tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91045332024-03-14T04:22:36.161-07:00Jay Bazuzi's personal blogUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger236125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-79170303522085427742013-02-03T11:10:00.000-08:002013-02-03T11:10:07.009-08:00Sustainability StackExchangeI participate in several question-and-answer sites on the StackExchange network. They just created a new site for "Sustainable Living", and opened it for a small private beta, which I luckily get to be a part of.<div>
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Someone asked "why did you join this site". I thought about it for a while, and wrote this:</div>
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I believe that the word "sustainable" has been terribly watered down, largely by marketing departments looking to cash in on our desire not destroy the planet. Too bad: the laws of nature don't respond to greenwashing. We need to take the true meaning of "sustainable" seriously, if we want to survive.</blockquote>
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However, I am not satisfied with even full, true sustainability. Mere survival is not enough - I want a rich, joyful, connected life for all.</blockquote>
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I believe the environmental movement has made a big mistake here, harping on the convergence of crises around us today. "Global warming! Poisoned atmosphere! Genetic mutation!" - it's so scary, it's no surprise that most people run away and hide in the safety of the life that is offered to them. That life of comfort, convenience, and safey is a natural refuge when we are bombarded by prophecies of doom.</blockquote>
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I believe that a future of joy and connection with for all beings is compatible with "sustainability". We feel the pain of planetary destruction every day, and it leads to a lot of anxiety and misery in our lives as currently lived. Only a truly joyous lifestyle can be sustained!</blockquote>
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I am particularly excited about new technologies that offer true sustainability in a way that conventional technologies cannot. A perfect example is Permaculture. It doesn't require great sacrifice; in fact it offers to heal the ecosystem while producing a wide vareity of delicious, nutritious foods, with minimal energy required - the opposite of what conventional agriculture offers. </blockquote>
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And yet nothing in Permaculture is new: it does not require a quad-core CPU or genetic engineering or a jet engine. We could have invented Permaculture a century earlier, but we weren't ready yet, as a species. </blockquote>
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Today I think we are becoming ready for these new technologies. We will turn waste streams in to inputs for other systems. We will people together with each other and with nature.</blockquote>
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I hope that Sustainability.SE will be a conduit for sharing these ideas more broadly than we have before. </blockquote>
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That is why I have joined this site.</blockquote>
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Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378140547104387042noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-88770081226516563392012-06-27T17:10:00.002-07:002012-06-27T17:10:57.017-07:00Destination: Google Voice<br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">We don't talk on the phone very much. The smallest monthly voice plans have WAY more minutes than we need. So a few years ago, I switched us to pay-as-you go. Even at $0.25/min, we saved money. Later they dropped to $0.10/min - an even better deal.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">If you put $100 on the account, it won't expire for a year. (Small amounts expire much faster.) That's about $8/mo for minimal usage.</span><br />
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I also bought data on my account, so I could use a smartphone and get email, etc. You could buy up to 500MB for $25, but the smallest package was $5. They all expired after 30 days. So I bought a 500MB package once (much better price/bit than the other packages) and then signed up for automatic refresh on the $5 package, which keeps the existing balance from expiring. This was pretty cheap, too.</div>
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I use the data pretty lightly. Email & calendar mostly. Google Maps sometimes. </div>
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I use Trello for my grocery list, which is awesome - my wife can add items to the list at any time, and I'll see them at the store.</div>
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Before we moved on to our land, I signed up for a MiFi as well. This is a 3G to WiFi gateway. It's 5GB/mo for $60. We didn't know how long it would take to get DSL, and thought this might be a suitable alternative. It turns out that one movie on Netflix is about 5GB, so we killed the data allowance really fast. I shoulda canceled the plan within the first 30 days, but because I didn't, I was locked in for 2 years. </div>
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The MiFi has occasionally been really nice to have, like for road trips. We don't do those very often, though.</div>
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Recently they changed their rules so I can't buy data packages for pay-as-you-go. So it was time for something new.</div>
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I started carrying the MiFi with me everywhere. It provided data to my smartphone via WiFi. But carrying 2 devices was annoying.</div>
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Today I called the cell phone company and had them change my MiFi plan to be a regular voice + data plan. Now I am porting my old cell phone to Google Voice (GV). GV will forward calls to the previously-MiFi number. I have a GV app on my smartphone, so outgoing calls will come from the same number as before, although now through GV. International calls shouldn't cost anything extra now.</div>
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Eventually I'll bring the rest of my family along, using a family plan. I have calculated that it will cost about the same for the phones, but I'll be saving the $60/mo for the MiFi. And we won't feel pressure to keep phone calls short.<br />
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</div>Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378140547104387042noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-15207349624974429332012-06-07T00:09:00.003-07:002012-06-07T00:09:25.375-07:00Fat<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I recently came to terms with being fat. It was quite sudden and surprising, especially considering how long I wished for that to happen.</span><br />
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I think of the change in terms of reason - what I learned, and what those lessons mean to me - but I suspect that's not what really happened. I've read that the way we make decisions is emotional; that we use reason to explain and justify the decision afterwards. If that's true, I can't explain why the emotional shift happened when it did. But the reasons are still interesting.</div>
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First, <b>why don't I want to be fat?</b> A lot of the pressure to be thin in our culture comes in two forms: thin is beautiful, and thin is healthy. </div>
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The first (<b>this is beautiful</b>) is arbitrary - our ideas about what is beautiful change all the time. Fatness has been highly admired at times, when it demonstrated a person's ability to access to otherwise scarce food, for example. Furthermore, today's ideals of beauty are so extreme as to be absurd, and highly motivated by the conventional advertising strategy of making people hate themselves. I can reject that.</div>
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The second (<b>thin is healthy</b>) is not very reliable. Extremely thin people are often unhealthy, but they are often presented as an ideal. People restricting their diets to become thin often eat in unhealthy ways (I hear lots of stories of vegans getting sick, for example). Furthermore, I wonder if we are confused about causes. Causality is very difficult to get right. Consider this text <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">from Wikipedia</a>:</div>
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Obesity increases the likelihood of various diseases, particularly heart disease...</blockquote>
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So, you look at a sample of people who have heart disease, and how many are obese. You compare that to obesity data from the general population. You find that heart disease patients have higher obesity rates. Or you do it the other way: look at a sample of people who are obese, and see how many have heart disease. Whatever. But you can point at your data and see that heart disease and obesity appear together (correlation) but you don't know why (causality). Here are some possible causal relationships:</div>
