Of This I Have No Doubt

“We look forward to you visiting us again for your next online payment.” —www.kay.com

In Which I Permit Certain Legumes to Escape

Gricel said “yes”. :-)

Boo!

The National Weather Service says:

Message:	NOAA-NWS-ALERTS-VA20091219030300LWXSpecialWeatherStatementLWX20091219091500VA from w-nws.webmaster@noaa.gov
Sent:	22:03 EST on 12-18-2009
Effective:	22:03 EST on 12-18-2009
Expires:	04:15 EST on 12-19-2009
Event:	Special Weather Statement
Alert:	...RECORD BREAKING DECEMBER SNOWFALL FOR BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREAS BRINGING HAZARDOUS WINTER WEATHER TO THE REGION OVERNIGHT AND SATURDAY... TOTAL STORM SNOWFALL TOTALS OF 1 TO 2 FEET ARE FORECAST TO OCCUR IN THE BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREAS BY DAWN SUNDAY...WHICH SHOULD ECLIPSE THE DECEMBER RECORDS FOR BOTH CITIES. THE RECORD DECEMBER SNOWFALL FOR WASHINGTON IS 12.0 INCHES ON 18-19 DECEMBER 1932...AND FOR BALTIMORE TO RECORD IS 14.1 INCHES ON 12-13 DECEMBER 1960. SHOULD ACCUMULATIONS EXCEED 14 INCHES...THIS STORM WILL MAKE THE LIST OF THE ALL-TIME TOP 10 SNOWSTORMS ON RECORD FOR BOTH CITIES. HERE ARE SOME HAZARDOUS WINTER WEATHER PREPAREDNESS TIPS... 1. TRAVEL IS NOT RECOMMENDED ON SATURDAY...AS CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE RAPIDLY AFTER DAYBREAK. IF YOU HAVE TO TRAVEL SATURDAY IN AN EMERGENCY...CARRY A WINTER STORM SURVIVAL KIT WHICH INCLUDES A CHARGED MOBILE PHONE...BLANKETS...FLASHLIGHT WITH EXTRA BATTERIES...HIGH CALORIE NON-PERISHABLE FOOD...WATER...AND A SNOW SHOVEL. KEEP YOUR GAS TANK FULL...AND AVOID TRAVELING ALONE. LET SOMEONE KNOW YOUR TIMETABLE AND YOUR PRIMARY ROUTE. 2. IF YOU DO GET STRANDED...STAY IN YOUR VEHICLE. ATTEMPTING TO WALK FOR HELP IN A WINTER STORM COULD BE A DEADLY DECISION. RUN THE MOTOR FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES EVERY HOUR FOR HEAT. OPEN THE WINDOW A LITTLE FOR FRESH AIR TO AVOID CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING. MAKE SURE YOUR EXHAUST PIPE IS NOT BLOCKED FROM ICE AND SNOW. 3. IF YOU NEED TO USE A PORTABLE GENERATOR...FOLLOW MANUFACTURERS INSTRUCTIONS TO KEEP THE AREA SURROUNDING YOUR GENERATOR WELL VENTILATED. 4. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SHOVEL SNOW UNLESS YOU ARE PHYSICALLY FIT. HYDRATE YOURSELF OFTEN WITH WATER WHILE SHOVELING...AND TAKE FREQUENT BREAKS. 5. MOVE PETS AND FARM ANIMALS TO SHELTERED LOCATIONS AND ENSURE THEY HAVE PLENTY OF FOOD AND DRINK. 6. LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL AND CABLE OUTLETS TO STAY INFORMED ON THE PROGRESS OF THE STORM.

WolframAlpha Awesomeness of the Day

“How long since Jurassic Park came out?” =>

16 years 2 months 23 days since June 11, 1993

How old do you feel now?

My Life as a Comic Strip

Never before has my life been so well captured by a Canadian webcomic about anthropomorphic dinosaurs.

My Life in TLAs

I go to church at IBC. Bible translations which I have read in their entirety include JPS, KJV, and NIV.

I have two degrees from MIT. I have memberships with AAA, ACM, ADC, and NRA, and an Open Water Diver certification from SSI.

The airports I’ve visited the most are TPA, FLL, BOS, IAD, and DCA. I drive a 4WD 2006 FEH and usually get between 29 and 32 MPG.

I work for PTR at NRL, which is under ONR (part of DOD, of course). My computer is an LED-backlit MBP running OS X (pronounced “oh ess ten”, not “oh ess ex”; it’s the version after OS 9). I write software for its BSD layer and compile it with GCC. Other software I write against the JDK’s API, which I then compile with ANT and run in a JVM. Sometimes I run Scheme code with PLT or MIT/GNU. I have also worked on software to control robots from MHI and ASI.

I store files on AFS and money at BOA and ING. I communicate via AIM and my ATT cell phone. I spend far too much time browsing the WWW and reading RSS feeds. I listen to music in AAC format. I watch TV shows and movies on DVD. TNG and TOS are my favorite Star Treks. SG-1 is my favorite Stargate. TAS is my favorite Batman. My favorite comic book characters are the members of the JLA in the DCU.

I live in the USA.

I am JRH.

May I Please Have My Name Back, Now?

I think I was incredibly patient throughout this whole mess, but it’s really getting old. Nobody ever asked me for my permission to use MY NAME as a meaningless campaign slogan, but now that things are settling down and the inevitable disillusionment is growing, I want it back.

Here, I’ll even let you have another poster with my name on it, but this time it’ll actually make sense, because it will have my face on it:



I guarantee that the original photograph didn’t come from Reuters or AP; I just took it myself with my MacBook Pro’s built-in camera and Photo Booth (using the Comic Book filter). I then spent far too long trying to figure out the GIMP in order to put my name across the bottom (GIMP.app 2.6.0 definitely deserves the “experimental” warning; it has the usability of something from Redmond).

Anyway, it’s bad enough that the Smithsonian won’t give me my rock. Is it really too much to ask that I get to keep my own name?

I’m not being too audacious, am I?