A Petty Blog

5. July 2010

Best 4th of July Ever

Filed under: Uncategorized — Darin @ 08:47

Late yesterday evening, July 4, a summer squall moved over town and dropped the biggest, loudest, most dramatic load of hail I have ever seen.  We dropped what we were doing and just watched with much running about, shouting, and laughter — mostly when I attempted to retrieve the first huge hailstone and was rewarded with an impressive welt on the shoulder. (like, what did I expect, anyway - certainly not sympathy!)  We left the car in the driveway, and I felt compelled to cover the hood with a blanket.   This time I had a jacket over my head, but I guess it slipped and I got beaned on my bald head.  Hail goes “DIIIIIIING”, if you ever wondered.

Levi summed it up best; “This was the best Fourth of July EVER!”

Here are a couple of pictures for scale:

hand.JPGruler.JPG

And here are a couple for scope:

yard.JPGdeck.JPG

I’m amazed at these little guys.  We were still marveling about the  storm when the hummingbirds returned.  This little guy drank like he was starving. He probably was - I’m sure they all had to hide out with no food for at least 10 minutes.

hummer.JPG

Update:

I just read on NOAA that they broke out the snowplows to clear the road.  In July!

Severe thunderstorms dumped quarter size hail in Woodland Park (20 miles northwest of Colorado Springs). There were reports of marble-size hail 4 inches deep just north of Woodland Park. Several vehicles slid off the roadway due to the hail and sustained minor damage. Snow plows were used to remove the hail from the road. Lightning struck a transformer in Woodland Park, causing a brief power outage. 

29. June 2010

A Son Born on a Tuesday

Filed under: Technical, Uncategorized — Darin @ 19:30

I have two children, one of whom is a son born on a Tuesday. What is the probability that I have two boys?

Would you believe 0.481481481… (or, more accurately and informatively, 13/27)?

This problem has easier roots in the famous Two Child Problem, originally phrased thusly:

  • Mr. Jones has two children. The older child is a girl. What is the probability that both children are girls?
  • Mr. Smith has two children. At least one of them is a boy. What is the probability that both children are boys?

The answer to the first is 1/2.  The answer to the second is traditionally 1/3, though it can be 1/2 depending on how you found out one child is a boy.

The fact that one of my children was born on a Tuesday is actually germane to the problem.  You can see the full solution and some history here.   The article points out that your intuition is likely to be correct in real life where you would know why something like Tuesday is included, but math puzzles like this are designed to eliminate that knowledge.

27. June 2010

Danger! Popsicle Makers

Filed under: From the Web, Humor — Darin @ 18:15

The author spotted this TSA sign at the airport.
Just makes you wonder what happened to prompt this.

On my way home.  Special sign @ airport check in for Aspen Fo... on Twitpic

25. May 2010

Hollywood Operating System

Filed under: From the Web, Humor — Darin @ 20:22

I stumbled on this today - computer Operating System guidelines as defined by Hollywood Movies.  There’s more old geek humor on his site (try this one, without decaf).

                     /************************************/
                     /*     Guidelines to development    */
                     /*              on the              */
                     /*    HOLLYWOOD OPERATING SYSTEM    */
                     /************************************/

1. Any PERMISSION DENIED has an OVERRIDE function.

2. Complex calculations and loading of huge amounts of data will be
accomplished in under three seconds. In the movies, modems transmit
data at two gigabytes per second.

3. When the power plant/missile site/whatever overheats, all the
control panels will explode, as will the entire building.

4. If you display a file on the screen and someone deletes the file,
it also disappears from the screen. There are no ways to copy a
backup file -- and there are no undelete utilities.
Corollary: Deleting a file instantly removes all copies of said file from
disks, memory, frame buffers and caches across all computers in the universe.

5. If a disk has got encrypted files, you are automatically asked for
a password when you try to access it.

6. No matter what kind of computer disk it is, it'll be readable by
any system you put it into. All application software is usable by all
computer platforms.

7. The more high-tech the equipment, the more buttons it has. However,
everyone must have been highly trained, because the buttons aren't labeled.

8. Most computers, no matter how small, have reality-defying three-dimensional,
real-time, photo-realistic animated graphics capability.

9. Laptops, for some strange reason, always seem to have amazing real-time
video phone capabilities and the performance of a CRAY.

10. Whenever a character looks at a terminal, the image is so bright that it
projects itself onto his/her face.

11. Computers never crash during key, high-intensity activities. Humans
operating computers never make mistakes under stress.

12. (From Independence Day) No matter what kind of virus it is, any computer
can be infected with it -- even an alien spaceship's computer -- simply by
running a virus upload program on a laptop.

13. (From Jurassic Park) A custom system with millions of lines of code
controlling a multimillion dollar theme park can be operated by a 13 year
old who has seen a Unix system before. Seeing an operating system means you
know how to run any application on that system, even custom apps.
       Note: What OS was it really running?
              (1) "These are super computers".  A CrayOS?
              (2) "Quicktime movie, Apple logo, trash can."  MacOS?
              (3) "Reboot. System ready. C:\"  DOS?
              (4) "Hey, this is Unix.  I know this"  Unix?
  The computers in Jurassic Park were Cray supercomputers running the MacOS
  as a graphical shell of DOS all layered on top of a Unix base.

14. You cannot stop a destructive program or virus by unplugging the computer.
Presumably the virus has it's own built-in power supply.

15. You cannot stop a destructive program downloading onto your system by
unplugging the phone line. You must figure out the mandatory "back door"
all evil virus programmers put in.

