has some nifty features. I have shot thousands of pictures for personal use with it and am generally happy with its performance. However, I'm considering stepping up to the Canon EOS Rebel for the task of shooting my sister's wedding. I have two challenges with this: - Price and purchase of the camera.
- Become proficient with it by August.
I have found some excellent deals online and can get a good setup (camera, various lenses, additional storage chips, bags, tripod, etc.) for around $1000 to $1200, depending on a few minor differences. Because my wonderful wifey thinks that our current camera is fine and that I don't need any more 'toys', my challenge is to come up with the cash for this little gem outside of my normal streams of income. So... $1200 goal by June 15th at the latest should give me time to become proficient with the camera - that is my challenge.
Running total so far? I have 20 bucks, leaving me a balance of $1,180. I'm on my way!!
Is it Friday yet?
Whew! I can't wait until this week comes to an end! My 2 "partners" at work are both off this week, leaving me with managing a network of 1200+ users by myself! I've about had enough fun this week but the work just keeps on rolling in. Job security? Maybe.
My son and I are both testing for advancement this weekend in TaeKwonDo. Our school or "do-jahng" is called White Tiger and that is where we will be testing. I'm just starting out, at the beginner's white belt or "10th gup" so I'll be testing for the next level or "9th gup". I'll earn some yellow stripes should I pass. My 5-year old son has been involved in TKD since October and is already at 9th gup so he will be testing for the next level of 8th gup - signified by a new yellow belt. I'm doing my best to catch up with him so we can continue on together in the same classes, but it is more difficult than you might think. He is actually helping me learn my forms or "poomsae" and I don't think I would be as far along as I am if he hadn't practiced with me. Eventually, we will earn our black belts and move on to other things. Where he goes will be his choice but I'm planning to start Hapkido while continuing my training in TaeKwonDo. We'll see what life brings.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
One of my most favorite lines I almost forgot about...
...And it sits on my desk every day....
"One can never creep when they feel an impulse to soar" - Helen Keller
Just thought I was due to something uplifting after my case of the wah-wahs yesterday
VINMAN
Welcome my friend!
So, when we gonna see some pics of Duncan at the Dojo on this thing!?
(Boot to da head-------shuuuump!)
Had a discussion with Dale today, I'll write about it in my blog later...
First Post
Nifty!
This is my first post to my first blog. I've been thinking about doing this for some time but never really got around to it. Just today I received a link from my buddy - Vinman - and he invites me to go visit his blog. I like it! I think I'll give it a whirl... if nothing else, it looks like good therapy. :-)
That's it for now.
