Tales of Ordinary Madness

Power is good for one thing only: to increase our happiness and the happiness of others.

A wonderful quote from my teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh. I’ve been thinking about this quote a lot, wondering how I can apply this in my life and in my work.

http://dvlabs.tippingpoint.com/blog/2008/03/28/pwn-to-own-final-day-and-wrap-up

The gory details can be read at the link above, but here is what happened.

Day One: nuffin’
Day Two: MacBook PWNED
Day Three: Vista SP1 PWNED

Last man standing and UNHACKED by the end of the 3 day contest, Ubuntu.

I’m a bit suprised the Macbook fell first… I’m not surprised that Linux stayed strong.

Well, after 15 years as a fan, it finally happened. I finally got to meet Hank Rollins. I said to him exactly what I had imagined and practiced I would say. I said “Thanks”.

He insisted on making his intense face for all the pics he took…

1. Vaccines DO NOT cause Autism
2. The government did not blow up the buildings on 9/11.

Carry on…

I took the NRA Basic Pistol class taught by the instructors from Shooters Active in Firearms Education (S.A.F.E.) this weekend (March 1st and 2nd) out at the Coraopolis District Sportmen’s Association. Just a brief bit about me so you have some frame of reference. I grew up in rural north western PA and did my share of plinking. It wasn’t until recently (within the last two years) that I became very interested in firearms. In the last two years, I have done a good deal of target shooting, but I am by no means a seasoned shooter.

The class is broken down into two days, approximately ten hours of training. Eight hours the first day of classroom work and two hours the following day of live fire exercises at the range. There is a test at the end of the classroom work, so one is advised to pay attention.

The classroom work was primarily Powerpoint with the three instructors offering additional anecdotes and explanations to add to the content. Eight hours of Powerpoint it a long day. The instructors did their best to break up the day and overall, they were successful. The did not teach to the test, and were instead interested in sharing their knowledge, which I think is really important. Some of the people in my class were much more knowledgeable about handguns than I was, so I imagine for them the classroom day was a bit slow. I am however, confident that everyone in the class learned something.

Day two was entirely at the range. On the range you fire a total of about forty rounds. You shoot from a bench rest, two handed standing and one handed standing. During your entire time on the range the instructors are near-by encouraging you, guiding you, and making sure the range is safe. On successful completion of the session, you are awarded an NRA certificate and a handshake.

For me the class was excellent. I think that I am probably the perfect target audience for this class. I was familiar with handguns, so I wasn’t lost in the terminology and yet not so fluent that it was all a repetition of material I already knew. The instructors were all very personable. They obviously put safety first as their number one concern. Like I said, the classroom day can be a bit slow, but these instructors kept it interesting, they engaged the class in discussions and were more than willing to discuss questions and material that was maybe a bit off the syllabus.

The range day was the best for me. In just two short hours I found myself grouping much better and more consistently than I had been the day before. Each instructor took time to personally stop by and offer guidance and suggestions. Now the challenge for me is make sure I remember it all and put it into practice.

I would definitely recommend this class (and have already) to others. I was lucky, a class that normally has 20 students, in my case only had 4. This allowed for some very valuable one on one time. This would be my only suggestion to the folks at S.A.F.E — keep those class sizes small, as a student that small class size really helped me get the guidance I needed..

Things I’m especially thankful for this year:

1. My beautiful wife. Thanks for continuing to add so much to my life. Just when I thought you couldn’t possibly add any more, you brought us Raina.
2. My beautiful daughter Raina.
3. Medical science. Thanks for helping my daughter come into this world.
4. My friends. Thanks for being so wonderful to the three of us during these first few weeks. Special thanks to Scott, Josh & Nikki, and Kate.
5. Forest Pharmaceuticals. Thanks for bringing me back from the edge.

Make your own.

Below are links to MP3′s I generated using Linux and SOX. Both of these are 79 minutes of noise, one white and one pink.

White Noise
Pink Noise

I made these to help soothe my daughter when she is sleeping.

“In a perfect world if an officer has to tackle the suspect to make an arrest, the office would be entitled to three free punches.”

– “In a Perfect World” by Jason Love in the October issue of Funny Times.

I AM
73%
OPTIMUS PRIMETake the Transformers Quiz

Like Optimus Prime, you are good by nature. But beware because mischievous thoughts sometimes tempt you. You are inspiring, confident, and a natural leader. The Autobots have chosen well. In addition, you enjoy being one step ahead of your friends as far as trends and technology.

So I’m new to Jeffrey Lewis but god damn is he good…

The song is called Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror