Webs’ Random Ideas

good riddance!

I just got an email about my Google Apps Domain account from Google stating that HTML5 and java improvements from Google will phase out IE6 support. It took forever but finally it dies!!

Yes there are a ton of recipes out there, but I had a hard time finding one that had what I wanted for ingredients. And I don’t mind experimenting and making my own. Plus a lot of recipes I came across had no nutritional info, though some did. Which is something I care about as I’m trying to slim down and start working out more and such.

So I decided to start by looking at recipes that had ingredients that looked good and would seem to make a good tasting bar. Then pick and choose the items I wanted. My first attempt is based off the below link with some minor edits. I haven’t actually been able to try the recipe below yet but probably will in a few weeks. My plan is to keep updating the recipe till perfection.

Also the bars are little high in calories but I use them for meal replacement for breakfast. If you cut them into smaller pieces they can make for a tasty low cal snack. I will update the spreadsheet with some math.

Please let me know if you cannot view…

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Ary4NsBeeKsRdDEySkVHLXZOWjhUbm9helJQMG5lNnc&hl=en

Another school in news for making the switch to Open Source, this time in New Zealand…

Albany Senior High School in the northern suburbs of Auckland has been running an entirely open source infrastructure since it opened in 2009. The 230-pupil school was set up to follow open learning principles, offering large “learning commons” areas where multiple classes interact rather than conventional classrooms and setting aside one day each week for pupils to work on self-driven research projects.

Ditching Microsoft is highly unusual within the NZ education sector, as a long-standing contract with the national government means the software giant is paid for technology for the school even though none has been used. Microsoft’s dominance also means that most planning documents for education presume an Microsoft infrastructure.

The whole article is just a fascinating read! Not just about the school making the switch but MS’s dominance in the computer market and their ingenious marketing to get themselves so intertwined in school districts (which is smart on many levels for MS).

I also liked how the principle stated his server room in the school was built to common practice standards for schools of that size and enrollment, which was 4 racks. Each rack able to hold 48 servers or 24 2U servers. Yet the school only needed 4 servers to run the whole school on an open source system.

I’ve written about this before so it comes to little surprise to me to read about this again. What does surprise me though is how these stories still seem to be few and far between. I’m still confident the Open Source model will win out as free software that works great (in many ways better than the paid version, think archiving programs, Internet browsers, antivirus, or file transfer clients) is hard to pass up. Heck even my company is finally starting to adopt OSS.

Kindly send them the link below or read through that post for some talking points. If they still continue on then there is just no hope for them.

I think maybe part of the reason you’re so angry is you keep demanding that you get screwed and then, not surprisingly, you keep getting screwed

Hey you. You there in the Glenn Beck T-shirt headed off to the Tea Party Patriot rally.

Stop shouting for a moment, please, I want to explain to you why you’re so very angry.

You should be angry. You’re getting screwed.

I think you know that. But you don’t seem to know that it doesn’t have to be that way. You can stop it. You can stop it easily because the system that’s screwing you over can only keep screwing you over if you keep demanding that it do so.

So stop demanding that. Stop helping the system screw you over.

Look, you can go back to yelling at me in a minute, but just read this first.

It’s a very good quick read that tackles the issue I’m sure confuses many, why would anyone making less than $250,000 vote for republicans? Maybe that number is too high, but it just has never made sense to me. If you are part of the middle or lower class it makes no sense to hurt yourself by voting in politicians that set policies based around helping the rich.

I could go on an on with this one, but really I just recommend reading the article linked above.

I wasn’t sure where to file this but I guess weird stuff works…

So I have bad skin. Not that its ugly or anything but it dries out easily, I have psoriasis, and something with my scalp. A dermatologist told me my scalp wasn’t psoriasis, but wouldn’t tell me what it is. I haven’t visited that one since. I don’t think it’s dandruff cause anti-dandruff shampoos don’t help and I have tried them all. So my guess is psoriasis or seborrheic dermatitis.

I’ve lived with this my whole life. Nothing cures it and all I can do is keep it under control and wait for something that works. So I’ve tried some small things over the years to see if something helps and really nothing has helped much. I did notice that putting olive oil on my scalp seemed to help but things just come right back when I stop using it. And putting oil on your scalp gets cumbersome quickly.

