posting videos is easy.

this actually made me sad. the gregariousness of sheep. and of humans.

no wonder we are called sheep.

happy mothers day

jump maranville and cut

jumpcut rules

marathon Mix

my friend Christina over at From the Rooftop is running the Lincoln Marathon tomorrow. John H, Gretchen L, Brittany S, and myself put together a killer mix for the run.

the marathon mix:

Oh Timbaland by Timbaland

Heretics by Andrew Bird

Young Folks by Peter Bjorn and John

My Love by Justin Timberlake

He knows the Sun by The Legends

Mushaboom by Feist

Trains to Brazil by Guillemots

Times Like These by Jack Johnson

Roscoe (Beyond the Wizard’s Sleeve Remix) by Midlake

You Be Illin by Run DMC

Hello Operator by The White Stripes

The Further I Slide by Badly Drawn Boy

I Wish by Stevie Wonder

Love Foolosophy by Jamiroquai

The Frog by Sergio Mendes

Sleep on Needles by Sondre Lerche

Bottom of the Barrel by Amos Lee

Where It’s At by Beck

Do the Whirlwind by Architecture In Helsinki

Rock the Casbah by The Clash

Crooked Teeth by Death Cab for Cutie

Out of Control from 13 going on 30 soundtrack

Silent Sigh by Badly Drawn Boy

End of the Movie by Cake

Lovefool by The Cardigans

The Sound of Settling by Death Cab for Cutie

Angeles by Elliot Smith

Cold December by Matt Costa

Something Pretty by Patrick Park

Such Great Heights by The Postal Service

12:51 by The Strokes

The District Sleeps Alone Tonight by The Postal Service

Its All Over Now, Baby Blue by Bob Dylan

You are a Runner and I Am My Fathers Son by Wolf Parade

Sabotage by The Beastie Boys

Queen of the Rummage Sale by Bishop Allen

The Distance by Cake

Sirena by Calexico

Starman by David Bowie

For the Actor by Mates of State

Here Comes The Summer by The Fiery Furnaces

The Floating Bed from the Frida soundtrack

Fu-Gee-La by The Fugees

Heartbeats by The Knife

Stand Up by Ludacris & Shawnna

Da Funk by Daft Punk

Fraud In The 80s by Mates of State

Hey Ya! by Outkast

American Hearts by Piebald

Little Birdie by Ralph Stanley

Meu Mundo E Uma Bola by Sergio Mendes

Cuss Cuss by Lloyd Robinson

Ill Believe in Anything by Sunset Rubdown

the dangerous book for boys

Conn and Hal Iggulden wrote a book :

The Dangerous Book for Boys

ive got my copy coming and i can promise you when i have a son, ill have his copy coming too.

watch the "trailer" below. its all smiles and pure joy.

color my world

it just occurred to me, as i filled up my mug with java, that i hate white coffee pots. why do they make white coffee pots anyway? they just get nasty dirty and the jo shows up so easily.

for that matter why do they make white toilets?

they should make brown toilets.

and while theyre at it, lets get some brown diapers and greenish brown kleenex, yellow urinals, red band-aids, and some white pop and tongue colored bubble gum and suckers so our teeth stay nice and mouths dont discolor.

its interesting that anything that involves substance exiting out bodies...we use white. and with things entering out bodies, (pop is a perfect example) we pick yellow #7, caramel coloring, and acid green. where is the caramel colored johnny! or how about this: a toilet that changes colors based on the color of ones excrement!

the chameleon crapper

jet storm super skittle power pack

for all that voted:

thank you. i treasure your hearts near mine.

to celebrate i am paying for everyones entrance fee to disneyland. meet me at the west entrance in 3 minutes and we will disnify our spirits.

news:voters approve stormwater bond

i dont ask much

but i ask this: if you live in lincoln, get out today and go vote for the Stormwater bond. basically this bond will keep my job (water resource engineer) secure for another couple of years. if it doesn't pass, well i just might have to get a job as a newspaper boy and throw newspapers through your windows. or else ill become an ice cream man but ill turn the freezer way down so all your kids will walk in the house crying with dripping bon-pops and orange push-ups.

okay. maybe the threats are not a good idea. why dont you just read this article from the lincoln journal star, here are some excerpts:

The rains run off driveways and parking lots, collecting in streets, sewers and streams. Preventing these growing currents from flooding homes takes engineering, and that isn’t cheap. Neither is maintaining, improving or replacing storm structures. As it does every few years, the City of Lincoln is asking taxpayers to pay for its flood protection. Voters will be asked to approve a $8.5 million bond issue Tuesday to finance 27 specific stormwater improvement projects.

