What’s All This Then!

It is amazing how the individual is arrested for what the government can do with impunity…

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One of my passions is coming up with ways to visualize data so that everyone gets an intuitive understanding of that data. To get an idea of what I mean, take a look of how Anita Lillie designed an excellent method of arranging a music playlist. Here is a demo of her thesis project:

Sadly, this software is not available to the public … yet!

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The Mom Song from Northland Video on Vimeo.

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Back on March 9th of this year, gas had just crested the $100 mark during its amazing, budget-killing rise. In my post of that day, I mention how it might reach $150 a gallon and then crash to $30 during this year. Today’s price after peaking at $147 in July is … drum roll please … $37!!! And the year isn’t over!

Somebody get me a Quiji board and tell Ms. Cleo to move over. You are subscribed to this blog, right???? Who’s know what amazing things I might get right!

UPDATE: At 6:30 this morning (Dec.19th), NYMEX WTIC crude oil was at $33. WOW!

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On my other site, they give me a phrase and link, I write a post, they give me $5. So I couldn’t help myself from doing this post. I’m not going to heaven, am I ….

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This started as a test post after upgrading to latest Wordpress. My conclusion is that 2.7 is still BROKEN!

- Preview function still doesn’t work unless you publish your post to the public … which defeats the purpose of viewing your entry before anyone else gets to see those glaring mistakes.

- If you’re signed into your account, you still can’t edit your posts while being directly at your blog site.

- Lots of fancy crap added though! Too bad WP 2.3 made it easier to blog …

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Indian police have been searching for the unknown terrorists who helped in the terrible massacre in Mumbai. Today, India’s beleaguered law enforcement apprehended two unknown suspects wearing suspicious attire. Unfrotunately the police agencies of the two Indian regions are fighting over these recent arrests, making the destination of the suspects unknown. The court date and time is also unknown at this time.

In a spot of good news, the Unknown Comic is reported to be thrilled that people are still using his schick after all these years.

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I fought with using K2 as my Wordpress theme long enough. No matter what I changed, I could not get my side column to show up correctly. So I’m trying out this free Aeros theme designed by Joe Fischler. What do you think? You should see more changes in the future as I experiment with this.

Now, I can only hope that Wordpress 2.7 will return some of its past functionality … like being able to preview without first making it public or editing a post directly from my site.

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This is a follow-up to my last post about when I innocently let slip to my boss that I’ve been sending out my resume.

“There must be cameras and microphones in this office,” my boss told me today as I sat down across from him. Great! There’s nothing like that sort of comforting tidbit when you’re about to have a confidential conversation with your employer. He then told me about his previous day’s conversation with the company’s president. “I was just about to talk to him about you when he asked how you were doing.” My boss then informed me that the president was flying in next week and wanted to have a meeting with me. “Be prepared to handle A LOT of questions,” my supervisor knowingly advised me. He then talked about people who find it easy to complain about other people’s jobs while being clueless about the job itself. Apparently, a few of those busybodies have mentioned to the president that they don’t understand why I am so busy, and why I don’t delegate more. So, according to these people, it’s not that I’m not doing my job, it’s that I’m keeping too much of my fun-filled, adventurous roles to myself.

Later on, I checked my voice mail’s for the first time that day. Thank goodness I did. The company’s president had left a message at 6:30 the previous evening. He was letting me know that he would be in town on Wednesday and wanted to talk to me as soon as he got into the plant. Then he asked for me to call him as soon as I got a chance. Hmmmmm … I’ve gone from begin a unknown cog in the corporate wheel to full center-stage attention. That can’t be a good thing, can it? I began to shake a little.

Ever had those nightmares where you’re terrifyingly stuck in one position and can’t move? The fear of saying something stupid over the phone to my ultimate superior paralyzed me like that for the next several minutes. This was followed by several more paralyzing minutes as I consider what would happen if I didn’t return his call. So I picked up the phone. And put it down. And picked it up again. Had the receiver been heavier, I could have gotten a great workout. Otherwise, these phone curls did nothing as I fought this type of dread usually reserved for trips to the principal’s office and irs audits. Finally, I took a deep breath, dialed his number and exhaled with sweet relief when I got his voicemail. After leaving a quick message of thanks and “looking forward to your visit”, I hightailed it for home. To quote one of the great lines from a Monty Python movie, “Runaway! Runaway! Runaway!”

So the saga continues. I will spend this weekend writing down every single task that I do at work. I’ll rehearse every good reason why I’ve earned a pay raise. And then as a backup, I will practice my best pouty face for that polite rejection that is sure to come.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” my boss had said earlier with a sarcastic smile, “but you got an audience with the Pope. Whether you kiss his ring or not is up to you.” This should prove to be an interesting meeting. I wonder if interviewing for a new job would be easier…

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According to reports, not only did the United States warn India about impending attacks on Mumbai but US intelligence also named which buildings were to be the targets. And yet in a recent interview, India’s president Kalam did not blame his government’s lax security for the death of the victims in Mumbai. In true finger-pointing style of a bureaucrat, he said it was the fault of Google for having maps readily available to terrorists. I suppose if Google Earth had not been invented, Mr. Kalam would be blaming AAA for handing out paper maps. Thank goodness cellphones, GPS devices, bullets, guns and an inept government had nothing to do with this tragedy.

Is Google Earth really the weapon of choice among terrorists? If you check out the satellite view around my house, you’ll see a large area under construction — construction was completed in 2002. In front of the plant where I work sits a road that has been there for over 20 years. Google has yet to add it to their maps. Maybe I shouldn’t worry. If our customers and vendors can’t find our building, what chance do terrorists have?

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