| I love gum |
[Aug. 29th, 2008|03:47 pm] |
I chew gum all day long, and I have for at least 10 years. And when I say all day long, I mean from about 1 hour after I wake up until the evening time. Call it an oral fixation or what have you, but I fucking love chewing gum.
At any given time, you'll find at least 4 different types of gum in my laptop bag. I usually try to keep a balance with 2 minty kinds, 1 original bubblegum flavor (or bubblemint), and one fake fruit flavor. Always sugarless.
My current selection consists of the following gums, available at all times during the day:
* Extra Classic Bubble
* Trident Original (old fallback)
* Stride Wintermint
* Orbit White
When I find gum that I like, I stick with it and will usually chew it exclusively for a couple of months. [u]Gums that I've been obsessed with in the past:[/u]
Bubbleyum Mint
Dentyne Vanilla chill
Trident original
I give you: The Perfect Gum
I always find a flaw though- flavor doesn't last long enough, consistency is too soft (or too hard), elasticity isn't consistent, dead flavor (after extended chewing) tastes like rubber, size, vocal obstruction (for conference calls, etc).
UNTIL NOW. For the past 2 weeks, I have been plowing through the most perfect gum ever created. Its a perfect blend of flavor, elastic consistency and longevity. I seriously can't find a single flaw with it.
Trident Extra Care
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| Checked out M.I.A. in Baltimore |
[Dec. 27th, 2007|11:56 pm] |
Went with a couple of folks to check out M.I.A. perform live in Baltimore. Doors were supposed to open at 930PM, but because Sonar lounge fucked up, the line wrapped around the corner until doors opened at 1045PM. Luckily we got there late, so didn't have to wait too long.
Act 1: The Cool Kids
Fuck, I didn't even know they were opening, and the crowd was screaming for encores by the time they ended. They fucking destroyed, and were probably one of the best live hip hop shows I've ever seen. They controlled the crowd like hypnotists, were full of energy, and seriously- every fucking track was catchy. The minute they drop something along the lines of a full album, I will be on that shit.
Act 2: Blaqstarr
Fucking sucked. Generic, shitty R&B boasting about dick size and eating pussy. Nearly got booed off the stage with good reason. Complete shit.
Act 3: M.I.A.
This is the second time I've checked her out, and I'm noticing that she really really really wants to have some sort of message. But I can't tell what it is. The set opens with some trippy communist Chinese projections, and some non-sensical politico speeches. It made for some very cool effects, especially since I was already pretty lit by this time. But I was having trouble figuring out what it is she was preeching about...
The set was off the blood clot- with some cameos from local MCs (Miss Kitt?), some really tight production, and lots of energy. I'm not really feeling her music so much anymore- where Galang was fresh and melodic, Arular just sounds sloppy and tribal- especially live. Great performance, but shitty album. Others seemed to love that shit, so maybe I'm in the minority.
Overall- The show was like an emotional rollercoaster. Shitty (late doors), Great (The Cool Kids), Shitty (Blaqfag), Great (MIA). Everyone was pissy by the time we made it back to DC.
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| ITIL Foundation Exam Preparation Website |
[Jul. 17th, 2007|08:44 am] |
I recently launched a new ITIL Foundation test preparation service for those who seek to pass the exam and pinpoint the process areas which require more study.
Some of the benefits of ITIL Prime include:
* Hundreds of ITIL Foundation Exam practice questions, developed by professionals who hold the certification.
* Personalized reporting which tracks your performance, and highlights areas you need to focus studies on.
* Accurate, timed practice tests which emulate the real life testing environment.
* A personalized Dashboard which quickly highlights key information about your performance.
* Professional: Prepare for your ISEB or EXIN exam with tests created by ITIL-certified subject matter experts.
* Measurable: Review your performance using multiple tools and pinpoint which areas require more study.
* Realistic: Practice using a system modeled after the real life Prometric testing environment
ITIL Prime also uses community statistics to show how the overall audience scores by process area.
http://www.ITILPrime.com |
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| NY Marathon Weekend |
[Nov. 29th, 2006|11:44 pm] |
A couple of weekends ago, the Countess's brother swooped into NY-town from London to run the New York Marathon. Since the ol' jog was on Sunday, we had Saturday to kill, and started out the day downtown trying to visit the Statue of Liberty. I lived there for years, but never made a visit to our Lady of Freedom, but was dismayed when told the ferry would be a 45 minute wait (on top of a $15 tab). Instead, we basked in Freedom's glory from dry land.
