I've come to a (potentially overblown) realization that conversations can come down to two simple categories:
Life-maintaining
Life-changing
There are obviously multitudes of the former in our everyday lives, but the latter are the real game-changers.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
IBL
Finally getting around to uploading all of my Israel photos. Some, but not all, feature me in pretty heroic poses..
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Questionable Government Allocation of Resources
I'm watching a grilling of NASA executives that will be pivotal in determining if our nation's space agency is to receive the necessary funding to move forward with the Ares launch.
It is simply appalling to me that our media and government applies such strict scrutiny and skepticim to something at the center of human progress, yet is willing to shell out billions to financial institutions that have played a part in destroying our economic system.
At its core, NASA exists to explore the unknown. If you follow the money, it appears that there is a question that this purpose isn't more crucial to the human race's progress and existence than the purpose of banks and other financial institutions. That disgusts me.
It is simply appalling to me that our media and government applies such strict scrutiny and skepticim to something at the center of human progress, yet is willing to shell out billions to financial institutions that have played a part in destroying our economic system.
At its core, NASA exists to explore the unknown. If you follow the money, it appears that there is a question that this purpose isn't more crucial to the human race's progress and existence than the purpose of banks and other financial institutions. That disgusts me.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Convenient Truth?
I've dabbled in climate change before, but never really taken it upon myself to do research and come to my own conclusions. After seeing An Inconvenient Truth, I was convinced.
However, there is an opposing viewpoint, and it should be taken seriously. This video pretty much sums it up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFK-UTGH1Zw
One interesting point worth.. um.. pointing out is that Al Gore cites the IPCC's opinion as the final word on the matter of scientific opinion. Is it not curious though, why he could cite the opinion of a governmental organization that was created to measure the effect of human activity on climate change?
If someone gave me funding and told me to find a relationship between eating chocolate and prevention of Swine Flu, I bet I could find one.
However, there is an opposing viewpoint, and it should be taken seriously. This video pretty much sums it up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFK-UTGH1Zw
One interesting point worth.. um.. pointing out is that Al Gore cites the IPCC's opinion as the final word on the matter of scientific opinion. Is it not curious though, why he could cite the opinion of a governmental organization that was created to measure the effect of human activity on climate change?
If someone gave me funding and told me to find a relationship between eating chocolate and prevention of Swine Flu, I bet I could find one.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Maybe this will be the cure for odd-hour calls from the parentals
Don't get me wrong - I love helping out the awesome parents I have who endured 18 years of raising me. But... this is probably a win-win for everyone :)
(http://xkcd.com/627/)
(http://xkcd.com/627/)
1921 Recession
All the time we hear about the Great Depression, how the government responded, and how badly we want to avoid that situation again. But the federal government is heading down the same path today, with respect to its attempts at stimulus.
Why don't we ever hear about the 1921 recession? Maybe because it never turned into a Depression, due in large part to President Harding's hands-off approach to letting the economy recover. Does our government pay attention to history?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1921_recession
Why don't we ever hear about the 1921 recession? Maybe because it never turned into a Depression, due in large part to President Harding's hands-off approach to letting the economy recover. Does our government pay attention to history?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1921_recession
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Bloomberg Radio on your iPhone
It took me way too long to figure this out, so I thought I'd share in case anyone else would find this useful.
To get live Bloomberg radio on your iPhone/iPod touch, download FStream (iTunes link)
Go to Favorites, hit Edit, Add new webradio, enter any name (doesn't matter), and enter this URL: http://www.bloomberg.com/streams/audio/radio_live_a.asx
I'm having trouble getting the stream to play on WiFi, but over the cellular network everything is up and running.
