October 25, 2004
Google Desktop Search
In my web travels I've tried something new that is so neat, I had to give it a mention.
Google has released an application called Google Desktop Search. Basically what is does is index everything on your hard drives and makes it all searchable through the Google interface in your web browser. The information on your hard disk doesn't go out to the world at large, but you can locally search everything as quickly as you would do a normal Google search.
The program indexes every email, every webpage you visit, every Microsoft Office file, and what I really enjoy is every MP3 on your system. So if you have a huge music collection on your hard drive and are looking for a particular song, just enter it in the desktop search function and there you go.
It's free, and I heartily recommend it.
Download the Google Desktop Search here.
October 10, 2004
Time Passes By
Sometimes you come across something that is touching in an almost inexplicable way. Now that Amber and I are starting our own family, I find myself simultaneously looking back and looking ahead.
While this is the experience of one family, let this give you a moment to do some gazing of your own.
October 04, 2004
Autumn Leaves
It's nice in the fall to get some nice days where the air is still pretty warm, but there's that crisp edge to it. The rain will be back again soon, so we had better enjoy the dry time we have.
So yes, it's true, Amber and I are entering our second trimester of pregnancy. So far she's doing most of the work :) I find myself cleaning the house and doing other nesting-type activities. I'm sure this is all very normal. I'm actually quite calm about the whole thing, which according to the provincial Ministry of Children and Families book is not the way to go about it. Apparently there's lots of neat and interesting stuff that as a new Dad I could be worrying about. So after reading the New Dad sections of this pamphlet, I think the 'blissfully unaware' approach is actually not a bad idea. It's probably easier for everyone all round, and things generally do turn out OK. I think I'll learn enough about the whole thing at prenatal classes without finding new things to worry about in the meantime.
September 07, 2004
Fahrenheit 911
It's not often that you see a movie, and it still sticks with you the next day. I'm having that experience after seeing Fahrenheit 911.
I was never a big fan of George W. Anyone who is an avid baseball fan knew he was an idiot when he was running the Texas Rangers. We all know that Fox News is nothing but a right wing propaganda outlet. It's not what Fahrenheit 911 tells us about neo-conservatism, it's about the consequences that this sick ideology is bringing to the world.
Having seen "Roger and Me" and "Bowling for Columbine" we are pretty well versed in the Michael Moore schtick. Fighting for the little guy, he gets obnoxious with people in power in order to push his agenda. Whether you agree with him or not, he's usually front and centre in his crusades/documentaries.
What's different about Fahrenheit 911, is how little of Michael Moore is actually in this movie. He comes on pretty strong in the first half of the film, but then the tone substantially shifts to telling the stories of the people hurt by the current war in Iraq. The film turns from a crusade against Bush to the absolutely heartwrenching tales of ordinary people who have been devastated by this war.
The United States is a country that still bears the scars of Vietnam. They sent "The Best and the Brightest" off to die in a war that made no sense, and many people of that generation swore they would never subject their own children to that. Now, the United States are doing it to their own children all over again, not to mention the ordinary people in Iraq. The American Right talks about securing the world and how terrorists are going to get them if they don't take Iraq apart. This is exactly the same argument that send young men and women to their death fighting the evils of Communism in Vietnam. How have we not learned, how can this have happened again?
Fahrenheit 911 is Michael Moore's best work to date, and something that everyone should see. If anyone wants to watch the film, send me an email and I'll be more than happy to help you out.
August 13, 2004
Moneyball
One of the best books on sports I have ever read is Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis. Baseball is supposed to be the sport where money talks the loudest. The New York Yankees spend the budget of some small countries in order to win. For years, the complaint about baseball is the small market teams are not able to compete because of the large economic disparities. This has generally been the case, except for the unlikely success of the Oakland A's. They have consistantly been a playoff team over the past number of years with a total player budget smaller than the annual salary of the Yankees third baseman. The thesis of the book tries to answer the question of how Oakland is able to be successful without the money of the larger clubs.
What follows is the fascinating story of A's, and in particular their General Manager Billy Beane. He realized that he can't compete with teams like the Red Sox and Yankees for high priced free agents. So instead, he realizes that baseball is a business that has huge inefficiencies in the way it traditionally evaluates talent. In particular, baseball likes to measure baseball players with statistics such as batting average and RBI's. What many people, including Billy Beane realized is that such measures are woefully inadequate in determining how much a player affects whether their team wins or loses. Baseball is essentially an old-boys network that traditionally conducts business in a particular way. What the Oakland A's did was turn that system upside-down within their own organization, and allowed new thinking and new ways of doing things to lead them to on-field success.
While Moneyball is essentially a book about baseball, the lessons contained within can be applied to any business or endevour in life. Unless we are open to looking at problems in new and creative ways, we will forever be repeating the same mistakes and reaping the same results. A fascinating story, and an excellent book.
