tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16744566195720074812011-07-28T11:14:11.483-04:00BibliophibianRansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.comBlogger751100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-72749701772618372272010-02-11T19:35:00.002-05:002010-02-11T21:04:11.833-05:00

Did you ever have that one friend that you lost contact with, but never really figured out why? I've been thinking some about my friend April. It's one of those thigs that makes me sort of happy, but always ends up with some sadness.I met her during the summer I spent at the state Honors Academy. Basically, they crammed about 120 of the top students in the state into a college dorm, threw in

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-2362443614647300482010-01-15T17:20:00.001-05:002010-01-15T17:26:01.212-05:00

The boy has been referring to some of his toys as "NPCs” lately.Yeah, he never stood a chance.

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-70627577243947037112010-01-15T17:06:00.002-05:002010-01-15T17:20:04.191-05:00

I’m not a morning person. While I can wake up without a lot of issue, I hate doing it. Nothing good happens that early. To sum up, the morning is not my friend, though my job often requires being out and about prior to sunrise.The one enjoyable thing about being out early at this time of year is the sky. Despite the fact that so many of my neighbors have blazing security lights (out in the

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-9594817777300354022010-01-15T17:04:00.000-05:002010-01-15T17:05:42.023-05:00

I recently had an aunt and uncle get severely injured by a motorist. Prognoses are pretty bleak, given that both are in their seventies. It wouldn’t be good for anyone, but people in an already fragile state of health, on blood thinners, etc., are just that much less likely to pull through. It’s making me really uncomfortable, honestly, but it’s not really because of the injuries and prospects

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-83841751715233548052010-01-12T15:00:00.001-05:002010-01-12T15:02:54.439-05:00

This would be funnier if the third panel hadn't actually happened to me. Thanks, Dad.Via SMBC

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-91711682158683873102009-12-23T15:28:00.004-05:002009-12-23T15:45:25.889-05:00

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Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-37669534228821397462009-12-21T16:47:00.002-05:002009-12-21T17:00:24.393-05:00

I hate idiots. In particular, I hate idiots who promote this “War on Christmas” crap. Admittedly, a lot of the target audience for that stuff aren’t stupid; they are just ignorant of the origins of all their “eternal traditions from the beginning of time,” and how young most of those traditions actually are. Most of the people actually advancing the culture war crap know all this stuff; they’

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-27936904223765476012009-12-18T15:35:00.001-05:002009-12-18T15:38:07.023-05:00

I get sentimental about weird things. Songs are the biggest category, probably – there are more songs that can take me back than anything else. It’s not usually actual memories that come up, though; rather, it’s more likely a fantasy of myself singing that song at an appropriate point in my life. This happens all the time. It’s probably the biggest remaining way that I obsess about the past.

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-78127859055608362342009-12-17T14:59:00.004-05:002009-12-17T15:08:25.528-05:00

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Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-52911121519731715962009-12-12T22:05:00.002-05:002009-12-12T22:11:06.354-05:00

So Phil Plait is stepping down from the JREF presidency, to be replaced by D.J. Grothe (not a bad choice for the job, in my mind). Phil is stepping down due to an in-process TV deal; does this mean that The Skeptologists may finally be getting off the ground? I hope so.

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-23799040121006457322009-12-12T19:53:00.002-05:002009-12-12T20:20:45.910-05:00

I’ll be the first to admit that my taste in music is what might be called “eclectic”. A thorough look at the Pandora widget over there could tell anyone as much. That varied taste extends to winter holiday music, too. I enjoy traditional religious carols and such, but few of those even come close to being my favorites. I tend toward songs that are both secular and less than mainstream. From

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-1124100267908402472009-12-04T21:47:00.000-05:002009-12-04T21:48:00.264-05:00

I really enjoy when I walk into a place of business and get recognized. It’s even better when they say, “It’s not [Saturday, Tuesday, etc.]. What are you doing here?”

