A sign of good parenting? EK = Middle daughter. NS = Oldest daughter.

• NS: You need to get a life.
• EK: You need to die.

I love my kids. I really, really do.

Even if you have never wondered how photographers manage those fantastic insect shots, the following will be of interest to you. Maybe.

To photograph any insect, carefully capture it with a net or seize it carefully from the backside or topside, depending upon the insect,

Check.

Then chill it in a container that has protected ice.

Check? For how long?

Long enough for it to cease action (that is, to go into hibernation).

This cannot be good for the insect. Not that I care. You know, just saying. Anyway, the insect chills in the fridge for a bit and then gets photographed.

I bet you are thinking, “what happens if BusHitler, his oil cronies, and SUVs send a sudden burst of Global Warmening my way; causing my little critter to thaw before I am done?”

If the insect should warm too quickly, it will fly to a sunny window. You can recapture it, rechill it, photograph it; then finally give it its freedom sooner than if it had been caught in an early fall or spring freeze!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the proper bug shooting technique: Induce temporary hibernation. Yeah, that’ll show ‘em who’s boss! Try to fly off and ruin my shot! Ha! Sleep!

What follows is secondhand information from a fairly reliable source: My parents. Ready? “Derek, you were a wonderful child.”

ME Pre-beta 0.4: STA (Surveillance and Target Acquisition)

Questions, questions, and more questions!

• School? What’s that?
• Times table? Why?
• Homework? Why?
• What’s your name? You wanna be friends?
• Why are you hiding in the closet?
• The pledge of what?
• May I go to the restroom?
• How?
• Why?
• What’s that?
• Who?
• Why does he run around pretending to be Wonder Woman? She is a girl and he is a boy, right? Oh. ????????
• Girls?
• Where is she from!? Japan? Where’s that? :: Target Acquired.
  

  I remember the day. She was over there and I was over there. She walked from there to there, said, “hi,” and then walked back over there, and then into the house. Well dressed, measured steps, and beautiful straight black hair.

  Love at first sight. NOTE TO SELF: Go to Japan. Marry Japanese girl.

ME Beta 1.0 b01: Jr. and Sr. High.

Whew, just made it!

ME 1.0: The Hard Work Begins.

School, work, military, “You are what,” military + Kids + wife, “You slut!”; America -wife; Japan with Wife 2.0, work (Nova) + kids + wife 2.0 for 17 years, and last Nova folds leaving me unemployed.

ME 2.0: New Horizons.

………Coming Soon……….

BC = Body Control.
VC = Visual Control.
APC = Appendage Control.
AU-IN: Audio In.

INTERNAL COMMUNICATION
00:00:00 BC: Visual update.
00:00:01 VC: No approaching traffic from the rear.
00:00:01 BC: Okay. VC give us a forward sweep.
00:00:02 VC: Bicycle traffic at our 12 o'clock.
             Mid-twenties. Slow mover. Eye contact established.
00:00:02 BC: APC, prepare for passing maneuver.
00:00:02 APC: Roger.
00:00:03 VC: Traffic veering right. I repeat traffic
             veering right.
00:00:04 APC be advised...we will be passing
             traffic on our right.
00:00:05 BC  MARK 05 SECONDS.
00:00:07 APC: Roger. Course change: Left.
00:00:09 BC: Commence pass on our right.
00:00:09 APC: Course change underway.
00:00:10 BC  MARK 10 SECONDS. Course change looking good.
00:00:12 VC: WARNING: TRAFFIC COURSE CHANGE! TRAFFIC NOW
             VEERING LEFT!
00:00:12 BC: WE AREN'T CLEAR! BREAK LEFT! ALL STOP!
00:00:12 VC - APC: ROGER. EXECUTING!
00:00:13 BC: CONTACT! TILTING. GRAVITATION PULL INCREASING!
             APC...DEPLOY LEFT LEG!
00:00:13 APC: DEPLOYED!
00:00:15 BC: å®FALL AVERTED! ALL STATIONS REPORT!
00:00:17 AC: No damage.
00:00:17 APC: 100%.
00:00:18 BC: Roger. VOICE. Curse that SOB out!
00:00:20 BC: MARK 20 SECONDS!
00:00:20 VB: Roger. SETTING VOLUME TO +5. PROCEEDING
             WITH VERBAL ABUSE, "Why the hell did
             you go right and then turn left!? Idiot!"
00:00:24 BC: AU-IN REPORT!
00:00:25 BC: MARK 25 SECONDS.
00:00:26 AU-IN: Opening audio channel: "I am sorry."
00:00:28 BC: This guy is an idiot. Let's get back underway.

The Players:
N.K. ..... Oldest Daughter (19).
E.K. .... Middle Daughter (18?).
WP .... Wife (Confidential).
ME .... Me (I'm not tellin').

