Cruftbox: My Box of Cruft

Several people have been talking about why they blog and what they need to reveal or hide. Both Joi and Casey have been discussing it.
After a bit of thought, blogging is really about one thing and one thing only. Getting recognition. To those of us down with Transactional Analysis, it’s all about the warm fuzzies.
People crave attention and praise more than anything else in life. More than money or possessions.
Bloggers love comments. Bloggers love getting side emails. Bloggers love Trackbacks and links to their weblogs.
Sure, there are some people (like me) that have the secondary goal of spreading some information or knowledge around, but the primary goal remains getting attention.
Let’s be honest here folks. Bloggers will change their weblog in the direction that gets them more eyeballs, clicks, links, and comments.
The difficulty is riding the line between what people want to know and what will cause you more trouble in life.
Feel free to disagree, I love the comments. 🙂

Testing the upgrade to MT 2.65
Cruftbox now has Atom 0.3 support.

Today, my inbox recieved a strange email.
The email was identified as a virus, W32.Mimail.M@mm to be exact.
I looked at the text of the message and it began with, “No one in bed is better than you Gollum.”
Wowsa. A combo virus attack and LotR slash fiction all in one. A true sign of the apocalypse.

The American Family Association is taking a poll on whether gay people should be allowed to marry. (via MeFi)
Let’s make sure they get a wide sample of citizens viewpoints.

Last week I finished Quicksilver and it has taken me a week to decide what I thought about the book.
The book is not science fiction, it is historical fiction taking place in the period after the English Civil War up until the start of the 18th century, encompassing the European Wars and scientific innovation of the time.
On one level the book is good historical fiction with great characters and good story telling. But what I was looking for was the deeper ideas of the novel. In Stephenson’s other novels, there is an underlying idea (or ideas) that is being presented. In the Diamond Age, the importance of education is stressed. In Cryptonomicon, the importance of secrecy is stressed.
It took me a week to figure out what Stephenson was getting at in the book. I read several reviews, including a good one from Slashdot, and tried to find someone else I knew that had read it.
Key to the story are two main concepts, the role of religious fundamentalism and the role of scientific innovation. Much of the English Civil War was based on the concepts of gathered churches vs. established churches. The debate over the ‘Purity’ of the Church left the realm of discussion and lead to open warfare.
The second concept of scientific innovation or as it known in the book as Natural Philosophy. At this point in history, science and the scientific method was finally taking hold and groups like the Royal Society were forming to combine individual efforts into greater projects. Change was occurring rapidly and causing change in the marketplace and the battlefield. The world was changing faster than it had in hundreds of years and the it appeared to have no end in sight.
Now consider the world of the early 21st century. Religious disagreement and fundamentalist thought has broken out into worldwide violence after a period of relative calm since WWII. Science and the daily use of technology is ramping up logarithmically. There appears to be no end in sight for new innovations pouring out of the scientific minds in the world. From genetics to computers to aerospace to media, what we take for granted today was almost unimaginable 30 years ago.
I think this is the point Stephenson is trying to make. I believe that he is trying to compare the world of today to what happened in the late 1600s in Europe. Religion and traditional thought in conflict with science, technology and the general idea of change.
A few specific associations. Half Cocked Jack can represent the hard working third world that may not be literate, but is bright, resourceful, and steadfast. The Newton/Leibniz rivalry can represent the struggle between competing technologies for marketplace dominance.
This first book in the Baroque Cycle (trilogy) is setting the stage for what happens in the next two novels. Looking forward to the release of the next book, I can only hope that I am correct and that there is more to Quicksilver than simply a good adventure yarn.
Of course, I could be full of crap and totally missing the point…

One of the online areas I lurk in is the Joi Ito IRC channel. I was told that AKMA was coming to Pasadena and asked if I could help him out. AKMA is A. K. M. Adams, he’s just called AKMA by everyone. I had heard of AKMA before but had never really chatted with him or even really read his weblog.
We chatted briefly on Sunday night and on Monday morning decided to grab breakfast together. I wasn’t sure what to expect. AKMA is a theologian and a priest. I’m an Engineer. Faith & Science. Can the two mix?
Happily, they can. We had a great chat and it was wonderful to expand the circle of my friends. He had eggs and pancakes, I had French Toast, and we both had coffee.
I am not a religious man. I prefer logic, reason, and method over faith and belief. Why? No real reason. I’ve come to see it simply as the way my mind works and accepts things. The conversation suprised me at the depth of topics within the world of philosphy.
I was content to categorize theology as a simple science of debate over a minutae and other trivial matters while the big picture things were agreed upon. That is not the case. I was interested to see that AKMA had to deal with many of the same issues I deal with in business, that he deals with in religion. Ego, power, control, even branding.
We agreed on that the connectivity of the internet is changing some of the base assumptions about what a community is, how it works, and what a friend is.
Next time, I hope to meet over beers and get an even more lively discussion going.

