Deep Fried Live!

This is the only on-line cooking show hosted by a cephelapod that I am aware of.

It's not veggie freindly, but some of the nicest people I know eat the dead flesh of animals.
Freaks.

New feature at Google

I love maps in general. I like looking at them and reading the names of places. Maybe following up with a little history about a joint.

So I saw thins and decided to share.

"Look ma! I can see my house from here!"


Map feature in Google


With satellite imagry!!

365 and a Wakeup

I don't recall where I ran across this blog article by a soldier deployed in Iraq. (I really should take better notes.) His post on why HE was in Iraq touched me. He's there because it's the right thing to do. And he tells it much better than I could.

"What SPC Frances said as he sheepishly stood before my desk staring at the floor was “Sir, you’re like, ummmm, you know, really smart. And you’re doing this when you could ummmm, you know, so many other things. Don’t you wish you were, ummm doing something better?”.

The question is one I’ve heard from several well meaning individuals, but never, ever from a soldier. If it were possible I would have torn the implicit assumption that question housed and crushed it beneath my muddy heels. Because wrapped in that question like two fat maggots in an otherwise perfect roast sits two false postulates that have poisoned many clear thinking individuals. The first deadly lie is that soldiers are stupid. The second is that the Army is a dumping ground for people with no other options.

I paused for a long moment after SPC Frances asked his question, unsure of how to answer the question and simultaneously leach its poisonous implications. . . [More]

He's why I support the troops; why I vote for the people I vote for; why I talk to people about why they should do the same.

There is evil in the world. People like him are the reason people like you and I don't have to deal with it. People like him are heroes.

Intimacy within a group of friends

I was talking last week with some friends about intimacy; how we as a group get together weekly and have been for years and there is still a hesitation to open up and be intimate with the group.

I think that the biggest deterrent that came up was a fear of being judged.

As usual, I have mixed feelings about this.

I think that as responsible people we have an obligation to judge. I think that a fear of being judged poorly is a control in our society. I further think that judging within a group will improve (more on this in a second) one's powers of judgment.

The hard part about judging is finding balance. I tell my kids that they should assume people are good. But I also tell them that if there a person who looks wrong walking toward you, move away from them. There's a thin line between reasonable pre-judging based on experience and wisdom and prejudice based on fear and stereotype.

I think there are things that we all want to do or have wanted to do in the past that society as a whole may not have approved of. Maybe things that aren't illegal but just not right. What defines "not just right"? Other people. Other people judging you. It's a good thing.

The function of group judgment should be wicked strong (as they might say in the Boston of my imagination). The trick there is the group that's doing the judgment. If the judging group is not a sampling of the greater whole; instead, is a group that might reinforce the behavior being judged; all benefits of judgment is lost. If the fear of being judged harshly is stopping a person from revealing a behavior, perhaps they need to evaluate stopping that behavior.

Group judgment does not have to be negative though. Positive reinforcement is likely and should be encouraged. The above points are just as valid (with the alteration of the anticipation of being judged positively in place of fear of poor judgment).

In regards to intimacy, the evening made me recall a . . . . Poem (?) from my youth that has stuck with me over the years.

It was written by Piers Anthony to a teenager who was in desperate need of love. He wrote about her in the author's note of Wielding Red Sword (Full Note). I extracted the poem here:

• Chapter One: Once upon a time, there was a little unicorn. She lived in a shell.
• Chapter Two: There was a funny thing about this shell. No one else could see it.
• Chapter Three: But to her, it was very heavy, as if an elephant were on it.
• Chapter Four: Sometimes that shell just seemed to crush all the happiness right out of her.
• Chapter Five: Of course, she wasn't really a unicorn, because little unicorns don't' live in shells.
• Chapter Six: She was really an alicorn, which is a flying unicorn. Her mane was brown.
• Chapter Seven: Alicorns live in shells, because they like privacy. When anyone comes near, they close.
• Chapter Eight: Of course that means that hardly anyone ever sees an alicorn, which is unfortunate.
• Chapter Nine: Because alicorns are really very special creatures, when they come out of their shells.
• Chapter Ten: But the little unicorn didn't know she was an alicorn. She wanted to die. 
• Chapter Eleven: This is because a magical creature who stifles her magic is in deep trouble.
• Chapter Twelve: No one else understood about this, because no one else could see the shell.
• Chapter Thirteen: Except for maybe on old centaur; but he was too far away to help.
• Chapter Fourteen: He hoped the little unicorn would learned to fly, before she learned to die.

