- finish papers — get books from library — stay awake
- new car battery — new printer —– foursquare 2.2-2.3 —– reen’s 4SQ —– bird-book reprints — new prescriptions — pick up foster cats — clear out storage space — mail shit —– pick up a package
Yesterday and today, I have been scrambling about to get to a stopping point before we go to Kentucky. When I got home last weekend, I had several emails from peer reviewers on the diabetes manuscript. This project is being co-sponsored by three groups, each of whom have made various comments. One of the three groups has been quite contrary and unsupportive, despite the document receiving
While details are still being finalized, it's pretty much set in stone that our first community pool will break ground this winter and will open in time for the Summer 2008 pool season.
While the pool has been in the works for a while, it's location has been up in the air. It now appears it will be located next to the driving range by Old Trail Golf. Along with the pool, there is a proposed play area, locker rooms, a snack bar, grandstands for the (future) swim team, and potentially a fitness center (that is still up in the air and will be decided upon in the near future).
As of right now, a preliminary site plan has been drawn and is under the review process.
The Hana bed is an amazing take on the classic four poster bed. The lines just seem to make this bed flow, leading your eyes to follow the perimeter of this bed. I can’t take my eyes off it! I also love how open it feels, in contrast to many four poster beds which can leave you feeling claustrophobic. This bed would really be at its best as the centerpiece of a room with light walls (white would be simple but breathtaking, but I could also imagine it in a powder blue room, among others). Though it has a dark finish, this bed seems light and airy and would be a great place to lay your head at night.
I was inspired by Ottawa Hortiphilia's ode to first tomatoes and thought I'd try to create a similar post, but with a chicken coop theme.
The first coop I found using a Google search of blogs was at Keeping Chickens in Your Backyard. What a wonderful site! There are pictures of subscribers' coops in the sidebar, too, so you'll be busy for a while! Here is another post that shows a beautiful chicken tractor. It's similar in design to the one I read about in Organic Gardening years ago--that article is what inspired us to raise chickens in the first place! chicken
Suvir Saran has a post titled Chickens Finally in the Coop, with a link to some pictures of the coop, and if you read the archives, you'll find other talk of the chicks and the coop.
I've added the city's website to my hometown links because there is some really useful information on there. For example, even the history of my present neighborhood is included. The search function was helpful in unearthing this important history. The manner in which the Wertenbaker house is often honored (by the detritus of parties and college life flowing down its front steps) is not mentioned in the city's historical notes.
I missed a band meeting tonight (for Band A), which band meeting produced a to-do list—a sketch of concrete things we'd like to get done in the coming months.
Most ominous on the list was the last item: "10) Get Stanley fired [from his day job]", targeting the ongoing scheduling mindfuck that comes with with being the only band member working a traditional 40-hour-a-week office-type job.
We all had a good laugh at that, but I'm a little worried about Dijon Bray's stated plan to drug my drinks so that I can't get up for work in the morning. For two days straight.
For now: I'm cautious and vigilant. I, too, would love to do music exclusively. But that upcoming $3,000 bill from the dentist (dental insurance claim: denied!) ain't banking on T-shirt sales to fund itself.
1. Went to Richmond this evening to 1) pick up some matboard; 2) go to Home Depot (the Lowe’s boycott joyfully continues); and 3) go to the Apple Store! The “Short Pump Town Center” where it’s located creeps me out big time - it’s just so very faux: Faux town, faux community, faux everything - not to mention the overflowing yup-white commercialism seeping from every brick of that place. But having said that, I admit to being an utter and total sucker for the Apple Store. Gawd, that place is sweet. And turns me into a total consumer (or consumer wanna-be anyway). Of course, it’s nowhere near as swanky as Apple Stores in big cities, but even the Richmond version feels like the High Temple of all things MacCool.
