Katmak's Crux

2004-07-08T12:54:00.000-06:00

"I haven't any money," said the clown. "But I do have lots of plastic and digital numbers with many zeros after them and several bank accounts."

"I see," said the girl.

2004-07-08T12:37:00.000-06:00

This past 4th of July the barbeque lasted about three hours. There were ribs in tangy sauce, smoked turkey legs browned on all sides, cut spicey sausage, and potato salads. Beer of many varieties was brought by a kindly neighbor; there was Coors, Budweiser, Miller Genuine Draft, and Hustlers just to name a few. Shasta was also brought by the same kindly neighbor for those who preferred other than beer and, of course, for the kiddies.

Mary laid out the table with relish, pickles, ketchup, and mustard. She also put out plates, cups, and other plastic-ware as well as a tablecloth under everything.

2004-06-18T20:19:00.000-06:00

Telephone Post

2004-05-28T14:44:00.000-06:00

post.

2004-05-14T19:30:00.000-06:00

Here's Where The Story Ends Lyrics
By: The Sundays

people I know places I go
make me feel tongue tied
I can see how people look down
they're on the inside

here's where the story ends

people I see, weary of me
showing my good side
I can see how people look down
I'm on the outside

here's where the story ends
ooh here's where the story ends

it's that little souvenir of a terrible year
which makes my eyes feel sore
oh I never should have said the books that you read
were all I loved you for
it's that little souvenir of a terrible year
which makes me wonder why
& it's the memories of the shed that make me turn red
surprise surprise surprise

crazy I know, places I go
make me feel so tired
I can see how people look down
I'm on the outside

oh here's where the story ends
ooh here's where the story ends

it's that little souvenir of a terrible year
which makes my eyes feel sore
& who ever would've thought the books that you brought
were all I loved you
for
oh the devil in me said go down to the shed
I know where I belong
but the only thing I ever really wanted to say
was wrong, was wrong, was wrong

it's that little souvenir of a colorful year
which makes me smile inside
so I cynically, cynically say the world is that way
surprise, surprise, surprise, surprise, surprise

here's where the story ends
ooh here's where the story ends

2004-04-08T03:05:00.000-06:00

Have You Gotten Your Alien Abduction Insurance Yet?
From "News of the Weird."

The London insurance brokerage Goodfellow Rebecca Ingrams Pearson announced in August it would begin to offer policies to cover people worried about alien abduction. A premium of about $155 a year would pay off about $160,000 to an abductee (provided the abductor was not from Earth) and double that if the insured is impregnated during the abduction. Since alien powers are unknown, men can purchase the impregnation rider, also. Said Goodfellow director Simon Burgess, "I personally would not buy [this] policy." [Seattle Times-Reuters, 8-25-96]

2004-04-06T23:02:00.000-06:00

I have started down the path of FreeBSD from which I shall never return. Whether you know the labor of love I speak of or not, I should say no more.

2004-04-04T07:30:00.000-06:00

I wonder if my blog will get pulled for speaking out against The New Big Brother.

From Daniel Brandt:
"There has been almost no interest in establishing search engines that specialize in public-sector websites. Where is the Library of Congress? Where are the millions of dollars doled out by the Ford Foundation? How about the United Nations? Why can't some enlightened European entity pick up the slack? Everyone is asleep, while the Internet is getting spammed to death."

2004-04-04T07:12:00.000-06:00

What if a foreign company or power acquired Google?

That possibility may seem remote today. But, consider that the founders of Google once said at one time that they didn't want to go public because they didn't want people who looked out for the short term running the company. Now Google is expected to announce an IPO in July. What's to stop a foreign power from acquiring Google in say, 20 years? Remember, not only does that cookie not run out until 2038 (see further down), but Google never throws anything away -- including your email.

2004-04-04T03:49:00.000-06:00

hmmm...

2004-04-04T03:47:00.000-06:00

Always delete your Google cookie before and after!

For those affected by Google-paranoia, check out the above site. Looks like Google got me already.

2004-04-04T03:20:00.000-06:00

Privacy is essential to intellectual creativity. The right to privacy is supposed to be a pillar of the U.S. social structure. Google is out of touch.

2004-04-04T03:17:00.000-06:00

Google mail is evil - privacy advocates

This is interesting. And something to consider seriously.

"While Google brags that no humans will read your emails, the entire Gmail program will involve extensive automated profiling of you as an individual. Google will be sharing the non-identifiable portions of your profile with anyone they choose. If the ownership of Google changes, or there is a merger, the entire personally-identifiable profile will be available to the new owners or partners."

"But asked if Google planned to link Gmail users to their Web search queries, Page replied:

"It might be really useful for us to know that information. I'd hate to rule anything like that out."

Google's Gmail privacy policy points out that your email will be retained even after you close your account."

Perhaps I will hold off on getting a Gmail account if it ever becomes available. The cookie Google sends to you everytime you use Google identifies your ip address to them and any other relevant data it can gleen. Also recorded are words you search for. Are the websites you click on recorded as well?

"Google's cookie is an index for all your searches until 2038, and sits alongside an Orkut cookie that tells Google - or friendly law enforcement officials or marketeers - exactly who you are."

Gmail reportedly will not erase mail from their own internal servers even after you've deleted the mail from your own account.

2004-04-03T15:01:00.000-07:00

A general definition of the uncertainty principle states that a particle cannot have both a definite position and a definite velocity at the same time. The more precisely you measure the one, the less accurate your measurement of the other will be.

I propose that the reading of books correlates likewise to time. A person cannot have both a definite amount of books to read and a definite amount of time in which to read them. The more precise the number of books you have to read, the less accurate will be your perception of time in which to read them, with neither variable ever being in agreement when both are zero .

For instance, if you have no books to read, your perception of the time it would take you to read an imaginary book would be infinite. That is, you would have infinite time to read that one book. However, if you had an an infinite number of books to read, the compulsive behavior that drove you to accumulate them all would have convinced you that you could read them all in absolutely no time at all. In practice, both having no books to read and having no time to kill cannot happen at the same time because to not read is to not be aware of time at all.

2004-04-02T22:55:00.000-07:00

testing..a

2004-04-02T00:56:00.000-07:00

Hey, I applied. And they promptly responded, too.

Google Copernicus Center is hiring

"Google is interviewing candidates for engineering positions at our lunar hosting and research center, opening late in the spring of 2007. "

"Among the questions Googlunars will seek to answer are:

--What happens to PageRank in the proximity of a black hole? Is there distortion that might result in link relevancy reduction or popularity warping? Could this somehow be harnessed to generate more dates for engineers?
--Does spam go on forever?"

2004-04-01T00:56:00.000-07:00

Google launches email
"The plan is to take on the tiered pay-for email services and offer more space for free. Much more, if early reports are true: up to 1GB. "

Can't wait for this! So is Google going to offer webhosting and domain registration all at low, low prices, too?

