I read a web site about GPS Drawing, and decided I should try it, if only on a small scale. So, I drew a dog. It is a total of 0.77 miles of track, and is about 2000 ft from nose to tail I think. And my feet were very very cold and wet. But it was kinda fun.
This is in the large empty field behind Beaumont Center. I’m sure I looked very odd stumbling around randomly in the field for a half hour or so.
The tip of the tail is roughly at 38° 01.131N, 84° 22.576W
David has been thinking about posting one’s resumé on one’s web site, when one is not actively seeking employment. Evidentally, his employer find this to be a problem, and David does not. He asked for some commentary, and we talked about it briefly on IRC. So, here’s the discussion, or portions thereof, as he requested I post:
David: This is going to be a big time discussion with my boss.. so I’m looking to have a discussion ahead of time to work out my thoughts on the issues and to be able to respond to him well.
Me: Well, I barely have a resume, and I’m not sure I have any particular opinion on the matter, although I would think that I, personally, would stop distributing my resume if I was not thinking of moving to a different job. And, indeed, distributing your resume makes your co-workers and employer jumpy, and perhaps anxious to replace you with someone with a little more perceived “loyalty”
David: do you see having a resume posted as being eqal to “distributing” it?
Me: Yes. It is more passive, but apart from that, not any different. Passive distribution, rather than active distribution, perhaps. 😉 On the other hand, writing books can be active distribution of one’s resume too, and has resulted in at least 3 job offers for me. But that tends to be more accepted by employers, even though it is probably almost as effective self-marketing as a resume.
David: I would think that speaking at conferences would do that too.
Me: Yes.
Wes: you could look at the resume as being a logical extension of an “about me” section of a personal web site
Me: And I expect that if couched in terms of “about me” rather than “resume”, the same people would have no problem with it. It’s all about perceptions. The perception being, is this person actively seeking to abandon us, given the opportunity. I attended a VERY interesting talk a few weeks ago. It was at the Southland lunch meeting thingy. It was a guy talking about the difference between our generatation (“X”) and the Baby Boomers. You are experiencing EXACTLY one of the scenarios that he described. Except that your boss is not a whole lot older than us – just a little – but I think he fits the demographic. What they look on as disloyalty, we look on as looking out for our families – ie, loyalty, but to a different thing. But that’s just one aspect of it. It was a really fascinating presentation, because he really had things nailed pretty well.
Wes: I suspect that work history has something to do with one’s perceptions too.
Me: It does, certainly, but so does our generational history – the world that we grew up in is very different from the pre-Kennedy world.
Wes: did he have suggested solutions, or just good observations of the way things are?
Me: He had a few suggestions, but mostly it was about education, and understanding where the other folks are coming from. His best suggestion was about finding a mentor from the other side of the generation gap. And, contrariwise, organizations like the Moose Lodge and Masons that are losing membership at a huge rate shoudl be pushing the notion of mentorship, rather than trying to make people feel guilty about not belonging to charitable organizations.
… Then some discusussion here about loyalty – what does it mean, who is loyal to whom, and why we should be expected to be “loyal” toa company that makes no particular pretence at being “loyal” to us. …
Me: I felt loyalty to [former employer], because of the people there, and because [CEO] was, in a very real sense, a father figure to the people that worked for him. That went away completely and overnight with the [Big Company] purchase. [Big Company] is all about grabbing as much power as you can, as fast as you can, and god help anyone that gets in the way. At least, that was my impression. This was best illustrated by the way that the CEO [ie, the CEO of Big Company] was rewarded for his deceit [lied on his resume, and, when this was found out, it was swept under the carpet and he got a raise].
… then, one more interesting comment …
Me: Another comment he (the speaker I listened to) made, which I’m not entirely sure I agree with, is that we (gen x) are far more motivated by the job itself (is it fun? is it challenging? do we get to work with or meet cool people?) than with the financial compensation. He cited ball players who, after a game (whether they won or lost) take their kids out on the field to get autographs signed by the other team. Which is all well and good to say, but they *are* making millions.
politechbot.com: Steve Mann and Surveil. Cam Players on how to watch the watchers
RoUS pointed me to this article, and it got me thinking about the rationale behind prohibitions against taking photographs in public transportation terminals, like airports, train stations, and bus stations. It seems, once again, a way to keep honest people from doing honest things, while in no way deterring criminals from doing criminal things.
Criminals don’t use 35mm cameras to take their pictures, they use concealed cameras which are … well, concealed. So this law effectively ensures that all pictures of the inside of airports are in the hands of criminals, rather than honest people. In what way does this make sense?
