Ouch

Somehow, and I can't for the life of me figure out how, I've apparently cracked a rib.

Ouch.

I suppose I should use the correct term and say fractured a rib. But then again, this is self diagnosis. I feel fine otherwise, but I've got a dull pain in my left side, about mid way up the rib cage. Feel fine, that is, until I laugh, cough, hiccup (oh, God, that hurt), or breath deeply.

Oh, or try to lay on either side. Especially on the left.

According to the best information I can find, there's nothing to be done and without other symptoms it looks pretty clearly that yes, it is a cracked rib.

Ask the Medical Expert on Cracked Ribs

Unfortunately, I don't have a good story to go with the injury. No kick boxing, no rock climbing accident, no rough sex (although I think that's what I'm going to start telling people).

Ah, I have it. I was injured during an unfortunate bout of interpretive dance.

medical, humor

Ray Kurzweil's Full of Shit

OK, I get that Mr Kurzweil is smart and rich. But I also think it's clear that he's also a kook.

Ray Kurzweil deciphers a brave new world | Newsmakers | CNET News.com: "I'm quite aggressive in reprogramming my biochemistry. I take over 200 supplements a day. The thing that's unique about our program is that it's what we call aggressive supplementation. We're not programmed to stick around as long as I am. We need to reprogram our biochemistry, to reprogram our disease processes, processes that result in cancer, and various aging processes. My own personal program is detailed in the book."


And it's also clear that he doesn't get what Vernor Vinge is talking about in the Singularity. The Singularity is not "the geek rapture." It is the point where we can no longer predict that happens next. It's technology accelerating to virtually infinite power. We don't know if it mean the end of life as we know it (or just the end of life, period), or if it means cool, god-like, superhero powers for everyone. But then again, Mr. Kurzweil is interested in selling books. "My own personal program is detailed in the book."

But I'm pretty sure that taking vitamins won't help much. So keep munching your Flintstone chewables, Mr. Kurzweil. I wish you luck in your quest to live forever, I really do. But to live forever as a machine means to leave being human behind. We humans are big, messy and and unpredictable. Our thoughts and minds are made up of not just the things that happen to us, but the bio-chemical soup of our own bodies. You take my mind and record it into a machine and it's not me.

Do I want to live a long time? Hell yes. I want a very long life in a healthy body. I do not want an infinite existence as a running application staring out through digital cameras.

My own personal program is detailed in the blog.

science, kurzweil, shit

Remake, Rework, Reimagine. It's still a flop.

One of my favorite TV shows from my teenage years was "Kolchak: The Night Stalker". It was funny and scary at the same time. And Darren McGavin was perfect as Karl Kolchak.

And so, with all cherished childhood memories, someone it out to destroy them. I've seen the previews for the remake and it's so far off the mark that it has passed from bad, to funny, then on past that to just plain pathetic.

CNN.com - The new 'Night Stalker' -- and friend - Sep 29, 2005

TV

The Feel Good Movie Of The Year!

Two thumbs way up! Shining

Finally, there's a trailer that doesn't give the movie away.

Thanks Metafilter!

humor

And this is why they don't let me fly fighter jets.

Wow, never realized that I shared this with only 1/6th the population. Photic sneeze reflex

I thought everybody did this. It's really pronounced with me. When I step outside on a bright, sunny day, I sneeze, powerfully, at least twice.

But this still doesn't explain where I got X-Ray vision.

science

Those Funny Old Newsreels. Not So Funny This Time.

Today William Gibsonpointed to this short film on despotism.

When I started it up it looked like it would be another funny, dated educational film. After watching it, I'm not laughing. Watch it now. I'll wait.

From my perspective it's a clear, well thought out lecture on the dangers and possibilities of loss of democracy. I also noted that some of the comments on the Internet Archive page labeled it as Marxist propaganda. That's another sign to me that the content is accurate and all the more frightening.

As I've mentioned recently, I've been watching HBO's Rome and thinking about all things Roman. The Romans lost their republic and gained, for a while, an empire. But they paid for it in blood. They gave up their freedom for protection and entertainment. The Roman republic had their own Osama Ben Laden, too. He was called Vercongetorix. And the fight against him allowed Julius Caesar to seize power (lot of good it did him).

So, let's look at the factors. How concentrated is the media and information about the current war? How concentrated is wealth and respect? How free and open is education?

I remain hopeful for the world, for the United States, but I am also deeply concerned. Can our freedom and democracy be lost? Certainly. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

politics

Beware of geeks bearing billions.

