Sunday, December 26, 2010

Global Warming?

I'm inclined to agree with the majority of public scientists; the Earth is warming up. I'm not as inclined to agree that this warming trend will be the end of civilization as we know it. Actually, humans can adapt, have adapted and will continue to adapt as the Earth changes with or without our help. Though, I do think it's rather silly of us to change the ecosystem by accident when we could easily do so on purpose. We could water a few states by drilling a large tunnel from Death Valley to the ocean. The evaporation would provide rain for Arizona, Utah, Nevada and parts of Mexico. (My theory)
On a more serious note, before global warming gets to an unbearable point, we have the danger of algae blooms creating dead zones in the oceans and the possibility of hydrogen sulfide eruptions from the decaying vegetal matter. See this link for an example: http://www.physorg.com/news170743350.html As nitrogen from fertilizers is allowed to pollute our waters, algae feed on it. Some algae types are not beneficial to complex animal organisms. As we overfish, we pull the ecological system further out of balance. Fishing one species allows another species more food to grow. With fewer fish, jellyfish take over the niche. As CO2 is absorbed by the oceans, corals die and grasses grow in their place. Remember, nature abhors a vacuum. This is not just cliche, it is life! It is silly that we change the balance of species on accident to our detriment when we could as easily do it on purpose to our benefit. Silly. Self-defeating. Perhaps self-exterminating? Were we to target 'trash fish' for consumption, the more tasty varieties would gain population again.
Always perform for the greatest gain. To be short sighted is a luxury we can no longer afford. We complain about fuel prices but buy houses far from where we work and work far from where we live. If we designed our cities for efficient use (allowing multiple zoning perhaps?) we could accomplish the same work for less energy. Why can't we build skyscrapers where employees lived a few floors from where they work? No one would force you to live where you work but perhaps offering a discount on the rent if you work in the building?
So here are some ideas with expected benefits:
Stop fishing the good stuff - let the populations rebound.
Live close to work. Work close to home. - use less fuel (cheaper insurance, too!)
Use less fertilizer on crops so less washes away to the oceans - keep our atmosphere free from hydrogen sulfide
Turn the lights off at night. Including the streetlights. - Lets see some stars (and save energy)
Any other ideas, anyone?

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Tabasco’s Long Road, a SWOT Analysis

My father and I love Tabasco sauce. We use it in our cooking to spice up dishes and enhance existing flavours. My father says Tabasco will be around forever, but will it? As Jeffery Rothfeder says, this “closed, quaint family business collides with 21st century realities.” (BusinessWeek, 2007) How does this one and a half century-old company survive in our modern times?

Strengths:
Since 1868 the McIlhenny’s have been making their signature product, Tabasco sauce. By adhering to the original recipe and ensuring consistent quality they have developed a loyal customer base. Their brand is known world-wide and Paul McIlhenny, the current CEO says, “We sell directly to 165 countries and we print labels in more than 20 languages.” (Pepitone, 2010) The McIlhenny recipe is simple, Tabasco peppers, salt and vinegar. They age the mash for up to three years in used white oak bourbon barrels. (Pepitone, 2010) This has the side benefit of creating a noncyclical product – they aren’t dependent on the seasons for selling their product. The McIlhenny Company caters to its fans, offering not just sauces in sizes from 1/8th oz to gallon jugs, but also Tabasco related products - kitschy knick-knacks like the camouflage Tabasco holster and Tabasco bottle shaped flash drives. (Tabasco.com, 2010)

Weaknesses:
The McIlhenny Company’s greatest weakness may be its practice of nepotism. Very few companies that keep the business in the family survive for more than a few generations. The makers of the iconic Tabasco sauce have proven to be the exception to the rule so far. Jeffery Rothfeder, author of the book Tabasco Road, “maintains that the company's set-up demands that it find more ways to expand. When it was established, all family members were deemed shareholders—the only shareholders. Consequently, the dividends owed them multiply with each generation.” (BusinessWeek, 2007) As the family grows, dividends paid will be diluted unless the company increases profits or buys out other family members. Another issue with nepotism is that there may not be a family member with the skills needed for a particular position. Hiring the best qualified person for the position strengthens a company.

