Ice and KY
iaian7 » blog John Einselen, 13.02.07After a good month of very cold weather (enough to send me playing across the pond at work), we’ve finally gone beyond the usual snow and slick patches. While most winter storms (you know, 1/4” of flurries) will cause uncontrollable chaos in this “southern” state, today it’s been raining. And freezing. Right now the trees are breaking and the roads are even more deadly than usual.
Thankfully, Jesus was watching out for me on the way home, and the car never completely lost control. Though at one point it couldn’t stop, and yes, I was going like 10mph. Needless to say, I’ll be staying home tomorrow and working from my couch! Or desk. Or heck, the bedroom if I really want too. Right now I’m working on some landscapes in clay, to be scanned by the CNC machine, and edited further in 3D on the computer. Great fun to be working with my fingers, and so much more tactile, I’m able to see what’s going on with the shapes much better. Hopefully I can get some pictures taken sometime soon.
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Twitter and the Social
iaian7 » blog John Einselen, 13.02.07Regardless the damning evidence against the intellectual level of most social based websites, there are at times places that rise into heavy and widespread use. MySpace is the shining example of both; it contains within its sordid servers the pointless dreck of civilization, and has also obtained near-ubiquitous status. YouTube for video, Digg for news, Renkoo or Planyp.us for event planning. As things progressed, the social trend got tied up with the often shoddy Web 2.0 movement (though there are a few beneficial aspects, such as the emphasis on cleaner designs… something I cheer wholeheartedly).
Clearly, in welcoming people “to the social,” Microsoft has attempted to leverage these trends, as society has increasingly based interpersonal relationships in the digital space. It’s a great idea, but sadly may never reach that critical mass; where one Zune owner will bump into another. The free nature of online communities has made it far easier to build momentum into a global force.
Anyway, back on topic. I do on occasion make use of the current slew of social websites, and once in awhile a particularly stupid, but fun, variation is hit upon. Twitter is just that! Stupid, fun, and easy. It’s a more advanced form, one might say, of the instant messenger away message. Tell people exactly what you’re doing at the moment! The concept seemed heavy handed at first, but integrated with mobile text messaging and instant messenger, you don’t even have to visit the site to keep friends posted on your goings on. Not to mention you can have your friend’s short messages sent to wherever you are.I haven’t added a permanent Twitter box to my site, but for now you can enjoy (or even better, ignore) the new “social” links on the right.
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A personal record
iaian7 » blog John Einselen, 23.01.07I didn’t leave work today till 8:15. Which probably isn’t good, nor was it a personal record (which stands at an almost-insurmountable 3:30am). What it does mean? I got a late start to grocery shopping, which absolutely had to be done. My cupboards were down to cereals and various olive oils, which really don’t mix well (thankfully there was plenty of milk in the refrigerator).
While Kroger may not have the best prices, they are nearby. So I always end up doing the bulk of my shopping there. Who wants to drive all the way out to Aldi or Walmart in Indiana? Well, I would in a heartbeat if it involved art projects that could end in my death or maiming (these things being high on my list of important things). But not so much for food.
Which brings me to the personal record; I hit the perfect time to stock up, and got more than a third off my total. It does seem to pay to use the Kroger Plus card, and $45 is definitely my best so far!
Yes, this is the most exciting thing to happen to me today.
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Merry Christmas
iaian7 » blog John Einselen, 25.12.06I pray the wonderment catches you by surprise. Enjoy the vacation, the family and friends, the gifts, and the food. But be blown away by the meaning.
God bless, and have a wonderful day!
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France 24
iaian7 » blog John Einselen, 10.12.06Daily Motion could be called, I suppose, the French YouTube. Not quite as big socially, but better quality compression. And more of an international flavour, content wise. It was here that I came across this promo for France 24. Solid class, european ads have to be some of my favorites!
France 24 is the latest French news source, watch the official clip to see how they’re taking news to the net by inviting webcam users to submit questions for world leaders being interviewed. RocketBoom has a pretty cool video detailing their visit to France 24’s production studio in Paris.
