Lies, Lies, Lies

We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories ... And we'll find more weapons as time goes on. But for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them.

-- George W. Bush. May 30, 2003

No manipulation of intelligence reports would account for saying we found "weapons of mass destruction" when none existed. President Bush must have known these were lies when he was saying them. The American public continues to be misled by him and his administration.

When will we wake up? He has lied to us for 8 years straight about everything he's been doing involving the Middle East. The result? The United States of America is either ignored or despised by the majority of the world. Our former allies want nothing to do with us and our sinking ship of a nation. If we don't turn this country around soon we will be left behind by a world that is beginning to realize that it doesn't revolve around our country.

Interview Number 1: Are you a weirdo?

I started looking for some part-time work about a week ago. I sent my resume out to some places that had advertised on the CS department job board. Yesterday one of them contacted me to setup an interview. So I went and interviewed with them today. This interview was (in my words) simply to determine whether or not I was a weirdo.

The interviewer is essentially the head of HR as well as other sections (it's a small startup company), and he was nice enough to tell me up front that this interview was mostly for him to gauge my personality. So he asked some general HR type questions. I think I did a pretty good job of showing some character and being pleasant and avoiding the appearance of a mal-adjusted nerd.

I got to meet some of the other workers who seemed like cool people who would be fun to work with. The interviewer said he'd probably call me early next week to setup a technical interview. So I'm looking forward to that. I think I'd really enjoy working there, maybe if I get the part-time job it would become a full-time position when I (hopefully) graduate next year. We'll see what happens.

Accidental Down Time

I run three websites off of my home desktop. They sit on virtual machines running within VMWare. This makes it convenient to keep them running without interfering with my personal machine, and I can easily backup or re-locate the virtual machines without disrupting operations.

As the newest Ubuntu release came out recently (Hardy Heron 8.04) I finally decided to upgrade my desktop to the latest and greatest. I had not anticipated the fact that VMWare does not currently have a release in the Ubuntu 8.04 repositories due to kernel changes. So I accidentally brought all three websites down because VMWare was no longer running. Since it was the middle of the day and I didn't have time to fix it (and I wanted to keep the websites up for the few visitors they do get) I thought of a solution and I thought it up quick (congratulations if you caught the Grinch reference there). I rebooted into Windows (haven't done that in about 8 months) and installed VMWare server there and got one of the virtual machines running again. The other virtual machine apparently got corrupted somehow and ended needing to be replaced from a backup.

Later that evening I rebooted back to Ubuntu and found the instructions to install VMWare manually.

Ladies and Gentlemen, that is why Virtual Machines are cool. Of course, what I should have done is send the Virtual Machines over to my laptop, and update my router to forward the traffic to it while I did the upgrade on my desktop. Live and Learn.

Silly Children

I went to lunch with a couple of my sisters today. My nephews are hilarious. Here's a video of nephew the elder eating a muffin, he really likes his muffin:


I was going to include another video of nephew the younger eating a piece of bread, but I can't find a video editor for Linux that will actually work, since I want to cut the 70 second video to 10 seconds. So oh well.

Changing Names

As I've progressed through my years at College I've begun to be a little disconcerted with the frequency that I look at my list of friends on Facebook and find that I don't recognize many of the names on there. Not because these are people that I don't know, but because they are females who have gotten married. Honestly, I look at these names and I'm like, "Who the heck is that?!" and then I look at the profile picture and I realize who it is. I don't like this.

I had never realized how much trouble changing a name can cause until recently. Especially if you meet someone that knows a mutual friend by a different last name, you can't figure out who they're talking about because their using a last name that makes no sense to you.

I remember one of my first years here when I went to find my sister at work. I asked for her by my family name and only received an empty stare in response. It took me a second to realize that they had never heard her referred to by her maiden name, and I updated my inquiry to use her new last name, upon which they new exactly who I meant and pointed me in the right direction.

Habits die hard, and trying to update someone's name is a very tricky task for me to do. For people that know me they understand that it takes me a long time to learn people's names and to properly associate names and faces. Not that I don't try, my brain just isn't adept at making those associations, however once they are made, they are set and I don't forget them very easily. So trying to change someone's name in my head not only has to fight against an already known name, but it's an uphill battle due to the slow progress I make in learning _any_ name.

So to those that are married, don't take it personally that I will probably never remember your new last name.

