Ok, not really, but I thought that with a snazzy title you might be more apt to read this. I had a conversation with a friend in which he described an OSS project programmer that quit being ‘coaxed‘ back into the fold.
According to dictionary.com coxed means
1. To persuade or try to persuade by pleading or flattery; cajole.
2. To obtain by persistent persuasion: coaxed the secret out of the child.
3. Obsolete. To caress; fondle.
Now – what happens if you cannot spell dictionary? I often end up at dictonary.com instead of dictionary.com. This frustrates me. I mean, if I owned dictonary.com I would at least have a dictionary type search set up. I don’t think that I would have accurate results, but heck, it sure would be fun!
Anyways, where was I?
Coaxing. I think that more could be obtained in this life through application of this method then most of the other persuasion techniques that are practiced. For example, I would like a political candidate to coax me to vote for them, rather then beating me over the head with a stick with what they feel their opponent has done wrong in their life.
-Tsyko
Friday, October 29, 2004
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Recovering from Incon
I really enjoy going to conventions - I do not enjoy the recovery period. Still kind of tired and just blah. One more good night's sleep and I should be back on track.
One story from the convention for now:
Me and an evil minion entered a convince store. Took several less then healthful food items to the counter. Evil Minion asks clerk if they accept Thai Rubles or some such thing. Clerk is not impressed, says no. Evil minion swipes card. I, holding a twenty, look concerned and say, "Oh No, all I have is Federal Reserve Notes, do you accept those?"
"No, we do not because I do not know what they are!"
(I wave the twenty)
"Oh, yeah, we take Those!
Best line in a RPG in a long time:
A squad is assaulting an Axis held farmhouse in Normandy. They have taken fire from a MG-42. The MG 42 crew has been killed, and no allied causalities so far. One of the dogfaces makes a dash for a tree. A German fires his MP38 at the heroic American, and hits him in the leg. He goes down.
Several seconds later, the Sgt has advanced to a point where he can see what is happening, and they are taking sporadic fire from several positions. The Sgt yells at the BAR Loader to get to the wounded man and make sure he is ok.
The reply is "I don't want to go over there, he just got Shot!"
The Sgt makes several sailors blush with his response.
One story from the convention for now:
Me and an evil minion entered a convince store. Took several less then healthful food items to the counter. Evil Minion asks clerk if they accept Thai Rubles or some such thing. Clerk is not impressed, says no. Evil minion swipes card. I, holding a twenty, look concerned and say, "Oh No, all I have is Federal Reserve Notes, do you accept those?"
"No, we do not because I do not know what they are!"
(I wave the twenty)
"Oh, yeah, we take Those!
Best line in a RPG in a long time:
A squad is assaulting an Axis held farmhouse in Normandy. They have taken fire from a MG-42. The MG 42 crew has been killed, and no allied causalities so far. One of the dogfaces makes a dash for a tree. A German fires his MP38 at the heroic American, and hits him in the leg. He goes down.
Several seconds later, the Sgt has advanced to a point where he can see what is happening, and they are taking sporadic fire from several positions. The Sgt yells at the BAR Loader to get to the wounded man and make sure he is ok.
The reply is "I don't want to go over there, he just got Shot!"
The Sgt makes several sailors blush with his response.
Monday, October 25, 2004
Sunday, October 24, 2004
A Picture Share!
Sunday morning, we awoke to find out that the Gaming Room at Incon had been moved. To a construction zone. Complete with yellow 'keep out' tape, holes in the concrete prefloor, drywall and drywall dust, and a sprinkling of construction tools. I am waiting to see what Incon has to say about this...
Friday, October 22, 2004
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Alternative Fuels
So, the Bush Whitehouse has announced that they are going to put 1 billion dollars into researching hydrogen fueled personal vehicles. I have issues with this. I honestly think that it is a waste of money.
We have an existing infrastructure that costs billions of dollars to put in place. We have an automotive industry that is tooled around building internal combustion engines. Why would we want to spend the money to retool this entire infrastructure?
There is another option out there. Modern diesel engines are very fuel efficient, and when coupled with Biodiesel fuel they are very environmentally friendly.
