Best of Trigger Happy

Best of trigger happy 19 min. Warning: Couple of bad words, but oh so funny.

The One Question IQ Test

Sixwise.com has a one question IQ test.

Pretty Scenery

Check out Oberpriller's Blog for some pretty pictures of Texas. Maybe every place is pretty if you know where to look?

No, I do not know what an Oberpriller is.

Family Day at the Ballpark

There is a netted cage area where you can keep your kids if you do not want to bother with them during the game. Very handy!


NatJ on Ruth Ann's lap sitting next to Perry. Next row down: Kim, Brittney, Matt's Mom, Matt's Girl, Matt. Next row down: BigC's three boys, BigC's wife, BigC and Jim.


Brandon, Emily, My Seat, Ruth Ann with NatJ again, and Perry. Next row down: Kim, Brittnet, Matt's Mom, Matt's Girl, Matt. Next row down: Jim looking back at Matt.


Emily


Ruth Ann and Emily. Seat for Wife #2, but she was not able to make it.


Perry


My Marjorie, and Perry's Megan. They are the same age and got on fabulously.


Megan


Obligatory baseball photo.


Odd shot of Moi saying goodbye.


Megan again.

Very Boring Pitcher

Fabulous Pitcher Demonstrates Technique

NetFlix List

Raven was courageous enough to post her NetFlix top 10, so I thought I would do the same. Anything embarassing on the list are my wife's selections.

1. The Karate Kid
2. Winter Passing
3. The Trial of Old Drum
4. The World's Fastest Indian
5. Earthquake
6. Syriana
7. Rumor Has It...
8. The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
9. Mrs Henderson Presents
10. Elizabethtown

Unlike Raven, I hold myself to no limit of selections and my queue has grown to 252 movies as I write this.

Dawn of the Way

Here is my dabble into painting. I do not pretend that it is good. I am one of those crazy people that instead of taking a class or lessons or something, instead say to themselves, "You just put paint on canvas! How hard can it be?" Well in fact it is quite difficult. The painting was much more fabulous in my mind than what ended up on canvas.

The 3 crosses are an obvious Christian reference. The fact that the landscape is flat gives away that it is an abstract and not meant as a literal interpretation of the Calvary scene. The bottom landscape is supposed to represent the infinity of space, and the top part with the sort of meteoric items moving are supposed to represent the infinity of time. The idea is that in the center of all time and space lies the sacrifice of Jesus and the message that God loves us which is the most important, and perhaps only important fact in the world.

I suppose if I practiced or actually took a class or lesson I could improve, but I am a victim of too many good things to do in life, and lack of space to set up anything for long, so I have not returned to painting, even though I have a number of additional ideas in mind. Maybe someday.

Two Good Movies

I have seen 2 good 1930's era romance movies lately.

The first is The White Countess starring Ralph Fiennes and Natasha Richardson. It takes place in China between the wars and deals with 2 people trying to create and maintain thier lives when the world around them is falling apart. Wonderful acting and scenery. Natasha Richardson, despite her name and the part that she plays is actually a British actress of the Redgrave clan.

The second movie is A Good Woman starring Helen Hunt and Scarlett Johansson, although Tom Wilkinson steals the movie with his Tuppy character. I was amazed at how witty the dialoge was, but then I remembered that this movie is based on an Oscar Wilde play. For the movie, they moved the play to Italy in the 1930's. It seemed to work for the movie, although I have not read the play so I can not comment on whether it was an improvement or not. The movie is basically all dialogue so, if that does not appeal to you, then you will not like this movie, but I loved it.

Joke: Two Biscuits

Two biscuits were in an oven. One says to the other, "It sure is hot in here!" The other biscuit says, "Ack! A talking biscuit!!!"

San Antonio Matt

Before the recent Open Source Fest, I spoke about a month before in San Antonio at a computer club meeting. There I met a professional programmer who was very much interested in my NewI\O project. However, he had some personal issues that he had to take care of before he could participate. I just got this e-mail from him this morning:

Landed a job on Thursday in Austin with Cirrus Logic.

Got Married on Saturday.

Going on the Honeymoon today.

Hitting up the NewI/O code when I get back.

Having total satisfaction with my life thus far. Priceless.

