December 2013

There were 26 posts published in December 2013 (this is page 1 of 3).

Highlights of 2013: Family time

Swanson-Bolles reunion

Swanson-Bolles reunion


This year had some wonderful family moments. One of the highlights was the five days we visited Kelly’s cousins at their lake house in northern Wisconsin over the Fourth of July week. There were over fifty of Kelly’s relatives there, with more kids than you could shake a stick at, and the fun never stopped. It. Never. Stopped. Whether it was jet skiing on the lake, the swimming, the fishing, the catching up, the incredible conversations, the games, the music, or the laughter, it was a delight to spend those days getting to know my wonderful wife’s family. It was pretty-much unforgettable.

We also managed to skip town for a few days in beautiful Abingdon, VA, at the end of summer, where we rode along the Virginia Creeper Trail again and explored Southwest Virginia. We had a fantastic cottage right at the foot of the Creeper Trail and Travis and I had fun racing out to the busy railroad tracks next door whenever a train would pass by. That’s my idea of a vacation: lots of outdoor time spent exercising and exploring.
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Judge on NSA Case Cites 9/11 Report, But It Doesn’t Actually Support His Ruling – ProPublica

Whoopsie. Methinks His Honor didn’t want to let a little thing like basic research interrupt his holiday celebrations.

In a new decision in support of the NSA’s phone metadata surveillance program, U.S. district court Judge William Pauley cites an intelligence failure involving the agency in the lead-up to the 9/11 attacks. But the judge’s cited source, the 9/11 Commission Report, doesn’t actually include the account he gives in the ruling. What’s more, experts say the NSA could have avoided the pre-9/11 failure even without the metadata surveillance program.

via Judge on NSA Case Cites 9/11 Report, But It Doesn’t Actually Support His Ruling – ProPublica.

How A Wealthy, Clean-Cut ‘Duck Dynasty’ Tricked The World For Publicity : Political Blind Spot

Once again we’re reminded that there is no such thing as reality TV. This show is manufactured, just like the Phil Robertson controversy. Way to be played, America.

Fake Dynasty

Fake Dynasty

Sources close to the show have time and time again leaked details that the show is literally scripted. Because of non-disclosure agreements, cameramen, and others who wish to go public with this information have proven unable to do so. As a result, without a name attached to such leaked information, many of these claims of inauthenticity are seen as lacking credibility.

But as the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” One thing that the so-called “Duck Dynasty” family cannot deny are family pictures taken before their fabricated “reality” show was scripted for them. These pictures all showcase a family devoid of backwoods attire: no camouflage, no face paint, no headbands, and no beards.

via How A Wealthy, Clean-Cut ‘Duck Dynasty’ Tricked The World For Publicity : Political Blind Spot.

Opinion: What ‘House of Cards’ gets wrong – Joshua Braver – POLITICO.com

Kelly got me hooked on the Netflix series “House of Cards.” I spent the post-Christmas days going through all 13 episodes from Season 1. While I’m anxiously awaiting next month’s release of Season 2, I found this gem explaining what House of Cards. It’s good to keep this in mind after watching (though it does have some plot spoilers – be warned!)

I pity the writers of House of Cards.Sure, the lurid political drama, which debuted on Netflix earlier this year, has become an Internet sensation, with a dream lineup of actor Kevin Spacey and director David Fincher. Plus it’s now nominated for nine awards at the Emmys this Sunday, including outstanding drama series.

But the show’s writers have an impossible task — which makes for some far-fetched plot twists.

via Opinion: What 'House of Cards' gets wrong – Joshua Braver – POLITICO.com.

Highlights of 2013: Blog news

This year was full of blog-related news. Early on, I had to migrate my site from one hosting provider, VPS Farm, to another, RootBSD. VPS Farm offered wonderful service and had tools built to allow me to maintain my site anytime I wanted. RootBSD has been a good hosting provider as well, with near-rock-solid performance and a friendly, knowledgeable staff. Most of this transition was behind the scenes for most of my MT.Net readers, thankfully.

