Friday, January 30, 2009

God Doesn't Care Who Wins the Super Bowl

This is for you, all you Kurt Warner enthusiasts who think this game on Sunday is a platform for you to try to cram your fundamentalist Christian beliefs down the rest of our throats. Furthermore, it's back-handedly condescending that you would collectively crawl out of the woodworks now that St. Kurt is in the Super Bowl and imply that the Cardinals are some sort of team of destiny because of their QB.

Let's clarify before too many people get pissed off at what I'm saying. I'm not debating that Warner is a great football player, phenomenal leader and an outstanding human being. He is and should continue to be an inspiration to all. Nor am I debating Christianity. I'm not raining on anyone's beliefs. In fact, I applaud them. What I don't applaud is the perceived sense of superiority because of them. It's hypocritical.

[ASIDE: Larry Fitzgerald is a phenomenal player as well, and he's a guy who just goes out, does his job, kicks ass at it and keep his mouth shut. So, St. Kurt isn't even the only good guy on his own offense.]

Listening to you people, though, he is a beacon of light in a cesspool of immorality. The rest of the players on the field (and those that support them) have fastpass for the bullet train to hell. I've got news for you, folks.

You don't know these guys.

I don't either, with the exception of one. This guy. Yes, he has long hair. Yes, his long hair makes him look like a cartoon character. Or perhaps even a lead guitarist. He's a great guy and has been since college. Family guy, father, etc.

They very well may be a bunch of idiots and awful human beings. But in the absence of knowing that for a fact, I am not judging any of them.

I'm rooting for the Steelers. I'm rooting for a guy that I knew in college. I am not a bad person or any less of the Catholic I am because of it. God doesn't care. What God does care about, though, is the back-handed hypocrisy of judging others in His name.

"For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you." (Matthew 7:2, New American Bible)

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Game Day

Waiting for shoe polish coat #1 to dry as I'm typing this...

Gametime - 1:30 p.m.
Capstone Turbine
Chatsworth, CA







Uni -
Black suit w/ white pins
Blue/black oxford shirt
Navy tie w/ blue and white stripes

Crank it up, baby...I am Captain Microturbine!

Some Wednesday Hilarity

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

More Bandwidth!

That is the answer. This is the question.

This traffic prioritization issue God complex among carriers is going to be an ongoing issue as long as files continue to increase in size and complexity (which will, invariably, continue to happen). Increasing demand for video and larger graphics files, along with the "blogosphere" and the fact that any slapdick can create his own content. Gotta love that this kind of stuff keeps me employed. Tech won't stop. Are you ever going to say, "Enough! My computer is too fast!"? Thought not.

Random Acronym - from Semtech


TVS - Transient Voltage Suppressor - "a general classification of an array of devices that are designed to react to sudden or momentary overvoltage conditions"

At the chip level, these guys make the best available. It has a faster response time and lower clamping voltage than competing solutions. Basically, if you have a transient threat (electrical spike of some sort caused by static electricity/lightning/plugging in), this thing can clamp down on it before that shock can pulse its way through your system and fry every chip on every board in it.

Think about it as if someone held one end of a rope and you shook the other end up and down to create a wave. To stop that wave, someone grabs the rope and pulls tight, thus clamping it. That's essentially what this thing does, except it is taking "transient" electrical charges and grounding them before they can reverberate through the system to scorch it.

I realize no one reading this really cares, and y'all are just waiting for me to have some smartass comment or punchline associated, but when you ask what I do at work or how work was or any derivation of a work-related question, the answer is that I write about this kind of technology. This is my new account. Go Semtech! (Nasdaq: SMTC)

Figure Skaters

Yes, you've read this correctly. Those of you who know me best, know how I feel about figure skaters. "Fetish" might be a little graphic and perverse (I much prefer "affinity"), but I think everyone can agree on this. Also, please note the uncensored European media. God save the queen and bless the Daily Mail.

"Malfunction on Ice"

Monday, January 26, 2009

Explanation Time...

So the context for my conversation with Stef last night was that I went over to have dinner with her and Matt. Matt cooked turkey sliders, which were phenomenal. Thanks again for dinner, bro (since you are one of about three people who actually reads this thing). So the three of us (along with McSweyn, who was also present) got into the typical male-female debate, with Stef making the astute observation that she was severely outnumbered. In fairness to me, I was not on some sort of misogynistic tirade (this time). I was merely making an observation.

