SPD

Learning Python

2009-12-22T20:54:00.003-06:00

Ok, I'm going to try to learn Python. Overall, I've been reading that it's a very powerful yet very simple language to pick up on. Plus the interpreter is opensource and it's already on the Mac. Here are a few resources I'm starting with:

http://www.python.org/ is the official site for Python.

http://www.sthurlow.com/python/ gives some good step-by-step instruction on how to program in Python.

http://www.pythonchallenge.com/ teaches through solving puzzles - really fun.

Nyanja Words

2009-10-06T20:31:00.003-05:00

run       tamangani
make a circle       pangani circle
come back         bwelela
come in front kutsogolo
how are you/hello   mulibwanji
good afternoon      mwachoma bwanji (mwachoma = how is your day, bwanji is the greeting)
good morning        mwauka bwanji
how was work        mwasibza (mwasibenza) bwanji
pastor "rob"        abusa "rob"
pastors wife        mibusa

Hey, Help me shove all these people in!

2008-06-03T22:55:00.001-05:00

As a railroader, I can appreciate the need to get as much freight into the car as possible.

My Favorite Writer

2008-05-14T20:53:00.001-05:00

My friend, Stephanie, is a really talented writer. She has her own blog (link) and I think you'd enjoy checking it out.

Stephanie's writing is very honest and emotional. She has a knack for expressing herself in a way that really makes you feel both her pleasures and pains. There's something in her writing that I think can break through to the most hardened of hearts. It's closer to poetry than to prose. It's almost like listening to her think.

I really hope she'll write a book one day.

But don't tell her I told you all this. It'll go straight to her head.

Twitter

2008-05-11T20:36:00.004-05:00

I'm not sure what to think of Twitter (link). It seems really cool, but I don't necessarily understand the difference between that and using anything else, like blogger. Anyways, I'll have to spend some more time with it.

If you haven't used it, it's sorta like a Nextel SMS sorta thing. So, any message you send (if you are public) can be seen by everyone. You can build a network of friends, so that when they log in, they will see just your messages. Another analogy is maybe being in a big crowd and yelling to everyone?

It's something you just need to try to get a feel for how it works.

Stories from SCARR

2008-05-11T07:22:00.007-05:00

Darryl is my off roading buddy. He, his wife, and I have had several awesome adventures together. So, I've got quite a few stories, which I'll post here and there as I think of them.

The Tree

I was leading a group of drivers along one of the many trails at Barnwell Mtn, which was a new experience for me. Not that it's a difficult thing, but I never really paid attention to where trail heads were. It's kinda like sitting in the passenger seat when you're going somewhere and you're never really sure how you got there since you weren't focused on driving, right?

Anyways, we were at the end of the current trail and were were discussing what trail to go to next. We thought Angry Jeep would be a fun one to do next. But I didn't know how to get there. So we're all stopped for a breather and Darryl comes up to give me directions.

Okay, so keep following this trail up the hill.

And when you get to the access road turn left.

Then follow the access road for a little bit until you get to a tree and then turn left again.

I pause for a couple of seconds to consider this, look around, then say,

Darryl, we're in a forest.

Now, Discover You Strengths, 2

2008-05-10T15:55:00.003-05:00

In my last post, I told you what my 5 strengths were, according to the strength finder tool. I hadn't quite finished the book at the time, but did so today.

Here's the deal. If you're serious about business - either starting your own or managing people for someone else - you need to read this book. It makes a whole lot of sense and provides excellent guidance on how best to create highly effective, happy, productive employees. I should warn you, though, if you're the type of person who doesn't accept differences between people and thinks that it's your way or the highway... you won't like this book. Move on, thanks for playing.

The basics are this: get to know your people and what they do well. This has nothing to do with hobbies - this is about personality. Are they highly analytical? Do they love learning? Are they great at building relationships? Get to understand how their minds work and process and then put them in situations or design their job functions to capitalize on those talents.

You'll have to read the book to understand why, or hire me as your consultant. ;)

Now, Discover Your Strengths

2008-05-06T20:44:00.005-05:00

At the Envision 08, we had the pleasure of hearing Marcus Buckingham (link) speak. Marcus was formerly a researcher for the Gallup Organization where he researched and analyzed the traits of leadership. We all received free copies of his third book, Go Put Your Strengths to Work. I haven't read this book yet, because I don't really know what my strengths are. So, I got Marcus' second book, Now, Discover Your Strengths.

