Mess not with geeks... they are smarter than you. (not that this is hard in this case!)

But when something comes across my desk that is so patently stupid...

 

http://www.thinkgeek.com/blog/2010/06/officially-our-bestever-cease.html?icpg=pbfiasco

 

Seriously... the pork board is suing Think Geek to cease and desist their April Fools joke of "Unicorn... the New White Meat".  You can bet I'll be having burgers at the next tailgate.  Complete and utter insanity abound.

I now play lacrosse

I joined a winter beginners league, and had my first game yesterday.

 

Dear gods it's been a long time since I've had that much fun AND felt so overwhelmed.

First, I did not realize how far I'd let my endurance go... wind sprints for me till the pain stops.

Second, the defensive side of the ball is just crazy. It's a blast, but that game is FAST... and we're all a bunch of slow old guys. I don't know how Gallant and company do it.

I made a couple of good plays, but if I got out there running for more than 60 seconds my legs started to go out. I got blown by several times. But I did scoop a few loosies, blocked a shot with my shin (only felt it after I got to the bench), and managed to not make a fool of myself on line changes. (except the first one ).

Overall, I'm hooked.
Oh, we lost 5-4 on a goal in the last minute-thirty when the ref blew a call and an opposing player got to walk in unchecked. The officiating is difficult at all levels.

 

Why global warming was the wrong term to use

I can hear it coming already, this being used as an argument against the fact that the climate of the globe is changing.  Massive cold snaps clearly show that we're not heating up. 

 

I will not weigh in on causes, although I personally think that man has damaged the planet, but the climate on planet Earth is changing.  The term Global Warming never should have been used to describe it. Right now it looks as though the stability of our environment is starting to wobble.  Locals are seeing weather patterns that have not been seen for a very long time, if not ever.

 

Do I have an answer, of course not.  I just tire of having either side point to one thing and say, "see, it is (or not) happening".  sigh.  The trends are showing change, whether you believe it or not, there's a statistical trend that is factual. 

This "dork" needs to get a life.

This professor needs to spend a little more time outside the academic world. 

 

As a self professed geek, and nerd to a lesser extent, I can say that those are not damaging words.  The majority of my friends also wear them as a badge of pride.  His study is a clear case of looking WAY to microscopically at something.  Look around our culture right now.  One of the more popular television shows (Big Bang Theory) portrays the nerd and the geek in a fairly over the top manner, but is still not insulting. 

 

Anyhow. I don't have much time to write, I've busy at my IT job trying to solve problems for the wireless communications industry. 

 

I am geek.

 

V

Party's over for me.

    I've gone back to my roots and have filed paperwork to disenroll from the Democratic party.  I still agree with them on significantly more social issues than I do with the Republican party.  That said, I cannot abide to be associated with the party that is escalating the war in Afghanistan.  The problems I have with this is that no one stepped back to ask a different question than "How many more troops do we need?"  A better question is "Do we even need these wars?"   My answer to that question is clearly no. 

    This is just the last straw in a long litany of lame straws.  I won't go into others, but listen to some Common Sense with Dan Carlin and you'll know where a lot of my thinking is influenced from at the moment.

 

V

Why I refuse to breed

My GF and I talked this morning very briefly about "have you ever had any regrets over not having children?",  I can honestly answer that with a no with minimal thought. But it got me to thinking why.

 

First, I believe that we as a race are over-breeding.  I get upset when I'm driving down the road and see a minivan proudly displaying the little family stickers with 5 kids showing as part of that family.  That is a serious problem. I respect families that have one or two kids, just enough to replace them when they are gone... but breeding like rabbits is not a sustainable future for our race.  Both in space and resources... we're on a single planet that is just too limited to handle the exponential growth that this breeding will cause.  That is one major reason why I have chosen not to procreate.  I'm actually sick enough in this thought that I feel 10 to 20% off the top of the human race wouldn't be a bad thing, but that's another thought. 

 

Second, I suck.  My default mode is lazy and self indulgent.  These are NOT traits that good parents display.  I'm sure everyone has these traits to one level or another, but I'm one of those people that look at myself, see a ton of those traits, and am not bothered by it in the slightest. 

 

Third, Humanity sucks too. Just take our political discourse for example.  The topics of the day are healthcare and economics.  The only thing I'm seeing is two sides of any issue girding themselves in slogans to scream to shout down the other side's shouting. Then they think if they shout louder that they have "won".  There's no room for compromise or discourse.  If you try to simply present anything factual you are drowned out by sound bites and slogans.  Screw it.  it's not worth it. 

 

Lastly, I think all of the above (less so my personal suckitude, but it's not helping) is leading me to one conclusion.  Our human race is a potential failure, and that this world we have made for ourselves is going to collapse and burn.  I'm pretty sure it won't happen fast enough to occur during my lifetime, but I can't say as much for the next generation.  So I choose to spare my offspring. 

 

I believe the problems are in the nature of what makes us human, not any particular problem that can be solved technologically or through any means other than changing fundamentally what we are.  It's the very concept of human nature that is the issue. 

 

 

If you are a friend of mine that is a breeder, understand I am not judging anyone with the above.  These are simply the points that have gone into my decision making.  You may not agree and therefore come to different conclusions.  That also is part of being human and I respect that. 

 

V

In which I discover, I'm NOT Michael Westin

For those of you unfamiliar with the character Michael Westin from the USA tv series Burn Notice, he is a former spy who is burned and thrown out of the spy game forecfully.  The underlying sub plot is him wanting to, for love of country, get back into that game and do what he was born to do.

 

In March, I was laid off from a cutting edge consulting firm, burned essentially.  I've since found another job at a wireless provider doing similar database work, but without a lot of the cutting edge glory.  Frankly, good riddance.  The people here are really nice and the work is plentiful and fairly simple. 

 

In essence, if I were Michael Westin, I'd settle down with Fi in Miami, take a nice PI job and go drinking with Sam every once in a while.  It may not be as glorious as the insiders game, but I think we'll both live longer.

 

V

 

P.S.  Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind in a few years, but it sure is nice here now.