2004-03-30T00:10:00.000-07:00

Nanotech buckyballs kill fish

"Other research has found that some nano particles, when inhaled, damaged the subject animal's lung tissue...Eva Oberdoerster, the environmental toxicologist who led the studies, told The Washington Post that the hazards and risks of nanotechnology are poorly understood."

So much for Neal Stephenson's airborn security nanobots ("The Diamond Age").
Anyone see the next to the last page in April's "Wired"? Featured on the monthly spoof page "Artifact From The Future" is a device to clean nanobots from your brain via a nose pump.

2004-03-28T23:13:00.000-07:00

Quesadillas report: Tonight Taco Cabana cut my quesadillas into eight triangles instead of the usual six. On other previous nights they've cut it into quarters, but I think tonight was a first for the eighths. Could've used more cheese, too. A little heavy on the pico. But I liked it.

2004-03-25T23:11:00.000-07:00

How many different ways are there to have cheese quesadillas at Taco Cabana? For me, the possibilities are endless. For the past three weeks or more I've been eating the personal size cheese quesadillas from Taco Cabana. Here's the company mandated way to serve the order: about a cup of cheese, with or without pico de gallo sauce, melted between two 6" diameter flour tortillas accompanied by one heaping tablespoon-full of each sour cream and guacamole nested atop a small bed of lettuce in an edible taco-chip "bowl", for here or to go.

However, each time I go there, sometimes twice a day, they make my cheese quesadillas a unique & different way, at first to my annoyance and now to my surprise. After the first week, I thought I might be able to run permutations or combinations on how many different ways I could get my order: one time they would forget the pico de gallo, the next time they would jip me on cheese so that I had to make up an excuse to get a different one, another time they would put it in a to-go box when I had specified in-house, and so on. I used to ask for extra sour cream after I had placed the order & although I would get it, there always seemed to be some hesitation. Then I got wise & started asking for the sour cream as I placed my order, which they charged me $.50 for. No biggie; at least this way, not only was I guaranteed to get it, but I didn't have to shout to get it. Tonight when I asked for sour cream, the girl at the register said "Don't worry about it" and skipped the little lettuce topping & gave me a shitload of sour cream in its place. They still put it in a to-go box when I had asked to eat here.

2004-03-25T00:54:00.000-07:00

Scientists may have found the 'human gene'

2004-03-23T00:14:00.000-07:00

We are Not Alone

"...the typical Internet user is an avid reader of books...Use of the Internet is reducing television viewing around the world..."

2004-03-21T21:43:00.000-07:00

The illumination of space dust from a red supergiant star.
And now Hubble is doomed.

2004-03-21T00:50:00.000-07:00

In his article "In the Shadow of Culture," biologist Brian Goodwin states that present-day science and reasoning society's culture are in a Dark Age because we don't take into account emotions and other qualitative factors when doing studies. He thinks that perhaps in the next 50 years we can see our way out of this Dark Age of reasoning. While I see his point, I think it will be some time -- like maybe another 100 years, if ever -- for scientists to take the qualitative human elements seriously.

Is Brian Goodwin the spark Western society needs to propel it into the next Age? I have my doubts. Although he's an accomplished biology professor, his credentials are radical -- such as, he runs a holistic master's program at a university in the U.K., he believes that Earth is a living entity, and he publicly states that he believes in magic. Contemporary science takes none of these things seriously. How can science take anything Goodwin has to say with any weight?

2004-03-19T00:54:00.000-07:00

This is on-going old news, but I'll post it anyway because all the big name academics -- like Lee Smolin, Ian Stewart, and Martin Rees, just to name a few -- are _currently_ talking about it (whereas just a decade ago it was all theory):

Quantum Computing Faster Than Previously Thought

"Although researchers have discussed the possibility of quantum computers since the 1970s, the first working one was announced only last month [April 1998] by a group of university researchers. The computer used the hydrogen and oxygen atoms from a chloroform molecule to solve a simple search problem."

Here's another fine link.

2004-03-17T23:04:00.000-07:00

Will Wal-Mart Track You?

"What worries privacy groups is the possibility that RFID tags will continue to transmit information after you've left the store. At a California hearing last year, State Senator Debra Bowden reportedly asked, "How would you like it if, for instance, your underwear was reporting on your whereabouts?" "

2004-03-17T00:36:00.000-07:00

The next step in human evolution: Metabolic Dominace?

I've heard that national technological breakthroughs come from two sources: the space program and war. Now the military is looking to optimize human matabolism so that soldiers can stay in the field without eating for days. What other benefits might be reaped by such a development? Perhaps the application of Metabolic Dominace on a nation of obese has potential, even if this is not the intended goal.

However, will Metabolic Dominace lead to federally banned food, like in Sylvester Stallone's "Demolition Man" (with Sandra Bullock)? Or, maybe the next step in curbing the American obesity epidemic is The Food Patch.

2004-03-16T00:54:00.000-07:00

I know I've got a blog around here someplace. Will update shortly.

2004-03-14T00:53:00.000-07:00

I'd like to say something thought-provoking or funny or even just something to read, but, yes, this is another blog cancellation. The CCNA prep has me in a tangle and I can't put the effort into my blog like I'd like to.

However, if I did have more time, I'd pounce on the dopes who are trying to sue fast food joints "for making people fat." What a load of crap.

Also, I'd like to comment on the banning of junk food in schools. This deserves attantion because if junk food can be banned from schools, then it can be banned from the grocery store. What qualifies as junk food?

These topics I'd like to discuss, but they must wait until I've made further progress in my CCNA preparation.

2004-03-12T23:43:00.000-07:00

If you want to see the true colors of people, just do something that wows them. The ones who keep their feathers intact seem to be the ones who can see straight and who will treat you equally no matter what you do.

Greg Egan is an intriguing Brain. His book "Schild's LADDER" captures the pinnacles of contemporary physics theory and extrapolates the ideas into plausible action. And he explains what he's thinking as he goes along. His ideas are compelling in that they make me want to dig up any modern physics texts I can find and study them 'til I'm blind. Well, maybe not that much.

2004-03-10T23:13:00.000-07:00

"EchoStar Communications Corp. pulled the plug on CBS programs in more than a dozen cities Tuesday..." maybe you've heard. So I turned on my tube tonight to see if I was one of the chosen 9 million viewers who wouldn't get channel 2 (CBS in Houston).

I wasn't one of the chosen, but it was just my luck to tune in because Elijah Wood (Frodo from LOTR) was on Jay Lenno who was on CBS at the time. The interview was okay and Elijah (hearthrob) was charming. And then they showed a clip from his new movie "Eternal Sunshine" in which he plays a memory eraser tech opposite Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey. I don't know that I'm going to see this one, but it was fun to see what Elijah is up to.

2004-03-08T00:12:00.000-07:00

Check this place out. Are they for real??

