Green Lantern

I was hoping I was gonna be Green Lantern. Oh, well. Ironman it is...

Your results:
You are Iron Man

Iron Man 85% Green Lantern 80% The Flash 80% Robin 72% Wonder Woman 67% Spider-Man 65% Hulk 65% Superman 65% Supergirl 47% Catwoman 40% Batman 40%

Inventor. Businessman. Genius.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz


(Probably a million other folks are also Ironmans, but it's good to know at least one of those million is in fact a genius...)

At the dinner table, christmas eve 2006

powered by ODEO

Mistaken Identity

So The Wild is available for purchase on iTunes. I for some reason (perhaps it was because I was multi-tasking - cooking dinner, ripping some old cds, buying movies, cleaning up after Nicole puked her guts out...I dunno) I thought I was buying Over the Hedge. This movie ain't Over the Hedge. I think I even moaned when I saw this movie's preview in the theaters. Oh well. I'm sure it will entertain for years to come...

gosh, I hope.

Stick to a Plan

Despite their apparent differences, most of the behavioral approaches reviewed in the October issue of the journal SLEEP were supported by evidence that they resulted in infants and toddlers learning to fall asleep independently at bedtime and when they woke during the night. Of the 52 studies examined in the review, 49 showed positive results, with 82 percent of the infants and young children in the studies benefiting significantly.“The key to this whole thing is parents being consistent,” said the senior author of the review, Dr. Jodi A. Mindell, a psychology professor at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and chairwoman of the task force organized by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine to assess the techniques.She added, “They need to pick a plan they can absolutely follow through on.”Even Dr. Richard Ferber of Children’s Hospital Boston — so strongly linked in the popular imagination with the so-called cry-it-out method that it has come to be known as “Ferberizing” — agreed in an interview that no single approach worked for all children.“Clinicians should try to make a diagnosis for a given family as to why that youngster is having problems, and then try to tailor the choice of treatment to fix that problem,” he said. “When an intervention is chosen that works not only for the child’s problems but for the family’s philosophy of child-rearing, it’s going to work that much better.”Still, some methods in Dr. Mindell’s review were supported by stronger evidence than others. The strongest evidence was found for the toughest and the easiest approaches.Perhaps not surprisingly, the easiest option is preventing sleep problems in the first place, through simple parent education, whether one-on-one training, group classes or booklets. Such programs typically encourage parents to have a peaceful, consistent evening routine in which children are placed in bed “drowsy but awake” to help them develop independent sleep skills. Three well-designed randomized trials have found that the babies of parents who had such training slept significantly better than those whose parents did not.At the tough extreme is the cry-it-out method, formally known as “unmodified extinction,” in which parents are taught to put a child down for bed, close the door and ignore all crying unless the baby is in physical distress. Despite 23 studies showing its remarkable effectiveness, most parents find the technique too emotionally grueling, the task force found.Dr. Ferber, despite his link to the technique, said he rarely used it.“It’s not a pattern that most parents will do,” he said.Instead, he said he relied on a variety of gentler approaches, including one called graduated extinction. Rather than entirely ignoring a child’s cries, the method teaches parents to briefly check on the child on a regular schedule, staying for just a couple of minutes. Each night, the time between the visits grows longer, until the child learns to fall asleep independently. The task force called the approach an “effective and recommended therapy.”For all their effectiveness, all the methods reviewed by the task force defined success as having children fall asleep independently. And no matter how gentle the technique, once children become accustomed to falling asleep in the presence of a caregiver, they almost always respond tearfully to being left alone — for at least three to five nights.And there’s the rub.“It’s not a lot of fun for parents,” said Dr. Ralph Downey III, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Loma Linda University in California.“The child acts like it’s the end of the world,” he said. “Nobody wants to see their child suffer. The biological blueprint in us says we need to be there, to comfort and soothe them.”Still, Dr. Mindell argues that it’s worth it. “What parents really need to focus on is the big picture,” she said. “In the end, you’ll have months and years of everyone sleeping through the night and functioning better through the day.”The only popular method not reviewed by the task force was co-sleeping, in which children sleep in the same bed with parents, because Dr. Mindell’s team could find no scientific studies of the approach. Although many experts support the method, so long as parents are happy with it, the American Academy of Pediatrics advises against the practice because it raises the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS.The Academy also urges parents to put their infants to sleep on their backs on a firm surface to reduce the risk of SIDS, though sleeping belly down is not the only risk factor for the syndrome. A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that many babies who die of SIDS have a defect in the portion of their brain that controls breathing, heart rate and arousal.Co-sleeping also raises the risk of a parent’s unintentionally smothering a baby. A report released last year by Betsey Gotbaum, Public Advocate of New York City, found that 15 children, all less than a year old, died in New York in 2004 while co-sleeping with a caregiver who accidentally rolled over on them or wedged them against the wall.Despite the risks, Dr. Ferber came out in support of co-sleeping, for parents who prefer it, in the latest edition of his book, “Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems” (Fireside, 2006). “To me, whether a family chooses to co-sleep should be their decision, and we work with them either way,” he said.One of the most prominent advocates of co-sleeping, Dr. Robert Sears, who co-authored “The Baby Sleep Book” with his father, mother and brother, is a strong critic of “cry-it-out” methods. “We’re all for routines and consistency, so long as the baby isn’t left to cry it out alone,” Dr. Sears said in a telephone interview from his family’s pediatric clinic in Capistrano Beach, Calif.“Certainly most methods do work, no matter how harsh it is on the baby,” he said. “But what happens to these babies left to cry it out for hours, if not weeks on end? What kind of trauma is inflicted on the babies, and what is their psychological and emotional makeup 3, 5, 10 years down the road?”In fact, longterm studies have shown that children who never learn how to fall asleep independently are at increased risk of continuing sleep problems as they grow up, Dr. Mindell said.Even on a short-term basis, the task force reported, “Infants who participated in sleep interventions were found to be more secure, predictable, less irritable and to cry and fuss less following treatment.”While teaching a child to sleep independently can be emotionally wrenching for all those involved, Dr. Mindell said, “Parents need to understand that they’re not doing it for selfish reasons. Their children benefit greatly.”

