educating eric

http://blog.irvingwb.com/blog/2009/12/reflections-on-surviving-disruptive-inn... - - - - - - Typed by thumb and sent from my St. Thomas BlackBerry Wireless Device

I was one of those "pre-qualified shoppers" on Wednesday, trying to get in and out of Best Buy as quickly as possible, having decided exactly what I wanted... Anyway, an interesting article here on shopping in general (and mall kiosks in particular) from a local marketer... ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Brady Flower - Mall Kiosk Success Date: Sat, 26 Dec 2009 00:11:41 -0500 Subject: The Perfect Storm To: Eric The Perfect Storm *** Dear Eric, Seasons Greetings from Minneapolis! *** I've been a little quiet the last couple of weeks because I got the chance to open a cart in the Minneapolis area at the last minute... for the last nine days before Christmas. I just finished those last nine days. There were lots of challenges opening at the last minute, and I'm looking forward to perhaps sharing with you the stories of some of these challenges. *** One of the challenges that faced all the retailers here in the Twin Cities areas were reports of a huge blizza...

...I wonder about Amy Lee's personal view of Jesus? Regardless of what Evanescence is/was, what does she believe as her own person who's accountable to the God who created our universe? (I guess you can take the seeker.TV domain out of the geek but you can't take the "Seekers Television" questions out of the Christian.) From http://web.archive.org/web/20070827083214/http://www.entertainment-news.org/b... (...Co-founder Ben Moody abruptly left mid-tour in 2003...) Q: "Fallen" was first released in the Christian market. Do you consider Evanescence a Christian band? A: Can we please skip the Christian thing? I'm so over it. It's the lamest thing. I fought that from the beginning; I never wanted to be associated with it. It was a Ben thing. It's over. It's a new day.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hZUJSF6PSs?wmode=transparent] - - - - - - Typed by thumb and sent from my St. Thomas BlackBerry Wireless Device

I need to research the "preterist" position which, in a nutshell (as I understand it), says that the events of John's Revelation describe the fall of Jerusalem. In our Daily Audio Bible reading we're in Revelation (because its the end of the year now, duh) and I keep thinking, "The fall of Jerusalem was bad, but not THIS bad!" For further study: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preterism

Brian Hardin from the Daily Audio Bible just emailed Christmas greetings and wrote: "I remember a year ago writing to everyone and saying how I wish I could sit with you over a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy the richness of your story.?? I wish there were time to linger over God's faithfulness in each of our stories and ponder the future's path. Unfortunately some of those wishes may have to wait for now.?? Maybe one day." Which got me thinking... Will we have "conversations" with fellow Christians in heaven? If so, why say "Maybe one day" (assuming, for the sake of argument, that your audience is truly Christian)? My pastor has emphasized how there will be "work" there and that it's a redeemed world/life rather than just floating on a cloud with a harp... But will it be like "life, only better" or it will be a completely inconceivable "oneness with God"? A rather deep topic on Christmas, which kinda represents...

Listening to a podcast of an interview with the author. Hmmm... http://www.worldincbook.com/about_book.html

The sender of this email would like to share an episode of a podcast with you: Podcast Title: Marketing Edge Episode: 5 Steps to Expert with Paul Schempp ? Part 2 Media URL: if (FlashDetect.installed) { $('flash_embed-qktxtxwgdc').show(); $('quicktime_embed-qktxtxwgdc').hide(); } else { $('quicktime_embed-qktxtxwgdc').show(); $('flash_embed-qktxtxwgdc').hide(); } Podcast feed URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/marketingedge

I have to dig out my old podcast that quoted Gardner Campbell and the idea of leadership in the context of the "edupunk" movement: edu!edu!, or, living in the antechamber of hope ?? Gardner Writes http://www.gardnercampbell.net/blog1/?p=662

http://www.chrisbrogan.com/the-visible-media-maker/?utm_source=feedburner&utm... - - - - - - Typed by thumb and sent from my St. Thomas BlackBerry Wireless Device

