Slydexic Fingers

Google Map Testing Post

2008-05-29T18:43:00.000-07:00

Stars Orbiting a Black Hole

2008-03-25T22:33:00.000-07:00

Sweet thing I found linked at Smithsonian Magazine. Also cool is that they use this awesome big ol' orange laser now to compensate for the fluctuations of the atmosphere.

Note star S0-2, with the neat little orbit in the center. It only takes 15 years for it to orbit once. Also note S0-16, to it's left. It gets as close to the black hole at the center of the galaxy as the Earth is to the Sun. Crazy cool.

Happy π day!

2008-03-14T23:35:00.000-07:00

Gotta get this in before midnight:
π ≈ 3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820
97494459230781640628620899862803482534211706798214808651
32823066470938446095505822317253594081284811174502841027
01938521105559644622948954930381964428810975665933446128
47564823378678316527120190914564856692346034861045432664
82133936072602491412737245870066063155881748815209209628
29254091715364367892590360011330530548820466521384146951
94151160943305727036575959195309218611738193261179310511
85480744623799627495673518857527248912279381830119491298
33673362440656643086021394946395224737190702179860943702
77053921717629317675238467481846766940513200056812714526
35608277857713427577896091736371787214684409012249534301
46549585371050792279689258923542019956112129021960864034
41815981362977477130996051870721134999999837297804995105
97317328160963185950244594553469083026425223082533446850
35261931188171010003137838752886587533208381420617177669
14730359825349042875546873115956286388235378759375195778
18577805321712268066130019278766111959092164201989380952
57201065485863278865936153381827968230301952035301852968
99577362259941389124972177528347913151557485724245415069
59508295331168617278558890750983817546374649393192550604
00927701671139009848824012858361603563707660104710181942
95559619894676783744944825537977472684710404753464620804
66842590694912933136770289891521047521620569660240580381
50193511253382430035587640247496473263914199272604269922
79678235478163600934172164121992458631503028618297455570
67498385054945885869269956909272107975093029553211653449
87202755960236480665499119881834797753566369807426542527
86255181841757467289097777279380008164706001614524919217
32172147723501414419735685481613611573525521334757418494
68438523323907394143334547762416862518983569485562099219
22218427255025425688767179049460165346680498862723279178
60857843838279679766814541009538837863609506800642251252
05117392984896084128488626945604241965285022210661186306
74427862203919494504712371378696095636437191728746776465
75739624138908658326459958133904780275900994657640789512
69468398352595709825822620522489407726719478268482601476
99090264013639443745530506820349625245174939965.......

Went to court

2008-03-14T10:38:00.001-07:00

Had my first day in court, and I didn't blow it! All I did was ask for a continuance, but still...

Alternate blog

2008-03-10T22:46:00.000-07:00

I've decided to put my political musings on their own blog, so I have a small degree of deniability(I just delete this post and you'll never tie the two together! Mwuahahaha!). Since the presidential election is boring right now (McCain resting on his laurels while two socialists with no business anywhere near the big red button slowly beat each other to death), it will primarily be the ultra-local politics of Clark County, WA. Check it out at http://upsalmoncreek.blogspot.com.

Cats

2008-03-10T22:32:00.000-07:00

Updates

2008-03-08T13:17:00.001-08:00

Still no steady job, but I have a client. Politics is dead right now too. Got in my first fistfight (I lost, had a swollen lip for a few days). Moved over the garage. No money. So, yeah that's about it.

Lack of Project

2008-02-01T22:02:00.000-08:00

After running my big meeting last night, for the first time in awhile I have no projects demanding my attention. I'll find some stuff to do tomorrow, but right now it's nice.

Florida

2008-01-29T19:36:00.000-08:00

Florida went for McCain tonight. Grr.... Oh well, I've picked my horse, we're still in the race, 1976 style baby.

Aha! I'm still a genius.

2008-01-17T23:50:00.000-08:00

I think I've got it working....

Yes... it looks like it's happening.... on the downside it appears the Blogger interface will only upload one video at a time, and process it at it's leisure. Ah! There it is. Eew.... crappy resolution. I guess that's what I get for using a camera phone. Well, now I know the parameters. Advancement of knowledge! Science!

I'm a nerd...

2008-01-17T23:05:00.000-08:00

I just made an analogy between the primary season for the Republican Presidential candidates and The Eliminator in American Gladiators.

All in the Family

2008-01-17T16:46:00.003-08:00

Yes, I believe I've done it... listed all my relations who have a blog somewhere out there. We'll see. Remind me if I've missed anyone.

