October, 2006 [Reset]
GMapRacer
Here's a game for you google map / geography junkies out there. How fast can you find all 10 landmarks? Try it out, let me know what you think.

10/29/2006 9:36 AM
 
Insert DATETIME into MySql 5.0 Database with .NET MySqlConnector
This is a coding PSA:

If you are getting the error "MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlException: #22007
Incorrect datetime value: '10/26/2006 6:16:50 PM' for column '[col]' at row [col_idx]" when using MySql's .Net Connector assembly (MySql.Data.MySqlClient) and trying to insert a DATETIME value using something like DateTime.ToString(), you've come to the right place. You just need to format your DateTime string to look like something on this page:

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/datetime.html

DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss");

or

DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMddHHmmss");

Should work just fine.
10/27/2006 4:37 AM
 
Scottoberfest
scottoberfest.jpg
What's this all about? See the web site.

Here's a photo set from the shindig.
10/22/2006 11:16 AM
 
IMG_8199.jpg
Lousy fall posting continues through weekend. Plotting a redesign, it is that time of year.
10/21/2006 2:15 AM
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A Little NFL Humor
10 positives the Cardinals can take from the loss to the Bears.
...2. Arizona's new stadium had no history to it until last night. But now the venue has played host to a historically embarrassing, soul-crushing loss by the home team. And that's all that was missing for it to be the true home of the Arizona Cardinals.

...5. When you're a terrible team, it's hard to stay positive and happy all season. But not after last night. I mean, did you see coach Denny Green's postgame news conference? Awesome. And hilarious. I have no idea what he was even talking about, but if you guys can't get some laughs out of that, you're not even trying.
10/18/2006 8:41 AM
 
Is it possible to not like a song about zombies?
Jonathan Coulton is a funny man who can also sing. Here's a list of songs you can listen to and buy if the mood strikes.

I like:

  • Re Your Brain
  • Code Monkey
  • Tom Cruise Crazy

  • ...and of course:

  • Baby Got Back (Sir Mix-A-Lot cover)

  • This begs a secondary question: Is it "Sir Mix-A-Lot" or "Sir Mixalot"?
    10/17/2006 11:24 AM
     
    Note to self:Keep dishes clean ALWAYS
    Bill Murray attends student party, does dishes
    LONDON, England (AP) -- Bill Murray created a small sensation in the Scottish town of St. Andrews, joining Scandinavian students at a late-night party and even helping to wash the dishes, a newspaper reported Sunday.

    She said she was first concerned when the apartment had no clean glasses left, but that Murray was happy to drink vodka from a coffee cup and also helped wash dishes in the cramped kitchen.

    The Sunday Telegraph article was accompanied by a photograph that appears to show Murray, dressed in a checkered shirt and a brown vest, washing a metal pot at the sink.
    "Lost in Translation" notwithstanding, Bill Murray is awesome.
    10/16/2006 1:13 AM
    5
     
    Nokias in the Wild

    Thursday night I lost my phone. Looked in car, room, couch cushins. Went to work friday, looked everywhere I might have set it.

    I got a big dollop of "forgetfulness" from my mother's side. I lose things once and awhile, but with her misplacement is a whole lifestyle. I thought I might be in my old college town a few hours away since I'd visited on Wednesday and I couldn't specifically remember handling the phone since then.

    Out of options, I went back to the field in the entry below. I wandered around in the corn for a few minutes and gave up, went back to the car. (I can only imagine the sight of myself, hunched over, staring at the ground while plodding through shoulder-high corn listening for the Knight Rider theme.)

    As I was getting in the car I heard the Nokia "low battery" bee-duh-doo noise. There it was, waiting patiently on the side of the road. I'm giving it a well-deserved charge.

    10/14/2006 10:22 AM
    1
     
    "The Fightin' Sixth"
    house.jpg

    Ah, the Minnesota 6th: rolling farmland that bumps up against the strip malls of the northern suburbs. In the Republican corner, Michelle Bachman. Best known for sponsoring a bill to write a ban on gay marriage into the state constitution, the only benefit of which was taking up time for other legislation. (Unless you count shameless pandering as a positive.)

    Her website is presumptuously light on content, with an entire page devoted to "tax cuts" with no mention of "spending cuts" or other ways of reducing the deficit. No mention of "state's rights" or "congressional indepedence". One mention of "Iraq" on her website, occuring in the same sentance as "9/11". A stay-the-course Bush "yes" vote, and boring to boot. No mention of "Republican" on her front page. Galling.

    For the Democrats: Patty Wettlering, best known for having a child abducted and lobbying for tougher sex offender laws. After losing the seat by 8% in the last election, she declared she would "never win in this district". She supports the "Northstar Commuter Rail", a commuter line that has "boondoggle" already written all over it. Looking for the AARP vote, she promises to look after Al Gore's "Social Security Lockbox", with only a dash of lip service to long-term solvancy. No privitization. Opposes unfunded federal education mandates, but only the unfunded variety.

    That said, her site is more substantive than Bachmann's and even includes offsets for her tax cut proposals. Better choice than Bachmann, but clearly ready and willing to be a mouthpiece for the Democrats. Nancy Pelosi would be her boss. Nancy Pelosi seriously gives me the creeps.

