Monthly Archives: April 2002

Is it just me?

Posted on April 30, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Is it just me, or has Blogger been slower than usual lately? There was such a lag yesterday on my dialup account between hitting the Post & Publish button and the publish occurring that I reposted the same thing a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Comments Off on Is it just me?

Cancer risk overblown, film at 11

Posted on April 30, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

So apparently that Swedish study which claimed that many starchy foods, including things like bread, contain carcinogens was maybe a tad bit overstated. Perhaps the fact that the scientists announced their findings at a press conference before publishing them in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Food, glorious food | Comments Off on Cancer risk overblown, film at 11

You’re not alone, dude

Posted on April 30, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Justin thinks he and The Rapmaster may be the only bloggers watching the NBA playoffs. Not so – I’ve caught several games so far. It’s been pretty entertaining, too. I’m already sorry to see the Dallas/Minnesota series end. And as … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | Comments Off on You’re not alone, dude

Linda Lay update

Posted on April 30, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Linda Lay, the former First Lady of Enron, is set to open an “upscale secondhand shop” in Montrose in order to help friends and family with cash flow problems. I used to live about four blocks from the location given … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Enronarama | Comments Off on Linda Lay update

The young and the foolish

Posted on April 30, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Remember The Anarchist Cookbook? It was a straight-from-the-counterculture guide to making bombs, getting high, and generally giving the finger to The Man. I’m willing to bet most people reading this knew someone in high school who had a copy and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Books | Comments Off on The young and the foolish

All politics is local

Posted on April 29, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Joshua Trevino shares an interesting email from a former coworker who is now on the Ron Kirk campaign. It’s the 29 APRIL 2002 5 entry, but I’ll quote him here since he doesn’t have permalinks: Who knows how accurate this … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2002 | Comments Off on All politics is local

Searching for meaning after a tragedy

Posted on April 29, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Mike points me to this article by Robert X. Cringely, who lost his infant son to SIDS last week, and what he hopes to do about it. There ought to be a monitor, I thought, that could tell when a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Comments Off on Searching for meaning after a tragedy

Give me a moment to stop hyperventilating, then I’ll be right with you

Posted on April 29, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

When your wife calls you on the phone and the first words out of her mouth are “The good news is that I won’t be going to Algeria in May”, it’s not really clear if you want to hear what … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in See, I do have a life! | Comments Off on Give me a moment to stop hyperventilating, then I’ll be right with you

That’s moral clarity, Mr. President

Posted on April 29, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Great op-ed in the WSJ by John McCain, courtesy of Kyle Still. It is the unenlightened rule of Arab dictators, not the plight of the Palestinians, that condemns the Arab world to the civilizational crisis in which it finds itself. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Around the world | Comments Off on That’s moral clarity, Mr. President

Eurocentrism

Posted on April 28, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Patrick crystallizes something that I’ve been thinking about for awhile now, about the relative level of understanding of the world and how it works among Americans and Europeans. I came of age in the 80s. If you were a college … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Around the world | Comments Off on Eurocentrism

Small town blues

Posted on April 27, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Also in today’s Chron, a 100-year-old synagogue in the small town of Wharton (about 40 miles southeast of Houston) is closing due to declining membership. The descendants of the original Jewish settlers have moved on to big cities here and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Comments Off on Small town blues

Boyz only, no gurlz allowed

Posted on April 27, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

From today’sChron: Representatives of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah reportedly asked that female air traffic controllers be barred from their duties during his flights in Texas. A Federal Aviation Administration employee, speaking to The Dallas Morning News on condition of anonymity, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Around the world | Comments Off on Boyz only, no gurlz allowed

Warliberal.com

Posted on April 26, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

I see that Mac Thomason a/k/a War Liberal has his own domain now. Way to go, Mac! (Thanks to Ginger for the heads up.) As for me, I’ve finally given in to the dark side and signed up for a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Comments Off on Warliberal.com

Religion v. science, round N

Posted on April 26, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

A “businessman and civic leader who also teaches Sunday school” named Bill White has penned an editorial about science and religion in today’s Chron. I give him high marks for his attempt to distinguish between the two domains. I’m always … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Skepticism | 1 Comment

I thought I was supposed to be anti-idiotarian

Posted on April 26, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Well, this was a fun afternoon at work. The comm group booted my port off the network because I have a Win2K server which wasn’t properly secured. Today it became one of many machines across our enterprise that came down … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Comments Off on I thought I was supposed to be anti-idiotarian

Successful implementation

Posted on April 26, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Comments have been successfully added. Thanks to Larry for letting me use his. I’m still planning on migrating to Moveable Type in the near term, so this system is not permanent, but what the heck. I’m still not sure if … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Administrivia | Comments Off on Successful implementation

Here we go again

Posted on April 26, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Houston energy trader Dynegy saw its stock plummet and its bond ratings lowered when lower earnings and an SEC review of a natural gas deal. They’re also taking a $300 million charge related to their communications business. Reading the story, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness | Comments Off on Here we go again

