Ohio would be PERFECT for this

There is one project that would jump-start the Ohio Economy and put Ohio on the map for some years; High Speed Rail.

California is attempting to build a high speed train system that would connect Anahim, Los Angeles, Fresno and San Francisco. They have launched a $9.9 billion state bond offering to finance the proposal.

Ohio needs to do the exact same thing. Such a train system would connect Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. Phase two could connect Toledo, Akron/Canton and the South-East Appelachian area. Phase three could go to Indianapolis, Detroit and Pittsburgh.
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This is what's wrong with blogging

People post crap. They make a "huge issue" of "something important" yet don't do due-diligence to research it. Then they look like idiots for barking about something that is a non-issue.


Case in point: Ars's Apple's patch release policy is a concern for enterprise IT (be sure to see Gandhim3
's comment further down the page). Anyone who has a responsibility with managing a bunch of machines (whether Windows, Mac, Linux, Sparc, etc) has the responsibility to read the documentation and learn the recommended methods of management. It's called common sense and "Best Practices".

In this case, anyone w/o their head up their ass would know about ARD. And if you team it up with a neat little piece of hardware called an Xserve with OSX Server and a little bit of reading you find out there's an entire community of people doing this. And they have discussion forums too: Apple Remote Desktop Forum, Mac OS X Server Forum.

Neat, huh?

It's articles like these that remind me why I quit reading Ars a few years ago. Maybe I'll delete it from my rss feeds yet again.

P.S. I love that "Dear sophisticate IT manager morons..." :)


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My photo at the Rubin Museum of Art

One of my wildlife photos is being used with an exhibit at the Rubin Museum of Art, in New York.

It's in their "Family Programs" Bhutan exhibit The Dragon’s Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan.



For those that have never heard of a "Takin"; Takin Information.
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My Photo's famous!

One of my Portland Photo's has been used in a local visitor's guide!



Personally, it's not "one of my best". It was early in the morning, hazy. But the Eco-Tour was an absolute blast. I'd do it again in a heartbeat the next time I'm out west.

Here's a link to the visitor's guide.
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2nd week of Stronglifsts.com 5x5 Report

This is my report after doing 2 weeks of the Stronglifts 5x5
Beginner Strength Training Program. I intend to post regular updates that detail how it's going.

Oh Gawd I'm sore

My whole body is sore; legs, ass, back. The only solace I have is it's a "good sore". It wears off late in the the 2nd day (ie the day after you lifted).

Realizations

Some things I've learned:

• Make sure you have everything in your gym back the nite before. (I lift first thing each morning)


• Don't leave home w/o your notebook to know which routine you should do, and the weights you should be using (I did)


• My gym needs another squat rack


• People that use the smith machine for squats, I have to try not to look at them like they are chumps


• My gym needs more 2.5lb weights


• That prone position for 90 seconds makes my whole body shake! It literally pulls all the last remaining energy I've got straight out of my body

Goals

How'd I do with my basic goals?

I did not miss a workout! Check!

I did not falter and mis a rep! Check!

While both of those made me feel good, I have to realize I'm using extremely light weights; the level of impressiveness is directly relational to the amount of weight you are using :)

I made 1 consequential mistake this week. I forgot my "gym card" so I didn't know what weights I should be lifting. Rather then drive all the way back home @5:15am, I guessed; luckily I guessed high, and was able to do the weight. This made my squat and bench jump more then it normally would have from my week 1 results.

Overall, I'm having difficulty not adding more weight. I am feeling very confident I could do significantly more weight on the deadlift. I have to work hard to resist the temptation not to throw another set of 45's on there. I keep telling myself "use light weight to learn proper form, and build slowly. The thing is, I'm not conditioned for slow. I want my code compiled quickly. I want to drive vehicles quickly. I want to see my fat be 10% and my squat near 300lbs and I want it now! ;)

I am also having difficulty deciding on the weights to warm up with on the squat. Friday, I did: bar-barx5,bar+20,+20,bar+45 x 5,bar+45+20 x 5,bar+45+40 x 5. I think those were too much. I was more worn out by the time I completed the 5x5 squats then I've ever been. I don't know if it was because I did too many warmups that sapped my energy; or maybe it's because of the additional weight, or maybe it was because it was Friday morning and I was just plain tired from the week of work. I don't know.

