tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72719572024-03-23T11:13:58.066-07:00Yeninko of the UmlautThis, that and the other thing.Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.comBlogger252125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-1538726274253082592009-07-24T10:57:00.001-07:002009-07-24T11:03:25.186-07:00Regular wedding until 0:27<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4-94JhLEiN0&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4-94JhLEiN0&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />I love theater kids. Especially the ones that don't ever grow up.Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-81911589960342257332009-06-30T12:24:00.000-07:002009-06-30T12:28:56.952-07:00BernieCNN interviewed Larry Levine who served ten years in prison and is now a consultant for white collar criminals preparing to go to jail. He spoke about what Bernie Madoff <br /><br />The whole <a href="http://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/30/ex-con-bernie-wont-be-too-popular-behind-bars/">interview </a>is interesting but it really pays a dividend for the last line.Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-50879236299801094232009-06-02T16:50:00.000-07:002015-06-18T17:05:37.766-07:00Why George Tiller's murder mattersOutside of the ideological battle, he was an expert in his field doing work that few if any other doctors have the expertise or willingness to perform. For that he was murdered and I wonder if any others will step into the void left.<br />
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<blockquote>
Susan Hill, President of the <a href="http://www.nationalwomenshealth.org/" target="_blank">National Women's Health Foundation</a>, who knew Dr. Tiller for over two decades and referred girls and women to his clinic, said in a phone interview, "We always sent the really tragic cases to Tiller." Those included women diagnosed with cancer who needed abortions to qualify for chemotherapy, women who learned late in their pregnancies that their wanted babies had fatal illnesses, and rape victims so young they didn't realize they were pregnant for months<br />
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A commenter at the blog Balloon Juice told the story of finding out in the eighth month of his wife's pregnancy that she was carrying conjoined twins. "Conjoined twins alone is not what was so difficult but the way they were joined meant that at best only one child would survive the surgery to separate them and the survivor would more than likely live a brief and painful life filled with surgery and organ transplants." They chose to terminate the much-wanted pregnancy, rather than bring a child into the world only to suffer and die. "The nightmare of our decision and the aftermath was only made bearable by the warmth and compassion of Dr. Tiller and his remarkable staff." A commenter on Metafilter tells a similar story: "My wife and I spent a week in Dr. Tiller's care after we learned our 21 week fetus had a severe defect incompatible with life. The laws in our state prevented us from ending the pregnancy there, and Dr. Tiller was one of maybe three choices in the whole nation at that gestational age." He went on to share his memories of Dr. Tiller. "I remember him firmly stating that he regarded the abortion debate in the US to be about the control of women's sexuality and reproduction. I remember he spent over six hours in one-on-one care with my wife when there was concern she had an infection. We're talking about a physician here. Six hours."<br />
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The trauma of receiving such a diagnosis is only compounded by the difficulty of obtaining a late-term abortion. Writes one woman, "The reality is that finding a doctor to do this procedure in the late second or third trimester is almost impossible. For me, the reality was that at the most painful time of my life I had to travel out of state, stay in a hotel room and face hostile protesters in order to carry out this most personal of choices." Another writes, "I had to fly to Kansas to have the procedure done. It was a five-day out patient procedure that cost us almost $9,000 after all was said and done. I am hurt and angry at the state of Maryland for taking away my right to allow my daughter to die in peace ... I was appalled that Maryland did not have a quality-of-life addendum to the late-term termination law." Susan Hill says enduring the expense and stress of travel is the only option for most women who need late abortions in the U.S. "The restrictions under the Bush administration made it impossible for most states to allow abortions past 16 weeks. All the southern states are restricted tremendously. A few places in New York, if it was medically necessary, could possibly do it, but the paperwork was unbelievable, and there was no time left. That's why they referred people to Tiller. And for that he lost his life. "<br />