If approved, the city would issue general obligation bonds, sort of like IOUs, and levy a property tax to pay off the debt over 20 years. Approval would add $4.53 per year to taxes on a $100,000 home. (me - thats nothing people, ill buy you dinner to even it out!)

The 27 projects are distributed throughout the city. The money would rebuild undersized storm sewers, stabilize eroding creekbeds, create basins to collect water and develop drainage areas that filter runoff and keep pollutants out of creeks and lakes.

---

The city puts a stormwater bond issue on the ballot every few years. Voters have approved eight such bond issues since 1983. Some have questioned why bonds are used instead of general funds. Others have wondered why bond issues are proposed so often. City Finance Director Don Herz said that under existing laws the bond method is the most fair.

“Basically what you’re doing is building a capital asset,” he said. Adding stormwater improvement costs to the city’s annual budget would cause the burden to be shouldered entirely by the people who live here now. A bond issue spreads the cost to include everyone who will live here in the next 20 years and benefit from the improvements, he said.

---

In some states, cities charge a stormwater utility fee instead.

Property is evaluated based on how much it contributes to runoff. Laws that would permit those types of fees have not been passed here, Herz said.

for all you bigshots

this is a very interesting phenomena: thieves stalking big shots at the places they get their shots and then taking a shot at shoddiness.

As Carl alluded to in his blog last week, “Starbucks Stalking” is a very real crime.

It would be funny—if it wasn’t true. The fact is that if you have data that would attract a thief, your morning latte could end up quite expensive. A new twist for the old industrial espionage game is to stalk executives or key players in a corporation, and find their favorite watering hole near their offices. The executives themselves are not the desirable object per se, but their laptops are. “Starbucks Stalking” is a growing trend, and for obvious reasons: it’s less risky, easier, and just as fruitful as physically stealing a laptop computer if your goal is data. And today, that’s the goal.

link here for full article. via Security Insights Blog

yes. yes i do find people tiring. and dont ask whats the matter.

Do you know someone who needs hours alone every day? Who loves quiet conversations about feelings or ideas, and can give a dynamite presentation to a big audience, but seems awkward in groups and maladroit at small talk? Who has to be dragged to parties and then needs the rest of the day to recuperate? Who growls or scowls or grunts or winces when accosted with pleasantries by people who are just trying to be nice?

If so, do you tell this person he is "too serious," or ask if he is okay? Regard him as aloof, arrogant, rude? Redouble your efforts to draw him out?

If you answered yes to these questions, chances are that you have an introvert on your hands—and that you aren't caring for him properly...Introverts may be common, but they are also among the most misunderstood and aggrieved groups in America, possibly the world.

---

Introverts are not necessarily shy. Shy people are anxious or frightened or self-excoriating in social settings; introverts generally are not. Introverts are also not misanthropic, though some of us do go along with Sartre as far as to say "Hell is other people at breakfast." Rather, introverts are people who find other people tiring.

---

Extroverts are energized by people, and wilt or fade when alone. They often seem bored by themselves, in both senses of the expression. Leave an extrovert alone for two minutes and he will reach for his cell phone. In contrast, after an hour or two of being socially "on," we introverts need to turn off and recharge.

---

“It is very difficult for an extrovert to understand an introvert," write the education experts Jill D. Burruss and Lisa Kaenzig. Extroverts are easy for introverts to understand, because extroverts spend so much of their time working out who they are in voluble, and frequently inescapable, interaction with other people.