From this, of course, we got into an aside on my [lack of] relationship status and why I am the perennial single guy that doesn't necessarily walk/talk/act like it all the time. (I do enough of the time for her to diagnose my "self-medicating," but I digress.) The scenario she offered me, which I found quite thought-provoking, was that a friend of her best friend/maid of honor (who is a wonderful, beautiful girl as well...they travel in packs, apparently) is about as fed up with guys as I am with girls. Normally, I would cringe at the thought of the whole matchmaker thing and being to consummate pessimist/cynic I am, I would see an impending calamity fraught with awkwardness and general horror. I see no such thing in this scenario. Two reasons.

1. This is Stefanie. She knows me better than any of the significant others of any of my friends. She knows me better than my friends at times. She knows me better than me at times. Stubbornness, cynicism and all. She understands. She wouldn't do it if she didn't think it had at least a fighting chance.

2. Said friend is apparently a couple years older than me. Not that this matters, as age isn't always indicative of anything, really, but I have found that climbing the age ladder can yeild great results when looking for a straight shooter. A couple more years adds some perspective and a clearer idea of what one wants.

Does the context ever surface in which this isn't just a flat out, blatant setup (which would probably make it awkward)? Who knows. But fact remains, the dialogue between Stef and me continues, and as it does, she continues to solidify in my mind, that she knows me arguably better than anyone else I know. She brings a different perspective, and I love it. Matt...way to go, my man...you snagged a great one.

Monday "Fun"day

Song of the Day - "Walking Contradiction" Green Day



Do as I say not as I do because
The shit's so deep you can't run away
I beg to differ on the contrary
I agree with every word that you say
Talk is cheap and lies are expensive
My wallet's fat and so is my head
Hit and run and then I'll hit you again
I'm a smart ass but I'm playing dumb

Standards set and broken all the time
Control the chaos behind a gun
Call it as I see it even if
I was born deaf, blind and dumb
Losers winning big on the lottery
Rehab rejects still sniffing glue
Constant refutation with myself
I'm a victim of a catch 22

I have no belief
But I believe
I'm a walking contradiction
And I ain't got no right

Do as I say not as I do because
The shit's so deep you can't run away
I beg to differ on the contrary
I agree with every word that you say
Talk is cheap and lies are expensive
My wallet's fat and so is my head
Hit and run and then I'll hit you again
I'm a smart ass but I'm playing dumb

I have no belief
But I believe
I'm a walking contradiction
And I ain't got no right
--

While I'm not sure what the video of these gents inadvertently destroying everything in their wake has to do with being a walking contradiction (it's a soft parallel at best, IMHO), I think the title and first line of the song definitely speak to all of us. How many times have we bitched and whined about someone doing/saying something when we do the exact same thing? The answer is all of the time. Some are more cognizant of this than others and try to minimize such occasions, but the reality is that we're all guilty at some point.

Ties a little bit to a discussion I got into with Stef last night. Every time we chat, we get deep and it inevitably circles back to the relationship discussion and analyzing the interactions between male and female and why we invariably piss each other off. At a high level (without getting too deep), I think there is a definite parallel between this song and the source of the issue--saying we want one thing and acting as though another. "Self-medicating" is another more PC way to say this. We say we want a nice/reliable/down to earth person who has significant other potential, but we go chase people who are vacuous, distant or otherwise unavailable. This is a whole different posting that I'll drill into at another time, but the end result was there is a friend of a friend who is, apparently, fed up with this destructive pattern. Hmm...interesting...

Friday, January 23, 2009

Geek News of the Day

Lots of "Of the Day" posts today. This one comes from CNET...one of my favorite sites EVER.

Billy Beane's video game pitch: You, too, can be a baseball GM


Posted by: Daniel Terdiman

OAKLAND, Calif.--For the countless of devotees of rotisserie and fantasy baseball, there's a whole new game in town.

On Tuesday, 2K Sports will release its MLB Front Office Manager, and for those addicted to the stat-heavy pastime of running fantasy leagues, being a Major League Baseball general manager may never get closer.

The new game--which is unlike any baseball video game I've ever seen--has perhaps the perfect pitchman, Oakland A's General Manager Billy Beane. For those not familiar with him, the game probably won't mean much, since as the main subject of Michael Lewis' hit book, Moneyball, Beane has long been considered the most cerebral and efficient guy putting contending baseball teams on the field.

