Touching The Surface

Okay all,

Welcome to the new face of computing.

Picture this...in the rather sub-par movie, The Minority Report, Cruise's character uses a touch screen computer interface in which screens and information is whisked around the vertical display with the touch of his fingers. Fun, to say the least, but seemingly improbable in the forseeable future.

Now Microsoft answers those geeky sci-fi dreams. Microsoft Surface will be introduced in the Winter 2007, and I think it is really cool.

In my line of work, that sort of touch responsive capability would be very useful in brainstorming sessions, and I can only begin to imagine the possibilities. Think paginate capability or video editing. All sorts of cool!

Anyway, check it out, and then consider buying Microsoft options for '08, because this will change the face of computing.

Morrissey Live in Austin

Today I will be screaming for the Moz performing at the Backyard. This will be the second time I have seen him perform. It should be the third. This is that story you have all heard a million times. It is a repost from another place I have blogged and on this day it demands your viewing on the porch.

Tuesday June 18th, 1991

I was fourteen years old. That morning my cousin, his grilfriend, and his buddy drove to my partents house and picked up my brother and I for a day trip to Austin. This would be my first time to go to Austin. It would be the first time I was allowed to be further than 25 yards away from my home and parents. It was also the first time I would attend a concert.

I sat in the bed of his girlfriend's truck under the false security of a camper shell for what felt like a lifetime. We arrived in the capital city and weaved our way to the venue. I was delighted by the throngs of people floating about in multi-colored docs and hair. They trapsed about flowers in hand and waited. Soon, very soon, we would be in the air of Morrissey.

I did my duty as a fan and purchsed my tour t-shirt and various other goodies for myself and friends. Then we waited, and waited, and waited. Finally a man with a bull horn fumbling on crutches emerged from the doors. "Excuse me!" he shouted, "may I have your attention. There was an incident at last nights show in Dallas. Due to insufficient security measures at this venue Morrissey will not be performing tongiht!" The crowd gasped and quickly turned from chants of "Morrissey " to "BOO!!!" The flowers once so lovingly held soon formed a pile on the ground. That pile became the designated exit from the line. Each heel that crossed ground itself into the pulpy mass that once meant love and now disappointment, truely, truely.

In that instant I was crushed. My first roadtrip and concert a bust. My over priced t-shirt clinged to my pasty thin frame a constant reminder of the concert that never was. We returned to the truck and began the drive back to San Antonio.

The tickets for the Austin show would be honored at the next show in Houston or for a full refund at place of purchase. My parents made that decision and while my cousin, his girlfriend, and his buddy sat in Houston the next day, I sat in my room and recounted the events to Elvis Michaels a DJ at the community college radio station KSYM.

Though not as poetic as my recount it was accurate. I walked away from this a little wiser, a little more experienced about the world, and jaded with the music industry. I went to Austin to see Morrissey and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.

The insult to injury occured one year later. I was at the mall trying to get away from the family and worked my way into the music store. There in a large display was a Morrissey concert video. "Morrissey Live in Dallas" the very show that ruined my Austin adventure. I am now 30 years old. I still have not watched that video and will continue to refuse until death.

Last night Morrissey performed in Dallas. Let us hope that history does not repeat itself. If it does I can assure you there will be more than one man walking with crutches by the time I am done.

Cloak and dagger stuff

Friends of friends,

I will set the trifecta and we will have a quick rejoice over the fact that we have all come out onto the porch on the same day.

Now then --

It's been quite the stressful week for me. Big changes looming. Things happening. This has made me quite flaky. Sorry everyone.

But soon, very soon, I will reveal all. And we shall discuss.

EDIT: I mistook the date! I am out here all alone. Sniff.

Shafted

To begin I must apologize for my long leave from this sanctuary of creative freedom and speech. I have been quietly eking out my existence in our dear capital city. I am happy to report the semester is over. The cruelty that is higher education is in hibernation until the 31st at which time the beast will awaken and summer secession begins. How I love new cruelty.

Now my dear lovely and loyal readers I have stories to tell. So here I am and here it begins.