I was having a conversation with The Girl last weekend about the circumstances of buying your first iPod - mine came about from the first time I had my hands on one in an Apple Store. I had seen iPods and knew a little about them, but didn’t really think I had much of a use for one. I was in the store on Michigan Avenue in Chicago (the biggest, coolest, Most Holy of the ones I’ve visited), just looking around. I picked one up and played with it. They must have known I was coming - there was a Be Good Tanyas song loaded onto it. The sound, the music, the ease of use, the design, the feel. It was perfect. I didn’t buy one then, but it made for a much appreciated birthday present a few months later. Such is the hypnotic power of the Apple Store.
So today I was in Richmond and got my hands on my first iPhone. I can’t say I have to have one in the same way I felt about the iPod, but I will say it’s an awesome cool device - I can understand why they are selling so fast.
But anyway, the only thing I bought today was a cool little accessory that allows you to connect your digital camera to your iPod and transfer all the photos on the memory card to the iPod’s hard drive, allowing you to reuse the card. I have a portable card hard drive now that serves the same purpose, but the battery (which doesn’t seem to be replaceable) is almost dead to the point of it being not reliable, plus this will let me carry one less thing around.
Any current survey of the UVA hospital and the neighborhoods around it reveals a surfeit of construction sites. Just off W. Main Street a parking garage has sprouted within the last month. Made of prefabricated concrete slabs, it is still in the process of expanding. A stroll down 11th Street SW makes it clear how much farther this parking garage has to grow.
At the corner of Crispell and Monroe a luxury apartment is nearing completion.
The South Lawn project has created a muddy slope and pedestrian walkways through yards.
Everyone knows that you can sell used books back to your college book store. But your best source of cash is to sell textbooks online. And here’s the ultimate guide to maximize your cash!
My wife figured out this method, and we executed it together. We sold several boxes of used books and textbooks, earning over $570.
Round up your books to sell
You first have to gather up the books to sell. It’s important to round these up all at once, to maximize your possible cash. Put everything you want to sell in a stack.
When deciding what to sell, don’t ignore any of your books. Even if you think nobody will want an old, ratty copy of A Tale of Two Cities, put it in your “sell” pile. And definitely include newer, best selling books that you’ve already read.
Also, consider taking used books off of other people’s hands. Your classmates, friends, and family might have books they no longer want. Offer to dispose of the books for them, and add them to your “books for sale” stack.
Create a book buy back list
Now that you have your books to sell, you need to catalog them. It sounds like a daunting task, but book buyback programs operate based on the ISBN of each book.
To get the most cash for your books, you’ll need to create a master ISBN list. This allows you to easily shop the books around to multiple buyers and maximize your cash.
Take each book, find the ISBN (usually on the back cover or copyright page), and enter the numbers into a simple text file on your computer. Put one ISBN on each line.
During this process, try to keep the books in the same order as your ISBN list. That lets you quickly link a book to its ISBN.
Sell your textbooks
This is the easy part! All you have to do is see which buyers want your books. Fortunately, there are lots of online book buyers, and they have varying needs and prices.
Here are several book buyback sites to get you started:
Go to each book buying site and enter your master ISBN list into their textbook selling form. Just copy and paste from your text file into the ISBN field. The buy back site will then tell you which books they want.
Now you just look through the sites and find the best price for each book. Best selling books will have higher prices, and some books might not be wanted by anyone. You can parse through the lists and max out your cash with this price comparison method.
Prepare the shipments
After you decide which books to sell to which buyback site, you can get ready to ship them. Each site has similar instructions, but read them all carefully.
Generally, the site will have you print a packing list for the shipment. And they will provide a postage-paid label for your box. Print out the shipping documents and get each shipment in a box, ready to go.
It’s important to double check your packing lists, so you send the books to their proper destinations. With several shipments going out, it can get confusing if you’re not careful.
Ship your books
The book buyback programs will give you postage-paid shipping labels. Just tape these on your boxes, and you can drop them off at the Post Office.
If you have several large boxes, you can ask the Post Office for a cart. They’ll give you a big cart to wheel out to the parking lot, saving your back and several trips in & out.
Note: Some of the book buyers ask you to insure the books. You will have to pay for insurance, but it should only be a few dollars.
