Feeling like a professional driver

The mileage on my truck continues to climb daily. Over 110,000 miles have been driven in the past three years. In fact, the second seat cushion for the driver's chair was purchased just before Christmas because the seat has broken down from my weight and time in the chair.

Can you imagine driving an average of 120 miles per day as a simple daily commute? Now try it in LA traffic. Ha.

Today was an easy day. The two drives only lasted 3.5 hours. It's about the fastest time to date. Piece of cake.

Biohints.com

Several websites that I'm associated with do quite well in the search engine results. Tux Reports bounces up and down, tabletquestions.com is rising daily, Movies Mania hit the top ten one week after it was created, and I suspect that Birdie's latest project, hilaryduffchat.org will do well too.

HOWEVER, I was shocked to find out that biohints.com is the fourth choice when the search term ap biology hints is placed in google.

Yikes, I haven't worked on that site since my computers were stolen. Guess it is time to go back and fix things. Yes indeed. Not even the images were setup for the announcements section. Time to quit being lazy.

Have you seen this email yet?

Careful there youngsters and oldsters alike. The following email may be sitting in your mailbox and you should not get suckered into clicking on the file attachment. Mine arrived today.

Microsoft does not send messages regarding updates and patches. This message is a spoof.

Have you received your copy yet?

Real Player 10 beta and the NASA Rover

While the three iso images for Mandrake Linux 10 beta 1 were downloading last night, I was installing Movable Type onto WebcamNotes, helping Birdie with HilaryDuffChat.org and missing out on the landing of the new space craft on Mars.

The installation of Real Player seemed to have been corrupted a few days ago and I had not taken the time to fix it. As soon as KHD let me know the craft was descending, I realized Real Player was not working and started the install for the Real Player beta. Sadly, the player was over 10 MB in file size and took forever to download. It was installed 20 minutes after KHD let me know ... drats ... I missed the landing. I missed history in the making ... {thump}

Hilary Duff Chat

Birdie was checking the comments from one of her posts on her Blog, Bird Sounds. There were over 136 comments for one of her posts about Hilary Duff's Birthday. Since Birdie loves the T.V. show Hilary Duff ... she loves to listen to Hilary Duff's CD and can never get enough of her movies ... she started to put two and two together ....

At approximately 6:30 P.M. last night she asked if she could register the domain HilaryDuffChat.org and open up a discusion board. The domain name was registered, we set up the site, and by 8:30 P. M. the googlebot spider was crawling the discussion board.

Now, she chose Invision Board as the basis for the discussion forum. Tablet PC Questions uses vBulletin now but started with phpBB2.

It was great to see her install the board without hesitation and clearly the setup for Invision is far easier than phpBB or vBulletin. The most difficult part was setting up the permissions for the directories after uploading the files. Once installed, the control panel for administration allowed birdie to arrange categories and forums. After I registered on the site, she had to change the upload directory because permissions were initially not set properly.

She finally placed the google ad banner on the site header in hopes to gain more college money. And as she was doing this little project ... Mandrake Linux 10 beta 1 was being downloaded. She wants to install it.

Mike Rowe's in the Hot Seat

I just can't stop laughing. A 17-year old registers a domain name. Well, not just any domain name. He registered MikeRoweSoft.com .. rotflol

Good for him for having a sense of humor. And shame on Microsoft for trying to get pushy too soon. An MS representative could have simply picked up the phone and called. But that isn't how MS does business. Naw. They get real nasty real fast. This puts the others on the defensive and usually works. Unless it is just a kid.

But wait a second. Who are the people who goofed up? Because it is all about people then who are these people Besides jerks? Someone wasn't paying attention and now the media is going to have a field day. Maybe MS as a corporation shouldn't be blamed. Instead, let's blame the people who sat in on the committee meeting which made up the protocol. Yeah, da boneheads. Ya blew it. Time for another meeting and a manual revision.

Field Day Number One

Next?

Yahoo Directory Myth

I'm convinced that Yahoo and Google employ some of the dumbest people on the internet.

The Yahoo Blowup
In the early to mid 90s, Yahoo had the search engine scene locked. They owned the category. It was always the first place I looked for a site. However, the database was not dynamic and newer sites were not getting listed. If I remember correctly, the company relied on human beings to manually create lists of websites. In order to be listed a human visited the site and manually added it to the list. It was a meta-bookmark site. Unfortunately, this review process deteriorated when Yahoo started to demand money for reviewing a website. I can't remember any of the sites I've been associated with being listed since 1996 and they never corrected the bad link for the one done in 1995. It's still there after sending several emails over several years.

I'm convinced that a new listing in the Yahoo directory is impossible without paying for it. And I've decided that it isn't worth the hassle. Nope. Simply make sure that google picks up your site and traffic will be driven to it. This is why Yahoo has become irrelevant to the web. Their mistake was not growing with the Internet.

