Do not be afraid. Bubble 2.0 has not popped. This post is not about the collapse of any “businesses“.

It’s about how I can’t drink beer, and how that makes internetland (a.k.a. San Francisco) a little bit less charming. You see, I was afflicted this holiday weekend. Just after midnight on Thanksgiving day (that’s before any turkey), I noticed some pain in my abdomen. At first, I just thought it was gas. “Sure! It’ll pass,” I thought. But, it kept hurting, and I got very little sleep.

The next morning, I got a ride to the family ranch down in Hollister for Thanksgiving dinner. I figured this would be a safe bet, seeing as my stepmother is a doctor, and my stepbrother is a med student. I had them check me out, and they weren’t worried. So, I spent the next few hours on the couch, in pain. When the turkey was done, we all sat down to eat the big dinner. I think I ate a roll and about 2 bites of turkey with cranberry sauce. I really wanted more, but I just couldn’t do it.

By about 10 PM, I was still miserable. I decided it was time to go to the hospital. My dad and my stepmom drove me down to Hazel Hawkins’ ER where I could get some treatment. After arriving, blood draw, IV hookup, the examination, and waiting, I finally got some pain medication at around 1 AM. My CT scan was at 3 AM, and I got antibiotics and left the hospital by around 4:30 AM.

The CT scan showed some inflammation in my large intestine, just below the splenic curvature. Probably the result of some type of infection. I don’t know what caused it. Maybe all the nights of beer, all the hamburgers, a little stress from school, all the coffee I drink, etc. Whatever it was, it made me extremely miserable for two and a half days.

After I’m feeling better, and my diet can be richer than juice, water, and broth, I’ll probably go back to beer. And coffee.

Today, Ars Technica writes about the Sony rootkit fiasco (in case you’re a fan of the rootkit, try this). According to the story, the head of the RIAA, Cary Sherman, doesn’t see anything wrong with Sony’s actions. It’s just another way for a copyright owner to go about protecting their intellectual property. According to Sherman, the only problem with the rookit is that it has a security hole. Assuming it’s secure, Sherman endorses the use of secret, hidden software to ensure “fair use”.

Sounds fair to me.

At least we have lawyers coming to bat for us, the CD-buying public. The lawsuits are pouring in and I think Sony is in for a big hit, at least in public opinion if not also at their bottom line. Let’s hope the industry gets it eventually…

Me:

I believe that every human has a finite number of heart-beats. I don’t intend to waste any of mine running around doing exercises.

— Neil Armstrong

Todd:

wtf

then what does he call bike riding

Me:

Neil, the astronaut

not Lance

Todd:

hahahahaha

oops

Finally the chains have been released.

It’s a good thing that I just discovered this windfall of beer money. The project from hell has finally come to an end. Now, I think knowledge representation in the computing world is a really interesting problem, and there are many approaches to solving this problem already out there in wide use: Technorati tags to cluster posts and blogs by topic, Flickr tags to categorize photos (Hey! That’s user generated content!) (and, hmm, I seem to like tag clouds). Unfortunately, my graduate course in artificial intelligence decided that we shouldn’t use something proven, but something academic.

Unfortunately, the problem with this piece of software is that it, too, is someone’s student project. Or at least that’s what it felt like to use. Data loss, random bugs, error messages that mean nothing. It was almost like trying to get customer service from Verizon Wireless.

To make a long story (which you’ve already read through) short. It’s time for beer. More than one.

Holy crap, how do I unlock this massive blogworth? I could definitely use that much beer money.

Update: This little thing isn’t dynamic. Today my worth is up (to $1,693.62), which means: More beer!

This week could be your last chance to help protect one of America’s treasures — the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The House is expected to vote as early as this Thursday on a bill that would allow drilling in the long-protected Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as well as revoke the 24-year old moratorium on offshore drilling. The Sierra Club is delivering a petition to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to convice congress that we won’t accept drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge or the building of new drilling platforms along our coasts.

Take a second and sign the petition right now. Do it for the polar bears.

Flickr Most Interesting

As a little follow-up to my shdh5 post, I had just finished checking out Cal’s fresh pictures on the subject and I ran across this on Flickr.com/explore.

Way to go Andy. I think “Using Python to Make Money and Get Chicks” was a success. On multiple levels.
Photo originally uploaded by cee-dub.