Collect the cash
You won’t see your money overnight; be patient. The books are shipped media mail, so they take a while to arrive at the buyer’s warehouse. Then the buyer processes them. Finally, your payment is sent.
Most book buyers will pay by check or PayPal. I’ve used both methods with various buyers, and they work equally well.
Any questions?
I’m no expert at book buyback programs, but I want to share what I have experienced. If anything is unclear, or you encounter problems, please let me know. Post a comment below, or contact me.
Note: This is an occasional, verse-by-verse commentary on the book of Jude. Previous commentaries may be viewed by clicking on the "Jude Exposition" label below.
Jude 1:6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;
In Jude 1:5 we heard the sobering word that after the Exodus God destroyed those coming out of Egypt who did not believe. The theme of judgement continues in v. 6. God has authority to judge not only men but also the angels.
Jude assumes an underlying narrative that we must admit we know little about. At some point in history, in an incident not clearly described in Scripture, some of the angels apparently rebelled against God’s good design by not keeping "their proper domain." Some speculate that passages like Isaiah 14:12-14 (beginning, "How you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!") refer to this cosmic, angelic rebellion. This may be, but we must be careful not to tread beyond the sure boundaries of Scripture into unfruitful speculation. The Bible does not tell us everything we possibly could know. It tells us everything we need to know to make us "wise for salvation" (2 Tim 3:15).
Whatever the circumstances of their rebellion, it is clear that God soon subdued these rebel angels, and that he holds them for a final day of judgement. They are "reserved in everlasting chains under darkness" awaiting "the judgement of the great day." In 2 Peter 2:4 we likewise read that "God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell [Tartarus] and delivered them into the chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgement."
The warning Jude impresses upon his hearers is that the false teachers, "certain men who have crept in unnoticed" (v. 4), face a similar fate as the rebellious angels. If God did not spare angels, he will not spare men. These false teachers have also left their "proper domain." They distort the truth of God. Their end will be judgement at the "great day" (likely a reference to the second coming of Christ, described as "the day of Jesus Christ" in Phil 1:6 and "the day of the Lord" in 1 Thess 5:2 and 2 Peter 3:10).
In addition to this dire warning, the believer may also breathe a sigh of relief. Thanks to the righteous life and atoning death of Christ, "God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thess 5:9).
Practical application:
If God did not spare these angels, why would he save sinful men?
Have you ever considered that at the time of Jesus’ second coming, not only men but also angels will be judged by Christ? Are you ready to stand before the judgement seat of Christ (see Rom 14:10; 2 Cor 5:10)?
But if you want to submit a nomination to TAC for the award, press on the hyperlinked here in the post copied from TAC’s blog below:
Submit a nomination for the Torrey Advocacy Commendation Award
The Treatment Advocacy Center is now accepting nominations for its 2007 Torrey Advocacy Commendation (TAC) Award.
The TAC Award rewards the courage and tenacity of those who selflessly [...]
Some of you may, or may not, know that I am a coin collector,
not a real serious one, but above average. I generally stick to
U.S. coins, mostly silver ones. My faves include the 3 cent
nickels (yeah, sounds weird, but they do exist!) and all Barber
coinage. Barbers are what we collectors call all dimes, quarters,
and half dollar coins minted between 1892-1916; the coins
were designed by Charles
I heard about this story sometime ago, but it seems to be gaining some momentum in the major news media, so I think it would be appropriate to cover it here to do my part to bring much needed attention...
On account of yesterday’s post (”Build Your Own RSS Thumbnail Gallery“), I received a curt Cease & Desist email today from the Product VP of Snap.com.
Things sounded bad. His initial email suggested I was “pretty low” for scraping their data, and he wondered why Snap was receiving no credit for the screenshots. The email closed with a few obligatory threats of legal action. This was all a surprise to me for several reasons:
Credit to Snap.com is given in the original blog post, in the SiS documentation and in the sidebar of the gallery itself, including a linkback.
I had emailed Snap back in May with a few questions about the feasibility of my SiS concept and never heard back. I assumed they could see from their referrer logs how the screenshots were being used.