Likewise, if the airport people are taking pictures of me, and I wish to take pictures of them, they will likely take offence. But why? Why is it any more invasive for me to take a picture of them? After all, I am a private citizen, and they are the employees of the United States Government – my employee, in a sense. In that regard, it would seem that I have more right to a picture of them than they do of me.
So, the next time I travel, I will, without question, give this a try. I’ll probably peacefully comply if asked to delete pictures, since it is exceedingly unlikely that the flunkies at that rung of the food chain would have a better response than the “following orders” one, but you never know.
The Chrisman Mill First Vineyard Reserve is way way WAY underpriced. So, when you go to buy your bottle, offer them a few bucks extra, and tell them to pass it on to Chris and Denise. With a smoky, jammy nose, and a wonderful dark berry taste, and delightful deep purple color. This is the wine for a evening talking with friends, and, although it is indeed better with food, it is so wonderful by itself that it is hard to discard that option. Also excellent with a good book and a fire.
While I’d recommend that you keep it for a few years before opening, it is very yummy now, so get several bottles. Also note that it throws a lot of sediment, so be prepared for that, or even have a filter on hand.
<_joshua> i used to wear ties
<DrBacchus> Then they told you, no, dummy, not there!
<DrBacchus> That happened to me, too.
<DrBacchus> People are so closed-minded.
Yes, I’m a stats freak. So, here’s how you get mrtg to plot your Apache server activity. (Note, I’ve been told that mod_watch also does this, but I have not looked at it yet.)
Here’s /usr/local/bin/apache-stats :
#!/usr/bin/perl
#
# apache-stats
use LWP::Simple;
my $stats=get("http://servername/server-status?auto");
$stats =~ s/.*BusyServers: (d+)//;
my $b = $1;
print "$bn";
$stats =~ s/.*IdleServers: (d+)//;
print $b + $1 . "n";
print "nn";
Note that in Apache 2.0, you want “BusyThreads” rather than “BusyServers”, and similarly for IdleThreads.
Then, in your mrtg.cfg,
Target[apache_child]: `/usr/local/bin/apache-stats` MaxBytes[apache_child]: 100000 Options[apache_child]: growright,gauge,nopercent,dorelpercent Title[apache_child]: Apache Statistics PageTop[apache_child]: <h1>Active Apache child processes</h1> XSize[apache_child]: 500 YSize[apache_child]: 200 WithPeak[apache_child]: dwmy YLegend[apache_child]: No. of child processes ShortLegend[apache_child]: processes LegendI[apache_child]: active: LegendO[apache_child]: total:
Tweak as needed. That should get you started.
CNN.com – U.S. investigates checkpoint shooting – Apr. 1, 2003
I’m finding myself continually comparing the events of the last few weeks to World War II. One of the things I’ve found interesting is stories like the one above. People died in a war, and we are conducting an investigation. Had this happened in WWII, it would have been noted as casualties of war, and that would be it.
The other area in which the comparison is interesting is our (the public’s) attitude towards the enemy. In WWII, the enemy were barely human, and things I’ve read from the time speak of them in terms that would be considered deeply politically incorrect today, even among people strongly supporting the war.
I suppose the story above really is about our attitude about the enemy. Saddam Hussein is the enemy, and the people in his nation are merely victims. And while this was at least as much the case in 1940’s Germany, we certainly did not view it that way.
I heard a fascinating quote on the news today, from an Iraqi soldier who had defected. It was something like “Why are the Americans bombing innocent Iraqi soldiers?” Huh?
As is always the case, the frustrations that the vacation was supposed to get me away from, were all here waiting for me as soon as I got back. Note to self: Nap first, then check mail. Dummy.
03-3-26 19:59
This morning, I drove down to Gatlinburg, and this afternoon was spend hiking. I’ve come to an important conclusion. I need new hiking boots.
The boots that I have were bought at a Salvation Army sale. they are Nike hiking boots, which usually go for about $80. I got them much cheaper than that, for two reasons. First of all, for strange unscrutable tax reasons, the Salvation Army can’t charge more than $5 for any item at a sale like that. And, secondly, the reason that Nike had given them to the army in the first place was that they were mismatched by a half size. this did not seem to matter much at the time, but apparently my feet have grown a little since then, and, while the left one still fits nicely, the right one squnches my toes just enough to make it painful after a long hike.
So, why an I in Tennessee? Well, the oficial reason is “no apparent reason.” I needed to get away, and I needed to do something fun. Life is getting me down, and I would like to spend a few days not thinking about it.
On the way here, I stopped at the Smoky Mountain Knife Showroom, which is apparently the largest knife store in the world. Having had my entire knife collection stolen last summer, I decided to drop in and start with the basics, and got a Swiss Army Knife, which I used to have about 6 of.