2004-03-06T00:45:00.000-07:00

For a good time, click here.

It's more fun than it looks.

(if this doesn't "load" at first, or if you don't see the link/click at the lower part, click your refresh button.)

2004-03-04T18:17:00.000-07:00

Would paying for e-mail stop spammers?

2004-03-03T23:18:00.000-07:00

IPv6 (the Next Generation Internet Protocol or IPng) is coming soon as you may have heard. IPv6 is a new version of IP which is designed to be an evolutionary step from IPv4.

Its 128 bits long. Which gives you
340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 possible addresses.
That reads as follows: Three hundred forty undecillion, two hundred eighty two decillion, three hundred sixty six nonillion, nine hundred twenty octillion,
nine hundred thirty eight septillion, four hundred sixty three sextillion, four hundred sixty three quintillion, three hundred seventy four quadrillion, six hundred and seven trillion, four hundred thirty one billion, seven hundred sixty eight million, two hundred and eleven thousand, four hundred fifty six
addresses.

Now say that ten times fast.

For more details, click here.

2004-03-01T22:54:00.000-07:00

The clock struck 9pm before we were done with the second topic. What stimulating reasoning and debate we had tonight at the CCNA group. OK, I'm not pressed for time anymore and I can see I'm yapping endlessly about the CCNA group. I'm not at all tired.

2004-03-01T07:55:00.000-07:00

I have no concept of time. Ok, I finished the outline and have synergized most of the material from most of the books. This afternoon between 1pm and 5pm I have to type up the Powerpoint slides (about 40), update the CCNA sig website, make a quiz, and memorize two intricate tables. That's an hour per objective.

(I have to be at HAL-PC at 6pm because there's always a random wiseguy who shows up at 6pm. I know that trick; I used to do that in school: show up before the prof so you can have the omnipotent perspective advantage. Ok, maybe I'm a little paranoid. Actually, I like getting there early. It gives me time to talk to everyone & answer questions.)

I keep kicking myself because there's no time to anticipate audience questions. There's no time to improve on my presentation. There's no time to ensure that I know every last point. It's my fault, mea culpa. I should have started days ago and left room for reflection. I pulled this same stunt last Monday & the group tripped me up with several questions I had to think hard about. We'll see what happens tonight at 7pm.

Oh, I'm at work just now & it's about time to start answering those phones.

2004-02-29T23:40:00.000-07:00

I'm in my own private hell. I waited until nine o'clock tonight to start correlating information from similar chapters from six (6) different books for the CCNA group tomorrow. The information from the different books is basically the same but I have to skim through it all & note any differences. Then I have to make Powerpoint slides. The later won't be too difficult once I make an outline for the 3-4 different topics I want to cover. But, even though I promised myself I wouldn't do this again, I'm going to be up all night. Me and my great ideas.

[Appended] And to top it all off, my cat keeps jumping up onto my desk so that I can't work. I'm having to work in my lap because she's convinced the desk is hers. It's too much trouble to fight her; she keeps jumping back up.

What's in my fridge
Do you really want to know?

The bag of prewashed baby greens in my fridge has been in there opened for a month. It still has yet to rot. The expiration date on the bag says Feb. 1. It continues to sit.

Also, I cooked a pot of kidney beans around the first of February and left them in the fridge. I cooked them from scratch (they were dry), but I put peanut sauce in them. I thought it would taste good at the time. That was before I tasted them. I like peanut sauce but maybe I'm sick of it. Note: peanut sauce and kidney beans do not taste good together. They're still sitting in my fridge keeping the prewashed baby greens company. Today is Feb. 29.

2004-02-28T23:40:00.000-07:00

The new smallest measure of time: the attosecond.

2004-02-27T18:01:00.000-07:00

My books came!

2004-02-26T19:37:00.000-07:00

This I found on Amazon concerning my books. That they attempted to deliver the books at 5:51pm yesterday is bull b/c I was home at that time with my front door wide open. I think they went to the wrong address. I will ask at the post office tomorrow (& take a print out of the shipping info with me).

Date Time Location Service Area Checkpoint Details

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Feb 25, 2004 05:51:00 PM HOUSTON, TX US DELIVERY ATTEMPTED
Feb 24, 2004 03:31:00 PM US NOTICE LEFT
Feb 24, 2004 08:48:00 AM US ENROUTE
Feb 23, 2004 09:13:00 AM US ENROUTE
Feb 23, 2004 06:30:00 AM US ACCEPTANCE
Feb 22, 2004 04:54:56 PM Coffeyville KS USA SHIPPED
Feb 22, 2004 12:00:00 AM US ELECTRONIC SHIPPING INFO RECEIVED

2004-02-26T16:21:00.000-07:00

I refuse to go see Mel Gibson's new flick "The Passion of the Christ."

On radio am news today I heard that a woman fell into spasms during the scene where Christ is having nails driven into his hands and had to be taken to the hospital here in Houston. Is this for real? I did hear it on a reputable news program so I tend to give the story credit. If it is true, no doubt this kind of story will get back to Gibson and he will secretly gloat over his impact.

Rumor has it that he spent $50 million on the film and that the film grossed $20 million on the first day. Also, promotional items including earrings and mugs are being sold "everywhere" including religious stores and include a necklace made of a leather strap with a nail on it. Mel Gibson, the concerned Hollywood producer, endorsed this? Doesn't stuff like this insult religious values related to Christ?

I refuse to see a gory movie like this. It's inhuman. Yet, I understand that a lot of upstanding church- goers went to see it. How could they flock to yet another Hollywood production that trivializes their faith? What, did all the clergy across America get press releases & opening day movie passes?

I would rather stare at Janet Jackson's right boob than see this movie.

2004-02-25T23:26:00.000-07:00

Where are my Philip Jose Farmer books??!! I ordered them from Amazon.com last week! That's the last time I choose the 3-7 day delivery option. Last time I ordered books from them I did the 2 day delivery option & got the books the next day. The difference in price between 3-7 day delivery and 2 day delivery is $5.00. What did they do, put my books on a boat? Y'know, it would be my luck that after all these years of searching for these books they would be unavailable. Wait. If I recall correctly, I think I received an e-mail notice from Amazon.com saying my books had been shipped. Waiting...

In the meantime, I'm reading Greg Egan's "Schild's LADDER," author recommended by Mac Tonnies. According to the back cover, it's supposed to be about a runaway vacuum field created by a catastrophic physics experiment. Eventually, the characters have to use a spaceship to study the thing. What I want to know is: How can you have a runaway vacuum in space? Isn't space supposed to be a vacuum in the first place?

In the CD player:
"Fade into you,
I think it's strange you never knew."
-- Mazzy Star

2004-02-24T19:59:00.000-07:00

I think people at HAL-PC are getting used to me. 'Bout time. I've only been here since August.