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Hill last spoke to Dr. Tiller two weeks ago, not long after the Women's Health Center was vandalized, and she asked the 67-year-old why he didn't retire in the face of increasing harassment, after already having been shot in both arms and seen his clinic bombed. "Because I can't leave these women," he told her. "Those are the words I'm always going to remember from him. He just believed that when he left, they wouldn't get any kind of care." Unfortunately, it seems he may have been right. I asked Hill where women who need late-term abortions can go now, and her response was bleak. "There's Warren Hern, out in Boulder, Colorado, but he doesn't go as far as Dr. Tiller went." When it comes to those "really tragic cases," Hill said the harsh truth is, "We don't know where we're going to send them."</blockquote>
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I've pretty much quoted the entirety of <a href="http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/06/01/late_term_abortion/index.html">this article</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Update 6/9/09: Looks like George Tiller's clinic will closes permanently.</span>Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-46013507089394740472009-05-15T09:43:00.000-07:002009-05-15T09:56:08.308-07:00Live Free or DieOne of the ridiculous reasons I'm a vegetarian is a sense of general unfairness for the fate of farm animals. It boils down to this, billions of animals are raised in this country and they basically have zero chance at a full life, they either die on the feed lots from disease or accident or their lives are prematurely ended at the slaughter house. At the very least there should be some sort of lottery or death match event where one cow, or one pig, through intelligence, or brawn, or something, manages to secure it's freedom.<br /><br />Which is why this <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/pets/detail?entry_id=40043&type=pets">story</a> brings a sense of joy to my heart;<br /><br /><blockquote>Last week, she [Molly the cow] successfully dodged her fate of being reincarnated as umpteen New York cheeseburgers when she bolted from a Queens slaughterhouse and proceeded to star in her very own wild west cattle drive up 109th Avenue.<br /><br />...<br /><br />For a moment Molly's life hung in the balance. Would she be returned to the slaughterhouse or rewarded for her hutzpah? Whether as a nod to her new found fame or as an act of true altruism, her owner relinquished the 400-pound dairy queen to animal-care workers and the promise of greener pastures.</blockquote>Which reminds me of <a href="http://stephanienz.blogspot.com/2006/06/shrek-sheep.html">this incident</a> of years gone past.Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-37730464160582812492009-05-12T15:30:00.001-07:002009-05-12T15:57:31.981-07:00I will decline to answer that officer.I tend not to get overly libertarian on this blog (trying to keep it real, yo) but it is very important that we protect ourselves against self incrimination, since that can get serious very quickly.<br /><br />My brother who is an attorney recommend to me at a young age, to never talk to cops. If they want to interview you, just clam up and ask to speak to a lawyer, regardless if you have done something wrong or not.<br /><br />But cops are very good at making you talk. For example, what do you say to a question like "Do you know how fast your were going?"<br />a) Yes (you sound like an ass)<br />b) No (you sound incompetent)<br />c) 99 (you just confessed)<br />d) 35 (you're lying)<br />e) Nothing (you sound like an ass again)<br /><br />This 27 minute <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8z7NC5sgik">video</a> I found on youtube (skip part two, it is informative, though only mildy interesting) might help you understand why a simple statement like, 'I decline to answer that question', or a return asking 'Am I legally obligated to answer that?' is your best bet. It'll piss off the cop but they are trying to get you to say something that will, in the end, cost you money and time.<br /><br />Remember we all have a job to do. The job of the police job is to catch criminals, and with a literally an unknown number of laws on the books, we are all criminals. Even telling the truth to the police about a crime you did not commit can have consequences.<br /><br />It is our job to protect the constitution by exercising our rights, including the right to not incriminate oneself, even or especially if you are 'innocent'. We protect the constitution but using the rights granted in the constitution. Those rights are eroded when we choose to not exercise them.<br /><br />(The next post will be about something mellow like unicorn power and related subjects.)Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-49089697421120404882009-05-11T09:20:00.000-07:002009-05-11T09:38:07.035-07:00HelveticaI just finally went back to finishing <a href="http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Helvetica/70076125?lnkce=seRtLn&trkid=222336&lnkctr=srchrd-sr&strkid=68617239_0_0">Helvetica</a> this weekend after having paused halfway through late one night last year. As most of my friends are in the design world much of the stuff in the film will not be particularly surprising to them. However, even if you aren't interest in the film (designer and non designer alike) I'd recommend starting it at about 35 minutes only to watch this one guy go into his critic of Helvetica. I swear, I wish I had the gift for dialouge in my first language that he has in his second. Incredible humourous. <br /><br />And for all you non-designers I'd recommend it as well, just get and idea of the ubiquitousness of the use of the font and also to get and idea of the world before Helvetica (BH as it were).<br /><br />It is a netflix watch-it-now movie and is pretty short at 80 minutes.<br /><br />More on the Helvetica font can be found on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helvetica">wikipedia</a>.Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-34903596387379901802009-05-05T13:47:00.001-07:002009-05-05T13:49:23.338-07:00Finally, non-barrier male contraception?<a href="http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090505/male_injection_090505/20090505?hub=TopStories"><span style="font-style: italic;">CTV.ca News Staff</span></a><br /><blockquote><p>An injection for men appears to be just as effective at preventing pregnancy as the birth control pill, finds new research that could revolutionize contraception. </p> <p>In testing in China, only one man in 100 fathered a child while on the injections, the study in the <em>Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism</em> reports. </p> <p>The contraceptive is a form of testosterone that is injected into the buttocks once a month. It works by temporarily blocking sperm production. </p></blockquote>Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-14270214189572333822009-04-30T09:59:00.000-07:002009-04-30T10:33:22.537-07:00The Global Pandemic of 2009I've just got back from Cuba and will be writing a few longer post but I wanted to say a couple things briefly.<br /><br />First, the book I brought to read on the trip was the inauspiciously named <a href="http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?isbn=9780143034483&atch=h&ymal=pp">The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History</a> about the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic. A couple of things to note. Flu is just short for inFLUenza. Influenza exists endemically as a reservoir in birds. It likely will never be eradicated as it doesn't need a human host to survive. Influenza also exist and spreads in pigs. And the influenza in pigs, birds and humans can and does move from one group to another. The current outbreak is called Swine flu because at some indeterminable point in this strain's past, it passed through pigs (that could have been a month ago or years ago and largely is irrelevant) but it is still influenza, this strain is clearly is new to humans, it currently looks like we don't have any immunity to it and it passes from human to human. While it's current virulence is unknown one virologist notes in <a href="http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?isbn=9780143034483&atch=h&ymal=pp">The Great Influenza</a>, that "influenza is so infectious that he calls it 'a special instance' among infectious diseases, 'transmitted so effectively that it exhausts the supply of susceptible host'". Added to all of this is the fact we have our normal cyclical flu season coming late this year. Odds are one way or another, a lot of us are going to be using sick days.<br /><br />Lastly, having just come back from Cuba (where no one knew about the out break including us) via Mexico City I was shocked to see this in the <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090428/ap_on_he_me/med_swine_flu">news today</a>: "<span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1240971019_22">Cuba</span> announced a 48-hour ban on flights to and from Mexico, except in "exceptional cases." The last flight from Mexico touched down in <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1240971019_23">Havana</span> around 4 p.m., then returned to Mexico City with passengers before the two-day suspension officially began." Lucky timing.Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-50557501788050213812009-03-23T15:52:00.000-07:002009-03-23T16:43:26.228-07:00What Cities Tell YouStanza recently forwarded me a <a href="http://paulgraham.com/cities.html">fascinating article</a> about cities and the messages they send. The author asserts a lot that I don't necessarily agree with but be sparks an interesting discussion. The premise being that cities attract a type of person by sending a message about what you should be (I highly recommend the article linked above else a lot of what I'm going to say will sound disconnected).<br /><br />Some of his examples;<br /><br />New York tells you, above all: you should make more money.<br />Boston (or rather Cambridge) is: you should be smarter.<br />Silicon Valley is: how much effect you have on the world?<br /><br />So I started talking to Stanza who I have lived with in Boston and Arcata and we discussed what cities were telling us.<br /><br />While I spent most of my life in LA I feel like I can say the least about it, so much of LA is tied into growing up and discovery that it is hard to disconnect that from its essence. If I were to take a stab at LA, I would say its message is: there are a lot of us. Just due to its sheer size LA feels like it goes on forever. And all of that forever is populated, and by so many different types of people that is speaks to the size of the world and all the people in it. I am always fascinated arriving by jet at LAX. The sheer number of different people, coming from Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Europe, Australia, it feels like the whole world passes though that airport, and the city is the same. There is no ethnic food I feel you can’t find in LA, because it feels like there is no ethnicity without an embassy, a ghetto of it’s own there, hunkering down with the rest of us and reminding us we are all in this together.<br /><br />Arcata, where I attended college seemed to say: You can't be a hippy forever. It's mostly an anti-message, a demonstration of what happens when you try to hold on to a concept or ideal to long. It is a message of not changing, of holding on. I've always felt for myself, that staying in Arcata would have been a cop out for me, the path of least resistance, the path more traveled. I'm not entirely sure it is a fair judgment on the city but ultimately these are all very subjective insights.<br /><br />Boston was also a tough one for me since I spent so little time there and I had such a hard time making friends. I would say that Boston says: You should be in school. With 100 universities and over a quarter million students in the city of Boston and Cambridge alone, I felt like everyone was related to one another through the universities they attended, or the schools they taught in or worked at. The fact that I worked a 9-5 always seemed so abnormal in comparison to most of the people I met there, regardless of age.<br /><br />San Francisco's message is so clear in my mind that I'm curious what anyone else might say. I can't imagine anything other than: you don't have to grow up. SF is Neverland, a city with the apocryphal fact that there are more dogs than children, because no one has children as they delay adulthood. Where clubs are filled with thirty somethings, and forty somethings organize skateboard outings. Where no one grows up and buys a house because there isn't an affordable house in the city.<br /><br />Ultimately I thought it was a fascinating question and I’d be interest in what you think the cities you have lived in have told you about themselves.Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-75832909952231376112008-12-30T11:51:00.001-08:002008-12-30T12:24:59.491-08:00Good DealsI'm rarely one to condone excess consumption but assuming you are not one of the hoards of people that are un- or underemployed or at risk of being so, and you need stuff now or in the next five years, I'd recommend you might want to go <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/12/29/financial/f135458S24.DTL&type=business&tsp=1">shopping</a>.<br /><blockquote>The fallout from the horrific holiday season for retailers has begun, with the operator of an online toy seller filing for bankruptcy protection and more stores are expected to do the same — meaning more empty storefronts and fewer brands on store shelves. A rash of store closings, which some experts predict will be the most in 35 years, is likely to come across areas from electronics to apparel, shrinking the industry and leading to fewer niche players and suppliers.</blockquote>Or worded another way, retail shops are having the best sales in the last 35 year right now. They stocked betting on sales like last season, and that just didn't happen, so not only do they have to survive the crumbling capital markets (where they borrow money for expansion) they also aren't selling any products.<br /><br />Good deals are to be had. I bought work pants at 60% off at Gap and Alexis bought a pair cords at 65% off at JCrew. <br /><br />Having said that, I hardly think the worst of this economy is at hand so if you don't have the money, be careful.Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-39747399167413698022008-12-23T10:38:00.000-08:002008-12-23T14:59:40.927-08:00I Love ReportsI'm the kind of guy that likes reading <a href="http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm">NTSB accident reports</a>. The <a href="http://www.clarity.net/%7Eadam/hurt-report.html">Hurt report</a> was fascinating but I've just found the best read since the <a href="http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/index.html">9/11 report</a>.<br /><br />It is titled <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/9231188/MadoffSECdocs20081217">"The World's Largest Hedge Fund is a Fraud"</a> and dissects <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=6AX&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=madoff+ponzi&spell=1">Madoff Investment Securities</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponzi_scheme">Ponzi scheme</a>. Some of it is at a high level which is when my eye start to glaze over but with a start like this it is hard not to be riveted for all 15 pages:<br /><blockquote>I am a derivatives expert and have traded or assisted in the trading of several billion $US in options strategies for hedge funds and institutional clients. I have experience managing split-strike conversion products both using index options and using individual stock options, both with and without index puts. Very few people in he world have the mathematical background needed to manage these types of product but I am one of them...Due to the sensitive nature of this case, it's dissemination withing the SEC be limited to those with a need to know...As a result of this case, several careers on Wall Street and in Europe will be ruined. Therefore, I have not signed nor put my name on this report. I request my name not be released to anyone other than the Branch Chief and Team Leader in the New York Region who are assigned to the case, without my express written permission. The fewer people who know who wrote this report the better. I am worried about the personal safety of myself and my family. </blockquote>The author goes on to list 29 Red Flags, including this gem:<br /><blockquote>Fed Flag #24: Only Madoff family members are privy to the investment strategy. Name one other prominent multi-billion dollar hedge fund that doesn’t have outside, non-family professionals involved in the investment process. You can’t because there aren’t any...</blockquote>Then the author begins instructing the SEC (over three years ago!) exactly who to interview and even <span style="font-weight: bold;">how</span> to interview them:<br /><blockquote>...the SEC should call: Leon Gross...Leon can't believe that the SEC hasn't shut down Bernie Madoff yet. He's also amazed that FOF's actually believe this stupid options strategy is capable of earning a positive return much less a 12% net average annual return. He thinks the strategy would have trouble earning 1% much less 12% net. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Leon is a free spirit, so if you ask him he'll tell you but you'd understand it better if you met him at his workplace in a private conference room and tell him he won't need to have Citigroup lawyers present, you're just there for some friendly opinions. He talk derivatives at a high level, so ask simple "yes or no" type questions to start off the interview and then drill down.</span></blockquote>Jeeze, I wish I work for the SEC where citizens did all the work for me.<br /><br /><blockquote></blockquote>Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-39263400407350555922008-12-12T11:22:00.000-08:002008-12-12T11:33:16.314-08:00Bettie Page dies at 85<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-page12-2008dec12,0,5310709.story">The LA Times reports</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Bettie Page, the brunet pinup queen with a shoulder-length pageboy hairdo and kitschy bangs whose saucy photos helped usher in the sexual revolution of the 1960s, has died. She was 85.<br /><br />Page, whose later life was marked by depression, violent mood swings and several years in a state mental institution, died Thursday night at Kindred Hospital in Los Angeles, where she had been on life support since suffering a heart attack Dec. 2, according to her agent, Mark Roesler.