True Majority



"B" pointed me to this presentation from TrueMajority, which makes some simplified comparisons between the size of the Pentagon's budget and federal spending in other areas, such as K-12 education and 'world hunger'.



Left unstated are basic facts such as the current system for funding K-12 eduction. That's right, it's not federally funded. Your property taxes, already frighteningly large in most places, pay for the vast majority of public education. One need only examine the per-student spending levels in successful and failing systems (e.g., Sycamore and Cincinnati Public Schools, respectively) to recognize that throwing money at the problem simply is not enough. More important -- by far -- is family involvement in and commitment to education and, at root level, the integrity of the family structure. As CPS's funding has increased, its performance has worsened based upon various, published metrics. If you want to burn money, the CPS example is instructive. It's just not as simple as cutting a check.



Solving world hunger is -- similarly -- never as easy as simply throwing money and food at the problem. Witness the occurrences in Somalia where warlords took over control of the food supply. The Clinton Administration's poor handling of the situation led to the disastrous events depicted in Blackhawk Down. Food distribution and economic well-being are promulgated by open, democratic and free societies, not by proxy and not by hoping that the money we spend will be put to good use by dictators and corrupt governments.



Left unstated in this little presentation is the single most important historical event brought about by the buildup of our military infrastructure: the fall of the Soviet Union. Democracy is slowly, inexorably sweeping over the Soviet Republics, bringing freedom and economic health to lands that have seldom seen such vigor. The promise of a democratic Iraq -- brought about by nothing less than a massive investment in our military -- gives hope to a Middle East that is open, free, financially successful, and integrated with the rest of the world.



If a simplistic, 'feel good' world view makes you feel better, by all means, join up with Ben Cohen and his compatriots. If, however, you suspect that there are true bad guys in the world... that they mean us irreparable harm... and that the only thing they understand is brute force -- then investigate the matter more deeply. After all, the bad guys would never, ever nuke us, would they?



The root causes -- and solutions -- to the problems we face are never as simplistic as they appear. For as Santayana said, "Those who do not remember their history are doomed to repeat it."



Pontiac - hot and bothered



How many years has it been since a GM product got you 'hot and bothered'? The Pontiac Solstice may be just the vehicle to get you in a GM frame of mind.



"...Perhaps most attractive, however, is the price: a Solstice at $19,995 buys you, in the words of Hunter, a vehicle that offers 4wheel disc brakes, Bilstein shocks, 18 inch wheels, as standard. Significant downgrades will likely be confined to fabric interior material and no power windows..."



2006 Pontiac Solstice

WMD Breakthrough



Today's Wall Street Journal has an exceptional op-ed column on WMDs. The Iraq war threw a massive monkey-wrench into the Islamabad-Pyongyang-Tehran-Tripoli nuclear parts network. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of the Pakistani nuclear program, described the network in his tell-all interview on Pakistani television.



Further, the Journal points out that President Bush's post-9/11 Proliferation Security Initiative (much ridiculed by Clinton-era "experts") resulted in the interception of centrifuge parts destined for Libya. Shortly thereafter, Gadhafi cried "uncle" and Iran's leadership invited the IAEA in for inspections.



"All of this anti-WMD progress contrasts dramatically with what took place during the late 1990's, when the U.S was supposedly just as worried about nuclear proliferation. We now know that those were the years when Mr. Khan spread his nuclear wares, when Gadhafi gathered his centrifuges, when Iraq kick out U.N. inspectors, and Iran deceived the world, and when North Korea was preparing to enrich uranium even while it negotiated new new 'disarmament' deals with the Clinton Administration. One obvious conlusion is that none of these proliferators believed the U.S. or U.N. were serious about confronting them. And at the time they were right."



(Emphasis ours). I would love to see an Albright, Feinstein, Gore, Schumer or other apologist for Clinton's failed (and some would say deadly) policies to address this op-ed piece... point-by-point.



Stephen Thaler's Creativity Machine



"T" pointed me to an exceptional article on mod'ed neural nets and the startling inventive breakthroughs that resulted. This amazing technology points to a radically improved strategy for artificial intelligence and, frankly, scares the heck out of some folks. Imagine Terminator III-style intelligence.



"Technically, Stephen Thaler has written more music than any composer in the world. He also invented the Oral-B CrossAction toothbrush and devices that search the Internet for messages from terrorists. He has discovered substances harder than diamonds, coined 1.5 million new English words, and trained robotic cockroaches. Technically.



Thaler, the president and chief executive of Imagination Engines Inc. in Maryland Heights, Mo., gets credit for all those things, but he's really just ``the man behind the curtain,'' he said. The real inventor is a computer program called a Creativity Machine."