Actually, I think it's the CCNA sig. People are staring at me now. Unflinchingly. Are they listening in at the meetings just outside the door? If I impress them with my "knowledge" then they ought to come in. I'm using Powerpoint slides. Although, I do know what I'm talking about but I use notes to help me through, like an outline. It's not all complete memory. Anyway, people are staring. And they're asking me advanced tech support questions now. Surprisingly, I know most of the answers. It's as if by aclimating to the HAL-PC environment I've suddenly downloaded vast amounts of information directly to my brain.

But at heart, I've always shunned rote knowledge. It has its uses. I think creativity & production are supreme over just doing a job because you know how. I get it from my grandmother. She was a self-employed seamstress before there was such a thing as Wal-Mart. And boy, could she sew! She could have been a designer. She made all kinds of stuff that involved fancy cuts & seams & stitching. She was a master. I learned to treasure creativity from her. And although knowledge is needed to rise to being an artist, manipulating the Earth can only come about through the imagination and creative spirit.

I like computers and there is a limited creativity in troubleshooting, but there's more to establishing a name than that. I want to be known for my writing. But this will take some discipline & time if it happens at all. For now, I use the computing world as a stepping stone and as a means for supporting myself. I want to go higher.

2004-02-23T21:49:00.000-07:00

I have nothing nice to say because I'm so tired, so instead of babble here are my top ten favorite musical acts of all time in no particular order:

1) Peter Gabriel
2) Simply Red (especially best of)
3) Sting/Police
4) R.E.M.
5) Sade
6) Mazzy Star (Fade into You)
7) Junior Vasquez (yes, he counts)
8) Pink Floyd
9) Cure
10) Ultravox

Recently off-ed the A-List: Mariah Carey

2004-02-22T20:02:00.000-07:00

What the hell is wrong with science fiction these days? Maybe I should rephrase that. Why the fuck can't I find any good science fiction to read these days? It's probably just me. I feel like I've seen every variation on the various themes possible. Perhaps it's just that whoever is writing the covers has lost perspective on selling *NEW* ideas.

I spent three and a half hours at the Bookstop tonight & found *NOTHING.* Originally I went there to find a dense book of sci-fi criticism for maybe the last fifty years. With the help of a book specialist, I searched the shelves & computer listings for an hour. *NOTHING* Anything remotely related to criticism of sci-fi either focused on one author or focused on movies & television. There was nothing on literary sci-fi criticism. I was distraught.

Ack. I have to continue my rant in a few hours. My landlord has invited me to watch the rebroadcast of the Democratic candidates' debate. brb.

(continuing in this space since it makes more sense to read down.) ok, back (an hour later). it was a stupid 30-minute plug for Ralph Nader, not a debate. It was a "Meet the Press" interview, but it was just a big plug.

Anyway, about my sci-fi excursion. I was tempted to get something from Ursala K. Le Guin, or a collection of "best" sci-fi tales edited by Mike Resnick, or a collection edited by Theodore Sturgeon, but in the end, nothing won my heart. I visited the science books & there was nothing of interest there. I did see a Mars book I was interested in, but I didn't get it. I also almost got a book from Kevin Mitnick but it looked like a brag book, not anything that would inspire thought. I think it was just a bad day for me to go to the bookstore. Oh, I did finally come away with the March issue of "Wired" magazine in which there's a supposedly insightful article on Google.

I can't wait until my Philip Jose Farmer books arrive.

2004-02-21T23:12:00.000-07:00

Thank my lucky stars that I have hardwood floors. My cat puked all over them.

Here's a funny site.

I've been looking for the last book in Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld series for roughly the last fifteen years. I finally found it on Amazon.com. Yeah! I ordered that and "Gods of Riverworld" which I imagine is like an epilogue to the Riverworld series. I can't wait.

2004-02-18T16:46:00.000-07:00

Man, for some reason I am grossing out on everything today. I mean like food-wise. Even though there's been this tight emptiness in my stomach for most of the day, I couldn't bring myself to taste or swallow any food. Even my favorite foods, cheese & pizza, were at arms-length. I finally forced myself to eat half a cup of chicken noodle soup & three cheese jalapenoes from Jack-in-the-box around 4 pm to clear up a headache that was coming on. I usually take ibuprofen for headaches but I knew that my headache was from my stomach. I wonder what got into me today. Will this trend last? I'm forcing down some tonic water right now. It's all I can stomach.

I didn't get any writing done for tonight's writers' group. I'm relying on material I wrote a week ago & it's only one page single-spaced. At least the character is developed & there's an inkling of a plot. It'll do for now. I'll just have to do, like, part II next week.

I hope I can stomach the Beaujolais-Villages I got to be social tonight. I'm thinking the group may overlook my writing shortcoming if they get a little tipsy. :)

2004-02-17T23:58:00.000-07:00

Here's are some interesting sites I found tonight:

Recent Interview with Arthur C. Clarke

Moon-size diamond found in space

Windows source code (the one mischeviously released on the Internet last week) exploit released by hackers.

Enjoy!

2004-02-16T22:04:00.000-07:00

Man, I talked for *two* straight hours tonight at my CCNA group. OK, maybe this isn't the space to be talking about this. It's getting old.

I forced myself to take time to read yesterday. It was sooo luxurious to be able to lay back & take in someone else's work instead of being on the go all the time. Don't get me wrong. I love working, but all work & no play...

& now I think I will rearrange my busy schedule & go back to my book.

2004-02-15T12:02:00.000-07:00

Y'know, it's not just that computer tech support is doomed, maybe, it's that the computer hobbyist is a doomed race. I see evidence of this at HAL-PC everyday. Membership in HAL-PC is dropping off and the older members who have been there since the '80s are dying. Yes, they're Old People. Now the internet services side to HAL-PC is rather strong comparatively, yet still I'm not seeing the high traffic of computer enthusiasts. Mostly we get people who are wanting to know how to make webpages or who want their computer fixed. The special interest groups are getting smaller and, again, consist mostly of Old People.

Nowadays, young people in the computer field are in it for the "money." They see it, the computer field - or Information Technology (IT), as a career path. I started as a hobbuist in the early '90s, building my first pc in 1994. I was among the first to get an e-mail account at my university (which are no longer being offered) and figured that computing & programming was a safe haven special interest that might prove profitable where I could *avoid people.* Then the Internet took off and wiped out my dreams of seclusion. Now everything I do deals with people & there's not much hobby left. Now it's a way of life in the non-game of tech support where you drown if you try to know too much.

Today, a new breed of hobbyist has emerged. The Internetist. I need not explain. I guess as long as the Internetist lives there will be connection issues/problems & that I guess is the staple of my job. But, man, it's time to move on. I think I'm headed in the right direction by focusing on Cisco products and aiming to support network/Internet backbones. This is one of the stable areas in computing & it's reminicent of the days where you just troubleshoot & there's not a lot of people to deal with, at least, not a lot of *stupid* people. Must define oneself.