Okay, after a full 24 hours of soul-searching, I think I've got it. Bear in mind that I live in a mental world of metaphors... and that's what it to come up with the following, with full props to Rick and Mylk and everyone who works on the excellent Social Media Breakfast here in the Twin Cities... We're looking forward to the upcoming CPBMSP #23! This month's Breakfast will continue to explore the new (but rapidly maturing) phenomenon of "Cocktail Parties" with a multitude of topics: Drambuie vs. Glayva: Bringing Variety to your Cocktails! Marketing plastic storage containers through Cocktail Parties How to mix Selling Candles and Sipping Cocktails Cocktails and Cooking: Hold a Pots and Pans Party! In planning our upcoming meetings, we're also hoping to have a discussion about some emerging uses of Cocktail Parties: Some religious groups will gather in homes in what they call "Bible Studies;" since the consumption of cocktails at these gathering...

The sender of this email would like to share an episode of a podcast with you: Podcast Title: River Valley Church: Media Episode: Flannelgraph Jesus - Fig Tree Video Media URL: http://www.rivervalleychurch.org/video/originals/Fig_Tree_0.m4v Podcast feed URL: http://www.rivervalleychurch.org/podcast.php?category=rvc You can copy and paste the above podcast url into PodTrapper directly on your blackberry via the 'Add Podcasts->Enter urls' menu item. For more information on listening to podcasts on your BlackBerry visit http://www.versatilemonkey.com/ To listen to this episode on your PC click or copy and paste the Media URL above into your browser. - - - - - - Typed by thumb and sent from my St. Thomas BlackBerry Wireless Device

I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s Social Media Breakfast because its topic (health care) has the potential of talking about something that actually means something. Let me back up. I’m a fan of the “get rich quick” internet stuff (ever since the pre-internet magazine ads attracted my attention in the 1980s; I was too cheap to send in the $19.95 to find out the “secret to millions,” though I suspect the answers lay along the lines of “Run ads in magazines asking people to send $19.95…”). The problem is that most of the “get rich quick” marketing appeals to others who are marketing the same thing – “buy this $1000 seminar so that you can learn my secrets that have gotten me rich as I sell seminars”. There are a few “real products” like weight loss or stock tips but, aside from Russell Brunson ’s star pupil Joy Anderson (who sells information on how to start a preschool out of your home), it seems there’s very little “real content” to be had or sold. I feel the same way about “so...

VN 00006.amr Does the attached file in its odd "amr" format play on Posterous? There's only one way to find out... - - - - - - Typed by thumb and sent from my St. Thomas BlackBerry Wireless Device

I've been meaning to post an interesting "juxtaposition" that happened to me a few days ago. As I wrote once on Facebook (part of one of those "X-many random things about me" memes) that I care very deeply about people... but they probably don't know it. On the same morning, I got two emails from friends that were pretty close a dozen years ago; we're still on great terms but just aren't in touch much. One replied to a mass-mail I sent to a group -- and we're getting together for lunch today. The other guy confirmed what I'd feared from some Facebook evidence: he and his wife are separated and planning to divorce. The former is an illustration of how "the church" works: after years, we still share a connection. The latter is an example of how "the church" fails. This couple shouldn't be splitting up. Something went wrong. His friends should have been able to help him. We didn't even know anything was wrong... an...

(Open and public) note to self: Check into this translation of 1st John 5:1-21. The December 5th reading had some interesting language about "degrees of sin" that I hadn't caught before: Podcast Title: 1 Year Daily Audio Bible Episode: DAB December 5- 2009 Media URL: if (FlashDetect.installed) { $('flash_embed-yGfgHBpanh').show(); $('quicktime_embed-yGfgHBpanh').hide(); } else { $('quicktime_embed-yGfgHBpanh').show(); $('flash_embed-yGfgHBpanh').hide(); } Podcast feed URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/dailyaudiobible

The sender of this email would like to share an episode of a podcast with you: Podcast Title: APM: Future Tense Episode: What are the basics of computer literacy? Media URL: if (FlashDetect.installed) { $('flash_embed-tDgrInxDAC').show(); $('quicktime_embed-tDgrInxDAC').hide(); } else { $('quicktime_embed-tDgrInxDAC').show(); $('flash_embed-tDgrInxDAC').hide(); } Podcast feed URL: http://www.publicradio.org/columns/futuretense/podcast.xml You can copy and paste the above podcast url into PodTrapper directly on your blackberry via the 'Add Podcasts->Enter urls' menu item. For more information on listening to podcasts on your BlackBerry visit http://www.versatilemonkey.com/ To listen to this episode on your PC click or copy and paste the M...

