What I really want from Google
So everyone knows who Google is. I even one a single share of their stock.
They are constantly updating and adding knew products and ways to use their platform. But the thing I really want from them seems to be lacking.
When I go to google.com (which I do for 99.99% of everything I search for) and type in a search query I am returned a list of results. The list is ordered based on Google's algorithms and each result has a few summary lines highlighting the text which matches my search string.
To this point we're good. The next logical step is to scan those results and click on one which I think best matches my search intent. And here is the breakdown that I want Google to fix. I want to click on that link and be taken to the point in the web page which has the text which matches my search string. Often I find myself having to manually scan the page to find the relevant bit of information which the search told me would be there.
So Google, if you are listening, how about it?
Mayor Daley is right, Chicago does not have a gun problem…
...it has a people wanting to harm and kill other people problem.
And I have decided to refine my thoughts some more before finalizing them on here...
I’m such a contradiction
I've been thinking about this for awhile and just haven't had time to commit anything to 'paper' yet.
The title of this web space is in Latin and I think fitting; however, when Latin is used at Mass I cringe and rebel. An obvious first question is why the dichotomy? Why does it feel right in this place but not in the other where it dominated for centuries?
Unfortunately, I'll have to return to answer these at a later time. Life beckons else where for the moment.
Rest in Peace Stephanie
My friend Stephanie died today. She's the 3rd friend/relative to die in the last year and 2 months.
I knew her for less than 3 years but we shared a passion for the Cubs. Part of me wants to say more but really there isn't anything much else. My prayer is that she is no longer so lonesome.
loving the web
My wife will criticize me for saying so, but I love the internet. Okay, maybe I don't love it in the sense that I love my wife and daughters, but I like to a great extent.
And why?
Simply put, visit the 'Stuff I Like' page and that's why I'm so enamored with the web. There is so much knowledge at anyone' finger tips. I can seek out art of various sorts, literature, engineering; you name it and it's out there on the web for your education.
For example, I want to learn how to program computers. Well, the internet holds keys to learning many different programming languages. It has allowed me to research different languages, learn a little bit about how they work and what is required to code in them. And you know what, I found one I like.
With Twitter I can follow thoughts and ideas from friends, random people, celebrities, pro athletes and even presidents of major countries.
The really amazing part though is that I get to contribute my own thoughts to the web consciousness.
I have a number of books that I would characterize as 'favorites' and two of those are very appropriate to this topic. Friday by Robert Heinlein and Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman.
In Friday, Heinlein places the title character Friday Jones in a situation where her job is to sit all day and research different historical trends and happenings and their origins, etc. She uses a 'terminal' linked to a vast library of data for her research. Basically, Heinlein conceptualizes the web and its phenomenal power to deliver knowledge and the ability to manipulate that knowledge for one's own purposes. A conception which I must say was well before his time and yet very accurately depicts what we have now.
Forever Peace may be in a tie for my favorite book. As a writer Haldeman is all over the place and as often disappoints me as enamors me but Forever Peace is solid throughout. Not to reveal much of the plot, the basic resolution of the story hinges on a way to unite human thought through implanted data ports that connect human minds at a fundamental level such that all thoughts are shared and all knowledge accessible by anyone connected to the network. Haldeman takes this 'web of minds' as I'll call it a few steps further and posits that if people are connected to each others' psyches for long enough we will no longer be able to harm others as we'll effectively be harming ourselves.
As much as I connect with the characters, story and resolution of Forever Peace I'm not sure that I would want to share my inner most thoughts with everyone. As much as I believe in openness and don't really believe states should keep secrets I am ultimately a private person and keep my cards very close to my chest, this website not withstanding.
And of course my favorite feature of the web, the ability to find people who you once knew but have lost. If you want more insight into my feelings on the matter, check out this post.
For the Kids
So I realized that the last post may have come across as a little bit selfish.
As I reflect on it, it is entirely selfish and nothing more. And in truth, that is almost all I am.
But not quite.
So who am I really? Deep down I am a completely selfish person but my selfishness is tempered by many selfless acts.
So I have come to a decision. (Brother, if you read this, we should talk.) I must find a way to do all which is selfish in that post but in a selfless way.
(This is where you come in my brother.) One of the things my brother and I have discussed doing is to create a non-profit foundation in honor of our father. I think the Thomas B. Stubblefield Foundation has a nice ring to it.
So my goal (after creating the foundation) is to raise 5 million dollars. And how you may ask do I plan to do that?