Volkswagen makes a model of their Jetta with a 2L TDI (Turbo Diesel Injected) engine that gets 50 mpg freeway and town. Couple that with a 14-gallon tank, and you have quite the cruising range. My F250 gets 16 in town and 20 on the freeway – pretty good for a 7.3L V8 with 525 f/lbs of torque. Here is a good page with lots of information about diesel engines, how they work and more.
According to the EPA’s studies in 2002, when you run biodiesel three of the four major regulated pollutants drop by 50%, 50% and 80% (C02, Particulate Matter and Hydrocarbons), and NOx rises by about 10%. Note that these were done in 2002 with engines built before 1997. According to the National Biodiesel Board, B100’s emissions are as following: HC – 67%, Carbon Monoxide –48%, Particulate Matter –47%, NOx +10%, Sulfates –100%, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons –80%, Nitrated PAH’s –90% and Ozone potential of speciated Hydrocarbons –50%. All of this was taken from the National Biodiesel Board’s Research.
A little about biodiesel. Many of the biodiesel fuels are blends with standard diesel. This is notated as B where the number is the percent of Biodiesel that is in the mix. So, B5 is 5% biodiesel and B100 is 100% biodiesel. Biodiesel in the US tends to be made from Soybeans.
Biodiesel is also supported in existing engines – you do not need to modify the engine to run it. The National Biodiesel Board has information about specific companies and if their warranties are voided by the use of Biodiesel.
In Spokane you can get biodiesel at City Service Valcon,18826 East Appleway, Pump 2. You can find a biodiesel pump near you at (again) The National Biodiesel Board
As of this writing, Biodiesel is more expensive then normal diesel, however Congress just lowered the Excise Tax on it, and as soon as that goes into effect, it will become much more competitive.
So, let’s all help out Mother Nature with the tools that we have right now, and not pour billions of dollars into new infrastructure. Let’s use what we have now, buy diesel and pour that vegetable oil into it!
-Tsyko
We have an existing infrastructure that costs billions of dollars to put in place. We have an automotive industry that is tooled around building internal combustion engines. Why would we want to spend the money to retool this entire infrastructure?
There is another option out there. Modern diesel engines are very fuel efficient, and when coupled with Biodiesel fuel they are very environmentally friendly.
Volkswagen makes a model of their Jetta with a 2L TDI (Turbo Diesel Injected) engine that gets 50 mpg freeway and town. Couple that with a 14-gallon tank, and you have quite the cruising range. My F250 gets 16 in town and 20 on the freeway – pretty good for a 7.3L V8 with 525 f/lbs of torque. Here is a good page with lots of information about diesel engines, how they work and more.
According to the EPA’s studies in 2002, when you run biodiesel three of the four major regulated pollutants drop by 50%, 50% and 80% (C02, Particulate Matter and Hydrocarbons), and NOx rises by about 10%. Note that these were done in 2002 with engines built before 1997. According to the National Biodiesel Board, B100’s emissions are as following: HC – 67%, Carbon Monoxide –48%, Particulate Matter –47%, NOx +10%, Sulfates –100%, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons –80%, Nitrated PAH’s –90% and Ozone potential of speciated Hydrocarbons –50%. All of this was taken from the National Biodiesel Board’s Research.
A little about biodiesel. Many of the biodiesel fuels are blends with standard diesel. This is notated as B
Biodiesel is also supported in existing engines – you do not need to modify the engine to run it. The National Biodiesel Board has information about specific companies and if their warranties are voided by the use of Biodiesel.
In Spokane you can get biodiesel at City Service Valcon,18826 East Appleway, Pump 2. You can find a biodiesel pump near you at (again) The National Biodiesel Board
As of this writing, Biodiesel is more expensive then normal diesel, however Congress just lowered the Excise Tax on it, and as soon as that goes into effect, it will become much more competitive.
So, let’s all help out Mother Nature with the tools that we have right now, and not pour billions of dollars into new infrastructure. Let’s use what we have now, buy diesel and pour that vegetable oil into it!
-Tsyko
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
2 New CD's
Best Buy is a bad place.
Just got two new CD's - Warren Zevon's Genius and Enjoy Every Sandwich. Bolth are very well done albums, altho I think that I like Enjoy Every Sandwich a little more. It is a tribute album done just after he died, and the list of folks that sang in it is, well, impressive. You know, I never would have thought that Adam Sandler and Billy Bob Thorton would have done as good of a job as they did.