Hope all is well with you, and looking forward to pushing forward with the project.

Matt

Not only is he still very much interested, but he just got a job in my own city so that will facilitate us working together. Nice! I am pretty excited.

New Haircut

In honor of the global heatwave that the northern hemisphere is expereincing I got a short haircut.

Spam Poetry

I confess I am fascinated by spam poetry:

Laser Tag.
impact
Devil
textbooks uploaded carrying time.To
Including Cable Support:
Aluria Spyware
Lotus pcshow buzz IsoBuster Pandora
Sierra Creek
narrow
else. appetite hours
Espresso Makers Garden Microwave
helpful usually specific partial invoicing like.Its recent obsession realized market
purse
machined parts danger working
Because melt
Care:
clamp unsure reason.
ColesJoel Kidd Santa
executive business. MovieLink
polyester trim. Colors:
shared greatest
Vision
Archiving NACJD MyData
Inside Hoffa. might. depends
Answer Appears NAACP Intl Blasts Giants Charges Videotape SexSlay
Flowers Gifts Outdoors Cycle
Restore
limo AwardKate accepts
tolerate maneuver. certainly

What I Am Reading Now

I am reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night. I have never read it before. I have read The Great Gatsby, and while I recognize it as a good book, it was never a very favorite of mine. The worldly cynicism just seemed like worldy cynicism to me, and it seemed like it lacked a certain charm. But I thought I would give Mr. Fitzgerald another chance.

So far the book is ok. I found the passsage after the famous duel amusing:

Campion lay gasping on his back in the shrubbery, the only casualty from the duel, while Rosemary suddenly hysterical with laughter kept kicking at him with her espadrille.

Campion was a mere observer from a distance, but apprarently it was too much for him.

So far the book seems like pretty much a male fantasy ("18 year old actress Rosemary falls totally in love with married man and throws herself at him") which has a certain appeal, but even to me it appears to be sort of shallow so far.

In fact, it seems sort of dumb, too. The man, Mr. Diver, and his wife, invite Rosemary to travel with them to Paris, without her mother as chaperone. This is after she has already confessed her love to him when they first met. It is such an obvious setup I thought he had predatory designs on her, but when he gets to Paris he is apparently surprised when she throws herself at him. Huh?

So apparently he starts to fall in love with her, but, of course, they must keep it secret from Mrs. Diver. I have not read the rest of the book, but I can tell you right now. This is not going to work.

The Devil Wears Prada

I still have not gotten around to changing the name of my blog to "Movie Reviews by Chris", but tonight I am reviewing The Devil Wears Prada. As everyone knows, I have a huge interest in the fashion industry.

This is a fine movie, if you can get past the simplistic plot (nice midwestern girl goes to New York, gets the break of a lifetime, shows the New Yorkers a thing or two, New Yorkers show her a thing or two, she loses herself, she finds herself, she lives happily ever after). I like the pretty girls and the nice music. I like the big city so it is fun to see New York and Paris scenery.

Meryl Steep is terrific. Some are even saying "Best Supporting Actress" and I can see it. She is a tough cookie. Now after having seen this movie, I totally understand Elaine. I also thought Stanley Tucci was excellent as Nigel.

There is something of a double standard here. I myself am an anachronism as I believe that society has devolved by allowing women to join the work force (If I get lots of people yelling at me about this in the comments section I will disuss this further in a separate post). However, if we must have career women, I do believe they should be supported. If a woman has to work late or make sacrifices for her career, this does not make her a bad person, or mean that she does not care about those she loves. It just means that she is trying to be an achiever, and in my opinion she should be supported by those that love her.

Secondly, while some people blame men for having stereotypes about women's wieght, really I think women do this to themselves. This is a chick flick, not a men's movie, and yet the character Anne Hathaway portrays is refered to numerous times in this movie as being fat, when she is nothing of the sort. Also, she drops a couple of dress sizes (or so they say, she looks the same size to me), and this is praised as a big win. Wieght disorders are such a problem, I am surprised that a modern movie would tie virtue with dress size so directly.

However, while I believe that the above points are serious problems, I do not want to be too harsh. This is a fun, if fluffy movie, and better than most of what I see at the theater.

Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest

I finally took the family to see Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest. It was a good movie with lots of action and Johnny Depp is always fun to watch.

Sure, the ending is a setup for Pirates 3, but it did not bother me as much as it seems to bother others. However, there is one thing that I did not believe at all at the end. See first comment for spoiler.

P.S. There is a cute scene after all of the credits have rolled. It is cute, but there are A LOT of credits so it is almost not worth staying and waiting for. Here is what you do: when the movie is over, go to the bathroom, and when you are done, go back in and see the last scene.

P.S.S. I finished comments to pictures on previous post about Karen's wedding.

Karen''s Wedding

Ruth Ann and Emily.


My son Quentin, and his girl Hiedi.


NatJ looks a little nervous.


Emily looks a little bored...


The bride Karen straightens NatJ's bowtie.


Kim and Emily. Kim took most of the pictures, so not sure who took this picture.


A riot breaks out among the children. The funny looking ones are my kids, and the good looking kids are Amy's.


Ruth Ann and I. She refused to dance with me at the reception.


Amy is very pretty, but she does have a violent streak. Here she is smacking some small children. I had to clip a little of this picture so it can not be used as evidence in a court of law. Amy also refused to dance with me at the reception.


The candle lighting guy. The whole time I am thinking, "Will I ever make deacon if I burn down the church building?"


An attractive lady and her escort. I think she could have done better. She, too, refused to dance with me at the reception.


The Father about to give the bride away. I think the dowry was done earlier.


There were several men who wanted to marry Karen, but as this picture clearly shows Scott is first in line.


The wedding babes. Becca is on the right. I am not sure about the names of the other two, but it does not matter as none of them would dance with me at the reception.


Here the groom takes away the bride. The other possible suitors seem to be taking it well.

Open Source Fest

Here is a shot of me giving my lecture at the impressive facility at the Advanced Technology Center of the San Antonio Community College. What you can not see, is that only 7 people showed up! So that was quite a big disappointment.

However, it was not a total loss. Two of the seven who attended were college computer science professors and one was their star protege. They brought up the possibility of pointing exceptional students to assist with this real live project rather than some make work student project. This I thought was a great idea, and I encouraged them as much as possible to do this. The students are probably already better computer programmers than I (remember, I was a history major), and further, as they progress in their studies, they will only get better. So this is an excellent opportunity if it works. I will need to follow up on it.

My good friend Darron, who was my college roommate, came along on the trip with me which made it alot of fun. He was very helpful to me, and he came up with the idea to put out the (many) handouts we did not use to see if anyone wanted to take them to others. The college profs took a big stack to hand to students. Darron also provided some important feedback to my presentation which should improve my performance next time.

Lastly, we both had an excellent dinner at Outback Steakhouse.

On the way down, I made Darron drive my Mustang so I could study my notes. He really liked that.

Thank you so much for your kind thoughts and prayers. I feel it really made a big difference.

Introductory Remarks (2nd Try)

I speak tonight in San Antonio for the Open Source Fest. I have a 2 hour slot. I will have some opening remarks and a couple of stories to share, then I will have a technical discussion using a presentation that can be found on the NewI\O web site, and then I will demo the system.

Here is the second cut at my proposed introductory remarks. Please provide feedback. Thank you.

Introduction

Wow. Nice crowd here tonight. So far I have only done smaller user groups.

I suppose I should start out by telling you who I am and why I am up here. I am Chris N******. I work as a System Admin for Oracle Corporation. I am really happy to be with you here tonight to brief you on my project, which is NewI\O. I recently spoke to the San Antonio Linux User Group, so I wanted to add something new to the presentation, so I decided to tell 2 stories. The first is "How Richard Stallman Got Me Started".

Story 1: How Richard Stallman Got Me Started

About 1990 or so I was a big DOS PC guy. My computer at that time was a Tandy 1000, which at the time was hailed as the computer that should have been the IBM PCjr. I still remember the excitement when Windows 3.0 came out. What a breakthrough!

