Scott Adcox

Doing More With Less Since 1972

Author: Scott (Page 51 of 80)

More Picking on Facebook

May 21, 2010 / / 0 Comments

I’m really not trying to bully up on Facebook. Really, I’m not. Besides, I’m just one guy, and they have millions of users. But, again, the scariest thing about FB to me is that they just don’t seem competent enough to handle the responsibility of possessing your personal data:

“We were recently made aware of one case where if a user takes a specific route on the site, advertisers may see that they clicked on their own profile and then clicked on an ad,” the Facebook spokesman said. “We fixed this case as soon as we heard about it.”

I’m sure Google knows more about me than Facebook ever will, but there’s a (very slight) level of trust in their competence I don’t have with FB. I’m willing to let them slide on that initial Buzz snafu. Plus, the tools they provide are way more useful and powerful than Farmville and Mafia Wars.

Feel free to “Like” this post by the way. 😛

Loss of a Teammate

May 19, 2010 / / 0 Comments

"I live in a world without corners" --Ian Loope (1987-2010)

I got the horrible news that a former rugby teammate of mine passed away. I knew it would happen at some point in time, but Ian was only 23 years old, so this was a huge surprise. He was a physically gifted player who was also lucky enough to have a mental aptitude for the game. He had an unbelievable amount of grit and fortitude as well. Ian started playing men’s club rugby at the age of 18, and I can’t remember him ever backing down for a second against more experienced and physically mature players. He was called on by our club very early on to contribute on the field in some very tough situations, and he always delivered.

And off the field…well, there has never been and there never will be another “Colonel Kurtz”. Two things were guaranteed when you talked to him: (1) you were going to laugh, and (2) you were going to learn something. He earned the nickname Colonel Kurtz on one of the first road trips he took with the club. After rumbling for an 80 meter try, single handedly demolishing the defense of one of our most bitter rivals, Ian spent the hours following the match waxing philosophical on subjects far beyond the comprehension of most of his audience.

But man, was it entertaining.

Guys like Ian personify the list of reasons I play rugby. His passing is a reminder to ruck the ones you love every chance you get.

Ian Loope–P4L+.

Finally Got the HTC Hero 2.1 Update! Here’s a How To

May 18, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Ok, so it wasn’t the “official” official release, apparently just the leaked official release. But the update went smoothly, and the phone is insanely faster and better than it was before. I found this video guide that shows how to install by downloading the executable to your PC and running it with your phone attached to USB–no need to root your phone to run this update if that’s something that worries you.

The update takes a few minutes to run, and mine was a cinch. Here’s a link to the executable update file that’s referenced in the video.

Space Shuttle STS-132 Video (Kinda)

May 17, 2010 / / 0 Comments

We were lucky enough to get to watch the launch on Friday from the causeway, and I’ve already been asked by one loyal reader if there was any launch video. Sadly, I don’t have any from this launch. However, I do have the following video provided by the sister-in-law. Enjoy.

Florida Ironman 70.3 Triathlon (As a spectator)

May 17, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Florida Ironman 70.3 2010

I went over to Orlando yesterday morning with one of my buddies to watch another friend compete in the Florida 70.3 triathlon put on by IronMan at Disney. It was absolutely amazing. I’ve done triathlons myself, but I’ve never gone to see one as a spectator. When you are competing, you’re pretty focused on yourself and what you need to do, so it’s hard to take in the whole event. Even if you aren’t personally into endurance competitions, it’s something I’d recommend going to see once in your life.

It was completely inspiring.

It’s hard to say what the best part of the race was. It may have been watching competitors complete the 1.2 mile swim just before the cutoff time–one lady exited the water with a huge smile and obvious sense of accomplishment on her face, and stopped and broke into tears as soon as she crossed the timing mat.

It was also great to see so many people of different ages and body types doing the race. There were very few elite athletes in the 2,000 person field. They were mostly regular people who have decided to sacrifice a lot of time and effort to take on a race this size knowing they’ll have to make it work around the rest of their lives. As my buddy who went to watch with me noted, “I bet there are so many great stories here.”

After seeing another competitor with only one arm exiting the swim, and yet another getting ready to run with two prosthetic legs and 1.5 arms, you realize that anybody can do a this. All that matters is whether or not you think you can.

First They Came For The Truck Nutz

May 13, 2010 / / 0 Comments

And I didn’t speak up…because I don’t own a truck.

