07/27/2010 – 07/28/2010 – Lassen Volcanic National Park and Death Valley National Park

Posted on May 27, 2011 by jibjib

Before our trip began, neither one of us had even heard of Lassen Volcanic National Park.  It’s one of the lesser known parks in Northern, Central California.  As we were trying to figure out how we were going to get back down south to some of the other parks we wanted to visit, we spotted [...]

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The Wedding of Shawna and Joe

Posted on June 22, 2010 by jibjib

This past Saturday, June 19, 2010, Kelli’s sister Shawna was married to Joe.  They’ve been dating for eight years and they finally have been able to make permanent their relationship.  With the rehearsal un-traditionally early on Wednesday, I was a little worried that people may forget exactly how the ceremony was to play out, but [...]

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My New Pentax K-x

Posted on May 28, 2010 by jibjib

Well my Pentax K-x arrived from UPS yesterday and I hurried home after work to take a look at it.  I guess you could say that it is pretty much what I was thinking it would be, an SLR digital camera.  But after setting the camera up and updating the firmware, I was more than [...]

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  • John's bookshelf

    The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
    3 of 5 stars
    The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
    by Mark Twain
    A quick and lighthearted read that will take you back to your childhood... that is, if you daydreamed about being a pirate or robber...
    tagged: suggested-high-school-reading
    The Fountainhead
    3 of 5 stars
    The Fountainhead
    by Ayn Rand
    A good book, but not for everyone... the story was really designed to showcase Ayn Rand's philosophy, so it can be a bit dry sometimes. The plot can be unpredictable but in a bad way, because sometimes the people's actions are just not real...
    Anthem
    3 of 5 stars
    Anthem
    by Ayn Rand
    Anthem is only about 100 pages long so it doesn't take a very long time to finish. I think I finished it in about two nights. Character development is minimal but the story is still interesting.
    tagged: suggested-high-school-reading
    We the Living
    4 of 5 stars
    We the Living
    by Ayn Rand
    I am currently on a mission to read all of Ayn Rand's major fictional works, in order of publication. Published in 1936, "We the Living" gives a fictional account, though based on firsthand experiences, of Communist Russia during...
    Deadeye Dick
    4 of 5 stars
    Deadeye Dick
    by Kurt Vonnegut
    Apologies to Mr. Pogue, my 8th grade English teacher, for "borrowing" this book and never returning it. This was my third time reading the book, I was a little worried that it would not live up to my memories of it, but it was eve...
    1984
    4 of 5 stars
    1984
    by George Orwell
    Very relevant for current times... Big Brother government and blind party loyalty on the rise...
    tagged: suggested-high-school-reading
    The Unvanquished
    3 of 5 stars
    The Unvanquished
    by William Faulkner
    The Unvanquished is one of Faulkner's earlier works, when he was still finding his voice. However, this book gives a glimpse of what it might have been like growing up in the South during the and immediately after the Civil War. I'm not goi...
    Basic Economics: A Citizens Guide to the Economy
    5 of 5 stars
    Basic Economics: A Citizens Guide to the Economy
    by Thomas Sowell
    I believe that every single person should read this book, especially in these times...
    tagged: economics, non-fiction, and suggested-high-school-reading
    The American Revolution: A History
    3 of 5 stars
    The American Revolution: A History
    by Gordon S. Wood
    Starts out a little dry and doesn't hesitate to be overly cynical about some of the events during the revolution. But as it goes on, Wood does a great job of explaining why the American Revolution was such a unique experience.
    tagged: non-fiction
    The Stars, Like Dust
    3 of 5 stars
    The Stars, Like Dust
    by Isaac Asimov
    A classic sci-fi by Asimov, written in 1950. You can definitely tell that it was written post-World War II. As others have said, it's certainly not Asimov's best work by any stretch but it is an interesting light read if you're in a nostalg...
    The Industrial Revolution and Free Trade
    4 of 5 stars
    The Industrial Revolution and Free Trade
    by Burton W. Folsom Jr.
    Has some interesting editorials on the Industrial Revolution. Worth a read ... maybe.
    tagged: economics and non-fiction
    Franny and Zooey