For me, intimacy with people outside of family never seemed to be necessary. It never paid to get too close to anyone because either they would move or you would move. I was never that close to my extended family; didn't have any close cousins to confide in. Even within my own family I don't recall being very intimate. It's just the way I'm wired I guess.

I try though. I see the value in it. And I'm getting better all the time. Practice, practice, practice.

Reflections on the Pope's passing

Yesterday I got a call from a non-Catholic friend offering condolences on the passing of Pope John Paul II. Susan said that she got a similar email. It's good to see that people of differing faiths can come together in so many things but especially at a time of sadness.

I saw the Pope say mass once. Granted, I was like a mile away but I felt it was something special, almost magical. He was God's spokesman and he spoke to us. It rocked.

Everyone and their mother on the internet is saying something about him and his passing. And I think that more will be said as time passed and history has time to judge.

But for me, I think that he died peacefully, perhaps joyfully.

When I was a student at St. Mary's College (now University of St. Mary) I worked food-service at the Sister's of Charity Motherhouse. It was a nursing home for nuns. And when these women became sick and got ready to die, they were seemed very happy. Happy to leave the weight of weak bodies and slipping minds. They expressed that they were ready be with God after years of service.

How great is that? Not just that you have been saved, but you gave your life to Him and now you get your reward.

And those were just your average (!) everyday nun. I'm going to assume that even a man as humble as John Paul II is looking forward to a reward for a job done well.

Rest in peace and Joy Karol Józef Wojtyła. You deserve it.

--Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine, secundum verbum tuum in pace
----Luke 2:29
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word

My wedding ring

Every day I drive to work and I notice my wedding ring.

I don't mean that I see my wedding ring. I mean that I notice it. I think about how lucky I am and how I am happy about the life I traded for the life I got.

There's a lot of pressure being a dad

Susan calls me and relates that Gwen was upset because the new water park wasn't going to be available at the ribbon cutting because the floor didn't cure right or some such thing.

Gwendolyn responds that they should call me, because I can fix anything.

Being a father changes how I look at myself. And all for the good, ya know?

I am fundamentally lazy. And I procrastinate. And I don't smile enough (especially when trying to be funny).

With children in the picture, I have to be a better person because I want them to be better people. I want them kinder, and smarter, and wiser than their old man. How else will they be able to take care of me in my dotage?

Chocolate Mpire

I know I'm a Star Wars geek. I'm better than most but I know I have a problem. But how can you resist when M&Ms are having promotions like the following link? I want DARK chocolate. I want to believe that Episode III will rock. Link

Penguin

If you have ever been in my house you know you can't ever have enough penguins. If you haven't been in my house, we have penguins. Everywhere.

From Jake Ludington's MediaBlab:

We may never learn if androids truly dream of electric sheep, but this cartoon short advocates the possibility of penguins dreaming of flight. Billed as, "A story of a penguin hoping for intergalactic voyages," this animated short demonstrates a boy's willingness to sacrifice to help his aquatic avian friend achieve his dream. Originally appearing on the CBC's Zed Open Source Television, which I assume is Canada's answer to public
access the imagery and backing soundtrack are both quite talented from the second offering by director Wojtek Wawszczyk. His other work, Mouse, also available through Zed is worth checking out too. Link

They Might Be Giants - Bloodmobile

From boingboing.net:

"Infringing teenager's awesome They Might Be Giants video"

"Dave Logan is a high school senior who just finished his latest animation, which is a music video for They Might Be Giants' excellent song ' Bloodmobile.' This is a really excellent video, and I hope we can all appreciate a good science song. I think this is pretty in-fringe-ified, but I imagine it's just a matter of time before it's available on the Giants' site. What's the status of student work and fair use anyway?"