Apparently, hotel rooms cost a *fortune* during the marathon. So the Countess and I crashed rambo style on the Eug and Art's floor Saturday night. Rudy had actually booked a weekend room at a hostel on the Upper East Side, but after a horribly awkward roommate experience involving those with little discretion (and too much booze) he opted to floor camp with us on Saturday eve.
On Sunday morning, the whole NY crew came out to support Rudy down in Brooklyn- an event catered by Uli which involved a mountain of Salmon and bottles of bubbly. This got everyone in good form to go out and see Rudy take the corner in Greenpoint surprisingly early. He was moving fast! And he actually ran out of the crowd to hang out with us!
Tons of people were running- some in costumes, some in business suits- Lance Armstrong had a team of "handlers" urging him on (which was kind of funny).
After another pit stop at Uli's, Team NY migrated up to Central Park to see Rudy finish the race. It turned out he had to work the next day. In London. So, in true weekend marathon style, he actually got in a cab to the airport FROM THE FINISH LINE OF THE RACE. Now that is true German work ethic.
By the way, don't let architects take photos...
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| Chronicling an MC Battle - 101 |
[Oct. 21st, 2006|09:00 pm] |
Its time to chronicle a "Great lyrical battle" from two (somewhat) credible cracker MCs. All of this arose over a personal beef between Everlast and Eminem, and evolves to include Dilated Peoples. What follows is one of the most entertaining set of battle tracks ever charted.. in the past couple of years. Ever.
To the best of my knowledge, a treaty has still not been signed by these organizations.
EMINEM VS EVERLAST
First: To follow along with the battle, download all the songs in one neat package here.
Second: Review and listen to the tracks below in order.
1. Everlast feat Dilated Peoples - Ear Drums Pop:
" Cock my hammer, spit a comet like haley
I'll buck a three-eighty on ones that act shady ".
Complete Lyrics: http://tinyurl.com/yeytns
2. Eminem - I Remember:
" Remember back in '94, like right before Ms. Everlast was Whitey Ford
Before his heart attack had him on life support
When house of pain was out of fame
like someone doused a flame
And they became destined to never jump around again ".
(Appeared on the B-side of the 'I'll Shit On You' single.)
Complete Lyrics: http://tinyurl.com/yhn8js
3. Everlast - Whitey's Revenge:
" I get love in New York, got fam in L.A.
And I heard you might be the MC that's gay
With your platinum blonde Caesar, you look like a ho
Like M and M stands for Marilyn Monroe
Talkin' 'bout killin' sprees, you ain't like that, yo
Makin' lots of enemies, but that's all for show ".
Complete Lyrics: http://tinyurl.com/ykbq7v
4. Eminem - Quitter:
" The reason why you dissed me first and I answered you
You said I passed you in a lobby and I glanced at you
like I ain't notice you? BITCH, I had a show to do!
Like I'm supposed to be star-struck, come over to you ".
Complete Lyrics: http://tinyurl.com/yecrqg
This is pretty much the nail in the coffin for Everlast... game over. Although some would argue that Everlast's track was much harder and direct, and scared the shit out of Eminem. In Eminem's track "Quitter" is a shot against Evidence from Dilated Peoples (Everlast initially shit-talked Eminem on a Dilated track). This prompts Dilated Peoples to fire back with a track which evolves the battle to...
EMINEM VS DILATED PEOPLES
5. Dilated Peoples - Search 4 Bobby Fisher (white label)
" In this verse, jumpin jacks a little warm up
There'll be no bullshit, there'll be no hit chorus
Diss my crew? yo, you won't go far
The truth is i'm about as much from detroit as you are "
Complete Lyrics: http://tinyurl.com/yzqo6l
6. Eminem - Girls (directed completely at Dilated Peoples)
" Peoples, whatever your backpackin cypherin name is
Had I not opened a magazine and seen what you sayin and
I'da never involved you, but you had to add your two pennies
Now I gotta go grab my shitlist and add some new enemies "
Complete Lyrics: http://tinyurl.com/y9vvdb
FINAL RANKING
It's really difficult to rank these guys- all 3 had superior performances. Only the M seemed to put so much effort in to his tracks that he kind of deserves it. This guy really wants to make enemies (as Everlast pointed out). Evidence (from DP) on the other hand, did a good job of calling Em out in nearly every verse. Maybe he'll follow back up with a response to "Girls".