The many faces of me

2008-01-17T15:52:00.001-08:00

So I've added all my alter-ego email addresses as contributors here. Don't be surprised if different names show up at the end of the posts, they're all me. Let me tell you the origin of each:

Fingers - name tied to my main personal email. Gave myself the name when I started this blog.
Persona non Grata - my gaming / general internet alias. Latin for "unwelcome person," which is actually a term for a evicted diplomat in international relations. You'll see this alternate name most often.
James D. Bodell, Esq. - tied to my legal email. Oh yeah, I never mentioned, I'm a lawyer now.
Nephi - tied to the email I was using for my old blog, linked on the right. We'll see if I use it ever again.

Thou Shalt Blog

2007-12-16T23:12:00.000-08:00

Great. Another thing I'm slacking on, on top of my scriptures and journal writing.

I smell like smoke

2007-02-14T23:53:00.000-08:00

It's almost like The Palm's was back. And let me also state the obvious that getting stone drunk does not look fun. On the other hand, this was the first I felt like I actually contributed value to a party and thereby earned my paycheck.

Here's wishing a quick recovery from the inevitable hangovers guys!

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-25T22:41:00.000-08:00

Time to make this post mere hours before Christmas ends where I am. (West s-I-de!) Awesome Christmas, except for hte usually inevitable Christmas afternoon venting of pent up frustration. Anyways, my most unexpected gift is the one, the only (as far as I know anyway):

General Robert E. Lee bobblehead! I shall reenact my reaction. "Awesome Possum!!..!!" Surely teh shizle mah frizzle.

So I'm home

2006-12-13T22:11:00.000-08:00

Ah. First full day at home. No class. No finals. No responsibilities. But it heralds things I do need to do, like find a job. Oh, and somehow develop a regular sleep schedual to cope with all day classes on mondays and tuesdays next semester. And blow the rest of my loan money on Christmas presents. I enjoy giving well beyond my means. :)

Oh, the shame

2006-12-10T18:00:00.000-08:00

I've forgotten that when home teaching in December, banana bread and chocolate covered macadamia nuts are necessary elements. I realized this to my chagrin when on our third stop tonight our home teachee provided each of us with a tupperware full of the best Christmas snack assortment ever. Cherry filled Hershey kisses, peanut butter eclairs, no-bake cookies, little fruit/graham cracker pastry like things, and these nifty little chocolate coated mini kisses. In addition, she gave us these DVDs with a bunch of temple pictures she's taken (she's a photographer). Ah well.

Other than that reminder of my negligence, home teaching went spledidly. Visited another sister who has rarely come to church in the time I've known her. It was due to my companions efforts that we ever got the first appointment, despite hte fact I see her far more frequently. Maybe that's why it's hard, because the fear things might go badly and the threat of future embarassment every time you see them gets stacked up against your genuine concern and sense of duty - and all to often the latter are found lacking. My companion indicated the same kind of feelings towards another teachee that he sees sometimes but I've never met.

And we dropped in and suprised yet another who we havent' been able to reach by phone for sometime. She and her mother were very gracious in allowing us in unexpectedly.

Here was the core of my lesson, something which only recently occurred to me, and more elaborate because it's not on the fly. In the first chapter of Third Nephi the Book of Mormon describes the events on the American continent at the time of the Savior's birth.

15 And it came to pass that the words which came unto Nephi were fulfilled, according as they had been spoken; for behold, at the going down of the sun there was no darkness; and the people began to be astonished because there was no darkness when the night came.
...
17 And they began to know that the Son of God must shortly appear; yea, in fine, all the people upon the face of the whole earth from the west to the east, both in the land north and in the land south, were so exceedingly astonished that they fell to the earth.
18 For they knew that the prophets had testified of these things for many years, and that the sign which had been given was already at hand; and they began to fear because of their iniquity and their unbelief.
19 And it came to pass that there was no darkness in all that night, but it was as light as though it was mid-day. And it came to pass that the sun did rise in the morning again, according to its proper order; and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be born, because of the sign which had been given.
20 And it had come to pass, yea, all things, every whit, according to the words of the prophets.
21 And it came to pass also that a new star did appear, according to the word.