But as cool as things were, we kept hearing of rumours of something bigger, and cooler, and that was the Internet. And the main computer for the Internet was a Unix workstation. At that time, a PC was a toy computer compared to a workstation, but nowadays the line is blurred and really gone. By then, I had already given up BASIC for C programming, but I did not have access to the Internet or to a Unix workstation, but I was interested. So one day, I picked up a copy of one of the Unix magazines like Unix Review or something, and on the cover was Richard Stallman, and of course, the article was all about free software, and the Free Software Foundation (FSF), in particular.

Now I had a friend who was in junior high school, and he decided one day to call up Richard and ask if the FSF had an opportunities for youth, and RMS said sure come on up. Well my friend was too young to drive, so naturally I offered to take him.

So we show up off the street and walk into the FSF offices, and Noah Friedman, who was the sysadmin at the time, set us up with accounts, and they parked us in front of internet connected Unix workstations, and they basically ignored us after that. And we did our best to stay out of the way. But that day, and the follow on days we learned a lot about Unix, and about the Internet.

Looking back, I am still amazed that they gave us guys off the street full access to the computers and network. But you have to understand, back then free software was part of a larger vision of open access to computers. The vision was to give everyone free access to computers, and the complaint was that you could not give out free access to computers, because the software was proprietary, so the solution was to create free software.

That vision changed shortly after we got there, as they had one or more users log into the FSF computer and delete important files, and so RMS had to get a secret password. This was quite traumatic to RMS, and one day he was in tears about it, saying that his life's work was ruined, etc. My friend and I were in the office at the time, as they were all discussing it. As usual, we were trying to stay invisible, but we were shooting messages back and forth, saying, "Can you believe this? Do you think he will really leave the FSF?", etc. I remember it was such a big event that it made the NY Times. But apparently RMS got over it, as he is still with the FSF.

And this history major was able to use the skills that I gained through the generosity of RMS and the FSF to make a good living and provide for my family.

Story 2: Oracle and NewI\O

There are many stories of how techs have had ideas that they wanted to freely give to their employers, but their employers were not interested, the most famous of which perhaps is the story about how Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak offered their apple computer to both HP and Atari and were turned down. I have my own story along this line with NewI\O, and I tell it not because I have any bitterness towards my employer, but rather because I find it amusing and interesting, and I hope you do, too.

I was big fan of the internet and I was a programmer, so naturally I wanted to write internet programs. At that time, (mid 90s?) the one true answer for internet programs was Java, so I took Sun's java programming classes, and then started coding. I was working on a game called JavaTrek! But no matter what I did, I could never get the screen to paint when I wanted it to. So I got frustrated and gave up. A couple years later, I tried my same code on a newer version of Java and it worked fine, so it must have been an early Java bug. But anyway, in the meantime, I gradually became aware of other things about the Java system that I did not like, which I will share in a minute.

Over the years, other methods of creating internet applications arose, but nothing really inspired me, and instead, I started imagining in my mind the way it ought to be, the system that I would really like to use.

If you recall the Internet prior to the WWW, or even computers prior to the Internet, there was (and still is) a standard I\O. This was a text based interface. You could dial into or telnet into remote computers and since everything was text based, you could use programs on that computer with no problem, even if your computer was a totally different make and model. Everything was standard. What I envisioned was to split the program logic from the display, and connect them via a network layer and create a New Standard I\O (which I call NewI\O) that took advantage of more modern concepts such as pointing devices, graphics and sound, and networking, but still standardized for all platforms. This is similar to how X works.

Then about late 2001, during the tech bust I lost my job, which is a scary thing if you have a wife and kids, but about 4 months later I was able to land a job with Oracle. So I wanted to learn more about my new company so I read one of the many books about the Leader of Oracle Larry Ellison, and I learned that he is tired of being #2. Larry badly wants to be #1. And it occured to me that I knew how he could do it. The answer was simple: paradigm shift. (this reminds me of that Star Trek episode where the the Enterprise is crashing down to the planet surface, and the problem is explained to Q, and Q said the answer is simple: change the gravity constant!). Simple! Change the Paradigm! If you are the company ahead of the change, expecting the change, driving the change, then you can easily be #1.

Further, there was no need to come up with something. The paradigm has already changed and that was the internet, but in my mind, no one has really taken advantage of the change yet. Oracle was sort of right, when it tried to advocate the network computer, but it got burned because that was the wrong system to take advantage of the change. The right system, in my opinion, was what I had been dreaming about for a number of years, and that was my own NewI\O.