After finding my tent site – $14 a night for a spot to pitch a tent – I went hiking. I started up Laurel Falls, but when I got there I kept going, and went all the way up to Coves Mountain. I presume that there is supposed to be a nice view from there, but I just could not say, since I had about 10 yards of visibility the whole way, having climbed into the cloud cover immediately after passing the falls. The hike was 4 miles each way, so I am quite tired.
There is no cell phone signal at the camp site, so I had to drive 6 miles down to the main road to call Sarah to say good night. For the most part, I like being unreachable. I am typing this on my Visor with my StowAway keyboard, because I know that if I tried to write it on paper, it would take me 7 times as long, and my hands would start hurting. The only other technology I brought with me was my GPS, with which I hope to find come caches, if I have the time tomorrow. I really have not decided what I’m going to do tomorrow. I’ll sort of play it by ear, except that I would like to go to Chimney Rock, or whatever it is called, where we used to go all the time in College.
From my tent, I can hear the stream. That’s about all I can hear. It is very nice. When I was up on the mountain, I stopped to listen, and it was almost entirely silent. It is so hard to find anywhere that is silent. When I climbed Mount Kenya, we stopped about an hour below the summit, and listened, and it was absolutely silent. No birds. No machines. Not even any insects. I don’t think I have ever heard absolute silence since then. I suspect that most people will go through their entire lives and never experience complete silence.
Anyways, it is getting rather cold, so I think that I will get in my sleeping bag and read a while before I go to sleep. I’ll probably stay up until some of the camp noises stop. There’s an occasional vehicle, and the sounds of people getting ready for the night. And some joker just beeped their horn.
03-3-27 18:01
Today I made the rather alarming discovery that I am not 19 anymore. I think that I must have been 19 the last time I went up the Chimney Tops trail, and I remember that it was a pleasant stroll. Perhaps I remember it a little better than it was, but it was certainly not the painful ordeal that today’s hike was.
The original plan was to do Chimneys in the morning, and Clingman’s Dome in the afternoon. the former is just 2 miles, the latter about 4. However, after the 8 miles yesterday, my legs were screaming this morning, and the 2 was quite enough. I’ll need to come back some other time to do Clingman’s. Perhaps come down some Saturday, camp the night, and then hike it Sunday morning.
Anyways, I made it to the top of Chimneys, and got some good pictures (I think) before my batteries died. We’ll see, when I get home, if they are really any good. And as I forgot that I had spare batteries in the camera case, I did not take any more pictures today.
I went down to Pigeon Forge for lunch, and, presumably, to get some groceries for dinner. But I decided to save myself the trouble, and just had dinner in town. I spent most of the aftnoon napping and reading, rather than hiking. So apparently I’m getting old.
I also discovered today that it is impossible to really get away. There’s always someobody that needs to track me down, and it is seldom pleasant.
I remember, in College, getting into Bill’s Dad’s car, and seeing the mobile phone. It was huge. And I was amazed by it. Could he really make calls from his car, while driving down the road? And, of course, they were called mobile, not cellular, because nobody knew what cellular meant. Every American adult today knows more about cellular technology than just about anybody did 15 years ago. So, from just a few years ago, when it was a luxury item, the cell phone has become a standard, almost expected, accessory, for everyone to carry. And when I fail to return a phone message within 12 hours, it becomes a crisis. This strikes me as silly, and profoundly annoying. Most of the point of this vacation was to get away from exactly those annoyances.
I received one phone call on Wednesday, but the caller, upon discovering that I was on vacation, immediately said goodbye and that he’d talk to me later. That was fine. The other call left no fewer than 7 messages, in increasing degrees of consternation, as though my failure to answer somehow constituted a personal insult. And, upon finally speaking to this person, it was to answer a question which was immediately obvious, given 12 seconds of thought. There are times when I profoundly loathe technology
</rant>
This evening I had dinner at Huck Finn’s, where I had more catfish than I could possibly have eaten, along with ENORMOUS frog legs and gator tail. Yummy. There was at least as much left as I had eaten, but, alas, as I told Shannon, my lovely waitress, I don’t have a fridge in my tent.
Tomorrow, I will go back home. I brought information ffor a number of geocaches, but I really don’t think that I’m going to take the time to look for them. I think I’ll just go home,take a long hot shower, and get a nice long nap. I managed to sleep OK last night, but it was rather cold, and the floor is very hard. I expect I’ll be a little worn out by the time I get home.
Today’s quote
“You can go out, you can take a ride, and when you get out on your own you get all smoothed out inside, and it’s good to be alone.” (face up, rush, 1991)