John Lennon follow up

In 1979, after Iran took 52 American Embassy staffers hostage, an FM station in Fresno, CA decided to do a radio promotion for the station (Y94). The rally was called "Bomb Iran Rally" and was held in Radcliffe Stadium. On the day of the rally, 3 buddies who had recently started up a new FM station in Fresno (KKDJ) decided to counter the "Bomb" rally - they hired a hot air balloon and one of the guys got in the basket with a giant stereo system (yes, that's what they were called back then) and drifted towards Radcliffe Stadium where several thousand pro-war frenzy Y94 listeners were blaring air horns and cops were pacing nervously. Then as the balloon crossed over the 50 yard line, "Give Peace a Chance" came pounding out of the speakers . . . . . . . the rally fell silent and some began to applaud, causing consternation among the Y94 staffers, a feeling further aggravated when the flyover garnered most of the press. John Lennon to the rescue again.

I read this story in the local SLO "New Times" written by Dean Opperman

IPTV

Are you aware of what IPTV is? An IPTV service model offers a complete multi-channel video line-up as well as on-demand programming.

Learn more about it here What is IPTV

Merry Christmas

Yes, Merry Christmas. It's Christmas Day and I wish everyone lot's of cheer and happiness.

Apple Computer Valuation !! Wow

Is it possible that Apple Computer could become more valuable that Microsoft?? Maybe. Today, Apple's market cap is $60 billion (from $6.5 bil 2 1/2 years ago).

World Community Grid

The WGC is just one of several projects aimed at doing research-analytical work using "distributed computing or grid computing". Another project is SETI@home. What is this all about you ask? SETI is all about analyzing electronic noise from space to determiine whether or not anyone is out there. You can imagine how much computing power it takes to do this type of analysis.

That's where grid computing comes in . . . linking together many thousands of computers which are idle and using their computing power to analyze the data.
In 2003, the Human Proteome Folding project came up with more than 40 possible smallpox treatments ina quarter the time it would have taken without distrbuted computing capability.

Yes, you can volunteer your computer to the projects without fear of anything happening to your data or systems. Want to learn more? go to BOINC (Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing). there you can see other projects and download the software to enable your computing power.

thanks to Dan Logan, author and computer expert for writing about this in his weekly Central Coast Tech column at the SLO Tribune . . . . dlogan@thegrid.net

The First Motel in the World

San Luis Obispo lays claim to the first motel. Established 80 years ago just off Highway 101 at the foot of Cuesta Grade, The Motel Inn is no longer in operation but can still be seen. Arthur S. Heineman, a Pasadena architect and developer, opened the Spanish/Mission Revival Inn on Dec 12, 1925 as part of a plan that called for a string of such overnight inns to stretch from San Diego to Seatle. Each would be a day's mortoring apart.

Who says it's the first motel? Well, "Palaces of the Public", a history of American's hotels and motels does.

Why are the Makets harder to trade NOw??

Anyone who trades the stock market knows that it's much more difficult today than ever and we have so many tools to analyze what's going, etc. I thought this remark from Don Worden, whose company develops charting software, is prescient.

"I think we probably have more traders trying to "profit off the news" than has ever been the case in history. Consequently the market gets kicked around from day-to-day by transitory events of fleeting significance. Traders seem quick to jump on events that have no direct connection to even the short-range market outlook. For example, one day's fluctuation in the price of crude oil or in the number of casualties in Iraq offer little valid insight into how the market is likely to be affected a month from now, or two weeks from now, or even next week. But admittedly, playing the micro-moves in the market can yield frequent profits to a skilled, say, hedge fund operator. It doesn't take much thoughtfulness to play the market's fits and starts. "

