Day Twenty-Six (of 30) Cop Out

I'm running out of new and unique topics, and I've gotten behind on this project over this weekend. It's been a busy week, and with a deadline at work on Wednesday, it's not about to slow down. So, what can I discuss that's new? A ha!

Blogger. This blog is published on Blogger, formerly known as Blogspot, and now owned and operated by Google. I am constantly impressed that they can continue to offer the tool for free considering that they are still regularly updating the functionality. The most recent update adds new backgrounds and themes, so you can more easily update or customize the look of your blog.

Did you know that you can post to a Blogger blog from a normal cell phone? It's true. You can also add contributors with limited permissions, and the list of "gadgets" continues to grow. If you start to build a list of followers, you could convert that readership into some money by using Google AdSense. You can even stylize the ads to work seamlessly into your blog design.

I have a WordPress account and have built web sites in HTML and using various tools, but Blogger is, by far, the easiest and most robust tool I've found. Build your own!

Day Twenty-Five (of 30) Clockhammer

Back in 1991, I worked at a small, independent record store in DeKalb, IL known as Record Revolution. It was a great time to work in a record store; so many bands released seminal records that year. I mean, Metallica put out their Black Album, Nirvana released Nevermind, My Bloody Valentine launched their masterpiece Loveless, and the list goes on.

That record store moved from a smaller strip mall spot to a larger one, and while we were moving bins, I found a Clockhammer CD (Klinefelter) promo under one of them. Literally slipped through the cracks. My first run-through had me scratching my head. Were they rock? Alternative? Jazz? This smooth-yet-frequently-heavy power trio from Nashville didn't fit into any of the genres of the day.

Well, they're still in my regular rotation after all these years. Maybe fitting a genre isn't as important as just making the music in your head.

Here are a couple of samples of their songs:



And a link to a site where their final album is available for download:
http://p-l-m.blogspot.com/2006/10/clockhammer-so-much-for-you-1994.html

Enjoy!

Day Twenty-Four (of 30) Moms (A Tribute)

This is another sad day. The second sad day in a week for me. Last Friday, I visited my old friend Dave at his mother's wake. I hadn't seen him in 20 years, and it felt like no time had passed at all. Except, of course, for the realization that it did, and we were at his mother's wake.

I remembered her from my formative days. His mom made Kool-Aid and pizza for us on our day-long bike excursions. She watched out for him, she watched out for me, and I found out at the funeral home, she watched out for pretty much everyone she knew. All around, she was one of the nicest people I've ever met.

This evening, I will attend another wake, memorializing my friend Devin's mom. Devin is a current and ongoing friend and I've known his mom for a long time, now. She was his biggest groupie, that's for sure. She was another force of good in the world, also gone too soon.

I have seen people struggle with life and make things harder for themselves, but that doesn't describe Nancy. Maybe before I met her that was the case (don't know), but her kids were all grown up by the time she came to the first Magnificent Ambersons gig (and screamed for a guitar solo) with me in the band. She was always, always nice to me. And she was ebullient at Rachael's wedding:


Overall, Dave and Devin were very lucky to have had the mothers they did for so many years. On the eve of a fairly significant birthday, I consider myself very, very lucky, too.

Hi, mom.

Day Twenty-Three (of 30) Dr. Demento!

While I was never a hard-core, regular listener, I have been aware of the good Dr. throughout the years. I was, in fact, aware that he launched Weird Al Yankovic. I remember Barnes and Barnes quite vividly, and I remember when Steve Dahl (local DJ) got some national play thanks to Herr Demento.

I also know that radio is in the middle of a terrible shift toward lowest common denominator music and talk - stuff that will people tuned in, but for the least amount of money. Talent is irrelevant for a disc jockey these days; most music is pre-programmed and most stations are owned by the same companies that press the records/CDs/MP3s. Imagine the uproar over payola. How quaint.

I did not know that Dr. Demento's real name is Barret Hansen, or that his radio show started the year I was born. I am saddened to hear that he's leaving the air waves. Here's what has happened in his words:

"Stations that call themselves Top 40 usually play a particular style of music aimed at women aged 18 to 30," Demento says, "and The Dr. Demento Show, for some reason, has not tested too well in focus groups among that particular demographic."

