Turkey Day is gobbling near

Turkey day is almost upon us. Although I don't suppose the Turkeys think it's Turkey day, they think it's Eat A Turkey Day, or perhaps on their calendars it's shown as Memorial Day. Or D-Day. Or Deceased Veterans Of Delicious Meals Day.

And what about the Cranberries? Don't ask. You don't want to know what they think.

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Some late November links:

Fun Christmas cards from web comic creators.

I love this clock – someone suggested adding chains to keep track of seconds and/or the date. It could be calming to watch seconds go by.

A great idea for next year’s lego contest

I like this raygun made of parts from old electronic equipment.

"November's outside..."

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"November's outside
All the leaves are untied
I can't sit and watch them fall.

With nowhere to land
I should offer my hand
To them all."

-- "Silver Hill" by Ednaswap

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It's been a week since my last post, and even though we've all been busy, there's hardly anything noteworthy to show for it. I spent a lot of time out in the yard today raking and cleaning things up. M and I took the cover off the air conditioner and removed the metal grate so it can be repainted. I spent about an hour scraping the rust off it, and there's still more to go. At least it was nice out while I was scraping.

The boys and I spent some time in the basement workshop, which we haven't done in a really long time - M was taking apart our old broken ink jet printer, and K was working on a woodworking project he wants kept a secret until further notice. M is only a few hours away from finishing his PT boat model, I think now that the cold weather is upon us, he'll probably be able to get to it.

Next week should be interesting - a day off Monday, two days of work, then a four-day weekend. Weeks like that make it so much harder to go back to work.

If I don't post again before Thanksgiving, I hope everyone has a happy and healthy turkey day.

Saturday Morning Post

Last night we did some uniquely Ann Arbor things. We went to Silvio's for pizza and then stopped by the UM Museum of Art. I haven't been inside there for a very long time. This year, a new addition opened which contains a lot of art from Asia and Africa. It was very nice. The more classical art portion of the museum was closed for a private party, where we can only assume they sipped wine and nibbled cheese. We tried to crash the party by pretending that both the kids had to go to the bathroom and that it was urgent, but security wasn't buying it.

The boys are done with soccer, so what else are they doing? They're still taking piano, and doing their homework and playing with their friends. The weather is still nice enough that they like to go outside without coats (it's a "cool kid" thing to do).

K just got a Christmas song book for piano, and has been plunking out the songs in it. J and I got a big laugh last night because he was really pounding out one of them, holding down the damper pedal and filling the room with mushy, loud music. The song was "Silent Night."

The book also has "Good King Wenceslas" which I can't understand. Who ever sings that song, and who the heck was he? But it seems to be in every Christmas music book. It's one of life's great mysteries.

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We had a company-wide meeting yesterday, with the presidents of the various divisions of our even larger division all giving a little talk. It started with a big video of sweeping panoramas and helicopter shots of forests, mountains, fruited plains, and so on. Very dramatic, although I'm not sure what it has to do with tax software. It was inspiring, though - the fruited plains made me want to eat an apple.

Our company is doing well financially, and our parent company is always happy with our performance, even in the iffy economic climate. Interestingly, as tax laws and regulatory red tape get more complicated, we benefit, since it is our job to help businesses and accountants navigate said laws and tape.

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There is an abundance of pictures of abandoned schools, theaters, hotels, etc. on the web; there is something eerie about them, but at the same time they're kind of like reading an obituary of someone who led a full and happy life (and who needs his lobby swept.)

Abandoned theaters

Abandoned Subway Stations

Several different kinds of abandoned places are linked at this site. You can spend a while clicking around here.

New Addition to the Family! (No, not that kind)

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J got a new iPod Touch this week. It’s an incredible little device – the whole screen is a touch screen, and you can “click” on things with your finger just like using a mouse on a computer. The applications are very ingenious – clicking on an address in the address book will show you a Google map of the address. You can then click another button to get directions to that address. It can do these things by using a wireless internet connection, which we have in our house.

Every time I see a new version of these small computers I’m so impressed – the amount of functionality, and the imagination of the authors of the software that these machines use is really inspiring.

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Speaking of software for handheld computers, I have several friends who founded and/or work for Ilium Software. Take a look at their applications – they’re really outstanding, and you can find programs for different types of handheld computers, like Blackberrys and iPhones. They have terrific developers and support staff.