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<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Excess body fat strains the heart, causing heart disease.<br /></li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">The kinds of lifestyles that produce excess body fat (e.g. stressful office work) also cause heart disease.<br /></li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">The kinds of diets that produce excess body fat (e.g. sugars) also cause heart disease.<br /></li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Some genes that cause fat accumulation also cause heart disease.<br /></li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Certain environmental factors (e.g. exposure to toxins) trigger both.<br /></li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Fat people receive a lot of criticism, producing a negative self-image, which causes heart disease.<br /></li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">A negative self-image triggers both heart disease and eating habits that make you fat.<br /></li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">The experience of early stages of heart disease causes a low level of discomfort that triggers eating as a distraction.<br /></li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Fat people are more likely to diet. Somehow dieting causes heart disease. Perhaps the foods we crave are exactly the foods that prevent heart disease, and dieters deny themselves the foods they crave. Perhaps self-denial is a direct cause of heart disease. etc.</li>
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Of course, this is all speculation on my part. Maybe lots of medical scientists have studied the problem deeply enough to be certain that being fat causes heart disease, and that losing that fat (by any means) would reduce heart disease. I'm not done, though.</div>
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Aside: doctors tell us to lose <span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc;">weight</span> by exercising more (even though the science says this doesn't work, because it increases appetite to match) and by eating less (even though the science says this doesn't work, because the body can prioritize fat storage over other uses of calories, even when the calories are scarce). Gary Taubes presents the science on this pretty well, and concludes that carbs cause <span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc;">weight</span> gain or loss. He doesn't dig in to questions like "why do I crave carbs?". I suspect you need to answer that question, and the Why? behind it, and maybe a couple levels below that, before you can really get somewhere useful.</blockquote>
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Anyway, <b>losing <span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc;">weight</span> is hard</b>. Ask anyone who has tried. Even if you succeed, <b>keeping it off is extremely difficult</b>. People who lose <span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc;">weight</span> usually gain it back not too long afterwards. I recently read a claim that there is no method scientifically proven to work at losing <span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc;">weight</span> and keeping it off. If this is true, then it doesn't matter if being fat is unhealthy, or being fat is ugly - you can't change it anyway. In the meantime, you beat yourself up, deny your urges, create personal stress, etc., with no chance of success. Better to just accept that you're stuck here (for whatever reason), and get on with enjoying life.</div>
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Getting a little more radical, perhaps there's a very good <b>reason for me to be fat</b>. I don't know what it is, but I can acknowledge the possibility of some body wisdom that guides me towards fatness. Maybe fat is the healthiest way for me to be right now. If that is true, then ice cream cravings aren't the cause of my obesity, merely the mechanism by which my body guides me to foods that help it accomplish this important purpose of being fat. (Or perhaps cookies heal something in me, and fat is just an unfortunate side-effect.) To fight those urges is to wage a war against myself, producing great harm. </div>
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Anyway, why are we so certain that <b>we must be healthy and beautiful</b>? Where is it written? The inherent worth and dignity of every human being is not dependent on those things. They are temporary anyway.</div>
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With all this in mind, I've decided to <b>let myself be fat</b>. If I crave pudding, I will eat pudding. There's nothing to be gained by fighting these urges, and all kinds of possible gain by following them. </div>
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Now that I've had this change of heart, I have discovered some other things I I like about myself as I am. First, I am very strong. Consider the stories of soldiers in boot camp, made to carry a 50lb pack for hours on end. I weigh 100lbs more than those guys, and I carry that all day, every day. Quit your wining, grunt! </div>
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A couple years ago I took a rock climbing class. There was one other student, who was in "good shape". He climbed the wall much faster than I did. Fine. Maybe I could have climbed a little with him on my back; no way he could have done that with me on his back. So there!</div>
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The strength is not just physical: I still live a rich, varied, and wonderful life in this body. How many skinnies would sink in to helpless despair if they put on this much <span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc;">weight</span>, and were criticized so strongly by our culture? </div>
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So here I am. Fat, and not going anywhere. For better or worse - and I choose for better.</div>
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</div>Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378140547104387042noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-25222103021416942562012-05-10T00:10:00.001-07:002013-01-26T22:47:47.426-08:00Simplified Settlers of CatanI had reason to introduce people to <i>Settlers of Catan</i> 3 times in 2 days. It's a great game, but wow are there a lot of rules. You can spend 1/2 an hour explaining the game to your new players, but none of it really makes sense until they actually play and see the rules in context.<br />
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Learning a language is a lot like learning to play a complex game. You can spend all your time learning the rules (grammar) and still not know how to play (have a conversation). Luckily, I have a bunch of techniques I use with languages that I can apply here, too.<br />
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The most important one is LIMIT. If I teach you German, I will start with only the present tense, with only a few objects (all of the same gender), and a few verbs. Yes, I realize this tiny subset of German is not nearly as interesting, beautiful, or powerful as you might find in poetry or speeches. That's OK. This is just how we get started.<br />
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With a game we can do something similar. We can pick a tiny subset of the game, teach it, play it, then add another BITE-SIZED PIECE, and repeat. Luckily <i>Settlers </i>is not nearly as complex as German, so it won't take long.<br />
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Another technique is PLAY NICE. People often feel vulnerable when learning something new, especially if they feel pressured to perform. Take gentle care of them.<br />
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Finally, make sure everyone quits while they're still having fun ("FULL"). Like eating, learning is only fun before you get full; if you keep going too long you'll vomit. Yuck.<br />
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I'm going to make this more concrete, but I'm going to do that by describing the rules that I'm cutting out. My list will only make sense if you already know how to play the game. If you don't, then skim for now, until you see the minimal ruleset below.<br />
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You can remove rules in the order listed; add them back in reverse.<br />
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<b>8. No development cards</b>. There's nothing wrong with development cards, but they aren't required for the mechanics of the game to play out. Set them aside for now. Also skip the Largest Army bonus. Since this reduces the possibilities for getting points, be sure to reduce the number of points required to win.<br />
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<b>7. No robber</b>. Without development cards, there are no Knight cards, so nothing depends on the robber. Robber is also a bit cruel. Out he goes.<br />
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<b>6. No lost cards when rolling 7</b>. This rule quite harsh, especially for new players who aren't sure how to use their cards.<br />
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<b>5. No player trading.</b> Trading is clearly an important part of the joy of the original game, but it's not necessary for the game to function. (Remember that we're not aiming for "great game" but for "easy to learn".)<br />
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<b>4. No harbors</b>. Flip the ocean pieces over so the harbors are hidden.<br />
