Why is it so hard to understand?

OK. It seems like we need a quick history lesson. Apparently some folks weren't paying attention the first time.

Saddam Hussein was a very bad man who personally killed a lot of people and was responsible for ordering the deaths of thousands, probably hundreds of thousands. He pillaged the country of Iraq and stole much of the oil wealth for himself while many Iraqis, mainly Shiites, suffered in poverty. His sons, Uday and Qusay, held highly influential positions and enjoyed being able to steal and torture people pretty much at their whims.

Saddam and his regime was a destabilizing force in the entire middle east. He made war with Iran and Kuwait and lobbed missiles, probably with chemical warheads, into Israel. His years of defiance of UN sanctions emboldened and inspired terrorists. He toyed with the nuclear weapons inspectors for years making it extremely difficult to verify whether he actually had weapons of mass destruction.

After 911, when our country and way of life was horrifically attacked while in a defensive posture, President Bush, with the support of Congress and many nations, decided the time had come to go on the offensive against terrorism. Terrorism is a threat to our way of life. We declared war on terrorists and those who support them.

At the time, our intelligence services, like Clinton appointee George Tenet, determined that Saddam probably had weapons of mass destruction. Whether he did or not his actions over the past two decades made him a threat and it was quite reasonable to think that he had some involvement. Does anyone remember the celebrations across the muslim world, including cities and towns in Iraq, on 9/11? Remember the video of Osama and his henchmen gloating about how the attacks were more successful than even they had planned?

Fast forward to 2007. Our military destroyed Saddam's regime and the country is now left in what the Liberals (I mean, surrender monkeys) refer to as "chaos."

Here are the facts. Saddam had a huge and loyal army. Saddam was a Sunni Muslim, who were the majority of the population but ruled Iraq through brutality. The suppressed, kidnapped, and killed many of the Shiite majority. We defeated the army but couldn't possibly kill all of the soldiers.

Many of the soldiers that were not killed in the war went into hiding and are now trying to destroy democracy in Iraq. We call these people "insurgents." No one knows what they really want other than to strike out at innocent people such as our soldiers, shoppers, police recruits, and everything else that represents freedom and democracy. I think they want another Sunni Dictator to rise up and take control of the county like Saddam did. Who knows.

The radical Shiites on the other hand, inspired by wackos like Moqtada Al Sadr, want revenge for all of their years of suffering. Al-Sadr and his insane compatriots, want to see Iraq become a fundamentalist state like Iran that is ruled by Islamic law (Sharia.) In fact, the Iranians are said to be sheltering Al Sadr right now.

If he was in charge of Iraq, guess what the world would have? An alliance of fundamentalist whack-jobs controlling a region of the world vital to the entire world. Not just for the oil (as simple-minded liberals say to make themselves feel smart) but to use as a home base for anti-Christian and anti-Jewish attackers. Make no mistake, the radical fundamentalists will not rest until they destroy Israel and all western influences in their countries.

So what is the answer? Who knows? There is no play book for this war. It is a war of ideals. Of freedom versus terrorism. You can ask 25 different experts on international diplomacy and world history and get 25 different ideas about what we should do. Some say surrender and let the country suffer. Others say stay and risk losing more and more of our brave soldiers.

I also have to note what most of our soldiers are doing there. They're training! We have somewhere around 140,000 soldiers and thousands more contractors. Many are defending against attackers, others are on the offensive trying to root out insurgents. Most, however, are training Iraqis to take over for themselves. We cannot cut that mission short!

Everyone (Democrats, Republicans, and the majority) agree that this is the ultimate goal for the Iraq war...for the Iraqis to be able to defend their fledging democracy from internal and external threats. It is how they are going to get there that is being debated.

Personally, I believe that telling their enemies when the Americans are leaving is a huge mistake. What if we told the British "We need you to defeat the Nazis by 1944 or we're leaving."

VA Tech Shooting

Unbelievable. 31 shot dead on the campus of Virginia Tech today. Reports say the majority of the victims were in Norris Hall!