There is no end to the roster of baseball video games that pay homage to the complexities of building a team from the ground up. They have mechanisms for relying on stats to determine which players are best in different kinds of situations--and many have had the endorsement of real-life players and the blessing of big league baseball.

But MLB Front Office Manager isn't like any of them. (more)

Word of the Day

In honor of this guy's 39th birthday, the word of the day is "yips."

See that definition and extrapolate to include other sports (in this case, of course, baseball), and with a pitcher, specifically, this is known as "Steve Blass Disease."

This is a day of educational blog postings, apparently.

ADDENDUM (and I LOVE this one): In related news, Mac turned 25 today.

Song of the Day

"Cochise" by Audioslave



Well I been watchin' while you been coughin
I've been drinking life while you've been nauseous
So I drink to health while you kill yourself
And I got just one thing that I can offer

Go on and save yourself,
and take it out on me...

Well I'm not a martyr; I'm not a prophet
And I won't preach to you, but here's a caution
You better understand that I won't hold your hand
But if it helps you mend then I won't stop it

Go on and save yourself
And take it out on me...

Drown if you want, and I'll see you in the bottom
Where you crawl on my skin
And put the blame on me so you don't feel a thing

Go on and save yourself
and take it out on me...

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Inauguration Day

Let's take some time out of reflecting on this historic day in our great nation to bash the BCS.


Kurt Snibble - espn.com cartoonist

Monday, January 19, 2009

Instant Classic from Cracked.com

8 Racist Words You Use Every Day

This article is informative on the geneses of some common words with racist roots, and the writing style/verbiage is flat-out phenomenal. Also, it's MLK Day, so any and all things race are fair game...enjoy!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

New Location

Blog #1 from the new apartment, which FINALLY has all my crap in it. In many cases said crap is still in boxes and has not found its ultimate destination, but at least the physical moving part of it is over. In other news, the Steelers and the Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl. Could have predicted the Steelers. Cardinals, however...not so much. Nonetheless, after all is said and done, that is the Super Bowl matchup. Go figure.

Friday, January 16, 2009

I love...

...Paula Brici! That's right...even though you read my blog and never comment, you are the greatest. Just stay out of my Subway!

ADDENDUM:
From Paula on IM: oh, I'm blushing! you just did that for better SEO! haha

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Dirty Sanchez...

He gone.

Plug in Mustain or Corp, have Barkley run the scout team then compete for the job in 2010. The rest of the conference is still chasing us. Taylor Mays coming back is more instrumental to the defense than Dirty coming back would have been to the offense.

Good luck, Mark. And don't do TOO well in the combine and stuff, or you will end up in Detroit.

In other news, the Mexican population in Detroit is projected to go up 100% starting next football season...

ADDENDUM: I take it back...he's the second. Joel Zumaya is still there.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

End of an Era and a Nod to New Beginnings

While this move has been something of a work in progress for a while, it's gotten very real this weekend. I have a room with a bed and some odds and ends clothes and things, but that is it. Courtesy of some help from my brother Toph, the furniture out of my room has been relocated to the apartment.

Rather that reminisce and make this a morose kind of a post (which it inherently would be when I think about moving out of a house I shared with one of my best friends), I am choosing to focus on the new beginning element of it. Apropos, considering this blog will also cover the expounding on my "Resolutions" post a few days ago.

I resolve to set goals and will not lose focus. While not doing work and spacing out make for hilarious movie fodder, they really have no place in the real world. Not that I feel like a slacker at work, but I can always refocus and get better at what I do. I have a great job that I thoroughly enjoy, and I am resolved to continuing to improve at it.

This point was primarily for work, but it is also applicable to the rest of my life, as I will make a concerted effort to enrich and deepen the relationships I have with my family and friends. Too often we get busy and lose focus on (or outright neglect) this. Not good...lots of room for improvement in '09.

I resolve to eliminate clutter and refuse to settle. Kind of a follow-on from working to enrich solid relationships, there is the other side of the coin in which some people and activities are really nothing more than clutter. They are a void and a time/productivity black hole. The resolution here is that when I feel as though I am about to waste time with one such peripheral person or activity, that I catch myself and reroute.

There are far too many important people in my life to waste my time on anyone other than them. I've finally come to the realization that there are only so many hours in the day, and while productivity and doing 100 things can be admirable (and is certainly necessary from time to time), part of being efficient is more effectively balancing things.