2004-02-13T22:57:00.000-07:00

I just got new toothpaste & it's the kind that sinks to the bottom of your toothbrush & just sits there collecting germs until you faint in horor, throw the brush away, & get new toothpaste. See, (yes, I have to name the paste) I got Colgate Total Plus Whitening. Now I was using Colgate Total, but I thought I would go all the way this time & got the kind with Whitening. I subconsciously think this is all a bunch of bull about how you can get all these added whizdings in your toothpaste. Isn't the goal here supposed to be just to have clean teeth? Doesn't toothpaste freshen breathe no matter what kind you use? Even if you just use baking soda?

But no. I had to have it ALL: Colgate clean, Total freshness, and Bright white teeth. Isn't this what everyone wants? The tube even says "fights tartar buildup." How could I go wrong? And yet, this selection cost me a toothbrush and a new tube of toothpaste. Hey, it was time to change toothbrushes anyway. Now that I think about it, the paste was on sale. No wonder.

Maybe toothpastes should have "sinkage" factors on the label. Y'know, 1 for little to no sinkage, 5 for totally sucky. No, a free toothbrush included with the paste wouldn't help either because the ones that are already included are huge enough to brush your hair with. Beware: toothpaste on sale means Get Baking Soda.

2004-02-13T00:53:00.000-07:00

Man, I put all this web work off 'til semi the last minute. I'm going to be up all night if I want this to be done before the weekend!

2004-02-12T23:10:00.000-07:00

I'm working on the CCNA study group (sig) website as we speak. I'm ripping html code from everyone I know, including Mac Tonnies' Proboard forum which can be found on his blog. Doing the website is fun. I'm racking my brain for stuff to put on it & it seems I've covered the basics while not getting too involved. Back to work with me!

2004-02-10T23:56:00.000-07:00

I think perpetually having to be nice to people makes holding a steadfast opinion about anything relevant null and void. I used to hold a grudge against Old People wanting to learn to use e-mail but tonight I was faced with crawling at a snail's pace through instructing someone (an Old Person) how to type in the correct password to get to her e-mail. We went so slowly & through so many repetitions that my patience was so maxed out that I had to renew my standard of friendliness to that of over generous. I have no opinions anymore. Maybe a day off with rigorous study will renew my courage.

But then on Saturday the president of HAL-PC congratulated me on doing a good job on the phones. He said that I didn't just get through the day, but that I got done knowing that each person I talked to was satisfied if not completely happy. That was nice to hear. Maybe I ought to hang in there a little longer. Probably definitely. Maybe that's what they (HAL-PC) wants me to think. I have no opinion.

2004-02-07T23:03:00.000-07:00

Even though it's not quite necessary, I'm studying for the A+ exam with the ferocity of anticipation for the CCNA exam. Everyone I talk with about the A+ exam comments on the trickiness of the operating system part of the exam. Overall, it's reputed to be easy.

I never knew test anxiety existed until I went to college. Now, I suddenly get these anxiety pangs before exams and rationalize that I have test anxiety. It doesn't help the situation any. If anything, this assumption of test anxiety only makes waiting for the test worse. Fortunately, I can schedule & take the test at my leisure.

Someone said he only used one book to study for the A+. I've got six different books & just as many practice test banks. Even though I feel comfortable with the material, what's taking me so long is that I feel I have to read each & every book thoroughly. This is taking a lot of precious time. I don't mind. I like the reassurance that I know my stuff.

2004-02-05T23:33:00.000-07:00

ok, now Juno is working. i doctored the numbers to dial list & now i'm on easy street. *whew*

2004-02-05T23:29:00.000-07:00

ok, so i finally got my Internet connection working. turns out it was on my end. i had to pull out the modem & put it back in & then i got connected. actually i was trying to switch modems with my other computer (the one that needs a modem driver) & i found that the two are not interchangeable. suddenly my connection works when i put the old modem (the one that came in this pc) back in. what dumb luck. it's nice to be my own tech. perhaps tech support is not doomed.

funny thing is that now my Juno connection doesn't work!

2004-02-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

my internet connection is fried, again! this time i'm pretty sure it's not my modem since i can connect using my free Juno backup account. it could be a lot of things which i won't go into here.

i'm studying & troubleshooting my Internet connection. end of story.

2004-02-04T22:55:00.000-07:00

studying for A+, or any other certification for that matter, doesn't lend itself to blogging very well. maybe it's just me. it's all garbage in, garbage out. however, when i get through the track i'm on, i ought to be able to hook up with a better job thus allowing me more freedom to blog (?).

2004-02-04T00:09:00.000-07:00

study, study, study...

2004-02-02T20:46:00.000-07:00

Wow. The CCNA study group first meeting was on a small scale a smashing success. I lucked out & had great support & help by senior Cisco certification professionals who dropped everything to show up and support my efforts. On a surfacey level, all of the 10 people who showed seemed jazzed up about the upcoming weeks of studying together. We'll see how many come back.

But then, I've got everyone's e-mail so it looks like I've got my work cut out for me in that I must send out encouraging e-mails over the next two weeks & keep interest peeked.

I only had to talk for about 30 minutes & then the "elders" took over, with my humble permission. They cautioned me not to try to teach the class but rather to approach the venture as a study group where all could contribute at ease. They cautioned that I would get burned out otherwise, and they speak from experience. So really I'll just be mediating & coordinating. It's all good & I've got some research work to do, like I need to find a good Cisco book that everyone approves of (they didn't like my slow & easy approach). They want a challenging book...O...K.... I also need to did up some used Cisco routers. I figure I'll start with Ebay.

All in all it was a good night. I didn't feel that I put too much energy out. It helps that I had more material to talk about than we actually discussed. Now back to the humdrum toil of A+.

2004-02-01T23:48:00.000-07:00

I ought to cancel blogging for awhile given the lack of bloggie-type work i've been doing lately.

Just now I'm finishing up (or stuck in the middle) of preparing Powerpoint slides for my CCNA study group which has its first meeting tomorrow night at 7:00. I'm running out of introduction type things to say & I'm only on slide eleven. Guess I'll have to talk off the top of my head.

Man, there sure were a lot of people around in downtown Houston. See, the Superbowl was in town here. Love those Patriots.

2004-01-30T23:34:00.000-07:00

Today's blog has been canceled due to the overwhelming amount of A+ study I'm doing. I believe it's time well spent.

2004-01-29T23:24:00.000-07:00

My brother just fixed me up with a couple of indepth A+ study books. Rad.

Also, a co-worker at HAL-PC who runs an MCSE sig just gave me an account tonight for the A+ & MCSE Transcender prep exam material which saves me a retail value of $1500 or more. Damn, I should have studied for this sooner. Things are falling into place as I bumble my way through this. Well maybe "bumble" isn't the right word. I'm just pooling my resources & getting good results.