• Wife Person (WP): N.K’s boyfriend is a divorcee. The Yoshikawa curse strikes again!
• ME: *Thinks* Oh, yeah.
• WP: WEll, except for my brother: In his case he is the divorcee.
• ME: Uh, huh. *Waits*
• WP: I know why.
• ME: Really?
• WP: Yeah. Because no one in our family is a part of Soka Gakkai.
• ME: ….
• WP: Soka Gakkai says we, people, are doomed to repeat our mistakes, unless we do that chanting thing. I didn’t chant and ended up married to you.
• ME: *That sorta hurt, but who am I to argue with the truth* True.
• WP: So, I told E.K. to start chanting so she can break the curse for her future kids.
• ME: LOL! I see.
• NARRATOR: Our hero runs that last statement around in his mind, “E.K. can break the Yoshikawa curse. Yoshikawa curse….Yoshikawa…
• ME: *Kisses wife on top of head* She _is_ your daughter.
• WP: Huh?
• ME: Think about it.
• WP/E.K.’s Step-mother: OH! OH!
• ME: I love you.

Is Linux the OS for you? Answer the following questions to find out:

1. The thought of downloading my OS from a web page gets my juices flowing.
2. Cryptic text streaming past my eyes on startup excites me.
3. I know what one of the following means:
   • apt-get
   • rpm
4. I like my icons big and ugly.
5. Selecting the correct device driver from a long list gets me hot and bothered.
6. Waiting for language kits to download is what computing is all about!
7. I believe that free == better quality.
8. I prefer KDE over Gnome.
9. I prefer Gnome over KDE.
10. I know what Gnome and KDE are.

If you answered yes to any of the above, then Linux is for you. Don’t hate me.

Geek Battle Themes: The Abbreviated and Diminutive #joiito List.

The question: Okay, what are some long standing or classic geek battles. The answers:

• Mac vs. PC: The never ending battle.
• Closed-Source vs. Open-Source software (OSS): The battle. Some contestants.
• Mouse vs. Trackball in Gaming: Never knew people fought over this. The War. Quote: You gotta be some kind of twisted @!#& to use a trackball especially for FPS.
• Vi vs Emacs: Vi Pages – the Holy War of Editors. Quote: This question is an endless source for the religious war on editor bashing.
• Firewire vs. USB: This one seems pretty straight forward. Comparison.
• Graphical User Interface (GUI) vs. Command Line Interface (CLI): GUI vs. CLI: A Qualitative Comparison – OSNews.com
• Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) vs. Complex Instruction Set Computer (CISC): Ars Technica: RISC vs. CISC: the Post-RISC Era – Page 1 – (10/1999) :: This war is over. I think.
• Zettabyte File System (ZFS) vs. Hierarchical File System (HFS Plus/+): Recording Artist: Don’t be a ZFS Hater
• Kirk vs. Picard: Kirk. To disagree, get your own effing blog. Links:
  • Official Star Trek Event, Powered by FanLib
  • 100 Reason Kirk is better than Picard :: Kirk never drinks tea. Ever.
  • The Video. Kirk’s “Phasers” vs. Picard’s “Suggestions” Kirk FTW!
• Everything else vs. CamelCase: Discussion.

Something to think about: Personal Choice Elevated To Moral Imperative

You know you want one! Watch the movie!

The question I asked myself was, “What are my three favorite YouTube videos?”

1. YouTube – The Happiest Monster :: A Cautionary Tale. They aren’t called monsters for nothing.
2. YouTube – Charlie : Candy Mountain :: Annoying.
3. YouTube – Darth Vader Feels Blue :: You are going to want your 87 seconds back.

Hello. We have known each other for several years now, which makes writing this letter difficult for me, Starbucks. You see, I can no longer patron your fine establishments and partake of the wonderful pastries offered within – especially your cinnamon and chocolate chunk scones. Do not blame yourself. Instead, blame the poor state of the economy and my meager savings account.

It fills me with _sad_ knowing that my lips, nose, and taste buds shall never experience the joy and pleasure of a Starbucks tall cafe mocha again.

Good bye, Starbucks. May you continue to prosper and provide customers with delectable drinks, sandwiches, and pastries.

Yours Truly

iM.

The Story Behind the Post.

Not much to it: I was spending close to 150 USD on Starbucks a month. That’s almost a PSP or DSLite a month!

One link: How To Write A Dear John Letter

Imagine you own a busted multimillion dollar Boeing 757. You would like to get it back into service: Carrying passengers as it should. Do you A) sacrifice a goat or B) get your maintenance manual?

Factoids: 757.

Random Impressive Aircraft Trivia/Fact.

The 767-300ER and 767-400ER hold 23,980 gallons (90,770 l) of fuel – enough to fill 1,200 minivans. It takes only 28 minutes to fill the airplane.