I moved my blog over here:
Check it out if you aren't redirected!
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Carwash
Friday, April 11, 2008
At the theater
I am waiting on a friend to see 21 and just thought "hey I never blog
from my phone". You know what I love about realizing your fly is
open? Once you zip it you feel like you have stepped into an
invincible cacoon of invincibility!
from my phone". You know what I love about realizing your fly is
open? Once you zip it you feel like you have stepped into an
invincible cacoon of invincibility!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Some Combos for the road
I don't know about you, but when I go on a road trip I like to get some pretzel/cheddar Combos and a Diet Dr. Pepper for the ride. In a similar fashion, I thought I would just do a combo post tonight. I had a few items in my "queue" to post about next, and I thought I better clear it out soon. I'll probably be getting a Mac in the next couple of months, and I don't want things cluttering my focus if I want to make some new video blogs on it :) Also, I have recently become hooked on Yael Naim's song "New Soul", that is on the MacBook Air commercials. Apparently, I'm not the only one either, the commercial has helped her become the first Israeli solo artist with a top 10 Billboard song. NPR has a story, and an interview with her about it (plus you can hear the song there). Anyway, I've got the song looping right now, so if my post isn't making sense, try reading it with "New Soul" playing.
First from my queue is a follow-up to my NaNoWriMo post. I finished my novel, but I kind of cheated, but not really. Here's what I did, and then why I did it. Basically about 15,000 words into the story, one of my characters decides he is going to try and set a new pogo sticking world record. He gets his friend to help him practice, they use one of those crowd counter type things to keep track of the jumps, and the novel gives a very in-depth account of a practice session.... "Click, 1, click, 2, click, 3 ... " Not the most exciting novel, but I did actually research the world record and it is legit, he doesn't even break it during the practice in fact.
So, why I did this? I mean if you're generating 2/3 of a novel in C#, why not just give up on it. Well, when I was in elementary school our bus driver one day showed us a picture of his daughter. He said if anyone could guess her name as they got off the bus, they would get a candy bar as their prize. Rob, Nathaniel, and myself discussed what we thought she looked like, and all came up with our best guesses. Then Rob (being the leader type he is) checked to make sure we were organized and all agreed which name who was saying. But to our shock Nathaniel did not want to participate! We could not understand why, and all he would say was he knew it was not right, so he did not want to take a guess. After Nathaniel got off the bus just down the street from us, Rob and I decided we needed to try his guess (Elizabeth I believe). So Rob guessed Nathaniel's name, and it was right! True story :)
I could have had that attitude with my novel, "I know it is a waste of time, why even finish?" I even researched the "rules" on the website, the only thing applicable was that you could not write ONE word 50,000 times. I guess what Nathaniel taught me that day was to participate and finish what you can, even if you feel pretty silly doing it :)
**** Following section has follow-up comment (3rd comment)
And finally, from the "post queue", I wanted to comment on a quote I heard from an author that we are "not reading because we're not training thinkers." This struck me as odd, and a good illustration to me of how I feel many over-exaggerate the power of reading. I understand reading is a great way to gain knowledge about things, but I do not think knowledge is the same as the ability to think. Reading can present you with new ideas which could expand your thinking, that makes sense I guess. At the same time people have the ability to think themselves, independently of the influence of others. I really wonder if people realize this sometimes. When it was just Adam and Eve, could they not think since they had no books?
Another point is that even when you ARE talking about the acquisition of knowledge, reading is not the best method for many people to do that. I was always an above average student in formal education, but I feel I learned a very small percentage of what I know from reading. I was much better off to be a good listener in lecture times, and to work with things (or ideas) hands on for the majority of my learning (ie - homework, etc). I also have been irritated in the past by the idea that reading the Bible is essential for salvation, as if illiterate people can not be saved. Maybe all this "reading hype" comes mainly from people who DO learn most effectively by reading, I do not know. Just some food for thought.... hmmm.... maybe this section should be a video post as well :)
First from my queue is a follow-up to my NaNoWriMo post. I finished my novel, but I kind of cheated, but not really. Here's what I did, and then why I did it. Basically about 15,000 words into the story, one of my characters decides he is going to try and set a new pogo sticking world record. He gets his friend to help him practice, they use one of those crowd counter type things to keep track of the jumps, and the novel gives a very in-depth account of a practice session.... "Click, 1, click, 2, click, 3 ... " Not the most exciting novel, but I did actually research the world record and it is legit, he doesn't even break it during the practice in fact.