---

Extroverts have little or no grasp of introversion. They assume that company, especially their own, is always welcome. They cannot imagine why someone would need to be alone; indeed, they often take umbrage at the suggestion. As often as I have tried to explain the matter to extroverts, I have never sensed that any of them really understood. They listen for a moment and then go back to barking and yipping.

---

...many actors... are introverts, and many introverts, when socializing, feel like actors, introverts are not considered "naturals" in politics.

---

With their endless appetite for talk and attention, extroverts also dominate social life, so they tend to set expectations. In our extrovertist society, being outgoing is considered normal and therefore desirable, a mark of happiness, confidence, leadership. Extroverts are seen as bighearted, vibrant, warm, empathic. "People person" is a compliment. Introverts are described with words like "guarded," "loner," "reserved," "taciturn," "self-contained," "private"—narrow, ungenerous words, words that suggest emotional parsimony and smallness of personality. Female introverts, I suspect, must suffer especially. In certain circles, particularly in the Midwest, a man can still sometimes get away with being what they used to call a strong and silent type; introverted women, lacking that alternative, are even more likely than men to be perceived as timid, withdrawn, haughty.

---

The worst of it is that extroverts have no idea of the torment they put us through. Sometimes, as we gasp for air amid the fog of their 98-percent-content-free talk, we wonder if extroverts even bother to listen to themselves. Still, we endure stoically, because the etiquette books—written, no doubt, by extroverts—regard declining to banter as rude and gaps in conversation as awkward. We can only dream that someday, when our condition is more widely understood, when perhaps an Introverts' Rights movement has blossomed and borne fruit, it will not be impolite to say "I'm an introvert. You are a wonderful person and I like you. But now please shush."

How can I let the introvert in my life know that I support him and respect his choice? First, recognize that it's not a choice. It's not a lifestyle. It's an orientation.

Second, when you see an introvert lost in thought, don't say "What's the matter?" or "Are you all right?"

Third, don't say anything else, either.

from Caring for Your Introvert [link here]

stick your money in my pocket. just once.

so today we read an interesting situation. a man. just a normal ol' georger duder. he does to the bank right? he whips out his atm card, leans out of his 1984 ford truck thats rusting out, sticks his card in the atm, punches in his pin code (which is probably his wifes birthday so he doesn't forget) gets out $20, grabs the receipt, drives off. then he gets home. its late. hes had a few beers. and he empties out his pocket on his birds-eye maple dresser his wife bought him at an antique store. he glances at his receipt and notices a very large number. a VERY large number.

and hot dang! hes off. back to the atm. whats the limit he thinks? 300 bucks. done! and the saga continues.

fyi, it would take 267 days to withdrawal 80 g's from an atm.

LA VISTA — A La Vista man is charged with felony theft after he spent $80,000 his bank deposited in his account by mistake.

George J. Costa, 45, is charged in Sarpy County with theft of lost or mislaid property. It is a crime to take money that’s been “delivered under a mistake.”

More than $106,000 was deposited into Costa’s account between August 2006 and February after a Pinnacle Bank employee mixed up account numbers, according to the Nebraska State Patrol.
The bank was able to recover $26,000 from Costa’s account after the mistake was recovered.

“’Finder’s keepers’ and ’possession is nine-tenths of the law’ aren’t legal principles,” said Sarpy County Attorney Lee Polikov.

Costa’s lawyer, James Martin Davis, said Costa is willing to work out repayment in civil court but shouldn’t be charged criminally.

“If somebody sticks money in your pocket and you spend it, you can’t be convicted of theft,” he said. [link]

bee mine or bee gone

some of you may have been hearing things about bees dying off. they are calling it "colony collapse disorder." if you have not heard of this, you probably should. it doesn't seem like a bright idea to wipe out all the bees in the world.

the economist [economist.com] has published today in print form a pretty good recent article to get you up to speed, from it we read:

This may point to an economic factor. Honey production is worth just $200m a year, but bees pollinate $15 billion-worth of fruit, vegetables and nuts, especially the $2 billion almond business. As the production of almonds has grown, the prices that the beekeepers can charge for their pollination services have increased. This has given them a reason to move their bees further and more frequently. Perhaps this constant moving is stressful for the bees and so depresses their immune systems. And yet, simply moving the colonies cannot fully explain the disorder, because it has also been seen in bees that are not moved around.