16. Computers only crash if a virus or a hacker is involved.

17. All text must be at least 72 point.

18. Word processors do not have an insert point.

19. The only way to reboot is to shut off the main power to the building.

20. Passwords can be guessed in three and exactly three tries.  If you cannot
guess the password in three tries, you must give up immediately.

21. Any task or program can be executed by simply pressing Enter, no matter
which program or window is in the foreground.

22. All scanners, video cameras and digital cameras have a resolution of
approximately 500 megapixels.  Any image can be infinitely magnified with
no pixelization.

23. Security will not improve over time.  Nonaffialiated personnel can take
over a space ship without needing an account or access control.
Corollary: Anyone can override access control lists in the future.

24. All hackers wear black T-shirts or Hawaiian shirts.

25. Incoming messages are displayed letter by letter.  Email over the Internet
works like telegraphs.

26. Microsoft Windows doesn't exist.  Macintosh has a 75% market share.

27. GUI operations, such as image selection and manipulation, can be handled
easily and quickly via the keyboard.

28. If a robot's eyes turn red, it becomes evil.

29. Cell phones and laptops have infinite battery life, until you need to
call for help.

30. Latency does not exist.  Voice and data can be sent to Mars in real time.

31. If all else fails, hit it.  That fixes everything.

32. If you don't have the combination to an electronic door lock, shoot it.
Destruction of the lock electronics will always unlock the door.

________________________________________________________________________________
Presented by nandview.com - An open source network & systems monitoring solution

8. May 2010

Why does a salad cost more than a Big Mac?

Filed under: From the Web, Opinion — Darin @ 07:19

 

The federal government provides huge subsidies to our food producers, but the vast majority of the spending is at odds with our dietary needs and even federal nutritional guidance.

What should be done?

PCRM, (maker of the infographic above) along with many other health and public interest groups, supported the Fairness in Farm and Food Policy Amendment, which was offered by Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ). This amendment would have limited government subsidies of unhealthy foods, cut subsidies to millionaire farmers, and provided more money for nutrition and food assistance programs for Americans and impoverished children overseas.

Unfortunately, politics doomed the reform effort. At the eleventh hour, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) feared that freshman representatives who voted to cut subsidies might risk losing their seats in farm states in the 2008 elections, endangering the Democratic majority. The reform amendment was defeated 117 to 309.

It makes me sad to see these political machinations.  The history of nutritionism in America is rife with it though, and this is only one small example.  Note that PCRM is one of the “public interest” groups supporting the reform bill and these supporters are not to be confused with “special interest” groups.

Flowing Data was the beginning of this little sojourn into farm policy.

On a related note, this is a visual exploration into our food choices.  What does 200 calories look like?

And, as long and I’m posting food pictures, here are a couple commentary pictures I found:

Only in America…

29. April 2010

First Person Tetris

Filed under: From the Web, Humor — Darin @ 12:05

Check this out.  My son found it, and it’s worth at least one trial just for the interesting twist on the game.

firstpersontetris.png

25. April 2010

Red Wine, or White?

Filed under: Humor — Darin @ 20:21

wine-selection.jpg

24. April 2010

History in a Nutshell

Filed under: Humor — Darin @ 16:34

For those that don’t know about history … Here is a condensed version:

 

Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.

 

The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:

1. Liberals, and

2. Conservatives.

 

Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That’s how villages were formed…

 

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to B-B-Q at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement.

 

Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly B-B-Q’s and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement.

Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. The rest became known as girlie-men. Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided.

 

Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass..

 

Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare. Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals.. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn’t fair to make the pitcher also bat.

 

Conservatives drink domestic beer, mostly Bud. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, athletes, members of the military, airline pilots, salesmen, and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.

 

Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America. They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.

 

Here ends today’s lesson in world history:

 

It should be noted that a Liberal may have a momentary urge to angrily respond to the above before forwarding it.

 

A Conservative will simply laugh and be so convinced of the absolute truth of this history that it will be forwarded immediately to other true believers and to more liberals just to tick them off.

Has your credit card been stolen?

Filed under: Humor — Darin @ 11:12

Found this on the web:

Free! Check if your credit card has been stolen!
If you fear your credit card info has been stolen, enter it here and you can find out for free. Avoiding fraud has never been easier!

  ismycreditcardstolen.png

Hint: The answer is yes.

(more…)

15. April 2010

The Easter Savings Club

Filed under: Uncategorized — Darin @ 10:34

 Wikipedia has this to say about Christmas Clubs:

The Christmas club is a savings program that was first offered by various banks during the Great Depression. The concept is that bank customers deposit a set amount of money each week into a special savings account, and receive the money back at the end of the year for Christmas shopping.

Christmas clubs have fallen by the wayside in recent years, largely replaced by credit cards - why pay all year for next year’s Christmas when you can pay all year for last year’s Christmas instead?  There is an interesting footnote in Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein that, though Christmas clubs have fallen out of favor, an Easter Savings Account still remains popular:

“Although Christmas clubs have become unpopular, most Americans still make use of a non-interest bearing savings vehicle that might be called the Easter account.  Three-quarters of Americans get refunds when they file their tax return, with the average refund being more than two thousand dollars.  If these refunds were described as interest-free loans to the government, they would probably not be so popular.  Although taxpayers could adjust their withholding rates to reduce the size of their refund, and in principle could earn interest on these funds throughout the year, many prefer to get the refund as a way of being forced to save.  When the refund comes, it feels like a windfall.”

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