Opportunities:
While the McIlhenny Company has expanded its business by selling Tabasco sauce in 165 countries, it has not complemented its newer products with any large scale advertising campaign. There is a great market for both milder flavours and for the extremely hot sauces. Companies are not only advertising in television, radio and print. Today, social media is the hot new way to advertise. MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter, and dozens more websites have millions of potential customers sharing their likes and links to products. To ignore this new advertisement medium would be folly.

Threats:
Complicated labor laws create a difficult environment to do business in. Paul McIlhenny says, “Look at the laws regarding wages, labor relations, 401(k)s, health care. It's all highly regulated now. There was no HR in 1868. It's much more complicated than it was in every area of administration -- the legal requirements of shipping, different laws for each state, tax laws, different laws for every country…” (Pepitone, 2010) Regulations aren’t the only thing that has changed since 1868. With the increased population and economy, boutique sauce companies have sprung up, each with their own products vying for consumers’ attention – and wallets.

Conclusion
My father believes that this sauce will be around forever, and I hope that is true. Few companies are willing to invest the amount of time into their products that the McIlhenny’s do. While I wonder how the McIlhenny’s will deal with the changing business landscape, competitors, and fickle consumers, I’m sure they will adapt. Their flagship product, Tabasco sauce, is worth keeping around for several more generations. Their attention to quality has attracted fans all over the world and in the highest places. “It is said, that to this day, Queen Elizabeth uses Tabasco pepper sauce on her lobster cocktail.” (Stradley, 2004) Who knows quality better than the Queen?

Bibliography

BusinessWeek, Tabasco Road (October/November, 2007)
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_44/b4056444.htm retrieved 2010-09-25

Sara Pepitone (March 1, 2010) 142 years old and still hot, CNN
http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/01/smallbusiness/tabasco/index.htm retrieved 2010-09-25

Shevory, Kristina (2007-03-31), The Fiery Family, The New York Times,
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F03E7D81130F932A05750C0A9619C8B63, retrieved 2010-09-25

Tabasco website, http://countrystore.tabasco.com/ retrieved 2010-09-25

Stradley, Linda (2004) History of TABASCO Pepper Sauce
http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Tabasco.htm retrieved 2010-09-25