The interviewers were able to eliminate some suspects from their inquiries. It makes no difference what the bees eat, what chemicals apiarists use to prevent disease in the hives, whether the bees are for pollinating or for making honey, or where the queens came from. A recent suggestion that mobile phones may play a part has also been dismissed. [more: link]

How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic

below, in its entirety is from gristmill. i thought this was great. it reminds me of apologetics. enjoy.

Below is a complete listing of the articles in "How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic," a series by Coby Beck containing responses to the most common skeptical arguments on global warming. There are four separate taxonomies; arguments are divided by:

• Stages of Denial,
• Scientific Topics,
• Types of Argument, and
• Levels of Sophistication.

Individual articles will appear under multiple headings and may even appear in multiple subcategories in the same heading.

Stages of Denial

1. There's nothing happening
1. Inadequate evidence
• There is no evidence
• One record year is not global warming
• The temperature record is simply unreliable
• One hundred years is not enough
• Glaciers have always grown and receded
• Warming is due to the Urban Heat Island effect
• Mauna Loa is a volcano
• The scientists aren't even sure
2. Contradictory evidence
• It's cold today in Wagga Wagga
• Antarctic ice is growing
• The satellites show cooling
• What about mid-century cooling?
• Global warming stopped in 1998
• But the glaciers are not melting
• Antarctic sea ice is increasing
• Observations show climate sensitivity is not very high
• Sea level in the Arctic is falling
• Some sites show cooling
3. No consensus
• Global warming is a hoax
• There is no consensus
• Position statements hide debate
• Consensus is collusion
• Peiser refuted Oreskes
2. We don't know why it's happening
1. Models don't work
• We cannot trust unproven computer models
• The models don't have clouds
• If aerosols are blocking the sun, the south should warm faster
• Observations show climate sensitivity is not very high
2. Prediction is impossible
• We can't even predict the weather next week
• Chaotic systems are not predictable
3. We can't be sure
• Hansen has been wrong before
• If we can't understand the past, how can we understand the present?
• The scientists aren't even sure
• They predicted global cooling in the 1970s
3. Climate change is natural
1. It happened before
• It was warmer during the Holocene Climatic Optimum
• The medieval warm period was just as warm as today
• Greenland used to be green
• Global warming is nothing new!
• The hockey stick is broken
• Vineland was full of grapes
2. It's part of a natural change
• Current global warming is just part of a natural cycle
• Mars and Pluto are warming too
• CO2 in the air comes mostly from volcanoes
• The null hypothesis says global warming is natural
• Climate is always changing
• Natural emissions dwarf human emissions
• The CO2 rise is natural
• We are just recovering from the LIA
3. It's not caused by CO2
• Climate scientists dodge the subject of water vapor
• Water vapor accounts for almost all of the greenhouse effect
• There is no proof that CO2 is causing global warming
• Mars and Pluto are warming too
• CO2 doesn't lead, it lags
• What about mid-century cooling?
• Geological history does not support CO2's importance
• Historically, CO2 never caused temperature change
• It's the sun, stupid
4. Climate change is not bad
1. The effects are good
• What's wrong with warmer weather?
2. The effects are minor
3. Change is normal
5. Climate change can't be stopped
1. Too late
• Kyoto is a big effort for almost nothing
2. It's someone else's problem
• Why should the U.S. join Kyoto when China and India haven't?
• The U.S. is a net CO2 sink
3. Economically infeasible
• Climate change mitigation would lead to disaster

