Internet is becoming more and more polluted with junk-mail, people selling crap, and businesses which don't know their place on the net. They're all trying to make this wonderful place (i.e.: the net) in to hell (i.e.: real world). Internet should be viewed as a place of imagination, creativity, and most of all: fun. Internet is not some really advanced tool for searching for people to rip-off. It's about searching, and finding, things which are useful, helpful, and promote the sharing of ideas. This is what this site is striving to become.

Worst idea ever: Turning natural gas into diesel fuel.

- Alex; Wed May 9 07:31:39 EDT 2012
May 9th at wikipedia...

Hmm... Yahoo director out after CEO resume scandal. So they hired an accountant to be the CEO of a Google competitor... Eh, Eh, Eh.

In other news, finished reading In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives by Steven Levy. Pretty neat book, packed with interesting bits about founders, corp culture, etc. After reading first 3rd, I was seriously thinking of applying for a job... after reading the last 3rd, I'm unlikely to do that---they sure went from being the coolest place to work at to being quite ordinary quickly.

On a related note, if you're looking for a book on the inner workings of Google's search technology, then Google's PageRank and Beyond: The Science of Search Engine Rankings is a good place to start.

- Alex; Tue May 8 22:15:01 EDT 2012

Going to Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting. Since Omaha is an akward place to get to, flying into Kansas City (via North Carolina hop) and driving to Omaha from there (The return flight is from Kansas to JFK, via Texas).

Anyways, Avis rental: got new Ford Focus with 700 miles on it. This car is damn amazing. I've been renting these for a few years, and it seems they make improvements, often. This car can go almost 600 miles on a 12-galon tank of gas (I'm sure if I drove carefully, it can go farther).

Got to Kansas around 1am, and to Omaha around 6am. The CenturyLink Center (where meeting is) doesn't open until 7am, so walked around a bit, while huge crouds of folks waited by the door. Apparently some have even camped out there overnight...

The crowds... eh, old-weener convention, mostly. The percentage of senior citizens is overwhelming. It's like grandparents their grandkids. Very few 30-something folks.

At 7am on the dot, everyone was let in, and everyone started running---I have no idea what the hurry is about, so I walk slowly, grabbing a complementary snack and coffee on the way. I find a great seat that overlooks the front of the areana (where important folks will be seated), and security tells me that those seats are for handicaped folks. Oh, well.

So I walk a bit more, and get to even better seats... but those are reserved for company managers.

By the time I get to the other side, every good seat is taken. So that's why everyone was running! (and waiting in line for).

Anyways, due to dumb luck, some lady that reserved nearly entire row said that there's 1 seat at the end that's free... so I grabbed that one. Yey. Got great view of Warren and Charlie, as well as board members (yep, Bill Gates was there).

The lady who offered me the seat is a niece of another lady that was sitting next to us... who is apparently the daugher-in-law of the first investor who gave moneh to Buffett. Yes, there was an usually large percentage of grandma-covered-in-diamonds at this meeting.

The meeting itself was amazing. It was funneh. Charlie is amazingly funny---never thought of him as being *that* funny. Warren also appriciates a good laugh. Those two know a TON. They get asked anything, and they either thought about it, analyzed it, did it, or are doing it now. It's like they're into everything that you could possibly imagine corp wise. I found the whole meeting very educational, and though I realy liked BRK before, now I like'em even more. This corp seems to know where its future is, and knows how to get there.

Lunch was those "express lunches" that you buy upon entry. Not great. Next time (I'm planning to go again next year), I'm not buying that lunch---will prolly bring something with me.

The showroom of corps selling stuff... discounts are amazing. It's like everything is half price (well, I think it's actually 1/3rd or so off, or perhaps 20%, but it sure makes things appear cheap when you're seeing'em).

The only thing that's not half price is shipping. They got this service where you buy stuff and ship it to your home (so you don't carry bags). Well, it cost me $38 to ship a tiny thing... you wait on line waiting to ship, and after all forms are filled out you find out the price... of course you can walk away and worry about the carry-on in airplane, or just go with the flow and pay'em. That part was sucky... I'm not buying stuff to ship next time.

Busines meeting was... interesting. I didn't realize how scripted these things are. Very formal, though rushed... if someone really had objections to stuff, they wouldn't have time until everyone agreed and seconded the stuff.

After the shareholder meeting, I ran around looking for free swag, but couldn't find any. Some corps do give away freebies, but nothing to interesting. e.g. Geico took your pic next to mascot, printed it, packaged it, and gave those away for free.

After that whole thing, went for the Berkshire BBQ at Nebraska Furniture Mart. While waiting on line to get in, some games were played, and I won a NFM rubber duck (yey, a tangible freebie, finally!).