So, why I did this? I mean if you're generating 2/3 of a novel in C#, why not just give up on it. Well, when I was in elementary school our bus driver one day showed us a picture of his daughter. He said if anyone could guess her name as they got off the bus, they would get a candy bar as their prize. Rob, Nathaniel, and myself discussed what we thought she looked like, and all came up with our best guesses. Then Rob (being the leader type he is) checked to make sure we were organized and all agreed which name who was saying. But to our shock Nathaniel did not want to participate! We could not understand why, and all he would say was he knew it was not right, so he did not want to take a guess. After Nathaniel got off the bus just down the street from us, Rob and I decided we needed to try his guess (Elizabeth I believe). So Rob guessed Nathaniel's name, and it was right! True story :)
I could have had that attitude with my novel, "I know it is a waste of time, why even finish?" I even researched the "rules" on the website, the only thing applicable was that you could not write ONE word 50,000 times. I guess what Nathaniel taught me that day was to participate and finish what you can, even if you feel pretty silly doing it :)
**** Following section has follow-up comment (3rd comment)
And finally, from the "post queue", I wanted to comment on a quote I heard from an author that we are "not reading because we're not training thinkers." This struck me as odd, and a good illustration to me of how I feel many over-exaggerate the power of reading. I understand reading is a great way to gain knowledge about things, but I do not think knowledge is the same as the ability to think. Reading can present you with new ideas which could expand your thinking, that makes sense I guess. At the same time people have the ability to think themselves, independently of the influence of others. I really wonder if people realize this sometimes. When it was just Adam and Eve, could they not think since they had no books?
Another point is that even when you ARE talking about the acquisition of knowledge, reading is not the best method for many people to do that. I was always an above average student in formal education, but I feel I learned a very small percentage of what I know from reading. I was much better off to be a good listener in lecture times, and to work with things (or ideas) hands on for the majority of my learning (ie - homework, etc). I also have been irritated in the past by the idea that reading the Bible is essential for salvation, as if illiterate people can not be saved. Maybe all this "reading hype" comes mainly from people who DO learn most effectively by reading, I do not know. Just some food for thought.... hmmm.... maybe this section should be a video post as well :)
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
A Perfect Example...
I'm a huge Dave Ramsey fan. Sometimes he likes to go on a rant about a given topic, and today he had a little "mini-rant" that is probably one of the best examples I could give of why I enjoy listening to him so much. A caller said he was trying to decide whether Dave or Robert Kiyosaki should be his financial guru to follow. Dave has talked about Robert before, and like always he said he has a lot of respect for him, he loves the book "Rich Dad Poor Dad", and that Robert has different opinions about debt than Dave does. Then he got to the real "answer" about who should be the guru. I thought the response was so good I decided to transcript it and share it with everyone, enjoy :)
I don't think either one of us qualify to be your guru. I don't think you ought to look for a guru to follow. I think you need to make some decisions yourself, and you need to gather information, and you need to be a reader, and you need to intellectually feed your mind, and you need to go out and experience some of these things and do them. Don't look for a guru to follow, you need to be your own guru. Grow your brain, and do that. I don't look for a... I don't have a guru. There's not anybody walking on this planet right now that I believe everything they say about everything. I'm not cynical, I'm just cynical... 'cause they're humans. The only guru I've ever found worth following is Jesus. And I can believe everything He says, but He... you know, other than His Spirit walkin' around here, I don't get to talk to Him on a daily basis, in person. And so, in that sense, I don't... I'm not looking for a pastor to be my daddy, and I'm not looking for my group that I'm in to have all the answers and all that. I mean, you know that's the kind of stuff that sets you up for toxic disappointment. So, I don't really wanna be your guru. I don't wanna be anybody's guru. I don't mind being your teacher, and then you take the information and learn from it. And that's the direction I would go on that.