Google's Future is looking sad too
Now, google is having problems too. They appear to be trying to control listings too by constantly changing their algorithms. Plus, they are trying to build a directory using dmoz editors, a group of just as uneducated idiots as Yahoo. Do they list the most popular sites for a topic? Nope. The editors told me that www.tabletpctalk.com and www.tabletpcbuzz.com didn't fit the requirements for being listed in Tablet PCs. {Scratching head}. I replied that they must have been looking elsewhere and maybe would like to check again.There was no reply and I gave up trying to figure out their reasoning. Maybe I should have been nicer and given them my complete list of bookmarked sites. But isn't that their job?

Design Layouts

I was looking at the website http://www.webdesign.com and was enjoying the simplicity of the design. The soft colors in the menus and the large futuristic image sitting in the second column. Man, I wish I could do something like that ... uhm ... but original.

Hubble's Death

The Hubble telescope is being abandoned. This magnificent piece of equipment has brought us so many wonderful images of the heavens that it is hard to understand why NASA is letting it go without a fight.

Apparently, the orbit path is not within reach of the International Space Station. All Shuttle flights must now pass by the ISS. This leaves the Hubble Telescope out of reach for repairs, attachment of a re-entry device, and new lenses.

Yes, without a re-entry device attached to the telescope it will crash anywhere nature takes it. The probability is one in seven hundred that there will be human casualties. Ugh.

Now, this is why we need to train more scientists. Someone is bound to come up with a way to fix this tool and get it back to earth safely. Time to hit the books !

The week begins

I'm ready for a relaxing week of teaching. After six days of driving more than 300 miles each day, it's great to be home. However, before settling into the routine, I started the installation of Windows XP Home edition and the updates. Installation began at 8 P.M. and is still going after 4 hours. Next, is the installation of Office XP and updates. Finally I'll be able to copy my school directory down to the drive so that I can start reorganizing the lesson plans.

CES Tablet PC Gathering

I drove up to Modesto yesterday evening. Today, Lora and Chris Coulter drove to Palmdale and we will leave for Las Vegas tomorrow. We should arrive in Vegas by the afternoon. The gathering will be at 7 pm. I'll make sure that I bring my miniDV so that I can upload pictures.

Check www.tabletquestions.com for more details.

Bush and Hitler

The New York Times is reporting on the MoveOn.org advertising campaign for selecting a political ad.

OK. This is just plain funny. Someone morphs Hitler into the Bush image and the slant in the reporting is that the idea "cheapens the level of political discourse in America." Uhm .. grow up.

Actually, US citizens better start paying attention to this government. It is dangerous. The foreign policy should be questioned and not questioning it can lead to decisions that do harm to select groups. Maybe even you! We already jail people with looks we do not like and we take away their voting rights to make sure they are removed from fighting back politically. It is a small step to suggest saving money by removing them from society permanently.

A radio station (KFI 640) is a dangerous example of extremism running rampant. A DJ on that station repeatedly attacks a particular lawyer for defending people accused of murder. This "man" claims the accused should just be killed and save us all money. Today he talked about letting fat people keep getting fat -- because then they'll die early and save us all money. Such an ugly man.

Well, Bush wasn't that far from the general Hitler symbol by murdering people in Iraq simply because it was his agenda to upset the politics in that nation. Napoleon did the same. So did Hitler. Worse, the lies about "weapons of mass destruction" clearly and unarguably are evidence that the man had an agenda and completed it through trickery and deception.

History repeats itself in this man of ugliness. And if you blindly follow his lead then you deserve all of the wretchedness this world dishes out.

Why all the posts tonight?

In case you haven't realized it yet -- I've been writing tonight. And there is a good reason. I'm celebrating.

After 3 years of pain and suffering {cough} I was told that my request for a waiver on the second quarter of Instructional Competency was granted. I rushed down to CAL State LA before they changed their minds ... picked up the paperwork for the preliminary credential .. filled it out ... paid a $75 fee for expediting my paperwork and then waited in line .. and waited .. and waited ..

{snore}

OK, I finally put the paperwork in the correct bin and walked away.

And I should receive a C19 Letter within three weeks. Emphasis on should ... Anyway, this letter will then be taken to LAUSD and I'll sign a new contract -- as a REAL teacher.

Sure sure.

If it was only that simple .. but hey .. don't rain on my parade. At the moment .. I'm celebrating.

Burp. Excuse me. Best get back to asking myself questions about light...

Me: Self?
Me Again: Yes?
Me: Uhm .. what is half a wavelength of light?
Me Again Don't bother me. I'm busy.

The speed of light

Here is my not so random thought of the day ... This question has been bothering me for several years now and I still don't have an answer. Maybe I should do some research rather than just thinking about it.

Oh .. the question ..

Is the speed of light always constant?

Now, we were probably all forced to sit in a classroom where a teacher (not a researcher) claimed the speed is always constant. There was probably a simplistic explanation watered down from the teacher's own course or readings. I've heard some just state the constant as a fact and I am guilty of never questioning it until I started to think about the implications this has on time. But that is another thought.

Well, light is a duality. It has wave and particle behaviors. Fortunately for my little pea brain, this is not a problem because both must have a point of origin. Maybe - in fact - the idea of duality is irrelevant to my question. But let's think about the point of origin of light, the light must start at a speed of zero. Or is that velocity? Drats. Is there direction? OK. Forget that tangent. Let's get back to my thoughts. Don't feed me some Einstein crap either. Think for yourself and don't blame Albert.