Senate lawmakers in Florida have voted to ban the fake bull testicles that dangle from the trailer hitches of many trucks and cars throughout the state.

No word on whether or not it will remain legal to dangle real bull testicles from a trailer hitch.

I, for one, will not complain. These are the things lawmakers should concern themselves with, because this doesn’t matter. As long as they aren’t raising taxes or making me buy…err..giving me something, I’m ok with it.

Today’s iTunes Playlist

May 12, 2010 / / 0 Comments

I picked the right song to seed iTunes Genius today.

Jerry Jeff Walker — What I Like About Texas
Robert Earl Keen — Jesse With the Long Hair
Cory Morrow — Always And Forever (Live)
Robert Earl Keen — What I Really Mean
Ray Wylie Hubbard — Conversation with the Devil
Pat Green — Somewhere Between Texas And Mexico
Jerry Jeff Walker — Navajo Rug
Robert Earl Keen — Copenhagen
Chris Knight — Becky’s Bible
Waylon Jennings — Bob Wills Is Still the King
The Highwaymen — Highwayman
Guy Clark — The Cape
Robert Earl Keen — Snowin’ On Raton
George Strait — Blame It on Mexico
Jerry Jeff Walker — Pickup Truck Song
Robert Earl Keen — Crazy Cowboy Dream
Cory Morrow — Angela (Live)
Billy Joe Shaver — Georgia On A Fast Train
Pat Green — Over And Over
Robert Earl Keen — Mr. Wolf and Mamabear
Chris Knight — Highway Junkie
Waylon Jennings — T for Texas (Blue Yodel No. 1)
Jerry Jeff Walker — Viva Luckenbach
George Strait — I Can’t See Texas from Here
Guy Clark — Dublin Blues
Robert Earl Keen — I’m Comin’ Home
Cory Morrow — I’ll Go On Downtown (Live)
Asleep at the Wheel — Boogie Back to Texas
Pat Green — One Thing
Robert Earl Keen — Broken End of Love
Todd Snider — The Ballad Of The Devil’s Backbone Tavern
Jerry Jeff Walker — Keep Texas Beautiful
Pat Green — It’s Time
David Allan Coe — Please Come To Boston
Robert Earl Keen — Amarillo Highway
Chris Knight — A Pretty Good Guy
Guy Clark — Home Grown Tomatoes
Merle Haggard — Red Bandana
Jerry Jeff Walker — Hill Country Rain
Cory Morrow — Just Along For The Ride (Live)
Willie Nelson — Texas
Bellamy Brothers — You Ain’t Just Whistlin’ Dixie
Guy Clark — The Randall Knife
Robert Earl Keen — Blow You Away
Jerry Jeff Walker — Gonzo Compadres
Chris Knight — North Dakota
George Strait — 80 Proof Bottle of Tear Stopper
Robert Earl Keen — Walkin’ Cane8
Cory Morrow — Better Man (Live)
Johnny Lee — Cherokee Fiddle
Merle Haggard — It’s Been A Great Afternoon
Jerry Jeff Walker — I Feel Like Hank Williams Tonight
David Allan Coe — Jack Daniels If You Please
Chris Wall — Damn Good Time
Robert Earl Keen — The Wild Ones
Robert Earl Keen — Daddy Had a Buick
Pat Green — Lucky Ones
Chris Knight — Send A Boat
Guy Clark — Stuff That Works
Jerry Jeff Walker — Down in Texas
Cory Morrow — Ride Away (Live)
Robert Earl Keen — Goin’ Nowhere Blues
Merle Haggard — Misery & Gin
George Strait — Lefty’s Gone
Lyle Lovett — San Antonio Girl
Robert Earl Keen — Here in Arkansas
Todd Snider — Tension
Pat Green — Sweet Revenge
Jerry Jeff Walker — Trashy Women
Robert Earl Keen — Ride
Steve Wariner — Some Fools Never Learn
Cory Morrow — Shame On Me (Live)
Merle Haggard — Rainbow Stew
Chris Knight — Hard Candy
David Allan Coe — “Willie, Waylon And Me”
Jerry Jeff Walker — I Makes Money (Money Don’t make Me)
Guy Clark — Hank Williams Said It Best
Robert Earl Keen — Not A Drop Of Rain4
Willie Nelson — with George Jones / Half a Man
Pat Green — Temporary Angel
Robert Earl Keen — Night Right for Love
Merle Haggard — Let’s Chase Each Other Around The Room
Jerry Jeff Walker — Cowboy Boots & Bathin’ Suits
Asleep at the Wheel — Way Down Texas Way
Todd Snider — Side Show Blues
Cory Morrow — She Breaks My Heart (Live)
Chris Knight — If I Were You
David Allan Coe — Jody Like A Melody
Robert Earl Keen — The Great Hank
Don Williams — Good Ole Boys Like Me
Jerry Jeff Walker — Don’t it make you Wanna dance
Merle Haggard — My Own Kind Of Hat
Conway Twitty — Don’t Call Him A Cowboy
Pat Green — My Little Heaven
Todd Snider — The Ballad of the Kingsmen
Willie Nelson — I Gotta Get Drunk
Guy Clark — Black Diamond Strings
Jerry Jeff Walker — I’ll Be There In The Morning
Cory Morrow — Aggie Call (Live)
Robert Earl Keen — A Border Tragedy