That's from a post describing the Morning Edition piece about him. Gone are the days of rebel and pirate radio. The new era gives us uncharted internet terrain that corporations can't quite wrangle yet. They'll catch up, but let's hope we squeeze a few new Dr. Dementos out before that happens. In the meantime, look for Dr. Demento on this brave new frontier.

Day Twenty-Two (of 30) More Beer

The payoff for all of the driving we did this weekend was a pair of New Glarus six packs, and a pack of Unplugged Enigma (specialty brew). So far, I've only tried the Moon Man, and it's delicious. It's a pale ale that has a hoppy twang to it, but it's less intense than an IPA. It is to IPA what 312 is to a hefeweiss. If you get that comparison, you should have a pretty solid idea of what it's like.

 

I'm looking forward to trying the Honey Bock (Cabin Fever) and a second shot at Enigma. (I just read the description and remembered that it took all four bottles to actually begin to appreciate it last year, but then it was gone.)

Of course, the real payoff this weekend was seeing our friends and family and receiving a bunch of nice, thoughtful gifts for our son. The beer is just the icing on the cake. Okay, the icing on the cake was the icing on the cake - the beer is the cherry on top.

Day Twenty-One (of 30) Sunscreen

In my quest to be more conscientious about what I consume, I have tried to veer away from mass-produced chemical garbage and toward locally-manufactured, simpler goods. Yes, I am aware that "green" and "natural" are mostly marketing terms and stuff is frequently less "green" and "natural" than you'd think, despite the label.

So, how do you protect yourself? It helps to do a little research. It also helps to prepare yourself to spend more money on things you might have taken for granted in the past. One example for me has been deodorant. I have traditionally used Mitchum antiperspirant/deodorant to keep my natural odors at bay. In reading a few articles on potential effects of aluminum in deodorant, then a number of suggestions for alternatives, I ended up with an expensive stick of deodorant called Nickel.

It's $19, but it lasted me for the whole winter. Since I'm less prone to heavy sweating in the winter, this actually saved me money, and gave my pits a bit of a break. Extra bonus - I really liked the scent.

Of course, your mileage may vary, and it's a big leap of faith to spend $20 on one container of deodorant. On the other hand, Mitchum would irritate my skin on occasion, and that's ended since I started using Nickel.

Another thing I apply liberally to my skin in the summer is sun screen. I have heard about the dangers of deet in bug spray (effectively coats your skin in sticky poison), but never gave a thought to sun screen. Luckily, the folks at the Environmental Working Group (EWG) have done some research. I couldn't find any obvious links to corporate entities in a cursory search, and I'd still take these studies with a grain of salt. But, if they're legit, it's only a few more dollars to get sun screens they deem to be safer. 

One Whole Foods store in our area sold out of all of the top sun screens the day this study went out to the public. Here's the study, and I've already purchased the Badger sun screen as a result. I can say that it's a bit thick and takes some effort to apply, but once it's on, it's not really noticeable.

Bottom line: I like the information they gathered and explained in the study. I like the product they tout as "safest" and I like the fact that a smaller company who still manufactures stuff in the US ultimately gets my money.

Day Twenty (of 30) Swedish Days

If you live in the Chicagoland area, it might be worth your while to head out to Geneva this week. Swedish Days is a long-running festival where you can sample a number of traditional foods, check out a parade, or buy stuff in the shops on Third Street. There are a number of other events planned during the fest, too.

I highly recommend the Swedish pancakes on Saturday morning, the meatball sandwiches with lingonberries, and (oddly enough) the crab pasta at Chianti's on Third. Oh, and gelato at Graham's is a must; get the coconut!

Day Nineteen (of 30) Wisconsin State Fair

It seems true that time heals all wounds. I have, in the past, despised Bret Michaels. Multiple times, even. First, he was the lead singer of a band I actively disliked. Then, years later, he was the focus of a television show where a number of trashy women competed in exploitative contests to win his favor (and I'm fairly sure he was married at the time). Whatever; there are open marriages and I shouldn't judge. (So I usually just avoid, instead.)