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Do allow 4:1 trades with the bank, as this is required for the game to function properly. Without the risk of losing cards on a 7, players can hold as many cards as they need to trade for what they want.<br />
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<b>3. No secrets</b>. Since you can't steal resources from each other, and you're not trading, you don't need to keep your cards hidden. Everyone places their resource cards on the table face-up, so everyone can see. Then you can coach people on how to use their resources.<br />
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<b>2. No roads</b>. Now we're really getting lean! Players can place settlements on any intersection that isn't adjacent to another settlement. Remove the <b>Longest Road</b> while you're at it, and adjust the winning score. (Again, remember that the game doesn't have to be well-balanced, just easy to learn.)<br />
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<b>1. Don't hand out resources</b> when players place their starting settlements. It's just simpler.<br />
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So now the game looks like this:<br />
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Set up the board with the usual tiles, but with the oceans upside-down. Place number chits as usual. Give players the Building Costs cards as usual, but tell them to ignore the Development Card and Road entries.</blockquote>
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Players take turns placing starting settlements, as usual. Don't give much attention to getting a great starting position; this game will be over soon.</blockquote>
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A player starts a turn by rolling the dice. Distribute resource cards as usual. Player can build settlements anywhere, or upgrade to cities. Player can trade 4:1 with the bank as needed.</blockquote>
Not only do we reduce the winning score because there are fewer ways to get points, but we should reduce it further to get through the game quickly. In my experiments today, 5 points worked well.<br />
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You can probably only play this way once, unless you're playing with 4-year-olds. So it's time to add some more rules. It is possible to add all the remaining rules at once -- that's still an improvement over the usual way -- smaller steps are probably better. You'll have to decide based on your situation. How eager are the players to learn more? Is there a lot of background noise that will tire players out? Will young children get tired of waiting to play while you list rules? Is your voice tired?<br />
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If the step is too small, players will get bored with the overly-simple game, and annoyed at the work of setup/cleanup that each game requires. Much of the joy of games is learning how to play them. Give players enough challenge so they get to experience that joy.<br />
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If the step is too big, people will get bored listening to rules, or overwhelmed trying to follow them. </div>
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Keep the winning score low for now. A small step of new rules combined with a high winning score means people get to know the game really well fast, and then get bored waiting for the game to finish.<br />
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It may not be a good idea to ask a new player to play the full game today. Help them quit while they are still having fun, and they'll ask to come back and play again another day.<br />
<br />Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378140547104387042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-84416020680599732242012-04-05T18:01:00.000-07:002012-04-05T18:01:12.189-07:00Gift Wi-FiI believe in free Wi-Fi.<br />
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Specifically, I wish that everyone with an unlimited internet connection would open it up for anyone to use. The public good would be substantial. The cost would be minimal. I wish Wi-Fi equipment from the telco & cable company came configured this way by default.<br />
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What are the downsides to opening your Wi-Fi up?<br />
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The first is<b> security</b>: the most common home Wi-Fi setup includes a firewall, making your computer inaccessible to the internet. If you open your Wi-Fi, then someone near you can get past your firewall. It's not as scary as it sounds. Your computer probably has a built-in firewall running. If you install security updates, you're pretty well protected. If you plan to take your laptop to a a coffee shop's free Wi-Fi, you better deal with this anyway.<br />
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Most of the risk comes from strangers 1/2-way around the world, protected by distance, anonymity, and the difficulty of extradition. Your neighbors are less of a concern.<br />
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In my case, however, I have some unsecured network resources behind my firewall. Most people don't, but I'm an exception. So I want a mechanism to protect internal resources from guest users.<br />
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The other concern is <b>speed</b>. If guest users eat a lot of bandwidth, it can stop you from doing the same. If all you do is check your email, you'll probably never have a problem. In some cases you can use QoS to address this, although if your upstream bandwidth is unreliable, it's hard to make QoS work.<br />
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My first attempt at an open guest network involved double-NAT. My DSL modem had built-in Wi-Fi and 4 Ethernet ports. I left the Wi-Fi unsecured. I plugged in a Linksys Wi-Fi router to the Ethernet, and set its Wi-Fi to be secured. I gave the Linksys a static IP address, and set the DSL modem to DMZ to the linksys. UPnP port forwarding still works.<br />
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Now that I live in Rural, I thought there was no point in having open Wi-Fi. Demand for such things is pretty low even in densely populated areas; the chances of anyone around here ever using mine is even smaller. I was wrong: I have 1 neighbor in range of my Wi-Fi, and he wants to use it. He's off-grid enough that he can't get DSL like I can, so even a little of my Internet would be awesome for him.<br />
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He had a really hard time making a connection to the Wi-Fi, because of distance (about 200 feet) and obstructions (trees, brush, and the foil-face insulation in the walls of my yurt. He could see the Wi-Fi, but he couldn't stay connected. We tried moving equipment around, but the signal was not quite strong enough. He bought a cheap but modern 802.11n AP, in the hopes that it would do better than my ancient DSL modem's Wi-Fi, but it still wasn't enough.<br />
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I ended up swapping equipment - my Linksys for his AP. My Linksys runs DD-WRT, which supports repeater mode. I moved the Linksys in to another building closer to my neighbor, and now he can connect. You still with me?<br />
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There are a couple things I don't like:<br />
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<li>My DSL modem is quite old. The web interface is clunky. The feature set is limited. I can't install DD-WRT.<br /></li>
<li>Double-NAT is annoying.<br /></li>
<li>I don't like the cheapo AP; its DNS is a bit buggy; it can't run DD-WRT.</li>
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I have a more modern DSL modem that is minimal - it's a tiny box with just a single Ethernet port. But I am relying on the old one's Wi-Fi for the guest access.</div>
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Some routers have a "guest access" feature built in. I picked up a refurbished Cisco Linksys E2500 router for $40, in part because it has this feature. I was disappointed with the implementation. When you connect to the guest Wi-Fi network, you have to type in a password. There's no way to disable this password. The prevents my repeater from connecting. Damn.<br />
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I like the power of DD-WRT, but I hate the risk of bricking a device. Finding answers about DD-WRT is hard. There's a web site with a router database, but the answers it gives are sometimes dangerously wrong. There's a wiki with a lot of useful information, and lots of bad writing, and some bad errors. Then there's the forum, where all answers can be found, if you like pain. Imagine many pages of forum posts, where page 1 says "do this" and page 3 says "don't do that thing you saw on page 1, or you'll brick your device." This is infuriating. This is why stackoverflow started, with the mission to "make the internet better".<br />
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I was hoping modern Linksys firmware would be rich enough that I didn't need to go to DD-WRT again, but alas: the guest access is sucky. So off to DD-WRT land I went.<br />
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Sure enough, there's an 11-page thread, with a title that says "look at page 9", where you can find a link to a usable DD-WRT build. It turns out that the build on page 4 will brick your device. Pity anyone who reads from the front.<br />
