Sunday, May 31, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Cell Phone Balla'
I am going to write a rap song about my excessive spending on cell phone minutes (secretly, this inefficiency kills me inside) :
Anytime Minutes
Used 51 of 450
Night/Weekend Minutes
Used 29 of 5,000
Mobile to Mobile Minutes
UNLIMITED
Used 28 of Unlimited
Rollover Minutes
Used 0 of 3,493
Rollover Summary
You have 3,493;
You used 0; 279 minutes to expire on 06/19/2009
Anytime Minutes
Used 51 of 450
Night/Weekend Minutes
Used 29 of 5,000
Mobile to Mobile Minutes
UNLIMITED
Used 28 of Unlimited
Rollover Minutes
Used 0 of 3,493
Rollover Summary
You have 3,493;
You used 0; 279 minutes to expire on 06/19/2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Steinberg Tribute
As our little man is off on vacation, I think we should take time to honor him. I am compiling a list of words that he would say so I can be reminded of him when I log in.
Here's a taste. I call on Capital Prototype to help a brother out and throw out a few more.
Here's a taste. I call on Capital Prototype to help a brother out and throw out a few more.
Amurica
Hondo
Sammich
leave of absence
I must request a leave of absence from dieselfur. Tomorrow morning I will be flying to Jamaica for a week with my boyfriend(jessi).
Preparations I made.
1. I bought 4 books on Amazon for about 30 dollars with shipping to read on my flights. Moneyball, 3 nights in august(hard cover fo like .86 dollars), and 2 brewing books which didn't make it in time. It's ok though because I got like 600 pages to read, and that just isn't gonna happen.
2. Jessi packed my suitcase
I tried to get ready, but failed real bad
Preparations I made.
1. I bought 4 books on Amazon for about 30 dollars with shipping to read on my flights. Moneyball, 3 nights in august(hard cover fo like .86 dollars), and 2 brewing books which didn't make it in time. It's ok though because I got like 600 pages to read, and that just isn't gonna happen.
2. Jessi packed my suitcase
I tried to get ready, but failed real bad
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Peavy Traded
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/05/21/peavy.trade/index.html
WTF?
We should go after Halladay. He is a Wrigley Field kind of pitcher.
WTF?
We should go after Halladay. He is a Wrigley Field kind of pitcher.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Search Wars
According to this article
Yahoo and Microsoft will be launching there new and improved search engines next week.
As we all know, Google owns the online search market, although they will soon experience heightened competition. I think that it only makes sense for Yahoo and Microsoft to team up, rather than compete with each other and Google.
This article explains...
"The two companies have been discussing a complex deal in which Yahoo would sell its Web search and search advertising technology to Microsoft, in exchange for an upfront payment and some share of the revenue of the search ads it shows on Yahoo, according to people familiar with the matter."
Yahoo and Microsoft will be launching there new and improved search engines next week.
As we all know, Google owns the online search market, although they will soon experience heightened competition. I think that it only makes sense for Yahoo and Microsoft to team up, rather than compete with each other and Google.
This article explains...
"The two companies have been discussing a complex deal in which Yahoo would sell its Web search and search advertising technology to Microsoft, in exchange for an upfront payment and some share of the revenue of the search ads it shows on Yahoo, according to people familiar with the matter."
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Steinberg May Have To Commit Suicide...
Dave McKay was the strength and conditioning coach of the Oakland Athletics in 1988 (also, freakishly, Chicago Cubs first base coach Matt Sinatro was on the roster). This is the same year that Jose Canseco claims, in Juiced, to have started injecting Mark McGwire with steroids (Jose's accounts have been shown to be wholly accurate). There is not a doubt in my mind that Dave McKay was aware of Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire's steroid use, furthermore, I believe that he encouraged it. Keep in mind that this was the genesis of steroid use in baseball.