So at Oracle, in the employee handbook, under a section entitled "Open Door Policy" it states that if any employees had any ideas for senior (and it specifically states senior) managers, that they should send it on in. Secondly at Oracle, there is an employees data base that is hierarchal you can look up yourself, and it also lists your manager, and you can keep clicking up the chain, and I learned there was about 7 people between Larry and I. So I created a nice presentation (which is available on my website). I called it Project Dreadnought, named after the battleship that was such a pardigm shift, that all battleships are classified as dreadnoughts, or not dreadnoughts. And I sent it to everyone in my chain up to Larry. What do you think happened?

Well I learned something. I learned that Employee handbooks are for employees, but not for managers. I never did hear from Larry, but I heard from my manager right away. So anyway, for suggesting a method we might become #1 I got a letter of reprimand. They said it was not nessarily for having an idea, it was for sending it to all of the mangers at the same time. They said I should have gone to one manager at a time up the chain of command.

So I said, Great! I will do that then! Sign me up for the first manager! Then they said, sorry but you can not do that either. We are just not interested. I was afraid of that. The problem is that I am on the sysadmin side of Oracle. There are no developers anywhere around where I work. So anyway, I just keep my mouth shut and do my job now. But on my own time, I keep working on my project.

Inspirational Segway to Technical Discussion

Which is why I am here tonight for Open Source Fest. There is one common denominator for all open source projects. Do you know what it is? Have they told you yet? All open source projects are recruiting. Did Linus create Linux? No he inspired and coordinated a community to help him build it. That is why Open Source is so great. We can all help and contribute to create something great that we can all then freely use. We can all participate in this process, whether you are a coder than can help build, or a user that can help test, or a writer that can help document. You, too, can help build the future.

So what I will be showing you tonight, is not a finished product. It is the kernel of an idea. When Linux was first announced it did not have a filesystem, it did not have X, it did not have networking, but people on the minix mailing list could picture in thier minds how great it would be when these things were all added, and since it was open source, they could be added by anyone. In the same way I need you to extrapolate on the possibilites of my approach with NewI\O. I hope to show you enough tonight to inspire you to participate. In short I am here tonight to recruit you to join the NewI\O community.

I can not pay you anything, but someday when you can list on your resume that you were a core developer for NewI\O you are going to get a very good job!

I will have a discussion on the reasons and vision for the project, as well as a technical discussion of how it works currently, and lastly I will demo the system.

Introductory Remarks

I speak tomorrow night in San Antonio for the Open Source Fest. Here are my proposed introductory remarks. Please provide feedback. Thank you.

Wow. Nice crowd here tonight. So far I have only done smaller user groups, but I am really happy to be with you here tonight to brief you on my project, which is NewI\O.

I suppose I should start out by telling you who I am and why I am up here. I am Chris N******. I work as a System Admin for Oracle Corporation.

I am long time Unix and Internet user. My first computer was a Timex Sinclair in the early 80's, and back in that day I was a BASIC programming guru. In college, I had a small home business selling hardware and software for Timex Sinclair computers, but in 1985 I graduated with a History degree. After that, it was off to the U.S. Navy for 7 or 8 years. While I was in the Navy, I purchased my first PC. It was a Tandy 1000, which at the time was hailed as the computer that should have been the IBM PCjr. So for a number of years, I was a PC and DOS guy. About 1990, I got orders ashore to Newport, RI where I became head of the local PC user group, which during my tenure became affiliated with the then great Boston Computer Society. I still remember the excitement when Windows 3.0 came out. What a breakthrough!

But as cool as things were, we kept hearing of rumours of something bigger, and cooler, and that was the Internet. And the main computer for the Internet was a Unix workstation. At that time, a PC was a toy computer compared to a workstation, but nowadays the line is blurred and really gone. By then, I had already given up BASIC for C programming, but I did not have access to the Internet or to a Unix workstation, but I was interested. So one day, I picked up a copy of one of the Unix magazines like Unix Review or something, and on the cover was Richard Stallman, and of course, the article was all about free software, and the FSF foundation, in particular.