Stephen Thaler's Creativity Machine



Google Adwords, Chapter 33



"When business turned south last year at Corrugated Metals in Chicago, it turned to Google, the Internet's No. 1 search site. Co-owners Ken and Tom Carlton spent $200 a month to get an ad for their business to pop up when someone searched for "roll forming," a process that turns metal into different shapes.



"Within days," says Ken Carlton, the ad "generated millions and millions of dollars in sales. ... I shudder to think of where we'd be ... without Google." Sales for the 26-employee firm are up 35%."



For Google, many retailers eagerly jump through hoops

A very public incident with Coach Knight



I'm a big RMK fan. Happened across this set of articles detailed Chancellor Smith's side of the story. Interesting reading.



"Richard Butler and I had finished lunch at Market Street (United) on 50th and Indiana and as we were about to leave at approximately 12:35 pm noticed the Athletic Director, Gerald Myers standing at one of the lunch venues looking upward at a menu. Richard and I approached him and began a casual conversation. Gerald and I specifically talked about the Lady Raider's game yesterday afternoon and he indicated he was surprised that I did not fly home with the team. I responded that I had actually driven to Austin because of other engagements scheduled during the weekend.



I expressed to Gerald my appreciation for Coach Knight's approach to the game (post our January 2, 2004 meeting in my office) and demeanor, specifically to include asking the student section to refrain from distateful chants during our game with the University of Texas. Gerald stated that it is great why don't you tell him yourself he has had a couple of "rough" days and he would enjoy the positive feedback. I asked Gerald to share my comments with Coach Knight. Gerald stated that Coach Knight was in fact at the salad bar in Market Street and recommended that I tell him myself. I followed Coach Myers to the salad bar as he had requested and at his insistence..."



Chancellor Smith's 'A Public Incident with Coach Bob Knight'



Need help with a resume or cover letter?



From JOS comes this link to Resumagic's excellent examples: resumes and cover letters for a variety of functions, roles and approaches.



Resumagic: Resume Samples

MSFT vs GOOG, chapter 17



"Microsoft has opened up a beta version of its long awaited MSN search engine. However, don't expect anything radical just yet as it still appears to be based on the existing d Inktomi results of its current MSN search.



The MSN search beta is not in a state to challenge Google at the moment. It seems quite slow and the majority of results are still coming from Inktomi. Although rumoured to exist, in some simple searches we applied we could see no sign of any results from MSNBot.



The system seems to be in some sort of flux at the moment with some sections - such as directory listings or sponsored links down the side appearing and disappearing with each search - even for the same search term. However, some parts at least seem to be consistent..."'

                            BadBlue Rank

Search phrase             On GOOG On MSFT



Easy file sharing            3       1

Free file sharing            5       9

Excel sharing                1       1

free personal web server     5       2 *

* #1 is Microsoft's PWS, which isn't in Google's top 20...



MSFT betas its long-awaited search engine



Spyware double agents



"Web surfers battling 'spyware' face a new problem: so-called spyware-killing programs that install the same kind of unwanted advertising software they promise to erase."



Spyware cures may cause more harm than good



The Forgotten Infiniti



Route 128 in 1992. A black M30 zoomed by my underpowered Miata. "Whoa", I thought, "nice looking ride." The M30 has disappeared into the fog of history, but its memory lives on.



"Complementing the new Q45 "flagship" sedan from Nissan's luxury division was the entry-level M30 coupe, also introduced for 1990. Essentially an Americanized version of the Nissan Leopard, sold in the Japanese market, the M30 was intended as a temporary stopgap, until a brand-new model could be developed...



..."Sonar Suspension II," also borrowed from the Maxima, used an ultrasonic sensor mounted beneath the radiator to "read" the road surfaces and adjust shock absorber damping accordingly. A cockpit switch let the driver choose soft, medium, or firm damping mode...



...Despite suffering from "cowl shake," a typical bane of convertibles that have been transformed from coupes, the open-air version of the M30 has its own charms. The automatic convertible top is quick and easy to use, but fitting the rubber molding of the tonneau cover is laborious and time consuming."



The Infiniti M30

Dealing with Investors



I´ve started to code an application driven by passion and an idea I thought was good. A year after starting I shared it with a very specific beta tester that succeeded using it in his very competitive field of work. Mine is a sports video analysis product and he won a Bronze Panamerican medal saying "half of it is yours". I also showed it to big players in several sports and a few ones asked to buy when it was at sub-alfa stages showing a lot of interest. So, to make it short, yesterday came a guy that knew about my work asking about partnering to create a firm to market this seriously. I really need some advice in what to be alert of. In the past I told someone to try to seek investors to do the selling while I coded and it was a nightmare I had to cut before all my prospects wanted to kill him (and me...).