Further damning evidence is that Dave McKay coauthored the book Strength Training For Baseball, with Jose Canseco. Finally, Dave McKay's son Cody McKay was indicted in the Mitchell Report as a steroid user.
It is impossible to bring up Dave McKay without mentioning Tony LaRussa, as McKay serves as LaRussa's right hand man, who have worked together since LaRussa's arrival to Oakland in 1986.
It is unthinkable for me to believe that LaRussa was unaware that Dave McKay, Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire were gaining a competitive edge through the use of steroids. Furthermore, LaRussa brought McGwire and McKay to St Louis, and although Albert Pujols has not been indicted as a steroid user, there is no doubt in my mind that he was.
In the end, the steroid era did not merely occur on LaRussa and McKay's watch, but they were active participants, which was far more damning then I believed just yesterday.
Finally, if Barry Bonds needs an asterisk by his records, Tony LaRussa needs an asterisk by his (if he goes to the Hall of Fame as a manager).
Appendix:
Ryan Franklin, Fernando Vina and Rick Ankiel are known steroid users.
Further damning evidence is that Dave McKay coauthored the book Strength Training For Baseball, with Jose Canseco. Finally, Dave McKay's son Cody McKay was indicted in the Mitchell Report as a steroid user.
It is impossible to bring up Dave McKay without mentioning Tony LaRussa, as McKay serves as LaRussa's right hand man, who have worked together since LaRussa's arrival to Oakland in 1986.
It is unthinkable for me to believe that LaRussa was unaware that Dave McKay, Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire were gaining a competitive edge through the use of steroids. Furthermore, LaRussa brought McGwire and McKay to St Louis, and although Albert Pujols has not been indicted as a steroid user, there is no doubt in my mind that he was.
In the end, the steroid era did not merely occur on LaRussa and McKay's watch, but they were active participants, which was far more damning then I believed just yesterday.
Finally, if Barry Bonds needs an asterisk by his records, Tony LaRussa needs an asterisk by his (if he goes to the Hall of Fame as a manager).
Appendix:
Ryan Franklin, Fernando Vina and Rick Ankiel are known steroid users.
Derrek Lee
Pump his value up if possible and deal him! Bring in Adrian Gonzalez and in the interim see if we have everyday starters in Micah Hoffpauir and Jake Fox.
Normal Cornbelters
Normal has chosen the sight, the name, and the logo for their baseball team. I believe it will be a small independant league, rather than a minor league MLB affiliated team. They will break ground on the stadium soon, which is just down the road from the newly rennovated Duffy Bass field, and accross the street from the worst neighborhood in town.
Monday, May 18, 2009
For Your Health
As I begin the summer, I would like to document my pursuit of health. I plan on going to the gym five times a week now which is up form the three times a week I had been going during the school year.
Goals
1. Drop to 200 pounds. Currently at 242 so that is a lofty goal although I have already dropped about 10 pounds.
2. Do 15 reps at 225lb on the bench. This is about half of what you need to do during the combine. I did six reps today. This should be an easy goal to achieve.
3. Be able to run a mile. This is another lofty goal.
Of course, these goals are superseded by the goal of boning one of these homads out here. For seriously, the titties are just popping out around campus.
I'll keep you posted with new developments.
Goals
1. Drop to 200 pounds. Currently at 242 so that is a lofty goal although I have already dropped about 10 pounds.
2. Do 15 reps at 225lb on the bench. This is about half of what you need to do during the combine. I did six reps today. This should be an easy goal to achieve.
3. Be able to run a mile. This is another lofty goal.
Of course, these goals are superseded by the goal of boning one of these homads out here. For seriously, the titties are just popping out around campus.
I'll keep you posted with new developments.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Year 1 Round Up
1st Semester
Work: College of Optics Library (I put books away)
Classes: 1 A, 2 B (Not the happiest)
2nd Semester
Work: Research Assistant (Didn't accomplish much, but I learned a lot)
Classes: 1 A, 1 B, 1 C (I get to repeat the last course....fuck yeah!)