For Getting Baby to Sleep, Sticking to a Plan Is What Counts - New York Times

Nice stack!

FW:, originally uploaded by Jrome.

Restoration Hardware, I think. SF?

Holiday scrabbling

FW:, originally uploaded by Jrome.

Restoration hardware...sf?

I love my mom

Tomorrow is December Jerome...you know what that means...another birthday. It seems just like yesterday when we were waiting for you to come....on Christmas. You should have been a Christmas baby. The doctor did something to have you come earlier...he wanted to go on vacation,, of course. I remember Dad and Linnea looking at their Christmas tree when I came out from the doctor's office. Those were the times for me when everything was cleaned and cleaned again. Funny how mother's have to prepare and we don't even know why we do them. I wrote up the tailend of checks for bills that night and of course, called Grandma to come in. She was happy because she also had everything done for Christmas.
Three decades ago.....plus some, a little babe was born. What a cutie and he still is...
Love,
From the house on the hill with the red barn,
Mom

Halloween 2006

Halloween 2006, originally uploaded by Jrome.

Sometimes you feel like a nut.

Sometimes you feel like a duck.

The Next Big Thing

This will be huge. Lots of actors and directors I know have wanted to get stuff out, without having to wait around a year or two to get their stuff picked up. Now, put it out. "Do it Now," as George Merriam was fond of saying.


Skype founders plan to launch Web TV service: paper - Yahoo! News

Writely is now Google Docs and Spreadsheets

I was bug eyed. Writely is now Google Docs & Spreadsheets. That's great unless you liked the Writely name. I did. I kinda also liked the pencil and the green. I see the pencil kinda made it through the corporate suits:

MS Word is an industry standard or more likely was an industry standard. It currently reigns supreme, the gold standard in word processing, in this office and probably yours.

But Writely, er, I mean Google Doc, has huge potential. That should be written huge potential. The ability to spread over the web, find itself on any computer (Windows, Linux, Apple, whatever) and be at the beck and call of anyone. Anyone, everywhere. Those are good traits.

I'm using it for everything now. Because I like the pencil. And I don't miss Word.

I just wish I could convince them to add a dictionary. How about it Google?

Condoms, Tissues, Dictionaries

Given the equine subterfuge that precipitated the sack of Troy, Trojan condoms are curiously named—deception is not a quality one typically looks for in a prophylactic. Consumers, however, don't seem to mind: Trojans reign supreme in America's nightstand drawers and billfolds.