I don't think either one of us qualify to be your guru. I don't think you ought to look for a guru to follow. I think you need to make some decisions yourself, and you need to gather information, and you need to be a reader, and you need to intellectually feed your mind, and you need to go out and experience some of these things and do them. Don't look for a guru to follow, you need to be your own guru. Grow your brain, and do that. I don't look for a... I don't have a guru. There's not anybody walking on this planet right now that I believe everything they say about everything. I'm not cynical, I'm just cynical... 'cause they're humans. The only guru I've ever found worth following is Jesus. And I can believe everything He says, but He... you know, other than His Spirit walkin' around here, I don't get to talk to Him on a daily basis, in person. And so, in that sense, I don't... I'm not looking for a pastor to be my daddy, and I'm not looking for my group that I'm in to have all the answers and all that. I mean, you know that's the kind of stuff that sets you up for toxic disappointment. So, I don't really wanna be your guru. I don't wanna be anybody's guru. I don't mind being your teacher, and then you take the information and learn from it. And that's the direction I would go on that.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
I've always wanted to write a novel...
Writing a novel is kind of one of those things it seems like you might do someday, but probably won't. Or at least that's me. Like being a teacher. I still often think of things I'll do "when" I am teaching, even though I have no plans to ever teach. I have also thought about things I might someday write a book about, even though I never really "planned" on writing a book.
But today I happened across this link to NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. November is the month, and they try to get as many people as possible to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. Can't start before or finish after. I thought about it for a while, and decided to sign up. It's free, and if you don't finish they don't sue you. You can see my profile here, and even view an excerpt of my novel, which I started just after midnight today :) I'm up to 893 words, and I can also update the word count on my profile.
Here are a few of the things from their site that inspired me to do it:
- To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far longer than 30 days to produce their work.
- We love the fringe benefits accrued to novelists. For one month out of the year, we can stew and storm, and make a huge mess of our apartments and drink lots of coffee at odd hours. And we can do all of these things loudly, in front of people. As satisfying as it is to reach deep within yourself and pull out an unexpectedly passable work of art, it is equally (if not more) satisfying to be able to dramatize the process at social gatherings.
- The other reason we do NaNoWriMo is because the glow from making big, messy art, and watching others make big, messy art, lasts for a long, long time. The act of sustained creation does bizarre, wonderful things to you. It changes the way you read. And changes, a little bit, your sense of self.
But today I happened across this link to NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. November is the month, and they try to get as many people as possible to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. Can't start before or finish after. I thought about it for a while, and decided to sign up. It's free, and if you don't finish they don't sue you. You can see my profile here, and even view an excerpt of my novel, which I started just after midnight today :) I'm up to 893 words, and I can also update the word count on my profile.
Here are a few of the things from their site that inspired me to do it:
- To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far longer than 30 days to produce their work.
- We love the fringe benefits accrued to novelists. For one month out of the year, we can stew and storm, and make a huge mess of our apartments and drink lots of coffee at odd hours. And we can do all of these things loudly, in front of people. As satisfying as it is to reach deep within yourself and pull out an unexpectedly passable work of art, it is equally (if not more) satisfying to be able to dramatize the process at social gatherings.
- The other reason we do NaNoWriMo is because the glow from making big, messy art, and watching others make big, messy art, lasts for a long, long time. The act of sustained creation does bizarre, wonderful things to you. It changes the way you read. And changes, a little bit, your sense of self.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Selling cat food
Wow, I cannot believe it has been over 3 months since I posted. That is almost a tenth of a year! I've got a few random bits I wanted to share.
First, I have been getting small bags of sample cat food in the large bags of cat food I buy. Obviously it's from the same company, but it seems like a strange way to promote this product. I have not even checked to see if the sample is a more expensive variety. How is this supposed to work as a marketing technique? Do people try it and say, "Oh, I really like the color of that cat food!" Or maybe, "Wow, the cats really ate that food also!" ???