In this book, he states that people and culture are obsessed with weaknesses, and do nothing with their strengths. So, his book goes into strength analysis - he generalized strengths into 34 themes and comes with an online test to determine what your 5 strongest strengths are. Mine turned out to be:

Ideation
Activator
Responsibility
Significance
Self-assurance

For a description of each, look at this file.

So I'm an impatient, attention-hungry, cocky, dependable, and always coming up with crazy ideas. Hmm... sounds about right. :)

Envision 08

2008-04-25T20:33:00.002-05:00

A few months ago, I was asked to judge a case competition for the Mays Business School at Texas A&M. At the competition, the school was advertising their upcoming entrepreneurs conference, Envision 08 (website). I thought it sounded interesting, so I decided to attend.

The conference was outstanding. We heard from some amazing speakers, including Stephen Covey, Guy Kawasaki, Peter Schultz, and Marcus Buckingham. Even better, I was surrounded by people, all entrepreneurs, chasing their dreams. It was awesome to be able to talk to people who were on their own, living their dreams. If you ever get the chance to go to an event like this, I highly recommend it!

SCARR 2008

2008-04-20T20:17:00.003-05:00

Texas Rovers (website) hosted it's most successful SCARR yet. SCARR is an annual rally, held at Barnwell Mountain (website, map). There were over 200 attendees in 99 trucks and 1 Jeep (me). There are lots of pictures from the event on the Texas Rovers website. I took a lot of video that weekend with the intent of creating my first documentary. Look for that soon!

The quick story - SCARR was awesome. I had a great time and am looking forward to the next one. The weather was perfect, I was on the trails with the top down, enjoying the offroad performance of my Jeep.

AFI Dallas

2008-03-29T17:00:00.005-05:00

Went with a few friends to the AFI Dallas Film Festival (Website) and saw At the Death House Door (Description from AFI). This was an excellent documentary about Rev Carroll Pickett. Rev Pickett served as the chaplain at the Huntsville prison. He recounts his life as the reverend at this prison, ministering to 95 death row inmates over the course of his career.

Rev Pickett was formerly in favor of the death penalty, but once he actually met these inmate and talked to them, he became an outspoken activist against the death penalty. Regardless of your thoughts on the death penalty, this movie tells a different side of the story than you would typically hear.

For more information and debate about the death penalty:

Death Penalty Information Center

Pro-Death Penalty

Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

BalancedPolitics.org

What's my stance? You'll have to ask.

Mr Sarod Goes to Washington, Day 3

2008-03-14T23:00:00.015-05:00

Map of my journey.

Slideshow of Photos.

Video (You Tube) posted below!

Today, was my day to do a little sight-seeing around Washington. I did a lot of walking, as well as taking the Metro and and Circulator. The last time I saw DC was about 8 years ago when I was looking at MBA programs - I came into town to visit Georgetown University.

National Mall: I just strolled around the Mall, enjoying a awesome day. I walked from the hotel, to the Capitol Building, then by the American Indian Museum and then over to the Federal Triangle Metro Station to head out to Arlington National Cemetery.

Sculpture Garden: I'm not an art connoisseur, but I do think that art, like music, should speak to a person on a level lower than language can. The art work in the Sculpture Garden suggested that some artists happened to have some extra metal on hand and was searching for something to do with it.

Website

Arlington National Cemetery: An amazing experience. The hallowed grounds of the cemetery really makes you think about the lives lost for our country. The tomb of the Unknown makes a powerful statement. I also went over to the Memorials for the shuttles Challenger and Columbia, and the JFK memorial.

Website

International Spy Museum: Excellent! So cool, especially seeing all the spy gear from the past. They had old cameras, radio equipment, lock picking equipment... It's amazing to think of how far technology has progress and how vital and difficult it can be to get good intelligence.