I have some fond (and not so fond) memories of several classes in Norris Hall between 1984 and 1988 including:

• Engineering Statics and Dynamics (Professor Arpad Pap)
• Programming (FORTRAN)
• Fluid mechanics lab
• Strength of Materials (and busting lab.)
• Mechanics of Composite Materials (Professor Robert Jones)

and others I can't seem to remember.

I lived in Pritchard Hall, an all-male dormitory, during my freshman year (1984-1985.) It was adjacent to Ambler-Johnson (AJ.) We went over to AJ occasionally because they had a state-of-the-art PC lab with the latest in dot-matrix printer technology.

What could possess a person (or persons) to commit such heinous and senseless acts? What troubles were they having that drove them to this? I guess you can take two points of view on it. One, try to understand what drives people to this level and two, develop processes and safeguards to deal with the inevitability of such situations. There are many questions yet to answer. For now we must empathize with the victim's families and try to comprehend why this happened.

Comparison of Polar S625 and Garmin Forerunner 305

I've owned a Polar 625X for about the past year. It's been a great upgrade over my older 610 series (which I thought was awesome for 3 years.)

I liked the 625 since it was so similar to the 610. The only thing I didn't like was the footpod. However, it was worth it to have a pretty good speed approximation to add to the other data it collects. I found that it was pretty accurate for 5k races (the only races I've done lately.)

I've seen several others with Forerunner 305's and the prospect of using one device for both running and biking was very attractive. Not to mention being able to get rid of the footpod since the 305 is a GPS based tool.

I got my 305 yesterday and have only used it once. Pretty cool except the HR display is pretty tiny. I went on the Motion based website and it looks like you can do some impressive maps and backgrounds especially using Google Earth.

I found this article and plan to read it right now:
http://www.pccoach.com/newsletters/May06/ComparisonReviewS625XvFR305.htm

Surreal Sky

I took this picture in Myrtle Beach in January at about 8 am. The sky looked like a Michelangelo frescoe. I almost expected God's arm to reach out from behind one of the clouds. Of course, God looked like he did in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Risk

I can't believe we've never played Risk before! I've always wanted to conquer Asia!

Do or die tri-ing

It's do or die time for this cat. I am sick of being fat...well fatter than I want to be anyway.

I've decided to do IM Florida (2008.) That means I'm going to have to do a bunch of training races throughout 2007 and 2008. I plan to do a half-IM in the fall (Duke half) and the Marine Corps Marathon in 2007. Then I'll do the Disney marathon in January of 2008 and build up to the IM that fall.

Re-starting my running program

I really want to want to be a good runner. Sometimes I get up and run and feel great. However, for the last 5-6 weeks, I just haven't wanted to go. I can't really blame it on anything other than lack of motivation.

It would be nice to find a training partner. But I see tons of people out running solo.

What is it that makes people want to run?

Runner's World Magazine says you have to think of running as part of your day. This is as opposed to thinking of it as exercise. I guess exercise has too many negative connotations.

The most proud of myself I've ever been was when I was dropped from about 195 to 170 lbs in about 2 months. This was in 1998 starting in about March and finishing up in May. I was incredibly proud of the discipline that I showed during that process. I managed to stay at that weight for about a year. Later in 1999, my weight crept up to about 180 and I stayed there until about 2003.

I got fed up with myself tonight and went for a short run of about 25 minutes. Perhaps that will be a new beginning.

Right now I'm 40.5 years old. I'm married with 2 kids and a baby on the way. I just started working for a new company and we're closing on a house at the end of this month. Monday I have to call movers and try to get that set up. This sounds like I have a lot going on but it seems like any other time for me. To me, it just sounds like life.

A couple of great YouTube clips

There is a clip on YouTube called "The Best of Andy Bernard" that is a hilarious compilation of highlights from "The Office." Andy represents the annoying co-worker in any office. He's insecurity makes him use sucking up as his main career tactic. He also is prone to freak-outs. He is totally focused on his job title. Who hasn't worked with someone like Andy?

Man says console taken at gunpoint

What is our world coming to when people are threatening people's lives for a video game system?