I'm hoping I'll be able to test by the end of next week. This means little sleep for the next week or so. I don't mind.

2004-01-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

The A+ study is so easy & painless I'm almost ashamed to be looking this material over. I've even identified wrong information that's supposed to be consistent across platforms.

Although, again I'm suffering from tunnel vision. This happens whenever I plunge into something & do it all day or for a few days in a row (like studying).

I heard on radio news that rover Opportunity is having problems. Richard C. Hoagland has yet to come up with an excuse for this one, or has he?

2004-01-27T23:58:00.000-07:00

I'm not quitting, just changing gears a bit. The CCNA prep is driving me nuts, so I'm going to slow down, put it on the backburner, and look to it from time to time. In the forefront of things, I will now include the A+ certification exam prep. This test is not only much easier, but it is also more popular. Given, more popular means a dime (or less) a dozen, but this A+ certification will put a quick certification after my name and show, more readily than CCNA, that I'm pushing myself to establish myself in "computing." CCNA is just taking too long with not enough return on invested time; I'm not giving up on it, just putting it where it belongs -- on the backburner.

However, I'll still go to CCNA study group to keep me paced. It will pay off one day.

Granted, I do think the computer tech support industry as it is today is doomed. However, many non-aggressive, no experienced types will turn away at the steep competition for the computing jobs. I figure that on my current career track I'm good for another five years or so. After that, I figure I'll either be in management or on a tangent career. I'll always write, though. Maybe at some point I'll get a writing gig of sorts. whatever...

2004-01-26T08:15:00.000-07:00

I didn't get any writing done today and, hence, I'm feeling busied out. Had a bunch of errands to run. But I made it through the day like clockwork and I do have a mild sense of completion. I'm still warping thru Sterling's & Gibson's novels.

At a tight writers' group (which I was invited to join) tonight, we discussed at length astrology. OK, two of us discussed astrology. We concluded that the different sign generalities fit particular people, but now that I think about it, we could have made anyone fit particular generalities. Still, there are a number of coincidences that sell the cause. I love being ambivalent.

2004-01-25T22:43:00.000-07:00

Very little now do I hear of demographics that define any one generation. Actually, I just recently heard that the Internet takes precedent over t.v. in the age group 18 - 35. OK, so there's one. But that's the only one. I think the variables are just too numerous to categorize any prominent "interest group." Nobody can really track where "everybody" is going on the Net. Has anyone even tried to find out? Does anyone care? Then again, blog proponents rave that everybody & their dog has a blog, but does anyone really know what is being said on these blogs? NO! There are just too many variables.

I guess one way to track where everyone is going would be to run statistics on Google & like search engines for top stuff searched on. Is the array too vast? Probably. Will the government one day take over Goggle like Microsoft is rumored to be?

Nobody seems to know what the other guy is doing anymore. Is this the end of a homogeneous nation as the twentieth century knew it? Definitely. No longer are people on the eastcoast watching the same space as people on the westcoast, like with television.

Again, I suggest that an Infoclypse is upon us. There is so much information at our fingertips that not only is it too difficult to track, but we are arrogantly apathetic to it. Who needs formal knowledge now when you can google what you need in an instant?

Ever notice that there is no new popular, decade-defining, white music anymore? Everybody is getting customized, untrackable music over the Internet. (no pun intended.) Hip-hop has taken over the underground because blacks don't have...uht oh, I think I've said too much. Care to differ?

2004-01-24T23:40:00.000-07:00

Oh, my 'puter is up & running again much like the Spirit rover, although, I don't think there was a conspiracy to keep me off the 'Net. Turned out to be a loose power cable.

2004-01-24T23:26:00.000-07:00

Are we on the verge of the Infoclypse? Are the Internet and our vast libraries of knowledge the forebearers of human destruction?

2004-01-23T22:19:00.000-07:00

My computer died!!

At least, the one I use to go online. There's something wrong with the modem on the other one & that one's supposed to be NEW! Working on it...I think the power supplied died in the one I depend on. Working on it... (I'm at Kinko's now.)

Ok, so the big news of today is that I now show up in Google when doing a search for "katmak" or "Kathleen McKenzie." This is very exciting. I like to think of it as my way to web stardom. Now I've got to beef up my blog & homepage with some interesting content, which wouldn't be a problem if my MACHINE was working!

2004-01-22T15:34:00.000-07:00

What is the fascination with Old People among sci-fi writers?? I love it. Is this aged group allowed an imaginary voice because they are so conspicuously absent from the mainstream? Sci-fi's curiousity with the senior simulacrum abounds. Did writers just run out of stereotypes? Writers who've written about Old People include Sterling, Gibson, Frank Herbert, Mac Tonnies, Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov. I'm sure I'm leaving out a load of authors, but it seems that a pre-requisite to becoming an established sci-fi writer is to write about the senior population. Maybe these writers are trying to create a better tomorrow for themselves.

2004-01-21T23:31:00.000-07:00

From the library I picked up a bunch of books from Bruce Sterling & William Gibson, among them the 1991 classic "The Difference Engine." Some promising cyberpunk awaits me.

Perusing Sterling's "Holy Fire," I noticed that he has an "invention" similar to one I used in a short story: a memwab, or as Sterling calls it, a mnemonic. Basically it's a bandaid type patch that you slap on the back of your neck and thereby experience someone else's memories. It's considered a drug in both instances. Either this means I'm well on my way to mainstream sci-fi writing or it means I'm so far behind the times that there's no hope for me. Incidentally, I also wrote a piece (both are on my website ), "In Light of Mice," where I depict a slow-wit as an involuntary murderer. Someone directed me to John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" which was coincidentally very similar to my plot & characters. Obviously, I can only help myself by reading & writing more. Even though I've written other stories, I wonder, how many stories do I have to write before I get something truly original?

2004-01-21T00:29:00.000-07:00

it's a slow news/blog/e-mail day so here's a joke instead:

Two guys decided to take a shortcut through a cemetary. As they got deeper into the cemetary they found that they were lost. Fog drifted up all around them & suddenly they heard a pounding sound against a gravestone. They quaked in their shoes & then they saw him: an old man banging on a gravestone with a hammer & chisel.

"Oh man, are we ever glad to see you!" said one guy. "We thought we might see a ghost! But what are you doing here in the middle of the night?"

The old man turned and looked at them. Then he said, "They spelled my name wrong."

2004-01-19T01:04:00.000-07:00

Coincidentally, Art Bell on Coast to Coast AM is interviewing Gerald Celente, a futurist and they even commented on how techie jobs are going over seas.

2004-01-19T00:20:00.000-07:00

"Congress is currently considering raising the minimum wage by $1.50, from $5.15 to $6.65 per hour in three installments."

Speaking of job security, what _is_ going on with minimum wage anyway? Like I said, tech support is quickly becoming relegated to the equivalent of a burger-flipping job considering the pay, not that that is what I make, but it's gaining on me.

