Thursday, October 22, 2009

Go, before I call the police.

For some sick reason, I find this cat video ridiculously funny.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Thinking about writing...

So, at our last Rodmockers meeting we discussed the importance of being a good writer if you plan on having a successful academic career. Hank , Alisa and I were really keen on passing on to our graduate students some hints to help remind and encourage them to really take to heart the joys of constructing an informative and readable paragraph. My favorite hint, came from Hank -- in order to be a better writer you need to read, read, and read some more. I am all for more reading-- especially on a wet and cloudy days like we are having so many of in central Oklahoma.

What are you reading today? While I am all for a nice trash novel, we should all be reading at least one thing that stretches our mind in some way-- stretching our vocabulary, stretching our understanding or maybe stretching ourselves right out of our own comfort zone.

So what am I reading today? I have decided to re-read Neal Stephonson's The Diamond Age or a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer. The amazon.com editorial review describes the plot this way,

"John Percival Hackworth is a nanotech engineer on the rise when he steals a copy of "A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" for his daughter Fiona. The primer is actually a super computer built with nanotechnology that was designed to educate Lord Finkle-McGraw's daughter and to teach her how to think for herself in the stifling neo-Victorian society. But Hackworth loses the primer before he can give it to Fiona, and now the "book" has fallen into the hands of young Nell, an underprivileged girl whose life is about to change."

I really like this book. I am not a big fan of how it ends (sort of fizzles out), but right up until the end the story is engaging. I love how the idea of subversive thinking is necessary for growth, and innovation. It is an important commentary on how we adapt to the institutions we find ourselves in.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

The fun theory!

Hi Y'all. Long time no see. The world works better when we make things fun!




Friday, June 26, 2009

This is a stunner....

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Directly from the Taos News....

Police Reports

Taos Police: May 30-31

Published: Thursday, June 4, 2009 6:14 AM MDT
Here are the Taos Police Reports for May 30-31. The Taos News reprints police call logs courtesy of the Taos Police Department and does little or no editing to the copy.

If you have any information about a crime in or around the Taos area, call Crimestoppers at 758-HALT.


May 30, 2009

1:51 p.m., Welfare check, Paseo del Pueblo Sur — Caller reported that a man came in early that morning with blood on his head and then went to lie under a tree. Caller reported that he had not moved since lying down under the tree.

5:15 p.m., Criminal property damage, Bent Street — Caller reported that kids with sling shots were hurling rocks at the restaurant.

7:51 p.m., Stray animal, Paseo del Pueblo Norte — Caller reported that he caught a dog near a restaurant and tied it to a pole.

9:51 p.m., Welfare check, Camino del Santiago — Caller reported that there was a woman there who looked lost.

11:10 p.m., Battery, Siler Road — Caller reported that a woman harassed her.

May 31, 2009

4:10 p.m., Domestic violence — Caller reported that she and her daughter got into a fight, the daughter threw a child’s car seat through the window and threatened to kill herself. Caller requested a welfare check on her daughter.

6:55 p.m., Larceny, Taos Plaza — Caller reported that she left her card in the machine and when she came back it was gone.



Copyright © 2009 - The Taos News
The Taos News

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

You know how much I love twitter....

This article is very interesting. It takes a random sample of 300,000 twitter users and analyzes how they use the twitter service. Check out the article....

Saturday, May 30, 2009

It Sure is Nice to be Back in Red River again....

Share photos on twitter with Twitpic

After a very nice day of visiting the hardware store and furniture shopping in Questa, we decided to stop at Mountain Treasures for a nice afternoon coffee. Hank had a regular coffee and I had a non-fat latte with a dash of cinnamon and 3 splendas. Yum. We decided we were going to need the caffeine for a workout in our new gym and then off to a night of fun at the Bull o'the Woods. We wish you were here.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

It looks like this one is going to miss us...


We are right in between this line of storms.

Waiting for the tornado....

The storm clouds tonight are amazing. It looks like the tornadoes are mostly north of us, so far.

and even more storm clouds over Yukon, Okla. ---Chris Landsbe... on Twitpic

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Kevin Bacon: Network analysis and the Swine flu

Hey all,
This story is very interesting. If you are interested in network analysis, you might enjoy this article.