    3 of 5 stars
    Franny and Zooey
    by J.D. Salinger
    Obviously not as good as "Catcher in the Rye" but a decent short read...
    Classical Economics Reconsidered
    3 of 5 stars
    Classical Economics Reconsidered
    by Thomas Sowell
    I would not recommend this for anyone who does not already have a basic understanding of Economics, and even then, only if you are really interested in economics... A great one to read, also by Thomas Sowell, is Basic Economics. Read that o...
    tagged: economics and non-fiction
    The Great Gatsby
    4 of 5 stars
    The Great Gatsby
    by F. Scott Fitzgerald
    Another one of the "should've read in high school" classics... well worth revisiting.
    The Folk of the Fringe
    3 of 5 stars
    The Folk of the Fringe
    by Orson Scott Card
    Once you're able to get over all of the Mormon references, this book has several stories about outsiders fitting in. A semi-solid Orson Scott Card read.
    Keeper of Dreams
    4 of 5 stars
    Keeper of Dreams
    by Orson Scott Card
    Technically, I did not read the WHOLE book. This book is a series of short stories and I read almost all of them. The ones that I left out were stories I had read before, or Christmas ones. Since we're in the middle of June, I wasn't really...
    Of Mice and Men
    4 of 5 stars
    Of Mice and Men
    by John Steinbeck
    A great American read. Steinbeck certainly has a way with dialog as a narrative and "Of Mice and Men" displays his talent immensely. I recommend this to anyone for a short and light Summer read.
    tagged: suggested-high-school-reading
    Dubliners
    4 of 5 stars
    Dubliners
    by James Joyce
    I have had several friends groan when they heard I was reading James Joyce but I believe that this is because their experience with Joyce is based on trudging through Ulysses. Dubliners is a collection of mostly unrelated short stories whic...
    Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times
    4 of 5 stars
    Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times
    by H.W. Brands
    "The Union, it must be preserved."
    tagged: biography
    End the Fed
    4 of 5 stars
    End the Fed
    by Ron Paul
    tagged: non-fiction
    Lord of the Flies
    4 of 5 stars
    Lord of the Flies
    by William Golding
    "I got the conch! I got the conch!"
    Alright piggy will you just drop it about the conch? please?
    This was my first time reading this classic and it was a good read. However, I know a certain author (OSC) who could have wri...
    tagged: suggested-high-school-reading
    A Conflict of Visions
    3 of 5 stars
    A Conflict of Visions
    by Thomas Sowell
    I know that Sowell has updated this book, and perhaps they've had a chance to re-arrange the content. I was reading a 1st edition and felt that there was many repeats of the same information. Besides that, the book was great. It might be a ...
    tagged: economics and non-fiction
    Candide
    3 of 5 stars
    Candide
    by Voltaire
    I love the fact that this book was written over 250 years ago, in another language, and still holds up today in English... A short read and very amusing, all the while pointing out some of the silly ways people can behave.
    Animal Farm
    4 of 5 stars
    Animal Farm
    by George Orwell
    This book is fairly short; I was able to easily finish it in two days. For anyone who did not read this during high school, I'd recommend Animal Farm. For anyone who has read it in their earlier days, it's worth reading again with a possibl...
    tagged: suggested-high-school-reading
    All Quiet on the Western Front
    3 of 5 stars
    All Quiet on the Western Front
    by Erich Maria Remarque
    Yes, a great book about the first World War. I'd recommend it for those interested in the mentality of those told to go to war...
    Moralists and Modernizers: America's Pre-Civil War Reformers
    3 of 5 stars
    Moralists and Modernizers: America's Pre-Civil War Reformers
    by Steven Mintz
    tagged: non-fiction
    Wuthering Heights
    4 of 5 stars
    Wuthering Heights
    by Emily Brontë
    Hey, it's a classic. I knew nothing about this book before reading it, and it took a couple of pages to get used to the narrative but once this was overcome, I found myself thoroughly enjoying the story. I'll admit, I learned a few new (to ...
    tagged: suggested-high-school-reading
    Coming of Age in Mississippi
    3 of 5 stars
    Coming of Age in Mississippi
    by Anne Moody
    Very revealing and powerful... this book has given me a better, though I'm sure still deficient, understanding of what it was like being a southern civil rights activist in the 1950s...