"Opponents include conservative organizations and the business community, especially small businesses and retailers, who argue that increasing the minimum wage will simply increase unemployment, as small businesses who pay such wages are forced to make layoffs. Some argue that every ten percent increase in the minimum wage results in a loss of 100,000 jobs."

I don't think I have the population permeating hate-my-job syndrome but I am seeking safer waters. Yesterday's torent of user calls (Old People) got me thinking about the job situation. The next five years in computing technology will only demand a more self-educated support tech who can support ten year legacy technology (operating systems and hardware) as well as the new & improved upgrades. Yes, this is obvious, but not so obvious is how to get there. Self-taught, independently learned skills are not always on-the-job training which means that there may or may not be someone there to vouch for one's capabilities, i.e. the self-studied MCSE or CCNA.

Getting certified in an aspect of computing may not be widely recognized as as respectable experience, but it's now often used to weed the have-nots out. I've seen job postings that say "preferred: MCSE or other certification." Few techie jobs I've seen require a degree. What the hell? I've got a degree, doesn't that set me apart & make me a more desirable employee? Am I in the wrong job/field? Or has school just taught me to be complacent in my low-end job?

I suspect the latter is the case.

2004-01-17T23:03:00.000-07:00

The phones at work today nearly drove me to the brink of insanity. It wasn't an overwhelming slaughter of phone buggege like I would have expected to drive me nuts, but it was a constant ringing of "I need you" calls from "old" people, one after the constant next.

In hindsight, today's day's work sorta gets me thinking in a frightening way: all the calls were from Old People. What could this mean about the user-base? Is it that the sixty & under are able to reason out technology for themselves? Does this mean that in twenty years when the Old "ignorant" die out I won't have a job?

This makes me appreciate that I & others like myself depend on the somewhat confusing matrix of operating systems mostly put out by Microsoft. We depend on the Windows virus that infects 95% of desktop computers. Frighteningly, we depend on the tyrant of Microsoft to come out with new operating systems and office products to sustain our livelihoods. We depend on the upgrades of Apple and the multi-transformations of Linux. In short, we depend on ignorance, the ignorance of the common man, woman.

In "Tomorrow Now," Bruce Sterling says, "An information economy requires constant learning." That's the secret we techies can't afford to have get out! In fact, that's the principle that older people have not embraced: that they must learn & keep learning the nouveau of computing & technology. I'm rather surprised at the number of folk who are still using Windows 95/98. & the hardware is equally as old. The older generation has not grasped the concept of upgrading & even if they do, they seem to forget the nuances of learning quickly by doing.

Is the technical support job really here to stay? My guess is probably, but it will remain a low-end, burger-flipping level job which will more & more be outsourced to places like India. That said, I now conclude that I'm on a sinking ship. I now conclude that I must branch out in self-taught knowledge and strive to fill economic niches not taught in any higher level school. School programs are not robust enough for today's technologically driven market. The question now is: what is the next pop nich? Rumor has it that the days of twenty years at the same company have notoriously expired. Do I buy into this? Maybe. The pop nich seems to be the new norm. I guess the traditional pursuit of knowledge is the only answer to this economic storm.

2004-01-16T23:26:00.000-07:00

ok, i'm now going through a Bruce Sterling Phase. i just got his "Tomorrow Now." his writing is so fluid yet pointed. & how does he come up with all those great sites on his blog, Beyond the Beyond? he must sift through hundreds of e-mails a day picking out the cream of the crop that points him to different sites. what other way is there?

a coworker at HAL-PC stresses the ABB conspiracy for the upcoming election: Anyone But Bush. she doesn't care too much for Dean, either, who she met a few years ago. let's face it, whoever gets in we're not going to like him. even before Bush got in I had him pegged as a gunslinger. i suspect he will continue his minimalist imperialism when, not if, he is re-elected. Bush's re-election ought to be a no-brainer for futurists given the mullet "accept given reality" attitude of 2004 America.

2004-01-15T19:37:00.000-07:00

for the past few days i've been combing Bruce Sterling's Viridian Design website looking for futuristic ideas to exploit in my sci-fi stories. the site is a neverending supply of ideas, but i think Sterling & co. are studiously manufacturing a reality instead of commenting on current situations. maybe that's the idea; i'm still sifting Viridian text.

maybe my reality as a Recluse is nothing but sheltered conceit.

2004-01-15T17:35:00.000-07:00

West Virginia for sale!

2004-01-14T23:29:00.000-07:00

President Bush's space agenda speech was a mighty breath of hot air. he vaguely set forth ear-candy missions which cannot be completed during his presidency even if he gets elected a second term. in fact, his speech almost assumes that he will be elected again. all in all, if the missions are not completed on time he can always look back & say "not my fault" and if the projects are completed he will say, "I did that." slimey.

2004-01-12T23:52:00.000-07:00

i've been so social today that i want nothing more than to recede into myself. i treasure my reclusive life. i can barely bring myself to blog. music helps to soothe the atmosphere, but i fear i've been too agreable, too positive. rather, i save my positiveness for myself, exclusively, and now that i've shared my observations and non sequiturs i feel diluted somehow. i feel spread out. i feel as though i've absorbed a mass of aliens and now i need to retch those interactions. not that i didn't like the company, i just can't say anything positive right now because i'm spent, like a deflated balloon. uht, there goes a knock at my door. duty calls me to be host again.

(to those whose company i kept who may be reading this, i really do love you all, it's just that i'm a perpetual recluse of my own design.)

2004-01-11T23:43:00.000-07:00

while brainstorming over a new short story, i've rediscovered '80's rock. there's a radio station here committed to playing late '70's, '80's, & early '90's music. after a full day of this i am thoroughly sick of The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, Madonna, and the Bangles.

oh, & i also read "2099: A Eutopia" by Yorick Blumenfeld. the writing was ok, but he managed to butcher the English language with new spellings of well recognized words like "xciting" for exciting and "diff" for different. he also employed recycled sci-fi ideas. i don't recommend it.

2004-01-11T00:44:00.000-07:00

a neighbor & i kicked back for most of today & discussed things like aliens, religion, & the price of gasoline. we ordered pizza & drank coffee. a great way to spend time but, alas, i feel i didn't get anything "done" today. but the break was good.

i expected to see cover stories on all the papers about Bush's announcement that we, the Americans, are headed to the moon & Mars. i only found stories referring to the Mars rover & more American deaths in Iraq. funny how the papers don't detail Iraqi deaths.

my landlord wants me to do some canvassing for Dean next weekend. I don't mind but i'm convinced that Bush will see another term in the White House since not only did "he" capture Saddam but "he" is also taking the initiative for further space exploration. also, reports are trickling in that various parts of the U.S. economy are "bouncing back." (houston's economy still sucks.) I think it's the case that it will be a job in order for Bush to lose. It's Dean's race to win & Bush's job to lose; therefore, Bush will win in 2004.

