new host
First off I just made a post over at markandsarareinmuth.com, so read that first! As I said over there I finally got on top of things, and my registrations with godaddy.com were expiring. I chose them initially because of price (years ago,) but lately I really haven’t liked their ads or policies relating to privacy or disputes. With many issues it was time to find a new registrar.
Initially I discounted by then-current webhost, nearlyfreespeech.net, because I don’t like having all my eggs in one basket. I was contemplating gandi.net because of their excellent privacy policy and dispute resolution, not to mention prices, but I couldn’t pull the trigger due to them being in France. In very small amounts because I have zero knowledge of french laws, but also because I didn’t like the idea of all requests having an extra 150ms added on to them. Yes, I could have used DNS servers in the states but meh… it just didn’t click.
I ended up using NearlyFreeSpeech because they also have excellent privacy/dispute/prices, are here in the US, and their private domain registration is a notch above anyone else’s that I researched. (yeah there is a difference, however small it may be.) I highly recommend NFS, they are perfect for getting your feet wet since you only pay for what you actually use (there is no monthly fee.) Arguably they might be perfect for high bandwidth material too, but I don’t want my registrar and web host to be the same company, so I moved to MediaTemple, whom I’ve been very happy with when I’ve used it on behalf of my clients. Plus retailmenot.com has a code for 20% off for the life of the service (!)
This summer I’m going on a mammoth road trip and will probably get a new camera for it, and I wanted gobs of bandwidth so I could throw as much online as I felt like without thinking about what it might cost.
37
Thirty-seven calls, 24 emails in and 21 out in the process of closing on our first home. 37 is not counting callbacks but does include a few business calls; 46 is the number with callbacks. What a day!
At one point I asked our broker what he thought of a new development and he said he had literally never seen anything like it. But that nowadays we’re in uncharted territory so that’s been happening more often lately. Lenders are getting uptight about things they didn’t use to care about.
Mosquitoes
This article has the best headline I’ve seen in days:
“Rocket Scientists Shoot Down Mosquitoes With Lasers”
I mean come on, how ya gonna beat that?
a new quote
“Holding onto anger is like grasping onto a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else. You are the one who gets burned.“
Gautama Buddha
People are out to get me! oh noes!
Yeah I know that comes off as tinfoil hat-ish, but wow. So first off I was at the bank and one of my checks was deposited with a decimal 2 places over and not in my favor. This means, for example, $26.11 instead of $2611. Luckily I caught it before I had taken more than 2 steps from the counter so the whole previous transaction was reversed and the correct numbers entered in.
Then, while leaving the parking lot I was 75% backed out and this idiot in a mercedes SUV starts backing up and doesn’t stop when I honk. She came pretty close and never ONCE checked her mirrors or looked around, I think she was caught up in conversation with the person in the passenger seat.
On the way home from the same trip, I was turning right onto 7th to get onto coburg/take the bridge and they’ve recently changed the lanes. So I had someone not even look and use the old lanes, damn near plowed right into the side of my car, ‘cept I’ve been keeping an eye out for that and swung wide (to where my lane used to go.)
Originally we had planned on going to Borders but Sara said she’d rather go home than face more idiotic drivers.
Oh yeah on the way there a bicyclist was almost hit by a truck serving across two lanes of traffic (into the third, a turn lane) and then taking the exit without yielding to the bike in the bike lane (which goes across the turn lane in this case, and he should have yielded.)
whew
Just finished upgrading both blogs to WordPress 2.7. I wouldn’t have bothered but apparently with 2.7 now WordPress can upgrade itself. The process itself is easy but as usual it’s a collection of a bunch of easy steps combined with the pre-upgrade work like backup that makes it take a while. Glad to have it done, the admin interface is way better, adding pictures is easier, and I also added the “re-captcha” system.
The latter means anyone can comment without a user account. Registering means you won’t need to do or even see the re-captcha. One nice thing about this particular captcha system is it helps to digitize books while performing it’s main function of preventing spam. Can’t argue with that.
2008 & 2009
2008 was a good year for me. Got married, business is great, and overall Sara and I worked towards setting up a future together. 2009 will be a year of many changes. Hopefully before the year is done we’ll be in our own home, with a car that doesn’t break down constantly, and be working on getting little munchkins of our own. Well, one at least.
In 2010 I expect my life will be just black and white different than it is today.
My big goal for the short term is getting stress under control. I have noticed a link between getting sick and under a lot of pressure at work. I think I’m managing my time pretty well, and I get a lot done and in good timeframes, but my to-do system is terrible. Don’t let me fool you I still get most everything done, but the ones I miss really kill me. Put another way, it bothers me when I call someone in business and they don’t call me back, ask a question and get no response. Usually not a lot but still - I never want to be on the non-response side of that!
