bogen.org

Over at HomeStarRunner.com Strong Bad gives a great introduction to common technologies[Flash]. This is not to be missed if you’re confused about the place of calculators and floppy disks in the modern world.

When did being an individual become a bad thing?A bill, passed by the Wisconsin Legislature and currently sitting on the Governor’s desk, gives banks, credit unions, and others the power to repossess cars without going first to small claims court for a court order. According to an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “A report submitted to lawmakers by the Wisconsin Financial Services Association stresses that Wisconsin is the only state that makes a creditor go to court before every repossession.”

Why must Wisconsin join every other state in the race to the bottom? If you look at the companies and their proxies pushing this bill, all of them are in the auto credit industry. They knew fully well what the legal and regulatory environment in this state was before they started a business here. If they don’t like our consumer protection laws, perhaps they should get out of those businesses.

If Wisconsin has strong consumer protections, why should we get rid of those protections to join all the other states in their race to protect business interests above those of individuals? Is there something holy about stripping away consumer protections to benefit big business?

According to a story in today’s Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: At least nine people were shot in various disputes over the weekend, and the gunfire resulted in one death.
That gunfire took place just in the greater Milwaukee area. Of course, Dave Zien (R-Eau Claire) is insistent that putting more guns in the public’s hands in the form of concealed carry is the answer to such carnage. He’s promised to, once again, try and ramrod a bill through the legislature this fall to legalize concealed carry in Wisconsin.

Of course it doesn’t matter that a majority of Wisconsin residents don’t want concealed carry legalized. It doesn’t matter that the bill has died each of the last two years. It doesn’t matter that Wisconsin is one of just three states that does not legalize concealed carry and we like it like that.

Nope. None of that matters to the NRA, their lobbyists, members, and the state legislators on their payroll.

Their answer to the above headline is usually something like, “Well, the people who were shot just needed to be carrying guns of their own to protect themselves.” It’s too bad that the NRA’s members don’t understand only nation states can even being to play MAD (mutual assured destruction) games successfully.

Given Up For Dead: American POWs in the Nazi Concentration Camp at Berga is the latest book by Flint Whitlock. It tells the story of Americans captured by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge.Whitlock’s book revolves around the story of American POWs who were mistreated by the Germans after being captured during the Battle of the Bulge. Whitlock chooses to avoid discussing the intelligence failures and the like that lead up to the Battle itself. Instead, he focuses on the inadequate training that many of the soldiers and their units received prior to deployment. After the Battle commences, he shifts gears to discuss what happened to the men captured by the Germans.

In short, the Germans treated the POWs only slightly better than they did Jews, Gypsies, and the like. They generally didn’t kill them outright, but they didn’t go out of their way to prolong the life of the Americans either. None of that comes as any real surprise, however. That the Germans mistreated people during WWII is practically a given. It almost would have been more surprising to learn that they treated prisoners of war well.

Whitlocks seems to be hamstrung by a lack of material in this book. It’s almost like he took a subject that could be easily serialized in a magazine and stretched it to book length. Several times while reading the book, I found myself mentally urging Whitlock to move on already as he had covered this particular bit of ground before. Once you read about how the Germans made bread with sawdust and served it to the captives, you don’t need to read it again and again and again. Sawdust bread. Got it.

Ultimately, any compelling story hidden in Flitlock’s writing is buried beneath what feels like pages and pages of filler. Given Up for Dead lacks much of what made Whitlock’s previous novels memorable. This particular book is perhaps best suited for those trying to flesh out their collection of WWII history books.

Sarah and I have both been busy the last week as we transition from winter to spring.The curling season officially ended for both of us this week. My men’s league team made the playoffs this year and that meant we played a game every night this week until we lost. Monday night we played a game that started around 21:20 and lasted until nearly midnight. The game was tight, but we won to move into the second round of playoffs on Tuesday.