1st Place 
2nd Place 
3rd Place  |
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| The Keifas Prophecies |
[Sep. 18th, 2006|11:59 pm] |
The Typical Bar Discussion
After an interesting evening with the Keifas, a late-night, half-drunken conversation regarding evolution and creationism reared its head. Keifas is a rare breed in that he lives in a world of statistical logic, optimizing the complicated processes utilized by oil companies; yet he also has a very strong and literal belief in the bible and Creationism. Its not often you find such a blend of the objective and subjective, wrapped all up into one pensive and slightly cock-eyed young man. So there lay the conversation, Special-K relaying the tenants of his beliefs and the written word, and me (equally cock-eyed at this point), an unknowing defender of mainstream sciences. When all was said and done, I left with more questions than answers, as K-rock typically referred to the unreliability of carbon dating. So I set out to do some searching around- I wanted to find out what this whole debate is about, and to try and get some answers.
What seems to be a decidingly Creationist factor of "debunking" mainstream science is the idea of carbon dating and its unreliability. Creationists believe that the Earth is less than 10,000 years old, and that the methods used to date organisms such as dinosaurs bones and fossils are funadamentally flawed. This eventually leads to an "end of days" prophecy, etc.
Looking at both sides
So I've taken to researching the whole idea of carbon dating (50,000 yrs), accelerated carbon dating (100,000 yrs), and other deep history dating methods (100,000+) currently in use by the vast majority of mainstream science. I *thought* that I'd resolve all of this relatively easily, and its not really that- well- easy.
One thing which was overly apparent, though, is that those who refute the claims of mainstream science typically fall in to the following categories and seemingly do not deviate:
- Christian ultra-conservative supporting strict Creationist theory
- Seem to use carbon dating "loopholes" as a way to denounce the majority of mainstream science
- Commonly represent the weaknesses and limits of carbon dating as being able to detect substantially less age than it can
- Believe a cataclysmic flood occurred less than 5,000 years ago, skewing all modern day science
The problem with the claims against the mainstream science are that, well, no actual scientists, who seperate church and state, are making them. They are primarily made by groups with a religious agenda, attempting to explain literal statements from the bible. Show me one scientist who is disagreeing with mainstream science, but *not* providing a decidedly creationist/religious view. They are simply seizing the variables within the scientific dating methods as "loopholes" to promote a non-scientific theory. When debated side-by-side, it clearly becomes an "apples and oranges" matter.
The Mainstreamers
Mainstream science doesn't get off so easily here, either. The current method used to date historical items, "carbon dating", have limitations which are not commonly indicated to the layperson. Only items which actually lived at one time can be accurately carbon dated. So things like bones, leather, plant material- these items essentially "decay" at a constant rate. And since scientists know, or think they know, what this constant rate of decay is, it is possible for them to estimate how long something has been decaying for, which means "how long ago it lived".
However, there are some pretty big assumptions, potential problems really, which are often vocalized by opponents of mainstream science. They are:
1. Scientists assume that everything decays at a constant rate.
But what if it didn't? What if 5,000 years ago the environment was different, and matter decayed faster (or slower)? This would mean that the carbon dating results we have now are unreliable. Creationists use this as the biggest "what if" argument. What if there really was a flood 6,000 years ago and Noah really had an ark, and the world really was covered in water- wouldn't carbon dating be completely skewed by these types of cataclysmic events? Or what if a meteor hit the Earth and caused massive floods, or massive amounts of soot to block the sun? Wouldn't this alter the dating methods as well?
Most scientific methods calibrate their measurements to account for environmental variables, but the (small) possibility does exist that something huge happened years ago to invalidate them. The only thing is, there really is no proof to suggest that a major worldwide catastrophe took place such a short time ago (plus we'd be ignoring mountains of science based on astronomy).