I'm going to create a fly-a-thon. If I can fly 3 million miles and people pledge 1.66 dollars per mile there's our 5 mil. But of course that doesn't take into account the actual ticket cost. If I fly at an average of 6 cents per mile I'll need about 180 thousand dollars just for air fare. So if we're still relying on individual donations that's about 1.73 per mile to fully finance the effort internally. But, then there's credit card processing fees, administrative fees, etc, etc. So, let's make it an even 2 dollars per person.
Don't get me wrong I'm still open to corporate donations. I really think the pair of Birkenstocks that traveled 3 million miles would make an awesome marketing image.
Money aside it would be awesome to fly around the world and meet groups of people who have donated to the effort and to get their picture up on the foundation site and to find out some of the stories that drive them.
I'd love to bring the world together for a few select causes. My brother may differ with me on which items to support with the foundation but here are my initial thoughts:
- ALS research
- Diabetes research
- Space Exploration
- Support for mothers in need
- Some sort of scholarship fund
1 million dollars to each of those groups would be awesome. And while trying to make that happen I could have a little adventure along the way. I count that as a win win.
Did I mention that I hate the phrase 'action steps?' In case you missed it, "I hate the phrase 'action steps!'" Because of that hatred it will not get used here, but if it were used the appropriate next step would be to take action to form the foundation. Then would come the time to drum up support for my 3 million miles flown around the world. If you're interested, Wolfram|Alpha tells us that flying 3 million miles is equivalent to flying around the world 120.5 times. Or of 10 million 924 thousand Sears towers stacked foot to antenna, or 1 million 764 thousand golden gate bridges end to end, or 12 times between the earth and the moon, or ..., you get the picture. It's really freakin far and I want to do it!
Bill Gates (of Microsoft and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) recently spoke at the University of Chicago about the need to balance personal success with bigger picture issues. Click here to read some of the questions asked of him during an open forum.
I mention this now because I think it fits well with what Gates has in mind. Tackling big issues in our world will take crazy ideas, and guess what, this idea is pretty darn crazy.
So let's do it. Who's with me?
$5,180.47
The amount of money it will take for me to earn "1K" status with United Airlines. But that's not what I want. United offers additional levels of mileage 'status' once you fly a minimum of 1 million miles. In fact, they offer these levels:
- 1,000,000 miles
- 2,000,000 miles
- 3,000,000 miles
- 4,000,000 miles
Can you guess which one I want? Did you say 4 million? Yes? Then you are wrong. I want to reach the 3 million mile level. But for now I'll settle for 1 million.
Now, don't get me wrong. The 1K status is nice. You get your own website, complimentary upgrades, priority check in, mileage bonuses. In other words lots of good stuff. But it's only good for 1 year. After that year if you don't keep up the 1K rate you lose all of those perks.
So this is where our 3 million level comes in. Did you follow the link from earlier? Did you see what they give you at each of those million mile levels? Did you notice that at 3 million they give you 1K status for life? For life!
I could go out tonight, hop on a United flight and stay in the air for 3 million miles and at the end I could get all those perks 10 years down the road, even if I don't fly a mile between now and then. Doesn't that sound awesome?
So being the anal retentive time waster that I am I had to do some checking to see just how cheaply I could get to this 3 million mile level. (Now mind you we're talking 3 million miles that you actually fly. Using your Mileage Plus Visa card to inflate your miles doesn't count in this situation. Sorry Skoda.)
The best deal that I found was to fly round trip from Washington/Dulles to Melbourne, Australia. This earns 20890 miles and costs a minuscule $1082.20. That's $0.051 per mile! To hit the 3 million mile level I only need to spend $155,414!
Sadly enough I don't have an extra 156 grand sitting in the bank waiting to be blown on meaningless flights around the world. However, I am not a multinational corporation who could sponsor some crazy fool on a scheme to earn 3 million United Mileage Plus miles just for the hell of it.
If any of you multinational corporations are out there listening, feel free to chime in with sponsorship offers. Off the top of my head I'm thinking Apple might want to jump on board. Imagine pictures of me with an iPad jetting from Dulles to Melbourne and back, reading books, watching video, doing cool stuff. It would take me 147 round trips to hit 3 million miles. I'm sure I could find 147 new iPad apps to try out.
So there's 1 potential sponsor. Here's another. I like to wear Birkenstocks. If I'm going to be sitting on a plane for several thousand hours you know my feet are going to need some comfort. I could get a new pair of sandals and take a picture of them each day to chronicle their wear and tear over '3 million miles.' Imagine the PR that would bring. Of course if Birkenstock isn't interested there's also Vibram Five Fingers. Have you seen these shoes? They are like gloves for your feet. I could definitely see myself in a pair of these for 3 million miles.