Website

Washington National Cathedral: This is an Episcopal Church near the Naval Observatory. I don't really know what an Episcopal church is, and I don't think I want to do the research right now, but the church is large and beautiful, though and they welcome all religions. I was a little confused since they had a prayer book and a hymnal (no Bible) but they did have Jesus on a cross. Maybe later I'll read more about it.

Website

Embassy Row: Walking down Massachusetts Ave from the National Cathedral, you pass by all the foreign embassies. It was rather neat to see all the different buildings and the variety of countries represented and all their flags.

Website

Marrakesh Palace: Great Moroccan food! I had the lamb kabob with couscous and veggies. Highly recommended! They also have belly dancing.

Website

Mr Sarod Goes to Washington, Day 2

2008-03-13T20:47:00.001-05:00

Okay - today is the big day. Time to meet with Senators and Representatives and pitch the needs of the railroads. Every attendee at this gathering was given a schedule of people to meet with. No one goes into a meeting alone - there are typically 6-10 people at each meeting, but the teams aren't fixed. It's very possible to not see anyone more than once in the day.

Schedule

Christopher Bond, Senator, MO
Tim Johnson, Senator, SD
Vic Snyder, Representative, AR, District 2
Kenny Marchant, Representative, TX, District 24
John Culberson, Representative, TX, District 7
Doug Lamborn, Representative, CO, District 5

We discussed three major topics at each meeting:

Reauthorization of IRS Code Section 45g via HR 1584/S 881. This provides a tax credit for the maintenance of infrastructure. Shortlines benefit primarily from this credit by giving them both incentive and more money to maintain their infrastructure. This credit was originally proposed in 2003 and was in effect from 2004-2007. It was a part of the American Job Creation Act. It provides $0.50 tax credit for every $1 invested.
Enact Rail Capacity Expansion credit via HR 2116/S 1125. This would provide a $0.25 tax credit for every $1 invested. This credit is available to any organization that invests in rail capacity, including Class 1s, Shortlines, Customers, and others.
Reject S 953/HR2125, Railroad reregulation. This bill will control pricing to certain customers, typically captive customers.

I've never done anything like this before, but I it's really a whole lot like being a sales rep. The first meeting went fairly well, as I didn't say much - one of the other, more experience people did all the talking. I actually led the second meeting, with Senator Tim Johnson. The UP representative, an experienced lobbyist, gave me the assignment. I think I represented the industry pretty well. :)

Mr Sarod Goes to Washington, Day 1

2008-03-12T19:58:00.007-05:00

It seems that the majority of my favorite movies have a political story to them:

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Bulworth
Wag the Dog

I don't normally talk much about politics, but I think that it's more because of a lack of time to go into the amount of depth that I want to. The reality of it is that I really do enjoy politics, public policy, and government. So when the opportunity came up to go to Railroad Day on the Hill, I couldn't say "No."

The American Shortline Railroad Association (ASLRRA) sponsors one day a year for all railroads to have access to policy makers and to discuss issues concerning the railroad industry.

So I flew out to Washington DC on Wednesday to participate in this industry initiative.

Today started with Lunch with Representative Russ Carnahan (D-MO). Representative Carnahan represents the St. Louis area and is on the Transportation Committee - the Chairman of this committee is Representative Oberstar. Katie Dawson is his staff member that specializes in transportation issues. Representative Carnahan has endorsed Obama for president. He recognizes the need and necessity of investment in railroad infrastructure for the future of the US. He also mentioned that a new cement plant is being built at Holsom on the river which will ship by rail and barge.

After lunch, we were supposed to have a tour of the Capitol, but had to cancel for two reasons. The first reason was due to a private jet violating DC's airspace, resulting in the Capitol being evacuated. Oops. The second reason was that the House was holding a vote - when voting is going on, visitors are not allowed in the dome.

We returned to the BNSF offices in DC, where our corporate representatives spent some time covering the issues with us so that we could go into our meetings with some knowledge about what's going on and what needs to be done. I'll go into more detail in the next post.

The evening ended with a Reception attended by Rep Sam Graves (R-MO). The reception was at the Capitol Hill Club, home of the National Republican Club. As a side note, all the furniture in the Capitol Hill Club has an elephant theme. Go figure.

Representative Graves is a strong supporter of railroads and it was a great experience meeting him.