Freind of mine dragged me along walked out with three movies tho - I think that I got the better end of the deal.
Just got two new CD's - Warren Zevon's Genius and Enjoy Every Sandwich. Bolth are very well done albums, altho I think that I like Enjoy Every Sandwich a little more. It is a tribute album done just after he died, and the list of folks that sang in it is, well, impressive. You know, I never would have thought that Adam Sandler and Billy Bob Thorton would have done as good of a job as they did.
Freind of mine dragged me along walked out with three movies tho - I think that I got the better end of the deal.
Politics, Media and Personal Safety
The really great thing about living in the US is that we are allowed to have divergent opinions about the political scene. This can give rise to the worst and the best of humanity. I think that this election season has exemplified each of these traits.
The Barend vs. Kuhl campaign has really shown us the dark underside of political campaigning. It seems that Kuhl was divorced several years ago. This all is happening in New York and under New York law, the records of that are sealed for 100 years to prevent just what is happening.
Some one went to the Steuben County clerk’s office, and asked for the records, claiming to be working on a school project. They were then leaked to the press.
Now, to the crux of the issue in my mind, the press then decided that this was newsworthy, and started to do story after story about this private matter. Who is to blame? The media for one.
It seems that they have become untouchable in the past few years. They can say whatever they want, ignore facts that do not jive with their view of the world, and accentuate the parts of a story that further their agenda.
I do not watch the news anymore. The news is simply scare tactics. All that they want to do is show every bad thing that has happened to people in the past day.
You know, I am sorry, but I do not really care if a person was murdered by their ex-spouse in littlesburg, anystate. The amount of reporting about crime makes us think that we live in a society that is breaking down, that is totally unsafe.
This is totally not true.
According to the US DOJ there were about 24 million crimes last year.
Violent victimization and property crime rates in 2001 were the lowest recorded since the NCVS' inception in 1973. There were about 24 million crimes in 2001.
According to the US Census, we have about 294,500,000 people right now. You have a 1 in 10 chance of having ANY crime committed against you, and only 22% of those are violent crimes. So, in 2004 your chances of having a violent crime committed against you were only 1.8% - less then 1 in 50. In 2003 for every 1,000 persons age 12 or older, there occurred 1 rape or sexual assault, 1 assault with injury, and 2 robberies. In 2002 there were only about 6 murder victims per 100,000.
If we are to believe the media, we live in a period of time that is one of the most unsafe ever. What does that make the 70’s, when crime was much higher? We must have been living in a war zone!
News media lies. It’s that simple. Never believe them, as they have stopped being objective and started to report only what they want, to further their agenda. Check out alternate news sources (Google News and The BBC are two of my favorites) and check the facts.
Never trust the media.
Kill your television.
-Tsyko
The Barend vs. Kuhl campaign has really shown us the dark underside of political campaigning. It seems that Kuhl was divorced several years ago. This all is happening in New York and under New York law, the records of that are sealed for 100 years to prevent just what is happening.
Some one went to the Steuben County clerk’s office, and asked for the records, claiming to be working on a school project. They were then leaked to the press.
Now, to the crux of the issue in my mind, the press then decided that this was newsworthy, and started to do story after story about this private matter. Who is to blame? The media for one.
It seems that they have become untouchable in the past few years. They can say whatever they want, ignore facts that do not jive with their view of the world, and accentuate the parts of a story that further their agenda.
I do not watch the news anymore. The news is simply scare tactics. All that they want to do is show every bad thing that has happened to people in the past day.
You know, I am sorry, but I do not really care if a person was murdered by their ex-spouse in littlesburg, anystate. The amount of reporting about crime makes us think that we live in a society that is breaking down, that is totally unsafe.
This is totally not true.
According to the US DOJ there were about 24 million crimes last year.
Violent victimization and property crime rates in 2001 were the lowest recorded since the NCVS' inception in 1973. There were about 24 million crimes in 2001.
According to the US Census, we have about 294,500,000 people right now. You have a 1 in 10 chance of having ANY crime committed against you, and only 22% of those are violent crimes. So, in 2004 your chances of having a violent crime committed against you were only 1.8% - less then 1 in 50. In 2003 for every 1,000 persons age 12 or older, there occurred 1 rape or sexual assault, 1 assault with injury, and 2 robberies. In 2002 there were only about 6 murder victims per 100,000.