Well, curiosity caused me to watch the Celebrity Apprentice this season, but to see how awkward Rod Blagojevich would be in front of a camera (even with producers and editors behind it). An unexpected side effect is that I actually grew to like Bret Michaels, who ultimately won. He cried when he got the news that his daughter might have type 1 diabetes like he does. He actually died during the run of the show but came back in time for the live finale episode. Most importantly, he worked really, really hard. I can't believe he's hard up for money, so he must just have that work ethic, which I can appreciate.



You're probably wondering what any of this has to do with the title of this post. Well, guess who is headlining on the big Saturday night slot of the fair. Yep, Bret Michaels. Do I like him enough to sit through a whole set of Poison songs? Hell no. I'll be enjoying some cheese on a stick and a beer in the International Pavilion.

Day Eighteen (of 30) What a Week

I've been trying to keep the posts for this 30-day project contained to one topic that I either have learned about or would like you to learn about each day. This post will be scattershot, and it'll explain why. If you check the title, then the date, you'll see that I've fallen behind. At this writing, I plan to have things back on track by tonight, but I'm not sure that's realistic.

Wednesday, via Facebook, I learned from a life-long friend that his mom had died. She had been in the hospital once or twice in recent years with liver issues, but this time she had gone in to get a heart valve replaced. Apparently, her liver couldn't clear the chemicals used for anesthetic, and she just never woke up.

Anyhow, the wake was on Friday. My plan was to go early, say hello to my friend (whom I haven't seen in person in many years), and then head out rather quickly. I really do not like wakes or funerals. My plan was foiled when, as I was shutting down my computer, the tornado warning announcement blasted out through the P.A. system at work.

The whole company has to occupy two large meeting rooms and a few hallway areas on the first floor in the case of a tornado. Ten or twelve guys were waiting it out in the bathroom, reasoning that the air conditioning cycled better in there and there was a smaller crowd. At the end of the main hallway, we could see the storm that had come on so quickly violently attacking the trees outside. The flow of rain was a furious sideways, and even went up against the glass.

I guess the wind was clocked at 70 mph. It was as though I stopped my car on the highway and I still needed the fast wipers. So much for leaving early.

At this point, I figured I had to go home and check for any damage. Based on the dark red crescent on the radar (which reached from way south of here to the Wisconsin border), it was very possible, and my lovely wife was just starting her shift as a nurse in a different county.

Well, when I got home, I saw village municipal vehicles at the end of the block, near our house. It could only be my house - that's my luck. Turns out it wasn't bad; a tree in the easement between my house and my neighbor's lost a larger limb. Might kill the tree over time, but neither of us is concerned about that.


This was under control by the time I got there, so I fed the dogs and hopped back in the car. As I drove back toward the city, I noticed another wave of black in the rear view mirror.

The wake was sad, subdued, and very elegant - suitable for my friend's mom. I was glad to have gone, but it was time to head home. I turned on the radio right away, and sure enough, the second wave of storms was heading East. I'd be driving directly into it.

This storm carried only 50 mph winds, but I was driving into them at 60. This one was a far more electrical storm with a lot more rain. Suffice to say, I'm glad we got new tires last Fall.

That was just Friday.

Day Seventeen (of 30) Shows You May Have Missed

These are some samples of excellent shows that I love that get very little attention. I'm pretty sure they're all NSFW.

Archer (FX): Man - if you like juvenile humor delivered by one of the premier voices of snark in our generation (Dr. Katz's son!), this show is for you. It's a cartoon, but it's NOT for kids. It's not as blatantly lowest-common-denominator as South Park or scatological as Aqua Teen Hunger Force, but it is unexpected and consistently funny.


Children's Hospital (WB online): We're hitting new depths of depravity; thank goodness for the healing power of laughter! I am not sure how Rob Corddry got this hosted by Warner Bros. - even the web version - but it is hilarious.


Between Two Ferns With Zach Galifianakis (Funny or Die): The most uncomfortable celebrity talk show you'll ever see. Some of the guests get violent. Zach is our generation's Andy Kaufman.