Easter

The girls posing and hunting for eggs on Resurrection Day.

Pictures from Susan's trip to NY

Susan and the two little girls went to her home town of Lindenhurst NY to visit family. Here are their pictures . . .


PopPop, Miriam, and my nephew Logan in NY

Gwendolyn in NY with her cousin, Logan

Miriam in NY

G in NY

More snow in NY

Relaxing in NY

Poor Miriam, she thinks she's so cool

Gwen at the beach in NY

Multiplicity

Multiplicity is the newest software purchase I have made and it has made me so much more productive.

It's a hard application to describe. Mostly because people think they know what it is and go from there. But they usually miss it.

Multiplicity connect two seperate computers to one mouse and keyboard over a network.

Thnk of it as like a switch that gives focus to whatever PC you are using via the mouse.

What multiplicity is not:

• Remote desktop/remote control. Those systems allow you to bring a remote computer into the PC you are using. Usually in another window. Think pcAnywhere or VNC or Windows Remote Desktop. I use tightVNC to connect to the G4 Man at the house and Remote Desktop at work. Both rock.
• VirtualPC. VirtualPC is great for testing. I have every flavor of Windows since Win3.1 running in VPC. I run BeOS and some Linux distros too. Everything is networked together (except the Win3.1, I had to drop that but my WFWG is running)
• Dual monitors. We have these at work and they work well. You get twice the desktop. I work with developers that have code on one monitor and app on the other. It's pretty efficient.

Multiplicity is for people who have two or more PCs next to each other and want to use both. But they don't wnat to have to switch back and forth between mice and keyboards. Seemlessly.

I have a TabletPC that travels with me too and from the office. It's a good PC but it's a tablet, there are limitations. It feels slower. The keyboard is cramped. The touchpad is not a mouse.
So I do my heavy lifting with the desktop. But I want my portable (travel) work to be on the Tablet.

In steps MP. I can be working on the desktop and as I slide my cursor over to the side of the monitor closest to the tablet . . . the cursor jumps to the tablet and there I am.

I type on the keyboard plugged into the desktop and the keystrokes appear on the tablet.

I can copy and paste clipboard content; images, text. I use it to copy URLs a lot. and if I run a quesry on the desktop but want to send the email from the client on the tablet; copy and paste.

The Pro version (the one I use) also allows me to copy files among the PCs I have connected. I save something on PC1, drag my cursor across PC2 and continue an to PC3 where I right click and paste. There's my file. Nice.

Customer support from the vendor rocks. They are available via web forum, email, and IRC. ALL THE TIME.

If you have multiple PCs on your desk now I reccommend this product. (They are planning to support Mac an Linux in the near future for those of you who swing that way.)

DNRs, Living Wills, Wills, and Terri Shaivo

The Terri Schaivo case has been on my mind a lot the last few weeks. I am sure it's been on the mind of most Americans at some point or another.

How can it not? It touches on religion, the courts, the Congress, in-laws, children, civil rights. Somewhere in that mess every American must at least one opinion.

I . . . I have feelings and thoughts (note that I acknowledge the difference) about almost all of them. And I've reversed those thoughts and feelings a number of times. It's just a mess. And I feel so sad for the family. What a terrible place to be and to have been there for so long.

For the record,

1. I think that the only place the courts had a place was whether Michael Schaivo was a competent guardian and could speak for Terri. They did that. Move on.
2. Congress should be able to make all the laws they want but this case had all the law that was necessary beforehand. And it'll be interesting to see how fast the discussion gets dropped after Terri dies.
3. If Terri is brain-dead and her parents want to maintain her; let them. Get a proxy divorce Michael or whatever court order you need to get on with your life and move on.
4. Parents, let your daughter go.
5. Supreme Court - great job. Continue to focus on enforcing law and not making it.
6. Religious folks - decide if you believe in God's will or not. Act accordingly. If God wants Terri to stay alive, He'll take care of that. If He wants to take her home, why are you getting in the way?