My progress

Pre-Start specifics

My Weight and Fat Percentages

Week	Weight	Gut	Body-fat [1]
PRE	250	43"	20.0%
1	245	43"	19.6%
2	241	43"	18.6%
[1] using healthcentral.com's measurement method

5x5 Week #2 Results

Here is how I managed to do, weight-wise:

How much I've lifted

B	lbs	A	lbs	B	lbs
Squat	165	Squat	175	Squat	180
Press	80	Bench	175	Press	85
Deadlift	145	Inverted Row	3xF	Deadlift	155

Overall

My muscles are harder, sorer. My legs are stronger - I've noticed I'll do stairs 2 at a time like when I was much younger, without thinking about it. Though my fat percentage says it's lower, I'm not feeling it. I'm not seeing it either, my body looks as fat as it's looked for many years now.

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1st week of Stronglifts.com 5x5 Report

This week I started the Stronglifts 5x5 Beginner Strength Training Program. I intend to post regular updates that detail how it's going.

Why?

Because I'm out of shape. I'm in my late 30's. I feel like I have a body of someone in their late 40's. I sit at at desk all day writing code. When I do get out (to mountain bike, hike, hunt, gardening, housework, whatever) I'm sucking wind and my back is sore.

I know my core is out of shape. I can feel it.

When I've tried some of the stretches that are recommended in the 5x5 forums I've found that I have great limitations in my lower back, hips and thighs. My range of movement in all of them is pathetic.

I think all of this is related to me blowing a disk out a few years ago in my lower back. I believe my body wasn't meant to sit as much as I regularly do. I'm trying to undue years of this and institute a framework that I can exercise by for the rest of my life. ie "fix the core".

My Goal(s)

1. First one: just to do this, 3 times x week, like you are supposed to. That means waking up on time, getting to the gym on time. Going to bed on time.
   
2. Second one: increase strength 5x5 @200lbs squat (or more) at the end
   
3. Third one: use this to work toards decreasing my fat percentage to 10-12% over the next year or two.
   

Starting weights?

My first difficulty has been determining what starting weights to use. When I looked at the spreadsheet that people often use to track their progress (downloadble from the Stronglifts website on the 5x5 page, the bottom), I felt I could definitely lift more then it's starting weight on all exercises.

The question remainde: could I complete a 5x5 with a heavier starting weight? It doesn't matter if I can squat a max of 250lbs. If I can't do it 5x5, that's not where I needed to start. And if I can't do it with proper form, it doesn't count either.

I decided to go with the bar and 2 45's. That's 135lbs total. I figured "I should be able to do this".

After reading the stronglifts website, I found the mantra "Start light, focus on correct technique and add weight progressively. " so I knew I was on the right track.

At the moment I'm more concerned about form. I know I can lift more weight than this, but I want to train myself to have correct form and posture. Yes, I'm trying to undue years of messing around in the weight room (ie smith machine) off-and-on.

Starting Information

Pre-Start specifics



Pre-Start specifics

Weight	245
Height	5'9"
Gut	43"
Body-fat	19.6% ([1])

5x5 Week #1 Results

5x5 Week #1 Results

A	lbs	B	lbs	A	lbs
Squat	135	Squat	140	Squat	155
Bench	135	Overhead Press [2]	140	Bench	155
Barbell Row [3]	100	Deadlift	135	Barbell Row	135

Fat Results

Week #1 Fat Results

Weight	242
Height	5'9"
Gut	43"
Body-fat	19.6% ([1])

Overall

Overall I feel good that I completed the first full week. And I feel great. Friday taking the stairs at work, my legs didn't burn. My back didn't ache at the end of the day from being in the chair so much! I noticed I think my posture throughtout the day might have been more upright. Forcing myself to get out of bed @5am (and go to bed @9pm Sunday evening) is rough. There sure is a huge difference in the amount one can squat using the smith machine and not. I am glad I am finally not using it.

There is a new guy at the gym, doing a similar workout. We are intersecting on the gym's loan squat rack M&F. Not good. It slows me down.

I've found the B-workout, with the deadlifts, is a much faster workout then A. The dips, holy hell, do they end up zapping every once of energy I have left at the end of the workout (and by then, there's not much left let me tell you).

I'm sore. Yes, I admit it. I lift first thing in the morning. I get up @5am and drive to the gym. The rest of that day, I've not been sore. But about the afternoon of the next day, my ass my ass my ass!! So that evening when I get home from work I stretch and stretch and rub and stretch. I'm considering trying to implement some stretching/cardio/yoga on the Tuesdays/Thursdays inbetween each workout to help.