I attended tonight's " Soulstice " service with my so-far "thorough skimming" of Peter Rollins' " How (Not) to Speak of God " in mind.  My concern in general around that book (and about the Emerging/Emergent Church, as much as I like to label anything) is the charge that they value conversation or dialog, not as a means to pursue understanding of the one real Truth, but as an end in-and-of itself because there's no one Truth to pursue. Much more to be said on that another day. But tonight's message was on "Gift" -- something of a pet topic of mine ever since it was the sole topic of my Theology 101 class my freshman year of college (in my pre-Christian days).  Pastor Micah Witham's terminology is that we should give not merely "generously", but " generatively " -- that our giving should parallel the work of Jesus, which "generated things" -- new from old, life from death, etc.  I like it. Micah...

Two brief, unrelated thoughts to-be-journaled later. 1) Yesterday's daily Bible reading came to Daniel where the angel appears to him and says he was detained by the "prince of Persia" -- a competing demon, according to John Eldredge. Something I've not studied much but want to. Matthew 18 spends much time talking about angels and their acts/hopes/conduct, from the mouth of Jesus Himself. I think the evangelical church has ignored "angelology" and, while I think it's quite odd and "spooky," it's incredibly Biblical. 2) I'm just starting to read "How (Not) to Speak of God" by Peter Rollins, which talks of the "emerging church" as being on a "journey" in the context of wandering OT prophets who seemed strange to their culture. But when I read Paul (and others in the NT), the theme seems to be "That's all been fulfilled; now it's the goal-goal-goal of Jesus and Christ-likeness. Clear as a bell!...

http://nov1.m.yahoo.net/yng1/FWXL0XlUo32g8a7JA.4f7A__/1259710018/YONO_0/www.m... - - - - - - Typed by thumb and sent from my St. Thomas BlackBerry Wireless Device

http://www.tommiemedia.com/news/online-st-thomas-courses-still-a-distant-real...

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I keep hearing how cool/revolutionary/hip this " Foursquare " thing is, so I figured I'd give it a try. Perhaps part of my problem is that I've got a Blackberry which, for some reason, doesn't yet have a Foursquare client. It works fine from its web browser, I'm told, but... this doesn't make much sense to me. Question: Does the Foursquare client for other smart-phones have some sort of geo-location feature (using cell towers or such)? Because, when using the web browser on the Blackberry, all it does is narrow my options down to the "Twin Cities" (which, if you don't know, is pretty big). I'm 0 for 3 in the Foursquare locations I've searched for, and the search process seems really awkward. When it finds something, the results seem random; that's probably because the locations are manually entered by other Foursquare members, but it seems to lead to a mess. For instance, this morning, I was at the Holiday station in Eagan. T...

I really like this definition. I'm not sure my mind is so coherent as to differentiate "mindcasting" from "lifecasting" -- the two blend together in my world -- but I think this is worthy of some thought: http://www.wordspy.com/words/mindcasting.asp

Every so often I'm struck by a turn of a phrase that probably didn't seem very profound to most people, but happened to really cut straight to my heart. The first sentence of this Sunday's closing prayer did it for me: "Jesus, thank you for coming anyway." If the Bible is true -- or if even "the majority of the words of a rabbi named Yeshua who lived about 2000 years ago" were true -- then 1) we live out our lives in the midst of a remarkable spiritual plane that goes almost totally unnoticed, and 2) it's amazing that God would choose to interject himself into that ignorant and ungrateful world. And that's not an indictment by "me" against "them;" I'm as ignorant of and ungrateful for God's workings as the next guy is. I don't live in a state of unceasing prayer. My life isn't focused on "advancing the Kingdom." I hope (and am fairly confident) that I'm not actively undermining God and His wor...