Wrangler X's First Off Road Trip

2008-01-01T20:38:00.002-06:00

On Thursday, we departed from DFW to make the 5 hour drive out to Hot Springs, AR.

If you haven't been to Hot Springs, Arkansas, it's a really beautiful state with all sorts of out door activities within minutes of a very pleasant town. There are several spas, hotels, great restaurants, you name it. Also several locations to go camping, hiking, mountain biking...
Information on Arkansas and on Hot Springs
www.arkansas.com
www.hotsprings.org

Video (posted on You Tube), story continues below.

Thursday

We (myself, Darrel and Diane) left the DFW area at about 1pm. We stopped a couple of times, including the Arkansas welcome center and rest stop. Nothing interesting happened here.

We had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, the Hot Springs Brau Haus. The staff, the food, and the beer is all excellent.

Hot Springs Brau Haus
801 Central Avenue, Scenic Ark. 7
Hot Springs, AR 71901
Phone: (501) 624-7866

Friday

The morning started with breakfast at the Pancake Shop, one of the best places to have breakfast in Hot Springs.

The Pancake Shop
216 Central Ave
Hot Springs National Park, AR 71901
(501) 624-5858

We stopped by the federal building to visit the Forest Service Offices. You'll be happy to know that security at the Hot Springs federal building is extremely tight, so you won't be able to sneak in any contraband. They stopped Darrel from smuggling in his pocket knife. They also prevented me from bringing in my camcorder which they apparently thought was also a very large knife. They are also very strict with who parks in their almost entirely empty parking lot. Darrel had to move his rover and park on the street. I think they knew we were coming and were on high alert.

From there we went off to the north-east part of Lake Ouachita. Here we found a nice river to ford - Diane was a bit nervous at first, but after some convincing, we cross the river without any problems. She remarked afterward "That was no big deal."

The rest of the group (Laura, Christoper, John, and Lisa) all arrived that evening. We decided to go back to the Brau Haus for dinner.

Saturday

Wrangler X goes off road at Superlift (http://www.orvpark.com/)

Wrangler X did very well out on the trails today. There were only two incidences to disclose.

The first leads to the demise of the horn. At the base of a long hill, Ian, our guide, pointed out a mud hole to play in and that it was shallow, so it's easy to get in and out of. Well, in fact, there were two mud holes. The first one was about 3 feet deep. Not realizing this, I gunned the engine and dove right in. A huge wave of muddy water came up and over the hood, leaving a healthy brown coat of mud on everything. Every space in the engine compartment that could hold water did, and when I finally pulled out of the mud hole, there was a distinct sloshing sound with every bump. For a few hours after that, steam poured out from under the hood as the captured water evaporated.

The second occurred when I backed up over a small pile of dirt and high centered the Jeep. Had to get pulled out by a Rover. How embarassing.

We all went out to Belle Arti after a hard day of off roading.

Dinner:
Belle Arti Ristorante
719 Central Ave
Hot Springs, AR
Phone: 501-624-7474

Sunday

Sunday, we all took a leasurely drive around the south side of Lake Ouachita. We stopped by a few campgrounds and resorts to get some ideas of other places to stay for upcoming trips. Also found a few forest trails to do some exploring on. After that, Christopher and I returned to DFW, while Laura, Darryl, and Diane all returned to Hot Springs.

View Larger Map

The Economist, 03-Nov-2007

2007-11-28T22:18:00.000-06:00

Lessons from America

Where do you draw the line between church and state? How do you [ameliorate] religious wars? America can answer this question as it is considered home to pluralism and religious choice, as well as being the world’s most powerful country. America is considered to be successful in the religious arena domestically but not foreign.

Europeans do not like America’s moralism. Culture wars in the US are because of the strong sense of religion in the US (note that this article suggest that zeal over any topic as religious.)

The Supreme Court spends a lot of time on the line between church and state, but the First Amendment still meets it two goals. 1. churches are kept apart from the state. Religious Americans have to state their issues in non-religious terms. Quote from Father Richard John Neuhaus (author of The Naked Public Square): “Our goal is not the presence of more religion in the public square. The goal is to advance a society characterized by more moral deliberation over how we order out life.” He continues on to complain about secularists using laws intended to separate church and state to advance atheism, for example, banning prayer in schools and permitting pornography (1960’s laws by a liberal supreme court). No religious leaders in office, no taxes funneled to churches, etc. General principal of religion out of politics is accepted. 2. churches are protected from the state. Religious people are permitted to practice as they see fit. US has a very diverse religious landscape.