Next, I just have to vent about what a piece of crap Windows is for doing video work! I really need to get a Mac for that someday. I can record shows and make DVDs, which is a good thing, but a lot of stuff is a pain. (I'm going to count programs here) Like I was wanting to put the video below online from the TV, so first I recorded the clip in Windows DVR format (1), which Windows movie maker can not read!?! So I converted it to an MPEG (2), so I could add it to movie maker and save it as a smaller .wmv file. The first MPEG file kept crashing movie maker (3). Then I used a different program to make an MPEG (4), but it was crashing movie maker also. So I ended up using yet another program to convert the MPEG to .wmv file (5), but it was larger than I wanted. So I used Windows movie maker to open the .wmv and save it as a new .wmv with different quality settings. So to get the file ready for the internet I ended up using 5 different programs. Luckily, I already had the programs because I had done this before, but I had to re-figure out how to do it all. When I get a Mac I may be posting all the time :)
Finally, here's the video. I was watching TV one afternoon and this was on, and I almost did not even notice. When I did notice I decided to record it, since you can record from TIVO's buffer after the fact. All this needs is a live audience and you've got a funny SNL skit :)
First, I have been getting small bags of sample cat food in the large bags of cat food I buy. Obviously it's from the same company, but it seems like a strange way to promote this product. I have not even checked to see if the sample is a more expensive variety. How is this supposed to work as a marketing technique? Do people try it and say, "Oh, I really like the color of that cat food!" Or maybe, "Wow, the cats really ate that food also!" ???
Next, I just have to vent about what a piece of crap Windows is for doing video work! I really need to get a Mac for that someday. I can record shows and make DVDs, which is a good thing, but a lot of stuff is a pain. (I'm going to count programs here) Like I was wanting to put the video below online from the TV, so first I recorded the clip in Windows DVR format (1), which Windows movie maker can not read!?! So I converted it to an MPEG (2), so I could add it to movie maker and save it as a smaller .wmv file. The first MPEG file kept crashing movie maker (3). Then I used a different program to make an MPEG (4), but it was crashing movie maker also. So I ended up using yet another program to convert the MPEG to .wmv file (5), but it was larger than I wanted. So I used Windows movie maker to open the .wmv and save it as a new .wmv with different quality settings. So to get the file ready for the internet I ended up using 5 different programs. Luckily, I already had the programs because I had done this before, but I had to re-figure out how to do it all. When I get a Mac I may be posting all the time :)
Finally, here's the video. I was watching TV one afternoon and this was on, and I almost did not even notice. When I did notice I decided to record it, since you can record from TIVO's buffer after the fact. All this needs is a live audience and you've got a funny SNL skit :)
Friday, July 13, 2007
iPhone Launch on Dallas News
NBC 5i covered the iPhone launch, and I was on the story for about 3 seconds. I kind of got myself on there because I was taking pictures of the crowd, and was going to get one with the camera man in the forefront. Well, he turned around, and we ended up photographing each other :) Then he asked me a few questions, and one of my answers made the story. Here's the picture of the camera man and then the news story.
Saturday, July 07, 2007
An Apple, A Day
It's been a little over a week since I got my Apple iPhone, which took the majority of my Friday (it was fun though). I finally got around to doing a little video demo. Well, it's kind of long actually, I had to split it to fit on YouTube. I wanted to post it unedited to give an "honest" feel of how easy it is to use. Of course keep in mind I was under the pressure of being on camera! :) Hope you enjoy it. Oh... the previous post goes along with this one, you'll see if you watch.
This is a post in a post
I am doing a demo of my new iPhone. The typing on it works really well, it is so smart that it can figure out most of your spelling mistakes and correct them even if several of the letters you type are incorrect.
Jason (on iPhone)
words - http://acuriousblog.blogspot.com
pictures - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonmgreen
videos - http://www.youtube.com/jasonee
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Do people listen to the news?