This is just a shadow of an age-old question, but I'm still pondering it at the moment: the Great Commission has us go our and teach "everything" that Jesus has commanded us. But Jesus' teachings weren't merely Paul's "Romans Road" -- He called us to be "good people" and do "good things". I don't think missionaries are teaching the opposite... but is the emphasis on "saving faith in Jesus," or is it on being the good Law-abiding Jew that He was? Yes, I know some works-oriented heresies lurk there... but it's still important to ask the question, isn't it?

One thing that always bothered me about the "Parable of the Talents" stems from the fact that I think of "investment" in the modern-day context of "put some money into the stock market and hope it doesn't disappear."  In that sense, the servant who buried his money seems pretty reasonable -- he took a conservative but prudent step and made sure that none of his master's principal was lost. It was Joel Osteen, of all people, who gave a message that altered my perspective.  He described "talents" (the 2000-year-old monetary word) in the context of our skills or "talents" that God has given us and expects us to use. In that sense, the master in Jesus' account was exactly right: the only way to waste/abuse/lose a talent is to not put it to use. For me, that's a much more liberating view than to see God as someone who expects you to metaphorically "play the stock market" and come out ahead, punishing you if you have...

Here's something I'm pondering in my spare time -- and I'm hoping that some of my web geek friends can pitch in with some suggestions. The background: I love the 1980s. And 1990s. And nothing captures the spirit of those times like commercials and TV news clips. Thanks to my pack-rat tendencies and the miracle of home DVD burning, I've been able to go through my ancient VHS tape archive and put clips up for all to see on YouTube . But I also own the BigHair .TV domain (where nothing sits at the moment) and I'm hoping to build out a site that features (but isn't limited to) that video content. For instance, I'd love to track down some of the old TV personalities for "Where Are They Now?" interviews... but if it's written rather than video, it would need to be posted somewhere other than YouTube. But, I don't want to be manually "maintaining a blog" -- I don't want to have to post something to the YouTube channel, then go t...

For Mac users who are trying to get their e-mail from a Microsoft Exchange server, the new (new-ish) Exchange Web Services of Entourage (Entourage EWS) held a lot of promise. And it works great... as long as you don't need your calendar or contacts. That's quite a limitation... and I don't think it's supposed to be that broken. Any suggestions? Here's the situation: If a contact or calendar item is "born" in Entourage EWS, it syncs to the Exchange server just fine. And if you delete that item from another client -- from Outlook Web Access (OWA) or Outlook 2007 on Windows, then it disappears from Entourage EWS on the Mac. But if you create a calendar item on something other than Entourage, it never makes its way into Entourage. That's bad. You can watch Entourage EWS "poll through" all your calendar and contact items -- it says it's downloading them, but they never actually appear anywhere. I turned on logging and see a lot of the followi...

This one acts as if it were a follow-up to a previously answered scam... I think. It's a bit hard for me to parse it. Maybe if I wanted the millions, I'd pay more attention? - - - - - - Typed by thumb and sent from my St. Thomas BlackBerry Wireless Device ----- Original Message ----- From: Luke Ugo Sent: Wed Nov 25 03:46:01 2009 Subject: My Gratification Attn:My Good Friend I am remembering you in keeping to my personal belief that one good turn it is said,deserves another.It is strictly on this premise I made out amount of US$1,500,000.00 in an ATM CARD for you and kept it with my personal assistant back home shortly before I travelled out of the country. I was able to pull through with another foreigner,the transaction for which you previously extended your cooperation to me even though it did quite work out then due to circumstance beyond us. Be guided therefore to get in touch with my personal assistant along with your full names and address ASAP via his below given...