Palm CEO Ed Colligan is trying hard to smile, but it's clear he knows he just sold his soul, if not his company, to the devil. Oh, I understand why he's abandoned his own operating system and run to the open, protective arms of Microsoft. He's scared silly of RIM and that ubiquitous brick-sized device you see attached to business travelers in airports, the Blackberry.

And the funny part? Blackkberries suck. They're huge, unwieldy, very difficult to use, and, well, ugly. So Palm has responded by making the Treo, bigger, uglier, and in an effort to make it really difficult to use, adopted the PocketPC OS. Great move.

I used to be a Palm fanatic. I carried one with me everywhere for quiet some time. And I'm in the "productivity" industry, so I know lots of Palm, Blackberry, and PocketPC users (and more than a few Newton holdouts). And you know the most common trend is? Many of us have simply stopped using them.

Why? Well, there are multiple reasons. Number one is that most of us carry our contacts in our cell phones. Frankly, that's most of what we need. And many, like myself, prefer our phones to be small and easy to use. I no longer need to feel like I'm strapping a calculator to my body. And most of us now have small, light laptops that we have with us most of the time. So why do I need a PDA? If I'm at home, the office, or traveling for business I have a laptop, which is better than a PDA. All other times I have a small, easy-to-use phone with all my contacts and my schedule.

Yes, some business users are enamored with their Blackberries, but if you look at the numbers, it's actually very few people - right around a million users in the US.

And my old Palm sits in it's cradle on my desk. Every once and a while I sync it up to my computer. But I don't take it out of it's cradle. Soon, it will move to the desk drawer of abandon gadgets.

What should have Palm CEO Ed Colligan done? Innovate. Do something bold, exciting, really terrific. Break out of the pack. But that's not going to happen now that he's joined the Borg.

So long, Palm.

Computers and Internet

You Should Know Dick

Doc Serls pointed me to this talk by Dick Hardt about Identity 2.0.

Great talk. "Simple and open wins."

Well, sometimes. Sometimes evil idiots win. For example, the evil idiots really want to monitor everything I do and control my behavior. I, of course, do not want them to know anything about me.

I am not so optimistic about verified identity. I hope people like Mr. Hardt has their way. Better for everyone. Except for the evil idiots.

Which reminds me of a book I've been meaning to recommend to you, dear reader. Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do : The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in Our Free Country. It's out of print, so get your hand on a used copy.

Computers and Internet, identity

If I'd Known It Was That Simple

But this makes it ever some much more clear.

Getting rid of illusion of time, reaching the state of integrated singularity type IV advanced alien civilizations travel instantaneously : "They do it by converting mass into zero point energy (ZPE), isolating illusion of time from the overlap and reaching the state of integrated singularity. The ZPE is then sent to the exact spatial in the Hyperspace or any part of the Universes. Isolating time this way allows type IV alien civilizations to travel to any part of the Universe, other Universes and the 5-D Hyperspace instantaneously."

humor, religion

Once again, the truth is scarier than myth.

The Devil's Gardens: "The Chuyachaqui is a mythical dwarf with one human foot and one hoof. He is able to transform himself to anyone's likeness. He often appears as a friend or family member to lone travelers in the jungle and leads them around in circles until they are lost.

'The devil's gardens are considered his home, and people avoid devil's gardens in fear of him, or at least traverse devil's gardens very cautiously,' Frederickson said."

But what really makes these gardens? Acid Spitting Ants. Ye gods!

You see, kiddies, this is why science is important. Yes, the stories we make up and tell each other about the way things are are fun. Just so stories are ever so entertaining. But really understanding how things works is pretty damn interesting too. And better yet, once we really understand how something works, it places another piece in the puzzle of how everything works.

And don't you think it might be useful to know how these gardens are formed and maintained? Might make a difference in your yard or garden some day. And much more effective than trying to hire an evil dwarf. They've got a pretty tough union and their hourly wage is staggering.

science

Forbidden Science

This is not a "There are some things that Man is not meant to know" post. This is another "let the chips fall where they may" post.

Cultural Survival: "The risks, on the other hand, are many, Harry said. Project findings may contradict indigenous oral traditions about their origins. In addition to psychological damage, this may cause political harm. 'How can they control that these findings will not be used against indigenous peoples?' Harry asked."

So, what exactly is Debra Harry (apparently not Blondie) saying? Is she saying, "we don't want to look too closely at our selves?" And what about the bit about "Project findings may contradict indigenous oral traditions about their origins." Is that a bad thing?