The reason I cached the images locally instead of deep-linking them was to avoid a major bandwidth hassle for Snap. I figured so long as they were explicitly credited for providing the service, we had no problems.
I responded with all three points above, but all three were sidestepped.
Instead it was explained that Snap’s TOS was intended to prevent me from using their product in ways for which it wasn’t intended. I will cop to not reading the TOS closely enough. It was also suggested that the way I’d scraped the screenshots had excised their Snap branding — another good point. The frame around the image was supposed to feature “related searches” which promote Snap’s viability as a search engine.
So, I sent one last email. I suggested reformatting the gallery to look more like this:
But I also said:
“In this new format, Snap continues to be credited, and advertised, on the site. And it also demonstrates that Snap Shots is not just for rollovers, an interaction many users have voiced frustration with.”
To my surprise, Snap complied with the new format. My final comment was:
“If enough people check out the ‘Screenshots’ tool and see what can be done with Snap, I think it is really only beneficial for you guys. At its core, the technology is sweet, and I think people will enjoy seeing variations on what else can be done with it. In the meantime, I will hide all references to the ‘Screenshots’ tool until it is reformatted with Snap’s branding.
“All in all, the project was a lark and an opportunity to use ‘free’ resources out there. I appreciate you helping solve this amicably for the benefit of both Snap and the development community.”
Long story short, I’m happy with the way we resolved it and impressed Snap was interested in reaching a compromise with a small fry like myself. They even said they’d be interested in seeing where the SiS idea leads. So for the meantime I’ll be taking down SiS temporarily until the code complies more closely with their terms. Snap!
My acceptance of our celebrity-obsessed culture was at first welcoming. As a college student, it was a nice break from the endless stream of deadlines and lectures. Then again, who could resist the juicy gossip on the set of Grey's...
...on the treadmill at lunch. I did them really, really fast. For me, anyway. It was the fastest I've run two miles in a very long time. I think the treadmill motivates me to run fast - the faster I run, the quicker I can get the hell off of it.
I went to the shop on Monday to get my shoes and inserts looked at. The staff loved my Road ID, but chastised me for my totally thrashed inserts and hooked me up with new ones. I was also advised to wear supportive shoes all the time, which, awww shucks, meant going directly home and getting on Zappos to buy a new pair of Naots. I'm digging all the new footwear, but it's pretty depressing to be told that my arches might be falling. I'm getting old. And here I'd thought I was the only woman alive to go through pregnancy and not have serious foot changes - my shoe size has never wavered from a 7.5. But all that gestating, lactating, and marathoning has indeed taken their toll on my perfect feet.
Some wise guy (and I’m pretty sure it was a guy because there just aren’t many women in the office) decided to switch my stapler from the preferable and normal prong-convergence mode to the highly annoying prong-divergence mode.
If someone touches my stapler again, someone is going to die.
I must admit, Charles was right. Resident Evil 4 for the Wii is a great game.
On its face, the plot is simple enough. You are a special agent who has to rescue the president's daughter from a cult of villagers. But the story is actually very complex, full of twists, turns and... even scientific explanations. Its quite enjoyable and well thought out.
The graphics are exceptional. The
The reader whose email lands in my Inbox first, according to timestamp, will receive my copy. Send your message via my Contact Me page. Be sure to include your mailing address. I will mail anywhere in the U.S., and only in the U.S.
Two armies are preparing to attack a city from opposite sides. The General of army A is orchestrating the attack, and has decided that they must attack simultaneously at noon on March 3rd to succeed. He sends a sealed, encrypted letter by messenger across the valley to the General of army B, informing him of the plan, but worries that the messenger might be intercepted, so General B may not be informed. (If the attack is not simultaneous, both attacking armies will be destroyed by the defenders.)
As it so happens, General B does receive the message, but knows that General A cannot be sure of this. He sends back a receipt of the attack plan. Then he wonders... will it go through? What if General A does not receive it and decides not to attack, being unsure of B's knowledge? And even if General A sends over an acknowledgment of the plan's receipt, there is no guarantee it will arrive.