The Gap: Clean, Wholesome and American?

The Gap clothing company recently discovered that a New Dehli subcontractor was using child labor to make shirts for Baby Gap. Gap immediately cancelled the order, stopped sales of the product, and met with the supplier.

Gap has a very strong policy barring the use of child labor and has been working to be an ethical model in American industry. It helped launch Product Red, a global brand with a portion of profits going to fight AIDS in Africa. Gap has also stopped doing business with 23 factories last year for failing to meet ethical standards.

The ease of monitoring subcontractors is debatable because of the distance, although Geir Myrstad, head of the International Labor Organization (UN agency) says if quality can be monitored, so can ethical standards.

Gap has also come up with a unique method of punishing companies that violate child labor standards: the company must stop using the children, send them to school, continue to pay them, and guarantee a job once the child reaches legal age.

Unfortunately, retail consultant, Howard Davidowitz, thinks that consumers are not so interested in the ethical standards of a company and are instead focused on the right product at the right price. Gap won’t have a problem with this child labor infraction due to their swift response – the problem is that their products simply don’t appeal to consumers. Add to that the difficult US economy with housing market problems and increasing fuel and food costs.

Product Placement: In the Picture

France has 60 full time officers who review hours of television to spot product placement advertising, which is currently illegal in France, as well as much of Europe. European broadcasters earn about $31 million from product placement compared to $1.5 billion for US broadcasters. Show produced in the US and shown in Europe are exempt from placement rules, giving US production companies an even greater advantage.

Product placement is becoming a more desirable form of advertising due to DVRs. Also, many companies make barter agreements, where sponsors provide pros for free. Last year, American Idol provided placement for 4086 products.

There are ways around the restrictions and the agencies that do this make fairly good money. For example, using corporate colors on a set or the actor’s outfits, changing dialog to mimic slogans, or promoting an entire product category, where are players benefit, but there is usually one clear leader.

There is no restriction on product placement in movies, and there are three advantages to product placement in TV:
Films can fail, so the risk is greater. TV shows have a steady viewership once established, and is therefore more valuable.
product placement can be suggestive and cause the viewer to get a snack from the kitchen, for example
TV shows have a much shorter production timeline, making it easier to synchronize with marketing campaigns.

Consumer groups worked hard to lobby against the relaxation of rules. Placement in childrens shows and placement of alcohol and cigarettes is still prohibited.

What’s really disturbing is the government role in policy placement.

Face Value: New Colors at Benetton

Alessandro Benetton took over the reigns of the family business from his father as executive deputy chairman of the Benetton Clothing group. Benetton has lost its way recently where it’s expansion into the US failed, it was overtaken by competitors such as Sweden’s H&M and Spains’s Zara. Competitors have developed more sophisticated business models and left Benetton behind. Recently, Benetton is investing to upgrade technology and logistics systems and is expanding into India and China.

Corporate restructuring runs in the family, as in the 70s, Benetton built it’s brand on a unique business model where clothes are dyed at the last minute to respond quickly to changes in fasion. In the 80s, Benetton started to diversify using clothing company profits. Benetton was active in Formula 1 racing, motorways, motorway catering, Autogriss and Autostrade (now Atlantia) – all this make up more than half of the family’s 9 billion euro net worth. Benetton is now in the process of soliciting 4 bil euro to make additional investment. The clothing business was not a focus, however.

Mr Benetton got his business degree from Harvard and started a private equity firm, 21 Investimenti, in 93. His firm specialized in developing small and medium sized businesses and did not back startups. He learned the about evaluating investments, being an active shareholder, and the discipline of corporate governance. His preferred approach to making money is to pick the right business model for the firms that his company invested in.

The company spent summer trimming its logistic system from 2 months to 2 weeks as well as installing division accountability, greater management discipline and financial management.