Man says console taken at gunpoint: "Man says console taken at gunpoint
CPCC student says he camped out for 2 nights to get a game system
RYAN BASEN
rbasen@charlotteobserver.com

Brandon Brown planned to buy and then sell the new PlayStation 3 for a profit. Instead, the 20-year-old SouthPark resident found himself staring into the barrel of a shotgun.
Brown was one of several people nationwide, including a UNC Wilmington student, robbed of a PlayStation 3 video game console since their release Friday.
Sony released just 400,000 PlayStation 3 consoles in the United States. Dozens of consoles, which retail for $500 or $600 depending on the model, sold for well over $1,000 on eBay on Saturday.
Brown planned to take advantage of that demand. He slept in front of the Best Buy store in Pineville on Wednesday and Thursday nights, and purchased a PlayStation 3 on Friday morning. He then drove home.
About 8:30 a.m., as he was preparing to unlock the front door, he heard a voice order him to turn around. When he turned, Brown saw a shotgun pointed at him about 18 inches away. The man holding the shotgun, clad in a hooded sweatshirt and red bandana, demanded the console and warned Brown not to resist.
The robber, whom Brown describes as a light-skinned black male, snatched the PlayStation 3 and fled.
He drove an early 1990s faded red Buick, with a different-colored passenger door, Brown said.
Brown, a part-time Central Piedmont Community College student and server at a SouthPark seafood restaurant, filed a police report Friday morning.
'I think Sony needs to change their production techniques,' Brown said. 'Releasing so few (consoles) causes a lot of chaos.'
Police could not be reached for comment Saturday."

Fight the Liberals!

I am sick of Liberals educating us about their politics by using their favorite platform, the bumper sticker. Here's one way to fight the incessantly labeling morons, go to BumperTalk and order some of your own.

My favorite one says it all: "Annoy a Liberal. Work hard and be happy."

Al Qaeda crows over Rumsfeld - Yahoo! News

Thank you Democrats! Al Qaeda can't wait for our new policy. They've got 12,000 combatants ready to step into Iraq. Way to go Liberals!!!

Al Qaeda crows over Rumsfeld - Yahoo! News

Dean Karnazes Endurance 50

With all the drama surround Lance Armstrong completing his first marathon it seems like no one if paying attention to Dean Karnazes. Dean completed his 50th marathon in 50 days in 50 states with the NY marathon. Read his blog here: Endurance Is

It is absolutely amazing that the human body is capable of such a feat.

Cyclecomputer Errors Caused by Magnet Orientation by Charles Learoyd

I haven't ridden my bike in quite a while. In fact, I had to install a new battery in my Shimano Flight Deck 6500 bike computer. I had to do a complete reset of everything in the memory including gear ratios...more on this later. On my first ride, the speed shown was about double of the actual speed. I couldn't figure out why and assumed I had programmed the wheel circumference incorrectly by about half the right size(?) I finished the ride (at an average speed of around 39 mph) and promptly reset the computer. But the same thing happened next time I tried to ride.

I did a quick Google Search for "Shimano Flight Deck errors" and found this: Cyclecomputer Errors Caused by Magnet Orientation by Charles Learoyd.

My wheel magnet was not mounted at 90 degrees like the author's, however, I wondered if I was having the same symptom due to the spacing between the magnet and sensor. I decreased the spacing, spun the wheel and voila! The speed while spinning the wheel by hand dropped from 16 to 9 mph.

Apparently the spacing must be minimal...about 1/8 inch or less to prevent the sensor from seeing multiple peaks in the magnetic field. It makes me wonder what the field plot of a circular magnet looks like.

Borat Conquers Charlotte

Elizabeth and I went to the 7:20 show of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America....yadda yadda. I'll get to the point...it was hilarious! We were both crying at one point.

The showing was sold out. We bought tickets online and arrived about 10 minutes before showtime. People were streaming in, mostly 20-something young people. Since everyone was shouting to each other across us, it was obvious they knew each other. It turns out, a large continent of bank workers (I separate them from bankers) came straight from the office. I believe our immediate crowd were from the Big Bank, but I'm sure the other guys were represented.

The laughs start immediately. Borat shows us around his village and introduces us to family and friends. As soon as he gets to America, the uncomfortable stuff starts. I thought he was going to get pummeled on the NY subway. New Yorkers live up to their reputation!