I've never been a big watcher of the news. As the Dallas NBC slogan goes, "Not Just What Happens, What Matters." Uh-huh, why do you have to point it out in your slogan then?
Anyway, tonight the news was on after I finished watching The Office so I caught a couple minutes of it. They were reporting about the increasing minority population in the US. They said that in Texas minorities were already 50% of the population, and that they had passed the number in the majority in 2006. WHAT?!? I understand there is more than one minority group, so the total percentage of minority groups combined could be over 50%. But, if minorities are at 50% of the population, then how can they have PASSED the number in the majority? 50% is an even split. Also, if they truly have breached the 50% mark, then the majority is no more! If you have 4 population groups of 25% each, you no longer have a majority! Good grief. Do they simply mean Caucasians?
So I'm curious what most people, that are actually trying to pay attention to the news, think when they hear something like this? Do they make there own assumptions about what is meant, and then accept that as factual? Sadly, I suspect many make the assumptions and accept it without even realizing the assumptions were made. I would guess in this example they were trying to say something like all the groups that were minorities before 2006 combined in 2006 to be about 52%, while the number of Caucasians (now a minority group as well) fell that year to about 48%. But regardless of what they intended, I am not going to trust a news channel to properly interpret statistical data, which can be very tricky and presented in very misleading ways, when they can not even get their English to make sense. :)
Anyway, tonight the news was on after I finished watching The Office so I caught a couple minutes of it. They were reporting about the increasing minority population in the US. They said that in Texas minorities were already 50% of the population, and that they had passed the number in the majority in 2006. WHAT?!? I understand there is more than one minority group, so the total percentage of minority groups combined could be over 50%. But, if minorities are at 50% of the population, then how can they have PASSED the number in the majority? 50% is an even split. Also, if they truly have breached the 50% mark, then the majority is no more! If you have 4 population groups of 25% each, you no longer have a majority! Good grief. Do they simply mean Caucasians?
So I'm curious what most people, that are actually trying to pay attention to the news, think when they hear something like this? Do they make there own assumptions about what is meant, and then accept that as factual? Sadly, I suspect many make the assumptions and accept it without even realizing the assumptions were made. I would guess in this example they were trying to say something like all the groups that were minorities before 2006 combined in 2006 to be about 52%, while the number of Caucasians (now a minority group as well) fell that year to about 48%. But regardless of what they intended, I am not going to trust a news channel to properly interpret statistical data, which can be very tricky and presented in very misleading ways, when they can not even get their English to make sense. :)
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Now I've got flickr too!
I went ahead and set up my flickr.com account today. So now I can blog with words, video, and pictures! Actually, I am creating this blog entry straight from the flickr website. The internet is pretty cool these days, huh?
Monday, March 12, 2007
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Let's do it
Watch this video, and tell me what your first impression is. I posted a video reply to the video. It was fun, watch my reply to hear more. I need to get in bed!
Saturday, January 20, 2007
iPhone
Here I am watching the Apple keynote speech the other night online.
Steve Jobs was explaining how with the new Apple TV you can watch content from your PC right on your widescreen TV. Ummm..... :) All seriousness aside, Apple TV does have some pretty cool features, like built in Wi-Fi. Really, I just had to poke a little fun. If you want to see more you can go to the Apple TV site.
The majority of the keynote speech was about the new iPhone, to be released in June. I was amazed by it... I don't know what else to say. I could describe all the cool things it does, but you really need to go see yourself by either watching the keynote or clicking on the various feature sections on the iPhone page. I got even more excited when I read the review at PC Magazine. The reviewer actually got to use one for like 10 minutes, and said it's even more impressive than the keynote, and described the touchscreen as taking your breath away. Steve Jobs had a quote from Allan Kay during the keynote that I thought was good, especially after seeing the iPhone... the quote was "People who are serious about software should build their own hardware."
In the end, the presentation left me with two main thoughts:
1) I really want an iPhone.
2) I would really enjoy working for Apple.
