I’ve posted more on this topic over on the Honda Ridgeline Owners Club

This rule came about after living in Hollywood for a few years: Never data a woman with a headshot… especially if she’s not famous. I know, that’s harsh, but there’s something about having a headshot that’s very symptomatic of being self-centered. If you’re going to make it as an actor, it seems you have to believe a good portion of your own PR fluff to get out of bed in the morning and face another four audition rejections.

Now, I’ve added the famous caveat because sometimes once someone makes it they mellow out and become cool people again. I saw this with the times I met Sharon Stone over the years. The first time or two I met here she was an emotional train wreck who’d become an instant sensation (after 13 years of hard work) by allowing a camera to look up her skirt in a scene for the movie Basic Instinct. However, once she settled into stardom she seemed to mellow out and become a relatively normal person. In fact, the last time I met her (I think she was promoting the rather forgettable movie Diabolique) she hung around after her satellite interview and asked questions about how various things worked in the control room. I still wouldn’t have dated her, primarily because of what I believe her film choices reveal about her character, but I’m saying theoretically it’s possible for someone to overcome the no headshot rule… once they have nothing to prove.

He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant’s foot and found a
large piece of wood deeply embedded in it.

As carefully and as gently as he could, Mbembe worked the wood out with
his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot.

The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on
its face, stared at him for several tense moments.

Mbembe stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled.
Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked aw ay.

Mbembe never forgot that elephant or the events of that day. Twenty
years later, Mbembe was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his
teenaged son.

As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned
and walked over to near where Mbembe and his son Tapu were standing. The
large bull elephant stared at Mbembe, lifted its front foot off the
ground, and then put it down. The elephant did that several times then
trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.
Remembering the encounter in 1986, Mbembe couldn’t help wondering if
this was the same elephant.

Mbembe summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his
way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared
back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around
one of Mbembe’s legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him
instantly.

Probably wasn’t the same elephant.

His most significant works were generally in collaboration with other architects, including Mies van der Rohe (1958’s Seagram Building), Richard Foster and John Burgee. With Burgee (a 20+ year collaboration) his best known works are probably the Crystal Cathedral, PPG Place (which is what ‘Vegas casinos will look like in the year 2015), the IDS Center, Pennzoil Place and the AT&T Headquarters (now Sony Plaza). In my personal opinion his two most significant buildings by far are Seagram and AT&T because they were both such wake-up calls for urban architecture. (I’d say one for the better and one for the worse, but that’s just me.)

The solo work for which he’s most known would of course be his own personal, Glass House. This house might seem, to the uninitiated, like a rip off of Mies van der Rohe’s work, particularly the Farnsworth House, but considering the two had known each other for years, shared the same design ideals and even worked together after the Glass House, I’m guessing they didn’t see it that way. I have no idea, obviously, but I think it was more like a shared medium (steel framework and glass) which brought with it a shared vocabulary. All that aside, I find Johnson’s Glass House a more pleasing and natural use of the materials than the Farnsworth House. Farnsworth is certainly more dramatic, but to me it looks like it has only just landed and may yet have other stops to make. The Johnson house looks like it belongs to the site — as I believe it should.

The Philip Johnson Glass House is located in New Canaan, CT

They say they removed it because it gave a false sense of security to the users. What would have been the problem with having a comment area below the check box that says, “Blocking third party cookies is not always effective. You should only browse sites which you trust.”?

So the logic is that because the setting was only effective 90% of the time but we don’t want people to expect it to be effective 100% of the time we’re going to completely remove the setting from the user interface…? If this weren’t shareware I’d wonder who was paid off to get this bone headed decision pushed through… maybe that’s still a good question.

The good news is you can still set Firefox 2 to block third party cookies, but you have to do it manually:
1. In the address bar where you’d normally type in a web address, type about:config
2. In the Filter box type the word network
3. Scroll down to the line that says network.cookie.cookieBehavior
3. Right click the line and click modify
4. Set the value to 1 (if you upgraded from an earlier version of Firefox it may be already set)

The even better news is that Apple’s Safari 3.0 beta has been released for both Mac and Windows and it still has a setting in the user interface for blocking third party cookies. I’ll miss some of my Firefox plugins but I’m now going to give Safari an earnest chance to earn my respect.

The E. Lawrence Brown House (right), a beautiful Spanish Colonial Revival residence, which was designed in 1928 by the well-known local architect Harold J. Bissner. The home features an abundance of original tile work, wrought iron light fixtures and abstract Moorish motifs in the wood detailing.

In the Oak Knoll neighborhood, tour-goers will have the opportunity to visit the Harlow E. Bundy Mansion, a dramatic Classical Revival home with a stunning domed art glass window in the grand entrance, silk fabric paneling on the walls, and gilded carvings by a Hungarian church painter. Around the corner, the Amelia Seibert House will be open. Designed by prolific architect Myron Hunt, this grand, three story residence is a fine example of the Tudor Revival style in Pasadena, and features an exterior of half timbering and herringbone patterned brick, and a lavish interior with oak paneling on the walls and fireplaces of marble, mahogany, oak and Batchelder tile.