Valdez Oil Spill follow up

The Valdez oil spill was a tragic accident that the company deeply regrets. The company took immediate responsibility for the spill, cleaned it up, and voluntarily compensated those who claimed direct damages. ExxonMobil paid $300 million immediately and voluntarily to more than 11,000 Alaskans and businesses affected by the Valdez spill. In addition, the company paid $2.2 billion on the cleanup of Prince William Sound, staying with the cleanup from 1989 to 1992, when the State of Alaska and the U.S. Coast Guard declared the cleanup complete. ExxonMobil also has paid $1 billion in settlements with the state and federal governments. That money is being used for environmental studies and conservation programs for Prince William Sound.
Virtually all Valdez compensatory -- actual -- damages were paid in full within one year of the accident, and the trial court commended ExxonMobil for coming forward "with its people and its pocketbook and doing what had to be done under difficult circumstances." The punitive damages suggested by Alaska Judge Holland are not a debt that is owed -- they represent a windfall in excess of the amount the jury found necessary to compensate the plaintiffs for their losses.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has twice thrown out Judge Holland's decisions in this matter, which is a clear indication that there is validity to ExxonMobil's arguments that the punitive damage award is indeed "excessive." In fact, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals used that very word in vacating the Anchorage judge's first decision.
The plaintiffs' attorneys have not hesitated to seek appeals and delays in this case when they believed it was to their advantage to do so. These attorneys, many of whom do not live in the state and have not made any contributions to the quality of life in Alaska, stand to make an enormous windfall off the Valdez accident if the punitive damage award is upheld.

this is from the Exxon Mobil website

Uhuru Peak - Tanzania

One of my closest friends, Dan Dominy (an emmy winning cameraman and world traveler) sent me an email with a link to photos from their summit of Kilamanjaro, the highest point in Africa and one of the worlds largest volcanoes at 5895 meters of elevation. Yes, he did this last February but I wanted to share it again.

You can see everything by clicking here Climb for Care

Dylan on XM Satellite Radio

"Songs and music have always inspired me. A lot of my own songs have been played on the radio, but this is the first time I've ever been on the other side of the mic," said Dylan. "It'll be as exciting for me as it is for XM."

Bob Dylan is one of music's most enduring performers. He has released more than 44 albums containing more than 600 songs that have been covered by more than 2,000 different artists ranging from The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder and Guns N' Roses to Duke Ellington, Garth Brooks, Pearl Jam and Rage Against the Machine. His last two albums have been critical and popular successes with 1997's Time Out Of Mind garnering three GRAMMY® Awards, including Album Of The Year. In 2001, he won an Academy Award® and a Golden Globe® for the song "Things Have Changed." In 2004 his best selling memoir, Chronicles Volume 1, spent 19 weeks on the New York Times' Bestseller List. For the past eighteen years Mr. Dylan has been a mainstay on the concert stage performing over a hundred shows a year around the globe.

"Bob Dylan epitomizes the American music experience and his unflagging integrity and vision defines everything we hope for XM to be," said Lee Abrams, Chief Creative Officer, XM Satellite Radio. "It is an honor to count Bob Dylan among the members of the XM artist family, and is further testimony of XM's commitment to create original music programming that makes a difference."

Best New Website

If you want to learn more about John Lennon than you ever thought you knew . . . . . check out John Lennon

Bob Bryn's hole in one

I had the pleasure today of participating in the second-hole-in I've ever witnessed. The first one I saw was the first one my playing partner in the Windword (Bodega Harbour Men's Invitational), Ed Vail. Now Ed is one of the best amateur golfers I know and had never had a hole-in-one in 40 years of playing golf and he's a 2 index. So we're on the 7th hole at BHGC (135 yards or so) and he's toying with the idea of a 7 iron. It's a very difficult hole to judge: big elevated tee, across a canyon, into a crossing wind, green has two tiers, long and you're dead, left and your dead, etc. I tell him it's an 8. So he goes with the 8, one hop into the cup!

Today, I'm playing with 81 year old Bob Bryn (my landlord no less) at Laguna Lake GC and we get to the 4th hole (85 yards) and I've been on fire, I lob a 53 degree sandwedge and it hits the pin and rolls 5' away. One of the other guys in the group tells Bob to "get inside Craig". So I say to Bob just as he's about to take a swing with a 9 iron, "hit the pin a little lower than I did." Sure enough he does and it goes in. Don't ask me if I made the birdie putt.

Congrats Bob, we'll all read about in the Tribune soon.

the president doesn't give out credible information . . .

in a recent op-ed piece, David Brooks of the NY Times and ardent administration supporter recently wrote a great piece on why the US should stay with Iraq despite all of the bungling. He concludes his piece with "Because the president doesn't give out credible information, it's no wonder Republicans are measuring success by how quickly we can get out; it's no wonder many Democrats are turning the war into a political tool to bash the president; and it's no wonder that people like well-meaning but weary Jack Murtha have simply given up."

early in the piece he describes the Sunni and Shiite factions warring with each other and how the Iranians are itching to come to the aid of the Shiites, the Syranians, Saudis and "who else" coming in to aid the Sunnis . . . . . . . essentially a total civil war.