Given this faulty communication channel, how will the generals coordinate their plan?
I originally stumbled across this problem in the context of email. Remember how unreliable it used to be, back in the early nineties, how you were never quite sure that your message had gotten through? I explored the idea of return receipts and counter-receipts, but I never quite managed to come up with a satisfactory answer. Then a few days ago, I came across a Wikipedia entry on the Two Generals' Problem while reading about Google's distributed database networks. The article stated that there is no solution to the problem.
This took me by surprise. Surely, after 50 meta-receipts have successfully passed in each direction, surely then both parties would know that the original message was successfully sent. But I couldn't prove it. Part of the problem is that we aren't interested in proof that the message has actually arrived, but rather in both parties being certain that the message has arrived and that the other party knows this. In other words, given an agreed-upon communication protocol, there must be sufficient information on each "side" to conclude that the message has arrived.
Some assumptions
For the sake of simplicity and without loss of generality, I'd like to set the following assumptions:
Messages are instantaneous
Each message is either delivered (instantaneously) or destroyed (without a trace)
Forgery is impossible, due to cryptography
If a General repeatedly tries to send a message, it will *eventually* get through
Naïve protocol
General A sends the original message (numbered 0.0) to General B, and continues sending it (messages 0.1, 0.2, 0.3...) until he receives message 1.x (a receipt) from General B. He starts sending a counter-receipt, starting with 2.0. When 100 is reached, it is impossible for either party to be unsure about the status of the original message.
Message 100.x is sent by General A in response to 99.x from B, but we have two problems: 1) How does General B know when to stop sending 99.x? 2) How long should General A keep resending 100.x to let him know? Crap. It's the same problem! But the very existence of messages 90.x through 95.x (for example) tells both parties that message 0.x got through.
Halting problem
Ultimately, this appears to be one of the worst sorts of paradoxes in computing: A halting problem. There comes a point at which the original question has been answered ("Do both parties agree on a battle plan? Yes.") but the algorithm is still running.
I'm still convinced there's a way around it, but I can't seem to find the key. Any ideas?
Space is cool and photography is fun. Most other combinations of two things that you like in life are brutally bad (chocolate + steak, anyone?), but space photography is better than each separately.
One great time waster found on the Astronaut Photography page is the "Weekly Top 10," off of the 'Find Photos' menu, where I found this view of the Pacific, and a view of London at night (top).
Well now that it's official: what in the flying %&*# was Kevin McHale thinking in trading Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics for a few players and the draft pick that the Wolves traded to the Celtics a couple of seasons ago??? Wow. Now that was stupid. The Celtics now have three all-stars, and will be the favorite team in the awful Eastern Conference. The Timberwolves will be essentially playing with the Celtics team from a few years ago, which went absolutely nowhere.
My beef with McHale is not that he traded Garnett - I think it's high time that the big ticket and the T-Wolves part ways - but with his absolute incompetence in pulling the trigger on the deal when he could've gotten so much more for KG. Before the NBA draft, McHale could've had all the players he wanted plus the number five overall draft pick. Instead, he waited, and got a few good basketball players, most of whom will see their contracts expire within the next several years. WTF?
I don't even watch the NBA any longer. It's a small court filled with 10 superhuman athletes and rich, old, passive crowds. Give me college ball any day of the week. But still, I can't help but rant when someone in a position of power like McHale does something so utterly stupid! With a team that will now be the stinkpot of the brutal Western Conference, and dwindling attendance at home games, I think the Wolves will leave Minnesota within five years. And I hope they take McHale along with them.
What makes a city a great place to live? Why will people flock to one area and flee from another?
The weather is a factor. Buffalo always loses points when the city rankers consider its long winter. This is unfair, in light of the fact that the rankers don't seem to consider a hot summer to be as much of a drawback. It's not fun to be cold, but it's equally uncomfortable to be too hot; to work up a sweat walking from your front door to your car; to be unable to exercise outdoors after 8:00am--unless you want to risk heatstroke. And here's something no one seems to consider: some people like winter.
