I'm sure you know the rest. Anyway, I'm out here in California, living out of hotels. My mother and little brother have moved in with me; they're visiting for a week, and my older brother couldn't put them up in his house.
I get that. I really, really do. I mean, he's in the process of moving into a condo, so his housing situation is all up in the air, his financials are pretty tight, and his job doesn't leave him with a lot of time to spend with them. I understand all of those things. Really, it'd be hard to blame a guy in that situation for telling his mother and sibling, "No, I'm sorry; you can't stay with me. It's just a bad time for me."
On the plus side, I managed to finish up a couple of projects I was working on as an independent consultant. It makes me happy to feel that sense of accomplishment. I designed and built something which works, and I did it in a little over a week. The wonderful feeling I have right now can only be topped by the one I'll have next Monday, when I pick up my second paycheck from these guys.
This weekend, I've spent a lot of time cleaning out my un-listened to podcasts. I came across an "Apple Tip of the Day" podcast which taught me how to take screenshots. It's fun. I've tested it out.
Later that same today, I got spam from a famous personality. Damn you, Ira! And here I was, about to get "This American Life", the TV show, on iTunes!
Ah, who'm I kidding? I'm still going to get it. Ira Glass, I forgive you!
I'm listening to Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, and they've mentioned a kind of a stupid thing: evidently, the President's Council on Bioethics has come out against eating ice cream in public. It's offensive to human dignity, or some damn thing like that. Want to read more? Go here.
Since I don't have much to add on the whole ice cream controversy, I'll instead direct your attention to the Table of Contents of the 555-page report, which includes the phrase, "How to Protect Human Dignity from Science". That seems even more funny to me than the ice cream thing. I imagine a bunch of septuagenarians in lab coats at chalkboards, examining trajectories of banana-cream pies to establish a maximum of hilarity and a minimum of dignity.
How can I get a job there? Do I have to apply directly to Gary Larson?
And how does this "protection" work, anyway? I mean, Bush has already come out against condoms; what kind of prophylactic could he possibly endorse to prevent science/dignity interaction? A giant rubber sheet? It would work well, but is it too much like a dental dam? You tell me. I'm not on the President's Council for Bioethics, so obviously I'm an idiot when it comes to this stuff.
That's where I am now; Redwood City. I went out for Chinese for dinner tonight; I can't really afford that kind of luxury, but my dietary options are pretty limited. Buying a week's worth of groceries and starving are both out, and most other places were closed. At 3 pm. On a Saturday. What the hell is up with this town?
As it turns out, I have an answer to that question. The waitress at the Chinese place was rather nice and talkative, and there weren't any other customers, so we had a little chat about local history. Apparently, this town used to be home to quite a few major tech companies. But rents on office space changed, the Sacramento area offered better rates, and everybody pulled out. Now, the people who're left have to try to continue to hack out a living, now that all the money has been sucked out of town.
I walked around town for a while after dinner. It's not Detroit. It's more like Monroe. This isn't a cavity in the San Francisco Bay area; it's just a town that has to rely more or less on itself, and it's struggling. Is it any wonder I can relate?
I got up pretty early this morning. Too damn early. Oh well. Anyway, I turned on the news, and there was President Bush, making a speech. His big announcement? I think MSNBC puts it best with this teaser: "Pres. Bush: Cuba still suffers under despotism of the Castros"
That's right. We, as a country, are just now dealing with Cuba. Apparently, Bush's big plan is to allow Americans to send cell phones to their family members in Cuba. Because that's the big problem: not enough Cuban text messages. Hey, Bush: How about sending them MEDICINE AND FOOD? Do you think they might like that?
Or here's a thought: instead of looking at Cuba, try cleaning up your own mess in Iraq. Of course, I'm not sure there's anything that can be done to prevent Iraq from turning into Vietnam, but hey- it's not my war.
I wish my hotel got Cartoon Network. It's so much less stupid.
We're not unreasonable; I mean you can still control your eyes! But seriously, this is pretty freaky. And as I recall, there's a helmet that forces you to walk all funny like, too. Basically, they're figuring out how to manipulate people's brains; is that too creepy?
No. No it's not. And the free trial helmet the government sent me is stylish and comfortable, as well! (Of course, they can force me to do all kinds of things. But they can't stop me from doing things on top of that! And thanks to my inherent stupidity and self-destructive tendencies, I'm almost certain to chew through the power cord. Freedom! Zappy, charring freedom!)
It's like they've just given up and said, "Okay, Japan, you win." I don't know if you've heard that the DSO had a special guest conductor the other night. Well, the show was sold out (that's right- the Detroit Symphony Orchestra sold out a show!), and the final piece got what sounds like a standing ovation. Sure, to symphony goers, it may have been a major accomplishment, but I'm surprised at the musicians' response; don't they know what happened to the auto workers when robots started doing their jobs?
(Incidentally, I was not this worried when I saw the performance abilities of this guest's cousin; he didn't make much of a musician. But a conductor? That's the sort of thing an overgrown metronome would be perfect for!)
"A" has a link to "B", but the reverse is not true. Clearly, "B" is more popular, and therefore correct.
"B" also has a little "Hacker Safe" sign in the upper right hand corner, so it's got that going on, too. Really. Check it out. It says "Hacker Safe". This guy really hates the idea of evolution; even hacking skills can't evolve!
Here's the kicker, though; both of these comics provide about the same level of support for their various belief systems. Both seem to say, "I'm right, but I'm just a comic; you'll have to check external sources for the evidence. But how can you doubt me? See how the other side looks stupid when I portray it?"
At least the atheist one has a sense of humor about it. And it's free. But not "Hacker Safe".
So, I've been using iGoogle for a little while, and it's been kind of fun. There's games and newsfeeds you can throw up on there. S'cool. But just tonight, I found out that a webcomic I've recently fallen in love with has a gadget that is a special kind of clock. Now, I loves me my special clocks, and this one is pretty awesome: it shows you the time, then it shows you which prime numbers you would have to multiply to get that time. And yes, I do find myself trying to get there faster than the program. I am a happy man.
And also, there's a print comic you should be reading, as well. Thank me when you are no longer curled into a little ball, half from hysterical laughter and half from blood-chilling fear.
I had two interviews today for jobs, and they both went well. In the morning, I had a telephone interview, which turned into an appointment for a live interview next week. Rockin'.
In the afternoon, I had a live interview, which I'll hear more about next week. But I have a good feeling about it. Also rockin'.
In other news, there's an item that caught my attention. It seems like this sort of thing just will not go away, right? "Oh no! I know society as we know it didn't end the last thirty times, but this time we're in REAL TROUBLE!!!"
Seriously, get over it. Music and video games will not cause your child to join a gang. Spending too much time away from your kid and trying to get the state to babysit, will. I personally guarantee it. Because I run that gang.
Speaking of video games, there's a new educational game that looks like it's going to be fun. Well, fun for me; I don't know how you feel about protein folding. Give it a try. (I haven't played it yet, though, so if it sucks, blame the programmers. I cannot guarantee the game's awesomitude. It's not in the gang.)
It's my new toy. I done made it myself. If you want to see a bigger version, you can find it here. If you want to have more information on the subject, you can go here. That's really all I have to say for now, but I may have even more exciting news later. Who knows? Anything's possible.