I did not "watch what I ate", however I did try to eat something more then 3 times/day. Which, by the end of the week, I had to! I was hungry about every 3 hours. Not the "I'm bored" hungry, the "my stomach feels empty and is now growling" hungry. I'm not too concerned about what I eat. My meals usually consist of:








My normal daily diet

Morning	Afternoon	Evening
Bowl of oatmeal, glass of v8, green tea	Leftovers from prior evening dinner or a baloney/turkey sandwhich, apple, banana, veggies, yogurt	Roast, Chili, Grilled Chicken, Grilled Pork, Spaghetti, veggies (steamed++), salad. Rarely desert.

So now I'm supplementing with a piece of fruit and maybe a granola bar @10am and 3pm. One day I ate a pre-dinner at 5pm. Dinner's normally at 6:30 (depends on when I get home from work too).

This week was also more difficult on the diet; my wife made a pan of Apple Dumplings the Sunday before I was to start this. It's a rare thing - about once every year or two. So each evening through the week we had Apple Dumplings ala-mode for desert.

[1] using healthcentral.com's measurement method

[2] I actually did Power Cleans here (ie going from the floor, all the way above my head, on each rep). Woops!

[3] Barbell Row or Power Cleans, your choice according to 5x5, just remember to alternate

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A PhD qualifies you!

Re: The Global Warming Petition Project

It would seem a PhD instantly qualifies you for a hell of a lot outside of your area of expertise.
Compare this to the people who actually study this stuff full-time: Climatology (40), Meteorology (341), Atmospheric Science (114). LOL.
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Chuck Norris can fix everything

This is classic: "Chuck Norris"-ing code >>Keep Reading: Full Post and Comments

cuil must be better

www.cuil.com must be a better search engine -- when you search for "Miserable Failure" you get both GW Bush's white house page and Jimmy Carter's page as well >>Keep Reading: Full Post and Comments

AT&T's direct fulfillment deal for iPhone

My wife's iPhone came in this week (Tuesday, infact). We picked it up last nite. I had ordered it from the closest AT&T Store 2 saturday's ago.

The direct fulfillment process was great. No long lines. No BS. When the phone shipped, I received an email notice. When it arrived at the store, they emailed me. We went it with her (now old) sprint phone. The guy ported the number. Tried to sell us accessories. And we were on our way home.

The next time we upgrade iPhones, I'm doing it w/ the fulfillment process. No lines, no bullshit.

So far she seems quite happy with it. Now she wants her own iTunes account, Jotta account, etc. >>Keep Reading: Full Post and Comments

Everything's a changin'

Of late, I've been geeking out. We are in the midst of changing everything. We've moved from CVS and CVSweb to SVN with Mantis and ViewVC (integrated, of course). We've moved from physical hardware to VM's. And we're moving from Perl and LAMP to Objective-C (Cocoa) and C# (.Net). Obviously I've been doing a lot of reading lately. These are huge changes and often by the end of the week my brain is fried. So far I'm hanging in there. We'll see how well this all works out in a few months. >>Keep Reading: Full Post and Comments

iPod Touch app bundle solution

A while back I posted about not being able to reinstall my iPod Touch's application bundle.

If found a solution....

Sell the thing on Craigs list and buy an iPhone v2 :)

The trouble is, after seeing the new phone, my wife wants one too.
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iPod Touch application bundle won't reinstall

I bought my IPod Touch 16GB new in Fall 2007. Loved it. When the January Application Bundle became available, I paid up and got the new apps. Loved 'em. Been using it ever since.

This week I needed to wipe all my information off the iPod. So I hit http://www.apple.com/support/ and started reading. I found HT1376 Installing, verifying, or reinstalling the iPod touch January Software Upgrade. Perfect, I can wipe it via a factory-reset and it'll reinstall the new apps. Just what I needed.

Ah but no. The new application bundle doesn't reinstall. I filed a support by clicking 'support' within iTunes itself. No answer.

So I went to the Apple discussions boards and found this thread: Restored iPod, can't get january software update.

Apparently I may not be the only one with this problem.

Since I've yet to receive a response from Apple wrt the support request filed in iTunes, I went ahead and sent email to support@apple.com explaining all this today.

We'll see if Apple's support responds and what they say. I've asked them to either send me the app-bundle, or make my iTunes account show it in the queue or tell me what to do to make the application bundle be reinstalled. That's all I want - the app's that I paid for!!

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iPhone Orig vs iPhone 3G Cost comparison

Erik doesn't like the iPhone 3G Pricing. So I thought I'd compare the numbers...

I put together a quick cost comparison spreadsheet on google docs. The way I see it, the new phone cost $6.00/mo more then the old phone did.

IMHO, If that's a deal breaker, you shouldn't be spending anywhere near $80/mo for a phone.