Ideally I would provide a mention-it-and-it’s-done service i.e. anything no matter how big or small which gets pointed my way I would follow up on until completion, presenting decision-makers with clear information and executing directions as efficiently as possible. Right now I get all the big stuff done in this manner, but I do lose small bits of info and occasionally get significantly sidetracked by an emergency, even on larger projects.
To sum up, I do pretty well with my “terrible” to-do system but I know there’s a lot of room for improvement. I see nothing wrong with aiming for perfect and if I fall a little short, hey, I’m human.
Good luck in 2009!
stress
[1/1/09: I wrote the post below on Dec 18th around 4pm but it was just too much of a downer to post all by itself, so I'm posting it now and backdating it.]
Stress sucks. Where do I start? Have several companies with large projects needing to have been done a while ago, and while I’ve made great progress I’ve also had many emergencies come up. It’s been like this pretty much since I got back from the honeymoon. Then I was sick a week or two ago and that took me out for almost a full week and now I was effectively snowed in for a few days.
While the downtime was good for getting office work done it also kept me from things I’d been looking forward to, specifically two sets of friends who I’ve been meaning to see their places for-fucking-ever now and I was finally going to get to. But no, it didn’t happen due to the ice. Actually last night could’ve happened but I trusted the weather report too much, the roads looked fine when it was supposed to be raining and below freezing. Anyway, I also haven’t been able to work out which is a form of stress relief as well.
On top of all of this my car is failing again. I can tell the differential is about to go again. Which means a second ~$1300 repair in less than two months. On top of that the AC is going to go and all kinds of other things don’t work. So, time to get a new (used) car, except: when? And: DAMN! I don’t want to spend money on cars when I want to buy a house. Fuck Ford, seriously. Them, GM, and Chrysler need to die to make room for new blood. They’ve had their chances and they chose short term profit.
Back to me, I suck at christmas shopping. I’m just gonna leave it at that for now.
Ok I’ve cooled down now so back to work. Hope you enjoyed my rant! (lols)
Multiple choice tests
Was reading an article (wall of text crits you for 9000) on the effect of telling your kids they’re smart versus emphasizing effort, and came across this: “we assessed the students’ mind-sets by asking them to agree or disagree with statements such as ‘Your intelligence is something very basic about you that you can’t really change.’ We then assessed their beliefs about other aspects of learning and looked to see what happened to their grades.”
That kind of question kills me! I know the question is aimed at finding self-imposed caps on learning, but that’s not what’s asked! Even though I know the “right” answer I cannot go against my basic understanding that some people are in fact smarter than others. Later in the same damn article they state “People do differ in intelligence, talent and ability.” In a test I would definitely agree with the statement, even though I knew it was ultimately incorrect.
But Mark! you say, you knew the right answer why didn’t you choose it!? Because I’m a stubborn ass, that’s why. So if you ever wonder about my dislike of school, you now have part of the answer. I can literally take a test where my knowledge is equal or superior to that of the teachers and get a C, because I just cannot help myself. Apply this to a subject where I’m learning (as is typically the case) and you have recipe for disaster. Written test, a chance to explain the answer? Yes please! But being that both my parents are teachers I know using written tests for everything is nowhere near practical.
Still, I found the linked article fascinating, just beware it really. is. just. text. with basic formatting.
(if you want the easier to read version you have to click through the pages one by one.)
November / early Dec tab dump
Fascinating little video on an ant colony
http://holy-web.blogspot.com/2008/11/amazing-video-excavating-giant-538.html
Nuclear shelter turned data center. Submarine backup engines and plants?!
http://hothardware.com/News/Swedens-UltraModern-Underground-Data-Center/
Obama’s Use of Complete Sentences Stirs Controversy
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-borowitz/obamas-use-of-complete-se_b_144642.html
http://iqcomparisonsite.com/Occupations.aspx
“Instead of a bulky mechanical engine in the front third of the car, put two or four electric motors inside the wheels. If a factory wants to produce one hundred V4 (equivalent) chassis it takes motors from Corner A. If it wants to build two hundred V6 (equivalent) electric chassis, it takes the motors from Corner B. This allows companies to run fewer factories at higher capacity utilization by tapping the modular design of electric motors and energy storage devices.
Consumers are going to love wheel based electric motors because they transform the driving experience around instant torque and customized software that allows the same car to ride like a Ferrari or a Minivan with the click of a button.”
http://www.theenergyroadmap.com/futureblogger/show/1365-michelin-reinvents-the-wheel-electric-motors-help-to-retire-the-combustion-engine-
Sounds like a good idea… I’ll believe it when I see it, but I like reading about this kind of technology being developed.
Peel-n-stick… solar?
http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/peel-stick-sola.php
“The Strangest Disaster of the 20th Century.”
http://www.neatorama.com/2007/05/21/the-strangest-disaster-of-the-20th-century/