Venturing into San Marino, two residences on Shenandoah Road will be open for the Spring Home Tour. The H. Palmer Sabin House, a beautiful Spanish Colonial Revival residence designed by the architect for himself and his wife, offers a wonderful glimpse into the architect’s design aesthetic, which contemporaries viewed as a dignified use of simple forms beautifully integrated with the Southern Californian landscape.

Continuing down the street, tour-goers will have the rare opportunity to visit the Edward W. Goodman House, a magnificent Tudor Revival residence designed in 1929 by John D. Atchison. The home features a dramatic two-story living room with carved gargoyles on exposed wooden beams and stunning leaded glass windows.

A residence in the historic Prospect Park neighborhood will also be featured as part of Pasadena’s Golden Age. The Frank Bacon House, a Monterey Revival-style home designed in 1928 by Roland E. Coate, will be open for viewing. The house is beautifully sited to allow for views of the garden and to promote indoor-outdoor living on the multiple terraces.

Sunday, March 25th, 2007
9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
To purchase tickets in advance ($35 each) call (626) 441-6333
Day of the tour purchase tickets ($40 each) at the Pasadena Heritage office at 651 South Saint John Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91105.

At this point I generally awake on the verge of panic, like I’ve just learned the limit of how long I can hold my breath at the bottom of the pool. My mind is rushing through the catalog of all the women I’ve ever met, desperately trying to figure out, “who is that woman!?!”

Why does Romeo die?
Romeo doesn’t die because of his true love, he doesn’t die because of the conflict between the houses Montague and Capulet, he doesn’t even die because of some policy of the Bush Administration. Romeo actually dies simply because he doesn’t know the truth about Juliet’s induced coma.

Our longing for truth is no less potent than Romeo’s. Without a foundation of truth, decisions are made poorly:

• Who should I marry?
• Should I take this job?
• Should I expect God to heal?
• Why is there suffering?

For just a moment let me take you back to my childhood Sunday school class where the teacher is asking us where truth comes from, we’d all raise our fat little hands and answer that truth comes from God. Yes, we knew this even as eight year olds, but before the impact of it really sunk in, it was snatched away from us. Sure, I believed that God was the ultimate source of all truth, but I also believed in the scientific method. I believed truth to be a formula with inputs and outputs. I thought truth should be provable, applicable and… generally functional. Unfortunately for most of my years I misunderstood the very nature and purpose of truth.

God is the source of truth but He’s also the very purpose for truth.

Psalm 19: 7-11
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

What’s it mean?:
• The word for God here is Yahweh, or “God, the One who’s covenanted with us.”
• Law (torah, God’s written law) is perfect (complete or sufficient) → restorative and transforming
• Testimony (a first-hand account, a personal story) is sure (trustworthy, reliable, unmistakable) → wisdom (truth applied)
• Statutes (precepts, principles, guidelines) are right (a true or enlightened path) → rejoicing (a low-stress life)
• Commandments (those things that are non-negotiable) are pure (lucid or clear) → enlightening (clarity, understanding)
• Fear (reverence, awe, respect) is clean (without impurity or imperfection) → enduring (impurities cause corrosion and decay)
• Judgments (decisions or answers to questions) are true (reliable standard) → righteous altogether (exhaustive, comprehensive correctness)
Above list mostly from John MacAurthur book indicated below.

So my own paraphrase would be:
• The written law of God, the One who’s covenanted with us is sufficient for transforming and restoring the soul;
• The first-hand accounts of the One who’s covenanted with us are trustworthy, making wisdom available to even the least intelligent of us;
• The life guiding principles of the One who’s covenanted with us are a better way to live, resulting in a joyful spirit;
• The non-negotiable rules laid out by the One who’s covenanted with us are clear, enlightening us;
• Reverent respect for the One who’s covenanted with us is pure, preserving us from decay and corrosion;
• The answers the One who’s covenanted with us provides are exhaustively correct.
• God’s truths are even more valuable than gold,
• Yeah, more desirable than a heap of gold;
• They’re also sweeter than honey.
• Moreover, by them we are warned,
• And in keeping them there is great reward.

How could David say the written law of the Lord is complete?
What about the writings attributed to Solomon, Paul, John, Peter and the rest? Did you know your parents when you were a child? Do you know your parents more completely now? How could this be? I thought you knew your parents when you were a kid? Did they change into someone else? No? Obviously the years you’ve spent with them have deepened your knowing of them. This is the same in any relationship. David knew his Lord as completely as he could but certainly not as completely as he knows Him now.

Truth’s Purpose
So yes, God’s truth is so reliable it can also be used for practical purposes but what is truth’s true purpose? Truth’s purpose is not transactional, like an equation. Truth’s purpose to help us know our Creator and have a loving friendship with him. Sin blocks our relationship with Him so he tells us not to sin. Time spent in prayer or reading scripture or enjoying the company of other believers helps us grow closer to Him so He tells us to do these things. Serving others makes us more like Him, so He tells us to do this too.