This Summer
Work: Unemployed (Interviewed with an Aerospace firm, but I think they feared that I would take over by the end of the summer)
Plans: Work out, 'bate, Watch Cubs
Work: College of Optics Library (I put books away)
Classes: 1 A, 2 B (Not the happiest)
2nd Semester
Work: Research Assistant (Didn't accomplish much, but I learned a lot)
Classes: 1 A, 1 B, 1 C (I get to repeat the last course....fuck yeah!)
This Summer
Work: Unemployed (Interviewed with an Aerospace firm, but I think they feared that I would take over by the end of the summer)
Plans: Work out, 'bate, Watch Cubs
Game Log
Heath Bell and Adrian Gonzalez are big fat gigantic baseball beasts.
Brian Giles is old.
The Padres are playing the Cubs leftovers (Chad Gaudin is starting(?), and pitching to none other than Henry Blanco (Hank White))
The Padres offense is three players, Jerry Hairston Jr.'s brother, David "The Freak" Eckstein and big fat gigantic baseball beast Adrian Gonzalez. That is it for the Padres offense.
Aside, is Scott Hairston for real?
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Computers
I would like to know more about computers, how can I slowly get more exposure to computers and computer programs to the point of not being as ignorant as a senior citizen?
Malcolm Gladwell On Reverse-Order Drafts
This is from the Malcolm Gladwell - Bill Simmons email exchange published on espn.com.
"The consistent failure of underdogs in professional sports to even try something new suggests, to me, that there is something fundamentally wrong with the incentive structure of the leagues. I think, for example, that the idea of ranking draft picks in reverse order of finish -- as much as it sounds "fair" -- does untold damage to the game. You simply cannot have a system that rewards anyone, ever, for losing. Economists worry about this all the time, when they talk about "moral hazard." Moral hazard is the idea that if you insure someone against risk, you will make risky behavior more likely. So if you always bail out the banks when they take absurd risks and do stupid things, they are going to keep on taking absurd risks and doing stupid things. Bailouts create moral hazard. Moral hazard is also why your health insurance has a co-pay. If your insurer paid for everything, the theory goes, it would encourage you to go to the doctor when you really don't need to. No economist in his right mind would ever endorse the football and basketball drafts the way they are structured now. They are a moral hazard in spades. If you give me a lottery pick for being an atrocious GM, where's my incentive not to be an atrocious GM?
I think the only way around the problem is to put every team in the lottery. Every team's name gets put in a hat, and you get assigned your draft position by chance. Does that, theoretically, make it harder for weaker teams to improve their chances against stronger teams? I don't think so. First of all, the principal engine of parity in the modern era is the salary cap, not the draft. And in any case, if the reverse-order draft is such a great leveler, then why are the same teams at the bottom of both the NFL and NBA year after year? The current system perpetuates the myth that access to top picks is the primary determinant of competitiveness in pro sports, and that's simply not true. Success is a function of the quality of the organization...
The bigger point here is that what consistently drives me crazy about big-time sports is the assumption that sports occupy their own special universe, in which the normal rules of the marketplace and human psychology don't apply. That's how you get the idea of a reverse-order draft, which violates every known rule of human behavior."
I find the previous ideas interesting and true. This is America, why are we rewarding people for failing?
"The consistent failure of underdogs in professional sports to even try something new suggests, to me, that there is something fundamentally wrong with the incentive structure of the leagues. I think, for example, that the idea of ranking draft picks in reverse order of finish -- as much as it sounds "fair" -- does untold damage to the game. You simply cannot have a system that rewards anyone, ever, for losing. Economists worry about this all the time, when they talk about "moral hazard." Moral hazard is the idea that if you insure someone against risk, you will make risky behavior more likely. So if you always bail out the banks when they take absurd risks and do stupid things, they are going to keep on taking absurd risks and doing stupid things. Bailouts create moral hazard. Moral hazard is also why your health insurance has a co-pay. If your insurer paid for everything, the theory goes, it would encourage you to go to the doctor when you really don't need to. No economist in his right mind would ever endorse the football and basketball drafts the way they are structured now. They are a moral hazard in spades. If you give me a lottery pick for being an atrocious GM, where's my incentive not to be an atrocious GM?
