Joe Biden and the Indians
July 9, 2006
Democrat Senator Joe Biden of Delaware made some comments caught on CSPAN that some have viewed as racist. Watch for yourself, what do you think?
As a politician what he said was not politically correct according to the PC police. But was it wrong? Personally I don’t think so. The point he was making was that many Dunkin Donuts and 7-11s are run by Indians. I do not think anyone believes that Dunkin Donuts or 7-11s being run by Indians is wrong. Some believe this ’stereotype’ hurts the image of Indians. I am a fairly thick skinned person so I don’t buy it. Any person that has half a brain knows that not all or the majority of insert group of people fit into whatever type of stereotype one is spouting.
What I think many people have an issue with, at least on the conservative side is the amount of hypocrisy in the media when comparing how Biden was treated vs. how Trent Lott was treated. I tend to agree with them. Biden who was talking to the camera brought up the stereotype in trying to make a point. Trent Lott who was attending Strom Thurmonds 100th birthday party said a few kind words for Thurmond that got turned into a big deal in the media forcing Lott to resign his leadership seat. Did Lott mention race or stereotypes at all? Nope.
I think that someone trying to say some kind words about someone at his birthday party is much different than someone in front of a camera campaigning for President bringing up a stereotype.
Governor Bob Ehrlich visits Carroll Community College
July 5, 2006
Last Friday at work Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich stopped by for a visit. Although technically not my governor since I live in PA I was interested to see him and see what he had to say. I was standing around chatting with Tom waiting for the Gov to show when this guy approached us. Some fellow who was running for some sort of county office, think it might have been commissioner. He introduced himself to us and I let him know I didn’t live in Carroll County since housing was cheaper in PA. So he says if he is elected he would work to reduce the cost of housing. Tom chimes in saying he doesn’t want the cost to go down since he was a landowner. The fellow made a quick exit to another group of individuals mulling around. The exchange made for a good chuckle.
Ehrlich finally showed up. The college president Dr. Pappalardo said a couple words along with Maryland State Senator Larry Haines. The Gov talked for awhile about Carroll County and education. Overall the experience was pretty neat. I usually don’t get that involved in the political stuff and usually don’t get to see too many state government representatives.
Pictures were taken by Bryan, I have a bunch of them here in my gallery.
The Press Release from the college.
Pizza Man Dressed As Superhero Comes To Rescue
June 10, 2006
(CBS) MINNEAPOLIS Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spiderman and Luke Pie Rocker?
All of the above have done their part to rid the world of criminals and Luke Pie Rocker is Minnesota’s own.
Luke Pie Rocker, a pizza delivery guy in costume in the Uptown area of Minneapolis, spends most of his time tooling around town, making pizza deliveries in his little electric car.
Tuesday night, Luke Pie Rocker became at least one woman’s superhero, as he came to the rescue of a robbery victim screaming for help. [.continue.]
Stump Beefknob, Bold Bigflank, Thick McRunfast, Luke Pie Rocker, yeah that works.
“I have my sateen short shorts which provide speed and light reflection. The tights are just for professionalism. Oh the cape’s just there so I look good.”
Nice
How I Work: Bill Gates
April 6, 2006
How I Work: Bill Gates
Not much of a paper chase for Microsoft’s chairman, who uses a range of digital tools to do business.
FORTUNE Magazine
Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect, Microsoft, U.S.A.
April 4, 2006: 8:11 AM EDTNEW YORK (FORTUNE) - It’s pretty incredible to look back 30 years to when Microsoft was starting and realize how work has been transformed. We’re finally getting close to what I call the digital workstyle.
If you look at this office, there isn’t much paper in it. On my desk I have three screens, synchronized to form a single desktop. I can drag items from one screen to the next. Once you have that large display area, you’ll never go back, because it has a direct impact on productivity.
The screen on the left has my list of e-mails. On the center screen is usually the specific e-mail I’m reading and responding to. And my browser is on the right-hand screen. This setup gives me the ability to glance and see what new has come in while I’m working on something, and to bring up a link that’s related to an e-mail and look at it while the e-mail is still in front of me.
At Microsoft, e-mail is the medium of choice, more than phone calls, documents, blogs, bulletin boards, or even meetings (voicemails and faxes are actually integrated into our e-mail in-boxes).
I get about 100 e-mails a day. We apply filtering to keep it to that level e-mail comes straight to me from anyone I’ve ever corresponded with, anyone from Microsoft, Intel, HP, and all the other partner companies, and anyone I know. And I always see a write-up from my assistant of any other e-mail, from companies that aren’t on my permission list or individuals I don’t know. That way I know what people are praising us for, what they are complaining about, and what they are asking.
We’re at the point now where the challenge isn’t how to communicate effectively with e-mail, it’s ensuring that you spend your time on the e-mail that matters most. I use tools like “in-box rules” and search folders to mark and group messages based on their content and importance.
I’m not big on to-do lists. Instead, I use e-mail and desktop folders and my online calendar. So when I walk up to my desk, I can focus on the e-mails I’ve flagged and check the folders that are monitoring particular projects and particular blogs.