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Setting up guest networks in DD-WRT is a bit tricky. I found instructions online but they are incomplete, as they don't tell you to configure the firewall to completely isolate the private and guest networks. I worked on it for a day, and was never completely successful. I found that the power plug on this refurb device has a lose connection - if you push on it sideways, the device turns off. So I'm sending it back.<br />
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One additional barrier is the criticality of our network. You might say "it's just a home network" but we have 5 people who use the Internet all day, every day. If I bring the system down for maintenance, I hear a lot of complaints. I have to do it overnight. Just like an enterprise IT department, but I'm not getting paid overtime.<br />
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Will you open your Wi-Fi?<br />
<br />Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378140547104387042noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-19138440705877814302012-03-31T23:31:00.002-07:002012-03-31T23:31:46.621-07:00Sleep on it<br />
Last Fall I hunted a little Mandarin. There was a class on Chinese language, culture, and food for homeschoolers that met for an hour each week. The instructor, a woman from Taiwan, told me she enjoyed the food and culture part the most, and wasn't sure how to teach her language.<br />
<br />
I dropped in on a couple classes to see if I could help. I hunted her language with the kids in the class. I was there for 2 classes, and spent about 20 minutes each time on language.<br />
<br />
I didn't have an opportunity to use that bit of Mandarin for a while. A few months later I got the urge to run through those conversations again. But I couldn't remember the words. I tried SIGNING to trigger the memory, but it didn't help. The words didn't come. I shrugged and let it go.<br />
<br />
The next morning I found the words again. The conversations came easily.<br />
<br />
I'm used to thinking of SLEEP ON IT as applying directly to a learning situation. You learn something, you sleep that night, and the next day you know it better.<br />
<br />
But in this case, it was months later. It's funny how memory works - something I thought was gone was still there. It just needed a trigger and a night's sleep.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378140547104387042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-24261807415119440652012-03-15T19:30:00.002-07:002012-03-15T19:30:43.103-07:00Elwha dam removal and language revitalization<br />
I am far from being an expert on the Elwha, so please expect that I'm getting some stuff wrong here, and be patient with me.<br />
<br />
The largest community of Klallam people is the Lower Elwha Tribe, near Port Angeles, WA. Their language is critically endangered. There are 2 fluent elders, who were sent to white schools and punished when they spoke their language (a tragically familiar story).<br />
<br />
The Elwha river was dammed 100 years ago to generate electricity. They have started dismantling the dams, the largest such project ever.<br />
<br />
I would like to help with the Klallam language, but sometimes I wonder if there's hope. When I first started learning about endangered language revitalization, there were 4 elder speakers, but 2 have died since. Those speakers have lived in English most of their lives. They may be completely fluent but not ACTFL Superior. With a language in such a delicate state, is it even possible to bring it back? I wonder if it's even worth trying, as I sink in to despair.<br />
<br />
My wife pointed out a parallel with the dam removal project. Congress approved funding in 1992, but they are still 2 years away from fully removing the dams. Even after that, it will take a long time for salmon to repopulate the upper Elwha, and it seems impossible for fish to return to the populations of a century ago. And yet it is worth doing.<br />
<br />
If it's worth restoring the Elwha, then it's worth restoring the Klallam language. It may never be what it was, but that doesn't mean it's not worth doing.<br />
<br />
I'm not giving up.Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378140547104387042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-84965392158954478552012-02-20T15:00:00.003-08:002012-02-20T15:00:42.285-08:00"I am a colonized and dispossessed indigenous person. Are you too?"My friend XelsÃlem asked this question on Twitter (<a href="https://twitter.com/#!/Xelsilem_Rivers/status/171684388441042944">https://twitter.com/#!/Xelsilem_Rivers/status/171684388441042944</a>). I normally identify as white, which would put me in the group of colonizers and dispossessors. But there's some interesting complexity to explore:<br />
<br />
My father was born in Palestine, to a Christian Arab family. The pain of the Arab/Israeli conflict was an unavoidable part of his experience growing up. At age 17 he had the opportunity to leave for America to go to college. His father insisted that he take that chance. In the USA he learned to speak American English and participate in American culture.<br />
<br />
He wasn't forced to attend an Indian residential school, but the same belief system and societal forces were still at play, and so the results have some striking similarities. Violence compelled him to leave his ancestral homeland. He believed that being American was better than being Arabic. He never spoke Arabic to me, and I grew up American more than Arabic.<br />
<br />
My mom's mom was born in Austria, to a Jewish family. As Hitler rose to power in Germany, her father sensed the coming danger to Jews, and sent her to safety in England. There she married an Episcopalian minister, and she lived as a English Christian. She didn't speak of growing up Jewish, and hid her maiden name that would have revealed her ancestry. I was a teenager before I found out that by Jewish law I am Jewish, too.<br />
<br />
Here again, while not the same as the experience of Native Americans, there are some similarities that can't be missed. I don't speak Hebrew or Austrian German. I know almost nothing of that part of my heritage.<br />
<br />
There's a deeper way in which I can answer "yes" to that question. Karma and the Golden Rule are often presented as reasons do deny your supposed "true desire" to take from others for your own benefit. That is a misunderstanding, which only makes sense from our old perspective of the separate self in an objective universe, engaged in competition with other beings. That perspective is obsolete, and now we are coming to understand a new truth: where your good fortune is my good fortune. The truth of karma is that the harm done to others<b> is harm</b> done to myself. The true Golden Rule is that as I do unto others, I so <b>in fact</b> do unto myself.<br />
<br />
And so, yes, if
XelsÃlem is colonized and dispossessed, then so am I.<br />
<br />Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378140547104387042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-86338360690423799542011-11-11T23:24:00.001-08:002011-11-11T23:28:36.733-08:00A money that aligns with beauty<br />
Some of you may know Robin McKann and his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Windfall-Forest/298473175151">Windfall Forest</a>. They bought 20 acres of beautiful forest off in Port Townsend, WA. An FSC-certified operation, they expressed their love of the forest with their harvesting methods. This wood has gone in to some beautiful projects, from <a href="http://robinmckann.com/">art pieces</a> to houses. But they didn't make enough money to pay the bills, even with a very flexible lender. One option available to them was to clearcut the forest. That would have let them pay off the mortgage.<br />
<br />
There's something a little strange here. Say you have a a forest that you could clearcut for $200M revenue, or you could log sustainably for $1M/yr. You're financially better off with the clearcut. That's because you will receive more than $1M/yr on the interest on $100M.<br />
<br />
This isn't about "greed" as much as it is about "making a living". We are all faced with similar choices every day. Even if we want to do beautiful things, our money system puts a lot of pressure on us to choose money over beauty. Is poverty the only way to live beautifully?<br />
<br />
Another way of describing this is the "discounting of future cash flows" - that money you make in the future is worth less than money you make today. Thus, it is in your best interest to sell the future for today, which is exactly what we've been doing. We destroy forests, poison the air and the water, overfish the oceans, privatize the commons of human ingenuity, corrupt the genetic code of life itself, to make a profit. Not just an elite, greedy few, but nearly everyone involved in the adult activity of making a living. I am in awe of this powerful magic.<br />
<br />
What if we wanted the opposite - for the future to be more beautiful than the present. Could you imagine a kind of money that would support restoration of salmon habitat, organic local farming, and strong communities?<br />
<br />
I want to live in that world.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378140547104387042noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-10806220555564202112011-11-02T12:31:00.000-07:002011-11-02T13:58:23.208-07:00Is it all about income inequality?I just got this email:<br />
<blockquote>
Research seem to show that while the 99-1% split is there and is sadly unfair, a bigger problem exists among the less educated in vast portion of the population.
<br />
<br />
The most troubling problems that leave many Americans at a disadvantage have gotten lost in the debate over the top 1 percent of earners vs. the bottom 99 percent. <a href="http://nyti.ms/uNdkLs">http://nyti.ms/uNdkLs</a> </blockquote>
One way to glibly summarize that article above is to say "while income and wealth inequality only oppressed people of color and white trash, we could ignore it; now that it affects white college graduates, it's getting attention." And that is itself a worthy concern.<br />
<br />
However, I am wary of any attempt to summarize the "true purpose" of the Occupy movement. As a leaderless movement, it has as many purposes as it has participants.<br />
<br />
Complaints about income inequality are also expressions of greed and jealousy. "You got rich, and I didn't; that's not fair; give me your money!" That's a difficult position to defend.<br />
<br />
hile income inequality in the USA is certainly a factor, it is not the only one that brings people to Occupy. Certainly that would not be enough to motivate demonstrations in 1000 cities worldwide! Pollution, energy, war, food, politics-for-sale, and police brutality, are common concerns among Occupyiers today.<br />
<br />
Personally, I am dissatisfied with any messages asking to return to the way things were, to reinstate Glass-Steagall or tax the rich at 1980 levels, etc. First, the way things were is exactly how we got here today. Second, I don't think things were that great then, either. Third, it's impossible - the coal is already mined, the CO2 already released in to the atmosphere, the fish already caught.<br />
<br />
I believe that the true purpose of the Occupy movement is still not known, at least not broadly. I think that the issues raised by Occupiers share a deeper common cause that we are not fully ready to address. I think of this movement as part of humanity's "coming of age ordeal", and we still need to go through that ordeal before we are ready.<br />
<br />Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378140547104387042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-58134482688437953832011-10-19T00:06:00.000-07:002011-10-19T00:06:09.193-07:00"Corporate Greed" is only a symptomOccupy Wall Street has successfully avoided publishing a list of demands, which is <a href="http://www.realitysandwich.com/occupy_wall_street_no_demand_big_enough">wonderful</a>. However, one of the more common messages is "End Corporate Greed". While this may be useful as a rallying cry, it's worth asking the question "Why is there corporate greed?"<br />
<br />
Is it just because people are greedy? <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_commandments#Two_texts_with_numbering_schemes">The 10th commandment seems to think so</a>.<br />
<br />
Is it because these corporations are run by Jews, and Jews want to screw over everyone else? The <a href="http://anp14.com/news/archives.php?report_date=2011-10-16">American Nazi Party seems to think so</a>.<br />
<br />
If you agree with either of them, then I probably can't convince you otherwise. That's fine, we're all in this together, and I believe we can find a way to take care of each other. However, if you're open to other points of view:<br />
<br />
An obvious answer is "capitalism". Suppose you & I are competing for the same customers. I behave greedily (pollute and break up unions to maximize profits), while you attempt to behave ethically (clean up after yourself and treat your workers well). My prices are lower. Investors will drive my stock price up, while yours crashes. You go out of business and I am a darling of Wall St. This is "success" in the free market.<br />
<br />
Thus, the "corporate greed" we see is merely a symptom of the system that corporations participate in, not a feature of a few "bad guys" at Goldman Sachs or wherever.<br />
<br />
You might argue that the big corporations don't participate in a free market - they use their considerable lobbying power to gain market protections for themselves (while letting the rest of us fight each other over every penny). However, the same principle applies: in a competitive system, where each player seeks to maximize their own self-interest, the only sane and successful tactic is to attempt to influence lawmakers in your favor, at the detriment to others. So, maybe the "free market" label isn't accurate, but clearly the greedy behavior is still merely a symptom of the system we create.<br />
<br />
Going a little more deeply, note that nearly all businesses depends on debt. They borrow money, do business, take a revenue, and pay off the debt. A creditor will only loan your business money if they believe you can turn a profit. That is, only profit-generating activities are likely to gain access to money. Restoring salmon habitat, or sitting at the bedside of a dying person is not profit-generating so it's very hard to get paid to do that. Building machines that clearcut forests faster is profit-generating, so it's easy to get money for it (at least as long as there's a demand for lumber).<br />
<br />
So, if we are concerned about the effects of "corporate greed", we're going to need to go much deeper than, say, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcker_Rule">Volker Rule</a> or prosecuting some CEOs. This is too much to fit on a cardboard sign, but it's important that we be willing to look at underlying causes as the Occupy movement continues.<br />
<br />
I accept that you may disagree with my analysis of the causes; even if you agree, you may notice that it's possible to go deeper still. There's plenty of room for more study here.<br />
<br />
<br />Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378140547104387042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-14437956349480571262011-10-09T20:12:00.000-07:002011-10-09T20:12:43.849-07:00Occupy Port TownsendPort Townsend's population is only 9000, and we don't have the headquarters of any major financial institutions here. Still, today we had a lone protester at the corner of Sims Way and Kearney St.<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=off&q=sims+%26+kearney+port+townsend&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=E+Sims+Way+%26+Kearney+St,+Port+Townsend,+Jefferson,+Washington+98368&gl=us&t=m&z=14&vpsrc=0&ll=48.109956,-122.770686&output=embed" width="425"></iframe><br />
<small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=off&q=sims+%26+kearney+port+townsend&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=E+Sims+Way+%26+Kearney+St,+Port+Townsend,+Jefferson,+Washington+98368&gl=us&t=m&z=14&vpsrc=0&ll=48.109956,-122.770686&source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">View Larger Map</a></small>
<br />
<br />
I took my kids to see him. I felt like I was taking them to the zoo. "Now kids, this is what a 'protester' looks like." Really, I wanted them to have this in their memory if the Occupy movement leads to something bigger, or if they ever consider protesting something themselves. They will have a concrete memory to work from.<br />
<br />
He let me take his picture. 3 pictures, since his sign had 3 sides.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXKNnBMHXQPwiOOfo9xvOSl1GbcOm-HyWENQxZSP20N6BNu9dS8NqIhf2LTyzbjq6ux_xNy_6PpH7RJXyhZTfnhkoQzgUvUe_e_AstTuZ5uNgWprvICbsX4m1LpD4A0-N21E18/s1600/005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXKNnBMHXQPwiOOfo9xvOSl1GbcOm-HyWENQxZSP20N6BNu9dS8NqIhf2LTyzbjq6ux_xNy_6PpH7RJXyhZTfnhkoQzgUvUe_e_AstTuZ5uNgWprvICbsX4m1LpD4A0-N21E18/s320/005.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Protest Locally"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMX0BNtgsSCi1a_1xj_G1K7tg1OAW-Jy9apf7EPqJHD1pcLlcILSDf8yVkmBo_xGGd-WqIjvuOcWUxf6RUDq30XEJOJLSSHnI_ymoiyKmqBOg49N0FPR8aE-hH_HIglXeyShPs/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMX0BNtgsSCi1a_1xj_G1K7tg1OAW-Jy9apf7EPqJHD1pcLlcILSDf8yVkmBo_xGGd-WqIjvuOcWUxf6RUDq30XEJOJLSSHnI_ymoiyKmqBOg49N0FPR8aE-hH_HIglXeyShPs/s320/007.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Support Our Troops"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi12c2rbjLTqijK42seGihsobJtaR2Vh09iSxBYQihaotaG85iuFcpP_mqxCujONlNgBkq4RdUUHymtg9dARqK0EPBhya3IbYYoeNhViEYPS3qvxQgdj_H8I1NS8n76CfwEuV1o/s1600/006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi12c2rbjLTqijK42seGihsobJtaR2Vh09iSxBYQihaotaG85iuFcpP_mqxCujONlNgBkq4RdUUHymtg9dARqK0EPBhya3IbYYoeNhViEYPS3qvxQgdj_H8I1NS8n76CfwEuV1o/s320/006.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"YouTube is Life <b>Un</b>filtered"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
That last one has me the most concerned. The only protester, with only 3 messages to share, and one of them is about how a Google property is so great.<br />