Family members that want to be involved in the clothing group must first work in one of the other divisions. Investors are watching the clothing company carefully as they are promised 7% return on investment. Mr Benetton spent 5 years as the chaiman of a successful formula 1 racing team and is ‘sensibly cautious’ when it comes to high risk.

Public Health: To avoid the Big C, Stay Small

Causes of cancer divided in thirds:
Smoking is responsible for one third of cancer. Smoking 20 cigaretts a day increases your risk of lung cancer 20 times.
Poor diet, no exercise responsible for another third.
Remaining third is genetic, UV, pollution and other radiation.

New research shows that the most important way to avoid cancer is to maintain a body mass index of 21 to 23. BMI is measured by dividing a person’s weight in KG by the square of his height in meters.

So, don’t get fat. In addition, there needs to be more attention to pollution and chemical hazards. Finally, overuse of Xray, while very minor, is also an area of concern.

Electric Cars: Wingless Migration

Aptera is a California electric vehical company. It’s unlike Tesla, who sells a high performance electric car for almost 100,000. Aptera is a tricycle type vehicle that will sell for about 27000. Both companies are small, Aptera has 16 full time, Tesla has 250. Both are started by people with no experience in the automotive industry and both plan to sell first to the ‘eco-fashionistas’ in California, and then moving on to the general public.

The Aptera looks like a small, wingless, plane. Because it has 3 wheels, it is exempt from Federal crash testing, although it does have steel and aluminum safety cages created for Formula 1, and shrouded in carbon fibre. It has a sleek exterior with no protrusions – side view mirrors are cameras for example. There is an all electric model that has a range of 120 miles and a gas/electric hybrid that has a range of 1130 km and a top speed of 150 kph.

These boutique companies are able to start and profit due to the advance and availability of sophisticated computer modeling. Designs can be built, tested, and perfected in the virtual world. In addition, most components are readily available with no need of special machining.

Other companies in this area include Venture Vehicles, Phoenix Motorcars, Reva, and Think Global.

A big issue is the lack of infrastructure for recharging these vehicles. This will start to change with Shai Agassi, an entrepreneur from the Silicon Valley, who has raised 200 million to build a network of rapid recharge stations.

Robot Cars: A Challenge, eh?

Defence Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) has previously given out a lot of grants to explore new technology and has rarely gotten much return on it’s investment. Starting in 2004, it created a grand prix for autonomous vehicle technology – cars that can drive themselves. The first race was a failure with none of the competitors succeeding. In subsequent years, the challenges and rules have evolved as have the sophistication of the participating groups. Corporate sponsorship has also started to play a role in development of these vehicles.

How to Cheat without cheating: Athletes and the Placebo effect

Believing a treatment can be as effective as the treatment itself. This is how homeopathy as well as a lot of mainstream medicines claim success (maybe a third). The world Anti-doping agency has a list of substances that are prohibited always and another that is only prohibited during competition. Morphine is on the list of drugs not allowed during competition as it inhibits pain and would give users an unfair advantage.

Someone who is injected with morphine for 2 days in a row have powerful painkilling responses on those days aw well as the next, especially when given an placebo, as proven by Dr Benedetti in his experiments.

RB Kitaj

Ronald Brooks Kitaj is a painter and passed away on Oct 21 at the age of 74.

Kitaj ran away on the SS Corona at a young age and already knew that he wanted to be an artist. He was always restless and a compulsive boulevardier. He was a wanderer due to his own condition of being unfinished. He moved to Europe, but kept the American spirit of being forthright and challenging. His art is difficult to classify as he borrowed elements from a variety of styles and artist, such as surrealism, cezanne, degas, memling, Gauguin. When he began a piece, he had no idea where it would go.

His pictures always had words in them – he was a bibliomane and insatiable reader. He felt that literature could do things that art alone could not, so he injected that intellectual complexity into his works.

England did not appreciate his relance on text and he left England to move to LA. He always sensed ‘the other’ shadowing him, which turned out to be he identity as a Jew. Being Jewish explained his love of texts, instinctive empathy, blame and persecution. His sense of exile. Many of his later works featured a Joe singer, who had dated his mother – this figure occasionally had kitaj’s face, and wore the same expression of endless wandering, with no home before or after..