I am fully aware of the fate of many indigenous people around the world. And I am a great lover of myth and origin stories. But I completely reject the approach that I must treat them as the truth. Origin stories and myth tell us a great deal about the human experience, but they do not provide a map of the real. Culture is important, but not at the expense of truth and knowledge. Would Ms. Harry have us set up informational reservations for the preservation of indigenous cultures?

It is not only helpful, but it's vital that we understand the true origins of humanity. We are, after all, one big happy species.

And yes, I'm the same guy that says, "let people believe any damn stupid thing they want and long as they don't force it on me." But that doesn't mean that I have to protect and isolate anyone from knowledge because it might offend their belief system.

religion, science

The Tech Commandments

You will note, and in proper geek style, the commandments are displayed on 2 Newtons.

More of the same at Geek Culture.

These guys are more miss than hit, but every once and awhile they get a good one. Too bad no one there actually knows how to draw.

Yes, but what the hell is CRBA?

More fun with gvisit.com



CRBA=Captain Randy Blogs Again. Trips right off the tongue, don't it?

I Want My W TV.

Hedwig pointed me to this today: National Geographic Magazine - WildCam AFRICA.

So nice, and some of the best quality live web cam work I've seen. How nice it is to have a window to open on my screen and see a pond in Botswana, all live. Music TV? Who needs that? I want my Window to the World.

Of course, it brings to mind what I really want. I want a menu cameras and destinations just like this one all over the world, all with true high definition, real time feeds. I want the same thing from satellites, viewing the Earth from near and far. I want a live feed from our little robots on Mars.

I want it all. And most of all, I want at least one little camera set at the Cafe Du Monde so I can have breakfast there every day.

Notes on Productivity: How To Get More Things Done - Do Fewer Things

My good friend Patrick has be writing a lot about productivity lately, including a very nice article over at To Done!. Productivity has always been a favorite topic of mine and for the past few years, a career as well. My day job is doing the marketing for a calendar and contact management company, Now Software.

Over they years I've used many tools including Franklin Planners (before the Covey years and I still have the beautiful and extremely large black leather zippered binder that held many years of schedules, to-do lists, and address books). I've been using software calendars for almost as long, including Meeting Maker, Lotus Notes, and of course, Now Up-to-Date & Contact. I was an early adopter of the Palm (yes, an actual U.S. Robotics Palm Pilot, thank you) and stay on the technical edge of computer/web/portable device calendaring. And with all of the high tech, I still fall back on 3x5 note cards, which I keep in a Pocket Briefcase from Levenger.

So, what have I learned?

Just this, really. Multi-tasking is a crock.

If I want to get something big done, I have to clear the decks and do just that thing. For example, if I need to write up a new marketing plan, I need to carve out big blocks of time to do the research, the thinking, the writing and re-writing. I can't get it done if I'm trying to do it in-between phone calls, meetings, and emails. And I certainly won't do a good and thorough job if forced to crank it out while dealing with many other distractions.

The same goes for my personal interests and hobbies. Sure, I'm interested in an amazing number of things. But to do anything well or to enjoy something properly, I can't do them all at once. I'm a compulsive, obsessive, completely gluttonous reader. But I also love movies - so much so that I spent a year building a movie theater in my home. And I love to cook.

But I am also a writer. I can't read everything I want, watch all of the movies and TV that I want, and research and cook and have any time to spend time with my family or make it into work. So I have to make choices. Family comes first. And we've got to eat, so I make plans for cooking that are less time consuming, but fun. And to get my writing done, even posts like this one, I have to focus my desires for entertainment and education into paths that will be useful. I have to cut down on my omnivorous reading and read what I need for my current project. For the past several months, with only a few deviations, I've been reading everything I can find on James Thurber, John McNulty, and the early part of the 20th century that may have touched on these two men. Now that I'm starting the writing (stage play and screen play), I'm tempering it with a bit of Mark Twain to I don't become lost in the powerful language and rhythms of Thurber and McNulty.

And I save the movies and TV for when I'm too exhausted to work any more. Probably around an hour or so at the end of the day.

Here are a few productivity tips from Captain Randy:

• First thing, every day, before you check your email or look for phone messages, review what stands before you, what you really want to get done.
  
• Next, review your email and respond to what you can quickly and efficiently. For things that require thought or other work, schedule time for them on your calendar and respond to the email indicating that you received the message and when you plan to have a response.
  
• Do the same with your voice mail.
  