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Financial Education

Consider the state of finances in the American public today. Reputable banks are seemingly unwilling to lend and loan sharks are all too willing to lend, but at a significant price. The American markets are still reeling from the financial collapse caused by a perfect storm of loose lending practices, greedy real estate agents, and ignorant home buyers. If any one of these had shown some responsibility or foresight, the collapse may not have occurred. As individuals we cannot change the bank’s practices nor the high pressure sales tactics used by the real estate agents. We can however, fix our own ignorance and we should teach what we have learned to the next generation so they may learn from our mistakes.
Solid financial knowledge is scarce in the general public. Advertisements compel us to continually buy with little regard to payment. With our desire for instant gratification, we use our debit and credit cards so often it is difficult to balance a checkbook. The tax code is complex. One of my managers, who has a PhD, mentioned to me that he doesn’t know how to do his own taxes. The news is full of stories about people who bought homes under terms they didn’t understand. In 2006 George McCarthy, a housing economist at New York’s Ford Foundation, said an option ARM is, “like a neutron bomb. It’s going to kill all the people but leave the houses standing.”(Der Hovanesian, 2006) His words were prophetic. Many who took out ARMs lost everything when the rates brought up the payments due on their houses. I believe there are few that know how to use an amortization schedule to their benefit. Even this tool however, is made impotent by contracts which eliminate the ability to calculate interest and predict future payments.
Financial predators are common and often merciless. Payday loan companies peddle their services to the poor and ignorant, earning millions from people who can’t pay their bills. While payday loans have recently been outlawed, the companies peddling them have found ways to stay in business by changing the name of the loan or offering them online. (Quinn, 2010) (Fox11, 2010) Banks gave loans to people who could not afford them, leading to the current housing financial collapse. Credit card companies often charge fees for customers to use their own money. For a ‘secured’ credit card, there is an annual fee, plus the deposit. Customers can only borrow against the deposit and the interest charges go to the company. Capital One and Wells Fargo are among those that offer this type of credit card. (www.capitalone.com, www.wellsfargo.com)
Despite all the bad news, there are individuals who are not only knowledgeable about finances but are also willing to share. There are several philosophies presented by wealthy authors who share their rich experience. On one end of the financial spectrum there are books like Robert Kiyosaki’s best seller Rich Dad, Poor Dad, which stresses business intelligence and becoming wealthy by earning more. At the conservative end of the spectrum are books like David Chilton’s The Wealthy Barber, which takes a common sense strategy to creating a comfortable retirement through savings. As Franklin said, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” (Franklin, B.) The internet provides forums for like-minded individuals to create and share ideas. Columnist MP Dunleavey blogs about her and others’ experiences geared toward female readers in MSN Money. (MSN) “MyMoney.gov is the U.S. government's website dedicated to teaching all Americans the basics about financial education.” (MyMoney) With so much combined knowledge and experience available to us, there is no excuse for the general public to be so ill-informed about finances.
Teaching finance while students are young would open discussions about money. This would hopefully mitigate our existing cultural taboo on financial communication. Communication is essential to educating about money. A basic finance course would educate about balancing checkbooks, reconciliations, and the use of savings accounts and loans. Some high schools are already requiring finance credits. (Wu, 2010) Students would learn how to build credit, compare credit card offers, and prepare for large purchases like a college education, car, or house. These are some of the basics we need to know to live outside our childhood home, to avoid scams, and to negotiate better deals.
We need to start early to teach finances. As the bible says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6 KJB) By consistently and systematically training financial responsibility in our youth we may rest assured that this nation will not soon suffer financially as we are now. We have the knowledge available to us. We have the need. Considering the state of our nation’s finances, we can and must do better. I’ll end by quoting Benjamin Franklin again, “Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.”
References
Franklin, B. (n.d.). The Financial wisdom of benjamin franklin. Retrieved August 23, 2010, from http://www.echristianfinance.com/2010/03/the-financial-wisdom-of-benjamin-franklin/
Capital One (2010) Retrieved August 7, 2010, from http://www.capitalone.com/creditcards/products/secured/?sol=11296&tc=1&credit=3&linkid=WWW_0608_CARD_TGAFF01_Z_Z_01_T_CP29601LW
Der Hovanesian, M. (2006) Nightmare Mortgages. Retrieved August 7, 2010, from http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_37/b4000001.htm
Fox 11 (2010) Payday loans on notice in Arizona. Retrieved August 7, 2010, from http://www.fox11az.com/news/local/Payday-loans-on-notice-in-Arizona-96067344.html
The Holy Bible (1611) [Online], Available: http://scriptures.lds.org/prov/22/6#6
MSN (2010) Meet the Women in Red. Retrieved August 23, 2010, from http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/Advice/MeetTheWomenInRed.aspx
MyMoney (2010) Welcome to MyMoney.gov. Retrieved August 23, 2010, from http://mymoney.gov/
Quinn, D. (2010) Industry shifting to new services as payday lending becomes illegal. Retrieved August 7, 2010, from http://azstarnet.com/news/article_ff55e5ce-2c89-5ccb-9d1f-1bbc73dfff89.html
Wells Fargo (2010), Retrieved August 7, 2010, from https://www.wellsfargo.com/credit_cards/secured/
Wu, A. (2010, July 23) School Credit. Newsweek, [Online], Available: http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/23/school-credit.html

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

DeVry Open House - Careers for the 21st Century

Devry is having an open house next month, August 7th. http://www.choosedevry.com/openhouse/index.html?vc=200101#/arizona/mesa-center
1201 S Alma School Rd. Suite 5450 in Mesa.
To register, please call 888.460.9559 or visit DeVry.edu/Phoenix

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

MyScribe eReader

As a student at DeVry, I am using an eReader called MyScribe. Having used it for a little over three weeks, I have developed a few opinions about it. There are some rather serious flaws in the software, but if these problems are ironed out it would be an excellent program.

Major issue - unreadable text. Scrolling down my statistics book, I suddenly saw classic gobbledygook. Closing and restarting MyScribe seems to have cleared this issue for now.

Taking notes: Myscribe allows notetaking on your eBook! This awesome feature is only marred by closing spontaneously before I'm finished writing my note. This happens often esp. if I pause to think about what I'm writing. It acts like it is on a short timer.

Applets: Are the applets supposed to do something? A potentially useful teaching tool but mine do nothing. Example - applet on 1.3 of Elementary Statistics, Fourth Ed, by Ron Larson and Betsy Farber. It looks like a random number generator. Specify minimum and maximum values and the number of samples and press the button. Presto chango! Nothing happes on this one. (All the applets are dead, actually.) I can't even type in my numbers.