And the fact is that all this could have been made so much simpler if Terri had made her wishes known before hand. I did a search on the internet and found all the forms required to make this situation clear for my family if not easy for them.

So in case it comes up and the forms can't be found. Please use emergency measures to keep me alive long enough to determine if I am going to have quality life. If I am going to be a vegetable, please pull the plug and move on with your lives.

Better yet, move me to Oregon and make use of the assisted suicide laws to put me down. Consider this my go-ahead. And I don't want my body to starve. That's barbaric. The doctors caring (not caring) for Terri should be disgusted with themselves.

And while we are on the topic of death, I would prefer cremation. I would like some of my ashes entombed with my sister Sarah. She was my birthday present and I'd like to be with her. I know it's goofy. But ask anyone that knows me; I'm goofy. If anyone else wants my ashes, you are welcome to them. [I have some of Sarah's on my dresser and they bring me . . . something. Not joy, or closeness, or anything that I can describe. But I'm glad she's there.]

So go out and do your own search.
Get the forms your state uses and fill them out. Pay the money if you can't find the free ones. Or send a notarized letter to someone.
Your death or incapacitation is going to be hard enough.
Make your family's life AND your death as easy as possible.
Do what you can.
Do something.
And tell the people that you love that you love them.
Because you never know.
DD
Texas forms

Susan is almost home

It has been a week but Susan is on her way home.

House is still standing. Older kids are alive.

What more could she ask for?



http://www.cheaptickets.com/trs/cheaptickets/flighttracker/flight_tracker_graphic.xsl

Browser Central - my second widget

From now on. . . .I save my posts before I submit. Blogger crash. Argh!!

Below is my second widget.

I thought my last (first) widget did what it was supposed to do. I wanted an app that could market the self-service tools that we were deploying yet be unobtrusive.
I think that I accomplished what I set out to do. But I thought it could be better.

Instead of describing what each tool did and launching a separate browser, why not integrate the browser into the app? Or if made full screen, use the browser as a kiosk?

So first a drawing:



I use the same template I used before (thanks Brad Wardell). Resize it a bit here and there.
I use the ActiveX control for IE and throw some script to accept URLs from the buttons.
I set the functionality of the buttons to send the URL.
Pretty much done at that point.

I moved the buttons from the side to the top to allow more screen space. I also grouped the forward and back buttons at the top. Why ,make a user go all over everywhere?

I didn't want to search the web for arrows that we public and matched so I used text to control going forward and back in the browser.

I used the TabletPC to create my own font based on my handwriting. DesktopX lets me embed the font (or whatever else really) into the object. So a user without my font, can still use it.

Things I would like to do (am thinking about doing): {updated}

• Show an alert if there is no internet connection. I added some code that puts up an alert box. Maybe do something about it?
• Show the descriptions of the tool (website in this example)
• I removed the minimize image in the upper right-hand corner and repalced it with a Under score. It looks more like a standard minimize button.
• I changed the setting on the title to allow it to move the whole app.
• I resized the buttons and lined up the text

Download: link
Requires DesktopX.

Should I rip this?

I have had two conversations in the last month about ripping songs. One with a teenager and one with a father of a pre-teen.

The arguement were the similar:

1. I'm not stealing from the artist, I'm liberating from the evil record companies who are exploiting the poor artists.
2. I'm not stealing because the artist has so much money that they wouldn't notice my purchase.
3. It's not stealing becaus I would have never bought the album (song).
4. Muic should be free for everyone.
5. You don't understand! I'm not going to talk about this anymore.

Of course, you ask them how it's different from shoplifting and who knows what argument they may come up with, because, that's WRONG! Whatever.

My kids think I am harsh because I don't let them burn music at my house. I think I am giving because I don't make them remove all pirated material from the house.

I think that it's stealing. If someone produced some material and expects recompense and doesn't get it; it's stealing. Software, music, movies; all the same thing. Stealing.

I'm on the line about TV. I think I'm OK with watching a show I missed as long as the commercials are intact.
Granted, if I were watching live, I would be flipping to other channels or getting a snack or chasing a kid and probably miss the ad. But the option is there.