• Now, if you can, quit from your mail, put your phone on Do Not Disturb, and do your work.

If you can actually follow these instruction, you're a better man than I am, Gunga Din.

Most days I get started this way, but before long the sirens are wailing and I step into my boots and put on my helmet and grab my trusty axe. I've come to accept that I won't get nearly as much as I wanted or needed to do on any particular. But as each fire is dealt with, I can repeat my little mantra, "review the email, check the phones, back to work".

And I'll be damned if things don't get done.

Bush: 'I fake responsibility'

I, however, fake headlines.

CNN.com - Bush: 'I take responsibility' for U.S. failures - Sep 13, 2005

So what, exactly, does taking responsibility mean? So, "Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government . . ." And why was that, exactly? I'm betting we won't see him tell us, "You see, I put a political supporter and crony in charge of FEMA because I thought it didn't matter. From now on, FEMA will only be staffed by emergency disaster professionals and we'll put it back to the cabinet level."

"Oh, and this whole 'homeland security' thing. That ain't work'n out neither. Sorry about that, too."

Someone is having too much fun as a writer

This quote, although true, sounds like someone is just this side of giddy about the new iPod nano.

TIME.com: Stevie's Little Wonder -- Sep. 19, 2005 -- Page 2: "For a device ostensibly created to be listened to, it is suspiciously good-looking. It's so teensy and glossy and perfect, you want to put it in your mouth like a hard candy. For that, blame Jonathan Ive, 38, the affable Brit who heads Apple's industrial-design department. Ive is about as obsessive-compulsive as you can be without being hospitalized, and his wild enthusiasm for detail is what gives iPods the aura of sleek, otherworldly perfection that has helped make them the quintessential 21st century accessory."

All Thoughts Lead to Rome

I've been watching the new HBO series "Rome" and this week on the History Channel it's been Rome week. I've also been looking over the photos my daughter took in Rome this summer (yes, I'm jealous) while touring with the Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra.

So naturally, I've been obsessed with all things Roman.

There are many unpleasant and downright nasty things about these people, but there are also more than a little that I stand in amazement at. And through it all, I can't help thinking exactly how far civilization collapsed, right along with them.

I refuse to call the period after their collapse the "Middle Ages". It wasn't the middle of anything. It was a dark, dark time. Back to living in mud huts and digging in the ground with sticks. And it gives me a little twinge when I hear the current Pope wishing for a time where "the Church" had a more prominent roll in Europe's daily life. Yes, things were much better when the Catholics were in control of most everything (OK, most of what we refer to as "the West").

I've always been a fan of ancient Greece - probably my theater training, but wow, those Romans could build!

And yes, it's painful to think on how they lost their republic. It makes one think that such things are possible still today. Look how quickly it happened to them. Look how quickly it happened to the French with Napoleon. The Germans certainly tossed of their republic quickly and efficiently (It's a joke, son).

Ah, but that could never happen in the good ol' U. S. of A. Could it?


In case you miss my point, take a look at the Insurrection Act

I'm afraid you underestimate the American public

Harvard Gazette: Using chili peppers to burn drug abusers: "Imagine snorting an extract of 50 jalapeno peppers and you get the idea," Woolf says. "On a one to 10 scale, the pain is about a thousand. It feels like a mininuclear explosion in your mouth. It does not harm you, but you never want to experience that feeling again."

Come on, Mr. Woolf. Do you think a little heat is gonna keep people (like Rush Limbaugh, for instance) from getting high?

In fact, I could see it as a new macho cred. You have to suffer before you get the benefit. Snorting OxyContin could become a virtuous act.

On a serious note, I am very concerned and personally committed to making sure that pain management and control is available to all that need it. Doctors in this country largely under treat pain. It's not good to suffer. And many with chronic pain have very few options. I get very worried when the government tries to control access to useful medications for fear that someone, somewhere, will abuse it.

Pharaoh! Let my people grow up!

Nano Nano

So, Apple taunts Sony and the other nameless MP3 player manufacturers by introducing the iPod Nano. Ah, but it's small!

I myself prefer the iPod Glactica - my 60 gig iPod photo. Yes, I wish it were smaller, but I use it to carry ALL OF MY MUSIC (over 40 gigabytes) and ALL OF MY DIGITAL PHOTOS (nearly 7,000) and all of my documents. And I still have 5 gig of space left.

When you can do all that and store it in my watch, along with my phone, call me. On my watch/iPod/computer watch. I'll be watching on my Virtual Light sunglasses.