Scrolling: scrolling is not smooth between pages. Sometimes it pauses quite a while. This may have to do with my memory, but it would be nice if the scrolling was steady.

Auto Summary: While useful (I think it is a great feature!) it does not handle math well at all. f/n (where the f is over the n) is shown as "f n" Mixing text and variables results in useless/unreadable notes. I was esp. saddened by this as I am taking Statistics. I need those equations.

Page numbers: This is just a note for future improvement. I would love to see the Book page # and the eBook page # being the same. For example, my stat book's page 1 is on page 25 of the eBook. Most educational books have pages i, ii, iii, iv, etc before the regular number system begins. I would have thought that MyScribe (pushed by the college) would compensate for these pages. Adobe Reader does this well on the one PDF math book I have.

For reference, I have a laptop running Windows Vista, Norton 360, it has 2GB RAM and I usually run MyScribe alongside Word and Excel and perhaps a web browser, IE7.

Conclusion: MyScribe has some great features including note-taking, highlighting, and an auto-summary that seems to work backwards (page up to see the following page.) If the bugs were worked out MyScribe would be a valuable educational tool. As it is, I see incredible potential hampered by poor execution. Perhaps the next upgrade will be better.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Prayer in Peace

We had lots of fun last night. The family went to a friends pool and played. I enjoyed the "hold your breath" contest. Restful. The wife and kids went home leaving me to help our friends move furniture. When Kim said the prayer over dinner, it almost brought tears to my eyes. No, really! It was the first prayer in AGES I could actually hear without "I wanted to say it" "She's saying it wrong" "Martin's not folding his arms" and the like. Prayers among adults are different than those with four kids. Then we talked about the latest finds on the internet. The French rock pop Romeo et Juliette was awesome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-2DCYbb-uM I think I would enjoy it just for the music but with the subtitles it is nice to be able to understand what they are saying. My French is not up to snuff though I do pick out the occasional word here and there. Dani drove me home and told me about Friendly Hostility, another webcomic. I'll check it out next I have the time. www.friendlyhostility.com

Thursday, June 10, 2010

I, for one, LIKED Google's new look

The beautiful shades of green and blue, startling not only in their vibrancy but their context, surprised me as I logged on to Google early today. I wondered what the occasion was. Google has often used Easter Eggs to celebrate holidays and momentous anniversaries. One such recent anniversary celebrated 30 years of Pacman. The Pacman Easter egg is still available at www.google.com/pacman This photo of islands was a surprise take as it filled the search screen instead of being contained by the logo as was the usual case. Later, at work, I had occasion to use Google again - and there was a new picture, this one of glass floats in a lily pond. I noticed the option to change my backgrounds if I logged in and made my final decision: I like it! To my dismay, returning to Google later brought only the classic white background. What happened? Evidently, I am in the minority. Most others thought it too 'Bing,' a correlation I did not make until it was pointed out to me. While Bing is useful, I still feel Google is best. I enjoy the memorable graphics, Easter eggs, and of course the versatile search options Google supports. Experiment away, Google! Never fear to innovate. (Just let me have my privacy.)

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Pier dé Orleans

Tonight I took my wife to Pier dé Orleans, a restaurant in Mesa. Eileen ordered the Hawaiian Fish with a side of salad. I got the frog legs with a side of clam chowder. The fish was breaded with coconut, pecans and cashew nuts and served with a pineapple sauce. It looked like it would be as hard as a rock but instead was tender, juicy and flaky. Yes, I snitched some from Eileen’s plate. As she says, “pinched food tastes better.” The last time I was there, I ordered the escargot and was pleasantly surprised at how meaty they were – and not slimy at all! Tonight’s frog legs were another new experience. I’ve only had frog legs once before. Grandpa Gaylord and I tried them skillet fried in his motor home one summer many years ago. I didn’t much care for them. Food prepared by a professional is much better. Pier dé Orleans tender and mild frog legs were breaded and fried, served with tartar sauce and coleslaw. Their flavor was mild like chicken with a texture like fish. The meat practically fell off the bones. Imagine eating very slim drumsticks and you get the idea. The coleslaw seemed fresh and the French fries were perfect. Sadly, I committed my perennial mistake and ate too much to order the dessert. That’s a pity since the Praline Muffin topped with ice cream, pecans, whipped cream, caramel sauce and a cherry sounded so good. Next time, perhaps. 61 E. University Street, Mesa between Center and Mesa Dr. www.pierdeorleans.com