Steve Jobs was explaining how with the new Apple TV you can watch content from your PC right on your widescreen TV. Ummm..... :) All seriousness aside, Apple TV does have some pretty cool features, like built in Wi-Fi. Really, I just had to poke a little fun. If you want to see more you can go to the Apple TV site.The majority of the keynote speech was about the new iPhone, to be released in June. I was amazed by it... I don't know what else to say. I could describe all the cool things it does, but you really need to go see yourself by either watching the keynote or clicking on the various feature sections on the iPhone page. I got even more excited when I read the review at PC Magazine. The reviewer actually got to use one for like 10 minutes, and said it's even more impressive than the keynote, and described the touchscreen as taking your breath away. Steve Jobs had a quote from Allan Kay during the keynote that I thought was good, especially after seeing the iPhone... the quote was "People who are serious about software should build their own hardware."
In the end, the presentation left me with two main thoughts:
1) I really want an iPhone.
2) I would really enjoy working for Apple.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Stockholm syndrome
WARNING: Partial spoilers for season 3 of Lost below! (not much really)
I was watching Hannity and Colmes tonight on Fox News channel, not a normal event for me by any means, but I really enjoyed it. They were discussing the Missouri kidnapping of two boys that were found, and one of the psychologists that was a guest brought up the Stockholm syndrome. This is where an abducted person shows loyalty to their abducter, or begins to think of them as the good guy. They basically decide to join "their side" because it's the only option they feel they have. The first thing it reminded me of was how Noel used to say he wanted to join the monsters in his room at night. It seems like he wanted Dracula to bite him, so he could be a vampire too (correct me if I'm wrong).
It also kind of reminds me of Lost. I think this is what the "others" are trying to accomplish with the survivors. They cage them up and use physical violence against them, but at the same time try to convince them to just do as they're told and everything will be hunky dory.
I think some people experience this with God. Sometimes when I hear people talk about how great and wonderful etc. God is, it seems like they are not talking about something great and wonderful, but instead something they are terrified of. I guess I perceive that partly because I have had those feelings before, and can be inclined to still if I don't pay attention. To me, it is silly to be that way with God though, because you can't fool Him about what is in your heart. So I try to avoid that mentality, escpecially spiritually. I guess the point of the psychological effect though is that it can become engrained in your psyche so that it is not something you are faking, but something you have really come to accept. Oh... so people might be worshipping a God they originally perceived as terrifying, but eventually they came to accept Him as good. :) It's an interesting effect to me, I'll probably lay awake tonight thinking about it... but at least I won't be worried about monsters.
I was watching Hannity and Colmes tonight on Fox News channel, not a normal event for me by any means, but I really enjoyed it. They were discussing the Missouri kidnapping of two boys that were found, and one of the psychologists that was a guest brought up the Stockholm syndrome. This is where an abducted person shows loyalty to their abducter, or begins to think of them as the good guy. They basically decide to join "their side" because it's the only option they feel they have. The first thing it reminded me of was how Noel used to say he wanted to join the monsters in his room at night. It seems like he wanted Dracula to bite him, so he could be a vampire too (correct me if I'm wrong).
It also kind of reminds me of Lost. I think this is what the "others" are trying to accomplish with the survivors. They cage them up and use physical violence against them, but at the same time try to convince them to just do as they're told and everything will be hunky dory.
I think some people experience this with God. Sometimes when I hear people talk about how great and wonderful etc. God is, it seems like they are not talking about something great and wonderful, but instead something they are terrified of. I guess I perceive that partly because I have had those feelings before, and can be inclined to still if I don't pay attention. To me, it is silly to be that way with God though, because you can't fool Him about what is in your heart. So I try to avoid that mentality, escpecially spiritually. I guess the point of the psychological effect though is that it can become engrained in your psyche so that it is not something you are faking, but something you have really come to accept. Oh... so people might be worshipping a God they originally perceived as terrifying, but eventually they came to accept Him as good. :) It's an interesting effect to me, I'll probably lay awake tonight thinking about it... but at least I won't be worried about monsters.
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