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-65360383793801258462009-12-02T20:16:00.000-05:002009-12-02T20:17:22.831-05:00

It can be somewhat gratifying to find that something you’ve written or said has been memorable enough for other people to share. Geeky outcast though I was as a kid, I used to be greatly amused when I’d note other people picking up on some of my more idiosyncratic phrases or behaviors. I know for certain that this was sometimes just a coincidence; other times, I could trace how it moved from

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-55316832001927340692009-12-02T20:13:00.001-05:002009-12-02T20:15:08.185-05:00

When you get as little traffic as I do (although it is much greater than, say, a year ago), you get to know your metrics. I can recognize the IPs and locations of most of my regulars. I know Coralius's visits. I can tell when my wife checks in from work; I know when one of my friends from Florida stops by. That makes it pretty clear when I'm getting traffic outside my normal readership.

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-20637914162573184432009-12-02T20:08:00.001-05:002009-12-02T20:11:30.871-05:00

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Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-1222019818865032642009-10-20T16:19:00.002-04:002009-10-20T17:01:40.925-04:00

It may often seem like skeptics are simply down on whatever we perceive as "woo", sneering and dismissing such things out of hand. It would be so much easier were that the case. The thing is, many skeptics would love for things like Bigfoot, telekinesis, and alien visitation to be real. Let's face it; those things would be cool. Besides that, it would mean that there needed to be a complete

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-25548989080529215292009-09-23T15:29:00.002-04:002009-09-23T15:38:19.449-04:00

Coralius said:You're getting a bit maudlin, aren't you?That's somewhat true. I've been nostalgic lately, and that's sometimes not a good thing. I worry about my mortality, what I've missed, what I've lost, etc. The antidote is the opposite, of course. By this same measure of going back and poking around, I came across some things that really brought a smile to my face.I went back and found

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-34427539597270284622009-09-14T20:04:00.000-04:002009-09-14T20:05:24.942-04:00

Every once in a while I dig back through the years and years of emails that I have stored up in my first webmail account (yes, I'm still using the same Hotmail address that I had before Microsoft bought them out so long ago), just to see what I and my friends were saying. There's the usual jokes, quips, and interesting links. There are old forum registrations, sales receipts for online stores

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-42622782706524926682009-09-03T07:36:00.002-04:002009-09-03T07:46:20.382-04:00

I'm the type of geek who is generally down on social networking sites. I am not a fan of the Mybook or Facespace, in general. In particular, the idea of reconnecting with those from my past is something I've held little regard for. Most of my personal history is not filled with what could be called "social success". While it isn't as bad as what blogger Mark Chu-Carroll went through, nor is

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-2882357002570839102009-08-26T16:24:00.001-04:002009-08-26T16:28:26.365-04:00

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Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-78419751760014972522009-07-31T16:38:00.002-04:002009-07-31T16:55:06.736-04:00

.hmmessage P { margin:0px; padding:0px } body.hmmessage { font-size: 10pt; font-family:Verdana I've been greatly negelecting the blog lately, for various reasons (bringing a lot of work home not being the least). One seems to be an inability to concentrate long enough to write (I've started about a half-dozen posts that are 50-75% complete, and most are now totally irrelevant); another

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-65974086267989767142009-06-22T16:39:00.001-04:002009-06-22T16:41:10.376-04:00

I don't usually do these, but...Get Your Cyborg NameAnd, in keeping with the general blog theme:Get Your Cyborg Name

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-72540754695395129322009-06-11T16:27:00.002-04:002009-06-11T16:44:11.709-04:00

.hmmessage P { margin:0px; padding:0px } body.hmmessage { font-size: 10pt; font-family:Verdana } I just learned that one of my more recent favorite authors is, in fact, fictitious. At least, her name and persona are; the actual person exists. Kim Harrison, author of the urban fantasy Hollows series that I follow, recently outed herself as Dawn Cook, a romance/fantasy author. This

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-33642304140592518362009-06-04T17:09:00.002-04:002009-06-04T17:14:44.407-04:00

Someone I was following during last year's elections was Sean Tevis. He was a fresh face, and drew a lot of attention with his web-oriented, XKCD-style fund raising campaign. He's not in my jurisdiction by a long margin, but he was interesting and had good ideas.He lost.Despite that, he's continued with the new ideas. In particular, he's just going to try and do everything he was asked to,

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-88544963925297592242009-06-04T17:00:00.001-04:002009-06-04T17:09:19.037-04:00