My blog showed up in a number of places. Earlier this summer, my friend Scott Huler linked to a post I wrote about our solar PV installation (more on that in a minute). The post brought quite a bit of traffic to my site and made me think of ways I might make money with my blogging. I approached Salon regarding a blogging position they had and reactivated the dormant Google AdSense ads I once had on my blog. Now the advertising revenue pays for about half of my hosting fees. I’m not living large but it’s better than nothing!
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Highlights of 2013: Edward Snowden

I went back and forth on including Edward Snowden on my list, since I normally like to include just things that I’ve been directly involved with. There’s no denying that the spying revelations brought forth by Edward Snowden has affected me, if in no other way than to sour me on the state of American affairs. Tapping German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone? Go for it. Terrorists in Yemen plotting a bombing? Vector that Hellfire straight through that phone. But UNICEF? Brazilian oil companies? Innocent American citizens, who ostensibly have the right to be free from suspicion and unreasonable searches? Way, way, WAY over the line.

Fortunately one federal judge has seen the light and declared this collection is “likely unconstitutional.” Another one said it’s legal “because 9/11.” I saw a post somewhere today asking if we’ve reached the point where anyone spouting “because terrorists” to excuse their overreach can now properly be told “shut the hell up!” I’m thinking we have. In fact, I’m thinking we reached that point a long, long time ago.
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Highlights of 2013: Health

It’s that time when I take stock of the passing year. Kicking off this year’s list is health, both mine and others. I was fortunate again this year that all of my loved ones lived another year. I know I won’t always be able to say this and I know how fortunate I am that I still am graced by the presence of some truly wonderful people.

As for my own health, I began taking it more seriously this year. The new job I took in February and the schedule it required kept me from my daily early-morning dog walks I had enjoyed. I began to miss this simple daily exercise and it soon began to show in my elevated blood pressure. Last winter I had gotten fit enough that I had to take out a few links from my wristwatch to keep it from spinning around my wrist. I was thrilled when I realized that a belt I had last worn a decade ago now fits again.

This progress didn’t last long, though, as the stress of my job and easy access to breakroom snacks led me to mindless snacking at the office. I finally wised up, cut the snacking, cut way back on my beer intake (ooh, that was hard), and cut my weight from 182 pounds earlier this year to 169 pounds Friday morning. This is the first time my weight has dipped below 170 in at least a decade and I couldn’t be happier. I’m even wearing slacks again that last fit me over ten years ago!
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Canine connection

There was a quite curious phenomenon I noticed with our dog, Rocket, that took place while I was in the last days of my previous job. I could see at that point that things weren’t going to work out for me but I still continued to forge ahead and do my best. This put me under unbelievable stress, the likes I’d never felt before. The day before I lost my job I was such a nervous wreck that I could barely speak.

At this very same time, Rocket began to repeatedly smack his lips. Not just once, though, he did it all day long, something he’s never done before. I joked at the time that he must have gotten into some peanut butter or something, but in looking back I had an interesting thought.

Rocket smacks his lips when he’s feeling stressed. At the time I was feeling more stress than I ever had before. Was our dog simply reacting to the stress I was feeling? I never found any evidence he had eaten something he shouldn’t have, nor did I treat our dog any differently than usual. I can’t help but wonder if there might be something to the theory that dogs are innately attuned to moods of their masters.

A chance to blog professionally

Knowing the writing was on the wall, I decided to jump at an interesting opportunity. In September a friend contacted me out the blue, letting me know that Slate.com had an opening for a tech blogger focusing on new trends. He knew an editor at Slate and would put in a good word for me.

The job description sounded appealing:

Tech Blogger at Slate Magazine in Washington, DC

Slate is hiring a technology blogger to contribute to “Future Tense,” our blog about emerging technologies and their impact on society and public policy.
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Recently departed

I found myself out of a job this past Tuesday morning. While there’s a lot of pondering still being done, suffice to say what was once a perfect fit became less of one over time, though I enjoyed the work and I always treated everyone in an honest, friendly, and professional manner.

I’m since been contemplating my next move, perhaps going back into part-time consulting. I will definitely put a premium on an arrangement which values civic engagement.