(Wed Feb 06, 2008) [/Misc] #
I hope one day to attend a TED conference.
It's highly unlikely given that attendance is by invitation only, but a guy
can dream. In the meantime, I thoroughly enjoy watching the TED talk videos.
What I like most about watching the videos is that they aren't all focused on
software or technology. For that matter, they aren't all focused on any one
thing. TED brings together the world's greatest thinkers and doers to give
inspiring talks on various themes: art, biology, climatology, design,
economics, invention, poverty, religion, technology, and so on.
Here's the interesting thing: It's a single-track conference. Everyone sees
the same talk at the same time. This seems inefficient because we're used to
conferences with sharp focus—the software geeks go one way, the climate
change experts go another, and consequently the folks trying to solve global
poverty issues don't immediately benefit from the advances made in software
and climatology.
But TED is in the idea-spreading business. And to efficiently spread ideas on
a grand scale, you need a wide-angle view. All this stuff is changing and,
more to the point, at some level it's all interconnected. So if you're looking
for inspiration, I highly recommend a steady intake of TED talks. Here are a
few of my favorites:
(You can also subscribe to the videos via
iTunes.)
Enjoy!
(Thu Nov 01, 2007) [/Misc] #
Every Halloween after all the kids have sufficiently ransacked the neighborhood,
the porch lights go dark and everyone meets up for the traditional chili cookoff.
It tends to dissipate the effects of the sugar rush, and it's a welcomed relief
from the cold. Plus it's a great way to catch up on the neighborhood gossip,
so they tell me. I go to taste all the chilis.
This year they had an official chili guide printed. The recipes aren't
recorded anywhere that I know of, but the guide was there to warn your
taste buds. I snagged a copy of the guide because I liked the names and creativity.
#1: Killer Chili
* The one that started this madness...
* Contains bacon, beef, and pickled cactus
#2: Merrle's Chicken Tortilla Soup
* Served for 2-3 Halloweens
#3: Bean Chili
* A repeat favorite for the past 3 years
* Contains kidney, black, and pork & beans
#4: Traditional Green Chili
* New this year!
#5: Mescalero Chili
* New this year!
* Contains ham, roast, sausage
* Has NO chili powder or cumin
#6: Bad Attitude Chili (Texas style)
* New this year!
* Contains beer, bourbon, and baker's chocolate
* Also has smoked paprika (weird, we know...)
They were all outstanding. The Traditional Green Chili was my fav this year,
with Bad Attitude Chili coming in a close second.
(Tue Oct 23, 2007) [/Misc] #
So you want to buy tickets to see the Colorado Rockies in the World Series?
They're exclusively available online... if you're lucky.
When ticket sales opened yesterday, the website took 8.5 million hits in a
90-minute period. Then the system melted, and someone had a very bad day (and
night) in the IT department. Fans were hopping mad. Thinking they'd try the old fashioned payment method, they turned up at the box offices only to be turned away. Reports that the problem was caused by a "malicious, external attack" were irrelevant.
Ticket sales re-opened today at noon, and they are "very confident we will get these tickets sold today." (Only 500 tickets of nearly 60,000 available were sold yesterday.) The fix? Throttle access to the site through a countdown timer. (View source for the JavaScript.) When the timer reaches zero, cross your fingers!
(Mon Sep 10, 2007) [/Misc] #
I've spent many a day tuned in to "A Prairie Home Companion" while motoring through Kansas, Wyoming, and Arizona. Indeed, just hearing Garrison Keillor's comforting voice reminds me how thankful I am to pick up an AM station. (Yes, I have an iPod now, but if you've ever driven through the aforementioned states, you'll appreciate the entertainment value of channel surfing the ol' radio and the sheer joy of discovering something intelligible.)
Now I don't know much about Garrison Keillor. To me he's just a disembodied voice that helps the miles melt away. To fellow motorists (all two of them) he's what causes them to wonder why the idiot they just passed is chuckling to himself. But this weekend our local newspaper ran an electronic interview
with Garrison, and two responses struck a chord with me.
On writing:
“Writing is revising. You just keep messing around, cutting the dead
wood, forcing the plants to bloom, until whomever you're writing the piece for
gets exasperated and then you send it to them.”
On performing on stage:
“Near-sightedness is the secret. The audience is just a big warm blur,
very Renoiresque, like a hillside of flowers, and I don't see them as
intelligent, critical individuals. I see them as flora. When I talk on stage,
I'm talking to a few friends who I imagine are listening to the show (actually
they don't, most of them are too busy, some of them have been dead for years).
It's the power of illusion. If I actually saw the danger I am in, I would run
in terror.”
(Thu Feb 08, 2007) [/Misc] #
Are you wearing yellow swimming trunks, or do you have a surfboard?
Ze hopes you're surfing.