I should go to sleep

Every so often I'll get entranced with reading my old blog posts. Tonight I was sucked into reading about a year's worth of posts from my personal blog. It started when I was looking at my Google Analytics and wondered what post I could possibly have written that someone found by a certain Google search. I read the post, and then began reading more and more. It's very interesting to go back and relive your life every so often. You can reinterpret events, see how things have changed, or stayed the same. It's kind of funny, but sad at the same time. Reading through events from two years ago I was struggling with the same problems I still am--- mainly dating and what to do with my future. I also spend my time doing pretty much the same things: reading, watching movies, playing games, hiking, and working.

Life can seem to be so different, yet when you look back, so much of it is really the same.

I still hate the concept of dating as much as I ever did, and yet still need to find a way to convince myself to do it. (You know, those groups that practice arranged marriages might have been on to something...)

Anyways, it's late and I should go to sleep, just wanted to comment on my reflection before clocking out for the night.

Google Streetview Coming to Paris

Oh yah, while walking from Notre-Dame to the Louvre last week we walked by a Google Streetview car. So, be prepared, Streetview is coming to a Paris near you. If we're lucky you'll be able to see me somewhere along the West edge of Ile de la Cite between Notre Dame and Pont Neuf, I think that's where we were anyways.

Playing Ultimate

Playing Ultimate is one of my favorite pastimes. For those unfamiliar, the more common phrase of "Ultimate Frisbee" is a misnomer because "Frisbee" is trademarked. Therefore you simply play the game of "Ultimate" and it is played with "discs" and not "Frisbees".

Anyways, after a couple years of missing the deadlines for Orem Ultimate I managed to remember and sign up for Spring League again this year. A few weeks ago we had an initial team meeting and played a scrimmage which we won. Last week I was in Europe and missed our game, apparently we lost.

Last night we had our second game. The weather was great, though somewhat windy. Our team came out strong with an 8-3 lead at half time. I am still recovering from a cold, but I played hard and fast anyways. I had a number of good blocks and am very pleased with my performance overall. The other team came back hard in the second half scoring a number of quick points. Without losing our lead we were able to reorganize ourselves and seal the victory. I think the final score was 15-10. It was an incredible game, very well played by both sides.

As we continue to play together, and teach the newer players about how to achieve "flow", I think our team will look great. I'm looking forward to an exciting and victorious season.

The New and Improved CPM Dating Application

I've decided to revise the dating application which I have posted. The new application is much simpler and straight forward. There is only a single question--the most important question of all. So if you're interested at all, feel free to fill it out and shoot it my way.

The link is still on the right hand side.

Broadcasting from Trafalgar Square in London

Hello all. I'm just popping in from an internet cafe at Trafalgar Square in London, just outside the National Gallery, which I just finished walking through. I saw such favorites as 'Madonna of the Rocks' by da Vinci, the chair by Monet, as well as one of his Sunflowers, and works by Manet, Boticelli, and many others.

The weather is bright and sunny, perfect for walking about.

Paris was incredible. I don't even know how to say anything else about it right now, I loved it. I much prefer Paris to London. The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, Crepes, it all is just so amazing. Overall, Paris was cleaner, with many more interesting things to see (in my opinion). I'll provide better accounts of both London and Paris when I return to the states and have the time to review my trip.

Hope all is well in Provo and such.

Journeys and Warm and Fuzzy Feelings

I was stopping by Smith's yesterday morning, as I am wont to do, and parked my car, got out, and began walking to the entrance. Parked just outside the doors, in the fire lane, was a shiny black Cadillac Escalade. I was annoyed at how rich people seem to think they can do whatever they feel like; but those thought were quickly dispersed by the warm and fuzzy feeling of watching the Police Officer writing a nice fatty parking ticket for blocking the fire lane. Is that wrong?

I have begun my journeys for the month of May. I am currently in Las Vegas which is acting as a staging ground for our drive to LA to catch our flight to London, from where we will transfer airports and catch a flight to Paris. We will stay in Paris for 3 days, then return to London for 4 before flying back to LA and driving back to Provo. Kind of an interesting symmetry: Provo -> Las Vegas -> Los Angeles -> London -> Paris: PLLLP. Hah!

I don't have much to say at the moment about the trip, except that Las Vegas will be in the mid-80's today, and London and Paris are supposed to be in the mid-70's the entire time we're over there--- No more winter for me.