The hilarity peaks when Borat and his manager get into a "wrestling" match. It's too disturbing to describe here but I had tears of laughter running down my face.

The climax of his journey is a marriage proposal to Pamela Anderson. I don't know if she was in on the joke. It seemed like she knew he was filming a movie. However, I don't know if she knew he was going to throw a burlap sack over her head and try to carry her away. Borat was thrown to the ground by her security guards and I'm assuming had to answer to the police. I hope to see some "behind the scenes" clips of that one!

There are several deleted scenes on the official movie website as well as at YouTube.com. The one about the cheese in the grocery store is awesome!

RIP: Cingular Send a Message

I used to be able to send text messages from my PC to Cingular phone users through this page: www.cingular.com/sendamessage. It made typing the messages fast, kept track of the 160 character limit, and it was free.

Cingular recently launched a whole new website...which is pretty slow, at least on my PC. (It also has several dead links.)

I can't find anywhere on the site to send text messages! I guess they figured out they were missing some revenue. So yet again a wireless carrier has come up with a way to squeeze a few more cents from the masses in the name of ARPU. Pathetic....and still no regulation about the quality of their services.

Google still has a cached version of the old page here: Send a Message

Race for the Cure Results

I am slow. And I don't mean just mentally. I am physically just a slow, slow runner. Here are my results from the 5k last weekend:

755  46/61   400/512  Eric Banks          40 M   2995 CHARLOTTE          NC   30:10   30:35  9:51

I really didn't think I was that slow. There seemed to be a lot of people finishing after me. Granted a lot of them were pushing baby carriages.

I came in 46th out of 61 in my bracket...that is probably fogies between 40 and 45. I also came in 400th out of 512 men. That's what, the top 80%? Yee-haw!

The sad thing is that I've been doing hill running.

Oh well. Let's see how I do this weekend in the Hopebuilders 5k.

Polar S625X speed calibration

I've been looking for a straightforward explanation of the speed calibration feature on my Polar S625X. I finally found one here.

"Once you have an accurately measured place to calibrate your S625X, run that distance and make note of the distance recorded by the S625X. Your calibration factor would be

((Actual distance)/(Measured distance)) x 1000 = Calibration factor

or if you have previously calibrated your S625X, the your calibration factor would be

((Actual distance)/(Measured distance)) x (Prior calibration factor) = Calibration factor"

Race for the Cure 5k

Yesterday I ran my first 5k in about a year. It was the annual "Race for the Cure" to benefit the Susan Komen organization for Breat Cancer. The main difference between this event and other charity events is that so many of the victims or their families participate in this one. I'm not trying to slight other worthy causes, merely pointing out that my feelings during this are magnified. It is incredibly poignant seeing the names of cancer victims, seeing victims walking with bandanas on their heads, and walking with families of survivors/victims. It is a moving experience and makes one forget about one's time and think about what's really important in life.

Borat

Borat is about to take over America! Strange but he resembles Ricky Bobby's arch-nemesis.

A forgotten art?

Why does it seems like nobody "moseys" anymore?

They say hot-dogs are like the most foul, non-nutritional "foods" on the market today. So is it really necessary to bother putting nutritional content labels on them? Are there people looking at the labels going "Yep, they're horrible all right!"

Customer Golf?

I played golf yesterday in a "charity" golf tournament organized by some customers. The customers got to pick the charity and the donations came from their vendors. I'm not sure the hosting company (Verizon Wireless) directly donated at all...other than the hours spent by their employees not doing their salaried jobs. It is all pretty slimy when you think about it.

That's not the only most slimy part. The customers also got to set the 4-somes. Get a load of this logic, one of the organizers (A. Gandhi) has never broken 100 that I know of. He invited a friend of his who works for a competitor (Cingular Wireless) to be in his 4 some. Not only that but he arranges for a ringer who drives 340+ yards to be in his 4-some. It's no surprise that their group tied for the lowest score of the tournament despite having 3 mediocre players.

It's actually pretty despicable when you think about it. It amazes me that Verizon Wireless condones stuff like this. On the plus side, it was a beautiful day in northern Georgia at the Hampton Golf Village and the course was pretty easy. My group, two poor players (me and one other vendor) and 2 decent players finished at an honest 14 under.