.hmmessage P { margin:0px; padding:0px } body.hmmessage { font-size: 10pt; font-family:Verdana } I've been having the urge to make something lately. I'm usually not a crafty person (in the sense of creating things, anyway), but every once in a while, I have a need to creatively do something. My problem is, having not been a craft-oriented person for much of my life, I'm not good at very

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-21430825512917052762009-06-04T16:55:00.002-04:002009-06-04T17:00:42.889-04:00

.hmmessage P { margin:0px; padding:0px } body.hmmessage { font-size: 10pt; font-family:Verdana } I've been following a lot of stories on the death penalty lately, both as a local issue and in general. I'll freely admit to changing my opinion on the matter, just like a lot of my political opinions changed as I grew (both "older and "up"). Given that a recent call from the NRA reminded me

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-18453583022251265122009-05-26T17:57:00.002-04:002009-05-26T18:03:39.266-04:00

Sometimes my friends must wonder about me a little. I've just gotten through a mostly good weekend filled with close friends and family, but there were a couple of chunks where I just didn't participate. It started with Rock Band, mostly. It's a hell of a lot of fun, and there are enough of us to play and switch out easily, and we're all pretty much competent on any given part. I'll gladly

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-74155712914761236992009-05-01T17:32:00.002-04:002009-05-14T21:49:21.481-04:00

I should've expected it sooner; he is my kid, after all. So it turns out that my son has been scamming breakfasts at school. We had been mystified at the charge bills, the "free lunch" applications and calls from the school saying he was on "alternative meals" until we paid up. He eats at home, and has a lunch packed every day. However, these charges kept piling up. Finally, my wife gets in

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-85211271478392023132009-04-04T15:15:00.004-04:002009-04-08T10:03:09.094-04:00

This video begins a series in which Abbie of the blog erv, HIV researcher and unrepentant user of LOLspeak, carries on a three hour debate with a crazy hobo. Or a traveling speaker on creationism. It's hard to tell the difference. Anyway, Abbie has posted repeatedly on the debate, most recently here.Warning: This will likely make your brain hurt, should you have one. There are parts of the

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-60877435331732867082009-03-28T10:06:00.003-04:002009-03-28T10:13:00.028-04:00

Well, my "Agenda" posts have started to get numerous. I had intended to put an index in each post, but frankly, that's already getting cumbersome to edit. In lieu of that, I'm creating this index post to catalog the Agenda links, and each individual post will link here.Yay for having a good idea too late to save me a lot of trouble. Anyway, here's the list:DefenseCivil RightsDisabilitiesEconomy

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-22162169516432328232009-03-19T18:47:00.002-04:002009-03-19T18:52:28.847-04:00

Well, it seems we've hit a new plateau for visitors. I have officially reached the second tier of big round numbers. Admittedly, it would look far more impressive in binary. Or base 8, for that matter. The lucky culprit was obviously someone doing homework, judging by their search on Google. I'm almost sorry that my post had absolutely nothing to do with what they were looking

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-42522812239209233112009-02-24T16:54:00.002-05:002009-02-24T17:09:23.707-05:00

In reference to an offhand comment in my Economy post, Coralius said:I curious as to what you think the core problems in education are.That's a question good enough to warrant a sizable response, so here goes (and I'm sure I'll cover more of this when the "Education" segment of the Agenda comes up).In the educational system itself? The biggest would be teacher training and retention, systemic

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-35219197504429388922009-02-21T14:39:00.004-05:002009-03-28T10:15:01.005-04:00

Continuing my series on The Agenda posted on whitehouse.gov, we come to Economy.This section, frankly, is lacking. We get a couple of bullet points, followed by a copy of a speech from January 8th, 2009. Given the issues facing the nation, I expected more. Of course, specific economic policy is hard to define until you understand how much cooperation you will receive from the opposition, as

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-46691554140119869592009-02-12T17:40:00.005-05:002009-03-28T10:15:45.392-04:00

.hmmessage P { margin:0px; padding:0px } body.hmmessage { font-size: 10pt; font-family:Verdana }  Here, we continue my ongoing series on the "Agenda" section of the new White House website.This section was formatted a bit differently. We have a four-part plan, to start, follow by one of the familiar subheadings. That subheading also has four parts. I'll divy up this response into two

