Thursday December 23, 2004 Word of the Day
adjective - worldwide or general in extent, influence, or application
( Dec 23 2004, 02:11:14 PM PST )
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Homemade Mech
Carlos Owens, a steelworker in Alaska, is building an 18 foot tall steel exoskeleton in his back yard. The project Owens calls NMX04-1A is intended for entertainment purposes and, eventually, mech-on-mech combat.
( Dec 23 2004, 12:44:01 AM PST )
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Wednesday December 22, 2004 World's Tiniest Baby
The premature baby that is being called 'the smallest baby ever to survive' is getting ready to go home. The baby was 8.6 ounces when she was born in September. She now weighs over 2 pounds. Her twin was 20 ounces at birth and now weighs over 5 pounds.
Check out pictures of the twins, Rumaisa and Hiba, here.
( Dec 22 2004, 01:33:24 AM PST )
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Trivial Tidbits
The first man to push the Land Speed Record - the speed record for a self-propelled wheeled vehicles travelling over open ground - over 100 mph was Louis Rigolly. On 07/20/1904 in Ostend, Belgium, Rigolly drove the Gobron Brillié at an average speed of 103.56 mph (measured on a 1km course).
On 03/29/1927, in Daytona Beach, Florida, Major Henry Segrave pushed the Land Speed Record past 200 mph. He drove the 1000 hp Sunbean Slug at an average speed of 203.79 mph (measured on a 1m course).
A 300 mph Land Speed Record was first established on 09/03/1935 at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. Sir Malcolm Campbell drove the Blue Bird at an average speed of 301.129 mph (measured on a 1m course).
( Dec 22 2004, 12:51:36 AM PST )
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Tuesday December 21, 2004 Prenatal Visit
Tiffany and I just got back from the doctor's office. Blessedly, the pregnancy continues to go well and the baby, from what we can tell, continues to be healthy. We are all ready for the baby to arrive, including the baby himself. Unfortunately for mommy, he has been signaling his readiness by kicking frequently and repeatedly.
( Dec 21 2004, 05:12:45 PM PST )
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Tender is the Night
Tender is the Night - F.Scott Fitzgerald (1934)
*** 1/2 (out of 5)
Tender is the Night is Fitzgerald's semi-autobiographical novel about the personal and professional ruin of the novel's main character - Dick Diver - brought about, in large part, by Diver's wife - Nicole. The novel is set on the French Riviera in the late 20's and focuses primarily on the complicated relationship between Dick, a psychiatrist, and Nicole, his mentally ill wife/patient. A number of subplots, including an illicit romance between Dick and a young actress named Rosemary Hoyt, add some thematic breadth to the novel.
Like other Fitzgerald novels, including The Great Gatsby, this novel depicts the 20's as a time of self-indulgence and moral relativism. The main characters are morally flawed in significant ways and the 'tragic' ending is as predictable as it is inevitable.
Tender is the Night is very well written and the themes are well presented. This earns the book 3 1/2 stars in my estimation. I withhold the final star and a half primarily because the novel was unable to evoke any sympathy from me for any of the characters. I am willing to believe that this might be a failing on my part, but they are my stars and I shall assign them as I see fit ;-)
( Dec 21 2004, 04:00:15 PM PST )
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Monday December 20, 2004 Boulder-Longmont Tops SW List
For the fifth time, the Boulder-Longmont area in Colorado has received a 1st-place ranking in the Software and Information Industry Association's list of the 'Top 25 Metro Areas for Software Employment'. San Jose, CA and the Research Triangle in North Carolina rounded out the top 3. Denver, CO was ranked #13 and Colorado Springs, CO was ranked #15.
Rankings are based on the number of software employees, divided by the area's total population.
( Dec 20 2004, 02:44:10 AM PST )
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Sunday December 19, 2004 Words to Live By
Psalm 33:4
For the word of the LORD is upright; and all His work is done in faithfulness.
( Dec 19 2004, 12:08:46 AM PST )
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Saturday December 18, 2004 MS CmpSci
As I arrived at my brother-in-law's Christmas party, my sister-in-law congratulated me on graduating with an MS in Computer Science from the University of Colorado. Evidently, she saw my name in this morning's edition of the local paper. It had been so long ago - over a year - since I completed the program, that I had almost forgotten that I was graduating this semester.
After 4+ years of taking 1-2 classes a semester - my other obligations, including my job at Sun of course, did not permit any more than that - it's finally official. Maybe it's time to start thinking about a doctorate :-)
( Dec 18 2004, 08:55:29 PM PST )
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Steelers: 33 Giants: 30
The Steelers established a new team record today with 12 consecutive wins - all started by Ben Roethlisberger. Impressively, they won today without starters Duce Staley and Plaxico Buress.
Friday December 17, 2004 Symantec to Acquire Veritas
Symantec has announced its intention to acquire Veritas for 13.5 billion dollars. The acquisition would create the fourth largest software company in the world - behind Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP. Read the story here.
The software industry seems to be ripe for consolidation. M&A activity is certainly ramping up, as indicated by this deal and the recent Oracle-Peoplesoft deal.
( Dec 17 2004, 11:24:17 PM PST )
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Word of the Day
adjective - incapable of being expressed in words
( Dec 17 2004, 01:10:08 PM PST )
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Trivial Tidbits
The most venomous snake in the world is the fierce snake (Oxyuranus microlepidotus).
The most venomous spider in the world is the Sydney funnelweb spider (Atrax robustus).
The most venomous octopus in the world is the blue ring octopus (Hapalochlaena lunulata)
The most venomous jellyfish in the world is the Australian sea wasp, or box jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri).
All of the animals mentioned above are found primarily (or solely) in or around Australia.
( Dec 17 2004, 11:26:20 AM PST )
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Thursday December 16, 2004 Tiwanaku - Ancestors of the Inca
I had the opportunity this afternoon to visit the Tiwanaku - Ancestors of the Inca exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. Tiwanaku, or Tiahuanaco, was a pre-Columbian civilization (c.200AD - c.1100AD) based near the southern shore of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia.
The exhibit was relatively small (less than 100 exhibits), but impressive nonetheless. 18 of the objects in the exhibit were never exhibited before and 39 of the object were never before exhibited in the United States. I was particularly impressed by the variety of objects presented, including painted ceramics, gold and silver jewelry, stone statues, wooden implements, and woven garments. I found the state of preservation of the textiles, some over 1500 years old, truly remarkable.
After viewing the Tiwanaku exhibit, I spent an hour or so viewing the No Boundaries exhibit - an exhibit of 'fiber art' - and some of my favorite works in the 'European and American Art' portion of the permanent collection. Linda (John DeAndrea - 1983), an eerily realistic sculpture of a sleeping nude done in polyvinyl, was the first stop on my hurried tour. Other stops of note included Water Lily Pond (Claude Monet - 1904), Cow (Georgia O'Keefe - 1921), and Autumn (Giuseppe Arcimboldo - 1572).
I completed my visit with a quick trip through the 'Spanish Colonial' exhibit, perhaps my favorite section in the permanent collection.
All in all, the visit was relatively satisfying given its brief duration.
( Dec 16 2004, 06:47:37 PM PST )
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Wednesday December 15, 2004 Boulder Dinner Theatre - Cats
My wife and I spend an entertaining evening tonight with members of the N1 Integrated Systems team based in Broomfield. We attended a performance of Cats at Boulder's Dinner Theatre. Good food, good fun, and good friends make for quite a combination.
( Dec 15 2004, 10:04:08 PM PST )
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