2004-01-09T18:28:00.000-07:00

all day today on radio news reporters are going haywire over Bush's upcoming Wednesday announcement that we, the Americans, will go to the Moon again and that a manned mission to Mars will be ready to launch by 2012. Why does everybody need to copy the Kennedys? Bush must think it's his dynasty destiny.

2004-01-09T18:24:00.000-07:00

i've been neglecting my blog, but not in vain. over the past two days i read George Orwell's "Animal Farm" and award winning educator Ron Clark's book "The Essential 55." basically Clark's book is another "Everything I need to Know I Learned in Kindegarden" but it's a good refresher on fundamental politeness. To sum up, Clark stresses that to live a happy & fulfilling life these are key: laughter, family,adventure, good food, challenge, change, & the quest for knowledge.

Orwell's book reaffirmed that to be stupid & "uneducated" is to surrender your life to low-class slavery. But what is education? Certainly it is not a piece of paper conferred on one by an institution, but the constant pursuit and manipulation of knowledge.

2004-01-06T19:38:00.000-07:00

Is the command line necessary for most Linux users?

" .... that it might have been true in 1998, but it is not true in 2004. It is now possible to run Linux without knowing any commands beyond point-and-click, cut-and-paste, and drag-and-drop. "

Is Linux next on Microsoft's distribution list?

2004-01-06T18:34:00.000-07:00

i've had 2 pots of coffee today (this afternoon) and am just beginning to come down from the high. sortof. this is the bomb, for lack of more up to date language. i'm at work on a coffee high trying to write something worthy of sci-fi.

2004-01-05T18:15:00.000-07:00

today i was browsing through the Houston Public Library's online catalog looking for Jim Al-Khalili's "Black Holes, Wormholes, & Time Machines." I found it alright, but when i did, the listing said "E-book" and it was the only one. so i figured this meant that i had to read it online. i called the library & got the reference desk. "what does it mean when the listing says 'E-book?'" i say. the librarian says,"it means you have to read it online." i said thanks & hung up.

so is this the beginning of the end of books & the library as we know it today? will kids of the future cross a listing & say, "oh man, i have to _go_ there & check it out!"? what is the world of reading coming to? i prefer book form myself. something satisfying about turning those material pages.

ok, so i go to read the book & the next page tells me i have to "check it out." in other words, i had to sign up for an online account & reserve the online archive for a specified period of time which in this case was 24 hours. after i browsed the table of contents & subsequent chapters i had something like 23 hrs 40 min 38 sec left to read the book. (can more than one person read the book at a time?) now, i like to think i read fast, but not that fast. i let my time expire, hopefully the online automated "librarian" will let me check it out again.

i feel like something out of "Snow Crash."

2004-01-05T00:54:00.000-07:00

Here's a bit of proven magic to be released on any difficult person(s):

1 & 1/2 cups walnut halves
1 cup granulated sugar
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate
2 & 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 & 1/2 cups unbleached pastry flour
1 extra large egg
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. baking powder

1) toast walnuts 5-6 minutes @ 325 degrees, then chop coarsely.
2) chop the chocolate into 3/4-in. "chips."
3) try not to think of person(s) as you chop.
4) cream butter & sugars together.
5) mix egg and vanilla in separate bowl, then add creamed butter.
6) mix dry ingredients, then add gradually to creamed butter.
7) mix nuts and chocolate into creamed butter.
8) gather dough into ball, wrap in plastic, & refrigerate 2 hours until firm.
9) preheat oven to 350 degrees.
10) form dough into 1 & 1/2 - in. balls, placed 2 in. apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
11) flatten balls slightly with palm of your hand.
12) bake for 15-20 minutes rotating baking sheet midway.
13) remove cookies from oven & put them on a plate small enough to require stacking in a pyramid shape.
14) eat cookies with foe or friend & reap the rewarding blessing.

2004-01-03T22:39:00.000-07:00

"planet of the apes" lingers like a cognac residue... i fortunately did not see either of the movies.

2004-01-03T21:32:00.000-07:00

my ccna study has suffered pittifully during the last two weeks of winter vacation. i have no doubt it will suffer more over the next two weeks as i try to crank out a bit of short sci-fi.

2004-01-03T21:29:00.000-07:00

Rover set to enter Mars atmosphere.

2004-01-03T21:27:00.000-07:00

nothing like finishing a book to give one a sense of completion, even if it's a small book like "Planet of the Apes." It was great in the classic sci-fi sense complete with plausible foresight and riveting suspense. Pierre Boulle superbly delayed the ending giving the reader plenty of time to figure out the predictable conclusion. fantastic. i love a good short story.

however, there really wasn't much that i already hadn't heard to make me question consciousness. the idea was presented (to question the soul) but there wasn't anything new. of course, this book was written over 40 years ago and undoubtedly was a big hit, so the idea of other animals demonstrating a right to a conscience has diffused among other works.

2004-01-02T20:27:00.000-07:00

Am becoming? I mad

now i can't say for sure to much beef during whether quite certain i may have been beef during this time of Angus confusion. or not to eat so mad i've eaten contaminated beef, but i'm even attempt

2004-01-02T19:51:00.000-07:00

Well, I finished "Titus Groan." It was a lovely tale, and just that, no more no less. "Gormenghast" awaits me now. But first I will detour & read Pierre Boulle's "Planet of the Apes." I'm hoping it will lead me to question moreso the anthropomorphic state of consciousness.

2004-01-02T18:58:00.000-07:00

I ate a vegetarian's nightmare for dinner tonight: one pound of boneless Angus beef. tastey. hafta floss.

2004-01-01T12:11:00.000-07:00

OK, here's the top ten In/Out list for 2004:

1) In -- Mars/ Out -- Michael Jackson
2) In -- Blogging/ Out -- Cyberpunk
3) In -- "Lord of the Rings"/Out -- "The Cat in the Hat"
4) In -- Dr. Atkins/ Out -- Saddam Hussein
5) In -- Elijah Wood/ Out -- Evan Marriot
6) In -- The Internet/ Out -- Reality-based t.v. shows
7) In -- Paris Hilton/ Out -- Pedophile priests
8) In -- Arnold Schwarzenegger/ Out -- Hillary Clinton
9) In -- Russian Space Tours @ $20 million a head/ Out -- Chinese Mission to the Moon
10) In -- War on Terrorism/ Out -- War on Iraq

and that completes this year's (2004) In/Out list. George Bush did not make the list because he's somewhat a transient character. He could easily have been on both lists.

2003-12-31T20:59:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year!!

i resolve to tackle all obstacles great or small if i can't side step them.

i have no great reflections of our times except for the Ins & Outs list & that my friends will follow tomorrow.

well, it's off to the new year's bash with me!

ciao!