Scientific Topics

1. Temperature
• There is no evidence
• The temperature record is simply unreliable
• One hundred years is not enough
• Current global warming is just part of a natural cycle
• What's wrong with warmer weather?
• It's cold today in Wagga Wagga
• Warming is due to the Urban Heat Island effect
• The satellites show cooling
• Global warming stopped in 1998
• They predicted global cooling in the 1970s
• Some sites show cooling
2. Atmosphere
3. Extreme events
1. Temperature records
• One record year is not global warming
• It's cold today in Wagga Wagga
2. Storms
3. Droughts
4. Cryosphere
1. Glaciers
• Glaciers have always grown and receded
• But the glaciers are not melting
2. Sea ice
• Antarctic sea ice is increasing
3. Ice sheets
• Antarctic ice is growing
• Greenland used to be green
5. Oceans
• Sea level in the Arctic is falling
6. Modeling
1. Scenarios
• Kyoto is a big effort for almost nothing
• Hansen has been wrong before
2. Uncertainties
• We can't even predict the weather next week
• Chaotic systems are not predictable
• We cannot trust unproven computer models
• The models don't have clouds
7. Climate forcings
1. Solar influences
• Mars and Pluto are warming too
• It's the sun, stupid
2. Greenhouse gases
• Climate scientists dodge the subject of water vapor
• Water vapor accounts for almost all of the greenhouse effect
• There is no proof that CO2 is causing global warming
• CO2 doesn't lead, it lags
• CO2 in the air comes mostly from volcanoes
• What about mid-century cooling?
• Geological history does not support CO2's importance
• Natural emissions dwarf human emissions
• Mauna Loa is a volcano
• The CO2 rise is natural
• Historically, CO2 never caused temperature change
• The US is a net CO2 sink
• Observations show climate sensitivity is not very high
3. Aerosols
• What about mid-century cooling?
• If aerosols are blocking the sun, the south should warm faster
8. Paleo climate
1. Holocene
• It was warmer during the Holocene Climatic Optimum
• The medieval warm period was just as warm as today
• Greenland used to be green
• The hockey stick is broken
• Vineland was full of grapes
• We are just recovering from the LIA
2. Ice ages
• CO2 doesn't lead, it lags
• Global warming is nothing new!
3. Geologic history
• What's wrong with warmer weather?
• Geological history does not support CO2's importance
• Climate is always changing
• Historically, CO2 never caused temperature change
• If we can't understand the past, how can we understand the present?
9. Scientific process
• Global warming is a hoax
• There is no proof that CO2 is causing global warming
• There is no consensus
• The null hypothesis says global warming is natural
• Position statements hide debate
• If we can't understand the past, how can we understand the present?
• The scientists aren't even sure
• Consensus is collusion
• Peiser refuted Oreskes

Types of Argument

1. Uninformed
• There is no evidence
• One record year is not global warming
• One hundred years is not enough
• There is no proof that CO2 is causing global warming
• What's wrong with warmer weather?
• Climate change mitigation would lead to disaster
• There is no consensus
• We cannot trust unproven computer models
2. Misinformed
• It was warmer during the Holocene Climatic Optimum
• The medieval warm period was just as warm as today
• Antarctic ice is growing
• CO2 in the air comes mostly from volcanoes
• Greenland used to be green
• The satellites show cooling
• Natural emissions dwarf human emissions
• It's the sun, stupid
• The U.S. is a net CO2 sink
• But the glaciers are not melting
• Antarctic sea ice is increasing
• They predicted global cooling in the 1970s
• Vineland was full of grapes
3. Cherry Picking
• It's cold today in Wagga Wagga
• Antarctic sea ice is growing
• The satellites show cooling
• Global warming stopped in 1998
• Antarctic sea ice is increasing
• Vineland was full of grapes
• Observations show climate sensitivity is not very high
• The sea level in the Arctic is falling
• Some sites show cooling
4. Urban Myths
• The medieval warm period was just as warm as today
• CO2 in the air comes mostly from volcanoes
• Greenland used to be green
• Hansen has been wrong before
• They predicted global cooling in the 1970s
• Vineland was full of grapes
5. FUD
• The temperature record is simply unreliable
• Glaciers have always grown and receded
• Climate scientists dodge the subject of water vapor
• Water vapor accounts for almost all of the greenhouse effect
• Current global warming is just part of a natural cycle
• Kyoto is a big effort for almost nothing
• Mars and Pluto are warming too
• It's cold today in Wagga Wagga
• CO2 doesn't lead, it lags
• There is no consensus
• Antarctic ice is growing
• Warming is due to the Urban Heat Island effect
• We can't even predict the weather next week
• Chaotic systems are not predictable
• What about mid-century cooling?
• The null hypothesis says global warming is natural
• Geological history does not support CO2's importance
• Climate is always changing
• Natural emissions dwarf human emissions
• Mauna Loa is a volcano
• Global warming is nothing new!
• The CO2 rise is natural
• The hockey stick is broken
• Historically, CO2 never caused temperature change
• The models don't have clouds
• Global warming stopped in 1998
• If we can't understand the past, how can we understand the present?
• If aerosols are blocking the sun, the south should warm faster
• The scientists aren't even sure
• Antarctic sea ice is increasing
• Peiser refuted Oreskes
• Vineland was full of grapes
• Observations show climate sensitivity is not very high
• Sea level in the Arctic is falling
• We are just recovering from the LIA
6. Non Scientific
• Global warming is a hoax
• Kyoto is a big effort for almost nothing
• Why should the U.S. join Kyoto when China and India haven't?
• Hansen has been wrong before
• Position statements hide debate
• The scientists aren't even sure
• Consensus is collusion
• They predicted global cooling in the 1970s
7. Underdog Theories
8. Crackpottery