I think the only way around the problem is to put every team in the lottery. Every team's name gets put in a hat, and you get assigned your draft position by chance. Does that, theoretically, make it harder for weaker teams to improve their chances against stronger teams? I don't think so. First of all, the principal engine of parity in the modern era is the salary cap, not the draft. And in any case, if the reverse-order draft is such a great leveler, then why are the same teams at the bottom of both the NFL and NBA year after year? The current system perpetuates the myth that access to top picks is the primary determinant of competitiveness in pro sports, and that's simply not true. Success is a function of the quality of the organization...
The bigger point here is that what consistently drives me crazy about big-time sports is the assumption that sports occupy their own special universe, in which the normal rules of the marketplace and human psychology don't apply. That's how you get the idea of a reverse-order draft, which violates every known rule of human behavior."
I find the previous ideas interesting and true. This is America, why are we rewarding people for failing?
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Jokes and Jokes and Jokes and Jokes and Spaghetti
Okay, I'm bored so I'm gonna try.
Everybody remember their first car?
I do. Mine was a giant hunk of shit. A 1992 Mercury Topaz.
TOPAZ!(pause) Doesn't that sound expensive, like a fucking ruby or diamond or something? Topaz seems like it would be a good name for a luxury car. Fuck lexus. What the hell is a lexus. But a topaz, that's some nice shit.
If you don't know what the mercury topaz was trust me, calling this car valuable is the contradiction of 90's. That's right, it is the most controversial topic from january 1, 1990 to december 31, 1999. Y2k can't touch this shit. Neither can Clinton or his blow jobs.(better references needed)
The car did have some nice features though.
2 doors. I call this a feature because it didn't have power windows or locks, so having only two doors to unlock was good living.
Automatic Seat Belts. I bet most of you had to buckle your own seat belt. Not me, this car knew how to strangle you automatically. Also, when it ran down the track it played a sweat melody for you. It sounded like ggrrhhksstzkzanaknsdsgrhrzk, which I beleive is Russian for 'have a safe voyage'.
Automatic Windshield wipers. I am so glad my car had automatic windshield wipers. Can you imagine having to do that yourself? Did you know it wasn't until the 50's that cars came with the feature to automatically run windshield wipers and that windshield wipers have a wikipedia page.
Who the fuck doesn't know what windshield wipers are?
And if you don't know what they are, you probably don't know what wikipedia is either.
Like someone somewhere is sitting with their friends saying 'I hear about this new thingy on the radio box today. Magical arms that wipe the rain off of your front winder shield. I'm gonna go on my internet machine later and look them thingies up on wikipedia.'
Anyway, back to the car. I loved that car so much I gave it a nickname. 'Car'. It just fit so well and flowed a little better than grey peice of shit.
And boy was it fast. Well, not really, but it looked fast. Since we were bored and stupid we decided to put racing stripes on 'Car'. Man, you should have seen 'Car' tearin' through the streets. 'Car' would go from 0-60 in 11.45 seconds, but you would have sworn it did it in 9 seconds flat. And when I put the pedal to the medal, imaginary flames shot 4 feet out the back smoldering anything in it's path.
Everyone who saw Car ripping through a corner dreamed about it.
Men dreamed about driving it.
Women and confused young men dreamed about the day they could have sex with the owner(pause)me, on the hood while it raced in the indy 500. And in that dream they climax when Car crossed the finish line 13 laps ahead of the nearest opponent.
I dreamed about it too.