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-83511009100795546952009-02-12T17:15:00.000-05:002009-02-12T17:17:00.784-05:00

.hmmessage P { margin:0px; padding:0px } body.hmmessage { font-size: 10pt; font-family:Verdana } Work this week has been, um, "hellish" is a bit too strong, but you get where I'm coming from. First, my boss was out with the birth of his first kid (non-sarcastic yay!), so I got to cover part of his work. We had our pickiest customers in, dangling major new products in from of us, in exchange

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-791521332691644362009-01-31T10:46:00.007-05:002009-03-28T10:16:03.625-04:00

On to the second installment of my commentary on the Agenda section of the revamped White House website. There's a lot going on here, with aquite a few categories to look at .Heading 1: Invest in a 21st Century MilitaryRebuild the Military for 21st Century Tasks: Obama and Biden believe that we must build up our special operations forces, civil affairs, information operations, and other units

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-62499770309599716372009-01-29T19:48:00.003-05:002009-01-29T19:55:46.420-05:00

.hmmessage P { margin:0px; padding:0px } body.hmmessage { font-size: 10pt; font-family:Verdana } Agenda update:Still doing it. I've been sick. Bleagh.Other short notes:Reading Your Inner Fish by Neal Shubin. So far, it's a lot like Dawkins's The Ancestor's Tale, only framed in terms of a personal discovery of the similarities between lifeforms. It's doing a good job with the sense of

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-21602797480461556482009-01-20T16:26:00.009-05:002009-03-28T10:17:14.274-04:00

Two months since I posted. Yeah, about that...No excuses. I've had time, I've had ideas, I've been lazy. But, in the words of Baldrick, I have a cunning plan. In honor of the inauguration of Barack Obama, I will examine each item under the "Agenda" section of the new White House website. There's an ambitious level of policy in there, and I want to look at it, top to bottom.Section 1: Civil

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-48348717310350694182008-11-25T20:04:00.002-05:002008-11-25T20:10:13.207-05:00

My wife, constantly on the lookout for ways to reduce clutter and organize our home, took an interest in the new e-book reader from Amazon, the Kindle. She spent a good amount of time looking into it and other e-book formats, and given the rate at which our bookshelves expand, it makes sense to consider it as an option. I’ll admit I tried to be noncommittal while she talked about it, but,

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-36630331950529142502008-11-19T16:39:00.000-05:002008-11-19T16:40:06.892-05:00

I was lying in bed with my son the other night, having some quiet time after the completion of his bedtime story. I insisted on the light being out, which he didn't mind too much with me there. As we snuggled up, I head a train clacking and blowing in the distance. The train tracks in question are about two miles from our house, were you to measure out a straight line. That's a pretty good

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-21435468070472647252008-11-03T17:17:00.002-05:002008-11-03T17:19:46.818-05:00

Big stuff going on on the Stop Sylvia Browne front. Skeptools tells the story better than me, though, so go there and do what he says, if you haven't already.

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-60411644857457072862008-10-25T08:58:00.002-04:002008-10-25T09:02:03.226-04:00

You know they mean it when they pull out a Cunningham:I'm not that shocked to see Ron Howard doing this. I'm moderately surprised to see Henry Winkler. Seeing Andy Griffith knocked me out of my shoes -- you don't get a lot more conservative than him.

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-91664798140862586492008-10-19T13:07:00.002-04:002008-10-19T13:11:22.749-04:00

A parallel to the Robert Frost anecdote from a recent post was mentioned in this week's Skeptics' Guide to the Universe. Woo! I must be psychic.