So floating around the tubes I see an article about giving up shampoo. Interesting idea, especially if it works:

I haven’t used soap or shampoo anyplace on my body for six months, save hand washing in advance of food prep. That’s it. let me just report my observations and leave you to judge.

[...]

Later, and maybe TMI: My wife now mentions more than ever before that “you smell good.” OK, I had to post that only because some might worry on that score….

In that link the author highlights some main points or advantages he has witnessed. Which is kind of what peeked my interest. Not to mention all the comments of other people that have given up shampoo. I’ve grown highly skeptical over the years and I don’t just make assumptions about things. So I’m treating this as a loose experiment for myself to see what happens.

The idea is that shampoo doesn’t allow your body to regulate the oils released from the scalp to the hair. Which is why most people don’t go more then 3 days without shampoo and shower, hair gets too greasy. But when you don’t use shampoo your body has a chance to produce the oil and regulate the production. Which is why people that stop using shampoo reach a point where their hair gets less greasy and eventually the greasiness returns to normal levels that feel similar to shampoo days.

It sounds a little shaky yes, but I’m at the point where I’m willing to try. Like I said above my scalp sucks. My plan is to simply to shower like I normally do but not use shampoo at all. So what are my results?

I have been doing this for a week and a half going on 2 weeks now. So what are my results? The first 5 to 7 days were about as greasy as I’ve been in awhile, but I feel as though the grease is slowing down now. Maybe not, but my wife has yet to comment on the greasiness of the hair. Well she did last night but it had been 1 and a half days since I last showered and she said that it didn’t seem all that greasy to her.

Results:

So far my scalp has itched a lot less than usual which is good, but my scalp doesn’t feel a lot better. I still have flakes and they haven’t seemed to slow down a lot but I’m thinking that will take time. My hair feels a million times better. This is probably one of the best outcomes of no shampoo. After I showered with shampoo my hair would be frizzled to all hell. Now it feels great, more natural, and healthy. I have very few split ends and no more frizz. So even if it doesn’t completely cure the scalp and flakes I still have a lot of our positives for sure. And I’m not even to week two yet.

The other thing with this is it could all be placebo or a result of something else. I will have to see how my results progress to see if there is a real difference. Or I could do no shampoo for a few months and then go back to shampoo to see what happens. But I think if I have what appear to be positive results from my experience I will likely not go back to shampoo.

So there are some benefits so far, but nothing as what other people have witnessed. Which means one of two things, I need to wait longer and/or there may be nothing to this idea.

No spoilers from me, but one link below has some minor ones.

If you want to see an amazing movie this year, go see Avatar. And if you found yourself enjoying the flick not many will be surprised as it’s rolling in the dough.

Avatar grosses $1 Billion:

James Cameron’s Avatar continued its reign at the box office for the third week in a row. The film grossed $68.3 million domestically and surpassed the $1 billion mark worldwide, only the fifth film in history to do that.

Avatar has grossed $352.1 million domestically in only 17 days and has made $1.02 billion worldwide. 20th Century Fox distribution executive Bert Livingston attributed the continued strong showing to positive word-of-mouth and repeat viewers. Most blockbusters open big and then slowly die off in the coming weeks while Avatar‘s gross has been consistent from week to week.

And it’s not done yet. It hasn’t opened in Italy. So expect this film to impress with numbers when all is said and done. But why are so many people going to see it? For the opposite reasons people hated the Star Wars prequels (the 3 that came out in the last 10 years). Click here for the epic review of the crappy flicks (well really just the first one needs to be reviewed).

It’s hard to boil down such a great 70 minute review as the one linked above, but if I had to I would say this: 1) a movie needs not only great characters and character development, but a main one too. 2) Sometimes simplicity is more. 3) Never base a movie around action sequences, instead use those sequences to highlight the story and plight of the characters.

You need a main character in a story so that there is something that drags you into the story and gives you a reason to care. While it’s possible to have multiple main characters, most stories have a focal point which makes it easier for the audience to be in the story and have empathy for the main character. And the reasoning is simple.  If there is a main character to feel for and have an emotional attachment to you feel their wins but also their loses. Avatar had one main character that was the focus of the story and developed this character well. The other characters fit well too and didn’t seem out of place with the story. They also didn’t steal the show from the main character leaving us confused as to who is the main character.

