Freezing Rain

is coming down now, and the trees look like they are candy coated in the street lights. I'm glad I don't have to go anywhere tomorrow.

Social Networking's Ugly Side

I think I've come to the conclusion that for all of its good, social networking allows a little too much information at times. It lets one see an ugly side of some people that normally wouldn't surface. Twice in the last few months, while looking around Facebook, I've stumbled on some acquaintance I thought highly of only to be shocked and somewhat disturbed by the language and opinions expressed on the person's Facebook profile.

I keep thinking: I'd have been better off without seeing that, thank you very much. I'm not sure why people feel that an alter ego “anonymous internet identity” works when one is using one's real name, but for some reason people do (this has, of course, be reported on in the media). I don't know — I'm quite conscious when I post here, or anywhere else on the internet, that as someone using my real name people I know in the life offline may see what I have to say. Facebook and sites like it, that link many people I know offline with my online presence further this connection even more. However, even if I didn't think people would tie Tim the Blogger with Tim the Person, is it really a good thing to act differently just because you don't think anyone will ever be able to identify you with your offline self?

Don't worry, it isn't anyone who is a regular commenter on asisaid or who is one of my Facebook friends that encouraged this little post. And, the people shall remain nameless who did.

Just in case you were all wondering...

…yes, I am very impressed with the new iPhone. I would love to try one. I was fairly certain whatever they came up with would not live up to the hype — the hype was so incredible — but I think this goes beyond the hype. It is about the only phone I can imagine that would make me consider moving away from Sony Ericsson's products.

Wow!

Hey, Steve, any chance I could get on your board so I too can have one ahead of time?

Diploma Fun

I was able to pick up my diploma yesterday. Not completely unsurprisingly, it had a nice big mistake on it. I had been told the university makes a lot of mistakes as far as printing honors on diplomas, so I checked that portion, only to have my eyes move up a bit and see the wrong major listed. Yikes!

Fortunately, they have a fancy-schmancy raised print printer on site, and they printed up a new diploma within a few minutes. Everything looks correct now.

The iPhone Conundrum

Steve Jobs is known for being able to pull a rabbit out of his hat fairly regularly – far more regularly, anyway, than almost any other CEO. Like most Mac users, Timothy Butler finds himself anxiously awaiting the likely announcement of the Apple phone tomorrow. That people are excited would seem to be a good thing. But, given the amount and kind of hype, could it be that Apple is faced with demand for something it cannot provide? Read more on Open for Business.

Saturday Six on Sunday

From Patrick's Weekender.

1. Are you hoping to lose weight, gain weight or stay the same weight by the end of 2007?
I wouldn't mind losing, say, five pounds. Just a little. Primarily, though, I think I'd like to trade some fat for muscle, but I'm not much for exercise, so… But, my arms look too thin, and remind me of “J. Alfred Prufrock:”

My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,
My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin—
[They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!”]

2. Now that Saddam Hussein has been executed, are you more worried or less worried about possible terror attacks?
More worried. I think it was a very bad decision performed very badly. They should have drawn out the process so that it didn't look like they were rushing to execute him before somebody stopped them. Once they finally took him to an execution chamber, the procedure should have been a modern, humane one; moreover, it should have been conducted in an orderly fashion without chants, cell phones recording video or any other nonsense. If they wanted a record of the event, there should have been one official camera that would have recorded footage that was classified and not made available publicly.

Had they done all thing, would I be less worried about terrorism? Maybe not a lot, but I think it would have done some to persuade those on the edge that we are the bad guys.

3. Who was the last performer you heard sing on television? Did you sing along?
Harry Connick Jr. and no I did not sing along.

4. Take the quiz: What is your career personality?

Your Career Personality: Brainy, Logical, and Efficient

Your Ideal Careers: Archeologist Astronomer Book editor Business manager Civil engineer Designer Economist Inventor Judge Scientist

5. Of the listed careers, which is the most appealing?
(1) Economist, (2) Inventor.

I love economics, as any long time asisaid reader would know.

6. Of the listed careers, which is the least appealing?
Civil engineer. I'm not much of an engineering type (I'd rather spend my time lingering with language than calculating figures), and I don't like bureaucracy. I think I'm perhaps a tad odd in that I can do science/math-related things pretty well, but I'm not happy doing them — I'd much rather stick to creativity (and humanities in general). I can relate to those who are engineers and think like engineers — indeed, I can get my mind to shift into an engineering “mode” that will drive some of my creative minded friends crazy — I just know I wouldn't want to be an engineer… I'd probably end up even more crazy than I already am.

(If I fit into the sciences at all, it would be in social sciences, not the hard sciences.)

Still Tired...

…and I just spent the last hour writing an e-mail about deconstruction, non-overlapping magisterium, Karl Barth, Al-Ghazali, Paul Tillich, and definitions of religion, so I don't think I have anything left to post tonight. Maybe tomorrow?

Tired, but Pleased

One thing led to another, and what was suppose to be a small job today at church preparing the network infrastructure for the big office move tomorrow turned into the big office move today. All the computers are setup once again inside the main building rather than in a house across the street (where they've been for the last 21 or so months), a new wireless network is starting to go into place, and a new methodology for the naming of computers and static internal IP assignment has been implemented.

It was a lot more work than I expected to do today, but it was better than doing it tomorrow, and I had a lot of fine help to make the task actually manageable. It only took about ten hours. Woohoo!

It's a Marshmallow World!

For some reason, I have Dean Martin's rendition of “It's a Marshmallow World” stuck in my head. Yes, many of you have turned off the Christmas music — I know — but this is more “winter music” anyway. And, last I checked, this is the beginning of winter. So there.

It's a marshmallow world in the winter,
When the snow comes to cover the ground,
It's the time for play, it's a whipped-cream day,
I wait for it the whole year round.
These marshmallow clouds being friendly,
In the arms of the evergreen trees,
And the sun is red like a pumpkin head,
It's shining so your nose won't freeze.

The world is your snowball, see how it grows,
Thats how it goes, whenever it snows,
The world is your snowball just for a song,
Get out and roll it along.

It's a yum-yummy world made for sweethearts,
Take a walk with your favorite girl,
It's a sugar date, what if spring is late,
In winter, it's a marshmallow world.

11:55

What an interesting time. Just five minutes before a new day, yet the day is still full of potential… I could even write a long post. I could, but then it wouldn't be 11:55 any longer. Actually, now it is 11:56. G'night!