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-33558066097384979302008-10-06T19:09:00.002-04:002008-10-06T19:24:02.250-04:00

The Comics and Toys Monstercon has come and gone this past weekend, and my feelings were a bit mixed.First, I'm glad that they moved into a larger venue. This con was spilling out the doors it's inaugural year, and they finally scaled up to space that was more than adequate this year. I'd like to see more comic creators, but the crew that was there was great. Tsunami Studios was

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-63215158790931056412008-10-06T19:02:00.002-04:002008-10-06T19:09:17.250-04:00

There have been quite a few things to interest me lately that I should have written about. I'll lead off with look at incorporating critical thinking skills into a secondary curriculum. I was speaking with a close friend (who happens to be a high-school teacher) a while back, and the topic of her students' progress on the "thinking skills" requirement came up. She's currently teaching seniors,

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-47766682868384833632008-10-06T19:01:00.000-04:002008-10-06T19:02:18.734-04:00

I've been quiet for a while now, for a few different reasons. For one, work has picked up substantially, though that may ease off a bit now that I finally have a direct supervisor again. My son started school recently, and that's been a roller coaster, to say the least (he loves the place; now if only he could refrain from beating on other kids for no apparent reason, we'd have something).

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-1900396687201998452008-09-08T20:37:00.002-04:002008-09-08T20:58:36.393-04:00

I've been reading a good amount of Carl Hiaasen, lately. The title of this post is a quote from my most recent read, Sick Puppy. It stuck out. I wonder why.Hiaasen novels tend to be about the despoiling of natural riches (Florida's, in particular). Developers, politicians, industrialists -- they all get the treatment. Florida, it seems, is a wretched hive of scum and villainy. That's not to

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-15836108242509542062008-08-24T11:45:00.002-04:002008-08-24T11:51:18.172-04:00

No, not one of the big "Why"s, like "why are we here", etc. I saw this question on the Randi boards, and though it's been asked there many times before, it's been a while since I thought about it myself. To quote part of the OP over there: What stops you from cashing in?It seems that every idiot willing to lie, mislead, or cheat people can make some if not a lot of money doing so. This message

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-70637253385594255922008-08-16T16:27:00.000-04:002008-08-16T16:28:14.320-04:00

In regards to the abducted child below:An anonymous tip led the police to the mother today. She'd been all over the southeast, but the dad is in possession of his son again, and the mother is in custody. Please update anyone you passed this along to. I'd hate to see this turn into an urban legend "forward this email" thing.

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-22406516245094241582008-08-15T17:40:00.004-04:002008-11-02T15:00:23.947-05:00

A quick note concerning two pleas for help:First, please follow this link about the abduction of a child. This is the son of a good frie...hell, let's go ahead and call him family. While the odds are long you'll be able to help, take a look anyway and spread the word.Secondly, go to http://www.skepticsunite.com/ and do something to help Robert S. Lancaster. He's a big teddy bear of a man, as

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-90572996696211617952008-07-24T18:59:00.004-04:002008-07-24T19:02:31.433-04:00

My wife called to let me know she had spotted a underpass hobo in town the other day.Am I wrong to feel a bit tingly?

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-24931953326163305322008-07-18T15:28:00.002-04:002008-07-18T15:36:01.052-04:00

Again with the two posts in one day. It's madness, I tell you, madness!I know I'm late to the game on this, but I've started playing around with the streaming radio service called "Pandora". It's an offshoot of the Music Genome Project, which combines the original aim of that project with a much more dynamic means of accomplishing it.In basic terms, you start out by telling Pandora about a

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-1033544541450723522008-07-18T14:59:00.002-04:002008-07-18T15:28:38.999-04:00

I have to admit this with no small amount of guilt: I like pro wrestling. That's not to say I watch it, mind you. I rarely do, because I don't like the modern product. What I like, though, is the business itself; the combination of athleticism and stunt work with the characters and storylines of a comic book is fascinating to me.I grew up during the era of wrestling where the regional

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-43150975033026826682008-07-01T16:07:00.002-04:002008-07-01T16:13:50.612-04:00

I am now the proud owner of a link from a fairly popular website, ERV. All I really had to do was ask, and the threshold for inclusion on her Blogroll was, shall we say, low, but I'm still happy about it. Scienceblogs has driven virtually all of my "non-acquaintance" traffic, mostly from my comments on ERV, Respectful Insolence, and Pharyngula. While I can't hope to match the level of most of

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-51521738426023629022008-06-30T20:02:00.000-04:002008-06-30T20:03:32.388-04:00

Well, I’m back to work after slightly more than a week’s worth of vacation. Apparently, I picked the right week to be out – production was slow, but the coordination of other things was intense. Having the time out was wonderful. It was shared with almost all those that I consider to be real friends, and as always, it ended too soon. We gamed, and gamed, and talked, and gamed, and toured, and