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis: Michael Cera from Between Two Ferns

One more thing - if you've never seen Shakes the Clown, somehow a site called Crackle has it for free right here. It's the Citizen Kane of alcoholic clown movies.

Day Sixteen (of 30): Roc the Myna

A few years ago, I was on the hunt for a program that would manipulate images. I was making fliers for the band, designing web pages, and other stuff. I didn't have the skill or knowledge to justify paying for Photoshop, and I eventually found GIMP, which has served my needs nicely.

Not long after finding GIMP, I was able to get on a beta trial for a new, web-based image editing program from a company called Aviary (called Phoenix). They had a number of future projects planned (all named after types of birds), including one for mixing music (Myna). This was intriguing.

Years later, after a few other tools were released and Avi's (proprietor) kid was born, Myna was released, and now, within the past few days, Roc (music creation tool) is also up and running. So, at the moment, you have the ability and tools to edit, mark up, select colors and special effects for images and vector drawings. You can also create and mix/edit music - all FOR FREE!

Not only is the price right, but the big difference between Aviary tools and Photoshop, GIMP, Audacity, or other tools is that these reside online. There's even free space allotted to store your stuff. You can share work or not, and most significantly, you can collaborate with friends!

Check it out - and share your work with the class!

Day Fifteen (of 30) Music Software

Ten years ago, I was sharing a cubicle with my pal Keith. We were both nerds, very into music, and ready to compare notes on music and the software we used to enjoy it. I was into the "less is more" school of thought, so I loved Winamp for listening to music and making playlists of songs for different moods. I used another program to "rip" or extract audio from CDs, called Audiograbber. (Still around, I see.) I liked both because they easily and effectively did exactly what I wanted them to do.

Keith, on the other hand, had studied user interfaces for a living for a few years. He was not intimidated by menus and preferred options and preferences to presets. He was using a program called MusicMatch Jukebox to not only play his music, but to tag his MP3s, rip CDs, normalize volume across songs, and much more. Needless to say, since it was free, I was an immediate convert, even purchasing the "lifetime upgrade" option a few years later.

It really was sweet software - you could edit the MP3 tags on one song or a batch at a time. You could get the basics from the file name or MM would search Gracenote (music tag database, previously called CDDB) for the closest match. If you got songs in some odd format but your portable player only accepted MP3, you could convert them in MM very easily. For any kind of encoding (ripping, converting), you could always set the parameters for the finished product. Then Yahoo! bought MusicMatch.

Like Lala.com, there was an overture by the purchasing company to bring MM customers aboard the Yahoo! Music service. I didn't want recommendations from the record companies. More importantly, the Yahoo! player had almost none of the options I mentioned in the previous paragraph. It was a joke, really, and a double whammy since I realized that the "lifetime upgrades" only lasted a year and a half.

(Then the whole Lala.com to Apple, Inc. thing happened - old wounds opened again, but I digress.)

More recently, I've been looking for similar software to wrangle my ever burgeoning music collection. I want good-quality rips at high bit rates for archive-quality backups. I'd like to be able to even out varying volume levels when burning a CD or listening to my collection. I'd like to have some help with tagging songs I have neglected in the past, and I'm not interested in paying any more monthly/annual/lifetime fees. There are some excellent individual options (EAC for ripping, Songbird or VLC or Foobar2000 for playing) but I liked having one program to do it all.

Media Monkey (MM?!) is pretty much all of that under one roof again. It has done 15+ super-clean album rips and two format conversions for me so far. It uses FreeDB (no charge, unlike Gracenote), has excellent organizational options, and is skinnable. In fact, I found one skin that looks excellent on the television in the living room. Clear and easy to read.

Keith would dig it. (You might, too.)

Day Fourteen (of 30) Kega Kega Kega!

Do you miss NHLPA '93 Hockey? How about Sonic the Hedgehog? Or one of my nearly unknown guilty pleasures - Gain Ground? Well, if you haven't fired up the 16-bit Sega Genesis in a while, you don't need to scour ebay for a deal. You need Kega.

Not only does Kega emulate the old Genesis (and other Sega platforms) the way MAME emulates arcade games, but it also opens up the possibility of online game play. I'm talking head to head Sega hockey over the internet!