The sender of this email would like to share an episode of a podcast with you: Podcast Title: APM: Future Tense Episode: Why free phones are expensive Media URL: if (FlashDetect.installed) { $('flash_embed-ikjtHJzwvI').show(); $('quicktime_embed-ikjtHJzwvI').hide(); } else { $('quicktime_embed-ikjtHJzwvI').show(); $('flash_embed-ikjtHJzwvI').hide(); } Podcast feed URL: http://www.publicradio.org/columns/futuretense/podcast.xml You can copy and paste the above podcast url into PodTrapper directly on your blackberry via the 'Add Podcasts->Enter urls' menu item. For more information on listening to podcasts on your BlackBerry visit http://www.versatilemonkey.com/ To listen to this episode on your PC click or copy and paste the Media URL abo...

Yes, it's been ages since I've posted anything here -- sorry! A quick update which will be meaningless when examined decades from now... but which makes for a slightly pertinent question at the moment: Did anyone see all of my old posts re-populate the RSS feed a few days ago? When looked at from my Yahoo! feeds page, it says that everything I've written in the past year was written "5 days ago"... which it wasn't. Odd...

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The sender of this email would like to share an episode of a podcast with you: Podcast Title: Skeptoid: Critical Analysis of Pop Phenomena Episode: Skeptoid #176: Network Marketing Media URL: if (FlashDetect.installed) { $('flash_embed-keCyfHHjyy').show(); $('quicktime_embed-keCyfHHjyy').hide(); } else { $('quicktime_embed-keCyfHHjyy').show(); $('flash_embed-keCyfHHjyy').hide(); } Podcast feed URL: http://skeptoid.com/podcast.xml You can copy and paste the above podcast url into PodTrapper directly on your blackberry via the 'Add Podcasts->Enter urls' menu item. For more information on listening to podcasts on your BlackBerry visit http://www.versatilemonkey.com/ To listen to this episode on your PC click or copy and paste the Media URL ...

http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/exe/wiki - - - - - - Typed by thumb and sent from my St. Thomas BlackBerry Wireless Device

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From: @GardnerCampbell Sent: Nov 6, 2009 10:00a Indicatorsproject.wordpress.com research on comparative uses of LMS @djplaner #educause09 sent via TweetDeck On Twitter: http://twitter.com/GardnerCampbell/status/5481717597 - - - - - - Typed by thumb and sent from my St. Thomas BlackBerry Wireless Device

http://chronicle.com/article/Colleges-to-Try/48982/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_... - - - - - - Typed by thumb and sent from my St. Thomas BlackBerry Wireless Device

- - - - - - Typed by thumb and sent from my St. Thomas BlackBerry Wireless Device ----- Original Message ----- From: Evans, Kelly M. To: Larson, Eric M. Sent: Thu Nov 05 10:11:02 2009 Subject: What is Lspace? http://www.lspace.org/about/whatis-lspace.html - - - - - - Sent from my St. Thomas BlackBerry Wireless Device

http://www.profhacker.com/2009/11/03/creating-gtd-action-lists-for-students/ - - - - - - Typed by thumb and sent from my St. Thomas BlackBerry Wireless Device

The sender of this email would like to share an episode of a podcast with you: Podcast Title: APM: Future Tense Episode: Microsoft markets crud-free computers Media URL: if (FlashDetect.installed) { $('flash_embed-BaFbnegzmr').show(); $('quicktime_embed-BaFbnegzmr').hide(); } else { $('quicktime_embed-BaFbnegzmr').show(); $('flash_embed-BaFbnegzmr').hide(); } Podcast feed URL: http://www.publicradio.org/columns/futuretense/podcast.xml You can copy and paste the above podcast url into PodTrapper directly on your blackberry via the 'Add Podcasts->Enter urls' menu item. For more information on listening to podcasts on your BlackBerry visit http://www.versatilemonkey.com/ To listen to this episode on your PC click or copy and paste the Media...

The sender of this email would like to share an episode of a podcast with you: Podcast Title: Slashdot Review - Produced by SDR News Episode: SDRNews: Connectify.me Now for Windows 7 Media URL: if (FlashDetect.installed) { $('flash_embed-gitByqoAku').show(); $('quicktime_embed-gitByqoAku').hide(); } else { $('quicktime_embed-gitByqoAku').show(); $('flash_embed-gitByqoAku').hide(); } Podcast feed URL: http://slashdotreview.com/wp-rss2.php You can copy and paste the above podcast url into PodTrapper directly on your blackberry via the 'Add Podcasts->Enter urls' menu item. For more information on listening to podcasts on your BlackBerry visit http://www.versatilemonkey.com/ To listen to this episode on your PC click or copy and paste the Me...