Now I had a friend who was in junior high school, and he decided one day to call up Richard and ask if the FSF had an opportunities for youth, and RMS said sure come on up. Well my friend was too young to drive, so naturally I offered to take him.

So we show up off the street and walk into the FSF offices, and Noah Friedman, who was the sysadmin at the time, set us up with accounts, and they parked us in front of internet connected Unix workstations, and they basically ignored us after that. And we did our best to stay out of the way. But that day, and the follow on days we learned a lot about Unix, and about the Internet.

Looking back, I am still amazed that they gave us guys off the street full access to the computers and network. But you have to understand, back then free software was part of a larger vision of open access to computers. The vision was to give everyone free access to computers, and the complaint was that you could not give out free access to computers, because the software was proprietary, so the solution was to create free software.

That vision changed shortly after we got there, as they had one or more users log into the FSF computer and delete important files, and so RMS had to get a secret password. This was quite traumatic to RMS, and one day he was in tears about it, saying that his life's work was ruined, etc. My friend and I were in the office at the time, as they were all discussing it. As usual, we were trying to stay invisible, but we were shooting messages back and forth, saying, "Can you believe this? Do you think he will really leave the FSF?", etc. I remember it was such a big event that it made the NY Times. But apparently RMS got over it.

So anyway, I became a Unix / Internet / C guy. Unfortunately the Internet and Unix were quite expensive for home use at that time. I did connect on to the peripheral of the net. I operated a UUCP (Unix to Unix Copy) node on a DOS PC using the Waffle BBS program. This was networking via a dial up connection and it at least allowed me access to Internet Mail and Usenet News. That was a big deal back then.

But I kept looking and that led me to Minix which still exists. While Minix was pretty neat (it could multi-task nicely on an 8086 processor) it was also frustratingly proprietary, But it did allow me to see the very first message from Linus about this new OS kernel called Linux, and the famous exchanges with the Minix developer Andrew Tanenbaum that followed.

So anyway, I got out of the Navy and got in the IT field where my skills in Unix, the Internet, and C programming helped this History major make a good living.

I was big fan of the internet and I was a programmer, so naturally I wanted to write internet programs. At that time, (mid 90s?) the one true answer for internet programs was Java, so I took Sun's java programming classes, and then started coding. I was working on a game called JavaTrek! But no matter what I did, I could never get the screen to paint when I wanted it to. So I got frustrated and gave up. A couple years later, I tried my same code on a newer version of Java and it worked fine, so it must have been an early Java bug. But anyway, in the meantime, I gradually became aware of other things about the Java system that I did not like, which I will share in a minute.

Over the years, other methods of creating internet applications arose, but nothing really inspired me, and instead, I started imagining in my mind the way it ought to be, the system that I would really like to use.

If you recall the Internet prior to the WWW, or even computers prior to the Internet, there was (and still is) a standard I\O. This was a text based interface. You could dial into or telnet into remote computers and since everything was text based, you could use programs on that computer with no problem, even if your computer was a totally different make and model. Everything was standard. What I envisioned was to split the program logic from the display, and connect them via a network layer and create a New Standard I\O (which I call NewI\O) that took advantage of more modern concepts such as pointing devices, graphics and sound, and networking, but still standardized for all platforms. This is similar to how X works.

Then about late 2001, during the tech bust I lost my job, which is a scary thing if you have a wife and kids, but about 4 months later I was able to land a job with Oracle. So I wanted to learn more about my new company so I read one of the many books about the Leader of Oracle Larry Ellison, and I learned that he is tired of being #2. Larry badly wants to be #1. And it occured to me that I knew how he could do it. The answer was simple: paradigm shift. (this reminds me of that Star Trek episode where the the Enterprise is crashing down to the planet surface, and the problem is explained to Q, and Q said the answer is simple: change the gravity constant!). Simple! Change the Paradigm! If you are the company ahead of the change, expecting the change, driving the change, then you can easily be #1.

Further, there was no need to come up with something. The paradigm has already changed and that was the internet, but in my mind, no one has really taken advantage of the change yet. Oracle was sort of right, when it tried to advocate the network computer, but it got burned because that was the wrong system to take advantage of the change. The right system, in my opinion, was what I had been dreaming about for a number of years, and that was my own NewI\O.