The possibilities really are endless. I'm sure there are even a few Australian businesses that would want to sponsor such a feat. Heck, their tourism bureau paid a guy almost as much to sit on an island for six months. I'm sure they wouldn't mind ponying up a much smaller chunk of cash to help me achieve this stupid scheme. I could write about how great the long flight was, how awesome it was to step off the plane after 12 hours to such a lovely, inviting place. Just watch the tourists flock in.
The one company that I don't want any money from for this adventure is United. Sure, it's a fantastic marketing deal for them, however, to really make the experience authentic I don't want to pay for any tickets with United's own money. That would be just a little too circular for me.
Anybody else though, just comment on this post and we'll work something out. I'd even be willing to take a different sponsor per flight. That would take a lot of sponsors and would likely fill up this website with ads galore. It COULD work, I just wish I had the first flight booked already. All of this dreaming has built up plenty of premature anticipation on my part.
Where is the past?
As mentioned previously I am obsessed with some things. One of those is the past. Specifically, past relationships; people I've known and been close with but who are no longer truly a part of my life.
I should preface this topic with a little personal history. I grew up, along with my brother, in the United States Air Force. That is to say my parents were officers in the Air Force and we were raised in that environment. I was born in 1982 in Bossier City, LA at Barksdale, AFB. BY 1984 I had experienced my first move, a short journey to northern Arkansas where my brother was born. After 4 years in Arkansas we moved again to Rapid City, SD and Ellsworth, AFB. This brief stop had a powerful impact on the course of our lives. It gave us a taste of South Dakota life that we soon had to leave behind but which we went back to sample over the course of many summers. 1990 saw us move to Bellevue, NE and Offutt, AFB. Another 4 years brought our final Air Force influenced move, this time to Adana, Turkey and Incirlik, AB. After my mom was forced to retire in 1996 we settled in McHenry, IL in the house where I recently watched my father die.
That abbreviated memoir is meant to give you a sense of the upheaval we experienced. Certainly other kids we knew had similar experiences but I don't find them trying to hunt me down to rekindle a relationship that happened 10 or 15 years ago.
So there is the rub. I seem to have this un-ending need to find people I used to know and reconnect with them. I don't pretend that this is normal or particularly sane behavior but it is me and I am nothing if not true to myself.
So I could go a number of ways from here but will only go in one direction for now.
Since we landed in northern Illinois 13.5 years ago I have been seeking out friends and acquaintances from the past. I was able to find a few here and there thanks largely to the internet. Mind you, this was pre-facebook, myspace and all of the social media that we now cannot ignore. I told you I was obsessed. At any rate, through those efforts and the time that has passed since, I have spent hours contemplating the motivations behind these actions. Sadly I don't know that I have a fantastic answer to show for those hours.
The best I can offer is a need to cultivate relationships which, to my child-self, were abbreviated prematurely. Even as I write those words though the answer seems incomplete. There must be more to it than that. I know there is more. I can close my eyes and see the answer. See the drive. See the need. But I cannot put those images into words.
To be honest, the images evoked are ones of Christ, life, death, relationships, eternity and so on. (I'll say it again, "I'm obsessed with the eternal.") Am I trying to keep the past alive? Or trying to validate myself through a connection to who I was when I knew this person at that time?
Part of my professional life is to teach students in our school and church who are preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation. Imagine those classes as a fabric. One piece of thread weaving in and out of the tapestry of our classes represents relationships. Our relationships to each other. Our relationship to God. God's relationship to us.
If we think of these relationships as flowers or plants, the first example (our relationships to each other) are like the mums one might buy each spring/summer. When you first get it, the plant looks amazing. Gorgeous colors. Full of flowers. Healthy leaves. Vitality abounds. But then time begins to move forward. The plant may or may not get watered as often as it needs. The colors begin to fade somewhat; some leaves may shrivel. The plant can survive but needs a lot of attention; you must water it often, give it sunlight, prune the leaves and flowers. It takes work just like our relationships with and to each other.
