The coldest winter I ever spent
Archive for the ‘General’ Category.
Burning Man 2008 was a blast. It’s taken me weeks to recover mentally. As is usual, I now need a vacation from my vacation ;-)
You’ll find several images on here. I haven’t found my video camera yet. It’s in the garage somewhere. When I do, I’ll post some more footage.
What should be done with the soon to be empty radio spectrum, freed from analog television transmissions?
Dearest members of the FCC,
I strongly encourage you to allot a large portion of the soon to be freed up analog television white space to unlicensed data services.
You may have noticed how incredibly beneficial and popular the unlicensed 2.4 gigahertz spectrum has been for our society. Please let that kind of progress continue. There are many more radio services, some of which haven’t even been conceived of yet, just waiting to become feasible.
I am sure that you have received many more letters telling you about the myriad possible uses for this spectrum. Please read them.
I am sure that several companies are whispering in your collective ear, giving you all manner of reasons why the spectrum shouldn’t be unlicensed. Planting fear, uncertainty and doubt, “FUD” is a time honored tactic to subvert the will of public policy makers. Please do not fall prey to this tactic.
Do what is best for the American people.
Thank you,
Lee Sonko
FreeTheAirwaves.com talks more about this issue.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the final scene in the movie Big Night.
I made a perfect omelette for breakfast this morning.
And another for lunch.
It’s a good time to start anew.
(via)
As of Q1 2008, YouTube is not profitable, with its revenues being noted as “immaterial” by Google in a regulatory filing.[4] Its bandwidth costs are estimated at approximately $1 million a day.[4]
So umm, where’s the money coming from? Google might have billions but $1 million/day could suck that dry pretty quick.
Though I suppose starting a new kind of television is going to be expensive…
Make sure to read the bottom part too!
Hallie’s Baby Shower
Celebrant: Hallie McConlogue
Baby: Pumpkin unit 1
Event Date: 2008-08-16Trailer Trash /punk/hippy themed baby shower at the encounter Studio. Come as you are or in theme.
Time:2pm – 6pm
Where:The Encounter Studio
555 De Haro St Suite 120
San Francisco, CA 94107
Look for the 2 stone griffins around the ivy hidden outter door in the back of the parking lot.
Call hallie for directions if you need em:
408 956-xxxx
| Item | Description | Wants | Has | Needs | |
| An evening of babysitting. | We can take as many of these as people want to give … warning we will hold you to it and Train folks as necessary. So add a couple of hours for learning if you have no baby experience. YOU ROCK! by the way… :D | 100 | 0 | 100 | Give Gift |
| An afternoon play date with baby so mom/dad can take a nap. | I’d love to hang out as much as possible with other parents. I love social situations! I love to learn from others! | 20 | 0 | 20 | Give Gift |
| A second-hand playpen | Extra points if it folds up small! I want baby to crawl around free as possible but not stumble into the wood shop or the power tools. | 1 | 0 | 1 | Give Gift |
| Pink Tool belt | For holding baby tools with style (binkies, bottles and rattles Corey wants one too!)
Here’s a link: http://pinktoolbelts.com/category/51/Pink-Tool-Belt.html |
2 | 0 | 2 | Give Gift |
| A savings bond or a contribution toward a 529 college plan. | No amount is too small!
2$- whatever This would be my favorite gift! |
200 | 0 | 200 | Give Gift |
| baby pink tool belt | for our little pumpkin to wear and be like mommy and daddy.
http://pinktoolbelts.com/category/15/Mini-Pink-Tool-Belt.html |
1 | 0 | 1 | Give Gift |
| bored baby cure | http://babies-kids.pricegrabber.com/baby-feeding-accessories-bibnipples/m/9629253/ | 1 | 0 | 1 | Give Gift |
| 4 hours Help building the baby loft | Mostly we need unskilled labor that can take wierd direction and not freak out about Hallie’s weird labor consuming ideas about how to sound proof stuff and decorate. | 5 | 0 | 5 | Give Gift |
| black moby wraps | http://www.mobywrap.com/c-15-moby-wrap.aspx# | 2 | 0 | 2 | Give Gift |
| goth, robot, punk or hippy onesies | size 3-6 months | 5 | 0 | 5 | Give Gift |
| baby sling | Baby Sling : http://www.newdream.org/marketplace/kates_caring.html | 1 | 0 | 1 | Give Gift |
| goth, punk robot or hippy onesies | Size 3-9 months | 7 | 0 | 7 | Give Gift |
| Punk, Robot, Goth, Hippy Onesies | size 0-3 months | 4 | 0 | 4 | Give Gift |
| help building a rocking sleeping feeding chair | This would be something I can sleep in comfortably while I’m feeding pumpkin. That means I want to build it custom for my neck problem. And add a motor to keep it going. It will be half rocking chair half hammock… with a motor and a perfect place for pumpkin at the boob. | 1 | 0 | 1 | Give Gift |
| swadling blankets | The custom easy wrap kind
Anything not pastel or taupe |
2 | 0 | 2 | Give Gift |
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And from Corey…
There there I was, waxing up the wife, like a surfboard, with gallons of vitamin E oil, making her belly shine like a pink bowling ball. Every once in a while, our baby would kick. It felt like he was rubbing back (more likely, he was fighting for space because I was caving in his roof, but I digress.) The more I rubbed, the more I started to recognize shapes. We know where the head is, it’s the BIG round thingy… but I swear, this long thing, just below and to the left of Hallie’s belly button, felt like an arm. And over where Hallie’s belly was churning like a pot of pasta, over near Hallie’s right kidney, that must be his feet! And with vision granted by the tears in my eyes, I caught my first glimpse of my baby. There he was, all curled up in the fetal position (imagine that!) as clear as day!