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Ohio's Strickland is screwing up

Re: State shouldn't limit flexible workweek

Strickland is screwing up (see Strickland takes away flexible hours and State workers back to 8-to-5). He's messing with state worker's schedules. He's making it more difficult for people with kids (single parents even more so), unionized workers and people taking classes to stay employed with the state.

Why does it take Strickland's office to deem such policies down upon management of State Agencies. Can't those whom run each agency not manage their own employees time, schedule and workload? Don't they know their own employees the best to judge how to handle them? Really, is the state going to lose money if an employee leaves for an hour to go to a dentist appointment and then work an hour late to make up the work?

With the brain-drain of higher-educated people leaving the state for jobs why would one create rules that prevent them from shifting schedules to take classes and/or training. That seems counterproductive to keeping a highly educated workforce.

If Strickland's moves are meant to drive people to leave state employment, it's working. Those that can leave, will. Those that can't leave, won't. Let's be realistic, those are the bottom dwellers that private employment would never employ in the first place. He'll claim that his leadership has saved the state vast sums of money. In reality, he's driving away from state employment those that are most wanted. He'll claim up front goals and savings. But just a few short years from now all state agencies will feel the pain two-fold.

I'm beginning to regret having voted for him. And that's saying a lot, because Taft's administration was a total flop. And they mention this guy from Vice President with Obama? The thought makes me want to scream!

Also related: Ohio State Workers Are Coping: It’s Now 8 to 5, With a 5-Day Week and Strickland Diet to Slim Down Government, Gambling Machine Expansion to Fatten Coffers


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Why is China still a 'developing country'?

So why is China still referred to as a "currently developing country"? (1/4 way down ) when they manufacture most of the goods that are purchased in the US? I mean, really, if a country has the infrastructure to produce that much, and the people enough to produce that much, and the infrastructure to keep all those people alive, they're no longer developing.

You can't argue that "the country is so vast that populations/parts don't have running water and electricity. Well, technically you can argue whatever you'd like. But the US has parts where there is no running water, and no electricity.

You can't use Government as a factor. They have one. It's stable. There are many countries that wish they had this.

If it's because parts of their population are uneducated (the same can be said about the US, honestly) - that's by choice of their government. Their government's making fistfulls of money yet they chose to only spend $19/student on textbooks. Does that make them a developing country?

So why is this? Will someone from the lazyweb please explain this to me? >>Keep Reading: Full Post and Comments

You've got friends!

Recall, from the sys-admin days of ol' (yes, we know you did your due and did the peon job years ago) the AOL sound "You've got mail!" that you'd hear buzzing from people's machines?

I saw the following picture in my email inbox. It made me think of that damned annoying "You've got mail" sound, but instead "You've got Friends". It seems in Ohio, once the weather gets a bit warmer everyone gets their camera out.



I guess on one hand it's "nice to have friends". The funny thing is, look at the dates. That second weekend in may there were a lot of shutters 'a clickin' :)
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Lessons learned from a Nature Photography Newbie

This past winter marks the second season which I have ventured out into the wilderness to photograph turkeys. This year, I made the trip out to the woods a number of times yet I had success on only three of those trips. Here are a few things I've learned which I think are the most important when attempting something like this.

Timing

Based upon my analysis, some of the trips were too soon - they weren't close enough to their mating season crazyness. In Ohio, March seems to be the month. January and February are too soon. You might see some then. But you won't see 50 birds at a time. April's no good too, the spring turkey hunting season starts. Depending on your location, these times will vary.

Competition

I also found evidence that someone's poaching on our land. We found black shotgun shells on our land near the house where the turkeys come up to. These shells are not our "color" nor our "brand" that we typically use. If I hit the lottery I would love to invest in some cameras to catch this person or these people!

Then there's the coyotes and the cats. Yes, I mean bobcats. Yes, they're in Ohio. Get over it. (so are small bears, for that matter). Apparently they enjoy a good turkey dinner as well. We've found a number of carcasses leftover in the woods nearby. Not much was ever left except feathers and claws. Nearly all were hens, for the curious.

Tips

So after sitting through sun, sleet, rain and snow, here are the top few things I learned while trying to photograph wildlife this year:

1. Always use a tripod. Don't leave home without it. If you do, drive back and get it. Just because your eyes think there's enough light outside that morning doesn't mean your lenses, filters and magnifiers will. Add in possible low-light and motion from the animals and you've got one thing - blur if you don't have a tripod.
   


2. Bundle up! It's far colder sitting in a metal chair outside in a blind then it is standing outside the house. The longer you are out there before the sun comes up (you are out there before the sun comes up, yes?) the colder it becomes, quickly! Like everyone says, wear layers. I found bringing different hats helps; as it becomes warmer I can ditch the thicker ones for thinner ones.
   


