xkcd

xkcd is one of the funniest webcomics out, and nothing tops this one. Just thought I'd share...

Currently reading...

I'm sure everyone who visits the site instead of reads via RSS has probably noticed the "Currently Reading" section on the sidebar. That header is a little deceptive, because it's basically a rotating affiliate ad of things I've recently read or which are on my shortlist of things to read. I tend to not remove books from the ad rotation unless I finish it and feel that it totally sucks. So, even though "currently" might mean several months ago or within the next few weeks, you can rest assured that any book in rotation comes with my highest recommendation. ("Listen To" is pretty much the same thing, but for music. Except I've been more lazy in that regard and haven't added anything beyond the first CD. I'll get to it soon.)

Which brings me to another announcement. Coming soon, I'll be adding an online bookstore, with only items from my bookshelves. It'll take me some time to inventory my bookshelves and weed out anything I wouldn't recommend to someone else. That'll help my de-clutter my bookshelves as well. Then I'll build the bookstore, and maybe my rotating ad will become exactly what it says it is: the book (or books) that I am currently reading.

A Simple Satisfaction

I've been a bit behind in reading my rss subscriptions via Bloglines, but it's really satisfying when my address bar says "Bloglines | My Feeds (0)" to indicate that I'm all caught up. I'll admit that I've cheated a bit and there's a (XX) behind that (0), but I've actually read those articles too. They're just items that I mean to follow up on, but don't want to save permanently. I'll have those items caught up on soon as well, and I'll be completely satisfied knowing that I'm completely caught up on my blogging again.

Philo

Back in 2000, I took a job with a local ISP called Green Apple. I've since moved on (which is an entirely different post), but I met many interesting and talented people during my time managing their support department. One such person was a young gentleman that we had hired as a full-time tech support specialist by the name of Corbin.

Corbin is the type of guy who is just... genuine. At the time, he played guitar in a band called False Image with three other young, talented musicians (Joe - Bass, Scott - Vocals, and Nick - Drums) and invited my wife and I to their concerts as well as to the studio (Moo Pigface, if I recall correctly) to watch them record. That was a great experience, and my wife got some great photos!

At any rate, False Image eventually broke up and Corbin joined a band called Mahoney as their bassist. I don't recall if it was before this or later that Corbin left Green Apple. Mohoney's style wasn't quite up my alley, so I didn't get a chance to see Corbin play.

Eventually, Corbin moved back to guitar with a band called Cringe. Their music was very much up my alley, and their CD, "Animation," was one of the few CDs I had in rotation in my car. Unfortunately, time was at a premium for me, and Cringe broke up before I had a chance to hear them play.

After that, I sort of lost track of Corbin. I knew that two bands had emerged from the breakup of Cringe, Noise Auction and Philo. Both bands have a lot of talent, but I really wasn't paying much attention. I guess it's because I know Corbin by a different name, but I didn't realize that Philo was the band that he currently sings and plays guitar for. Now that I do, I'd like to do as much as I can to support them, hence the banner at the top of the page. I urge everyone to check 'em out. If you ever meet the band, tell Corbin that Rod says "Hi!" :)

A little change

One of the first changes that I'm made to the blog, in my attempt to overhaul it, was made yesterday. It's such a tiny change, yet has made the biggest visual impact that a single change could make: I changed the default theme background image to an image of binary 1's and 0's. I've done a bunch of customization to the Folio theme to try to make it my own, and though the binary is certainly not an original idea, I think it's that one thing that I needed to finally achieve that goal. What does everyone think? Did it make as big an impact as I think, or am I just imagining it?

State of The Blog...

Since Mr. Prez. gave his State of the Union address last night, I thought it might be a good time to post a State of the Blog address, especially since I haven't posted regularly in quite some time.

First, I'd like to say that this blog is far from dead. Trying to do three blogs for awhile, on top of my day job and everything else, caused a bit of burnout. Then Linux World Net shut down after I had left. Then I pretty much quit reading most of the blogs I've got set up in Bloglines. Now I have several thousand unread posts, and several hundred that I'm marked "Save as new" while skimming headlines so I can go back and read them eventually. But the burnout is over, and I'm ready to jump back into it :)

Second, since the new Blogger had been out of Beta for awhile now, I think it's time to do a redesign to take advantage of some new features and get rid of some of my ugly kludges. If there's anything that works that you think I should keep, let me know. Likewise if there's something that you think I should ditch. Finally, I have a lot of stuff going on in life, even with taking this quarter off from school (which was planned. I went last summer specifically to take this quarter off). I'm starting to get involved in some new interests and starting to enjoy some old ones again. I'll leave it at that for now, since I plan on blogging about them soon. But I make mention here because, while the intent is to blog daily again, time may not always permit. Since I'm blogging for myself anyhow, this shouldn't make much difference :)

BTW - Sorry for the flash in the header. I removed it because it annoyed me. I wanted to support a friend's band, Philo, but I'll look into a graphic banner instead ;)

Jefferson on Intellectual Property

If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea, which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps it to himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself into the possession of every one, and the receiver cannot dispossess himself of it. Its peculiar character, too, is that no one possesses the less, because every other possesses the whole of it. He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.

That ideas should freely spread from one to another over the globe, for the moral and mutual instruction of man, and improvement of his condition, seems to have been peculiarly and benevolently designed by nature, when she made them, like fire, expansible over all space, without lessening their density in any point, and like the air in which we breathe, move, and have our physical being, incapable of confinement or exclusive appropriation. Inventions then cannot, in nature, be a subject of property.

- Thomas Jefferson