Contrast that with our relationship to God. Let's use a whole forest to imagine what our relationship to God is like. Specifically let's use this forest, the Białowie˙za National Park in eastern Poland (I'm half Polish by heritage but don't ask me how to pronounce that name!). This area is the last remnant of the primeval forest which once spanned much of the European continent. To learn a little about it's history I recommend The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. For our purposes though imagine this as a complete forest with trees and plants that are hundreds and maybe thousands of years old. It is a bastion of life not found anywhere else. This is true of God as well. I use this image because God is life and like this forest he is there waiting for us but (and this is the real test) also like the forest he doesn't need us! The Białowie˙za exists in its current state because humanity has left it alone. Does this mean that we cannot appreciate it or have a relationship with it or nurture it or cultivate it? Certainly not. To the contrary our involvement can enhance its natural majesty, but only if we come to it with the right attitude and intentions. So too it is with God.
And lastly, God's relationship to us. For this metaphor I suggest that we get away from plant life and instead think about water. Water is the rushing, gushing, life-sustaining molecule of our lives. So let's imagine God as a water fall. A water fall carries tremendous force and for our purposes may as well be perpetual. And so too God. But the image begins to break down at this point. A water fall is only in one place. We can choose to go to it. Place our hand (or more) within its path. Feel the flow of its water hit on and around our bodies. Smell the moist air surrounding us. But God is not just in one place. The flow of his presence and grace is everywhere. We can tap into that presence anytime we choose; or we can choose to ignore it and lead our lives as if it did not exist.
Ultimately I think my obsession with relationships is bound to these three images. I have a profound connection to the eternal. I believe that through our relationship with God we can come close to eternal life while still living. In the end, one way we can do this is with our relationships to each other. By kindling them and sustaining them (no matter how much time has lapsed since our last connection) we tap into God's ever present current. Our common knowledge and experiences serve us in the present but they also carry forward to our own future generations thus lengthening our own existence.
Costly Carry-ons
Living in Chicago, I tend to listen to talk radio quite a bit. The latest news that Spirit Airlines will charge a fee (click here to read the 'explanation' from the Spirit CEO) for carry-on baggage has caused quite a stir among the hosts that I listen to most frequently.
The reactions seem to be mixed, some in favor of the free enterprise model which says that if the company wants to do it and take the risk of customer backlash then that is within their purview. Others of course have jumped on the "let's have the government jump in and keep this from happening" wagon.
Dean Richards of WGN Radio took up the topic this morning and was discussing it with a travel agent (gowithjoetravel.com). I'm not sure if it was Dean or Joe but one them made a comment that I will paraphrase: 'They (Spirit Air) shouldn't be able to charge for something that the government says is okay to do (i.e. take bags on planes).'
I was truly beside myself when I heard the comment. Let's just take this comment a few steps further. The government says it's okay for people to have health care insurance. Does this mean that health insurance companies should therefore provide this service for free? Dean or Joe (whoever made the comment), this idea is ridiculous. More than ridiculous it is ignorant. Ignorant of many things to be sure, but ignorant of Capitalism without a doubt.
So, to recap and bring in another name, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the government should not get involved in this issue. I'm rather disappointed that Ray LaHood thinks he should regulate this. A topic for another day is government intrusion into business in general but suffice it to say that I lean toward the laissez-faire school of economics. And LaHood should know this! He may work for a Democratic President, but as a Republican he really should know better. I am not an apologist for the Republican Party. I disagree with them on a number of issues but one thing I respect is someone who is true to the ideals of the moniker he chooses.
So should Spirit embark on this endeavor? Time will tell. My initial feeling on hearing this story were these two things. One, I wasn't likely to choose Spirit as an airline in the first place so it didn't really matter to me one way or another. And two, can't airlines just charge what they need to for the ticket rather than add fee after fee? As a customer and consumer I value simplicity. As a business owner and service provider I try to offer my customers this same sentiment.
Online Grammar
My wife knows how much I am bothered by online grammar so she sent me this link: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/ Don't know that I find the rest of the posts interesting but the one on grammar certainly is. For my money the 'mistake' that I dislike the most is the use of 'quite' when the writer clearly means 'quiet.' Perhaps we all need lessons in proof reading. Such a novel concept...
(For that matter if you are a business owner or webmaster who doesn't have time to go through your website to make sure words are spelled correctly, or proper grammar is used, I am happy to provide this service for a nominal fee.)
These are thoughts, NOT a blog
I hate the word blog. Did I say that forcefully enough? I DETEST the word blog. Aesthetically speaking the word is beyond awful. And yet. And yet it plays a very prominent role in our society. From television, to print media, to radio this word gets more mention than even a better word deserves.
