Screw the Olympics this is

Screw the Olympics this is where the real athleticism is, The First Annual Google Programming Contest (thanks . Google kicks ass. I guess that’s why uber computing stars like Dominic Giampaolo, who used to work at Be went to work there.

According to a Department of

According to a Department of Commerce report Internet use is growing. It says 54% of the population is on the Web. I was surprised that half our population still functions without using the Internet. How do they do it?

I would be handicapped when it comes to finding services like doctors, car maintenance, food, and so forth without the directories. I’d feel more isolated from my far flung friends that live outside of Dallas. In the shopping category music, movies and books that I want are much easier to get over the Internet and frequently impossible to get locally. Perhaps most importantly my thinking would be quite provincial compared to all the new ideas stimulated by the english language web sites all over the world that I’ve been to. The free exchange of ideas is probably the single most important thing the Internet brings, and half of America is missing out.

I've been stressed out at

I’ve been stressed out at work recently. So tonight I goofed around with AIM. It was fun writing my first ever AIM bot tonight. You can keep up with AntiBloggies nominees by AIM messaging AntiBloggies.

Now if I only could get paid for making silly gadgets.

Competition is evil! At work

Competition is evil!

At work I have been going through, by hand, about 50 queries that are used on a Sybase database and moving them to an Oracle database. Almost every single one requires tweaking and modification. I thought SQL was a standard. What’s the point if every database vendor is adding the equivalent of their own tag? I understand that competitive forces drive them to “enhance” their databases. Heck, I even enjoy some of the enhancements.

This new look isn't here

This new look isn’t here to stay. I’m still building it, but I’m sick enough of the old one to put this up prematurely.

From Ursula K. Le Guin's

From Ursula K. Le Guin’s novel The Left Hand of Darkness:

“The unknown,” said Faxe’s soft voice in the forest, “the unforetold, the unproven, that is what life is based on. Ignorance is the ground of thought. Unproof is the ground of action. If it were proven that there is no God there would be no religion. No handdara, no Yomesh, no hearthgods, nothing. But also if it were proven that there is a God, there would be no religion….Tell me, Genry, what is known? What is sure, predictable, inevitable - the one certain thing you know concerning your future, and mine?”

I walk into the hotel

I walk into the hotel and ask if they have any rooms. The clerk says yes and begins trying to figure out where to put me.

He’s telling me that they have a lot of dogs there. I didn’t realize the town would be packed because of a dog show that weekend. He gets it in his head that I need to have absolute quiet for some reason. He keeps going on about how he hopes the dogs don’t disturb me, and that they don’t have any rooms away from dogs. He is very focused on this task of keeping me away from dogs.

Who would have thought that

Who would have thought that New Mexico is really just a hop, skip and a jump away from Dallas? I certainly didn’t. In six hours (five if you include the timezone jump) you can be in Hobbs, New Mexico (The Soaring Capital of the World). Highway 180 provided a nice, empty, road all the way there. This is the same Highway 180 that goes into Arizona’s Petrified Forest. The entire trip I only saw about 20 cars. You should get to Hobbs quick because the new Super WalMart is almost finished, and it will never be the same after that.

I'm heading out west.

Jeremy you are one of

Jeremy you are one of the most unique and interesting people I’ve met. I’m glad to know you and count you as my friend. Happy belated birthday, it was good to see you yesterday.

The rest of you guys have a great time at Billy and Jessica’s wedding today. I bet it’s going to kick ass.