The Tuesday game was even tighter. The two teams blanked the first two ends before our opponents scored one in the third. In the fourth end we scored one to tie the score. The teams again blanked the fifth end before our opponents scored one in the sixth to pull ahead. In the seventh, we scored two when the opposing skip missed his final shot badly and instead of scoring two himself, he pushed one of our stones into the previously empty house. Our skip then drew the house to take a one point lead going in to the eigth end. In the eigth, and final, end we were sitting very pretty playing to steal, even though we didn’t need the point to win. However, I failed to throw a guard with my second shot and put the stone through the house. Our third then failed to throw a guard with both of his shots and suddenly we were in a very tough spot as the opposing team made a couple of nice shots to crowd around the button behind a series of guards. The game ended when our skip’s last stone rubbed a guard in front of the house on its way in and the opposing skip scored two to win the game. It was a tough way to lose a game that we was ours to win. After the game, we went out to the Great Dane Pub in Fitchburg where we had beer, appetizers, and old fashioneds. It will be very difficult for our team to stay together next year (because of team point limits), but we all had fun on our team this year. I don’t think anyone was happy to lose in the second round and end the season.

Sarah’s season ended yesterday when she played in the playoff game for her first-half league. She played well, but her team lost to her opponents.

Our final curling event with the Madison Curling Club for the 2005-2006 season will be this Thursday when I help to run a two-night mini-league for people who got interested in the sport through this year’s Olympic games. The club will break the ice this Friday, 31 Mar 06, and that will officially end curling for this season.

The temperatures here in Madison pushed up in to the fifties and, inspired by the good weather, I took the grill out of winter storage and grilled with a vengeance. I made some really tasty grilled, bone-in chicken parts and some excellent garlic and oil potatoes on the grill. The chicken and potatoes smelled and tasted so much better than they do when they’re prepared in the oven. The forecast for tomorrow calls for snow (no accumulation) and rain but I’m not putting the grill away. It’s out for the season and is a clear sign to winter that we are ready to move on.

This afternoon, Sarah and I went hiking over part of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail with Dalla. The portion of the trail we hiked today is roughly 1/2 hour from our house but we seem to hike it once or twice a month nearly every month. When you hike a trail that often, you can really see the progression of the seasons. Today, we saw, and heard, an Eastern Meadowlark which has returned from its winter vacation. The red-winged blackbirds are also back and busy reclaiming their space in the swamps. Dalla doesn’t find much to interest her in songbirds. She’s far more interested in the critters that scamper on the ground and several of those were out and about today, as well.

The birds tha are busy building a next in the bird house near our back door have obviously been busy. The house is nearly full of nesting materials and they crammed more in there today while I was outside grilling.

Sarah put her spring/summer/fall tires on her commuter bike this weekend. She went out to ride the bike on Friday and discovered that the rear tire was flat. When she got it up on the stand, she discovered that a nail had helpfully embedded itself in the tire. In addition, it had poked no less than ten holes in the tube. Since she had it up on the stand anyway, she took off the winter tires and put on a set of spring/summer/fall tires. I retired my winter commuter this weekend and got out my favorite bike, a single-speed Schwinn that has to be twenty years old if it’s a day.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Wal-Mart rocking chairs cause concussions, fractured ribs, joint tears, lacerations, and contractions in pregnant women. You’ll undoubtedly want to rush right out and grab one of these before they’re gone.

One man’s epic struggle to avoid paying a wrongfully issued $35 parking ticket. If you’ve ever struggled against the forces of faceless bureaucracy, you will find his story simultaneously funny and painful.

Saturday night, Sarah and I saw the UW Badgers play the Mercyhurst Lakers in an NCAA quarterfinal women’s hockey match.
During the regular season, the women’s hockey team plays at the Kohl Center
on the UW campus. The Kohl Center is a big, new-ish multi-sport arena on
the UW campus. In a hockey configuration, it seats over 17,000 people with
a huge multimedia scoreboard over center ice.

The game we saw, however, was at the Capitol Ice Arena in Middleton, which
is just west of Madison. The Capitol Ice Arena seats roughly 800 people in
tight quarters, on wooden benches hard up against the glass that surrounds
the rink. Instead of a multimedia scoreboard, there was an old-school
scoreboard composed of black metal and light bulbs over center ice.