Levels of Sophistication

1. Silly
• There is no evidence
• Global warming is a hoax
• One record year is not global warming
• Climate change mitigation would lead to disaster
• Mars and Pluto are warming too
• Mauna Loa is a volcano
2. Naive
• One hundred years is not enough
• Glaciers have always grown and receded
• Why should the U.S. join Kyoto when China and India haven't?
• It's cold today in Wagga Wagga
• CO2 in the air comes mostly from volcanoes
• We can't even predict the weather next week
• We can not trust unproven computer models
• The satellites show cooling
• Natural emissions dwarf human emissions
• The models don't have clouds
• Global warming stopped in 1998
• It's the sun, stupid
• If we can't understand the past, how can we understand the present?
• The scientists aren't even sure
• Vineland was full of grapes
• Some sites show cooling
3. Specious
• The temperature record is simply unreliable
• Climate scientists dodge the subject of water vapor
• There is no proof that CO2 is causing global warming
• Current global warming is just part of a natural cycle
• It was warmer during the Holocene Climatic Optimum
• The medieval warm period was just as warm as today
• What's wrong with warmer weather?
• Kyoto is a big effort for almost nothing
• CO2 doesn't lead, it lags
• There is no consensus
• Antarctic ice is growing
• Warming is due to the Urban Heat Island effect
• Greenland used to be green
• What about mid-century cooling?
• The null hypothesis says global warming is natural
• Geological history does not support CO2's importance
• Climate is always changing
• Global warming is nothing new!
• The CO2 rise is natural
• Historically, CO2 never caused temperature change
• Hansen has been wrong before
• Position statements hide debate
• But the glaciers are not melting
• If aerosols are blocking the sun, the south should warm faster
• Antarctic sea ice is increasing
• Consensus is collusion
• They predicted global cooling in the 1970s
• Peiser refuted Oreskes
• Vineland was full of grapes
4. Scientific
• Water vapor accounts for almost all of the greenhouse effect
• Chaotic systems are not predictable
• The hockey stick is broken
• Observations show climate sensitivity is not very high
• Sea level in the Arctic is falling
• We are just recovering from the LIA

nostalgia revisited

as a child i was surrounded by music. i thank the Lord for this. my father got his degree in classical guitar, my mother started to get her degree in voice, but quit when she was a sophomore to support my father going to college. they were married then. they had me a year later. meanwhile, they made their living in a rock and roll band. the star city players. talk to anyone cool who lived in lincoln in the early 80's and they would have heard them. they made their living for a number years just playing shows. i can vaguely remember a few of them.

fast forward ten years and my mom goes back to school to finish her degree in music. she wants to teach voice lessons. (oh and if anyone wants voice lessons, im sure she would still be up for it.) i remember going to all sorts of concerts and and listening to all sorts of music in the car with her as she studied. most of it was classical. but there was this one tape she had that i would steal at night and listen on my own little tape player. it moved me. but then it disappeared and for another 10 years ive always wondered what it was. but i could still hear it in my sleep. the science of it. in 3-d.