Is the "News" News? Rarely

Two reports in the media (maybe I should disregard it) illustrate why in many cases the "news" isn't news. In my world, news is supported by data or visual confirmation from independent sources . . . facts. But for many years, "news" organizations report opinions and beliefs as news more and more. A reporter observes or learns something from investigative research and then turns in his story to an editor who decides how to "make" it better and to check on the facts, etc. But if you've ever seen something happen and then read about it in the paper the next day, you know what I'm talking about.

Back to the reports in the media today . . . . The US military command in Iraq defended the practice of paying Iraqi news media to produce positive stories about US military efforts to bring stability to Iraq . . . . saying it was needed to counter falsehoods and propaganda from the opposition . . . hmmmm, if that's justifiable then what can we believe?

Then there's Superior Court Judge Llooyd Connelly, who recently ordered the Schwarzenegger's administration to remove a state-produced video that was intended to look like an objective news report from a state Web site. The Governator was using your tax dollars to promote a myth. Just another example of how promotions become "news". . . .

BE CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU READ AND DON'T THINK IT'S THE NEWS.

Sports Rage and How to Handle It

Some time ago there were some great letters in Sports Illustrated and this one said it the best . . . .

"On Sept 15, 2004 a soccer match between AS Roma and Dynamo Kiev was abandoned at halftime after a spectator in Rome's Olympic Stadium hit the referee on the head with a thrown object. The league ordered AS Roma to forfeit the game 3-0 and to play it's remaining two first-round home games in an empty stadium. If the NBA emulated this penalty, the loss of revenue might persuade teams to get serious about arena security."

I also think that certain violations need to be applied against the team rather than the individual, then you would have group pressure on each individual to act responsibly.

David Grissman mandolin Christmas

I've just uploaded a tune created by renowned mandolinist David Grissman. You can listen to it at my website by clicking on the "Merry Christmas" image

craigkincaid.com

Clark Foam closes

If you've ever bought a surfboard, Clark Foam probably made the blank that the shaper started with. But that will not be the case going forward because due to violations of safety and pollution regulations over the years that would have cost Clark millions of dollars to rectify, the company will close it's doors and lay off several hundred employees immediately.

Mac's vs PC's

My computer guru friend Dave Baldwin recently wrote . . . .
I have finally figured out the difference between Mac and PC users. Both actually have about the same amount of problems with their computers. The difference is that PC users are told that the PC is a pile of shit so they blame the machine and complain bitterly about it. Mac users are told that their machines are Wonderful so if (when) there is a problem, they assume it's their own fault and keep their mouths shut so they don't seem stupid. At that point, Mac users often turn away from the machine and find a different way to do what they need while PC users will beat on their machines until they work. Or break completely so they can go buy a New one.

need help with a computer or a fine guitar player . . . go to his website at Dave's Place

Earthquake Indicator

1. During the time of the 2003 Winter Solstice, the moon was in conjunction with the double alignment of the sun, earth and equator of the Milky Way along the Line of Solstices. This was the time of the San Simeon and Iranian earthquakes.
2. During the time of the 2004 Winter Solstice, the moon was again in conjunction with the double alignment. This was the time of the 9.0 Asian earthquake.
3. During the time of the 2005 Summer Solstice, the moon was again in conjunction with the double alignment and we had the offshore 7.2 California - Crescemt City earthquake.
4. During the 2010 Winter Solstice, the moon, sun, earth and equator of the Milky Way will all be in alignment along the Line of Solstices.

there are many earthquakes but this does seem to be an eiry "coincidence"

learn more about earthquakes at : wikipedia earthquakes list

Bastiat's Law

Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) was a French economist, statesman, and author. He did most of his writing during the years just before - and immediately following -- the Revolution of February 1848. This was the period when France was rapidly turning to complete socialism. As a Deputy to the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Bastiat was studying and explaining each socialist fallacy as it appeared. And he explained how socialism must inevitably degenerate into communism. But most of his countrymen chose to ignore his logic.

Learn more here Frederick Bastiat