Simplicity is explained in the movie review linked above when the reviewer shows us the opening sequence of Star Wars 4 (the one that came out in the 70s). The infamous Battleship scene. One simple scene of visual imagery sets the stage and gives us an idea about the struggle this movie portrays. Avatar had these types of scenes as well. Some to show us the protagonist, some to show off the good guys, and others. And they were all done as they needed to be, not over hyped with action.

One thing the Star Wars prequels weren’t missing was action. And while Avatar had plenty of action scenes and visual imagery, it also had a great story and characters that pulled you into that story. Without this the actions scenes and visual imagery don’t really hold up. After watching the Star Wars prequels you get the sense the movie was created around some “awesome” action scene ideas. I didn’t feel this way although other reviewers out there did. My reasoning is simple, the action scenes just weren’t overdone. They showed what they needed to and then the movie kept rolling. The end fight scene between good and evil wasn’t over done or over choreographed like it was in the Star Wars prequel.

Another thing Avatar had going was the acting, which Cameron can partly thank technology for. The acting was good because the characters actually acted out the scenes, even the digital ones and got to see their facial expressions in real time. Instead of creating CGI representations of actors and program the computer to have those representatives fly around with predetermined emotions, the actors emotions and full body movements were captured in real time and sent into a digital environment. But it gets better as they created a virtual camera that was used to film shots from a third perspective that could be moved around as needed. This easily allowed the director to control virtual points of view without having to interact with a computer or computer software directly.

With Avatar very little if anything felt forced and the action and visual imagery floated along seamlessly with the story. While I’m sure there were some scenes Cameron just had to have and maybe even fitted into the story, it all felt natural with the story created.

Using the technology created for Avatar in the Star Wars prequels likely would have made some impact, but great movies have been coming out ever since the first movie was shown in a theater. Technology cannot work the magic required to resurrect the awfulness of the Star Wars prequels.

I walked out of the theater with my wife and she said to me, “You know even without the 3D that movie still would have been good.” I totally agree with her. And maybe down the road that will be our measure for 3D flicks.

Much better than the original!

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/258570/december-15-2009/alicia-keys—empire-state-of-mind–part-ii–broken-down

You think shopping online makes you safer. That you have more control over what you purchase. Researching products and pricing is easier as well as comparison shopping right?

Well yes, but research on our brains and how they are affected by different stimuli are making our online shopping experience better for marketing firms and gives us less control. How Online Retailers Read Your Mind:

An increasing number of retailers, marketers and ad agencies are using elements of neuromarketing techniques—developed from brain research—to make those clicks more likely. They are beginning to use brain-science studies to help determine the elements of your online experience (the colors, location of objects, order of prices on the screen) to influence your feelings about their products, what you will buy and even how much you’ll spend.

Neuromarketing is “the science of human decision, how people use their brain to make decisions,” according to Patrick Renvoisé, a co-founder of SalesBrain, a neuromarketing company in San Francisco. He argues that neuromarketing, online or otherwise, is no more subversive than regular marketing, which he regards as an art.

The interesting thing about this is I am big supporter of science so I am at odds with this science work. Studies on the brain are important, so I guess I would question the ethics and use of the work being done.

The article is a very intersting read with some tips for things we can do to help protect ourselves, but the truth is even for a very aware individual it will be tough to not be a victim. The only tip I would add is that it’s probably best to only shop online when you absolutely need something. Otherwise you are likely to spend.

Along with this I have started to stop shopping at One Day Deal sites. They are just a trap for money. Again you are likely to see and buy something you probably don’t need, unless you have a ton of self control and/or get lucky.

but he never called into the conference number HE sent me or connected to the WebEx meeting that HE setup. It’s strange as this is the second time he has flaked on me. What’s stranger still is my company has not bought any of their products, yet I could foresee more of our data centers using their products. So potentially he had a lot of sales. Not very likely, but still there was a chance.

I waited around for 15 minutes as I had other things to do, then just hung up. I must say that in this economy when many companies are struggling I’m surprised that someone seems to be working incredibly hard not to sell me something.