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    • Game theory explains why some content goes viral on Reddit, Digg November 7, 2010
      A lot of attention has been lavished on ideas "going viral," but this may not be the only way that ideas spread, according to an article published in PNAS last week. With some extensive theoretical work in game theory, two researchers have shown that trendy changes don't spread quickly just because they gain exposure to a high number of people […]
      casey.johnston@arstechnica.com (Casey Johnston)
    • 482 - Dam Peculiar: Switzerland Slicing Into Italy September 28, 2010
      Borders are to maps what icing is to cakes. Tracing their course between countries and across continents is a source of great enjoyment for the cartophile, as is contemplating their history and function. This contemplating is usually conducted while consulting maps of a relatively large scale ...Read More
      Frank Jacobs
    • Optical character recognition (OCR) in Google Docs June 22, 2010
      A couple of months ago, my co-worker, Mike, showed up at my desk with a pile of paper, each of the yellowed sheets densely covered with an ancient-looking typewriter font. His wife had recently discovered parts of her family chronicles in the attic, typed up by her grandmother many years ago! Now he was wondering if there was a way for her to continue writin […]
      Google Docs
    • Google Voice for everyone June 22, 2010
      (Cross-posted from the Google Voice Blog)A little over a year ago, we released an early preview of Google Voice, our web-based platform for managing your communications. We introduced one number to ring all your phones, voicemail that works like email, free calls and text messages to the U.S. and Canada, low-priced international calls and more—the only catch […]
      A Googler
    • 465 – Scene To Be Believed: California As the World June 2, 2010
      Shared by jibjib This is why California is such a great destination for a camping trip. I can't wait until Kelli and I head out there this Summer. The film industry’s move to Hollywood, early on in the 20th century, was not entirely an accident. Out west, good weather was more constant, the light better and the scenery more varied than on the East Coast […]
      (author unknown)
    • Announcing Google TV: TV meets web. Web meets TV. May 20, 2010
      If there’s one entertainment device that people know and love, it’s the television. In fact, 4 billion people across the world watch TV and the average American spends five hours per day in front of one*. Recently, however, an increasing amount of our entertainment experience is coming from our phones and computers. One reason is that these devices have some […]
      A Googler
    • Google Buzz Tips and Tricks – WebWorkerDaily February 12, 2010
      Shared by jibjib I thought this article had some information worth knowing about Google Buzz...
      (author unknown)
    • The Government IS Creating Jobs February 5, 2010
      Federal government jobs that is. According to the president’s new budget, federal civilian employment in the executive branch will be 15% higher in 2011 than it was in 2007:     *I subtracted out the Department of Commerce because its temporary hiring of workers for the 2010 Census skews the chart.   Private sector unemployment remains high despite the the a […]
      Chris Edwards
    • House of Representatives Puts Politics and Special Interests before American Consumers June 27, 2009
      The Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade bill passed by a narrow margin tonight, 219 to 212, with 8 Republicans supporting and 44 Democrats voting against– hardly overwhelming support. So, one of the largest tax revenue-generating bills in history passed the House of Representatives on a 7 point margin in a 435-seat chamber. A 1,200 page bill that policymakers rushed […]
      Nick Loris
    • Will it lens? April 10, 2009
      Not long ago, a bunch of us in our Santa Monica office pooled together the money to buy a four-foot by three-foot Fresnel lens. We've since been spending our lunch hours out in the sun playing with it.A normal lens this big would be several feet thick and weigh a proverbial ton (the right-hand image below). However, it's possible to remove much of […]
      A Googler

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