Restless Existence

I like the term "restless existence." It embodies how I feel all the time. I guess Neil Peart feels kind of like that also. Here's his latest book.

Endurance 50

Dean Karnazes is on his way to running 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. The running doesn't even seem to be the hardest part. Making it from state to state while having enough time to rest seems impossible. Here's his latest blog.

It's amazing to see what tremendous feats humans are capable of accomplishing with enough drive and determination.

For my own part, this morning I overslept until 6 am, then ran 3 miles in 30 minutes. I don't want to threaten Dean with my abilities.

Epiphany

I've decided to strengthen my bond with my kids by acting more like their real father. So I quit my job and am going back to bed.

Songs purchased on iTunes won't play on iPod

Yesterday I created an account for my son on iTunes. This was so I could give him an allowance to download his own songs. He purchased two songs and they downloaded fine to his iPod. The iPod showed the songs and artwork however the songs would not play. The iPod would just skip over them. He has an iPod video 30GB and my laptop is a Toshiba running Windows XP and iTunes 6.0.4.

I tried loading them onto my iPod nano with the same result.

I then searched the web and discovered many people were having the problem, but it seemed like nobody had found the solution.

I tried doing the 5 R's APPLE recommended to no avail. It was a very frustrating day.

Around midnight, I found an obscure statement on the Apple forum recommending deleting a file under the "All Users" setting. Here is the link and text:

"If that doesn't work, try this...
1) Delete the SC Info.sidb file as documented in http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302386.
2) If the issue persists, again try recrating the iTunes Music Library as described in http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93313
If this works, please post back for some more info and what to do with the files you copied.
btabz "

I think the key was deleting the SC Info.sidb file. This is something Apple needs to acknowledge and post. It could have saved me several hours.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi killed in air raid - Yahoo! News

I wonder what our friends, the Liberals, will say about this huge milestone in the war on terror.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi killed in air raid - Yahoo! News

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida's leader in Iraq who led a bloody campaign of suicide bombings and kidnappings, has been killed in an air strike, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Thursday, adding that his identity was confirmed by fingerprints and a look at his face. It was a major victory in the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the broader war on terror.

I predict they will say such insightful things as:
* Violence never solves anything
* This doesn't mean the war is over
* What about the civilians our soldiers murdered in Haditha?
* Now we should bring the soldiers home!
* How many innocents were killed in the airstrike to get Zarqawi?

CSS Antennas

Well I finally left LCC. Bittersweet after so many years but I needed a change. I needed to be with a company with which I can achieve more success.

George Lucas Sighting

So I'm in Las Vegas for the annual CTIA show. We stayed at the Paris hotel, one of my favorites because it's not overwhelming and is clean and Disneyesque in its capture of stereotypical France.

Anyway, there was apparently a wine show going on at the hotel for the first couple of days. I happened across several open suites hosting various tastings. I didn't have the guts to walk in and try some but that isn't the point.

I was at the LV convention center attending the show when my friend Andy called from the hotel. Excited, he couldn't wait to tell me that he rode an elevator with George Lucas. The funny thing is that he is the most outgoing person I know but he was speechless around Lucas. We come from the Star Wars generation (I was ten when the movie premiered) so Lucas' work had a profound, major impact on our lives.

Because he knew nobody would believe him, for the rest of the night he kept pointing out men who resembled (or didn't) Lucas and saying "There he is!!!" Everybody got a big kick out of it.

The really funny thing happened the next morning. We were standing in line for a restaurant and chatting about seeing George Lucas when all of a sudden Andy exclaimed "There he is!" I turned to look where he was pointing and sure enough, there was the legend himself walking along the faux-cobblestone street chatting with an older, taller man. I was struck by how short GL was but of course camera angles can conceal much. He's also much thinner than he appears on TV but its true cameras add pounds to everyone.

Cats eating rubber bands

We have a cat that is not very smart. He eats things that he finds on the floor. One day he ate a bunch of rubber bands that he found on a dresser.

He stopped eating his food and hid in a corner. Obviously feeling very sick.