    Lastly, for the Independence Party Formerly Known As Jesse Ventura, there's John Binkowski. Website is not especially detailed but the issue sections are well-written. He doesn't try to hide the his party affiliation (though does "Independence Party" really have any connotations?) Appears to be serious about reforming the tax law and education, with more than lip service given to state's rights. Some pie-in-the-sky ideas about energy independence and post-US-withdrawl security in Iraq. Unfortunately, no posted positions on Social Security.

    Still, he seems to take the idea of "independance" for states/branches of government and from partisan politics seriously. Would be affiliated with neither Pelosi nor Hastert. Plus, he's nearly my age, confident and well-spoken. (Never hurts to be good looking.)



    We have a winner. Now we just need the ghost of Jesse Ventura to come and work in mysterious ways.
    10/14/2006 2:14 AM
    1
     
    IMG_8253.jpg IMG_8251.jpg
    It's been a cold-but-delightful couple of days with cold air swooping in from Canada and dumping all sorts of crazy snow and clouds on us. Surprised at the number of Minnesotans who complained about the change in temperature. I found it quite refreshing to have my windshield blasted with ice pellets.

    I'm sure my tune will change.. shortly. This sort of stuff doesn't help. (But Buffalo made the top 5 minutes of every newscast... Whee!)
    10/12/2006 11:21 AM
     
    Frownie Face
    Inexplicable-posted and quickly-yanked image from CNN yesterday:

    newt1.1810.split.jpg

    I kid you not!
    10/12/2006 11:14 AM
     
    It's Not Like That At All!
    Much like a half-hibernating groundhog deliriously crawling out of his den and seeing his shadow, today I crawled out of my front door and saw my breath hanging in the air. What does it portend? Cold weather, probably.

    "They" at the Weather Service are saying 26 and flurries tomorrow.
    10/10/2006 9:43 AM
     
    The Registry
    http://www.ft.com/cms/s/06adcbce-5345-11db-99c5-0000779e2340.html
    10/8/2006 2:04 AM
     
    IMG_8187.jpgIMG_8005.jpgIMG_8031.jpgIMG_8188.jpgIMG_8024.jpg
    10/7/2006 8:38 AM
    2
     
    The Pretty Fall's Almost Over
    ..and so are the pretty fall pictures. Soon enough everything will turn muted shades of brown highlighted by swathes of gray. Until then, I'm having fun with the color. Here's a panorama from a series of shots I took earlier today:

    county_park_maples_small.jpg
    Final image is 2230x500, around 1.4MB.

    Also, Yankee go home!!
    tigers_victory.jpg
    10/7/2006 6:59 AM
     
    IMG_8068.jpg IMG_7979.jpgIMG_7964.jpg IMG_8125.jpgIMG_8118.jpg
    10/6/2006 12:04 PM
    2
     
    Causing a stink? Get it?
    Are stars' septic tanks causing a stink in Malibu?
    County officials initially will focus on properties with heavier toilet use, such as restaurants and Barbra Streisand's old estate.
    So much fun to take out of context.
    10/5/2006 5:10 AM
     
    IMG_7953.jpg IMG_7970.jpg IMG_7994.jpg IMG_7989s.jpg IMG_7955.jpg
    10/4/2006 9:39 AM
     
    Higher Diseducation
    I love stories like these about college students not knowing basic facts about American history, but this article takes the cake:

    What Do You Know?
    At the other end of the scale were 16 schools that showed "negative learning"--that is, seniors scored lower than freshmen. Cornell, UC Berkeley and Johns Hopkins were the worst three, their seniors scoring between 3.3 and 7.3 percentage points worse than their freshmen. And on the negative list were some other very prestigious universities: Williams, Georgetown, Yale, Duke and Brown.

    How did these educational failures come to pass? ISI concludes that "students don't learn what colleges don't teach." In other words, in colleges where students must take more courses in American history they do better on the test, outperforming schools where fewer courses were completed. Seniors at the top test-scoring colleges "took an average of 4.2 history and political science courses, while seniors at the two lowest-ranked colleges . . . took an average of 2.9 history and political science courses." Similarly, higher ranked colleges spent more time on homework, 20 hours a week at fourth-ranked Grove City College and 14 or 15 at low-ranked Georgetown and Berkeley.
    "Negative learning". I love it.
    10/3/2006 11:42 AM
     
    Twins win AL Central!
    twins_celebrate.jpg
    From the Detroit Fress Press on the Tiger's loss yesterday to the Royals:
    Sure enough, in the top of the 12th, the Royals -- yes, the Kansas City Royals, who had lost 100 games this year -- scored two runs (one on a bases-loaded walk by Kenny Rogers) and a few minutes later, they completed the most improbable sweep since the last time Paris Hilton picked up a broom.
    It was the first time that the Royals swept the Tigers in 26 years. Because the Tigers and the Twins went into the last game of the season with the same record, the loss gave the Twinkies the division.
    10/2/2006 12:34 PM
     
    IMG_7810.jpg IMG_7904as.jpg I posted the rest of my sailing pictures from last month to a Flickr photoset.
    10/2/2006 8:26 AM
     
    IMG_8025.jpgIMG_8020.jpg IMG_8043.jpg IMG_8047.jpgIMG_8051.jpgIMG_8065.jpg
    10/1/2006 11:58 AM
    3