Last night I prepared some ribs and some beef jerky (my father’s recipe) to smoke today. I had planned to use my homemade smoker.
After reading the paper and eating breakfast, Michele started asking me questions about my plans for the day. I explained how I would have to smoke the meat in two batches. A few minutes later, she told me she wanted to go out to the garage and show me some things she wanted cleaned up.
When we got outside, she acted strange and wandered around the garage a bit rambling about cleaning. Finally she stopped, said “Merry Christmas” and unveiled my present, a smoker.

Eagerly, I opened the box and assembled the unit. It is perfect. The multiple shelves and the easy mehtod of changing the wood chips super. My wife totally rocks for getting this for me. Even better, she gave it to me when I could use it!

Ribs on the top two racks, jerky on the next two.
I wasn’t the only one happy with the gift. The girls got the best gift of all, the empty box! It’s even better than TV!

For the record, I wanna be Tony Pierce
Not forever, just a couple days to remember the life before I was called ‘Dad’.
Tony writes about life like birds fly, effortlessly, leaving the rest of us to simply envy their gift.
If I ever meet Tony in real life, I’m buying him a drink. Check that, I’m gunna buy him lots of drinks.

In the past I have enjoyed flipping through the Cyberguys catalog, but now they have outdone themselves. Yesterday I got a catalog in the mail called X-treme Geek. As you might imagine, the catalog is full of truly appealing items. Here are a few items that give you the flavor of the catalog.
ERGOBEADS, EYE PILLOW, BLACK – Relentlessly crushing those foolish enough to oppose your will can lead to tired and puffy eyes. The endless targeting, the blinding flashes of exploding ordnance, the pitiful screaming…can give you a headache. The ergoBeads(tm) Eye Pillow blocks out light, spreading a gentle, soothing weight around your eyes. It can relieve sinus headaches and rejuvenate tired eyes. You’ll look and feel refreshed, ready for many more grueling hours of alien destruction, insurgent crushing and general LAN party mayhem.
ELITEMAX ETERNALIGHT, BLUE – eternaLight, the world’s first microprocessor controlled LED flashlight, features bright LEDs, encased in a durable and impact resistant case. This flashlight can provide continuous light for over 30 days without charging or replacing batteries. The built-in microprocessor offers a variety of light-effect modes and manages power usage for extended run-time.
DEATH RAIN POTATO CHIPS – Set your tongue and mucous membranes aflame with the hot snack that challenges even the most toughest of palates. Laced with Red Savina Habanero Pepper, these savory and spicy potato chips are big on flavor and are rated at temperatures from ‘Medium’ to ‘XXX hot’.
Who can resist such items?

Several weeks about, I was watching the Daily Show and on the screen came Curt “The BeerNeck Guy” Silbert talking about his new invention, the BeerNeck.
The BeerNeck is of course, irresistable to me. I am always setting my beer down and forgetting where I put it. I needed the Ultimate Drinking Tool.
I ordered the BeerNeck and forgot about it. Several weeks later, when I was out of town, the BeerNeck arrived in the mail. The same day, Curt Silbert, Chief of BeerNeck.com, actually called my home to make sure the package had arrived. Michele took the call and said, “He was very, very enthusiastic.” Now that’s what I call customer service.

Here is the BeerNeck. Note the neoprene case is for insulation.

The cap has an embedded opener for opening the bottle. Ingenious!

The bottle fit in perfectly and it was easy to zip up.

The cap then fits on top of the bottle to prevent spillage while I walked around.

The elastic lanyard is soft and the beer felt comfortable hanging there.
I did a few normal tasks around the house like cooking, taking out the trash, and sitting at the computer.
The BeerNeck never got in the way.

With a quick flip of my thumb to open the top, I was able to partake of cold, tasty beer.

The BeerNeck gets two thumbs up from me. At $10-$12 depending on style, it’s worth the money. The style points alone you’ll receive at your next BBQ are worth the price.