I think this is at the core of the message of the Book of Mormon. The official subtitle of "Another Testament of Jesus Christ" is not a simple platitude. Thruought the book there is a constant struggle between those who believed in the savior and his mission, and those who did not. Sherem claimed to believe the scriptures and the LAw of Moses, but contended with Jacob that there would be no Christ. Jacob responded saying "Behold, I say unto you that none of the prophets have written, nor prophesied, save they have spoken concerning this Christ." The priests of Noah claimed to follow the LAw of Moses, but Abinadi stated that "I would that ye should understand that God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people." Zeezrom asked Amulek "Who is he that shall come? Is it the Son of God?" And Amulek boldly declared it so. Zeezrom and the people of Ammonihah were of the order of Nehor, who taught that all men had already been redeemed, so there was no need for a Christ. Alma also contended with Korihor, who also taught there would be no Christ, and with the Zoramites who dissented from the Nephites over the doctrine of Christ (most of their worship ceremony centered on not believing in Christ). Again and again it happens, even up to the point above when the sign of his birth was given, as hte non-believers were about to put the believers to death for the failure of the signs to be fulfilled.

So you can see the central theme: Christ Lives. He made himself known to the prophets throughout history. He was born into a body of flesh and blood. He took upon him out sins in Gethsemane. He died upon the cross. He lay for three days in the tomb. He was resurrected. He is our Lord and Saviour.

Side note: Have you ever really thought about the word Lord? Think about its full ancient and mediaeval implications. We owe Him our fealty, our loyalty, our praises, our obedience, our lives. He has Dominion. He is the Master. That's at a minimum what it means to be Lord.

Back to the main point. He Lives. He is God's Son. He is real. That's what we need to remember as we enter this Christmas season.

Moving

2006-12-07T17:35:00.000-08:00

Tuesday I was presented with a tempting offer for new housing. Smaller place, but correspondingly cheaper. So now we'll see if I can find someone to take over my lease by this coming Tuesday...

Diplomacy news

2006-12-06T13:29:00.000-08:00

I got visciously stabbed in the back by Russia (again) who conspired with the German to convoy an army to Edinburgh. France also leapt at hte opportunity presented by my distraction. I'll be down to one fleet come Monday, just in time to submit my final orders and go home. Yay! I'll be absolved of all commitments over break!

Melissa Branin

2006-12-06T07:07:00.000-08:00

Up till pretty much today, the best musical experience in Rockbridge County was Melissa Branin. She's going back to Zi-on to get on with life. Awesome stuff though. You should keep track.

Finals kick-off

2006-12-05T08:42:00.000-08:00

So I started Finals week a bit early with oral arguments in Trademarks. It suffered from a severe lack of preparation - much like the papers I submitted earlier in the semester. I don't have much hope for a great grade there. But now studying will start in earnest for my actual finals. And it will be enforced this time, since I'm gonna pack up my books and go somewhere so that's all I will so. Have one tomorrow, Friday, Saturday, and Monday, so I can fly out Tuesday.

Comedy in the Muslim World

2006-12-02T22:50:00.000-08:00

Just rented and saw Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World. Kinda funny. Probably the best part is the self-criticism ("You gotta understand your audience," "Maybe some comedians work that way") and the part where he sneaks across the border and a bunch of Muslims stoned on hashish respond like an American audience to an act he bombed in front of the Hindu audience, and the part where it started a little war between Pakistan and India. Most of the time though, it was too subtle. When you figure it out it's like a "oh, how witty of him" and then you feel clever and sophisticated for understanding it. Leaves little room for real laughter.

And a new template

2006-12-01T23:52:00.000-08:00

I've picked a different default template. Why? Because it looks more like a mixed up keyboard reflecting hte name (thus deflating my grand scheme to design my own title background), and I stink at self-selecting a color scheme so I had that grey and orange thing going.

Converting the lost souls

2006-12-01T23:48:00.000-08:00

Mwuahaha! I managed to drag a friend to Blogger Beta by pointing out the awesomeness of the new template editing and blogrolls. Anyone who sees this go to her site!

Can't wait.

2006-12-01T13:42:00.000-08:00

Losing my Diplomacy Game

2006-12-01T09:37:00.000-08:00

I sometimes do a play-by-email Diplomacy game through Redscape. Here's the status of my current game:

I'm England.

Well that sucks.

2006-12-01T09:09:00.000-08:00

I thought I had my doctors appointment scheduled over this nice little break before finals, but I jsut opened a more recent letter at its happening the same day as my last final. Bah. We'll have to figure that out....

Don't you hate it when...

2006-11-29T20:27:00.000-08:00

you have this really great idea for a blog post forming in your head, and you decide to do it tommorrow, hten you totally forget what it was? That jsut happened to me - and it's the reason my blog don't get updated enough.

Pretty nice

2006-11-28T20:55:00.000-08:00

I was concerned for a bit I wouldn't be able to move/remove/edit that atom feed link at the bottom, but the I found the expand widgets button in the template editor. Some crazy stuff, I'm way behind on the latest and greatest in HTML.

Testing the new blogger.

2006-11-28T20:31:00.000-08:00

Testing one, two, three.