If we are to believe the media, we live in a period of time that is one of the most unsafe ever. What does that make the 70’s, when crime was much higher? We must have been living in a war zone!
News media lies. It’s that simple. Never believe them, as they have stopped being objective and started to report only what they want, to further their agenda. Check out alternate news sources (Google News and The BBC are two of my favorites) and check the facts.
Never trust the media.
Kill your television.
-Tsyko
Monday, October 18, 2004
Cool website
Found a cool website where you can track the electoral votes over the last few months.
Make sure that you check out the Movie!
Make sure that you check out the Movie!
A Good Cause
My brother, Nelson, is ‘Riding for Aids’. This explains what this is all about:
“Last June I participated in the AIDS LifeCycle 3 as a volunteer. Over 1200 riders pedaled the 585 mile route from San Francisco to Los Angeles, raising $4.9 million dollars. I am registered as a rider for AIDS LifeCycle 4, and am committed to raising $2500 to participate in the ride. This money goes directly to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation to support people living with HIV and AIDS in the Bay Area. This foundation provides counseling, free or reduced-cost medications to individuals, public policy and advocacy, and much more.
You can find out more information about the AIDS LifeCycle and affiliated organizations on my fundraising website:
http://www.sonic.net/~olofin
The site has answers to common questions, a training log, photos, and information on how to sponsor me in my ride to end AIDS.
Donations of any size are greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your support,
-Nelson-“
Lil Bro is on his way to his goal – let’s all pitch in a few dollars and see if we can hit the mark!
“Last June I participated in the AIDS LifeCycle 3 as a volunteer. Over 1200 riders pedaled the 585 mile route from San Francisco to Los Angeles, raising $4.9 million dollars. I am registered as a rider for AIDS LifeCycle 4, and am committed to raising $2500 to participate in the ride. This money goes directly to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation to support people living with HIV and AIDS in the Bay Area. This foundation provides counseling, free or reduced-cost medications to individuals, public policy and advocacy, and much more.
You can find out more information about the AIDS LifeCycle and affiliated organizations on my fundraising website:
http://www.sonic.net/~olofin
The site has answers to common questions, a training log, photos, and information on how to sponsor me in my ride to end AIDS.
Donations of any size are greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your support,
-Nelson-“
Lil Bro is on his way to his goal – let’s all pitch in a few dollars and see if we can hit the mark!
Saturday, October 16, 2004
I am a moron
Sorry. I am a moron.
It was to early, and I did not read the directions closely enough. Ok, so I did not read them at all.
I thought the invite was some cool way of saying Look at Me.
Guess I was wrong.
Tsyko needs coffee. Badly.
Weekly Screenshot Here
It was to early, and I did not read the directions closely enough. Ok, so I did not read them at all.
I thought the invite was some cool way of saying Look at Me.
Guess I was wrong.
Tsyko needs coffee. Badly.
Weekly Screenshot Here
Friday, October 15, 2004
A Picture Share!
Just testing out sending pictures to the blog from my Phone. Wowie Zowie! An't tech great?
Some ruminating about why I started this blog.
Over the years, I have been less then perfect about keeping up with people. I am very now oriented, and seem to have a hard time remembering to keep in touch with friends and family from long ago or far away.
I have never liked this about my self, and have often wished that I could do something about it. I have tried several times, setting up mailing lists and other thing-a-ma-jiggers, however for whatever reason, they never flew.
So, here is my spot in cyberspace. Ya’ll can drop on by and check up on me when ever you want. Please feel free to comment on things that I say. I crave feedback.
On April 17th, 2004 I married Shela. I made a slide show of some of the digital pictures from before, during and after the wedding. You can view it here!. Some of the family has already seen it, but here it is in all of its glory for all of you.
Quite honestly, Shela and I met during the end of a very dark time in my life. I had just ended a 10-year relationship and marriage on less then friendly terms, and was also reeling from a very hard breakup with some one that was very close to me. She was not ready for a committed relationship, but then again neither was I. I really hope that all of my ex’s can find real, deep happiness. That is all that I have really ever wanted for them and me. I think that I have gotten there now and I hope that their journeys there are as swift as possible.