So at Oracle, in the employee handbook, under a section entitled "Open Door Policy" it states that if any employees had any ideas for senior (and it specifically states senior) managers, that they should send it on in. Secondly at Oracle, there is an employees data base that is hierarchal you can look up yourself, and it also lists your manager, and you can keep clicking up the chain, and I learned there was about 7 people between Larry and I. So I created a nice presentation (which is available on my website). I called it Project Dreadnought, named after the battleship that was such a pardigm shift, that all battleships are classified as dreadnoughts, or not dreadnoughts. And I sent it to everyone in my chain up to Larry. What do you think happened?

Well I learned something. I learned that Employee handbooks are for employees, but not for managers. I never did hear from Larry, but I heard from my manager right away. So anyway, for suggesting a method we might become #1 I got a letter of reprimand. They said it was not nessarily for having an idea, it was for sending it to all of the mangers at the same time. They said I should have gone to one manager at a time up the chain of command.

So I said, Great! I will do that then! Sign me up for the first manager! Then they said, sorry but you can not do that either. We are just not interested. I was afraid of that. The problem is that I am on the sysadmin side of Oracle. There are no developers anywhere around where I work. So anyway, I just keep my mouth shut and do my job now. But on my own time, I keep working on my project.

Which is why I am here tonight for Open Source Fest. There is one common denominator for all open source projects. Do you know what it is? Have they told you yet? All open source projects are recruiting. Did Linus create Linux? No he inspired and coordinated a community to help him build it. That is why Open Source is so great. We can all help and contribute to create something great that we can all then freely use. We can all participate in this process, whether you are a coder than can help build, or a user that can help test, or a writer that can help document. You, too, can help build the future.

So what I will be showing you tonight, is not a finished product. It is the kernel of an idea. When Linux was first announced it did not have a filesystem, it did not have X, it did not have networking, but people on the minix mailing list could picture in thier minds how great it would be when these things were all added, and since it was open source, they could be added by anyone. In the same way I need you to extrapolate on the possibilites of my approach with NewI\O. I hope to show you enough tonight to inspire you to participate. In short I am here tonight to recruit you to join the NewI\O community.

I can not pay you anything, but someday when you can list on your resume that you were a core developer for NewI\O you are going to get a very good job!

I will have a discussion on the reasons and vision for the project, as well as a technical discussion of how it works currently, and lastly I will demo the system.

Thomas Carlyle - "Every noble work is at first impossible."

Major Breakthrough! I am in! I am in fact invited to speak at the Open Source Fest down in San Antonio. I will be presenting NewI\O on the main stage (the auditorium) this Thursday Night from 6-8pm. I am ecstatic. My plan for world domination and to be the next tech billionaire is on track.

I was quite disappointed last week when I noticed that I was not on the agenda even after I was told that I would be. I felt somehow that even though I had been accepted, my project was not impressive enough to be remembered, so I vowed to just be even better next time. But then I thought, just swallow your pride and write back to the guy. Anyway, it turns out it was an oversight, and the organizer called me a lifesaver, because his previous Thursday Night program had fallen through.

So anyway my good friend Darron, who wants to work in my company when we get it going, is going to go with me. I can not wait. The auditoreum seats 100. I wonder how many people will be there? This could be my big break. In any case, it is going to be a lot of fun!

Sigh

Joanne gone yet again...

Pet Peeve: First Amendment

I have a pet peeve about the current application of the U.S. First Amendment, which is part of the Bill of Rights. We are just not getting this right at all. As evidence I site the recent case where Las Vegas valedictorian Brittany McComb actually had her microphone turned off on her mid speech because she had too much Jesus in it.

Here is why I think this is wrong legally. For reference I quote the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

First of all, I note that the Bill of Rights was meant for us, to protect us from the federal government. It is meant to limit the government, not to limit us.

Next, I note that the first clause is very limited: it is limiting the federal Congress (it is assuming that only the Congress is making laws, not the court system, but that is another whole topic).

Importnat Note: this amendment has nothing to do with state government, county government, city government or school systems.

The whole state can be controlled by the Buddhist religion and it would be perfectly compatible with this amendment.