You want to burn music you own? Convert all those cassettes to CD (but download the hirher quality version from the web)? Knock yourself out. Have fun. Make that Eighty's mix tape of your favorite monster ballads. You did your part. Thanks.

In any case, I saw a tongue-in-cheek chart at inreview.co.uk that will help those who want to steal justify that theft. And those others . . . enjoy.

My first Desktop X widget

The company I work for does IT support. Our focus is moving users closer to solving their own problems; self-service.

We have three major componants and they ar all web based. But users don't know how to get to them. It's a marketing problem really.

So Wedneday at 11:30 PM in bed I had an idea to build a launcher. Somehting that sat on the desktop and obviosly provided links to the tools. I whipped out the TabletPC. Opened Journal and drew out the design.



The next morning I open MS Paint and started drawing buttons and stuff.

Background:


Button:


InfoPanel:


They stunk. Horribly.

So I thought to myself . . that aero thing is pretty popular at WinCustomize Link, I'll see if there is an image I can use like that. And lo and behold, there it was; an aero template by Brad Wardell.

So I grab that and start building my objects. I resized that one image over and over again for different functions. I then added a few text objects on top of my graphpical objects. Set them to do nothing.

I then added actions to my buttons; launch the right tool. Easy enough.

Now for the infopanel; I wanted to have a description of the tool displayed when a user moused over the button. By sending messages to a bunch of new text objects (with different states for mouse over and mouse away) on top of the infopanel I accomplished this.

I tried to add a fourth button to show system stats. I go the meters to work, but I couldn't get them to go away when mousing over the other buttons. Something to work on later.

Then I added a minimize object, locked everything down, and exported.

Total build time: under two hours

I also want to get the widget to start minimized. But for that I need code. And for code I need to study.

That brings up a good point. To build this object I didn't need to know any code. The property fields for objects in DX is wicked easy to understand.

So there I had it, my first DesktopX object:



I wanted to share my object with the community at WC. But the tools referenced are all on the intranet or otherwise non-accessible. So I updated the Text on the three button objects and title. Updated the descriptions on the infopanel objects.

Updated the URLs on the button objects to point to some great sites. Exported and uploaded.

Total time: 23 minutes

Launch Central



Download: Link (DesktopX required)

Miriam learns well from her sister . . .

. . from a certain point of view.

When we moved into the new house the "Green Room" became my den. We moved in some furniture that was very comfortable but a wee bit too stained for the livingroom.

Gwen discovered very quickly that the couch, seat, and ottoman made great platforms to jump from. I was cool with it. Susan . . . put up with my choice.

Then Miriam came. And she watched. And she learned. And she put it to practice.

She does not nail the landings like Gwendolyn does. But she is not two yet. I have faith.

Miriam Jumping: wmv (380KB); AVI (8.86 MB)
[I made a token effort to find a free MPEG encoder . . . failed.]

A tribute to my Aunt: Pizza Burgers!

http://www.favoritebrandrecipes.com/Recipes/220/3674001220.htm

Last summer the family went to Green Bay, WI for my father's wedding. We stayed a few days at my Aunt Gail and Uncle Jim's house (with cousins Paul and Jeni) and one night had Pizza Burgers. I vaugly recall having these as a child but had not had them in years. And I didn't recall them being called "Pizza Burgers."

But last night dinner was a little loose. So we had Pizza burgers. Used Susan's delicious no-recipe sauce and vegie pepporoni for those of us who are freakish about our cunsumption of dead animals.

And I thought of my Aunt.

---

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
2 cups RAGÚ® Old World Style® Pasta Sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (about 4 ounces)
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 English muffins, split and toasted

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

1. In small bowl, combine ground beef, 1/2 cup Ragú Pasta Sauce, 1/2 cup cheese and salt. Shape into 6 patties. Grill or broil until done.
2. Meanwhile, heat remaining pasta sauce. To serve, arrange burgers on muffin halves. Top with remaining cheese, sauce and muffin halves.