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-56028184950257275322008-06-03T17:06:00.001-04:002008-06-03T17:11:35.240-04:00

Two posts in one day! Woo!I've started several posts offline, because there are quite a few things that I'd like to write about, but once I get the opportunity, I lose the drive. Part of that is that, most of the time, the opportunity occurs when I'm just home from work, at which point my brain usually shuts off in response to the day. At least, until the rest of my family gets in, at which

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-42840792058859928202008-06-03T17:03:00.002-04:002008-06-03T17:05:59.731-04:00

Ah, the wonderful rollercoaster that is work. The ups and downs are coming in rapid succession now, and are bouncing me around quite sickeningly. Lets take some of them point for point:1. I'm understaffed. I was told to submit justification for all my needed positions so that we could post and fill them rapidly.1a. That was over a month ago.1b. Some of my people that were out on medical

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-80093538539889897842008-05-16T16:28:00.002-04:002008-05-16T16:31:43.501-04:00

Sometimes it's hard not to write in-depth about work. Often, I write to de-stress and find some catharsis, but because work is my primary stressor, the convolutions I have to put in to avoid identifying material can get a bit awkward. I try to avoid a lot of identifying notes for reasons I've covered before: it's bad practice to link your public view to the workplace or talk about co-workers;

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-55850486639393396452008-05-01T19:01:00.001-04:002008-05-01T19:02:39.511-04:00

It's an odd feeling when your blog, which has a regular readership approaching six, suddenly has a traffic spike from eastern Finland.

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-29131035816145773472008-04-11T16:55:00.003-04:002008-04-11T17:02:30.342-04:00

I’d like to welcome the new readers who have made their way over from more popular and in-depth blogs lately. I see some of you have come back more than once, so I’ll endeavor to provide more content (preferably of some substance). I enjoy the traffic, and hope you’ll continue to return. For those of the scientific/skeptical/atheist bent, you might check out these past posts (not that there are a

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-91560686637158626272008-04-11T16:53:00.001-04:002008-04-11T16:55:55.424-04:00

As I’ve gotten older, I realize more and more exactly how much my father has influenced me. While that may seem to be a statement deserving of a hearty, “Duh”, I find a little more there to investigate. My Dad doesn’t think he was around to do much parenting; for most of my home life his work schedule had him out of the house long before I woke up, and back home with only a few hours before one

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-770916951574635152008-04-08T20:01:00.003-04:002008-04-08T20:04:39.270-04:00

Last week's books:PS238 #30: This is likely the conclusion of the Vegas plotline. For the none of you that follow this book (though you should be, dammit), several of our young heroes have been tricked into hitching a ride to Las Vegas, in order for a young super-villain in the making to use his super-genius at the tables to finance his army of doom-bot hover tanks. Vegas, in this reality, is

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-62538650110927283612008-03-26T16:17:00.002-04:002008-03-26T17:06:36.402-04:00

Something I've been thinking about a lot lately is how people identify with groups. Most people try to find some sort of tribe or culture that they fit into and can identify with. Most anything that finishes the sentence, "I'm a ..." qualifies. There are countless classes that people fit themselves into, particularly for social reasons, but there are others that bear little to no relationship to

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-19643272131669651202008-03-07T16:12:00.002-05:002008-03-07T16:15:36.847-05:00

I try to avoid writing about work too much, for various reasons. One is that so many people get burned when they write about something unflattering, or even proprietary, and then post it in a public space. I don’t think anyone at work knows about my blogging, or even cares, but it would be easy enough to figure out my screen name in one way or another. Given that I use it all across the interwebs

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-58092871161872088552008-02-13T15:39:00.001-05:002008-02-13T15:41:28.227-05:00

I was saddened today to hear that the Senate passed a bill that both gave a long-term extension to the Bush wiretapping program, but also extended immunity to the communications companies that handed over records. I think that Chris Dodd put it well when he said the incident would be looked back upon as a test whether the United States operates under “The rule of law, or the rule of men.”Right

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-42218639884759990482008-01-27T12:46:00.000-05:002008-01-27T12:50:30.651-05:00