For this particular game, over 1,000 people crammed into the building with
many standing around the boards on either end because the bleachers were
filled. The western end of the bleachers was filled with Mercyhurst
supporters who traveled from Erie, PA to see the game. The came prepared
with noisemakers, green face paint (green is one of Mercyhurst’s colors),
and loud cheers. What they lacked in numbers they made up for with
decibels.

The UW faithful were numerous but not particularly loud. It was Spring
Break week for the university, and many of the university’s loudest fans,
its students, were far out of town. Some went to see the men’s basketball
team play in the NCAA tournament, some went to watch the men’s hockey team
play in the WCHA Final Five which was held in Minneapolis, other went to
tropical locations or their home towns.

As the game progressed, it was clear why Mercyhurst was playing in the
tournament–the strong play of their goaltender. The Badgers got numerous
high-quality chances to score, but after the first period, the score was
1-1. Mercyhurst got their goal on a breakaway when the UW goaltender
stopped the initial shot, but was not able to stop the rebound the seemed to
float in slow motion upwards over her shoulder and into the net.

The second and third periods were tense battles. In the second, neither
team was able to move the puck past the two solid goaltenders. It wasn’t
until the third period that the Badgers were able to light the lamp. A shot
from the point was redirected into the net by one of the Badger women.
While the crowd rejoiced, the referee waved off the goal, claiming that the
puck had been played with a high stick.

After that, both teams skated rapidly up and down the ice, but neither
school could gain the decisive goal. Half-way through the third period, the
referee seemingly swallowed his whistle as numerous obvious penalties by
both sides went unpunished and fans of both schools loudly complained to no
avail.

As the third period ended with the score tied at 1-1, both sides were left
wondering just how an overtime between these two teams might play out.
Would the Badgers’ superior talent and depth at the forward and center
positions win them the day or would Mercyhurst’s goaltender be able to hold
back the deluge long enough for her teammates to score one more goal?

The first overtime was equally tense as the match would be ended by the
first team to score. Both teams raced frantically up and down the ice doing
everything in their power to try and win the game. As the twenty minute
overtime period wound down, the players tired. Both teams tried to score,
but tried even harder not to break down mentally and physically. Such a
break down might lead directly to a score by the other team and a long
off-season for the losers.

The first period ended with the teams still deadlocked and the clock reading
10 PM. The teams had been battling for three hours. Another fifteen minute
break for the Zambonis to circle the ice and the weary gladiators would take
up arms once again.

As the second period began, the palpable tension in the crowd became even
more pronounced. The longer the game continued, the greater the chance a
fluke goal would send one team home and no one wanted to see that happen.

The second overtime period began with better play than had been seen at the end
the first as the teams had rested a bit. As the crowd finished a chant of
“Let’s go, Red!” someone shouted out, “Let’s go home!” The crowd laughed.

Roughly five minutes into the second overtime period, the referee apparently found his whistle
as he sent one of the Mercyhurst Lakers to the penalty box. This was the
chance the Badgers and their fans had been waiting for. They swarmed around
the offensive end but were unable to find a way around the Mercyhurst
goaltender.

As the penalty expired, UW fans were worried as their team failed to
capitalize on a golden opportunity and the referee would most likely call a
make-up penalty on their team in the near future, giving Mercyhurst a better
chance to end the match in their favor.

As the clock ticked on, UW finally managed to push the puck over the goal
line. A shot from the face-off circle hit the goaltender before dribbling
across the goal line as the goaltender fell backward. As the crowed went
crazy, the referee waved off the goal. His explanation was that the goal
judge never turned on the goal light.

The crowd, now thinned out a bit because of the hour, was extremely unhappy
with this decision and they made their displeasure known.

As play resumed, both sides stepped up the intensity. Finally, at 10:10 of
the second overtime, the Badgers scored again. A shot from near the blue
line was tipped in by a forward playing in front of the net to win the game.