Also in the “why didn’t I think of that?” category

Posted on April 26, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Anyone can be a patent holder! It’s true! Take a look at Patent 6,368,227 and see for yourself. Maybe there’s something to all those intonements about there being nothing left to invent. Via James Randi. Be sure to scroll down … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Skepticism | Comments Off on Also in the “why didn’t I think of that?” category

Comedian turns tables on telemarketers

Posted on April 26, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Via File13 we get this amusing story about how a professional comedian called attendees of the American Teleservices convention in their hotel rooms early in the morning. Now don’t you wish you’d thought of that? Continue reading →

Posted in National news | Comments Off on Comedian turns tables on telemarketers

Anzac Day

Posted on April 25, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Via Patrick at Electrolite comes this story of the last survivor of Gallipoli, the terrible 1915 World War I battle fought by Australian and Turkish soldiers in Suvla Bay. Take a listen to the Eric Bogle song that commemorates it, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Around the world | Comments Off on Anzac Day

More good news for light rail

Posted on April 25, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

A redevelopment project for Houston’s north side is looking at a rail line from Intercontinental Airport to Buffalo Bayou, just north of downtown. If I could take a train to Intercontinental, I’d never drive there again. Let’s keep an eye … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Comments Off on More good news for light rail

Hating Blogspot

Posted on April 25, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Hating Blogspot Charles at LGF hates Blogspot, and so do his many commenters. I don’t deny that it has its problems, but it sure made it easy for me to get started. I’ve got a move to Moveable Type and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Comments Off on Hating Blogspot

Sorry, wrong number

Posted on April 25, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Today’s strange entry from the referral log: a Google search for “coffee drinker demographic”. I think maybe you meant to look here. Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Comments Off on Sorry, wrong number

Protest music revisited

Posted on April 25, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Ginger writes about protest music from the 80s. I’ve been thinking about this subject recently. We think of the 60s as an era of political/activist music, mostly inspired by the Vietnam War and all the social upheaval surrounding it. The … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 4 Comments

Shameless traffic-trolling

Posted on April 25, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

In better and more relevant news, Playboy is in town to shoot the Women of Enron feature, scheduled for the August issue. Apparently, a couple of local homes will be used as backdrops for some of the shoots. Must really … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Enronarama | Comments Off on Shameless traffic-trolling

Our friends the Saudis, yada yada yada

Posted on April 25, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

President Bush has finally found a foreign dignitary who will feel comfortable in hot, dusty, middle-of-nowhere Crawford as he sets to host Saudi prince Abdullah. According to this story in the Chron, which gets a two Claude rating for its … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Around the world | Comments Off on Our friends the Saudis, yada yada yada

Gambling odds update

Posted on April 24, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Mark Evanier points to this page which has the slot machine payout at various Vegas casinos. My statement of 97% payout was too much. All I can say is that I have seen such advertisements, but I haven’t been to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | 1 Comment

Employees are our most valuable asset

Posted on April 24, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Would it surprise you to learn that the Enron subsidy Portland General bought life insurance policies on its employees and that 75% of the payouts were used as long-term compensation for managers, directors, and top officials? I didn’t think so. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness | Comments Off on Employees are our most valuable asset

Overheard on the radio, part II

Posted on April 24, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

One of those MasterCard commercials where they list the price of a bunch of things, followed by something that’s “priceless”. This one had the theme of a party weekend in New Orleans. One item was “Crawdaddy dinner for two, $63”. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Food, glorious food | Comments Off on Overheard on the radio, part II

Overheard on the radio, part I

Posted on April 24, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Saudi Aramco is having a job fair here in Houston, for those who might like to travel to Saudi Arabia and “become a part of the Saudi Aramco experience”. The line forms to the left. Continue reading →

Posted in Around the world | Comments Off on Overheard on the radio, part I

Oh, my

Posted on April 24, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Salon gossip columnist Amy Reiter points to this, ah, interesting photo of LPGA golfer Cristie Kerr kissing a trophy she just won. All I can say is “Oh, my”. Continue reading →

Posted in Websurfing | Comments Off on Oh, my

Taxing science fiction

Posted on April 24, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Mac Thomason pointed to this article in which a GOP candidate for Congress proposed taxing science fiction books as a means of funding NASA. Not only is it a stupid idea, it’s very likely an unconstitutional one. In the case … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Comments Off on Taxing science fiction

Whorehouse update

Posted on April 24, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

The cast of a Conroe production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas is moving forward on plans to stage it elsewhere. Co-authors Peter Masterson and Larry L. King have given them public support, with Masterson promising to make a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Comments Off on Whorehouse update

Bagel followup

Posted on April 24, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

I recently pointed to an article in our old hometown paper about my parents’ exploits as bagel testers for the Portland Columbian. Yesterday the article ran in the paper, featuring a couple of quotes from my mom. Not too surprisingly, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in See, I do have a life! | Comments Off on Bagel followup