In an effort to lessen the normal pains of a harsh Monday morning I had decided to place some strategic hours at work on a Sunday. I had an employee coming in to assist me later in the day but for now I was at work, early, alone, and at peace. I began my hours with a review of the next days work load. I prepared a cart and loaded it with equipment I would need later. I then took the elevator to the 2nd floor to work on a class room, as I stepped into the elevator a strange feeling fell over me. In an OCD panic I frantically searched for my keys, phone, and ipod before the doors closed. The last inch of lobby light squeezed from my sight a stray thought popped in my head and I thought "it would really suck if I lost my keys down the elevator shaft." The doors opened I gripped my keys tight in my hand and I went to work. On my rounds I recalled at least two people that I knew off that had lost their keys down the elevator shaft and again I thought "it would really suck if I lost my keys down the elevator shaft." The work continued and my mind turned to other meaningless things as it so often does while I perform repetitious tasks on par with those only enjoyed by research primates and then rewarded with a banana. My missions took me repeatedly from floor to floor and back again. I was in Elevator #2 organizing a media cart while shuffling papers and drinking a coke. I reached into my pocket for my phone to check the time. In that instance I removed my phone, my keys, and some change and placed it on the cart. I checked the time put the phone on the cart, the elevator doors opened and I pushed my cart. The elevator had not leveled out with the lobby floor. The front wheels caught the raised edge. The rear wheels lifted and dropped and in that instance my keys leapt in a perfect arc, skated in the air in slow motion pausing only long enough for my brass keys to grab a ray of light and sparkle as gravity clawed them from there height and plunged them downward towards the abyss that lays between the elevator and the main floor. My keys did not have a chance. This wad of composite metal that usually weighs one side of my pants down. This conglomerate measuring three inches in diameter magically flattens itself to gracefully slide between a one and a half inch gap without touching either side. It was a dive that would make an Olympic swimmer cry. The only sound I heard was a tiny "plink" as they struck the bottom of the shaft. Then I realized it really does suck when your keys fall down the elevator shaft.



--

The exciting part of the story ends there. I had a spare set hidden in my office. I had an employee coming in later. I had an elevator crew retrieve my keys the next day. The story gets a happy ending but my pride is forever wounded and I now have an enemy for life. Elevator #2 you better watch your back, or your doors, or the buttons on your inside cause I refuse to take this kind of abuse from any hydraulic device... well except maybe a low rider... gotta keep it real viva la raza!

Presidential Posturing

Just in case you wanted to know where your favorite presidents position themselves in the annals of history, here your list.

The Opinion Journal polled 130 scholars of history, political science, economics, among others, and received responses from 85 individuals ranking presidential leadership performance. The Presidential Leadership Rankings would be surprising to some.

I found this newsworthy following President Carter's recent rantings regarding Bush's presidency as the worst in history. He needs to see where he falls first.

Most notably, our last three presidents, including the current George W. Bush, all fall under an average performance rating.

Regardless of anyone's political leaning, I'm sure we can all agree that Warren Harding sucked as a president.

Animated Goodness

I thought I would introduce you all to a 12 part animated online mini-series that I discovered while overseas. It will provide hours of visual candy for your viewing pleasure.

www.ninjai.com

Enjoy!

Knews Worth Knowing

Okay, I know that one of our members here is a member of the media establishment, and I have no desire diminish his daily contribution to the dissemination of news and information, but...

While there are clearly issues of the day that need to be addressed and discussed, there is really only one news source that provides the information that I "need to know" on a daily basis.

The Onion - America's Trusted News Source.

Death of an Icon?

Howdy,

Well, I thought I would stir up some discussion about the recent death of Jerry Falwell. His sudden and quiet death seems to be inspiring copious discussions throughout the media. With commentary, praise, and a strange lack of criticism coming from talking heads, politicians and peers, I thought it was worthy of insight from the porch.

Now, I personally was never a fan nor a critic of Falwell. In truth, I never paid much attention to him, other than keeping aware of his political activity because of his influence on the "religious right." My gut reaction was always to be wary of those profiting from evangelism and their faith. I don't much agree with the concept of the mega-church, of which his in Lynchburg was the first. They tend to bend the rules, and toss out pieces of the bible as they see fit in order to get more butts in the pews. Also, I was never a huge fan of the idea of forming political factions based on faith, regardless of the intention.

Now, I don't know his heart, and it's not my place to judge. I cannot say that his life pursuits were noble or corrupt, but no one can deny his realm of influence.

My question is this. Will his death, timed so well at the beginning of this election cycle, push him to martyrdom? Will this inspire the religious right to fight his battles at the voting booth? Some of the greatest movements in history have been catapulted on the deaths of their leaders. Will this be the start of a moral movement in America, or will it be just another death of an icon? I guess we will see what happens after this media cycle is over and his eulogy has been read and buried.

Introductions....

Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to Schroeder Alan Nelson.

Vital Statistics:

Weight: 8 lbs. 11 oz.