Black Holes Killing Whole Galaxies

May 5, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Let the hand-wringing begin.

For instance, “we expect our own galaxy and Andromeda to merge in about 4 billion years or so,” Bluck explained. “If this ends up providing new gas reserves and channeling this gas to the center of our galaxy — all big ifs — then there is a real chance of triggering our dormant black hole at some point in the distant future.”

A few questions:

  1. What did we do to cause this?
  2. How is Wall Street going to use this to stick it to the little guy?
  3. Why isn’t the government, or at least a former Vice President,  doing anything about it?

My One Sided Relationship With Facebook

April 30, 2010 / / 1 Comment

Facebook has gone from a very private way to communicate with only the people you want to communicate with, to a firehose of information about you and everyone you kinda-sorta know.

@jfloyd pointed out this article earlier today, and it pretty much sums up why I have been changing my relationship with Facebook for a while.

Facebook originally earned its core base of users by offering them simple and powerful controls over their personal information. As Facebook grew larger and became more important, it could have chosen to maintain or improve those controls. Instead, it’s slowly but surely helped itself — and its advertising and business partners — to more and more of its users’ information, while limiting the users’ options to control their own information.

Sorry Facebook. It’s not me, it’s you.

You can expect to continue getting the occasional booty call from me–I’ll let you know when I need something (every time I post), but don’t expect much more. I look forward to your minions Liking my content. In fact, I encourage them to do so. And you can do with that information what you like.

But I really need our relationship to be one sided. As a great man…errrrr golfer…errr playa once said, “You gotta do this for me. Huge. Quickly. Bye.”

**UPDATE**

One of the developers of the World Wide Web,  Robert Cailliau, explains in a TechCrunch interview why he isn’t on Facebook: “I can get in, but I can’t get out.”

Concealed Carry Permits – One More For The Good Guys

April 30, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Thankfully no one was hurt, and how fortunate that a stand-up citizen had access to a legal firearm and was able to thwart a bank robbery.

Torres then pulled a 9mm pistol on the robber before he left the branch building.

“That’s when I took him down. The whole thing lasted three to four minutes. The tellers were all nervous,” said Torres, who ordered the robber to get on the ground.

Interesting part of the article is that Mr. Torres had another brush with a more violent criminal a while back. This guy is like the Lumpy Lambert of Palm Bay.

Higher Education, Value, and Marketing

April 29, 2010 / / 0 Comments

I know everybody already reads Seth Godin, but I wanted to link out to today’s post by him anyway. He may be 10 years or so ahead of his time, but I think he’s hit the nail on the head:

Back before the digital revolution, access to information was an issue. The size of the library mattered. One reason to go to college was to get access. Today, that access is worth a lot less. The valuable things people take away from college are interactions with great minds (usually professors who actually teach and actually care) and non-class activities that shape them as people.

Boy Scouts Badge For Video Games

April 28, 2010 / / 0 Comments

It’s for real.

To go on and earn the pin, Scouts will need to teach adults how to play videogames, participate in a family gaming tournament, and learn how to comparison shop for prices.

My sources tell me that the Scouts plan to announce more new badges later this year, including one for mastery of a deck of Sitcom Character Trading Cards and one for learning to identify 10 different Little Debbie snack cakes in a blind taste test. [/sarcasm]

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 Scott Adcox

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