I recently heard a Libertarian (who also happens to be a scientist of some stature) refer to their brand of anarcho-capitalism as “evolutionary capitalism”. As a scientist that has had to defend evolution from all sorts of ridiculous attacks, he should have known that such a comparison wouldn’t help his position with other evolution supporters. While the selective mechanism certainly makes

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-41973226041843498742008-01-25T15:37:00.000-05:002008-01-27T12:54:29.603-05:00

It’s been a while, and given my normal topics of discussion in meatspace, I guess it’s time for a political commentary. Now, politically, I’m one of those folks that drives the pollsters nuts. My religious outlook is discussed below, and it of course squares perfectly with the fact that I’m a Republican.…You can stop laughing now.I signed up for my party back in the heady days just after high

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-64106944244881560862007-12-16T10:23:00.000-05:002007-12-16T10:26:38.654-05:00

Wow, I’ve neglected this for a while. I still seem to be getting traffic, though, and not just from my wife, so I might as well put something up. I’ve thought about dozens of things to write in the last few months – actually sitting down to do it has been the problem. I’ve been intending to review the comics I pick up, so maybe I’ll start that with the next run. I’ve thought about doing books

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-79036636428014270032007-10-15T22:13:00.000-04:002007-10-15T22:14:35.156-04:00

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------It was strange, for no other reason than she died almost seven years ago. My Dad was gathering things to bring down for my son's birthday party and came across an envelope with my name on it. Now, to be sure, it was not the first posthumous communication I had gotten from her, but it was the first in a very long time.

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-4407179645572080142007-09-07T21:45:00.000-04:002007-09-12T17:26:30.097-04:00

Have you ever just looked around your home and seen things that make sense in the context of your life, but that others might find a bit, well, off? I started paying attention the other day for some reason, and, given that the hobbies of me and mine aren't typically what you'd call "mainstream", there are some interesting results.Master bath: A dozen half-wilted rosesWalk-in closet: A fog machine

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-29967128768482003762007-08-22T16:24:00.000-04:002007-08-22T16:40:48.157-04:00

I counted out about $130 this morning. It wasn't mine. The small piles of sorted bills were intended for one of the people I supervise. Her daugter died last week. She was young, and the death was needless and preventable. I can't fathom losing a child that way. Honestly, I yet to really lose anyone to accident; age and illness, certainly, but not accident of violence.I've been the keeper

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-20400011505835282592007-08-15T19:47:00.000-04:002007-08-15T20:07:53.146-04:00

I like Saturdays. Not just because it's a day off, but mostly because of my son. He's three, soon to be four, and Saturdays are our day. While my wife and daughter go off to do the grocery shopping with a friend, I take my son around town. We have a set pattern that we have grown comfortable with. First, we hit the Farmers' Market. It's a small, but diverse affair in the middle of town.

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-65802401958769232352007-08-10T16:09:00.001-04:002007-08-10T16:40:24.046-04:00

Well, last time around, I said something about a philosophical post. It's sort of hard for me to discuss things like that sometimes. Sure, once you get me started, I'll argue with you about reason and materialism and the human condition as long as anyone else. It's harder getting started from scratch.Hmm. Maybe some background is in order. I grew up sort of a typical geek. Smart, socially awkward

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-43554327039833884072007-08-08T15:48:00.000-04:002007-08-08T16:01:15.873-04:00

The AC at work is broken, and the normal temp around here is a nice, humid 100 degrees. Crush that together with steam-jacketed mixing tanks, an extra layer of clothing, and no air movement, and you've got a recipie for the "Who Falls Out First" charity raffle and betting pool. It's not as bad as it used to be though. A couple of years back, I walked into the batching room at six AM, and there

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674456619572007481.post-30849500046063343952007-08-05T10:56:00.001-04:002007-09-12T17:09:28.944-04:00

Well, first post of the new blog. The team blog I was on sorta died from lack of interest, though it had some good posts. Maybe I'll have some real time to devote to this one, though I doubt it.Firstly, the name:Apparently, according to my wife, I have odd quirks related to hobos and hobo habits. Whenever I drive under a bridge, I look for what I term "underpass hobos"; essentially, people living

Ransonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05118563419139182503noreply@blogger.com3