Space junk

Reading about space junk this morning because an astronaut lost a briefcase-sized tool bag yesterday.

Great reader comment from waldo:

They demoted Pluto from the list of planets because it hadn't
cleaned up it's orbit. If this littering keeps up we'll have to demote earth too.

YAY! CHESS!

Received this pic in an advert from wholesalechess.com today.

This images totally resonates with me. This is exactly what a typical Omaha Chess Club meeting looks like. And the hot pump-wearing chess groupies are always clamoring to ride in the carts when we all go out chess shopping before and after every meeting. Sneaky chess paparazzi must have been hiding in the bushes since we didn't issue any press cards last month.

Jealous much?

In case you didn't know, I married a hottie: The Nexus Team

Scroll right to the Andrias. :)

Undead source code

I wrote a little web tool in 2000 while Justin Hopkins was interning with me. I used it for a couple months, then forgot about it. Then, suddenly:

On Jan 14, 2005, at 2:47 PM, Wayne & Susie Griswold wrote:
> Jay, where's my friend the Optimal Bitmask Thingy?
> I can't live without it and the link doesn't work anymore!

-laugh- Someone uses that? I fixed the link.

Then I forgot about it again.

On Nov 6, 2008, at 5:46 PM, Wayne & Susie Griswold wrote:
> Jay, it's been a few years, but when I went looking for my
> favorite bitmask tool, the Optimal Bitmask Thingy, it was
> gone!!! Can you make the link work again? Please?

-laugh- Raised from the dead again:

Jay's IP Optimum Bitmask Thingy

Justin and Josh might get a kick out of the fact that this tool
refuses to die, 9 years later. :)

Enjoy. :)

Why don't municipalities SAVE, then spend?

To: planetmoney(at)npr(dot)org

Hi guys. I love the Planet Money podcast. Maybe you can help me understand this.

It seems so simple. Yet I never hear anyone talk about it.

David(?), near the end of the Wisconsin/Ireland/Germany podcast:
"There is a tragedy here too. Over the last 30 years there have been a series of financial innovations that have just been plain good. They have allowed city governments, local governments to get money more cheaply."

Every year a million finance professionals invent new, complex ways to enrich themselves without actually producing anything. Every such web will eventually collapse under the weight of collective greed.

...

So why don't cities and individuals SAVE money, THEN spend it?

Why don't we all do this?

I hope you can help me understand. :)

Thanks,

Jay Hannah
Omaha, NE
http://jays.net

Dream job? Pass.

I don't understand me.

17 months after starting my part-time adventures in genetics research (showing up at the medical center 3 days a week), I am now trying to find someone else with my skill set to take this job on, full time. I'm not leaving, but apparently I don't really want this gig full time either.

I think it's the money. Plus the current lack of some big, computationally extensive pipeline for me to wrestle every day and be the expert on. I like knowing big balls of code inside and out, and having people need me for high powered data nerd ninja action. Plus the lack of other people like me sitting here. Lack of coworkers is depressing.

Or maybe it's just the money.

YOU are rich

How do so many Christians take so much of the Bible seriously and ignore this one?

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. (Matthew 19:24)

If you're going to believe the Bible it seems to me that perhaps women will be fine, but if you're male and have Internet access (rich!), then you're in trouble.

Right?