And this salt crusted face that was already beaming is now lit with a florescent glow I write you this invite.
Hey all, it’s me, Mr. Last minute. Sorry for the lag, but I’ve always been a busy bee, and now I’m a busy bee for three.
We’re having a baby! As you all know. So we’re having a baby shower, and it’s next weekend, and yer all invited. And we have a registry! And it’s, as always, optional, since, as usual, its too late to get anything in time.
But come, if you can.
The theme is “Robo-Trash”… Think white trash…think engineers…think Burningman during construction of AWESOME kinetic art (that can kill you) under the hot desert sun! Think Robogames with less nuts and bolts and more duct tape.. (key work, MORE!)
Meanwhile, all you robots nerds, wanna help me build my new Push Powered Robo Stroller? :-D And you expecting or unexpecting (those who are no longer expecting?) robot nerds, if you help me build mine, I’ll help you build YOOOOOOOOOOURS! (PS, there’s more of you than you think, we should start a club!)
local version:
Ciiiiiiiiiiao!
I helped a friend ship a house of boxes from San Francisco to Boston. They used Fix Price Move.
Here’s what my friend said who was taking delivery:
Fixed Price arrived today. After several maddening delays and an additional $600.00 (plus the $923 already due) they delivered. They have been a pain in the ass from the get go. Interestingly, the truck broke down in TX and the truck it was transferred to broke down after unloading in front of my house. Every thing seems to have survived the journey…
When Fixed Price arrived they had 3 boxes from somebody else’s load mixed into ours. The boxes were filled with old canned food and ugly flower pots and before I could tell that they were not ours I had some colorful words for you about sending us … out of date canned food. So far all’s well though.
$1.30lb delivered coast to coast. A bit of a PITA. At least everything didn’t disappear and get sold on eBay.
And all things being even, that’s about as good a moving experience as I’ve seen at a very good price. Specifically, it was a 2 bedroom house. I had packed up everything in boxes except 4 or 5 large pieces that they wrapped and hauled, 1,100 pounds total.
Update: Be sure to see the comment from Ben of Fix Price Move below. Be sure to read for yourself but I’d say they’re a reasonably good choice for a moving company.
Here’s an article about the Power Tool Drag Races. Written by Jessica Bruder. It’s a good article. Click the photo to see the whole thing.
It starts…
My Belt Sander Can Beat Your Circular Saw
By JESSICA BRUDER
Published: August 6, 2008
TEN feet short of the finish line, Barbie Airplane was stranded.
The cheerful contraption – a Craftsman belt sander crowned with a powder-blue toy plane – had been careening down the 75-foot racetrack moments earlier. Then the sander’s rotating belt came undone, stopping it dead.
In the neighboring lane, Heavy Metal Waste, a circular saw souped up with skateboard wheels and flaming antennas, had already rocketed past. Cheers of victory rang from the bleachers.
“Time waits for no one!” heckled the announcer. So Randy Lisbona, a 47-year-old air-conditioning engineer from Dallas, hauled his broken-down belt sander off the track to make way for the next heat.
That’s how it goes at power tool drag races. The premise is simple: Take a hand-held power tool. Rebuild it into a racing machine.
…
Charlie Gadeken, who started the haphazard sport with a co-conspirator, Jim Mason, saw the races as a way to get more people involved in creating – and not just watching – mechanical art.
…
When I was a kid, this was one of the most “oo ahh”-able things in the world. They cost like $600. Now they have them at Weird Stuff for… essentially… free. It was a hoot holding one.