</blockquote><br /><br />Thanks for popularizing the hair cut and helping usher in the sexual revolution Bettie, you'll be missed<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6lZJn64TF4xnoSvOwKZXx5yfZS2vLnUES0fw7D7TItJNnmqvoRg57dqtrxKVpfLPZ3UmcRvbLiO4EdwZ-EI6cf4zL62f2mX8kv5wh4wFy9aVSH2vZ-CjeBuyOYwBH5P98QiIjBg/s1600-h/Bettiefoil1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 293px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6lZJn64TF4xnoSvOwKZXx5yfZS2vLnUES0fw7D7TItJNnmqvoRg57dqtrxKVpfLPZ3UmcRvbLiO4EdwZ-EI6cf4zL62f2mX8kv5wh4wFy9aVSH2vZ-CjeBuyOYwBH5P98QiIjBg/s400/Bettiefoil1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278987887024271474" /></a>Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-27256671695613894902008-12-05T11:35:00.000-08:002008-12-05T11:44:37.504-08:00Teen Self-Esteem May Be Too High<blockquote>"<a href="http://www.livescience.com/culture/081205-teen-self-esteem.html">Researchers</a> compared responses from teens in 1975 and 2006, asking questions about their qualities and abilities. The study, published last month, found that today's kids consider themselves to be far more intelligent and capable than their 1970s counterparts, and more likely to report being "completely satisfied" with themselves.<br /><br />The concern that teens — and especially young women — have low self-esteem has been around for decades...The supposed self esteem crisis has been blamed on everything from thin fashion models to gender bias in the classroom, yet there's little evidence for a nationwide lack of low self esteem among girls or anyone else."</blockquote> <br /><br />To many people have been reading my bible<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnwSmXLLS6q2oYHPv_7tRkTGEKE6MeVmVbq1MtUWd4Nq0-RortO_ARalUvhan5HFBRpKnG_Pz9XeQCw0Jf7ONPaX2pr731X-1meZWkDav6_RLa2OgenEnUh6FeOovM9mm6s_uALw/s1600-h/77777anybody_can_be_cool.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 255px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnwSmXLLS6q2oYHPv_7tRkTGEKE6MeVmVbq1MtUWd4Nq0-RortO_ARalUvhan5HFBRpKnG_Pz9XeQCw0Jf7ONPaX2pr731X-1meZWkDav6_RLa2OgenEnUh6FeOovM9mm6s_uALw/s400/77777anybody_can_be_cool.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276393921262664114" /></a>Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-78193339450367251262008-11-28T15:04:00.000-08:002008-11-28T15:14:39.288-08:00How To Send Email To Any Cell Phone for FreeThe graphically illustrated directions are <a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/email-to-sms/">here</a> but basically you need a phones number and the service provider for that number (You can look the service provider up <a href="http://fonefinder.net/">here</a> if you have the number).<br /><br />Then simply put their number and the providers info in the 'TO" field in an email message. <br /><br /><table align="center"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Carrier</strong></td> <td><strong>Email to SMS Gateway</strong></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Alltel</td> <td> [10-digit phone number]@message.alltel.com<br />Example: 1234567890@message.alltel.com </td> </tr> <tr> <td>AT&T (formerly Cingular)</td> <td> [10-digit phone number]@txt.att.net<br />[10-digit phone number]@mms.att.net (MMS)<br />[10-digit phone number]@cingularme.com<br />Example: 1234567890@txt.att.net </td> </tr> <tr> <td>Boost Mobile</td> <td> [10-digit phone number]@myboostmobile.com<br />Example: 1234567890@myboostmobile.com </td> </tr> <tr> <td>Nextel (now Sprint Nextel)</td> <td> [10-digit telephone number]@messaging.nextel.com<br />Example: 1234567890@messaging.nextel.com </td> </tr> <tr> <td>Sprint PCS (now Sprint Nextel)</td> <td> [10-digit phone number]@messaging.sprintpcs.com<br />[10-digit phone number]@pm.sprint.com (MMS)<br />Example: 1234567890@messaging.sprintpcs.com </td> </tr> <tr> <td>T-Mobile</td> <td> [10-digit phone number]@tmomail.net<br />Example: 1234567890@tmomail.net </td> </tr> <tr> <td>US Cellular</td> <td> [10-digit phone number]email.uscc.net (SMS)<br />[10-digit phone number]@mms.uscc.net (MMS)<br />Example: 1234567890@email.uscc.net </td> </tr> <tr> <td>Verizon</td> <td> [10-digit phone number]@vtext.com<br />[10-digit phone number]@vzwpix.com (MMS)<br />Example: 1234567890@vtext.com </td> </tr> <tr> <td>Virgin Mobile USA</td> <td> [10-digit phone number]@vmobl.com<br />Example: 1234567890@vmobl.com</td></tr></tbody></table>Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-6512578507495719482008-11-25T09:46:00.000-08:002008-11-25T09:49:25.441-08:00A company run by engineers<a href="http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2006/0904/112.html">From Engineers Rule</a><br /><blockquote><br />Honda has never had an unprofitable year. It has never had to lay off employees. In the fiscal year that ended in March, profit grew 12%, to $5.1 billion, on $84 billion in sales. In the U.S., which accounts for 43% of Honda's sales, vehicle sales are up 7% through July, even as the industry slipped 5%. The company sold more vehicles in July than one member of the old Big Three, the Chrysler Group.<br /><br />...<br /><br />Honda is using psychology to try to help mitigate a big safety problem for bikers: Drivers don't see them coming. It turns out that if the bike looks like an angry face, motorists take notice.