Monday, April 5, 2010

Beets are Bolting

The weather is warming up and my veggies are bolting. The spinach is almost done. I'll collect the seeds when they dry out a little. Some of my beets are bolting, too. I harvested two beets today with some spinach and lettuce for a dinner salad. Goal: harvest beets before they all go to seed. It's too late for two of them - more seeds for next season. From now on I'll try to follow the Vegetable Planting Calendar at
http://ag.arizona.edu/extension/pubs/garden/az1005.pdf.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Ada Lovelace Day

Today was Ada Lovelace day. She is credited with having written the first computer program - before the first computer had been built. She wrote her algorithm for Babbage's Analytical Machine, which he had designed but not yet built. I love lady geeks! ♀ www.Ladyada.net is another of my favourite websites. Her Minty MP3 player is really cool. Why would anyone build an MP3 player when it would be cheaper to buy? If you have to ask, you've probably never accomplished anything on your own - but there is still hope! Go and Build Something Today!

Monday, March 22, 2010

Ah, Spring!

Spring is in the air. My mother-in-law brought jasmine flowers with her when she visited a few days ago. They smelled so sweet it inspired me to get some of my own. One for my wife, one for my brother and his wife (birthdays coming up) and one for me. Wife wants it in the back yard, I want it in the front. I was also inspired by a squarefoot gardening class I went to the other night. Don Richins, an SFG Certified Instructor, led the class. www.sonorangarden.com is his website. www.squarefootgardening.com for the official SFG website. I loved the class, it inspired me to want to plant more vegetables. The best thing, though, was the calendar. I can never seem to remember when to plant what. I just planted garlic a few weeks ago. Its coming up and healthy. Looking in the calendar, it says garlic should be planted in... ...October! Huh? So I'm a little off. Heh heh heh. Sigh. http://ag.arizona.edu/maricopa/garden/ and click on the Monthly Garden Guide for what to plant when. April seems to be the month for beans, jicama, melons, onions, radishes, squash and tomatoes. Yum! I think I'll go plant radishes tomorrow. Maybe some melons. Anyone for squash?

Monday, March 8, 2010

Bad Counter!

Naughty hit counter broke my blog! I had to remove it so my blog would stop redirecting to findtsee.com/myport.php?ref=fxlayer So irritating! Not that anyone reads my blog, but I would like to be able to read my own blog from time to time. findtsee seems to be some cheap second - maybe third-rate Google knockoff. I'll try a different counter, I heard Statcounter works...

It's a boy!

This morning, my wife gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. We are naming him Darien. He came out and gave a squaller then voiced his protest at being let out into the cold by letting loose a little stream! The nurses cleaned him up and ran their tests while I happily snapped pictures of our darling little son. He weighed 7lb 6oz and is a respectable 20" long. I stayed and talked with Eileen while calling the family and letting them know the good news. I tried the hospital cafeteria for lunch at Eileen's reccomendation. She said it was "gourmet." The bleu cheese and bacon hamburger was actually well made, though I have decided to leave bleu cheese to salad dressing. Our best friend, Dani came by, then her sister Kim. Finally, I had to leave to get the kids to bed - grandma was watching them. On my way out I saw Beth, looking slightly lost so I extended my arm and led her to Eileen. I left them chatting and went home to make dinner. Some ladies from the church stopped by and left cowboy beans and rolls, chips and cheese. That was more interesting than what I was going to make so that was my dinner. The kids wanted cereal. Of course. After the brushing of teeth and bedtime story, there was the obligatory ups and downs. The kids got up, I put them down. Repeat a few times until they get stuck in the down position and fall asleep. I planted another row of carrots to make up for missing Saturday. I'm trying to plant one row each week in the hopes of staggering my harvest the same way. We'll see what happens. Good night!

Monday, March 1, 2010

Cafe Lalibela

If you like ethnic food, Cafe Lalibela is one of the best I have found in Tempe. They serve Ethiopian cuisine. All joking aside, their dishes are filling and reasonably priced. I took my wife there for her birthday last week. She had a mild platter and I ordered the manager's special. The dishes are served on a kind of sourdough tortilla. Umm, that's not right. It's round like a tortilla and soft. To eat, tear off a piece of the bread and scoop up the beef, chicken, lamb or whatever to carry it to your mouth. No utensils, not even a spork! The spicy dishes could have been hotter, but that's just my taste. I loved the mango juice. One day, I'm going to try to order dessert there. I've heard the tiramisu is especially good. I never get to dessert because I'm just too full!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Huzzah for the Ren Faire!