To avoid legal complications, the emulator is not delivered with games ("ROMs" in emulator parlance), but those are easy enough to find separately. I recommend searching Google for the name of the game you want. Another warning - lots of ROM sites are riddled with adware and other crapola. Be careful out there.

Also, if you get this up and running and want to try out some games over the intertubes, let me know!

Day Thirteen (of 30) Tall Grass Captains

The wife and I motored out to the country to congratulate our friends Mark and Lynn on her scholastic achievement (and general awesomeness) and the release of his most recent CD.

Under the moniker Tall Grass Captains, Mark has been herding his wide berth of friends into a much more focused sonic experience. His last album sounded like a greatest hits attempt, where each song stood on its merits, but were not necessarily related to each other. For In The Resistance (2010 Ubique Records), he seems to have had the entire record in mind at the start of the process.

This is the kind of music that is difficult to describe, although American Underground (CDbaby tag, I presume) is probably as solid an option as any. It's clearly rock; if you're averse to layered vocals, jaunty riffs, or atmospheric guitar solos, you're probably better off with your collection of pan flute classics. That said, I can't be sure Mark didn't employ a pan flute.

Live, the sparser three-piece setup was simpler, but also seemed to follow the aesthetic of the record; it's focused. More than one person on Friday night noted that it sounded like a lot more than three of them on stage. Less can, indeed, be more.

My description probably doesn't help with understanding how they sound, so here's a sampler, straight from the Ubique site:





Congrats, Mark and Lynn.

Day Twelve (of 30) Vans Vault

If you like shoes like I do, there are certain brand names that carry a style and a certain amount of nostalgia. Vans shoes have withstood the test of time and are still iconic American shoes. In fact, an entire industry has grown just by imitating Vans.

The original Vans store opened in Anaheim, CA, in 1966. You would order the type of shoe you wanted and they would make them for you - same day. Throughout the 70s, you could get custom-made shoes, and even bring in different fabrics or items to incorporate and personalize your shoes.

These days, Vans are as popular as ever, and you can buy the classics or customize your own classics online. Or, you can try to locate the super-exclusive Vans Vault collections.

Vans Vault is a small, limited run of shoes, typically designed by a famous artist and only sold in a handful of retail stores. The only web-based store where I've seen the Vault shoes is Ubiq, but good luck getting a popular size.

I managed to get my hands on a pair from the Robt. Williams Vault collection a few years back, minus the t-shirt and fancy box shown here:

(Image borrowed from Streething.com)

Day Eleven (of 30) Raman You Don't Eat

My company designs and manufactures the equipment that consolidates many lower-bandwidth signals (phone calls, data traffic) into fiber optic pipelines for efficient transport.

From your house, or single phone line, you are tied into your neighborhood trunk line, which is then combined with other neighborhood trunk lines, into a single optical fiber in the central office (CO - usually a small, square building with no windows). We make the gear that transfers traffic from one CO to another CO, so you can imagine we need a medium that will allow for all of those consolidated, individual phone/data lines.

Fiber optic cabling is simply super-pure glass surrounded by reflective cladding and a protective outer layer. To move data through it, a laser fires light waves at one end and the waves are measured at the other end to receive the information. It would be nearly impossible to shoot the laser in a straight line through a cable, and so the reflective cladding allows it to bounce around on its way to the destination.

As you can imagine, there are lots of opportunities for the signal to degrade along the way. It will fade over a long enough distance, it can come apart with lots of refraction. One way to correct that refraction is to employ a Raman laser, which is aimed against the stream, and basically negates the secondary (refracted) light waves, leaving a more pure signal.

Why did I waste a post on all of this nerd talk? Because when I learned about the Raman laser, I looked it up in Wikipedia and found out that this state-of-the-art correction technique was actually developed in 1928 by a gentleman named Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman.

Crazy!

Day Ten (of 30) The Blackhawks!!!

I remember the crushing disappointment in 1992 when the Hawks looked nearly unbeatable, and then they got swept by the Penguins in the finals. I do not remember when they won the cup in 1961 because I wasn't born yet. Yesterday, I saw Bobby Hull from that 1961 team, and Jeremy Roenick from that 1992 team get emotional after the Hawks won.