<br />Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378140547104387042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-89593844443531224202011-09-14T22:44:00.000-07:002011-09-14T22:44:32.183-07:00Possible reasons your Ford 8N won't startOver the summer I helped my friend Bill get his Ford 8N running again. He used it to clear the snow on his driveway over the winter, but then couldn't get it going again in the spring.<br />
<br />
If an engine runs but has issues, there are some straightforward ways of troubleshooting. But when it won't start at all, there are many possible causes. You hit the starter, it cranks, but doesn't fire. Out of gas, stuck carb float, blown head gasket, bad ignition coil, burned points, etc. What could it be?<br />
<br />
Here are the main issues that we had to fix to get Bill's tractor going again.<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Elbow fuel filter clogged.</b> Unscrew the intake elbow from the carburetor and examine the filter. It should be clean and empty. Bill's was solidly packed with gunk. We put it in a vice and aimed a propane torch at it, then blew out the ash. There are supposed to be 3 filters on the 8N, but only one was operational, and the tank was dirty. So we drained the tank most of the way, dropped in a length of chain, and shook it around. Drain, rinse, repeat.<br />
<br />
<b>Distributor rotor broken</b>. We had 3 rotors break on us. If you're getting no spark, this is a good thing to check. 2 of them were because the new distributor cap was a bad fit. We ended up buying a rotor + cap together from Napa, and they worked well.<br />
<br />
<b>Battery backwards</b>. Ford 8N, and many older 6-volt engines are positive ground, with negative leading to the starter. Someone convinced Bill otherwise about a month ago, and the machine has been cranking backwards ever since. It was compressing fresh air and trying to ignite it, then blowing it back out the carburetor. *sigh*<br />
<br />
Some troubleshooting techniques:<br />
<br />
A little carb cleaner sprayed in the air intake or directly in to a cylinder will tell you a lot (it acts like starter fluid). If the tractor still doesn't fire, then the problem isn't fuel related.<br />
<br />
A spark plug overgapped (1/4" or more) is a great testing tool. Pull a spark plug wire off one of the plugs, connect it to the overgapped plug, grounded it to the metal. If you still get a spark, then electrical issues are probably not the problem.<br />
<br />
You don't need much compression to get started. Compression testers are useful for diagnosing engine health, but they are only useful when the engine is hot. To get started, you just need to make sure you have *any* compression. Pull all 4 spark plugs, and put your thumb over each hole in turn. If you feel good pressure, that's enough for now.Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378140547104387042noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-46126286958620190842011-05-24T19:08:00.000-07:002011-05-24T19:08:37.892-07:00FawnsThe other day I saw a doe walking with two tiny fawns, and snapped this pic:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_EBSr4wimrZfRe17pXuhW2p8L8q0FDvYnvc_8QtEJ1TZB2xcJU6ZIRwM4zBzWBrGwyDYZ2u-FtQu2C8TLrH7EhMgF8lMNks7TZkJ1WNjuLLctjHQUHDht87aisTc_-Gl9t8T9/s1600/android+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_EBSr4wimrZfRe17pXuhW2p8L8q0FDvYnvc_8QtEJ1TZB2xcJU6ZIRwM4zBzWBrGwyDYZ2u-FtQu2C8TLrH7EhMgF8lMNks7TZkJ1WNjuLLctjHQUHDht87aisTc_-Gl9t8T9/s320/android+001.jpg" t8="true" width="240px" /></a></div><br />
One is just on the other side of mom, and is hard to see. The other is hobbling across the street. Its front hooves were turned under. Looked painful.Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378140547104387042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-25605998557980390662010-12-30T21:46:00.000-08:002010-12-30T21:46:38.050-08:00What's in my pockets?I'm amused to find this collection of items in my pockets today:<div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJqxoz2DUZIQscEtFvimuqYW-xYqjyn_xGXkIYiH9zeuEbe6LNKhdRXCY85eoVvvA6XAbKG6TN_ZXKNHrRC9DogjbiDu71izojCv7raN4vZWjdC4K8bkjnA3kpdLKK3F_rLjdk/s1600/Today%2527s+Pockets.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJqxoz2DUZIQscEtFvimuqYW-xYqjyn_xGXkIYiH9zeuEbe6LNKhdRXCY85eoVvvA6XAbKG6TN_ZXKNHrRC9DogjbiDu71izojCv7raN4vZWjdC4K8bkjnA3kpdLKK3F_rLjdk/s400/Today%2527s+Pockets.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div>Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378140547104387042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-58542574086198471082010-12-26T21:26:00.000-08:002010-12-26T21:26:08.795-08:00Ford truck headlight wiring upgradeI've had the 1975 Ford F-350 for about a year now. It has plenty of problems (some of which I listed in my <a href="http://jbazuzi.blogspot.com/2010/01/truck.html">previous post</a>), but it's what I expect from a 35-year-old truck.<br />
<br />
One problem I've been ignoring for a while is the headlights. While driving at night, they would <b>turn off and on</b>. Intermittent electrical problems are difficult to diagnose, and in this truck the wiring is nuts. Three-and-a-half decades of dirt, decay, and home "repairs". It's often hard to tell what color a wire is, and who knows if it will match the wiring diagram? The only good thing I can say is that the truck lacks many of the modern features that would add complexity (a chime when you don't put on your seat belt, or ABS brakes, or a "MAINT REQ'D" indicator).<br />
<br />
I studied the wiring diagram, but it didn't tell me much: wires go from the headlight switch to the headlights, and don't do much else. Duh. I tried wiggling the wires that I could see, to trigger a loose connection, but it didn't work. I held up a multimeter near the truck, but it didn't care. I tried looking around the internet, but couldn't find anything that matched my symptoms.<br />
<br />
I ended up just <b>avoiding driving after dark</b>. Since I didn't use the truck very much, that was OK.<br />
<br />
In the fall I started using the truck more, just as the days were getting short. Right now our sunset is around 4:30pm, so the "don't drive at night" tactic is very limiting. So, I went looking for help on the internet, again. This time I found something.<br />
<br />
<blockquote><a href="http://www.ford-trucks.com/article/idx/0/039/article/Whiter_Whites_Brighter_Brights.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">http://www.ford-trucks.com/article/idx/0/039/article/Whiter_Whites_Brighter_Brights.html</span></a><br />
<br />
The problem:<br />
<br />
The stock headlight wiring sucks. The wire is quite small (#18) and it follows a very long tortorous path from the battery to the headlight switch, down to the dimmer switch and then back thru the engine compartment to the headlights. There is several volts lost thru all this wiring and switches, so the lights only get maybe 10-11 volts instead of the 13-14 they should have. <br />
The other problem is that all that headlight current heats up the headlight thermal breaker, which eventually dies from the well known "flashing Ford headlights" syndrome.</blockquote>His solution is to run a new circuit to supply the headlights, and use the existing wiring to control a relay on that circuit. This is pretty basic automotive wiring. (It's right at the edge of my comfort zone, which tells you something about how I am with automotive wiring).<br />
<br />
I went to the local auto parts store and bought some supplies:<br />
<br />
- A couple relays, with sockets:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41CFqcgoVhL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41CFqcgoVhL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" /></a></div><br />
- A small fuse panel and fuses:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21ttUtV5TgL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21ttUtV5TgL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" /></a><a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Sn8VJMnQL._AA160_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Sn8VJMnQL._AA160_.jpg" /></a></div><br />
- A tube of dielectric grease<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/412Xlc68e9L._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/412Xlc68e9L._SL500_AA300_.jpg" /></a></div>- 14 AWG wire - big enough to carry the headlight load<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41iSFiedQYL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41iSFiedQYL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" /></a><a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41HVEUJI2YL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41HVEUJI2YL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" /></a></div>I also used a some 18 AWG wiring, crimp connectors, and heat-shrink tubing I already had.<br />
<br />
I mounted the fuse box on the side of the engine compartment. Heavy steel was tough to drill. 2 holes to mount the box, plus one for ground screws.<br />
<br />