Length: 21 inches

Birthday: May 8th, 2007 @ 16:16 hours

It was a tough fight, but we managed to deliver after 10 hours of induced labor. He's gigantic, and suffered a factured collar bone during delivery, but all is well with him and momma. We returned home on Thursday to spend our first night together as a family in our own beds.

I can't even begin to get into a long narrative about everything. It would take too long. It's just awesome!

She *had* a baby

For those of you who didn't hear, Schroeder Alan Nelson came into the world on Tuesday at a healthy 8 pounds, 11 ounces. Sources tell me the baby was holding a copy of Sean Hannity's latest book, Deliver Us from Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Liberalism. Father must be so proud.

Both mom (and dad!) are doing fine. A hearty congratulations to the both of them.

She's Having A Baby

POINT -

Well, I'm fixin' to have myself a redneck little'un. Yep, I's gonna have myself a rugrat runnin' round the trailer, a fixin' to git itself into all sorts a troubles.

I reckon I gots to be payin' attention to makin' sure it don't git itself killed or nuthin' when playin' in the barn or with the livestock in the pen back in the back there. Course, it may toughin' him up a bit so that he can play football with the other feller's boys.

Don't it just beat all?! I gonna be a pappy! Sure 'nough had to happen some 'ventually. I guess it's nice a thinkin 'bout havin' me a tyke to take to Nascar or out to the boat show. Heck, if its a boy I just might have a new huntin' buddy. Yep, I reckon I'm darn proud. And I'm gonna make sure this kid gets hisself educated for sure. Might even show up his pappy and graduate up from the 5th grade. Boy, I sure is gonna be proud!

I can't wait to get this kid out on its first tractor pull!

COUNTER POINT -

It would seem that I will soon acquire the incomparable task of fatherhood. I equate the task to that of Atlas' struggle, with the weight of the world upon his shoulders.

Perhaps I will begin the life of my offspring with an inspiring introduction to some of the greater classical works of music and literature. While it is perhaps true that the infantile mind is not equipped to appreciate the finer subtleties of the arts, surely the early exposure will inspire a surfacing of talent so surely inherent within the genetic structure of this child.

I long for the days of choral performances, theatre training, and soft melodies played on woodwinds. We will rest easily on the terrace of the summer cottage as our child entertains.

Of course, I would not discount the academic pursuits that a child of this caliber would, no doubt, endeavor. The finest prepatory schools would most easily progress toward academic excellence a the finest ivy league programs. I have no doubt that I will raise a Rhodes Scholar.

Yes, I am sure you would agree that I will soon be a proud father.

What's the Digg deal?

Gents,

Of course we're all aware of Digg, the online 'news' community where users determine what's most important on the site through a democratic process of "digging" the stories they like best. You know, power to the people.

It demonstrates the immense power of the modern Web, but mostly I think it's a silly place where national and international sideshows mingle among the latest Nintendo cheat codes and endless stupid posts about the competition between Sony's Playstation 3 and Microsoft's XBox 360.

In any case, I frequent it to see what everyone from casual web users to Nintendo Wii fanboys think is important. So imagine my surprise when I found the site in the midst of a full-fledged user revolt.

The back story, according to Wired.com's blog: Someone posted a hex-key code that controls encryption for the new HD-DVD formatted discs. With the code, an industrious hacker could defeat the copy protection on HD-DVD discs.

Apparently, the moderators at Digg quickly deleted the post. The user re-posted it, and it was deleted again, as well as the user's account. Digg's moderators explained they had no choice, as the owners of the intellectual property asked for the offending post to be removed.

But instead, that set off a firestorm of angry reaction from the Digg community, mostly in the form of countless posts containing the offending code, some in unique and creative ways. There's a song, poetry and other seemingly normal posts with the code slipped in. (My favorite is the post with lyrics to the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" with the code in place of the words "Bel-Air.")

So when you go to Digg, you see this code all over the place. Others are digging the stories up to the main page and saying they don't care if their accounts are cancelled because they've lost faith in Digg anyway.

Is this a big deal? Of course it is. This is a bona-fide Web phenomenon, an example of our values at work in the online community. Free speech is a constitutional freedom in America, and regardless of your personal stance in the issue, it's refreshing to see that young people do have the capacity to care deeply when they feel their own rights are seriously being infringed upon.

That being said, we know young people don't vote. If Diggers believe so strongly in democracy on the Web, they should take part in the real thing.

Thoughts?

UPDATE: At about 1 a.m. on Wednesday morning, the site went down. Not sure what'll be there when it goes back up.