But my dreams of Car were very different from the ones I just described. My dreams were filled with horror and death as the car flipped into the ditch with no airbags while the automatic seatbelts held strongly around my neck while the only two doors were smashed so badly they couldn't be opened without the jaws of life and the windshield wipers scatched accross the windows creating sparks that jumped closer and closer to the growing puddle of gas forming near by because it was in a ditch and there is no where for the gas to go.
Needless to say I was so happy when we had to get another car 'cause my little brother turned 16. I got the new one and he inherited 'Car'.
While being the main driver of Car obviously wasn't the greatest thing in the world, it did teach me one of the most valuable lessons I have learned in life.
Racing stripes make anything look faster and they are cool, regardless of what their on.
.....
Everybody remember their first car?
I do. Mine was a giant hunk of shit. A 1992 Mercury Topaz.
TOPAZ!(pause) Doesn't that sound expensive, like a fucking ruby or diamond or something? Topaz seems like it would be a good name for a luxury car. Fuck lexus. What the hell is a lexus. But a topaz, that's some nice shit.
If you don't know what the mercury topaz was trust me, calling this car valuable is the contradiction of 90's. That's right, it is the most controversial topic from january 1, 1990 to december 31, 1999. Y2k can't touch this shit. Neither can Clinton or his blow jobs.(better references needed)
The car did have some nice features though.
2 doors. I call this a feature because it didn't have power windows or locks, so having only two doors to unlock was good living.
Automatic Seat Belts. I bet most of you had to buckle your own seat belt. Not me, this car knew how to strangle you automatically. Also, when it ran down the track it played a sweat melody for you. It sounded like ggrrhhksstzkzanaknsdsgrhrzk, which I beleive is Russian for 'have a safe voyage'.
Automatic Windshield wipers. I am so glad my car had automatic windshield wipers. Can you imagine having to do that yourself? Did you know it wasn't until the 50's that cars came with the feature to automatically run windshield wipers and that windshield wipers have a wikipedia page.
Who the fuck doesn't know what windshield wipers are?
And if you don't know what they are, you probably don't know what wikipedia is either.
Like someone somewhere is sitting with their friends saying 'I hear about this new thingy on the radio box today. Magical arms that wipe the rain off of your front winder shield. I'm gonna go on my internet machine later and look them thingies up on wikipedia.'
Anyway, back to the car. I loved that car so much I gave it a nickname. 'Car'. It just fit so well and flowed a little better than grey peice of shit.
And boy was it fast. Well, not really, but it looked fast. Since we were bored and stupid we decided to put racing stripes on 'Car'. Man, you should have seen 'Car' tearin' through the streets. 'Car' would go from 0-60 in 11.45 seconds, but you would have sworn it did it in 9 seconds flat. And when I put the pedal to the medal, imaginary flames shot 4 feet out the back smoldering anything in it's path.
Everyone who saw Car ripping through a corner dreamed about it.
Men dreamed about driving it.
Women and confused young men dreamed about the day they could have sex with the owner(pause)me, on the hood while it raced in the indy 500. And in that dream they climax when Car crossed the finish line 13 laps ahead of the nearest opponent.
I dreamed about it too.
But my dreams of Car were very different from the ones I just described. My dreams were filled with horror and death as the car flipped into the ditch with no airbags while the automatic seatbelts held strongly around my neck while the only two doors were smashed so badly they couldn't be opened without the jaws of life and the windshield wipers scatched accross the windows creating sparks that jumped closer and closer to the growing puddle of gas forming near by because it was in a ditch and there is no where for the gas to go.
Needless to say I was so happy when we had to get another car 'cause my little brother turned 16. I got the new one and he inherited 'Car'.
While being the main driver of Car obviously wasn't the greatest thing in the world, it did teach me one of the most valuable lessons I have learned in life.
Racing stripes make anything look faster and they are cool, regardless of what their on.
.....