I used the fuse box instead of in-line fuses for two reasons. First, the in-line fuse holders I tried fell apart in my hands. Second, the starter solenoid already had 5 wires attached to one stud (1 from the battery, 4 to various systems) and I would be adding 2 more. A fuse box can do the distribution, instead of everything being bolted on the stud. I only put these two new circuits (high beam / low beam) on the fuse box for now, but I may move the others over later.<br />
<br />
I reused the existing headlight sockets, but leaving 3"-long pigtails to splice in to. They're only 18 AWG, but at that length it'll be OK.<br />
<br />
I put silicone grease in every connection to keep out water & air, so it won't corrode. Solder + heat shrink tubing would have been more secure, but I think this will be good enough.<br />
<br />
The headlights seem brighter now, although I don't have good before-and-after comparisons.<br />
<br />
While I was looking around the engine compartment, I noticed a bunch of disconnected wiring on the right side. There's a space for a battery that isn't there, a ground cable for that battery, and what looks like a second starter solenoid, but is actually a battery isolator relay. This truck used to have a slide-in camper long ago.<br />
<br />
The reason I started working on this headlight project was because I got stuck while working on the motorhome. Its battery isolator was dead, and I was having a trouble finding a replacement. I was at the auto parts store looking for one, which they didn't have, so I bought the bits for this headlight project. Yay, got my isolator for free. :-)Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378140547104387042noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-57179222491692916482010-07-15T22:05:00.000-07:002010-07-15T22:05:11.217-07:00We were totally lied to by our album covers!I use Skype video to stay in touch with my far-flung family. I was just thinking about how video communication appeared in futuristic films when I was a kid. Take, for example, this shot from <i>2001: A Space Odyssey</i>:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisO7l1rg7v9u4vGjUgPZ4PjWCOu3CzCInXSMj-swoHQiQpdYC5MMlf1soE5-luhYSloc-Tia8Ax74_iNFr0eJNl4CMriflUS_ZtLxn52Eu6thmF4GSG8qxR34xYrR2mInsms8/s1600/videophone+2001.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="596" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisO7l1rg7v9u4vGjUgPZ4PjWCOu3CzCInXSMj-swoHQiQpdYC5MMlf1soE5-luhYSloc-Tia8Ax74_iNFr0eJNl4CMriflUS_ZtLxn52Eu6thmF4GSG8qxR34xYrR2mInsms8/s640/videophone+2001.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />
(I took it from this clip: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWwo6JpMceg">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWwo6JpMceg</a>).<br />
<br />
Notice anything funny? Something that doesn't match our real experiences with Skype? <b>She's looking at us. </b><br />
<br />
In real, face-to-face communication, we look each other in the eye. I look at you and see you looking back at me.<br />
<br />
When I Skype with my brother, I look at the picture of him <b>on my screen</b>. But the picture he sees isn't taken from my screen, it's taken from my camera, which is usually on the top of the monitor. So to him it looks like I'm looking down instead of looking directly at him.<br />
<br />
In the videophone sequence in 2001, and in just about every other videophone scene in a movie ever, the person on the other side is looking at a camera. It looks natural, but it almost never happens.<br />
<br />
Recent media seems to be getting this right. For example, this NSFW video by Morningwood (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kYLImd8_Xc">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kYLImd8_Xc</a>).<br />
<br />
I've noticed that the larger my screen is, the worse it gets, as that tends to increase the gap between the camera and the picture. I have taken to shrinking the Skype window and putting it as close to the camera as possible, to make it look more natural on the other side.<br />
<br />
I wonder how long it will take for technology to make this easy? I wonder what technology it will require?<br />
<br />
Maybe when digital cameras become dirt-cheap (like $0.01) and microscopic, we can make an LCD display with an array of cameras embedded in a matrix across it. Then the software can track the eyes of the person on the other side, and pick the camera closest to those eyes.Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292487295338684699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-23130878203515737312010-06-28T09:44:00.000-07:002010-06-28T09:44:44.548-07:00Mini-rant: 4-port USB hubs in LCD monitorsI always get LCD monitors with USB hubs in them, but they're always limited to 4 ports. That's not enough!<br />
<br />
2 go immediately to keyboard and mouse.<br />
<br />
The remaining 2 are shared with all my other USB devices I might have, like:<br />
<br />
- portable scanner<br />
- flash drive<br />
- headset<br />
- web cam<br />
- smart card reader<br />
- GPS device<br />
- camera<br />
<br />
Now, if they'd used 7-port hubs, they could have put 3 ports on the back (one would be the camera) and 4 ports down the side, and I'd be pretty well set.Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292487295338684699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-55278766763794537042010-06-28T09:40:00.000-07:002010-06-28T09:40:29.216-07:00Technological Innovation I'd like to see: USB and audio in video cablesI have these cables running from my monitor to my desktop PC:<br />
<br />
- video<br />
- audio to speakers<br />
- USB<br />
<br />
It gets worse if you have audio to microphone.<br />
<br />
3-4 cables running from A to B is dumb. I know that HDMI includes audio, but it's hard to get resolutions over 1920x1080 with HDMI. And, no USB.<br />
<br />
I wish DVI had included channels for USB and audio. Then I could have a cleaner space behind my desk.Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292487295338684699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-23857823939681636412010-06-28T09:29:00.000-07:002010-06-28T09:29:29.070-07:00Technological Innovation I'd like to see: USB control of monitorsI already have a 4-port USB hub in my LCD monitors, but it's just a bolt-on device. It shares only a housing an a power supply with the monitor.<br />
<br />
I wish the monitor itself was a USB device. I hate pushing the tiny buttons on the bezel, trying to navigate awkward menus to change monitor settings. Instead I'd like to do it in software.<br />
<br />
I already have a USB cable running from the PC to the monitor, so we're almost there!<br />
<br />
I have heard that Mac monitors do this, so I'm just wishing that PCs would get their act together. It should have happened years ago.Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292487295338684699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-56253668384306893232010-03-29T11:02:00.000-07:002010-03-29T11:02:55.732-07:00How to start Where are Your Keys?One thing I've always struggled with, since I first started learning <a href="http://whereareyourkeys.org/">Where are Your Keys</a> (WAYK) was how to start learning WAYK!<br />
<br />
Before watching the <a href="http://whereareyourkeys.org/2009/08/26/the-fluency-game-at-sunflower-river-farm/">first WAYK video</a>, I had heard discussion and description of the game, but still didn't get it. A short time later I felt like I understood the game, but didn't know how to explain it in a way that actually made sense. Conclusion:<br />
<blockquote>The only way to understand WAYK is to play it.</blockquote>That implies:<br />
<blockquote>Explaining WAYK ahead of time is a decelerator.</blockquote>The thing to do is get playing as quickly as possible.<br />
<br />
Another thing that I struggled with at the very beginning was the question "what am I supposed to be doing here?" Should I be trying to memorize signs? Is getting the answer to "what's that?" <b>right</b> important? It certainly was in my high school German class. I found myself trying hard to <i>remember</i> the sign for "black pen" and sign it quickly enough to keep up with the video. This is also a decelerator.<br />
<br />
Better to just play along, and let it go how it goes. I suspect that complete newbie players need to get this message early on - that just playing along is fine, don't worry about trying to <i>learn</i>. I don't have enough experience with this to be sure, though.<br />
<br />
