Cruftbox: My Box of Cruft

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.

Ribs on the top two racks, jerky on the next two.

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.

A happy day around here since USC does not get to go to the Sugar Bowl.
Now if only Michigan smacks USC around in the Rose Bowl, things will be even better.
I just couldn’t take a month of SC fans gloating over going to the Sugar Bowl.
In other news, we made gingerbread cookies today.

Back at the family homestead.
The last night I was in Orlando, I got to ride Mission:Space. We grove up behind the park and walked on stage right at the ride. The ride was amazing. You actually pull 3 Gs when the simulated launch happens. Simply amazing ride.
Today, Michele is off at some Paul Frank clearance sale and I’m with the girls. In a few minutes Mira goes to a birthday party and Zoe and I go shopping.
We’ve agreed that a Roomba is in order here at Chez Pusateri. They are on sale and I’ve got a 20% off coupon. Obviously, I’ll post about it once the robot is in use.
Books
When I arrived home there was a stack of packages from Amazon on the table. My copy of Golden Transendence has arrived. The end of the trilogy is at hand but I am in the middle of Quicksilver. I’m on page 673 of 916. There ar worst things than be surrounded by good books.
OK, time to go. More later.

Currently, I’m in Orlando for a series of meetings about dry IT topics. We just so happen to also be at Walt Disney World.
As a break in the day, we took a trip to see underneath Disney. After a quick trip on the monorail, we were soon walking down into the Utilidoor beneath the Magic Kingdom. The Utlidoor is the beneath ground aspect of the themepark that allows the cast members to prepare for work out of sight of the guests.
The complex underneath the Magic Kingdom is huge, based on a ring that is around two miles long. Places for people to get costumes, change, eat, rest, and do anything else are all in place. Seeing the rubberheads half out of costume was strange. I don’t recommened ever letting a child see it. 🙂
After the tour, we were back at work pouring over some spreadsheet. One of the guys, Paul, had a Treo 600 and I got to play with it while not paying attention. Here’s a selfportrait I took of us sitting around the table.

That’s my first camera phone picture. I don’t know if I want a Treo 600. It’s cool and all, but all I wanted to do was take a picture and make phone calls. The Treo 600 seems like a bit of overkill.
Time for me to get ready to head out to continue work on ‘business process mapping’ and ‘optimization opportunity’. I’m living in Dilbert land.

A new group weblog in Los Angeles has been launched today.
Go check out blogging.la, they are good folks and this should be a good place. Events, news, gossip! Who knows what else is in store?
There seems to have been a lot of prep involved in the launch and I hope they find it rewarding.
Go forth now my LA brethren and link to blogrolling.la on your site.

Tivo is a great thing, but there is one problem. I never know when new shows are coming.
Since I tend to fast forward through the commercial breaks, I miss the promos for new shows as well. In the last couple days I’ve realized that there are several things I have not heard about, yet want to watch. I like both Jeremiah and Horatio Hornblower, yet I was unaware that new episodes were coming. Luckily with Hornblower, I found out today, two days in advance. Unluckily with Jeremiah, I’ve already missed the first two episodes.
Tivo suggestions is good but I rarely check it, but there needs to be a companion web site that emails you info on recommended upcoming shows.
This is a symptom of the bigger problem the PVR is bringing to Television. When people stop watching promos, it’s going to be much, MUCH harder to get them to watch new things. I’m not sure what going to happen, but the way television is promoted is going to change.