Check out this blonde joke over at Scoot Dawg’s.
Too funny!
NSA Whistleblower Russell Tice on Illegal Wiretapping
Walking to my gate at the airport yesterday, I caught the tail end of a CNN story on NSA Whistleblower Russell Tice. There was lots of noise (it being an airport after all), but one thing he said caught my attention. He said that current NSA employees he’s spoken with consider Bush’s illegal wiretapping to be a “betrayal.”
“If you are a signals intelligence officer, it is drilled into your head from early training on that you do not spy on Americans, period,” Tice said.
Absolutely correct. As I said before, Bush has brought undue suspicion to an agency doing heroic work for our country.
It’s time for some answers.
Commentary by Goooooooogle
Is it any wonder that the current Google Ad for my blog is an advertisement for “Brain Injury Rehab?”
Highlights of 2005, Number 2: Remote Viewing Class
Remote Viewing Class. That February class rocked my world.
Blogging Lite
I’m in Joisey for the next two days. Daytime blogging will be sporadic. Well, more sporadic than usual that is.
I’m looking forward to the last two Highlights of 2005 posts. Check back later today!
Highlights of 2005, Number 3: Employer Change
3. Employer Change. Two thousand five will be marked by an employer change. Unlike other changes, this time my job stayed the same and the company changed. After my previous employer shut its doors, I got a chance to join its reincarnated form, 0culan Systems. I joined four other refugees of the previous company and together we put the wheels on the new company.
It was a busy but fun time. At one point I wore five hats: support manager, sales engineer, IT manager, training manager, and facilities manager. The things I didn’t know from the previous company I had to learn as I went. It was a wonderfully enriching experience.
The new owners were cool Minnesota venture capitalists. They set up another office in Minneapolis for the other half of the team, a group of new folks that meshed well with our original team. In March, our northern team had just moved into new space when the company president flew down with some important news.
The company was being sold. We had been full-time employees for all of three months.
This news sent our young team scattering. We lost all of the Minnesota staff and half of our Raleigh staff. All that progress stalled as we tried to integrate with the new company. It was lonely there for a little while.
Eventually things picked up. We hired more great people (including some to take some of the hats I’d been wearing!), and progress was made on a new office (we’re moving in this week). The new company offers exciting new opportunities with the potential to take the product places the old company could only dream about. I like where things are heading. We are set to grow quite a bit.
In spite of this success, I will always look back fondly on those days spent in the ratty blue “sensory deprivation” cubicles, freezing in the winter mornings and cursing at the crappy phone service I slapped together. I’ll miss the oh-so-politically-incorrect discussions shared over those cube walls. I’ll miss the feeling that everything is riding on your shoulders: that you have to be the hero because nobody else will do it.
In short, I’ll miss the startup stuff. That stuff can be hard to find in a twenty-year-old global company.
That’s not to say it can’t be found here. Our being acquired could infuse some of that startup energy into the existing company. That’s what makes this year so exciting: the course of the combined company is still being charted.
It will be what we make it.
Also When People Call You “Mr. President”
Scientists have found that your brain shuts down when you blink.
They found that blinking suppressed brain activity in the visual cortex and other areas of the brain – known as parietal and prefrontal – which are usually activated when people become conscious of visual events or objects in the outside world.
Davina Bristow, from UCL’s Institute of Neurology, who led the research, said: “We would immediately notice if the outside world suddenly went dark, especially if it was happening every few seconds.
“But we are rarely aware of our blinks, even though they cause a similar reduction in the amount of light entering the eye, and this gives us an uninterrupted view of the world.”
Still no cure for cancer…
Aero Contractors Protesters Get Day In Court
Yesterday was the court date for the protesters who protested against Aero Contractors’s support of the CIA’s extraordinary rendition (i.e., torture) flights. The protesters were looking forward to their day in court, as it offered them a chance to shine more light on Aero’s role in the torture flights.
The protesters were planning a similar protest at Aero’s hanger at the Kinston Regional Jetport today. This is where Aero bases its Boeing 737, which is too large for the Johnston runway. Other than the groundbreaking of their new hanger at Kinston, Aero has maintained a low profile around Kinston.
I hope that with more publicity Aero will be convinced to get out of the torture flight business. Shame on Johnston County and the state of North Carolina for turning a blind eye to this abhorrent practice.
Highlights of 2005, Number 4: Fingertip Fun
4. Fingertip Fun. Number four on the highlights of 2005 is the incident where I almost lost my fingertip while testing our new attic fan. I couldn’t leave well enough alone once the darn thing was put up. In an effort to feel the airflow, my hand got too close and whack! The fan came to a sickening stop.
Fortunately I remained calm (though Kelly may differ on that) and drove myself to the local Doc In A Box (the “local” part was relative, however, as what we thought was the nearest urgent care center has bankers hours). The doctor at the clinic did a fantastic job stitching me up. The clinic itself was worthy of a soap opera, with all the drama taking place. The doc was literally arguing with the staff while he sewed me up.
The finger was painful much longer than I expected, though I probably underestimated the amount of nerves that needed to reconnect. Eventually the pain went away and my finger is now fully healed.
I’ve had some injuries before: more concussions than I care to admit, bagel-slicing incidents, and others. I’ve got scars all over. I value my fingers, though. I won’t put them in jeopardy again.
Highlights of 2005, Number 5: TriLUG Election
5. TriLUG Election. I’ve been associated with the Triangle Linux Users Group since its inception. I value it for its educational presentations and its networking opportunities. There are a lot of smart people in TriLUG. There’s never a shortage of stuff to learn.
During my time with TriLUG, I’ve also become a presenter, providing talks on OpenLDAP, hardware emulators, and the Asterisk PBX. I’ve even done a class. These opportunities to speak have provided me with enormous confidence in my public speaking. I have also made a name for myself within the membership for having skills that businesses need. It has led to plenty of opportunities which otherwise would not have happened.
Thus it was a great honor when I was elected to a TriLUG position in October. Now I have a chance to give back even more to this wonderful association.