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Official words
iaian7 » blog John Einselen, 29.11.06The entire Apple-sues-podcasters thing was a bit silly, since it was specifically stated they had nothing against users of the term “podcast.” It still frightened a few people, but a recent Digg article has the latest correspondence from Apple.
Good to know, I suppose, that our podcasts are safe for a little while longer. Hopefully the silly fanaticism surrounding “netcast” will die. Not only is it dreadfully inaccurate for podcasts (since a netcast could be any RSS-fed media type), but it’s a sad replacement for a word that’s been in the vernacular for quite some time and in the dictionary for over a year.
In other Digg oriented news, we have another fun Google Maps location (no, not more naked people!). Evidently one can find the FireFox logo as a crop circle (go ahead, zoom in).
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Pathologically Stupid
iaian7 » blog John Einselen, 9.11.06Phrase used to describe either a singular human or group of persons that embody every terrifying propensity towards the dangerously moronic. Taking the phrase literally, there there is also infered danger that these persons are highly contagious; such profound depths of mental vacuity will actually cause those around them to become less intelligent. Communicating with such people often poses problems as even basic language constructs pose road blocks on the path to… well…
“It’s like being drunk, except not as fun.” – Elihu Ihms
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I think I'm sick
iaian7 » blog John Einselen, 20.10.06After having been asked how often I usually get sick earlier this year, I suppose I’ve paid more attention. There have been a few close calls, but nothing major enough that I needed to skip work. But I fear I’m getting close. If anything, I may have to still go to work, but skip my plans for this weekend. No use exposing friends in Ohio and setting my own health back a week.
And Jolie, if you read this, I’m sorry. Hopefully I won’t have to miss your wedding!
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Camping report
iaian7 » blog John Einselen, 8.10.06Though not as successful as most had hoped, the camping adventure was… adventuresome. Arriving in the Red River Gorge area of Mid-East Kentucky around sunset, we discovered every single camp area occupied. Since the assassination of various campers in an attempt to take their spot is generally frowned upon, we had to take other courses of action.
Namely, drive another half hour in the dark trying to find a private camp ground we could park at. Somehow we didn’t get there till about 10:30pm, seeing as it took from 7:30 to 10:00 to scour the previous area for possible vacancies. Either that, or we passed through a couple folds in the time continuum.
While the private camp area wasn’t nearly good enough for those more picky about camping, me being the less discerning person of the party, was perfectly happy. Though it was more expensive. It took some convincing, but the only other options were sleeping in the cars, or driving all the way back to the Cincinnati area.
Setting up a completely new tent at midnight isn’t as bad as one might expect. We had a glorious full moon, the temperature was low, but not too low, and I ended up turning on my car lights, which seemed to suffice for area lighting. That, and we had quite a few flashlights. As a side note, Columbia brand tents are all sorts of colour blind. The very greenish deep blue-gray pole was called “navy,” even though there were other poles clearly coloured a rich navy, and the tent fabric, which was supposed to match the afore mentioned singular pole, was clearly the same colour as the latter subjects. This caused much confusion, perhaps baited with the fear of putting it up wrong. Fears put aside, it wen’t up quite well, and certainly a lot easier than I remember from my childhood; trying to stake poles on either end before the tent collapsed on everyone involved!
Sleeping in is fun… though camping isn’t conducive to great vertebrae alignment. Sadly, we had no fire, but just skipped breakfast (alas, no tea!), and went on to lunch. The rest of the day we spent hiking in Red River Gorge, and then driving home late. A very beautiful area, we climbed all sorts of cliff ledges and various leafy embankments. Very high… very, very high up.
Hopefully I’ll get a few photos posted shortly!
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Mudcrap
iaian7 » blog John Einselen, 7.10.06A substance characterized not only by mud like properties, but a sick propensity towards shoe adherence and odeferous emissions.
Often found in well traveled places, such as road ways, trails, and foot paths leading to the outhouse. The implications of the name have not been substantiated, though the description seemed somehow fitting.
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