Now, I am a realist. I don't imagine the use of this word to cease any time soon or for my feelings on the matter to really have an impact on anyone's use of said word, however, I do hope that sometime in the near future we will find a much more artistic way of describing the thoughts and ideas we commit to the world wide web.
Apollo 13 Panel Discussion
Space Exploration in general will be a common theme among my thoughts. I frequent Space.com quite often and try to stay abreast of what happens in the space industry.
So when the opportunity presented itself to attend a panel discussion this past Monday (April 12th) with astronauts and flight controllers involved in the Apollo 13 mission I was ecstatic. Fortunately, circumstances allowed me to attend (my wife wanted to come to but was unable to because we couldn't get a last minute baby sitter for our daughters, I am grateful to her for encouraging me to go on my own) and I thoroughly enjoyed all that the panelists had to say.
Now, that said, I left the Chicago Hilton perplexed. The Adler Planetarium in Chicago went through a lot of effort to get these men together and to get a room full of people to hear them talk, yet the discussion barely lasted an hour. We, the audience, were enraptured with what these men had to say. We could have listened for hours. The insights they had to offer, especially the flight controllers, were literally priceless to those of us in attendance. If you work at the Adler and read this, I encourage you to plan a longer session next time; whatever topic that next time might take up.
Common Decency
Pedestrians and People who drive Cars
I often find myself walking through the North side of Chicago with my daughters in their stroller. And just as often when I need to cross a street that has no light or stop sign, rarely do people driving stop and let us go.
Bare in mind that in Chicago, pedestrians in marked cross walks have the legal right of way. More often than not I must force the issue by crossing the street before the people have slowed down. Even though this is my legal right the people driving often give me hateful looks or make angry gestures. And just as often do they even yield to me? No! They simply swerve into the opposite lane to make the next person slow down. It's deplorable. If you drive a car and read this post, please pay attention when you see someone trying to cross the street and safely slow down so that they can cross. It is the commonly decent thing to do.
Cigarettes
If you smoke cigarettes KEEP THEM TO YOURSELF! If I have to watch another person throw a cigarette butt out of his or her car window I will scream. This thought ties into my post on Conscious choices and decision making. Would you please consider where that cigarette goes when you flick it out your car window and onto the street? We all have to share this common world; I keep my trash to myself and you should to. (Of course, my trash still ends up in a landfill somewhere which isn't the most decent either. Thanks to Chicago's blue bin program our household does recycle more than we discard but still we are producing our share of garbage which I am not necessarily proud of.)
The finality of death.
1 month ago I watched my father die. I have not yet processed even a small percentage of what that means to me but an early thought is this. As I watched him take his last breath and watched that air escape his lungs for the final time I was struck by how meaningless death can make a well lived life seem.
I have certainly seen death and caused death myself (not human death of course(that I am aware of that is)). But I had never watched another human die; especially one whom I lived and loved with. And while I was struck by the finality of my own life I was largely overwhelmed by the finality and pointlessness of all life. My faith of course tells me to think otherwise and because of that faith I certainly believe otherwise but that overwhelming sense is still with me.
I say the following not without irony. When work and life calm down a bit I hope to be able to give some serious time to process what all this does mean to me. Unfortunately this may not happen for several more months.
Action with a Purpose.
Conscious Choice.
This is a topic I have considered for some time. My feelings on the matter boil down to these.
We all go through life doing things and making choices. I won't throw out a guess at a random number but my assumption is that the majority of our decisions are not made 'Consciously.'
So what do I mean by a 'Conscious' decision? To truly make a conscious decision I believe we must understand all facets of that decision or choice. If I choose to eat a hamburger at McDonalds or Burger King I must consider where that meat came from, what impact its existence has on the larger world, the impact it has on my own health, the physical cost to me and probably a number of other things. To be honest, I do not stop to make any such consideration before buying a cheap burger. These things cross my mind often but rarely change my pattern of action. In that instance I never make a 'conscious' choice.
To be realistic, many choices would likely never be made if we took the time to stop and try to understand all aspects of that choice. This, however, may not be a bad thing.
As you get to know me through reading my thoughts on various topics you will learn that I am not likely to agree with our current President on many of his courses of action. To the contrary though I laud his method of decision making. It has become clear that he has no intention of acting rashly or of making decisions without first considering all the implications of those decisions.
I am not at present affiliated with them in anyway but the Long Now Foundation embodies much of this philosophy in its mission and activities.
Obsession
I am obsessed with 2 things. The infinite and changing the world. Sadly I am resigned to the fact that I may never change the world. The infinite however still beckons.