I resolve to return to basics and refuse to cede control. Those of you who read this clearly know me and are probably laughing that a control freak such as myself is refusing to cede control. No, I do not resolve to become a domineering person all of a sudden. Rather, I am working to be more proactive in things I do.

Part of this is the fact that I've read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Proactive simply means to not leave things to chance. Think about the end result and the side effects of what you say/do before you say/do them. This takes foresight and practice. What better time to start on it than 2009?

This series of resolutions has a little to do with work and a lot to do with life. I am feeling as though I've let my focus slide a little, and I want 2009 to be the year I snap it back into focus. Moving out of the house on Cohasset was a brutally difficult decision, but in the end, I am confident that it is the right one.

It is the end of an era, but with the end comes a new beginning. For me, it's a time to realize that I've let myself stagnate, but there has never been a better time for me to shake out of it and refocus.

Friday, January 9, 2009

People of Subway...

Yes...the one in Thousand Oaks, near my office. A few helpful hints from fellow patrons (and, probably, employees):

  • Volume control is appreciated requested: There are others here. No, we don't care what you have to say. No, you really aren't that important. I realize our request has nothing to do with you, and this certainly doesn't apply to you because, really, who could be critical of YOU? I can...and I'm not alone. Shut up. Seriously.
  • If you are ordering more than four sandwiches, call ahead: It's really admirable that you would offer to order/pick up lunch for your whole office, but when said office is 10 people, it really just clogs up the line and pisses off the "sandwich artists." Call ahead. Pick up on site. Not that difficult.
    • SIDE NOTE: EIGHT (8) is more than four. Yes, you...lady in front of me who ordered eight sandwiches.
    • ANOTHER SIDE NOTE: An even more detestable variation of this (and combination of the first point) is you, lady on the cell phone who is ordering numerous sandwiches, shouting at the top of your lungs. Your kid is obnoxious and should be reprimanded, but that's on your time. The idiots on the phone who can't figure out what they want on their sandwich or in life should go hungry. You are a wasteland and nothing more than an irritation that is overmatched by life.
  • If you are so in love with each other that you cannot go 30 seconds without making out with/groping/dry humping each other, please do not go in public: If you do find it necessary to go in public, please do not do so in an establishment in which food is served. Restaurant patrons would like to keep their appetites, and the restaurant owners would like people not to associate their establishment with experiences that can be described as vomit-inducing. Good alternative venues for you would be busy freeways or train tracks. Seriously, people. Have some decency.
I love Subway. I love my $5 footlong sandwiches. I love a vast majority of my brethren Subway patrons. The rest of you, who fall into these bullet point categories, suck.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Weird...

I am typing this from the actual keypad on my laptop as I am standing at my dresser. If you have any idea what my room looked like just a couple days ago (and since I first moved in here), this is bizarre. Back at the packing up.

Sidebar: this is a total flashback to college...moving constantly listening to Dr. Dre. Love it!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Resolutions

While an overrated holiday and really just an excuse to throw a party, the beginning of new calendar year is an annual time for reflection and goal setting.

"The world is built for people who are not cursed with self-awareness."

So said Annie Savoy in the best movie ever. Seems like an appropriate launch into my new year's resolutions. I have always thought of myself as a self-aware person, and as a sweeping generalization, what I don't know, I admit I don't know and work to find out. I know when to speak out and when to shut up and cut my losses. (I sometimes ignore this knowledge out of stubbornness, but that is a different issue.)

But being resolute in 2009 has less to do with what I do/don't know and more to do with what I will/will not do.

- I resolve to set goals.

- I refuse to lose focus.

- I resolve to eliminate clutter.

- I refuse to settle.

- I resolve to return to basics.

- I refuse to cede control.

Over the next couple weeks, I'll elaborate on these points, but right now it's back to the grind of trying to clean up/organize for the big move.

Yes, 2009 will look drastically different from 2008, but considering the way a number of things went last year, change is good.

If self-awareness is a "curse" and ignorance is bliss, I would rather be "cursed" than blissful. Here's hoping 2009 keeps these from being mutually exclusive. Happy new year, y'all.

ADDENDUM: Congrats to Matt and Stef on the wedding! You guys are rockstars, and we're all pumped for you...take lots of pics in Spain and give us access to the wedding photos soon!