I spent the best Monday in a long time all day at the Arizona Renaissance Faire! We usually get there before it opens, and stay until they have to kick us out. We were a bit late this time (had to get the kids ready.) I'm so glad we have a van, now. We wanted a Honda Odyssey, but they are out of our price range so we got a gently used Nissan Quest. Wife loves the sliding doors on both sides - but I digress. The Arizona Renaissance Faire is 30 acres of music, dancing, crafts, shows (three jousts during the day!) and shops. The web address is http://www.royalfaires.com/arizona/. My favorite shows are three: The Carillon by Cast in Bronze is a set of church bells played like an enormous organ. Sit in back to protect your ears. Zilch the Toreysteller http://www.torysteller.com/ tells well known stories with spoonerisms. You know, spoonerism named after Rev. Spooner who... look him up, it's fascinating. I attended Jomeo and Ruliet but missed Tairy Fails, sigh. Last but not least - Hey Nunny Nunny. They had some new material this year, Huzzah! Loved the pearly gates joke. I told it at work today and was told I'm lucky my audience didn't have his gun on him. I'm sure he was joking... Anyway, after the faire we went to Organ Stop Pizza. Yum! The organist played Phantom very well, as he always does. By then our kids were on their last legs and our dear friends had to leave as well. We have a set of friends I feel close kinship with. They are all of them very unique. A perfect fit for the Faire!

Friday, February 12, 2010

ThoseDarnCats!

Thecatshavebeenfighting.
Theyranthroughthehouse,knockingoverthisandthat.
Theyranovermynewkeyboard.
ThoseDrattedCats!
IhavenoSPACEBARanymore!
Whattodo,whattodo?
IfixedtheSHIFTkeyandthe"1"button,butIhavenospacebar.
Must.
Find.
Part.
For.
Spacebar!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Protection Racket

I'm not a big fan of SAAS. It has its place, I'm sure. Enterprise solutions are, for example a good application for SAAS. It makes sense from a business standpoint to more easily budget for IT expenditures. I just want no part of it. SAAS has no place in personal virus scanners! For those unaware, SAAS stands for Software As A Service. In essence, you don't own the software, you rent it. Much like a lawn service where you pay in intervals for them to come mow and edge your lawn, SAAS allows access to software as long as you pay for it. Norton Antivirus, otherwise one of the best antiviruses out there, used to sell you the program and gave you virus updates for one year after installation. When the year was over, it stopped downloading definitions for new viruses and asked that you renew or upgrade, at your earliest convenience. Now once your year's subscription is over, it stops working! That's right folks, not only does it not download new virus definitions - it completely stops working. No virus protection, online backup, phishing blocking or nothing. I understand wanting to keep the revenue coming in, but seriously, if the customer doesn't pay you right away that's no reason to cut him off at the knees!
I may be old fashioned in my preference to 'buy' (pay for and own) my stuff. The rights afforded the customer used to be grand. Now you better watch your step and toe the line. If what you do doesn't earn the corporation money - they might sue you. Mix tapes were awesome! Buy the albums you like, then copy the songs in the order you wanted onto a new tape (like a playlist.) Now they say copying songs is illegal. What about fair use? I learned to program by changing the code in other's programs like the game Sammy Snake. That's frowned upon now too. How much longer until you can't even mod your car for fear of 'infringing' on someone's IP?
Sorry for the downer. I'll post something happier next time.

My Dioon edule is emerging!