To get live Bloomberg radio on your iPhone/iPod touch, download FStream (iTunes link)
Go to Favorites, hit Edit, Add new webradio, enter any name (doesn't matter), and enter this URL: http://www.bloomberg.com/
I'm having trouble getting the stream to play on WiFi, but over the cellular network everything is up and running.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Phish returns tonight
And now for something completely different -
After determining that a trip to the West Coast to see Phish was out of my budget (and vacation days remaining...) I am left wondering what unpredictable moments I'll be missing while Phish entertains the legions in the coming weeks. Thanks to Web 2.0 these moments will be delivered in near real-time, but it won't be the same.
A recently-started project is adding to fuel to the fire. In a massive archival undertaking, I am consolidating every concert amassed during the height of my Phish-obsessed days (anyone who knew me from 2000 to 2005 knows) onto a single hard drive for easy listening. This may not sound like a big deal until the details are revealed - over 600 CDs and DVDs worth of music data that had to be dug out of the depths of closet storage, containing approximately 1/2 concert each. This isn't an effort to boast - only to give context to the period in my life where there were three interests: baseball, class, and Phish.
I became a fan in high school during the band's first hiatus, and spent almost every day searching out audience recordings of their renowned live performances. Then, the magical weekend came and I had seen Phish live. Rather than satisfy my need for their musical output, it only served to accelerate the obsession. According to the list that I religiously maintained through the collection (though haven't updated since Dec '04), there are no less than 736 hours of live Phish in my possession. If you're asking yourself "Why?" at this point, you're normal.
Phish 2.0 describes the years 2003-2004, after which the band broke up "for good" as the band put it. As we know, they've gotten back together and Phish 3.0 is in high gear. My enthusiasm for the band has waned, helped no doubt by growing up a bit, but also by the band's relatively staid on-stage presence and playing. There have been highlights, no doubt, but the creativity that made them famous has largely given way to tension/release guitar solos and straight-forward playing of traditionally improvisational pieces.
Discouraged by the band's recent trend, I set out on the aforementioned crusade to remind myself why I fell in love with this goofy foursome. Hopefully this won't result in a self-inflicted seclusion from friends and society, but rather a welcome diversion from thinking about the economy-at-large.
Here's a cool interview-
After determining that a trip to the West Coast to see Phish was out of my budget (and vacation days remaining...) I am left wondering what unpredictable moments I'll be missing while Phish entertains the legions in the coming weeks. Thanks to Web 2.0 these moments will be delivered in near real-time, but it won't be the same.
A recently-started project is adding to fuel to the fire. In a massive archival undertaking, I am consolidating every concert amassed during the height of my Phish-obsessed days (anyone who knew me from 2000 to 2005 knows) onto a single hard drive for easy listening. This may not sound like a big deal until the details are revealed - over 600 CDs and DVDs worth of music data that had to be dug out of the depths of closet storage, containing approximately 1/2 concert each. This isn't an effort to boast - only to give context to the period in my life where there were three interests: baseball, class, and Phish.
I became a fan in high school during the band's first hiatus, and spent almost every day searching out audience recordings of their renowned live performances. Then, the magical weekend came and I had seen Phish live. Rather than satisfy my need for their musical output, it only served to accelerate the obsession. According to the list that I religiously maintained through the collection (though haven't updated since Dec '04), there are no less than 736 hours of live Phish in my possession. If you're asking yourself "Why?" at this point, you're normal.
Phish 2.0 describes the years 2003-2004, after which the band broke up "for good" as the band put it. As we know, they've gotten back together and Phish 3.0 is in high gear. My enthusiasm for the band has waned, helped no doubt by growing up a bit, but also by the band's relatively staid on-stage presence and playing. There have been highlights, no doubt, but the creativity that made them famous has largely given way to tension/release guitar solos and straight-forward playing of traditionally improvisational pieces.
Discouraged by the band's recent trend, I set out on the aforementioned crusade to remind myself why I fell in love with this goofy foursome. Hopefully this won't result in a self-inflicted seclusion from friends and society, but rather a welcome diversion from thinking about the economy-at-large.
Here's a cool interview-
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