Outlook also has a little notification box that comes up in the lower right whenever a new e-mail comes in. We call it the toast. I’m very disciplined about ignoring that unless I see that it’s a high-priority topic.
Staying focused is one issue; that’s the problem of information overload. The other problem is information underload. Being flooded with information doesn’t mean we have the right information or that we’re in touch with the right people.
I deal with this by using SharePoint, a tool that creates websites for collaboration on specific projects. These sites contain plans, schedules, discussion boards, and other information, and they can be created by just about anyone in the company with a couple of clicks.
Right now, I’m getting ready for Think Week. In May, I’ll go off for a week and read 100 or more papers from Microsoft employees that examine issues related to the company and the future of technology. I’ve been doing this for over 12 years. It used to be an all-paper process in which I was the only one doing the reading and commenting. Today the whole process is digital and open to the entire company.
I’m now far more efficient in picking the right papers to read, and I can add electronic comments that everyone sees in real time.
Microsoft has more than 50,000 people, so when I’m thinking, “Hey, what’s the future of the online payment system?” or “What’s a great way to keep track of your memories of your kid?” or any neat new thing, I write it down. Then people can see it and say, “No, you’re wrong” or “Did you know about this work being done at such-and-such a place?”
SharePoint puts me in touch with lots of people deep in the organization. It’s like having a super-website that lets many people edit and discuss far more than the standard practice of sending e-mails with enclosures. And it notifies you if anything comes up in an area you’re interested in.
Another digital tool that has had a big effect on my productivity is desktop search. It has transformed the way I access information on my PC, on servers, and on the Internet. With larger hard drives and increasing bandwidth, I now have gigabytes of information on my PC and servers in the form of e-mails, documents, media files, contact databases, and so on.
Instead of having to navigate through folders to find that one document where I think a piece of information might be, I simply type search terms into a toolbar and all the e-mails and documents that contain that information are at my fingertips. The same goes for phone numbers and email addresses.
Paper is no longer a big part of my day. I get 90% of my news online, and when I go to a meeting and want to jot things down, I bring my Tablet PC. It’s fully synchronized with my office machine so I have all the files I need. It also has a note-taking piece of software called OneNote, so all my notes are in digital form.
The one low-tech piece of equipment still in my office is my whiteboard. I always have nice color pens, and it’s great for brainstorming when I’m with other people, and even sometimes by myself.
The whiteboards in some Microsoft offices have the ability to capture an image and send it up to the computer, almost like a huge Tablet PC. I don’t have that right now, but probably I’ll get a digital whiteboard in the next year. Today, if there’s something up there that’s brilliant, I just get out my pen and my Tablet PC and recreate it.
Days are often filled with meetings. It’s a nice luxury to get some time to go write up my thoughts or follow up on meetings during the day. But sometimes that doesn’t happen. So then it’s great after the kids go to bed to be able to just sit at home and go through whatever e-mail I didn’t get to. If the entire week is very busy, it’s the weekend when I’ll send the long, thoughtful pieces of e-mail. When people come in Monday morning, they’ll see that I’ve been quite busy they’ll have a lot of e-mail.
A very interesting look into what a typical workday is for the world’s richest man.
I wonder what reason he has for not already having a digital whiteboard?
Holocaust denier Irving is jailed
February 20, 2006
British historian David Irving has been found guilty in Vienna of denying the Holocaust of European Jewry and sentenced to three years in prison.
He had pleaded guilty to the charge, based on a speech and interview he gave in Austria in 1989.
“I made a mistake when I said there were no gas chambers at Auschwitz,” he told the court in the Austrian capital. [.continue.]
He was detained back in November, I wrote about it here.
Wow, 3 years in jail for thinking an event that happened 60 years ago did not happen.
He did write about it, but still 3 years in prison?
That’s just crazy talk, kind of like Irving’s views on the holocaust.
Remind me not to go to Europe, so I don’t get jail time for anything I write on this blog.
Actor Michael Vale Passes Away at 83-Years Old
December 30, 2005
Michael Vale, character actor best known for his portrayal of Dunkin Donuts sleepy-eyed Fred the Baker, died on December 24, 2005 in New York City due to complications from diabetes. He was 83 years old. In one of the longest running ad campaigns in TV history, Vale’s Dunkin Donuts Fred became a cultural icon with the unforgettable slogan, “Time to make the donuts.” [.continue.]
As a kid growing up I remember seeing the commercials.
I always liked that guy.
Aye laddie, warp speed
July 20, 2005
A very sad day today with Scotty (James Doohan) passing on.
Born March 3, 1920, Doohan did so much more than just being Scotty.
He served in the Canadian army and was part of the d-day invasion in WW2. Landing on Juno beach he took 6 bullets in the conflict, 4 in his leg, one took off a finger and one in the chest. The chest bullet was stopped by his silver cigarette case.
Wow.
Almost as impressive is him fathering a child at age 80.
I did not know any of this until today, like many star trek fans he was just Scotty.
The engineer with the can do attitude.
Scotty will surely live on for many years to come.
“I’m giving her all she’s got, Captain!” Yes, Scotty you certainly did.
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