As the Badger women piled on each other at center ice, and the Lakers
consoled their goaltender who had taken them as far as she could, the fans
walked out into the night. No matter which team they supported, they knew
they had seen two teams leave everything they had on the ice and all for the
love of the game.

The life of a woman hermit in early 20th century Wisconsin was certainly interesting, if solitary.

With the arrival of March, signs of spring start to pop up all around us.The curling season is rapidly winding down. Sarah and I both play our last regular-season league games this week. We both play a game tonight. Tuesday, she plays her last Tuesday night game. Thursday, I play my last regular-season Thursday night league game. Next Sunday, we play our last game together. The following week, the playoffs start and I’ll hopefully be playing deep into the playoffs with my Thursday night team. We went 8-1 in the first half of the season to earn a spot in the playoffs regardless of what our second-half record was. In the second-half we’ve been a bit more inconsistent, but we still have a winning record for the second-half. Sarah is working at the Curl for Cancer bonspiel this morning. That tournament gives all its entry fees to the UW Hospital’s Oncology unit for the prevention and treatment of cancer.

In January, we started looking for a new car to replace our 1998 Saturn SW2. In reality, there was nothing wrong with that car beyond the fact that the padding in the seats had broken down to the point that sitting in the seats for any length of time was quite uncomfortable. Mechanically, the car was a champ and the MPG we got from it were very good. Regardless, we decided to move to a slightly larger vehicle. We really wanted to buy another wagon, we wanted the car to get better than average gas mileage, and it needed to be reliable (a car that doesn’t go when you need it to isn’t worth much). Beyond that, Sarah’s primary criteria was that the car have heated seats; my primary criteria was that the car have a moonroof.

With this information in hand, we started a tour of nearly every dealership in town. The first thing we learned, which we had suspected, was that almost nobody makes a wagon any more. Those that do make a wagon often don’t make them for someone of my size, or they were far outside our budget. I don’t feel like a very tall person at 6’2″, but clearly, most cars are not designed for people of my height. Brands like Acura, Subaru, Scion, and others simply did not fit me at all. Acura, for instance, had me sitting with my head cocked slightly to the side so that I could fit in the car.

Ultimately, the choice came down to just a couple of different cars. After much deliberation and debate, we purchased a 2003 Toyota Avalon that had just over 42,000 miles on it. A large sedan wasn’t really on our radar when we started our search, but as we kept trying vehicles and then crossing them off our list of possibilities for various reasons, the Avalon started to make more and more sense. The Avalon isn’t a sexy car, but it fit all of our criteria. The car is very big inside, so there is plenty of room for me. The seats are heated leather; there is a moonroof that both tilts and slides. The backseat is huge and backseat legroom is more than adequate. The trunk is cavernous. Road noise inside the cabin is highly muffled. The car itself has a history of incredible reliability. The V6 engine is as fuel efficient on regular gasoline as the Passat V4 is on premium. In addition, we got a very good deal. So far, I’ve been very pleased with the car. Sarah is still a bit leery of the car’s size (it’s not small), but she may yet come around.

In addition to buying a new (to us) car, we also bought new furniture for our living room. We’ve been using hand-me-down furniture and futons for the last ten-plus years and it was time to get some slightly nicer places to park our butts. Again, we spent a non-trivial amount of time trying all manner of sofas and chairs at numerous stores around Madison. In the end, we ended up with a new leather chair and a sofa/loveseat set. The chair was a floor model that needed to leave the store, so we got it for 50% off. The sofa/loveseat combo came from a store that was going out of business. They offered us 20% off the sticker price; I offered them 52% of the sticker price. They took our offer. So, we got the three pieces for about the price of just the chair by itself. Suffice it to say that we feel like very savvy shoppers at the moment. There is a picture of the new furniture in our living room in the Photo Gallery

We had a 65° day yesterday which was nice because we spent six hours helping some friends of ours move. We went to their apartment about twenty-five miles outside of Madison in the morning, and loaded up a very big Budget rental truck. While I worked with the two other guys on loading up the furniture and other heavy items, Sarah and the other woman packed up the kitchen, bathroom, and the like and loaded up our car and two pickups. It has to be said that Sarah is an absolute moving machine. You point her at a house that needs to be packed and moved, and then get out of her way. She had that kitchen packed and loaded into our car in under an hour; she single-handledly loaded a pickup truck in a flash. We were hauling sofas, beds, and three-hundred pound treadmills and she was running circles around us. After loading the truck we drove in to Madison for the unloading process. Half-way through the unloading, pizza arrived and we had a thoroughly unexpected but exceedingly pleasant March picnic.