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Wood Sounds Good
According to this website, which was interesting:
The Mother of Tone
Guitar Stripping Expirement
Pro Paper Speakers
The Mother of Tone
Guitar Stripping Expirement
Pro Paper Speakers
Polk CS2 vs. Bose VCS-10
It is clear to me that the Polk CS2 is a better center speaker than the VCS-10.
I submit that depending on the needs of the user the VCS-10 could be more appropriate, but if you are building a home theater, I recommend not purchasing the VCS-10. If you want a little more sound than your television, and want a small slim nice looking speaker, the VCS-10 is more appropriate than a large boxy center speaker.
Finally, the VCS-10 is a well constructed speaker, and I am a fan of good designs and engineering and cheap materials, which I still believe is the case of the VCS-10. However, the VCS-10 is aggressively priced and marketed with little transparency, which gives me a negative opinion of the Bose corporation.
The CS2 is much louder and leads to a much more pleasant audio experience. I had trouble hearing a lot of the dialogue, with large front speakers and a weak Bose center.
Center Speaker Arb
The Bose VCS-10 sold for $103.5.
If any other dieselfur members were to enact a similar arb I would not recommend using the full 10 day auction, the extra time costs a little more and people do not bid until the last day.
If any other dieselfur members were to enact a similar arb I would not recommend using the full 10 day auction, the extra time costs a little more and people do not bid until the last day.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Norm on letterman
He was on last night, it was awesome.
I can't get the direct link, but there is a clip here.
http://lateshow.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/
it was good.
I can't get the direct link, but there is a clip here.
http://lateshow.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/
it was good.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Contradictary Articles in The Wall Street Journal
First off this article makes an argument that doesn't make any sense. The government doesn't necessarily care how a company gains market share, legally or otherwise, when breaking up a monopoly.
Google Stock Cheerleader
This article claims that users rate Microsoft's Live Search equally with Google, when the user does not know which company's search engine is being used.
Blind Search Engine Test
Just Sayin'.
Google Stock Cheerleader
This article claims that users rate Microsoft's Live Search equally with Google, when the user does not know which company's search engine is being used.
Blind Search Engine Test
Just Sayin'.
Feasability Study
How feasible is it for me to make a server with a few terabytes of storage, and allow access to DieselFur members, who could store music and movie files on some sort of NAS?
windows 7 release candidate
This came out yesterday. Despite my internet crappying(yes with a y) out yesterday from 9 in the morning on(along with cable, thank you netflix), I stole my neighbors to finish the download. I will install it tonight on top of my vista partition, and then I will install some version of unix over my windows 7 beta partition.
It can be downloaded for free and used until next march, when it will shut off every two hours until april when it will die. All things considered, a free brand new operating system for almost a year?
Hot digity.
Post Script. I will be posting some of my new jokes on here in the furture with an updated and complete racing stripe jokes. Be on the edge of your seat.
It can be downloaded for free and used until next march, when it will shut off every two hours until april when it will die. All things considered, a free brand new operating system for almost a year?
Hot digity.
Post Script. I will be posting some of my new jokes on here in the furture with an updated and complete racing stripe jokes. Be on the edge of your seat.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
Cubs Turnaround
1. What they did right
Shed the contracts of Mark DeRosa, Jason Marquis, Bring in Aaron Heilman
2. What they did wrong
Get rid of Michael Wuertz, Take on 4 million in the form of Luis Vizcaino only to eat it all, sign Chad Gaudin for 2 million and eat it all, Sign Dempster to too large of a contract
3. What they could have done
Trade Derek Lee and promote Micah Hoffpauir to full time first base
4. What they still can do
Pray
Shed the contracts of Mark DeRosa, Jason Marquis, Bring in Aaron Heilman
2. What they did wrong
Get rid of Michael Wuertz, Take on 4 million in the form of Luis Vizcaino only to eat it all, sign Chad Gaudin for 2 million and eat it all, Sign Dempster to too large of a contract
3. What they could have done
Trade Derek Lee and promote Micah Hoffpauir to full time first base
4. What they still can do
Pray
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