One may wish to have religion and all religious references banned from all level of government, but what we go by is what the words say, not what we may or may not want them to say. And banning religion from all levels of government is clearly not what the words currently say. If you want to change things you have to change what the words say. If we do not go by what the words say the rule of law is meaningless.

If the first part of the amendment does not apply, clearly the next parts do. It is clearly prohibiting the exercise of religion and the free exercise of speech. I can not imagine a clearer example of a violation.

Here is the way this amendment should be applied: ACLU goes to the courts and complains, "Too much religion in school!" Court replies, "Sorry that is clearly a religious issue, and our hands are tied. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prevents us from restricting the free exercise of religion, and in addition it prevents us from silencing someone. The law is very clear. You will have to settle this issue yourself."

I have no problem if the local community wants to ban religion (or add religion) to the schools. I just think the local community should decide the issue, not the federal government, and I paticularly object to the misuse of the Constitution, in paticular the Bill of Rights.

It seems to me that making this stuff up as we go along instead of actually reading what the words say is a very dangerous precedent for law. I think it would be exciting to be a school official and use civil disobedience to fight this.

Congrats to Scott and Karen!

Congrats to Scott and Karen for getting married yesterday. Karen is the 3rd sister of four of my wife Ruth Ann. I really like Scott a lot. He seems like a real stand up guy and I wish and expect them every happiness. Karen played her cards right by waiting for Mr. Right with the help of match.com. By now they are on the way to Hawaii.

I got to light candles and escort people. Everything went very well except for the usual snafus. Will have a few pictures when I can take the time to get some more batteries for the camera to upload them.

Took the kids to see Pirates 2, but we made the mistake of not buying the tickets in advance and it was sold out so we were not able to go. Instead, we borrowed the Pirates #1 DVD and watched that to refresh ourselves with the story.

Now it is back to work. Should be a long one as I work all Sunday night, and then all Monday too. I might die.

NatJ and the Wedding

NatJ is still on the animals = food deal. Since he is in Karen's wedding, he got a little present from Karen and Scott which was a little silver piggy bank. He promptly eplained, 'This is bacon!"

Wedding went well. The goodnews is I was able to fit into my suit, still. It was very nice wedding. We got some pictures, but not as many as we would like as the camera was acting up.

More later. I am tired and I need to get a few hours sleep before I work tonight.

Wolfmother

Anyone here like Wolfmother? They are a new Australian combo doing original 70s music. They apparently stole the recent South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival here in Austin. Its all coming around again.

Welcome Mark!

I hesitate to post Mark's picture here, as he is not wearing a shirt, and we have ladies from New Zealand reading this blog, but I will risk it.

Please welcome my good friend Mark who has decided to create a blog. Mark is not your typical Christian and not your typical American. Go to his blog and read for yourself.

4th of July, Baseball, and Hot Dogs

It Was a Little Wet at First



NatJ


Marjorie


Kim


Ruth Ann and Emily Waving Flags


Marjorie and NatJ



Brandon and His Friend Jermaine


Baby Christopher Holding the Flag


#35 Jimerson

The young ladies of our party decided that the right fielder for the Express, #35 Jimerson, is the most handsomest man that they have ever seen.


Emily

(and a wonderful shot of the side of my head).


NatJ


Brittney, Brandon and Debi


Sunset at the Ballpark


Will You Marry Me?

At 8:05pm in the bottom of the second inning with the Express losing 1-0 some guy decided to pop the question. Whats up with that?



#35 Jimerson Again (On the Scoreboard)


NatJ and Emily

Our youngest (except for baby Christopher) had difficulty concentrating on the game and sitting still.






Waving Our Flags

Everyone who attended received a little American flag for July 4th, and at one point in the game they played "She's a Grand Old Flag" and asked everyone to wave their flags. Debi and Emily in the top picture.



Nephew Brandon (Self Portrait)


Ruth Ann and I


Brandon Backe

Major League pitcher Brandon Backe was down for a rehab assignment. He only gave up 1 run and the Express go on to win 5-1. Here he is signing autographs after he was taken out of the game for a new pitcher.



Baby Christopher (Ruth Ann's Sister Debi's Baby)


Ruth Ann Again


Our Eldest Son Quentin and his girl Heidi


Fireworks

The pictures are not good and do not do the event justice. I was running low on batteries.