2. Carbon dating can only go so far back
Eventually, all of the carbon-14 from a piece of once-living matter will have dissipated. Gone completely. Pfft. When something *dies*, it stops accumulating new carbon-14 atoms, and those that it has accumulated begin decaying. Most samples lose all of their carbon-14 atoms after about 50,000 years- while larger sample "masses" (with a higher density of carbon-14) can be dated to about 100,000 years ago.
So how do we know dinosaurs really existed *millions* of years ago? The fact is, carbon dating cannot really be used to accurately date these organisms past a couple of thousands of years. However, scientists don't use carbon dating for dinosaur bones, fossils, and other prehistoric matter. For these items, "geologoical column" dating is used. Essentially, the depth of which bones are found in is tied to a geological date uniformally accepted for that area. Creationists, however, do not believe that these geological depths are accurately dated by science, and choose to rely on a biblical "flood-based" model which can be found here: http://www.biblicalgeology.net/content/view/33. So there's the fundamental difference, its not that Creationists don't agree dinosaurs existed, or at what depth they were found- rather, Creationists disagree with mainsream science's "aging" of that geology. Creationists take the bible literally, and in doing so, rely on a theory of a global flood which occurred 4,500 years ago.
Different Kinds of Fruits
The discussions and debates between mainstream science, creationist theory, and carbon dating can go on seemlessly forever. Mostly because there is an "apples to oranges" comparison. Whereas mainstream science continues to use the environment as a starting point for calculation and hypotheses, Creationism begins with literal bible statements and looks for evidence from the environment.
For me, the verdict is still out. I can definitely say that I'm a little weary of the passionate debate from the Creationist side, but agree that there are some plausible ideas to match those which seem fantastical.
The sheer mass of information supporting the mainstream scientific views are hard to discount as being "mis-measurements". As an innocent bystander, I typically find myself more satisfied with the logical, calculated nature of mainstream science, which doesn't attempt to *answer* everything definitively, but leaves room for adjustment. I still plan on digging deeper in to the whole idea of dating methods and environment changes, but its getting late, and its a school night, dammit.
Resources I used at some point:
Carbon Dating at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University
Radio-Carbon Dating at Minnesota State University, Mankato
The Problem with Carbon 14 and other dating methods.
Creation Science Briefs
*Why only living things? Because living things actually eat! See, plants contain carbon-14 as a by-product of photosynthesis (converting carbon to carbs). As a result, all animals contain *some* amount of carbon-14.
...............
Also, it was a crazy-nice Sunday to catch a buzz by the water.
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| Need a New Notebook |
[Jun. 6th, 2006|08:20 am] |
Current notebook I own: Toshiba Portege 4000
Purchased: 2001
From: Russian Mafia
Highlights:
I love it because its light (4.5lbs), and it has a shitload of options / slots all built-in. I don't use it as my primary computer (I have a desktop for that), but I carry it around with me 3 days a week for client meetings, word processing, diagramming (Visio), and OneNote. I don't mind the 12.1" screen. The perfect notebook (if it were 2004).
Problem:
Shit is starting to get too slow. Even after reinstalling the OS, it just can't handle current gen business apps. Also, Toshiba stopped making very-lights which have everything integrated. Nowadays, if you want a notebook under 4.5lbs, you need an external DVD/CD-ROM drive.
Notebook I Want: Asus Z33A
From: www.agearnotebooks.com
Highlights: 3.4lbs (4lbs with 6hr battery) / Pentium M 2.26ghz (Sonoma)
Cons: Max 1GB RAM / No dual-core option
Apparently Asus is the OEM for Apple, Sony, HP, and a shitload of other laptop brands. And they have a pretty good line of notebooks themselves, so I don't feel worried about buying.
I'd really like to install SQL Server and some other dev tools which my current notebook can't handle. Again, I have a desktop PC (and servers) which can do the hard stuff, but it'd be nice to be able to have a notebook with the "ability" to work these tasks.
Worried about: In the 3 years from now, am I going to be hating the fact that I can't go past 1gb ram? I have 764mb ram in my current notebook, and this is 2001 technology. Will dual-core CPUs (which are starting to penetrate notebooks) really have optimized applications? Also, its an integrated video chipset, but I haven't played a game on my laptop in eons, so that doesn't matter.
ASUS Z33AE
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Update: Adding to the indecisiveness, Dell just released the new ultra-portable XPS M1210 |
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| From the Coca Cola "Throwback" Lab |
[Jun. 3rd, 2006|10:35 am] |
So they had a Coke rep at a marathon in DC today, and he was handing out a new energy drink called "TAB ENERGY".