Does light at the point of origin have a speed (velocity) of zero?

Well? {staring at you} If it has a speed of zero at it's origin then the speed of light is not constant. Instead the speed of light defined in our textbooks is a theoretical MAXIMUM speed of light. And then we have to ask ourselves .. (well, I ask myself) ... Is it possible for light to go faster?

Reading Email

I must be the luckiest man in the world. Just check out my email box some time and you'll see how many things I've won ! I'm blessed.

Then again ...

I spend more time deleting emails rather than reading and responding. Here is a typical scenario:

{one finger on del key} tap .. tap .. tap .. tap .. tap .. tap .. tap .. tap .. pause ... tap ... tap ... tap

{gasp and muttering "only 540 to go"} tap .. tap .. tap .. tap .. tap .. tap .. tap ... tap

Good thing I checked email this morning otherwise the box would be full. And just think how fat and big my email box would be if I didn't have any spam blockers set up on them !

Be Proud and Expose Yourself

But just make sure you do it in private ... and while no one is looking ...

Julia Lerman presents the two sides of a blade in her post Don't be iffy ...

I agree with her that exposing a personality on a blog is scary. This is because we all tend to hide our thoughts throughout the day and then let them explode or burn in our innocent gut (why do we hate our guts? What has it ever done to you besides provide good food?).

Instead, a blog let's us control ourselves and our thoughts. Blogging is cleaning a messy room. It provides order in a random day. Actually, a blog makes it possible to let thinks escape from our minds so that they do not just circulate and percolate. Blogs are damage control - with a big potential for helping someone else not feel so lonely.

But not to draw you too far off onto a tangent from her post topic, a whipser on a topic is sometimes more powerful than a full page post. In fact, a shout of profanity and absurdity is so common on blogs that it is refreshing to see calmness, as compared to an itchy mouse finger reaction I get when I go to some blogs.

This is exactly what we need -- more whispers on the Internet. But maybe that is Freudian, with a hidden message only for my more intimate friend to discover.

Mientes Tambien

I have absolutely no idea what this song is about but the tune has been stuck in my head for the past few hours. I can't seem to shake it... I even put on some Kenny Loggins music to try to stir up my blood .. but nothing has worked.

Whatever happened to ... "Don't know much about the French I took. But I do know that I love you..." ... gesh.

I tried babelfish and the translation was "minds also" .. uhm .. ok... whatever.

Now, would someone kindly tell me what the heck the song is saying?

Howard Stern Needs a Tablet PC

While driving to UCLA this morning, the radio was stuck on the Howard Stern show. He was carrying on about the thin paper now used in calendars. According to him, he called 20 places and visited 10 places looking for a particular calendar. He then emailed the company -- and they didn't respond.

One caller suggested he should get a pda. He then explained that he preferred handwriting. The obvious solution is a Tablet PC. Howard can then write to his heart's content. Oh wait. Does he have a heart?

Note: OK. I arrived to UCLA before the end of the show and missed the end of the show. Maybe someone suggested a Tablet to him. If not, then a tablet manufacturer should arrange to have one sent to him.

w.bloggar 3.03

Just a few thoughts before I go to sleep tonight.

Note: This is posted with w.bloggar ... as if that wasn't obvious with the title. Doh.

I've been tinkering with different ways to work while I'm at my desk at home. After my Tablet PC was stolen (and my desknote), I've fussed with being stuck solely in Linux. While Linux is fine for tinkering, the real work for my classroom and credential have remained in MS Word. Plus my brothers and sisters are on MS Windows XP and use MSN Messenger to pass files and information. I was never able to receive files "in real time" and had to have them send important family updates as attachments to an email. It was a real pain in the line of communication.

An OpenOffice Mess
I unsuccessfully tried to migrate to OpenOffice in the classroom but there were too many problems and I gave up. My students were continually perplexed by the inability to stick a floppy from their home and retrieve their work on the Linux boxes at school. I finally realized that it was a disaster when one of my students was in tears because she couldn't bring up a MS Works document - work she needed to present for her 15 week grade. It broke my heart but luckily another teacher had MS Works and allowed the student to print the paper. After this happened, I installed MS Windows XP on one machine and have been using it for the students who are having the most difficult time with the transition to Linux. It just isn't fair to add pressure to students who are just learning that their hard work will pay off.

A missing partition
I have taken over an older, out of warranty hp pavilion that no one else wanted. It's a 1.2 GHz celeron and faster than my other home machines. However, the recovery partition was destroyed. Therefore, I couldn't recover MS Windows XP Home. HP Tech support was wonderful. After one email, I had my answer on how to get this fixed. I was able to give the serial numbers, product numbers, and a few other pieces of information and HP is going to send the recovery cds. Go HP !

Mars Webcast

I've been watching the webcast for the past few minutes and find the images incredible.

Webcast

Cool quote: "Biology is the frontier of the 21st century."