Hooray! I am so happy! I went to work like normal today, checked the fridge (not really a fridge, it's a passthrough chamber that connects to the cleanroom) and started some paperwork. I'm the Quality Control Technician. I would love to drop the 'technician' part of my title. It means I'm just another grunt trading hours for dollars. I would love to get paid for results or for creating new devices, but that's another story. Anyway, I checked the terrarium I have in my cubicle and saw a small, barely noticable tendril peeking its hairy head up out of the soil and gently lifting a pebble out of its way in search of light. I had almost given up hope that any would sprout. I planted the darn things last year before Christmas! So the terrarium is only about as wide as my thumb and as long as my hand. I planted four very large seeds in the damp peat, covered them with the packet of sand and finished it off by placing the pebbles on the sand. The pebbles came in the box with the sand and everything. I got it from Hobby Lobby. Hobby Lobby was boring for me - until I discovered the trains and rockets in one of the back isles! As the trains were expensive and the rockets... I have small children, you understand. So lurking in the back isles I discovered a trove of cheap treasures. Grow your own Triops! Grow your own edible cycad! Grow your own... you get the idea.
So: Dioon Edule. It is commonly known as the chestnut palm, among other things. It grows in Mexico and is near threatened (slightly rare.) Check Wikipedia for more info. I found that although it is edible, and the seeds may be ground into flour to make tortillas, the female plants bloom every ten to fifty years! I thought I waited a long time for it to sprout, but I'll be waiting even longer for my Dioon tortillas. I'll be patient.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Saturday

So the rain has stopped. I knew it would. Rain is a guest in arizona and, like all good friends, it know that guests are like fish...
... After three days they begin to stink.

My tomatoes have sprung to life, leaping from the moist earth in slow motion. They were in their peat pots on a sprouting tray on top of the fridge (it's warmer there.) I checked the other day and none were apparent. Today they are almost two inches tall. I set them outside for some sun while I turned vermiculite and peat into the cement mix we call dirt here in the valley. My cement - I mean dirt is better than most. It has for a decade been augmented like the borg, only with sulphur, sand, and manure instead of lasers and such. Whilst unattended, the seedlings were disturbed. Sigh. I tell myself the children will learn. I'm sure they will, after they move out! Only one seedling looks like it may perish, the rest stand tall.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Slippery When Wet

Still it rains. This is good for my garden. I just planted luffa, carrots (Thumbelina carrots because I'm out of the regular kind), tomatoes and pease to add to the other pease, spinach, lettuce, beets and peppers. Funny story about the Thumbelinas: Last year, Wife was excited about the carrots looking so large and ready to pick that she made a big ceremony of the carrot pulling experience. We gathered round as she made comments like, "Oh this looks so big I may need help pulling it!" In breathless anticipation we watched as she firmly grasped the carrot top, steadied herself and - bink! The carrot, a demure sphere came from the ground as if eager to be eaten in one modest bite. Yes, Thumbelina carrots are well adapted to hard and rocky soil. Instead of penetrating into the tough ground, it sits teasingly on top of it - Looking to the whole world to be a regular spike of orange carroty goodness. This is but a facade - Like those fake bricks one may laminate their houses with. Small but tasty, we shall have them again.

The rain is, however, not so good for the Arizona drivers. Practice makes perfect, they say and the drivers here have NO practice driving in weather! I wish they would make public service announcements about this kind of thing, "Well folks, looks like rain is on the horizon. That means water will be falling from the sky and onto the roads. This makes the roads slippery, so slow down! The life you save could be your own. Oh, and for those unfamiliar with turn signals, they are used to indicate your intention to turn." Of course, the announcer would not be so snarky. Or maybe he would - what do you think?

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Rain, Glorious Rain!

It rains! I am happy. This week I bought a present for my wife - a bababerry and a blackberry from the Home Depot and planted them. Now it rains, watering her present so I don't have to. This has been a difficult month, though, and an expensive one. Since we are expecting, I bought a minivan to transport our brood. It died on the way home from the dealership. I had it towed and got it fixed. Then someone turned into my lane and I hit him with the old car. Aire compressor died (bad switch) so I fixed it with a new switch from Circuit Specialists. Kitchen light died. So it is true... when it rains, it pours!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Recap - Best of 2009

The best website of 2009 has to be www.wolframalpha.com.
It is a search engine, like Google. Unlike Google, it does not search for websites, but rather for data. Type an equation, it displays the result, graph, derivative, integral, series representation and more. Enter a stock symbol and you get market cap, listing price, highs and lows, etc. I asked for the weather in Seattle when Jimmi Hendrix was born - and it delivered! (38° with 88% humidity, in case you're wondering.)
This website has one downside that I can see: It has a hard time interpreting inputs correctly at times, but this is improving.
My favorite use: math homework! I always seem to get stuck on the trig integrals. Wolfram doesn't just give the answer, it also shows the steps to get the answer!
I give it Two Thumbs Up!