until now.

i stumbled upon the music while listening to Paco de Lucia videos on youtube. i recognized it immediately. and now there is a name to the music: Concierto de Aranjuez, composed by Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre in 1939. interestingly enough:

Until asked to perform and interpret Joaquin Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez in 1991, Paco de Lucía had never learned how to read musical notation. While learning to play the Concierto as a flamenco guitarist, where rhythm and pace is essential, he preferred to risk giving the listener a 'dirty' note when being forced to go from low to very high notes rather than to displace the rhythm and pace just to keep the notes clean. He felt that as a flamenco guitarist he could interpret the Concierto in a fashion not previously done. Joaquín Rodrigo declared that no one had ever played his composition in such a brilliant manner. [wikipedia.com]

so here you go, the three movements to the Convierto de Aranjuez. Lock yourself in a closet for 20 minutes and listen to the whole thing. it is beautiful.

demotivational wednesday #3

another i

Attrition.org [link] has a daily update of data loss. a data loss archive basically. the following is just from the last week. pretty soon there will be lots of me. (and you)

Bank of America data loss circa 2007/04/12
Names, addresses, and Social Security numbers on stolen laptop

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Fulton County, Georgia data loss circa 2007/04/12
75,000 voter registration application cards with Social Security numbers, names, and addresses

---

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center data loss circa 2007/04/12
80 patients' names and Social Security numbers available on internet

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Black Hills State University data loss circa 2007/04/12
Social Security numbers and names of 56 posted on college web site

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ChildNet data loss circa 2007/04/11
Stolen laptop contains personal information of about 12,000

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Georgia Department of Community Health / Affiliated Computer Services data loss circa 2007/04/10
Social Security numbers, birthdates and addresses of 2.9 million on lost CD

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Turbo Tax data loss circa 2007/04/09
Web error permitted access to others' tax returns

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Rogers Communications Inc data loss circa 2007/04/08
Hundreds of orders with personal details and Social Insurance numbers found strewn in parking lot

---

Chicago Public Schools data loss circa 2007/04/06
Stolen laptops contain names and Social Security numbers of about 40,000

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Hortica data loss circa 2007/04/06
Missing backup tapes contain names, Social Security numbers, drivers' license numbers

demotivational wednesday #2

cyber me

so now you can get your very own cyber self.

why?

well for all those times you are too busy to chat with your friends online.

but how does it work?

oh its simple. just go to www.mycybertwin.com and sign up. then train your cyber twin to react just like you would when chatting. they will chat with people when you are away from the internet. (the one with email)

hmm.

yes thats what i thought. hmm.

take your slide guitar and fly

basically it goes like this: there is only one genre of music i completely dislike.

this genre is country.

that being a preface, im not really enjoying the new bright eyes album, cassadaga. in fact, i dont like it. connor might be a good poet/songwriter, but he is no Bob Dylan and he can climb down off his high horse. he tries way too hard these days at sounding nasally, emotional, and profound. but only the first gets done.

i was at a concert last year with my sister at sokal underground and i distinctly remember this indie kid standing in front of me with this girl that he kept leaning into her ear and whispering things. they looked like they hated the music. their bodies were not moving. i wished they would leave. my sister pointed out a bit later that it was him, connor oberst, and his girlfriend maria taylor. go figure. but the part that was really obnoxious was when at the last song connor ran to the front, got on stage, and starting singing along with the band... full of energy and motion. oh please.

we walked out.

so i find this on the saddle creek website:

Once tagged "rock's boy genius" by the music press, Conor Oberst turned 27 on February 15th and even without that in mind it's hard to listen to Cassadaga without hearing a newfound sophistication to the Bright Eyes sound. Producer, multi-instrumentalist and permanent band member Mike Mogis has crafted a swirling, euphonious record, at times bursting with bombastic confidence and country swagger, and at others loose-limbed and mesmeric.

swirling, euphonious...at times bursting with bombastic confidence eh? oh please.

im walking out.
and am going to go listen to some mates of state.
thats where the real joy is.

demotivational wednesday #1