Shela was like a ray of sunlight at the end of a long tunnel. When I met her, my whole life was starting on an upswing, and she helped me out so much. Her bubbly personality was, and is, just what I need. She also is just as stubborn as I am. We butt heads every once in a while, but that is just part of life. We are both strong personalities, and quite honestly, I would not have it any other way.
Just about 11 weeks ago, Shela and I made a little Shela and Dukk. Now, a lot of you know me from my “No Kids, Never No How’ phase. Gladly (since one is on the way) I am actually looking forward to this. I think that it is going to be a rewarding experience.
The pregnancy has been hard on Shela so far – she was on an IV at home for about 3 weeks. Happily, she is back at work now, and glad to be off the couch!
-Tsyko
I have never liked this about my self, and have often wished that I could do something about it. I have tried several times, setting up mailing lists and other thing-a-ma-jiggers, however for whatever reason, they never flew.
So, here is my spot in cyberspace. Ya’ll can drop on by and check up on me when ever you want. Please feel free to comment on things that I say. I crave feedback.
On April 17th, 2004 I married Shela. I made a slide show of some of the digital pictures from before, during and after the wedding. You can view it here!. Some of the family has already seen it, but here it is in all of its glory for all of you.
Quite honestly, Shela and I met during the end of a very dark time in my life. I had just ended a 10-year relationship and marriage on less then friendly terms, and was also reeling from a very hard breakup with some one that was very close to me. She was not ready for a committed relationship, but then again neither was I. I really hope that all of my ex’s can find real, deep happiness. That is all that I have really ever wanted for them and me. I think that I have gotten there now and I hope that their journeys there are as swift as possible.
Shela was like a ray of sunlight at the end of a long tunnel. When I met her, my whole life was starting on an upswing, and she helped me out so much. Her bubbly personality was, and is, just what I need. She also is just as stubborn as I am. We butt heads every once in a while, but that is just part of life. We are both strong personalities, and quite honestly, I would not have it any other way.
Just about 11 weeks ago, Shela and I made a little Shela and Dukk. Now, a lot of you know me from my “No Kids, Never No How’ phase. Gladly (since one is on the way) I am actually looking forward to this. I think that it is going to be a rewarding experience.
The pregnancy has been hard on Shela so far – she was on an IV at home for about 3 weeks. Happily, she is back at work now, and glad to be off the couch!
-Tsyko
Thursday, October 14, 2004
Political Tests and scores
I guess that this is the day to take political tests...
The thing to be aware of (as I am sure that you are) is that the questions tend to corral you into the responses that the askers want.
Just remember - Semper Discordia!
Took the Worlds Smallest Political Quiz
The red dot on the Chart shows where I fit on the political map.
Just found this political test.. It scored me vs the Catholic Bishops, Bush and Kerry. The higher percentage equates to more agreement on this issue.
Here is my score:
Overall
Bishops -18%
Bush 9%
Kerry -27%
Protecting Human Life
Bishops -25%
Bush -25%
Kerry 50%
Promoting Family Life
Bishops -100%
Bush -100%
Kerry -100%
Pursuing Social Justice
Bishops 0%
Bush 45%
Kerry -70%
Pursuing Global Solidarity
Bishops 0%
Bush 100%
Kerry -50%
Wow. Some of those questions and category's are really... um... biased. But what did I expect? Everyone has their axe to grind.
-Tsyko
Medical Malpractice
As my brother looks to enter the medical field, I have to take a step back and look at where we are today.
Over the past 4 years I have seen my prescriptions go from $5 each a month to $50. Now, some of the blame lies squarely in the lap of the company that I work for, but I am sure that the economic pressures that they feel are just as strong as the ones that I feel when I look at my check book after going to Wallgreens.
And about that. I can, if I so choose, use a mail order prescription service for about 1/3 the cost of a neighborhood pharmacy. However, it has been my experience that the mail order ones suffer from a lack of, well, face to face interaction. I know that is expensive to have the overhead of corner stores and staff and all. And I know that the huge centralized faceless corps are what are going to take over the world. After all, if we can shave 5% off the bottom line, the Suits will get most of that in bonuses.