Today is a good day for the Blackhawks, the city of Chicago, the lifelong fans, and a few of my friends who have never wavered in their support for all the crappy teams that garnered the draft picks that culminated in a Stanley Cup Champion.

I'm not a die-hard fan, but I got emotional, too.

*MP3: Chicago Blackhawks Fight Song - The Fratellis - “Chelsea Dagger”

(Gratuitously lifted from Minnesota Fucking Rocks. Let me know if you want me to remove the link, fellas.)

Day Nine (of 30) Rays and Badgers

I guess it stands to reason that the stuff we slather all over our skin for protection from the sun can also cause trouble. We scrutinize everything else we ingest or expose ourselves to - why not sun screen?

Good, a blog/web magazine I enjoy, just posted about the toxicity of different kinds of sun screen. They cite a new study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG). I'm not sure just how credible EWG really is, nor do I know if they are affiliated with any of the companies they rank. However, it sure seems like the best of the best is Badger.

I picked some up today and learned that since this report hit the web, Badger products have been flying out the door faster than they can stock them. If the sun screen works well on its own, I'll try the combination bug and sun screen. This has the potential to make summer bearable.

As an aside: there's an ongoing debate about whether organic foods really make any difference in your health. I don't care - it makes me feel better to know there weren't extra chemicals added. Same thing with bug balm and sun screen - I won't hesitate to rub some Badger on our baby.

Day Eight (of 30) DIPA

Double India Pale Ale. To the uninitiated, this probably sounds like a secret code to enter a private beer club. To the initiated, salivation has probably already begun.

India Pale Ales are not for the weak of taste bud. Double connotes that the style is well, twice as awesome. Those things together are great, but putting them in an extra-large bottle (22 oz.) takes it right over the edge.

Turns out one of the most flavorful IPAs I've ever had was brewed right down the street from my office. Two Brothers Brewing started a tradition last year by creating a limited run DIIPA called Hop Juice (named for the insanely strong flavor of the feature ingredient in this beer).

It's only in stores for a limited time, and it runs out very quickly, so I plan to attend their launch party (For the Love of Hops Festival: 2010) to secure myself a few bottles. If I can find parking.

If you're a lover of the hops, and you think you'll go, drop me a line. Maybe the VIP tickets would be worth it...

Day Seven (of 30) Cagney & Isles & Starbucks

Looks like Conan O'Brien and I have something in common. We're both heading to TNT. You can catch my lovely wife and me in the Boston marathon chase scene of an episode of the upcoming "Rizzoli & Isles". She's the tough, no-nonsense Starbucks veteran and I play her dashing and resourceful sidekick.

Sure, you'll probably need an HD signal and extremely good slow motion, and possibly some anti-blur software, but there we'll be - realistically sipping coffee and eating fruit on the sidewalk. Sure, Rizzoli and Isles will be sprinting through a marathon crowd to catch a killer, but we were heavily scrutinized by our barista for what he undoubtedly considered "Gap couture" just minutes before our scene.



We woke early to shouts from the street. Every now and then (fairly early in the morning, too) we'd hear someone yell very loudly. We thought it was just a typical Sunday morning in L.A. Turns out there really was a film set with a few camera cars, tons of gear, and probably 75-100 extras in running gear.

We opted to sit outside with the stuff we got at Starbucks and watch. We had the option to stay and possibly be in a shot or move ("if you don't want to be a blur in the background, you need to go inside the store"). My lovely wife said "I should play up the pregnancy" and unzipped her jacket - just in case they needed a quick scene where a pregnant lady is helped out by Isles (the nice one).

Looks like we're actually going to beat Conan to TNT (assuming we're not edited out) as our show premieres on Monday, July 12 (9 pm Central). Here's a preview of the series:



I plan to only see our scene (and nothing more).

Day Five (of 30): Chocolate Touch

I might have been hasty in my panning of this phone. I wrote this post on it with a $10 data plan (from L.A.).