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A phrase I hope I don’t ever hear (or say) again: “I’m like”.

Example:
“He threw me the football and I’m like ‘Oh no, here it comes!’”

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A neat diagram of the relative scales of very small things. Drag the oval-shaped circle below the picture and it will continue to zoom in.

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Two Short Lists

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Concerts I've Seen

I thought I had seen more concerts than this, but I guess I haven't. I was probably thinking of the many high school and college music department concerts I've seen, which I couldn't even begin to list.
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Big Head Todd and the Monsters

Boston

Chicago*

Sheryl Crow (with Wilco and Michael Penn)

Counting Crows (with Dogs Eye View)

Billy Joel*

Elton John

Journey

Outfield

REO Speedwagon*

The Rolling Stones (with Lenny Kravitz)

Starship

The Scorpions

The Verve Pipe*

The Wallflowers (with The Jayhawks)

* saw them multiple times

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3 More Books I Really Like (the others are here)

1) Artificial Life - Stephen Levy. Levy is the author of the seminal computer science book "Hackers", and here he takes a look at computer simulations and reproductions of biological processes, such as evolution and heredity. Patterns that occur naturally in nature sometimes have mathematical algorithms behind them, and with a few simple computer instructions, they can be reproduced quite easily, which shows that biology sometimes follows rules that we can see and understand.

2) Cortez & the Conquest of Mexico - Bernal Diaz. This is a book written by a member of Cortez's exploration team. It describes their travels around South America and Mexico, including of course their eventual battles with Montezuma. The descriptions of the fights are interesting - they didn't have guns, so they threw spears, used bows and arrows, slingshots, etc. The book describes battle after battle, sometimes lasting many hours, after which maybe two people will die. A very interesting read.

3) The 9/11 Commission Report - The 9/11 Commission. This is not a typical government document. It's readable, and fascinating. It describes in detail the people involved, what happened, what the president did, what the terrorists did, and so on. It reads like a novel, and we all know it's almost stranger than fiction.

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Computer: 1 Don: 0

We have a new computer now - it's so darn new and high-tech! In fact, it's SO darn new and high-tech, a lot of the old things that we used with the old computer either don't work with it, or we have to work with them in different ways.

J's Palm Pilot can't connect to it because it's a 64-bit operating system (that means it's new and high-tech!) Our camera now has to use a different program to load the pictures, and I had to hunt around to find the proper drivers for the printer. The only hardware we have that still works as advertised, with no changes, is my iPod. I guess Apple is on to something. (Have I already said I think the iPod is one of the greatest inventions of all time?)

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I recently read the book “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” about a boy, William Kamkwamba, in Malawi, who built a windmill to provide power to his home. Most of the book describes his life growing up – his family was farmers, and they had to grow and sell to make a living. In years of drought, they made no money and went hungry for months at a time. They had no other way of making money or getting food.

They could not afford to send him to secondary school, so he had to learn about electricity, windmills, and physics by checking out books from the library. His windmill was made from scraps from the junkyard, and he built it through trial and error, often injuring himself. He had no one to help him, he just had to work on it until it was done.

I talked to M about some of the points of the book, such as how the boy had no tools to use. He made a small screwdriver out of a bicycle spoke. He was able to make holes in plastic by heating a nail attached to a stick, then burning the hole through. He had to round up whatever wire he could. He and his friend had a business repairing radios for the community, which they learned through trial and error. He saw scrap objects and had the imagination to put those objects to good use, instead of walking past them because they were no longer good for their intended purposes.

Read it – it’s a great book. You will appreciate what you have, and at the same time, wish you possessed his resourcefulness.

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On Sunday, I walked by the TV and noticed that one of the World Series games was about to start. Then I realized I had no idea who the teams are that are playing.

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On Sunday, K's soccer team won their first game of the season. Unfortunately, it was also their last game of the season .

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Another Wondermark cartoon. This one featuring a self-doubting camel.

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My company was voted the Coolest Place To Work In Tough Times in the Detroit area. Check the "Over 1000 Employees" section for the name.

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Tomorrow is our annual homeowners association meeting. I used to be the president of the association, and now I just go to the meetings as a civilian and listen to the current president get nitpicked to death. (Actually, they're not that bad.)

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Have a great week!