Another thought came to me from listening to a recent WAYK debrief podcast. (I think it was <a href="http://whereareyourkeys.org/2010/03/19/wayk-podcast-episode-5-revitalizing-chinuk-wawa-part-2/">this one</a>.) Justin said that he doesn't do 2 colored pens with first-time players, because it's simpler for them to get just "pen" instead of dealing with colors. This is spot on. I think that it's particularly important to get the newbies <i>immersed</i> in the game as quickly as possible - really playing, not thinking hard - so they can understand how to play faster. In fact, for the very first few rounds, I would limit to just 3 objects instead of 5 (maybe even 2!). It's <i>Technique: Bite-Sized Pieces</i> with a very small piece for someone who is just trying to figure out eating for the first time.<br />
<br />
On a similar note, I think that explaining <i><a href="http://whereareyourkeys.org/2009/08/31/wayk-techniques-travels-with-charlie-on-vimeo/">Travels With Charlie</a></i> is interesting, but until you've played the very round, I think it's a decelerator. Just get playing as soon as you can.<br />
<br />
<b>Jay's techniques for total newbies:</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">I've been imagining the situation where a stranger and I both miss the bus. We have some time to kill until the next one comes, and I ask if they want to learn sign language while we wait.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><br />
1. Give the shortest intro possible (<i>Technique: Short Intro</i>)<br />
<br />
<blockquote>If you'd like, I can teach you a little sign language. We're going to have a very simple conversation about these objects. I'll start, and you join in as soon as you are read.</blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">It may also help to add:</div><blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Don't worry about trying to learn something and get it right. Just play along. If you're not sure what to do, just copy me.</div></blockquote>2. Play simply (<i>Technique: Simple Set-Up</i>)<br />
<br />
Use 2 or 3 objects, instead of the regular 5. Pick objects with simple names (a rock is better than a 1 dollar bill). Don't use two similar objects that require differentiating (only 1 pen).<br />
<br />
3. Start playing alone (<i>Technique: Play Solo</i>)<br />
<br />
Explain the sign for "What's that?" in English. Then ask and answer "What's that?" for each of your objects in turn. If your newbie doesn't copy, remind them to. <br />
<br />
After a few rounds they will be comfortable enough that you could have them start asking you.<br />
<br />
Now your players are not complete newbies. You can add a couple more objects in perhaps including color. You can have conversations about how the game works, what to do, where we are going, Techniques, etc.<br />
<br />
<div><br />
</div><div><b>Adaptation when you have a non-newbie</b></div><div><b><br />
</b></div><div>If you have two or more players, where one is a total newbie and one is not, you can play with the more experienced player instead of playing by yourself. That will probably work a little better.</div><div><br />
</div><div>These are just my ideas, I haven't had much chance to test them on folks. I'm sure I'll learn more as I do.</div><div><br />
</div>Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292487295338684699noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-35412320589487722262010-03-26T20:45:00.000-07:002010-03-26T20:45:42.942-07:00WAYK Arabic - Travel's with CharlieWhen using <i>Where are Your Keys</i>? to learn a language, we use <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUVQd1ttZVk">Technique: Travel's with Charlie</a></i> to describe different levels of language skill, based on the <a href="http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/languagelearning/OtherResources/ACTFLProficiencyGuidelines/contents.htm">ACTFL </a>scale.<br />
<br />
Here is my translation of this scale for Palestinian Arabic:<br />
<br />
Level 1 - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg_RN6bi_X8#t=5m04s">Tabouli Babaghanoujh Hummos</a>.<br />
Level 2 - How to make <a href="http://jbazuzi.blogspot.com/2010/03/great-hummos.html">hummos</a>.<br />
Level 3 - Explain why olive oil is so good for you.<br />
Level 4 - Negotiate peace if the Middle East.<br />
<br />
To put it another way:<br />
<br />
Level 1 - Eat Arabic food<br />
Level 2 - Make Arabic food<br />
Level 3 - Why Arabic food<br />
Level 4 - Get everyone to eat Arabic foodJay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292487295338684699noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-65092553022025097272010-03-26T20:38:00.000-07:002010-03-26T20:41:27.287-07:00Great hummosWhenever I go to a potluck I bring hummos. I follow my Tata's recipe, which I've been eating since I was a baby. We eat it with every meal. It's a comfort food for me, so whatever is leftover after the party is something I will enjoy.<br />
<br />
Traditionally they would use a mortar and pestle to grind the beans, but today we all use a food processor. They probably made fresh hummos every day. One day I hope to try the old way. In the food processor, I make a double recipe.<br />
<br />
- can of chick peas (aka garbanzo beans), drained<br />
- clove of garlic, peeled.<br />
- fresh parsley<br />
- 1/3 C raw tahini<br />
- 1-2 lemons, juiced<br />
- 1/2 t salt<br />
- olive oil<br />
<br />
Pull the leaves off the <b>parsley</b>, as the stems don't taste good. Put them in the food processor, with the <b>garlic</b>. Process until the garlic is diced.<br />
<br />
Add chick peas. Process until somewhat smooth.<br />
<br />
Add tahini, lemon juice, and salt. Process another minute. These ingredients should be adjusted to taste.<br />
<br />
Put in a bowl, smooth the surface, and cover with a thin layer of olive oil.<br />
<br />
To eat, tear a small piece of pita bread, bend it in to a scoop, and use it to pick up some hummos. Pop it in to your mouth, and announce <i>Sahtein</i>.Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292487295338684699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-39568379728206218932010-03-25T19:47:00.000-07:002010-03-25T19:47:58.702-07:00Got a cold?A friend was feeling down about how often her young child has been sick recently. I wrote some thoughts on it to her, and now I'm posting them here.<br />
<br />
I hope they get you thinking.<br />
<blockquote>Conventional thinking is "colds are an enemy and must be stopped!" They're the <b>problem</b>. We combat them with antibiotic drugs, hand washing, coughing in to our elbows, etc.<br />
<br />
A common progressive view is that it's really good practice for her immune system. The cold challenges you and you get better at fighting off future colds. "What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger." They're a <b>necessary evil</b>.<br />
<br />
Another common progressive view is that you only get sick when you haven't been taking care of yourself. If you just get enough rest, good nutrition, avoid sugar, avoid stress, etc., your body will be strong enough to fight off a cold. If you get sick, it's because you're weak. They're a <b>symptom</b>. (Or a punishment, if you're in to that sort of thinking.)<br />
<br />
Consider the possibility that being sick is beneficial <i>right now</i>. That the body <i>invites</i> the sickness in to do something important. Something it can't do itself. Suppose you're tired but don't let yourself sleep. So, you get sick. Then you sleep. See? It worked!<br />
<br />
Or you need to be coddled and cared for a little extra. You get sick. People around you give you a little extra care. See, it worked again!<br />
<br />
Or you have some toxins in your body that you can't clear for some reason. But chest cold triggers a lot of mucus in your lungs, which your body fills with toxins and then coughs out. Tada, it worked! Thank you cold!<br />
<br />
I don't mean that you should <i>try</i> to get sick by eating badly, increasing your stress, or avoiding sleep. Do take good care of yourself; it feels good to do so! But when the sickness does come, give it a chance to work. Maybe it's doing something really good for you. Rest, eat chicken soup, and let people take care of you.<br />
<br />
Mainstream: Colds are the problem.<br />
Naturopath: Colds are a symptom.<br />
My radical view: Colds are a cure.<br />
<blockquote><br />
</blockquote></blockquote>Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292487295338684699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104533.post-64434567989482471092010-03-13T12:15:00.000-08:002010-03-13T12:15:51.235-08:00WAYK Arabic 3 - Want Have Give TakeThis time, we actually play a couple rounds, and talk about Want/Have/Give/Take.<br />
<br />
You can play along a little here, but really you gotta lead your own game. See http://www.whereareyourkeys.org for more.<br />
<br />
<object width="500" height="405"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/g-VuiuBqZgU&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/g-VuiuBqZgU&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="500" height="405"></embed></object>Jay Bazuzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292487295338684699noreply@blogger.com3