Here are some pictures from today. As a general overview, we:
visited the cross overlooking the city of Mostar
I walked out the ridge to a bunker where the old bridge in Mostar was destroyed from
Went to Medjugorje
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Trip
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Cynd, Lydia, Isaac, and I took a trip this week. When we get back, we’ll post all of our pictures, but here a re a few to wet your whistle. Prijatno!
Farm Town
For those of you who aren’t facebook friends with me, on the weekends, I spend a few hours playing Farm Town on facebook. Why? Well, the mindless clicking is just a good way to relax. Some people watch TV….I click little squares over and over 🙂
Anyway, they started offering buildings that actually do stuff. I have a pretty sparse farm, but decided I’d get a sugar refinery. So far, everything is working good (I’m not having the problems reported at the forum), but I started doing some math…..
My refinery has 1,100 units to process. It does them in batches of 10. Each batch takes 2 hours to process. 110 batches * 2 hours each = 220 hours. That is almost 10 days! Have I done my math wrong?
[Update 03-30-2010 16:37:35] They just introduced the ability for your friends to help you produce faster. it isn’t too much faster, but it is ok…better than what it was. According to this article, yor friends can help you…..
Awww…all of us together
More on Isaac (Day 6) or Lydia the Big Sister!
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More pictures of Isaac can be found on flickr here. Other updates about him can be found here .
Cyndi and Isaac were released from the hospital on Saturday. Sorry, we don’t really have anything new to post yet; however, while we were in the hospital, Lydia was such a big girl. She wanted to help out by holding Isaac. That has continued even after we got back to the apartment.
Please note, I could only post this in one category at a time. If you want to read the latest about Isaac, follow the links above.
Isaac makes 0100
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More pictures can be found on flickr here. Other updates can be found here .
Well, everyone I know has been waiting anctiously for this. Instead of 11, our family now numbers 100 (0011 in base 2 = 3 in base 10 while 0100 in base 2 = 4 in base 10).
Isaac Ethan Maxson was born in Skopje, Macedonia around 9:30am (local time). He weighed 3kg and about 500g more (the nurse said he weighed 3kg and …umm…about 500g). He was also 52cm long. So, here it is in a table:
| Name: | Isaac Ethan Maxson |
| Sex: | Male |
| Weight: | 3.5kg (ish…about 7lbs 11oz) |
| Length: | 52cm (about 20.5 inches) |
Danger….
In a follow-up to this set of posts on airline security, this is yet another reason why I want people to take a step back and think….
Remember the row about Google, China, and the US Government? Well, it turns out that the “hackers” really didn’t have to hack too hard to get in. They just came in the back door. The back door that our government made google install.
I like Bruce’s conclusion:
The problem is that such control makes us all less safe. Whether the eavesdroppers are the good guys or the bad guys, these systems put us all at greater risk. Communications systems that have no inherent eavesdropping capabilities are more secure than systems with those capabilities built in. And it’s bad civic hygiene to build technologies that could someday be used to facilitate a police state.
This also illustrates why everyone should be encrypting their e-mail. It is easily done with free software (free in both ways). I’ll be writing a follow-up HOWTO in the next few days about how you can do this. In the meantime, you can find our public key here.
Image from stuckincustoms via flickr
Airline/Airport/Aircraft Security
I saw the video embedded above linked on this article on Bruce Schneier’s website. I don’t speak German, but from what I gather, the video shows a guy defeating a whole body scanner? Sure, it shows his mobile phone, a wire he was wearing, as well as a knife….but what about the bomb making “stuff” he was wearing? it didn’t catch that at all.
For more articles I’ve written about this in the past, you can check them out. No, this isn’t just a knee-jerk reaction on my part. Everyone needs to take a giant step back and actually think about stuff.
Coffee….or Not
Yesterday, Friday 22 Jan, I tried to go to what has become a favorite coffee shop of mine in Skopje (or Skoplje if you are in Serbia) Macedonia. When I showed up, the place was closed up tight. There was a sign on the door. After trying to read it, I decided it said they would open at 11pm (2300) for a party. I went on about my business….
On the way back to the apartment, I heard a BBC report about coffee shops in Macedonia closing for the day yesterday to protest a new anti-smoking law that went into effect. Now, I imagine the sign said something like “We are closed to protest the new anti-smoking law. We will reopen on the 23rd. Call your represenative and complain.” Anyway, I thought it was interesting that this protest made international news…and that I heard it on the way home.
For more information, see these few articles .
Image from gregoriosz via flickr. Note, it is not the coffee shop I was trying to go to.
Defiance by Don Brown (Book 3 in the Navy Justice Series)
For my reviews of Book 1 Treason and Book 2 Hostage, follow the links.
Defiance by Don Brown
continues the Navy Justice Series by Don Brown. This book picks up after a trial of several aviators. There are two stories running in parallel that Don Brown brings together in the end of the book. Overall, a good fast clean read, My only complaint with Don Brown is too little detail. He weaves a good story, but doesn’t focus on any one thing while he writes. But, I am a John Grisham fan and always like how he makes the trial central character in his books.
Here are some stats for the book:
Publisher: Zondervan
Locations: 6,556
Errors: There were a few minor formatting errors (extra spaces, etc….)
Cost: $0.00
Overall: 7 out of 10
[Update 12-02-2010 06:04:43] Edited the Amazon links to use my new affiliate link. For information why, see this post. Â
[Update 2012-12-26Â 16:28:55] Cleaned up my internal links