We took him to the vet who x-rayed him and found that his intestines were completely blocked. The only way to save him was for them to operate on his stomach and remove the blockages.

$800 later this is the result. 

Ericsson annually sponsors a party one night at CTIA. This year the party was held at the Rain nightclub inside the Palms hotel. Here are some photos of old friends. 

Last week was the annual CTIA show in Las Vegas. Our company, LCC, had a booth.  

iPOD not recognized

So I get the new David Gilmour CD at tower records and rip it with iTunes. Then I got real busy (I was on the road in Philly, then to DC and Charlotte) and didn't sync up my Nano right away. Well, when I finally plugged it in I found out the PC didn't "see" it. In other words, it didn't launch iTunes nor was I able to find it as a media storage device.

As usual, I searched Google using phrases like "iPOD not recognized" and found hundreds of matching pages. Most of them had solutions involving re-installing ipod updater, itunes, and disabling/enabling high-speed USB ports. The one solution that actually worked can be found here: http://www.mcse.ms/archive61-2005-12-2044620.html

Not only did this fix the problem quickly and simply, but I learned how to do a soft-reset of a Nano. Thanks Ben!

Author
ipod usb device not recognized
ben.truitt@gmail.com
2005-12-25, 1:14 am
Hi all -This is a message to provide helpful information we were unable tofind. When we got our new ipod Nano and plugged it in to our HP laptopwith Windows XP, we got a message saying "usb device not recognized."After much frustration, we figured out the fix: reset the device. Todo this, toggle the hold switch (set to hold, then flip back), thenpress the menu and middle buttons at the same time for 6 seconds untilthe apple logo appears. Now plug it in to the computer again. Thisfixed our problem.Good luck, and enjoy your "easy to use" ipod. :)-Ben

Audi A6 False Anti-lock brake activation

I had a problem with my 2000 Audi A6 2.7T Quattro. When I came to a slow stop, like to a stoplight or stop sign, as the car's speed dropped below 5 miles per hour, the anti-lock brakes came on at the front wheels. The car would lurch slightly from the front end as the brakes were modulated at the wheel. There was also the typical ABS grinding noise as the pump motor worked. This was a frustrating problem.

My online research revealed a condition called "False ABS activation at low speeds." Though this article pertains to Chevy, Ford, and GM 4x4's, this sounded like my problem.

http://www.mightyautoparts.com/pdf/articles/gb0804.pdf

The gist of the article is that corrosion around the wheel speed sensors can interfere with an accurate reading of the wheel's speed. This, is turn, can trick the ABS computer into thinking one of the wheels is slipping; it thinks the front wheels are turning at different rates. The ABS module is probably not faulty; its doing its job properly.

The wheel speed sensors are basically electro-magnets which are mounted close to a notched metal ring near the wheel bearings. The notches in the ring cause the electrical current passing through the sensor to vary proportional to the speed of the wheel (in accordance with the Hall effect.)

Lacking an oscilloscope, I took the experimental approach. I pulled off a front wheel to see how hard the sensor is to reach. Luckily, the wheel sensor is located on the forward side of the rear of the wheel spindle. It has a 90 degree elbow electrical connector attached to it. I looked all around for a nut or something holding it in but found none. Trying to wiggle it, I discovered the sensor is "pressed" in or friction-fit. Wiggling it some more, I found out I could remove it by pulling and wiggling gently. It popped out and I couldn't wait to visually inspect it for corrosion.

Sure enough, the sides of the sensor body were coated with a light layer of orange. The tip of the sensor was hairy with what appeared to be corrosion as well as some metal flakes. I'm not sure what the flakes were from but I've read that residue from a brake job (turning and grinding the rotors specifically) can sometimes fall into the bearing area. I'm not sure about that but there were a few flakes on the sensor tip.

I cleaned the sensor barrel and copper sleeve with some brasso, blew out the hole with some compressed air, and re-inserted the sensor. Much to my delight, a quick test drive showed that the condition was gone. Now I can take passengers around without scaring them that my brakes are on the fritz.

Now that I know what I'm doing, I could do that repair without pulling a wheel in a matter of minutes.