It looks like Coke has realized the teenage-20s market is saturated with energy drinks, and now its time for yo momma to get in on the act. (I remember seeing Tab around as a kid).
Here we go:
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| Muy Bien |
[Jun. 2nd, 2006|07:10 am] |
Mexico. As an American, every time you hear a news item about our neighbor to the
south, its a negative piece about how they want the American dream. They want to
get in our country- our hoods. The truth of the matter is, Mexico is an
absolutely beautiful country, and one which I had the pleasure of visiting over
this memorial day weekend.
Hideout: Le Blanc Spa Resort
The countess and I set pilgrimage at 6AM Friday morning for Cancun, Mexico. Our
destination: All-inclusive "Le Blanc Spa". All-inclusive means everything is
free- drinks, food, amenities.. drinks. An extra couple of $$$ goes a long way
in where you stay. It was off the chain, even though the first day was overcast.
The resort was top-notch. Personal butler, in-room hot tub with seperate bathroom.
Private bar, 24-hour menu service, all of it was inclusive. We must've burned
through $400 in drinkage, and the balance when we checked out? $0. This resort has
a very small amount of rooms- only about 25% of the resort are actual rooms. This
leaves a lot of privacy wherever you go- which is the hotness when you are with el
lady.
Photo note: Shirt is att odd angle- i am not fatte'.
The resort itself was built less than a year ago by a modern architect. The whole
design was very minimal and tasteful.
We went into town a couple of times, and the difference in lifestyle was
incredible. It was obvious that folks were struggling, so we spent some tourist
dollars on local artist sculptures. Some of the local areas were very worn down;
partly as a result of last year's hurricanes, partly as a result of poverty.
The locals were really grateful when you showed them a little 'spect. We visited
Market 28, the big local market, and were instantly targeted as tourists (a little
tough to blend in). Everyone was nice, albeit very clingy when you walked by
their stand.
Once the skies started to clear, the beauty multiplied times 10. The water just
shines up in that mofo.
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| Welcome Back, Mein Herr |
[Mar. 16th, 2005|06:49 pm] |
The past couple of weekends have been interesting to say the least, with visits to some dear cities and meet-ups with dear friends.
The gents and I took a trip up to NYC to visit the good Pastor P, where some hilarious and enlightening internal scuffles ensued. One was due to my too-literal-translation of Italian, where I misunderstood the intended meaning of calimari, and chowed on the wrong man's pasta. This led to internal scuffle numero uno, which provoked a side-splitting (in retrospect) flare up with Tildonia, keeper of all that is pasta. A resolution to our disagreement quickly crept to life as the night's alcohol slowly seeped out of our systems.
This was followed by a second drunken altercation with Biff, who accused all in the house of being rampant narcotic users, infringing on his chances of joining the CIA. The serious laughter this evoked drew Biff into a rage. He attempted an unleashing of anger on your's truly, but his offenses were nimbly diverted through mental trickery. Lots of drunkeness, lots of barren city, these were my memories of the most recent trip to NYC.
From NYC to Munich, where the nightlife and company took on a considerably different tone. This time, I was in the domain of the beautiful countess. The evenings bled into morning with giant steins full of German brew. Days were filled with exploratory trips to castles and villages hidden under six feet of snow.
Even the countess felt the giddiness of an American from the mid-atlantic as the powder covered every schnitzel-eating meter of her fair land.
Experiencing, once again, the castle tours of my youth (my memory was wiped at age 12), we trapsed through the snowy grounds of King Ludwig. A gruff German man explained to us the deep insanity of the Sun King's legacy. His struggle between the keeping of Bavarian tradition, and his succombing to industrialism shone through in his lonely yet elaborate castle. It is days like these, when local German men explain to you their history, when you feel satisfied with your travels.
Our return to the DC Motherland has been enjoyable, with a toned down weekend where all of our friends joined for happy hour, dinner and muzak goodness. I think our trips have made us miss those that have been far off, themselves- reeling everyone in was good medicine.
Things seem to be settling in before the next big wave of life changing events. A house, a committment (to be discussed at a later date), and a whole lot of schnitzel. |
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