Day Four (of 30) Forbidden Island

Our friend Matt happens to be a world-renowned game (and user interface) designer. You might be aware of his older game called Pandemic.

You are probably not aware that my wife stood up in his wedding; some of my favorite pictures of the two of us are from then. You're probably even less likely to know that he once formatted my resume for me!

This new game looks even more like my kind of fun. I've not played it yet, but it's ordered.

Day Three (of 30): BP=Brain Problems

By now you're probably keenly aware of the British Petroleum oil leak spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. What might have flown under your radar is the fact that six people have died from brain cancer after working in BP's Naperville, IL campus.

This is less than a mile from my office, and I knew something was up when they started demolishing the uniquely styled building. Apparently, the mystery as to what caused the cancer is still intact even though the building is not.

Considering the more prevalent news about BP, I can see why this isn't front page stuff, but it's something to consider.

Even though my goal for this 30 Days project is to enlighten, I have some lingering questions about all of this.

1. How many of the chemicals BP develops are potentially cancer-causing?
2. How can they still be struggling to cap a pipe?
3. Why are they not the world's foremost experts in cleaning up oil leaks by now?
4. When they pull thousands of gallons of oil from one spot, there must be a displacement. What is the impact of other materials filling in the gap where the oil was?

Day Two (of 30) - Unlocking a Cell Phone

Today, I learned that you can unlock an old phone and use it with a different carrier. The techie part of it is easy, but getting to that point is not.

Case in point - I have a co-worker who needs a new phone. I have an old phone but from a different carrier. Her provider (AT&T) uses the same sim card as my old provider (T-Mobile).

A sim card is a small memory device that stores your information (phone settings, personal info, phone book, etc.) and makes swapping phones fairly easy - as long as you swap with a phone from the same provider. If you try to add an AT&T sim card to a phone purchased from T-Mobile, you get a message asking for an unlock code. The full term for this is the "subsidy unlock code" for the record.

In my quest to not only find a use for the phone (instead of recycling it - it was expensive!), I tried to find the subsidy unlock code for this particular model online. That's not how it works. Each phone has an IMEI code (like a VIN number on a car) that is unique to the phone. The service provider (T-Mobile in this case) sets this code, so you have to go to them for the subsidy unlock code.

I used the T-Mobile customer service chat function on the web site. I find this to be more efficient than a phone call most times, because I can work while I wait for help. Also, I have no trouble understanding typed words, but I digress. Turns out that T-Mobile cannot give me the subsidy unlock code even though I have the IMEI code for the phone because I don't have the proof of purchase from eight years ago when I bought it nor do I have a current T-Mobile account.

To save you some time if you end up in the same situation, they cannot escalate the issue to a manager, and they cannot find your old account information if you've been gone for a while. What you need to do is find anyone with a current T-Mobile account and lie. The customer service person I chatted with was courteous and professional, but this entire snafu reminds me of why I switched away from T-Mobile in the first place.

There's another way to get the codes, but it requires me to send the IMEI code to a shady web site along with $25. No thanks.

So, the lessons for day two: Sim cards are handy, but keep all of your receipts for everything. Also, T-Mobile can kiss my ass.

30 Days Project

This is probably ill-advised considering my real projects include finally cleaning the basement, setting up the baby's room, and some travel where I might not have access to the internet. My goal will be to do one post per day where I discuss something useful I did or learned.

Where possible, I'll try to add photos or other corroboration.

First day is all about the pie I made. I got some organic yams over the long weekend with the intention of cooking them on the grill (still might). At some point yesterday, I thought it might be interesting to see how complicated a sweet potato pie recipe might be. Turns out it's not complicated at all. In fact, the only ingredient we didn't have was nutmeg.

So, I picked up some nutmeg and got to work. A few things I learned along the way:

1. I don't need a Chumby. Paper works just fine.
2. Reggae versions of Radiohead songs are an ideal cooking soundtrack.
3. Sweet potato pie is very much like pumpkin pie. (I guess I knew that but hadn't thought about it.)

Here are the final results:



I am convinced that I could have used a pound of tofu instead of sweet potato and it still would have been delicious. Sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, eggs, and milk do the leg work.