Bought a few things at that furniture store, and the shareholder discounts are pretty damn good. If you wanna buy costly furniture (e.g. in a few thousnad range), then it definitely pays to become shareholder, and get the discount. I think they removed 1/3rd the price via that shareholder badge.

oh oh...and there were protesters! Protesting richness, I guess. ``What do we want? Equality! When do we want it? Right Now!'' They were behind the gate of the far end of the parking lot... so unless you parked in that area, you wouldn't even know they were there.

After the BBQ, decided to explore the area before driving to airport. So drove to Lincoln, Nebraska. From there, drove to Topeka, Kansas---that town that temporarily renamed itself to ``Google'' a while back. I didn't realize it was a big "town" (not a tiny gas-station and conviance store kinda town).

Then onto airport... and a run through Dallas airport from A14 to C25 gate (yes, I actually ran that... since due to delayed flight had 10 minutes between connecting flights...and it took the whole 10 minutes to run that).

[some pix of the trip]; I didn't bring camera to meeting, so no non-blury pix of meeting.

- Alex; 20120505

Eh, eh, eh: Most Common iPhone Passcodes.

Happy 420 day!

- Alex; Fri Apr 20 00:44:02 EDT 2012

Teh tax man cometh!

CNN/ORC poll: Most Americans say tax system favors wealthy. Well... d0h. The tax system favors long-term capital gains, and non-realizing your gains. e.g. if you're a billionare and no sell any shares in a year, you owe no taxes at all, or if you're a billionare that sells some tiny amount to pay for lavish lifestyle, you only pay long-term capital gains tax... which is tiny.

Of course if their definition of "wealthy" is "anyone making over $200k" then they're dead wrong.

In addition to that, there are a *ton* of very regressive ``taxes'', that are designed to hurt the poor. e.g. sales tax, subway fare, etc. e.g. PersonA making $100k a year is using subway to get to work, and PersonB making $30k a year using that same subway to get to work. Over a year, that subway fare is ~$1k for both of them (~240 work days a year). Who would have a harder time paying for subway? How about rent: PersonA is making $100k a year, and is paying $2k a month in rent vs PersonB making $50k a year and paying $1.5k in rent (assuming cheaper place). Pretty much any "fair" tax where "everyone pays the same" ends up hurting the poor folks... just consider what happens when gasoline goes upto say $10/galon... suddenly it's over 2x as expensive to drive. Most well-off folks wouldn't really care and only folks hurt would be the poor who barely pay for gas as it is now. How about bridge/tunnel tolls? Or parking tickets?

- Alex; Tue Apr 17 08:35:24 EDT 2012

Woah, "I have here in my hand a list of 205 communists ...". Hmm... Yey!? Let the witch hunt begin!

- Alex; Mon Apr 16 03:22:44 EDT 2012

Finally starting to recover from the cold. Also uploaded trip pix to picasa: 2012 Good Friday Utah/Colorado Trip.

- Alex; 20120412

We'll begin boarding in 10 minutes... said JetBlue rep.

10 minutes later, ``We'll begin boarding in 10 minutes...''

Then 10 minutes later... ``We're experiencing a slight delay, we'll begin boarding in 20 minutes.''

In 20 minutes, we learn the reason for the delay: one of the flight attendants has reached the limit of her working hours, and could not work anymore until she got some rest.

Everyone (like 150 people) are in limbo for the next 3 hours, where we know we're not going anywhere, and the flight isn't canceled (so nobody can make other arrangements).

They ruined my Monday... I was gonna go to wr0k Monday mr0ning! (flight should've arrived in NYC at 6:30am)

Three hours later, they finally announce the the flight has been canceled. They send everyone to the hotel... yes, at 4am, they send folks to the hotel! (how moronic is that? to spend a few hours in the hotel?).

In any case, I wated until I was the only one left, and asked what my options were---and that going to the hotel for a few hours was stupid.

Anyways, they re-routed me on American Airlines to Dallas, and then to JFK. So arrived quite a bit later... but at least on the same day.

On the flight back, my flu (or whatever it is I have) returned, and Advil seems to have lost its power... Hmm...

- Alex; 20120409

Got to Rocky Mountain National Park---and according to the gate ranger, best hikes are around Bear Lake area... which down the road that leads up the mountain, upto ~10k feet elevation.

Drove up that road, met a few hikers, and learned that Emerald lake is ``the best day hike'' that can be had in the park... unfortunately it's only a few miles long. So after running to Emerald lake and back... I still had plenty of time on my hands.

Asked other hikers about other trails... And apparently the "2nd best longer day hike" is to Mills lake. That one proved to be a bit more challenging---mostly 'cause I didn't have my crampons with me---slipping off the mountain was a real possibility at times, but eh, the scenery is amazing.