The sender of this email would like to share an episode of a podcast with you: Podcast Title: APM: Future Tense Episode: What do we give up with technology that's just good enough? Media URL: if (FlashDetect.installed) { $('flash_embed-iDFxgiEccB').show(); $('quicktime_embed-iDFxgiEccB').hide(); } else { $('quicktime_embed-iDFxgiEccB').show(); $('flash_embed-iDFxgiEccB').hide(); } Podcast feed URL: http://www.publicradio.org/columns/futuretense/podcast.xml You can copy and paste the above podcast url into PodTrapper directly on your blackberry via the 'Add Podcasts->Enter urls' menu item. For more information on listening to podcasts on your BlackBerry visit http://www.versatilemonkey.com/ To listen to this episode on your PC click o...

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Sea - - - - - - Typed by thumb and sent from my St. Thomas BlackBerry Wireless Device

rtsp://rtsp-youtube.l.google.com/CkELENy73wIaOAkH_R62bT60txMYDSANFEIJbXYtZ29vZ2xlSARSBXdhdGNoWglDbGlja0xpbmtgq72HuPH38NxKDA==/0/0/0/30/video.3gp - - - - - - Typed by thumb and sent from my St. Thomas BlackBerry Wireless Device

http://sinbox.org/bokode/

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http://engagingtimes.com/2009/10/01/five-myths-about-automatic-sentiment-anal...

Note the reference to the importance of in-person meetings; distance learning through text chat and discussion boards just isn't the same... and that's okay. Podcast Title: Personal Development by Nightingale-Conant Episode: The Hands From The Power of Body Language By Joe Navarro Media URL: if (FlashDetect.installed) { $('flash_embed-rorcgBHjbJ').show(); $('quicktime_embed-rorcgBHjbJ').hide(); } else { $('quicktime_embed-rorcgBHjbJ').show(); $('flash_embed-rorcgBHjbJ').hide(); } Podcast feed URL: http://syndication.mediafly.com/rss/show/533eb022386845cfa86ec9b87de5a921

Podcast Title: APM: Future Tense Episode: Secret questions can be easy answer for malicious hackers Media URL: if (FlashDetect.installed) { $('flash_embed-rwBFnByjuC').show(); $('quicktime_embed-rwBFnByjuC').hide(); } else { $('quicktime_embed-rwBFnByjuC').show(); $('flash_embed-rwBFnByjuC').hide(); } Podcast feed URL: http://www.publicradio.org/columns/futuretense/podcast.xml

Today, my wife forwarded me an interesting e-mail she got from Half.com (a.k.a. eBay.com a.k.a. Mean Faceless Corporate Giant). For starters, you should know that I've been buying things on eBay since 1996. No, that's not a typo and I'm not off by a decade; back when the auction site was named "AuctionWeb" (the reason that eBay e-mails had/have "aw" in them) tucked under the domain "eBay.com" (which was the "holding company"), I was buying brochures and guidebooks from the 1939 New York World's Fair there. So I know eBay pretty well, and have seen it shift from a cooperative community to a bloated money-making-venture for its owners to a dying site that has driven away its sellers by victimizing them in the name of "buyer protection". Which brings me to today's topic. Years ago (just shy of four years, to be exact), we listed some old books for sale on Half. There weren't many sales... though one notable one went...

Just came across an article about Matthew Lesko ( Marked Man - washingtonpost.com ). The guy knows his niche -- and does the "get rich quick" sale really well. But my favorite part of the article? To create his first infomercials, Lesko spent a lot of money hiring Hollywood professionals. Now, he hires eager young kids who shoot cheap and edit on laptops. "They're terrific," he says. "They work for dirt and they're excited and they have good ideas." Lesko found Fleg, his latest director, by putting an ad on Craigslist. Fleg answered it and agreed to produce ads for $1,500 apiece. At that price, Lesko can afford to shoot an ad, then test it on cheap rural cable stations, and toss it out if it doesn't sell. It's in the same vein as "crowd-sourcing" work -- the fact that, depending on your standards, a lot of work can be done a lot less expensively than it could be done a dozen (or even a couple) years ago.