When we first moved here, Charlottesville's wimpy winters depressed me. They still do. In Buffalo, you send your kids to school in their snow pants and they go out to play at recess every day. In Charlottesville, the kids are kept in from recess if there is snow on the ground. How lame is that?
Buffalo winters are long, it's true. The first snow will sometimes come in October. Last year, a freak storm dumped 23 inches of snow on the city on October 13. The last snow comes in April, and I have seen snow in May. The average snowfall for the season is 90", but sometimes that entire allowance will fall in a single week. On the bright side, Lake Erie, which cools the climate in the summer, keeps the cold from getting too extreme, so the end result is snowy winters that are usually not unbearably cold, although the windchill can be formidable.
Still, the Buffalo summer makes up for its winter. The temperature rarely reaches the 90s, there is less humidity than we have here in Virginia, and a cool breeze comes off the lake. And the lake, besides keeping the summer cool is giant summer playground. One thing that sucks about Charlottesville is that it's not situated on a large body of water. I really miss living near the Great Lakes--Buffalo sits right on Lake Erie, but is also close to Lake Ontario.
When you think about it, it seems preferable to live in a city with a mild summer and a harsh winter, since summer is when kids are out of school and everybody wants to be outside, whereas in the winter, you've pretty much planned on being indoors anyway. It's so frustrating to live here and be stuck inside on hot summer days.
My point is, a city with a harsh winter should not automatically be branded as a bad place to live.
I took a bunch of valerian last night (this morning) because I’ve had so much caffeine lately that I can’t sleep, and I thought I needed some rest. Note: never take “a bunch of” valerian.
My new cat, Djuna, likes catnip. Neither Hilda nor Basil respond to it (not all cats do). She’s become very territorial over all the cat toys that have catnip in them. The floor is strewn with the ravaged “dead” bodies of mice.
< p>
This is the best definition of SOA that I can recall. I will credit the Sun Healthcare team's CTO, Lindsay Strait. Talk about a presenter with an edge and attitude, he was great.
Former selectman and state Rep. Robert Coughlin, who left the Legislature for an economic development job in Gov. Deval Patrick's administration, is in the running to head the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, an influential lobbying group.
Coughlin, the current undersecretary for business development, last week said he would recuse himself from work on the governor's 10-year, $1 billion plan to boost the life sciences industry to avoid any potential conflict of interest.
``Massachusetts Biotechnology Council is a membership organization and its potential membership will be increased by the passage of the Governor's Life Sciences Initiative,'' Coughlin said in a statement filed with the State Ethics Commission. ``Until a selection is made, I will recuse myself from all matters related to the biotech and life sciences industries.''
The Massachusetts Biotechnology Council has been looking for a new president since former House Speaker Thomas Finneran resigned in January due to legal problems.
The council lobbies state lawmakers on behalf of more than 500 companies and institutions involved in health care and life sciences.
Coughlin, a Dedham High School graduate, served on the Dedham School Committee from 1991 to 1994 and on the Board of Selectmen from 1995 to 2003. He defeated Maryanne Lewis to represent the 11th Norfolk District in the state House of Representatives in 2002 and resigned from that post in January to join the Patrick administration.
The undersecretary of business development works to encourage economic growth and job creation in Massachusetts by acting as a liaison between businesses and state government.
On Wednesday, a day before disclosing his interest in becoming council president, Coughlin announced the state had added 23,500 jobs since he took office.
Sarah MacDonald, deputy chief of staff in the department of business development, said yesterday Coughlin had no comment about his interest in the council presidency.
Calls to the council itself yesterday were not returned.
State Sen. Jack Hart, D-Boston, also filed a disclosure statement with the ethics commission expressing interest in the Council position.
Maureen found these tiny cigarette books. Though reprints and mass-produced, I like the gimmick so much that I thought it was worth mentioning. You can give up smoking and still carry something rolled-up in your shirt sleeve. Of course they’re not as cool as Jessica Bozek’s “The Matchbook Fragments” or Alixandra Bamford’s “Measuring Oscillations in Nearby Stars”. (Such are the limits of mass production.)
The time has come. 