</blockquote>Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-59271091137897609212008-11-24T10:03:00.000-08:002008-11-24T10:05:00.892-08:00Be a savvy shopper-- Avoid shopping with children, as research shows shoppers doing so spend 40 percent more than planned.<br /><br />-- Eat first. If you're hungry, you'll buy more of everything - from food to flat-screen televisions.<br /><br />-- Carefully consider the actual price you are paying, not how the cost is promoted. Lindstrom once conducted an experiment at a grocery store where he posted a $1.95 price tag near cans of soup. "The next day we put a little tag next to it that said "Maximum eight cans per customer," and people bought like crazy," he said.<br /><br />-- Pay for your purchases in cash. Research shows that shoppers spend as much as 30 percent more when using credit cards.<br /><br />-- Consider not using a shopping cart - they've doubled in size over the past two years, and shoppers buy considerably more because of it.Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-7390577958696269542008-11-17T13:42:00.000-08:002008-11-17T13:48:16.274-08:00Key duplication made easy, at rangeMy first thought when reading the article below was how to use this technology for nefarious purposes but my roommate works long hours and had a hard time getting his only copy of a rare motorcycle key-type made at one of the only two places that make them in San Francisco. Imagine if he could just email a photo of a key to someplace and have them make it and mail it to him...damn, that's not a bad business concept.<br /><br /><blockquote>UC San Diego computer scientists have built a software program that can perform <a href="http://www.jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/news/news_releases/release.sfe?id=791">key duplication without having the key</a>. Instead, the computer scientists only need a photograph of the key.<br /><br />In another example, they used a five inch telephoto lens to capture images from the roof of a campus building and duplicate keys sitting on a café table about 200 feet away.</blockquote>Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-75566978798095342602008-11-11T14:24:00.001-08:002008-11-11T14:26:02.681-08:00Now That Is One Convincing Paint Job<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbgJ8-QGyPN-44l30APwbD0dA1P9b0a6NrvbhSYgGYLH0m1bxulgexxt_Y-q_K3yEuUFIEAh1jNI6GUC-DMVEkCZMV0E3jfwCmyWk-uyLVXXcefb4WwB6czZdwfwnk6WI1s5H8hg/s1600-h/25464truckfirezp5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbgJ8-QGyPN-44l30APwbD0dA1P9b0a6NrvbhSYgGYLH0m1bxulgexxt_Y-q_K3yEuUFIEAh1jNI6GUC-DMVEkCZMV0E3jfwCmyWk-uyLVXXcefb4WwB6czZdwfwnk6WI1s5H8hg/s400/25464truckfirezp5.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267529629651093186" /></a>Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-51315442158405323842008-11-03T10:21:00.000-08:002008-11-03T10:34:22.363-08:00Political Irony Defined<a href="http://politicalirony.com/2008/11/02/white-supremacists-for-obama/">White Supremacists for Obama?</a><br /><br /><blockquote>White people are faced with either a negro or a total nutter who happens to have a pale face. Personally I’d prefer the negro. National Socialists are not mindless haters. Here, I see a white man, who is almost dead, who declares he wants to fight endless wars around the globe to make the world safe for Judeo-capitalist exploitation, who supports the invasion of America by illegals–basically a continuation of the last eight years of Emperor Bush. Then, we have a black man, who loves his own kind, belongs to a Black-Nationalist religion, is married to a black women–when usually negroes who have ‘made it’ immediately land a white spouse as a kind of prize — that’s the kind of negro that I can respect.<br /><br />Rocky Suhayda, chairman of the American Nazi Party<br /></blockquote><br /><br />With an Obama endorsement like that I think I'm back in the undecided camp.Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-12786810104317184342008-09-24T09:54:00.000-07:002008-09-24T09:58:58.294-07:00All Systems Go for China's Manned Space LaunchI read that and thought to myself, wow, China is really getting it's space program (and by extension, ballistic missile program) in gear and that it is interesting to finally see the diffusion of space technology. <br /><br />And the I read this part<br /><blockquote><br /><a href="http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-09-24-voa15.cfm?rss=topstories">China says</a> all systems have passed through final preparations and are ready for the country's third manned trip to outer space, which is scheduled to launch Thursday night.</blockquote><br /><br />I must be losing brain cells because I don't recall the first two launches, which I suspect would have made big news, especially at the sites a geek like myself reads.Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-43532017613902338612008-09-04T15:35:00.000-07:002008-09-04T15:39:36.703-07:00Bushy eyebrows are backSo says the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-ig-beauty31-2008aug31,0,7785148.story">LA Times</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0qgsZg9dm4pr23FS40kx9VtBNV56Fcfe2kms4-wuWh-ttXQ6qVPB3C8EsltolYipBHUvmJlNsA2if5r60aC4eUmDVbUEoldL-VgUXaO2El_JcELoC_ZYd4NjjAaKeK-VNA4irnA/s1600-h/thufir_lynch.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0qgsZg9dm4pr23FS40kx9VtBNV56Fcfe2kms4-wuWh-ttXQ6qVPB3C8EsltolYipBHUvmJlNsA2if5r60aC4eUmDVbUEoldL-VgUXaO2El_JcELoC_ZYd4NjjAaKeK-VNA4irnA/s400/thufir_lynch.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242299101453147394" /></a><br />But as me and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thufir_Hawat">Thufir Hawat</a> know, they ain't never been gone.Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-82993601478185509052008-07-23T13:05:00.001-07:002008-07-31T16:19:07.445-07:00Brainswitching"One of the best techniques neuroscience research and brain mapping have developed is Brainswitching. Brainswitching is a power cognitive behavioral therapy that can be <a href="http://www.depressiontreatmenthelp.org/clinical-depression-treatment-causes.php">just as effective as anti-depressants</a>.<br /><br />Depression exists in the emotional part of the brain. Brainswitching uses basic mental exercises to switch the neuronal activity from the emotional part of the brain (the subcortex) to the thinking part of the brain (the neocortex) which does not have the capacity for depression.<br /><br />Here's an example of Brainswitching that you can try for yourself. Lets say you find yourself being depressed, instead of thinking "I am so down and depressed" make yourself busy with some trivial logical exercises or games. At such a time you can play games that involve logical thinking (chess, soduku, online puzzles, etc) or simply close your eyes and in your mind start singing your favorite song with full concentration. Refuse to think that you are depressed. <br /><br />Concentrating your mind on some thought or song will block the cognitive awareness of the depression going on in the subcortex, the emotional part of your brain. This technique will increase the neuronal activity in the neocortex and decrease it in the subcortex, thus correcting the chemical imbalance that feeds depression."<br /><br />Jethro was the first to comment on this observed behaviour in me when I first moved to Boston where I proceeded to bury myself in Video games for about six months. THough looking back it was pretty clear that video games have been a <br /><br /><br /><br />http://www.depressiontreatmenthelp.org/clinical-depression-treatment-causes.php<br /><br />I use video games!Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-37117088250714479712008-06-23T20:29:00.000-07:002008-06-25T14:48:44.043-07:00In Memoriam: Steve WolkoffAs many of you know know Steve and Cindy were in a <a href="http://www.sanmateodailynews.com/article/2008-6-22-crash">horrific car crash</a> this Saturday resulting in Steve's death and Cindy being airlifted in critical condition to Stanford medical center. The most recent news I've heard is that she will make a full physical recovery. I can only imagine the emotional trauma she, and both Cindy and Steve's family are going through. A <a href="http://stevewolkoff.freewheel.tv/">comment board</a> has been posted by his employer if you would like to leave a message.<br /><br />For me, I will always remember the frigid Saturdays in Pacifica where he demonstrated what it meant to really play Ultimate Frisbee and the Tuesday night dinners at Pakwan in the mission. That and his infinite smile and wry sense of humor. Thanks for knowing me Steve.<br /><br />(Updates on <a href="http://steveandcindy.wordpress.com/">Cindy's condition</a>.)Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-8789816299104393252008-06-13T11:31:00.000-07:002008-06-13T11:33:28.484-07:00"Hello!"I talk on the phone a fair deal, and a lot of the people that talk with me call me because they have to not because they want to. Somewhere along the line I found a tip for good customer service that said you should always answer the phone with a smile on your face. <br /><br />It actually really works. I don’t know if people can hear it or if by smiling you are changing your own perception of the conversation but it really seems to have an effect. A more friendly conversation seems to ensue and people seem happy when they get off the phone with me (though people seem generally happy to get off the phone with me anyway).<br /><br />I dunno, just a thought for the day.Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7271957.post-60615780089829284712008-06-11T15:22:00.000-07:002008-06-11T15:23:49.174-07:00How rich are you?Yenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04347622592885900313noreply@blogger.com0