3. Valley's are cold! If you start at the top of a hill when you get to the bottom and setup your blind and equipment it's going to be colder down there!


4. Condensation kills! Be careful about condensation from your heat, your breath, the sunshine coming in and your camera. Especially if there's a frost and/or dew. If the tip of your lens is outside the blind, or near the opening and it's temperature is different from the rest of the camera you can end up with water where you don't want water.
   


5. Cold kills batteries! If you hadn't heard this before, then you've not been doing photography long or you live where it's not cold. Either way, the cold will suck the energy from your batteries like you cannot believe. Bring extra's. During the long lulls where you aren't seeing much action of your blind, don't hesitate to pull the camera from the tripod mount and stuff the body in your jacket.
   


6. Cold messes with LCD's. The LCD in the viewfinder on mine started acting up. Instead of f4.5 it looked more like f4.L. I've not figured out yet whether this is a flaw, or it was from the cold, or both. Nor have I decided whether or not to send the body to Canon for a fix. When the camera body's temperature was raised, the problem went away - that's why I suggested putting the camera body in your jacket (someplace warmer) when not being used. (If I knew of a way to get a picture of the LCD in the viewfinder, I'd be able to show this to you).
   


7. Diet. Don't eat that huge steak and potato meal the night before. And stay away from a lot of beer. Oh, and beans too. The next day in a small blind isn't pleasant. It can be extreme in a two person blind with two people! The point I'm getting at is you may have to adjust the size of your urin bottle and other necessary equipment to handle the fallout of the previous night's festivities. Use your best judgement here.
   


8. Stretch before you go out to the woods. You will be cramped in a blind for at-least half a day, maybe an entire day. If your body is nice and stretched out you won't cramp up being stuck in a chair in a small blind in a tiny space for hours on end. During the day try to stretch your limbs too. If you google on "office stretches" that people do in their office chairs, the premise for your situation in your blind is the same. Stretch as much as possible. You will be thankful you did it once you finally stand up and have to walk your gear back out of the woods.
   


9. Bring a watch, pen and paper. When you start seeing eyes and heads popping out of the brush, note the date and the times. Animals tend to be cyclical, especially if you are routinely spreading food out for them to eat. They'll come back and make your location part of their routine. Over time, adjust your estimated times based on sunrise and sunset. Some magazines, like Field & Stream will publish sun tables Solunar Tables that you can analyze and possibly use. (see Field & Stream Interactive Weather and Wildlife Best Times to Hunt & Fish as well as Sunshine Applet)


10. Lens cleaning equipment. You're bound to drag your nose across your lcd screen. You're bound to breath towards the camera thereby fogging up the lcd screen and viewfinder (note that this is the exact time the animals will pop out of the woods on you, when you can't see squat). If you'll be changing lenses you're bound to drop one on the ground it'll roll through the grass, weeds and snow. So bring a towel. Bring the normal lens cloth and other misc gear to clean them. Nothing kills the spirit worse then going back to camp, looking at your pictures and finding out there was dirt somewhere that's in every single frame you snapped.
    


11. Know when to leave. If you've walked in with all your gear, don't wait until you are bone tired to packup and leave. Leave sooner. There's no reason to be that tired when you've still got to packup and haul all your gear out of the woods. My gear isn't light, I can't afford those sweet lightweight tripods in the B&H catalog, mine's from eBay. So don't wait. Leave while you are ahead, especially if the walk is long and up hill.
    

The main thing is have fun. If you are lucky enough to have picked a good spot, you'll capture what you came for. If not, well then there's always everything else out in the wild.



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America Celebrates Tax Freedom Day

It seems today is Tax Freedom day.
I'd settle for it being a national holiday so we all get the day off from work. That'd make it something meaningful for me. >>Keep Reading: Full Post and Comments

Blackberry server names

The person at work responsible for ditching these Godforsaken Motorola-Q's did a trial period with an iPhone. But couldn't get iMap to work. And since it doesn't do native Microsoft Exchange (yet), it's been deemed we should all switch to something that does - so we are to have Blackberry's. Needless to say, this has had some in the IT department jabber channel bemoaning a bit. Consequently, being the good selfless IT staff that we are, we were helping our server minion setup the required-in-house-blackberry-server. (No, we didn't do any physical work, not even any clicking on 'install.exe', that's his job!) Here's what we came up with:

• Elderberry


• Shrubbery


• ElderBerryShrubbery


• wishiwasaniphone


• whenIgrowupIwannabeaniphone

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