After those two hikes, decided to give walking a break, and just drive around. So drove to the end of the Trail ridge road.

Then some lady said that about 3-miles after the "end of road" there's some amazing scenery... so... naturally... I had to walk there. That killed another few hours... and perhaps a bit of my sanity along with that.

I think that's where I finished off my exposed skin---sun burns a lot at 11k feet elevation.

The scenery was not spectacular as I had hoped, but, eh, it's a trek.

After that, decided on going to IHOP (that's the pancake place). In these last 3 days, I've ate a bag of beef jerky, a pack of oreos cookies, and several dozen Advils. Needless to say, I was a bit... wobbly. Unfortunately (or not), I remember something else... Garden of the Gods!

So drove to Colorado Springs, to the Garden of the Gods. It's a weird rock formation that was on my "to visit" list for a bit. It was a bit different than what I thought it would be... for one, unlike four corners, it's completely open and free. There's no gate or anything. Kinda neat. Stayed there until sunset.

And now onto airport.

- Alex; 20120408

Got an early start on the hike to Confluence Point, in Canyonlands. That's the point where the Green River and the Colorado river meet. It's a very scenic hike...

(more advil).

Day started with temperatures below 30F... then warmed upto ~70F during the day. I have a feeling this place gets very uncomfortable in the summer...

Walk walk walk walk walk walk walk walk...

Starting early was a great idea... nobody around... Got to confluence point...

More Advil... and I think I've sun-burned off my lips. Meh. Though... perhaps one of the best hikes I've ever done (the terrain is somewhat similar to Grand Canyon, but it's flat... has more plants, and animals, has enough climy bits, is generally very pleasant place to walk in).

After that, decided to relax a bit in Moab, Utah. Apparently, that's the town where everyone is a bit nutty about customized 4WD vehicles. Every other car has those huge puffy off-road tires.

So now the big question: should I hang out in Utah for another day, (perhaps drive to Yellowstone---only a few hundred miles away), or perhaps Bryce Canyon? Or go for Rocky Mountain National Park.

Rocky Mountain it is...

- Alex; 20120407

Barely got to Denver. Had one of those high-fever episodes in the airplane... was shaking most of the flight, can't talk, nor see due to tears. Why the heck did I go on this trip anyway?

After a double-doze of Advil and an anti-histamine, think fever is gone, and brain no longer feels like exploding.

Rental place ran out of cheapo cars, and gave me an SUV with 3 rows of seats, XM radio, and a skii rack... all for the price of the cheapest rental. Not that I'd be using the skii rack, but, eh, SUV is damn better than Aveo or whatever that thing is.

Driving to Arches National Park.

More Advil.

Figured out all the interesting places to visit in Arches... most of which require a ``short'' hike. Meh. And it's not helping that it's ~30F degrees outside...

More Advil.

Hiked to all the major attractions. Longest hike was to ``Delicate Arch''---strayed off the trail and got a bit lost. Used GPS to navigate to the arch, and ended up on the *other* side of it (all other tourist were on the "other" side of me). Eh.

Devil's Garden is pretty neat... Trailhead for landscape arch, etc.

More Advil. The weather finally warmed up.

Done with major attractions in Arches... onto Canyonlands. The ``islands in the sky'' portion. Did a short rim hike; learned that ``the'' hike to do is to `confluence point' from the south portion of the park... perhaps do that tomorrow.

There's still some daylight left... onto Four Corners (hey, it's in the area... only a 3 hour-drive away).

More Advil.

Imagine my surprise when I get to four corners... and it's closed. Well, the road to it is locked. They close at 5pm, apparently.

I then noticed some folks climbing over the barbed wire (no joke, it's really dangerous!) fense... after a short conversation, and some brainless thoughts, I ripped my pants in a completely mysterious fashion... and my headache went away after the 1-mile run down the deserted road.

After visiting Four Corners, drove to Newspaper rock (by the sourth postion of Canyonlands).

Night-time temperature dropped to 24F degrees... my usual strategy of heating up the car and the napping for an hour didn't work, 'cause car cooled down in a matter of minutes. So learned a clever trick: let the car idle, with full heat on.

- Alex; 20120406

No, the cold isn't gone... and I'm flying out to Denver :-/

- Alex; 20120405

Somehow managed to catch a cold... hope that's gone by tomorrow.

