JEM:finally woken::

Always on the search for new 'toons to jive and jam to, when I was talking to Glen tonight I asked him to pass on any new morsals that he had found. He suggested: JEM:finally woken:: I checked out a few of the samples on the site. Definately on my list-to-buy.

123183 - Procedure to Export Text File with Comma AND Quote Delimiter

Geek stuff: 123183 - Procedure to Export Text File with Comma AND Quote Delimiter Best MS Whitepaper someone has passed on to me in a long time.

MIT Project Oxygen

Last month, I delivered a half drunken rant about my belief in the future of A.I. and mechanical consciousness. I started thinking about it again this week and that led me to the site for MIT Project Oxygen. I am impressed by the current technology that these guys are coming up with. I think their genius will flow into the ideas that I have. The difference is that they actually know what they are talking about where as I am really just fantasizing. All the same, human creativity (one way or another) is going to take us to some pretty amazing places.

Live from Jacksonville, AL

I'm spending the week in Jacksonville, AL this week for work. Just have a few minutes in the cafeteria computer lab before heading over to the classroom to begin teaching again. Very college-like experience. Even living in the dorm - alone. It's odd being the only person in an entire dorm. The culinary experience has been interesting - more about that later. Really, it's actually been pretty good.
Well, off to class, the teacher can't be late.

while on hold:

I found this site while waiting to get through to a CSR for USAir because my original flight to AL this week got cancelled. They had already called yesterday and kept on hold, but that's another story. Anyway, I decided to look up the website for a cool new mint that I bought at the World Market yesterday: Jo Mints. That lead me to this site (through a link or two): ThinkGeek :: Stuff for Smart Masses
I don't have time to check much of it out now because I need to pack for my flight, but I thought I'd post it and visit again later.

An Introduction to Quantum Computing

Technology is coming together quite nicely. Can you image, a hard drive the size of your current computer being so small that you would barely be able to see it with your naked eye? With Quantum Computing, I'm convinced that it will happen within our lifetime. Not only will it be smaller, it will be faster. A recent NPR story that I heard recently, sparked my interest and imagination of the things to come.

done decisions

buyer's remorse? no, acceptance of finality? no. commitment to a decision? yes. and that alone makes me feel a little better today than I did the day before when I didn't know what I was going to do about repairing the cracks and issues that I found in my house that the previous owner must have covered up. Or did they? More about that later; maybe. I made a commitment yesterday to go with the mason that had quoted the repairs on my house. Not the lowest bid that I got, but one of the more affordable ones. I think it will work out ok, but I still stress. Do I feel better though? Absolutely. Why? Because I no longer have a decision to make in that matter. The decision is done and now it's time to deal with what arises from that one. Life is really just a series of decisions and consequences. We make one decision and leads us to react to those consequences. Those reactions solidify in the form of new decisions. People have mapped these things out on a micro-scale, but what about broadening the scope of this awareness. To be self-reflective of this medium for a moment, I suppose blogs are an attempt to do something like that. Log our thoughts and actions in an effort to map out that process from point a to point b. Or point c, d, e, f....never really to reach point z. Because we're not willing to admit that there is really a point z, are we? Isn't that why we assure ourselves that there is an afterlife, or a rebirth? If life ended with death, then there would be no consequence to our last actions, and that would mean that there are no more final decisions.
And so I decided on an action to repair my house. And that will have it's own reactions / consequences / results. But - I feel good, because making decisions, commitments = being alive and keeping the cycle turning.

a scratch sheet of paper i don't know what to do with

I'm never knowing what to do with website that someone tells me to check out or to save. I put them in my favorites list but then I never look at my favorites. I was cleaning out a pile of papers tonight and I found a card for Abacus24-7.com - Home Page that my boss at work gave me. It's a site for cheap printer cartridges. Now instead of cluttering up my drawers, and my favorites list, I'll clutter my blog.

'Great Friend make any camping trip worthwhile.

It's nice to know that a rainy weekend still can't ruin spending time catching up with old, good friends.


I just got back from camping with Jason, Jesse, John, Paul, and Todd at Goshen Pass in VA. Sitting around the campfire with a beer and listening to everyone talk and joke around has to be one of my most favorite things in the world. It's a good feeling to have a group of friends that know most everything about your past and who you are today. It's reassuring and it is comfortable. Not an eventful camping trip, but very relaxing. We arrived to rain on Friday and it continued through Saturday morning. We hung out down by the river for a while and the sun broke through the clouds long enough for a few of us to jump in. On the walk back we ran into a Copperhead on the trail (bad memories for Todd), but we were able to avoid any trouble. Of course there was a huge campfire and plenty of hot dogs the rest of the day and into the late night.

back to the spot

i'm camping-bound this weekend to join up with some old friends from da 'ville. we're hitting the same place we went to for paul's bachelor party, which seems to have taken on the nickname: g-spot. we all would love to go back to the spot that we used to camp at a lot in hs, but apparently it's been closed to camping for some time. all the same i'm looking forward to getting away and being with good friends for the weekend.

Obsolete Computer Museum

Obsolete Computer Museum
next time you are complaining about how long it is taking to boot or finish doing something, check these out.

line of a song currently stuck in my head

...dance like nobody is watching...