I agree that some times consolidation can be a good idea, however I think that the world we live in has taken it a bit too far. What ever happened to 'putting all your eggs in one basket'? If half the prescriptions for the nation come out of a warehouse in Las Vegas, what happens if it gets Hit by A Bus?
(aside: that is an in-joke. when I was doing business consulting we would put plans to the 'hit by a bus' test. Start hitting people and things in the plan with imaginary buses and see if the plan still works.)
I am sure that the powers that be have a good plan in place, and I should rest assured that we will all get our doses of Valium, 'The Pill' or what have you. I guess that my concern is not the centralization of the services; it is what happened to face-to-face interaction?
Oh, yeah, this coming from a self defined computer geek!
I think that, especially in the medical field, face-to-face interaction is very important. Would you really only like to speak to a doctor over the phone? I think not. If it's cost cutting they want, then find other ways. How about lowering malpractice insurance? That would be a huge start. How about allowing the free market to take place, and allowing us to buy medicine from other countries? How about giving the consumer a Choice?
-Tsyko
Over the past 4 years I have seen my prescriptions go from $5 each a month to $50. Now, some of the blame lies squarely in the lap of the company that I work for, but I am sure that the economic pressures that they feel are just as strong as the ones that I feel when I look at my check book after going to Wallgreens.
And about that. I can, if I so choose, use a mail order prescription service for about 1/3 the cost of a neighborhood pharmacy. However, it has been my experience that the mail order ones suffer from a lack of, well, face to face interaction. I know that is expensive to have the overhead of corner stores and staff and all. And I know that the huge centralized faceless corps are what are going to take over the world. After all, if we can shave 5% off the bottom line, the Suits will get most of that in bonuses.
I agree that some times consolidation can be a good idea, however I think that the world we live in has taken it a bit too far. What ever happened to 'putting all your eggs in one basket'? If half the prescriptions for the nation come out of a warehouse in Las Vegas, what happens if it gets Hit by A Bus?
(aside: that is an in-joke. when I was doing business consulting we would put plans to the 'hit by a bus' test. Start hitting people and things in the plan with imaginary buses and see if the plan still works.)
I am sure that the powers that be have a good plan in place, and I should rest assured that we will all get our doses of Valium, 'The Pill' or what have you. I guess that my concern is not the centralization of the services; it is what happened to face-to-face interaction?
Oh, yeah, this coming from a self defined computer geek!
I think that, especially in the medical field, face-to-face interaction is very important. Would you really only like to speak to a doctor over the phone? I think not. If it's cost cutting they want, then find other ways. How about lowering malpractice insurance? That would be a huge start. How about allowing the free market to take place, and allowing us to buy medicine from other countries? How about giving the consumer a Choice?
-Tsyko
First ramblings
Well, it seems that my little brother has started a Blog, so here is mine as well. Look what peer pressure can do, kiddies!!
Since ya'll probally do not know me, I will give you the 20 second tour...
I have been involved with computers since the very early days of what are now called PC's - and I have seen a lot of changes. I remember when I was a kid playing Archon on the family C64 with Nelson and thinking how cool that was. Now, I run Ubuntu Linux and Debian Testing on my machines at home, and help manage a three state portion of a global network running NetWare, Windows and Linux!
I am very impressed with Ubuntu Linux - it seems to be more then just a distro to me. I like some of the back end philosophy espoused by the creator. But more on that later.
I just married a wonderful lady this last spring, and we just found out that there is an expansion to our family on the way. We are very excited - slightly scared and above all looking forward to the experience.
- Tsykoduk
Since ya'll probally do not know me, I will give you the 20 second tour...
I have been involved with computers since the very early days of what are now called PC's - and I have seen a lot of changes. I remember when I was a kid playing Archon on the family C64 with Nelson and thinking how cool that was. Now, I run Ubuntu Linux and Debian Testing on my machines at home, and help manage a three state portion of a global network running NetWare, Windows and Linux!
I am very impressed with Ubuntu Linux - it seems to be more then just a distro to me. I like some of the back end philosophy espoused by the creator. But more on that later.
I just married a wonderful lady this last spring, and we just found out that there is an expansion to our family on the way. We are very excited - slightly scared and above all looking forward to the experience.
- Tsykoduk
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