We went to our last UW Men’s Hockey game last night for this season. We really enjoy going to the hockey games, but with spring and summer coming on, it is time for winter sports to start winding down.

When I was in Watertown, SD last summer, I purchased a pair of bird houses from a local business. I put them up in my yard, but until recently the birds ignored them completely. This week, however, a pair of sparrows started filling one of the bird houses with nesting materials. You can see a picture of the male sitting on the bird house in the Photo Gallery. Even though sparrows aren’t terribly interesting birds we have no plans to evict them. No other birds have shown any interest in the houses and I’d rather have them used by sparrows than sitting empty.

While I was packing a grill into the moving truck yesterday I suddenly, desperately wanted a grilled hamburger or brat. If it stays nice through next weekend (probably not very likely) I’m definitely going to bust out the grill, fire it up, and char some meat.

Ira came out of the fridge two weeks ago and he’s full of life once again. He eats everything I put in his pen which is unusual for him. In addition, he’s convinced that he can escape from his pen if he just devotes 110% effort to the cause. Of course, it’s not likely he can escape, but if it keeps him occupied, so be it.

Dalla nearly caught another squirrel yesterday. She was doing her statue routine in the back yard (she sits completely still for long periods of time), when a squirrel started a run directly at her. It got within about four feet before it realized that the statue of the killing machine wasn’t a statue at all. It was then a footrace to the nearest tree. The squirrel won; Dalla was hampered by the fact that she was tied out. When we fence the backyard later this spring, I expect that the dog’s success rate will go up.

This morning, I took the dog out to run at a state park near our home. In addition to hearing far more birdsong than we usually do during the winter, we saw and heard cranes returning to the park. That is a very sure sign of spring’s imminent arrival.

How do you spot terrorists? They’re paying down their credit card debt.

Tobias Bucknell’s relatively recent post about why he loves science fiction got me thinking about why I read more science fiction books than any other fiction genre.Anyone who believes that science fiction is about space ships, laser, time and/or faster than light travel, teleportation, and other technological oddities either has never actually read a SciFi (hereafter, SF) book, or they didn’t read a good one. For those people, here is the secret of good SF:

SF is about people, ideas, and the consequences of those ideas. SF is a giant laboratory in which writers and thinkers experiment with the effects various philosophies, politics, and objects have on people and society.

Want to see the effects of a wildly corporatized society in which like tends only to associate with like? Are you interested in how memes are passed from person to person and where a meme stops and a virus begins? Read Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash. Are you curious about where the real world ends and the virtual world starts in a society that has fully immersive entertainment technology? Try Joe Haldeman’s Old Twentieth. Can a society of ideas triumph over a society of technology? Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series may shed some light on the problem. What, exactly, is the definition of life? Fred Saberhagen’s Berserker saga is an interesting examination of the answer.

SF gives authors a place to operate that isn’t bound the rules of history or modern society. History can only be rewritten so much before it is no longer true to some sort of consensus about what actually happened. Modern society can only be twisted so far before it fails to resemble itself.

The future, on the other hand, is the vast unknown. Societies built entirely of corporations can exist there without creating cognitive dissonance in the reader’s mind because such a setting does not conflict with any known facts. Entirely immersive entertainment techonologies exist in the future of SF, giving us an option to explore the consequences of that technology now, before we are confronted with it.

I read SF because I enjoy the ideas explored by the authors writing in the genre, not because I’m a huge fan of laser, space ships, and aliens.