- Alex; Wed Apr 4 08:36:01 EDT 2012

...and suddenly it's April :-/

- Alex; Tue Apr 3 08:55:21 EDT 2012

Why the lottery is not a good bet. Hmm... $640 million... odds of winning the jackpot are about one in 175 million... Hmm... seems like a better bet than you get at a casino... no? Yes, until the jackpot gets that big, it's not a "good bet", but once the jackpot is that huge, it *is* (statistically speaking) a good bet... 'cause your dollar buys you quite a bit more than an even return on your moneh (sure, you'll probably lose anyway, but it's not a "bad bet"). E.g. if you spend $1 for a chance to win $2m where the chance of winning is 1 in 175 million... that's just being stupid. If you spend $1 for a chance to win $640m, where chance of winning is 1 in 175 million... that's just good mathematical sense. Or just stupid waste of moneh if you don't win.

- Alex; Sat Mar 31 00:41:17 EDT 2012

Booked flight/car for Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting :-)

- Alex; Fri Mar 30 23:25:27 EDT 2012

NYC Bans Mention of Dinosaurs, Dancing, Birthdays On Student Tests. That's just depressing. What if you are a space dinosaur who owns a computer and likes to dance by the pool during birthday parties and halloween?

- Alex; Thu Mar 29 00:40:26 EDT 2012

Supreme Court set to debate heart of health care law. For one, this law is very different than ``everyone must have car in-sewer-ants'' or ``pay your property taxes'' laws. You have a choice not to own a car, or property. The ``individual mandate'' essentially forces you to pay a corporation to live. They might as well tax everyone for air...

And all this time, I'm still paying for Medicare that I personally don't use... Oh, I got an idea: why not just cover everyone in US via medicare, and raise medicare taxes appropriately? You have the option not to pay (hey, just don't make moneh!), and everyone's covered. If you want more coverage, go buy in-sewer-ants from a corporation. Simple, no?

I'm really not sure why people get all worked up about these arguments. Yes, poor folks who pay no taxes will get coverage... yes, illegal aliens and tourists will get coverage... so what? Help ye fellow humans? If you have in-sewer-ants, do you deserve care? How about a weirder example: a 45-year old middle-class tax payer gets cancer, has insurance to cover everything... and a 12-year old illegal alien (born outside US...in space!) gets same cancer---has never paid taxes in his life. Who is more deserving of care? You can back yourself into a corner with moral arguments... Why not say "both" and treat'em both, irrelevant how much taxes they paid or whether they have in-sewer-ants?

- Alex; Tue Mar 27 08:50:10 EDT 2012

Been checking weather/avalanche warnings on Mt.Washington for every weekend for the last month or so, and this weekend is the first one with "low" avalanche warning... and 40F degrees---at the summit, with clear skies. So, semi-spontaneously decided Friday night to drive there.

The weather proved to be exactly as forecast. Tons of snow, warm, amazing visibility (no fog, completely clear skies). Probably the best weather day since last summer.

Went up via Tuckerman Ravine, hiked over mountain to Lakes of the Clouds, then up to summit, then down via Lion Head. The Tuckerman Ravine trail is a near-vertical wall of wet-snow---that folks actually ski (or fall) down. Hiking it was a bit...amm...interesting. Learned that the stick-end of the ice-axe is way more useful, as you sink that into snow to provide a bit of stability. Saw a helicopter air-lift someone out of the ravine (my guess is that one of the crazy skiers didn't land well... they literally jump off the cliff and go down 50 feet or so).

Also, there are perhaps half a dozen ``trails'' up Tuckerman Ravine---in summer, there's pretty much 1 way up... in winter, any wall-of-snow that you can get traction on becomes a path. And folks use'em... Hundreds of skiers in that place.

Left snow-shoes in car, and at some points ended up sinking into snow fairly deep. Especially on top, where the snow isn't packed by trails (apparently very few folks actually walk "on top" of the mountain. Once sunk upto chest deep in wet snow, that somehow managed to get compacted all around... couldn't get out for what seemed like forever. It's rather sudden, bam, and you can't move... very slowly dug myself out with the blunt end of ice axe. Not sure what I'd do if I didn't have that... 'cause wet snow isn't easy to dig with hands.

The west side of mountain is an ice-river in many parts, with streams of icy-water ankle deep in most places, and knee deep in others. By sheer luck didn't get wet---even after stepping into some of them.

The Lion Head trail is less vertical than Tuckerman Ravine, but it has a lot more slippery bits that are slide-friendly. So on way down just sat down (or lie down), and let gravity skid you down the mountain. Almost skidded off the mountain on at least two occasions (it's very hard to stop once you get going).

All in all, one of the most amazing winter hiking trips I've ever had.

- Alex; 20120317

Diageo Celebrates St. Patrick’s Day at the NYSE. Yey. Whenever they have these (every year, me thinks), they do a big party for everyone. Got a bit wobbly after a few drinks :-)

- Alex; 20120316

Saw David Cameron (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom), as his convoy drove into NYSE around 2pm-ish; ring closing bell, etc.

- Alex; 20120315