Here's the text of the message that I just sent through the whitehouse.gov comment form; I think it speaks for itself: Hello, dedicated staffer or intern! :) Just a quick head's up that there really are thousands of us out here who are deeply concerned about the Airyn Bell case; she's the wife of Art Bell who was denied citizenship because the USCIS seems to have lost (or is choosing to ignore) the paperwork that the USPS has proven that USCIS received. (USCIS case WAC0900851515; details at Mr. Bell's website: http://www.coasttocoastam.com/article/art-bell-s-wife-denied-u-s-visa ) Yes, there are much (MUCH!) bigger problems in the world today. President Obama has "more important" things to focus on. Far bigger travesties of justice happen every minute. But this case strikes me as noteworthy; how can we trust a "reformed" government that holds people's lives in its hands but ignores Constitutional concepts of due process... and whose employee...

Stay away from Seattle, Washington. Actually, you can go there... but if a couple big thugs wearing black start chasing after you while people are yelling that you stole something (which you didn't), stop in your tracks and hope that whatever they do to you isn't as bad as what Christopher Harris suffered. The story (and surveilance video) is available at the Seattle Times . Long story short, he was falsely accused of being a crook, and rather than grabbing and cuffing him the cops decided to teach him a lesson and shove his head into a wall. And let me explain something: You don't come back from skull fractures that put you into a coma and leave you in critical condition. You might live, but you'll never be "normal" again. Once again, as I always say here, most cops are good people who are trying to do the right thing. And after a long day of busting bad guys, only to see judges give them a slap on the wrist , you'd probably want to bust a few skulls...

I'm giddy, giddy, GIDDY that I have a new (to me) HP Photosmart 3210 All-in-One that I can play with; apparently, there are printing issues with it... but what I really wanted it for was for scanning the tons and tons of old family photos I have. A pleastant surprise is that this particular model has a slide scanner. What I don't know is whether I can get it to accept medium-format slides (the large 2" x 2" ones that nobody knows about these days); Mom has several boxes of those from a trip to Europe. Anyway... fun scanner-related times ahead! :)

I've turned on some free GoDaddy hosting for one of my not-yet-used domains, and spotted the following terms: Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, in no event shall Your web site consist of the following: search results, registration, "thank you", error, email or chat pages, pages comprised primarily of other advertising That seems kinda restrictive, doesn't it? Hmmm.

With a name like "Vahid Sedaghat"... well, it stands out when you see that in the paper. Twice in the past week I've come across it. And the very first time, I thought, "Ummmm.... I think I know who that is..." Back in my pre-blog days, I wrote up a response to a KMSP-TV news story on Vahid. My basic premise, which I still stand by, is that this guy was no angel but the news story wasn't very fair or informative. To repeat, I also stand by my "this guy was no angel" assessment.... Used-car salesman charged with fraud A Little Canada businessman also has been charged with receiving stolen property, in addition to theft. By PAT PHEIFER, Star Tribune Last update: February 13, 2008 - 9:53 PM A used-car salesman from Little Canada who allegedly sold defective vehicles to unwitting customers -- often immigrants with limited English proficiency -- has been charged with five counts of theft by swindle and one of receiving stolen property. Vahid Sedaghat, 5...

This made my day! According to a story yesterday in the Minneapolis Star Tribune , Trooper Carrie Rindal was reprimanded and Sam Salter will be given the $9,500 settlement that he proposed for what the Strib terms a "bungled traffic stop". The State Patrol on Wednesday announced that it had reprimanded trooper Carrie Rindal after a review board found that she had made several errors while stopping and arresting Salter along Interstate 94 in St. Paul. Kudos to Salter for proposing a reasonable settlement and moving on; while it would be entertaining to watch the typical "I'm going to sue for hundreds of millions of dollars!" court case unfold, that doesn't help anything and isn't the way that grown-ups ought to behave. Ironically, the settlement sounds a lot like what I originally suggested on this blog . Sam Salter continues to demonstrate that he was in the right and continues to handle himself well. And has proven that, sometimes, you can fight ci...