And what about the big questions?
God doesn’t promise to answer all our questions. He doesn’t offer a 10-year, 1-year or even a 6-month plan for our lives. He offers to do life with us and to be a lamp for our feet. That’s pretty sort term. Our problems with the big questions are mostly due to unrealistic expectations about our life with Christ.

Additional Reading/Listening:

• Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship With God
• Great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition, by Daniel Robinson, available through The Teaching Company

My uses for this range from sharing separate folders with business associates, clients and friends and family members. My brother and I use FolderShare to share local Los Angeles and Chicago radio broadcasts recorded with RadioShark. I sometimes set up a shared folder with a client so we can share documents too large to email. My business partners and I share a Library folder where we deposit whitepapers, pdfs of magazine articles and anything we think might be useful reference material for our shared project. I think you get the idea.

The point of this blog posting is to give you a little head start with FolderShare, should you want to try it out.

• At the time of my writing FolderShare says they don’t support Mac OSX 10.4.8 but I’ve not had any problems with it so don’t be afraid to try it out if your Mac is new.
• Don’t try to share a database type file, like your Outlook or Entourage data. The asynchronous manner in which FolderShare works can really mess things up and my experiment lead to the loss of 1.5 days of emails and address book updates. You might have more luck if you set this ‘Share to only sync manually.
• I have had some success sharing a Quickbooks database, but only because I see to it that the two files are never opened anywhere near the same time. Depending on the size of your Quickbooks data file we’re talking hours here, not minutes.
• One function that’s really cool is often overlooked. If you log into the FolderShare website you can click on the “Access My Files” button and navigate to any file on any of your computers (called devices) currently logged in. You can’t navigate to invited member’s computers, as you’d probably imagine, but you can use FolderShare to remotely access any file on any of your computers, not just those files that are in FolderShare shared folders. Unfortunately these downloads are pretty slow relaying through the FolderShare system, so use this as a last resort.
• Another really cool function is that you can search for content on any of your connected computers using the integrated Google Desktop and Apple Spotlight. You access this function through the FolderShare website. If you’re an XP user, as I used to be, there’s now no need to install Google Desktop, just search your local machine on FolderShare. I figured Microsoft would have killed this once they purchased FolderShare back in 2005, but so far they’ve left it alone.
• I’ve had bad luck trying to share folders on an external hard drive. It doesn’t matter if it’s XP or OSX, it’s just not a good idea. If a computer logs into FolderShare but doesn’t have a folder available because the external hard drive is disconnected, powered down or momentarily napping, the shared device is kicked out of the ‘Share and needs to be set up again. This is a pain and you just might find yourself waiting a day or more for a large folder to copy itself over again.
• There’s a 10,000 file limit to each folder so plan accordingly when you set up your folders.
• There’s a 10 library limit to each account so plan accordingly when you set up your folders. I’m not sure if this means you can only be the owner of ten libraries or if you can only interact with ten libraries. I currently have 11 libraries that all list me as the owner… so don’t tell anybody, ok?

I’m sure there’s more if I think about it, so I’ll probably post again on this later.

]]> http://www.christianswanson.com/technology/foldershare-tips/feed/ http://www.christianswanson.com/dating/never-date-a-woman-who-reason-1/ http://www.christianswanson.com/dating/never-date-a-woman-who-reason-1/#comments Thu, 01 Jun 2006 07:05:18 +0000 Christian Swanson Dating Rules for Dating http://www.christianswanson.com/dating/never-date-a-woman-who-reason-1/ Never date a woman who can’t go out with you because, “I have my kids that weekend.” Basically the concept here is that given the level of gender bias in our court system there must really be something wrong with a woman who doesn’t have custody of her children.
]]> http://www.christianswanson.com/dating/never-date-a-woman-who-reason-1/feed/ http://www.christianswanson.com/search-engine-optimization/click-fraud-becomes-a-legitimized-business/ http://www.christianswanson.com/search-engine-optimization/click-fraud-becomes-a-legitimized-business/#comments Mon, 01 May 2006 23:35:17 +0000 Christian Swanson Search Engine Optimization Scams Business http://www.christianswanson.com/search-engine-optimization/click-fraud-becomes-a-legitimized-business/ So, thanks to a Wall Street Journal article today titled “For These Sites, Their Best Asset Is a Good Name” by Julia Angwin click fraud is a legitimized business. How long will this last? It could be wiped out in two to three weeks with some algorithm updates to weed these bogus sites out of the index, but with Google and Yahoo getting paid (by-the-click) to keep these sites in, I suppose they could be here for a while.


Eventually the search engines will be forced to realize that they’re destroying their very reason for existing by serving up bogus search results, but if someone else (like Microsoft or Ask) offers a better search result and we start to see a shift in market share, then Google and Yahoo will be forced to eliminate these sites from the results. But could it be too late?

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