How much is worth someone´s work 3 years from starting with a product? How have you dealt with this kind of situation?"



JOS Thread: Dealing with Investors



Sushi Verite



"Do you like sushi? Do you hate paying £5 for a tiny little bento box from high-end supermarkets? Do you want to have an anime-and-sushi geekfest but balk at the cost of the food? Sushi is really easy to make, and fairly inexpensive if you're keeping it simple. Read on to find out how you can impress your mates and fill your house with anthropomorphic anime catgirls (well, maybe not) with your very own home-made sushi! "



Sushi How-To



LeaseBoyzToyz Update



I asked LBT for some references and whether they would execute a "real" lease assumption (i.e., through the bank or leasing company). Answers: yes, they would (and did) provide four references (!) and no, they won't assume a lease at this time. My response:



[Sir], thanks for the note. At this time I'd feel most comfortable having a lease assumption through [Bank]. One reason for this is that there are no references to your company on Google (i.e., no links to your site). That would indicate to me your business is somewhat young. While you are performing a valuable service, given my unfamiliarity with your organization, I would probably only proceed based upon a "true" lease assumption.



If that becomes possible, just let me know.



Regards, Doug



You, my dear reader, will be the first to hear any news on this front.

No, I'm the real John Kasay



The Sports Guy (a.k.a., Bill Simmons, a writer for the Jimmy Kimmel show and ESPN) has a funny article about the Kimmel bit featuring their impostor John Kasay (kicker for the Panthers) taped on Superbowl's Media Day.



Everyone agrees. Sal gets dressed in his Kasay outfit. Please keep in mind, he's wearing a dark jersey with the wrong socks. Every other member of the Panthers is dressed differently. So, we race down there, set up the cameras, and then Paul and I mill around Sal like we're talking to him. People start walking by us, taking an extra-long look -- almost like they're shopping or something -- and then walk away. Some even recognize him from the show. We finally get a nibble with a local TV station, then some radio guy falls for it hook, line and sinker. And so it begins.



Over the next 45 minutes, we end up roping in a handful of people, with Sal giving crazy answers like, 'I'll let you in on a little secret: I have a metal left foot, the league has no idea,' and 'I don't care about the game, I'm just here for the strippers.' And since we have something already pre-arranged for a beginning and ending with ESPN's NFL set and Trey Wingo, all we need is some sort of interaction with Kasay for a button in the middle, to show this was obviously a prank.



Poor Kasay has his own interview spot in the stands; he's talking to reporters with no idea what's happening on the field. Sal sneaks up there, barges into the pack and screams, 'Guys, this man is an impostor! I'm the real John Kasay!'.



Initially, Kasay seems fairly amused by the whole thing -- after all, Sal's wearing a different colored jersey, his pants are too small, and he doesn't look anything like him. Then they have this exchange:



   Kasay (smiling): "Yeah, yeah, you can tell by his build, he's a real athlete."



   Sal: "I'll tell you one thing, I would never wear my socks like that."



For some reason, this sets Kasay off.







ESPN.com - Page2 - Mighty Kasay strikes out



What's up with these guys?



I was contacted by the classy sounding business LeaseBoyzToyz... and they're apparently interested in assuming my G35 lease. However, they don't seem to assume it through the normal channels (i.e., officially taking ownership of the lease through the bank or leasing company)... but instead use their own home-brew contract. I sent them back a quick note asking why they don't perform a normal lease assumption... and asking for the contact information for a couple of other happy customers. Due to the groundswell of requests, I'll keep you posted on this crucial data.



10:20pm Update



Odd... I did an inlink search for LeaseBoyzToyz and -- new record -- there's not a single link on the entire web to their site. Nor a reference on Usenet. Hmm... I'll keep digging.

Sunday morning and SCO still in the DNS



"We had expected that SCO might take www.sco.com out of the DNS in the run up to the MyDoom DDoS payload in order to keep the denial of service http traffic off the Internet. So far, though, www.sco.com still resolves and receives http requests, though closing the connection without sending a response.

That said, the sco.com hostmaster is reserving his options, with the TTL set to just 60 seconds at time of writing.



% host www.sco.com

www.sco.com has address 216.250.128.12

% dig www.sco.com

www.sco.com. 60 IN A 216.250.128.12

% telnet www.sco.com http

Trying 216.250.128.12...

Connected to www.sco.com.

Escape character is '^]'.

Connection closed by foreign host.



Contrastingly, www.microsoft.com's performance is as normal. Microsoft has chosen to leave the hostname still resolving to a set of 8 ip addresses in Redmond, rather than point it at Akamai's content distribution network, with their TTL set to just under an hour..."



Netcraft: Sunday morning and www.sco.com is still in the DNS.