During the beach daydream of the other day, I also had a strange but interesting idea flash through my mind. It was of a material that can change its state and density instantly through some sort of simple but as-yet-undiscovered process. When an electric or mechanical field is applied, the material changes from a solid, concrete-like density to a liquid form (or various stages in between). It’s like melting a block of ice and refreezing it, only instantly – with a flip of a switch. This change can also affects the material’s weight (but perhaps not its mass), so that it can be easily manipulated with the process is in effect but becomes heavy again in its natural state. The process involves harmonizing the material’s molecules or atoms in some way so that they’re all synchronized, a process which somehow suspends the material’s usual properties.
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Stepping out to the surf
I walked out of one of the buildings on the company campus the other day and became hypnotized by the warm sun and gentle breeze. I daydreamed the steps I was walking down were sand dunes and the well-manicured lawn I was facing was an endless ocean. Suddenly, returning to a windowless cubicle in an air-conditioned maze wasn’t as appealing as it had been.
Dang my luck that the best job in the world was just claimed. That’ll teach me to actually apply for something next time!
N&O covers broadband backwater fight
The N&O ran the following story today on the fight to derail H1252/S1004, the [Un-]Level Playing Field Act.
Cable TV fights towns’ fast Web links
The industry backs a bill to impede municipalities offering high-speed service.
By John Murawski – Staff Writer
What started as an experiment in a small tobacco community in Eastern North Carolina has shown how a local government can provide its residents with some of the fastest Internet speeds available anywhere.
Read full article.
Crazy week
It’s been a crazy week for me, to be sure. I spent most all of my free time doing whatever I could to keep a cable TV monopoly from locking out competition. That had me making lists, working the phone, keeping score, and generally making as much noise as I could. So far it seems to have been successful, though my guard isn’t completely down. I still feel compelled to make this go away for good, and that’s what I intend to do.
Then there was the speech I gave last night, and all the time I spent blogging about everything, which is not an insignificant amount of time. Sometimes I catch myself in the middle of a week like this and wonder how I got here. Then I remind myself that life is for living, and if I spent my time sitting around bored I would not be happy.
Now if I can keep myself from working too hard this weekend so that I can actually relax for a change.
Naaaaah!
How to give a lecture
Rob Weir provides a great article illustrating how to give a compelling lecture. Very good advice! As an occasional public speaker I will take this to heart.
(h/t Boing Boing)
Elizabeth Edwards
I generally like Elizabeth Edwards, having met her during the campaign. Even so, I didn’t want to hear about John Edwards’s affair last year and I still don’t. Please, can we all just move on?
East Coast Greenway planning meetings
Planning is being done on a mega-greenway spanning the east coast. Called the East Coast Greenway, it aims to provide a bike and walker-friendly path from Maine to Florida. Part of this trail will be going through Raleigh by way of Falls Lake and alongside the Neuse River. It will enter town at the north by way of the CSX railroad tracks, which is also the proposed Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor.
NCDOT is holding a series of meetings to gather input on the part of the proposed trail that will run alongside the track. Most of these meetings are in towns north of Wake County but one is being held in Wake Forest. The meetings are to gather input as to which side of the rail corridor would be best for the trail, among other things.
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Cussin’ In Tongues
Cussin’ In Tongues (YouTube) (band MP3)
Th’Legendary Shack Shakers
Way back yonder where the gravel road ends
Fourth holler over, plum up to the head
On an AC tractor reapin’ reefer on a hill
Got an inverted cross of lights on his grill
Shape-note singin’ ’bout whiskey and sin
With an amplified bible cranked up to ten
He’s a preacher,
He’s a teacher,
He’s a demon in disguise,
Red checkerboard pattern in the whites of his eyes.
And you can tell by the sound of his cussin’ in tongues
It’s best you boys just a-run along.
Best you boys just run on along,
Before the cock crows three times tonight.
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H&R Block keep spamming me
A few years ago when I got sick of Intuit’s disregard for its TurboTax customers, we opted to file our taxes using H&R Block’s TaxCut software. Ever since I’ve been on an H&R Block email list that I can’t seem to get off of. I’ve followed H&R’s unsubscribe procedures multiple times and even wrote the company a direct email saying ‘knock it off.’ There was no response and still the emails keep coming.
I’ve just called their support number to see if they could help me but so far no go.
Leadership Institute
I was asked to speak yesterday to the city of Raleigh’s Citizen’s Participation Leadership Institute class. Never one to turn down a chance to speak to an audience, I joined two city staffmembers and a fellow volunteer boardmember to describe my role as CAC chair and a member of the Parks board.
Though I arrived a bit late, spoke for too long, and had to leave early, I greatly enjoyed the chance to talk with some of Raleigh’s finest citizens.