Okay, I walked in to Barnes & Noble the other day while I had a few minutes to kill... and was stopped dead in my tracks by the display in front of me. I don't usually think things are "creepy"... but this was... "creepy". Correct me if I'm wrong; people do realize that these are the same, right? Or am I the only one old enough to "remember the past" and make the comparison? Does Miley Cyrus really want to be Britney Spears? Really?

Came across the article " Minnesota Aims to be Model for Wind Transport " and when I saw the photo of the nacelle (don't ask me how to pronounce that) on the flatbed semi I realized, "That's what we saw coming down the freeway!" On at least two separate trips, Ruth and I spotted these coming the opposite direction, and had no idea what they are. They look like a missile cone, except that no missile would have things jutting off the side of it...

UPDATE: 03.20.2009 Carrie Rindal has been reprimanded! The KARE-11 story disabled comments after at least 62 came in (according to the homepage), so let's see if we can get a conversation going here. Longtime readers of my blog know that I have a passion for pointing out police incompetence, arrogance and abuse of power -- not because I hate police, but because I have so much respect for them and their jobs (having both friends and relatives on the force) and I can't stand it when a few bad apples freak out and do something stupid that gives their uniform a bad name. Carrie Rindal is one such "peace" officer. When driving his kids home on New Year's Eve (as I was doing with Ruth and our girls a month ago), Sam Salter made one mistake: He followed the same instructions I've read dozens of places. If you're hit with lights and sirens from a squad car, you to find a safe place to pull off the road and should get off on the nearest exit if you can. (And, a...

For those of you who keep up with my Twitter feed , you already know that I'm lamenting the loss of one of our young guys from our church congregation. (Details of his suicide are at his school's site .) I didn't know Eric Harms well. When I was doing video work at our church , he was occasionally singing on worship team or performing in a drama. Everything that people have said in his Facebook group seems true -- he was nice and funny and talented. So, a whole bunch of various thoughts come to mind, all jumbled together: Suicide is really, really hurtful for the people left behind. Are we "glamorizing suicide" by the outpouring of love for Eric and support for his family? Was Eric's happiness a "shell" or an act? Or did something change recently? Is suicide prevention really possible? I'd bet money that suicidal people thing something like, "It was a poor choice for him, but it's the only option for me." And a mor...

Image by Tea, two sugars via Flickr I don't usually pay much attention the the Sunday circulars, but the one from Office Max caught my attention: They're offering 24"x36" prints, which are usually about $40, for $9.99. Being the fan of infrared photography that I am, part of me wonders if I should risk hyper-vanity and print some of my photos that size. The resolution of my photos really can't handle something that size, but then again, what can? Note, by the way, that the photo here isn't one of mine; it's one that was recommended by Zemanta , which is a Firefox plug-in that goes out and finds content that's related to whatever you're writing about. I wanted to play with it, and had to write about something that made enough sense that it had a chance of finding some content. So far, so good. :) Related articles by Zemanta 7 Inspiring Infrared and HDR Photographers (lightbulbs.org) The Strange Realm of Infra-Red: 4 (boingboing....

There's a story of a horrible case in Texas which, I'm sure, repeats itself all over the country each day: 6-month-old child abused by his parents. And terribly abused: "A physician noted that David Coronado Jr. had 42 skeletal injuries." So, a court-appointed guardian has asked that he be removed from life support because it's "in his best interests". His parents don't agree, but I think they forfeited their rights somewhere before the broken bone count reached 42. Anyway, the AP article makes a really odd reference: "If he survives his injuries, he will have severe and permanent disability as a result of these injuries," a doctor wrote in one report, the newspaper said. So, because the child will be disabled, we should kill him now? I understand the notion of removing life support if there's no hope of living... but isn't the act of removing life support because of future disabilities akin to an abortion about 7 months too la...