What's the best-selling condom in America? By Brendan I. Koerner - Slate Magazine

Kleenex. Merriam-Webster's. Coke.

Blogged with Flock

Future now.

Future now., originally uploaded by Jrome.

But the future is now, and it is passing us by.

Portrait of the artist as a young girl

Portrait of the artist as a young girl, originally uploaded by Jrome.

Sometimes there are moments in life where life knocks you down, even on a sunny day.

Flosser

I started my blog with a post about a new toothbrush I bought last year. Now, let it be known that the Flosser is a nifty little device.

It's simple enough that our 3 year old can use it. She flosses every night with it, supervised, of course. She really likes it. I tried it. It works just as it should. It even feels nice in the hand. Regular floss works too, and there is simplicity in the strand, but my fingers are never clean enough to go poking around...yeah, lame excuse.

How Johnny Learned to Read...or How Johnny Learned to Scam

Audit: Reading First beset by favoritism

Summary: Internal review finds ED ignored the law; steered funds toward certain programs

The internal audit of Reading First by the federal Education Department was released just days after another report, from the independent Center on Education Policy (CEP), suggested the program is having a significant impact on student achievement...Study: Reading First spurs achievement gains

An internal report detailing the U.S. Department of Education's (ED's) handling of the multibillion-dollar Reading First grant program, criticizes Bush administration officials for steering funding awards to certain educational publishers and for illegally dictating to schools which solutions they must use.

The scathing review, published by the federal government's internal policing arm, question's ED's integrity in awarding grants and requests that ED make immediate changes to its review process. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said ED will comply with the recommendations.

From eSchool News staff and wire service reports

September 25, 2006—A scorching internal review of the Bush administration's billion-dollar-a-year reading program says the Education Department (ED) ignored the law and ethical standards to steer money how it wanted.The government audit is unsparing in its view that the Reading First program has been beset by conflicts of interest and willful mismanagement. It suggests the department broke the law by trying to dictate which curriculum schools must use.It also depicts a program in which review panels were stacked with people who shared the director's views, and in which only favored publishers of reading curricula could get money.

In one eMail message, the director told a staff member to come down hard on a company he didn't support, according to the report released Sept. 22 by the department's inspector general. "They are trying to crash our party and we need to beat the [expletive deleted] out of them in front of all the other would-be party crashers who are standing on the front lawn waiting to see how we welcome these dirtbags," the program director wrote, the report says.

That official, Chris Doherty, is resigning in the coming days, department spokeswoman Katherine McLane said Sept. 22. Asked if his quitting was in response to the report, she said only that Doherty is returning to the private sector after five years at the agency. Doherty declined to comment. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings pledged to swiftly adopt all the audit's recommendations. She also pledged a review of every Reading First grant her agency has approved.

"When something undermines the credibility of this department, or the standing of any program, I'm going to spring into action," Spellings told the Associated Press.

Reading First aims to help young children read through scientifically proven programs, and the department considers it a jewel of No Child Left Behind, Bush's education law. Just this week, a separate review found the effort is helping schools raise achievement.

But from the start, the program has been dogged by accusations of impropriety, leading to several ongoing audits. The new report from the Office of Inspector General--an independent arm of ED--calls into question the program's credibility.

The ranking Democrat on the House education committee was furious."They should fire everyone who was involved in this," said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif. "This was not an accident; this was not an oversight. This was an intentional effort to corrupt the process."

eSchool News online - Audit: Reading First beset by favoritism

technorati tags:education, reading

Blogged with Flock

shoes

shoes, originally uploaded by Jrome.

When shoes are on they are made for walking. These are for dancing.

When $100,000 wasn't 100 Grand

I had a 100 Grand candy bar today. I'm on a roll the last two days. I had two snickers yesterday. I haven't eaten that much candy in years.

Remember when 100 Grand was the $100,000 Bar? I do. I must be freakin' old. Frickin' computers! Busting up my childhood memories.

summer adieu

IMG_0566.JPG, originally uploaded by Jrome.

There are moments that happen in the midst of summer that you never realize until one day you wake up and it's September again.

This was one of those moments.

Have a great fall world. Somewhere, like it was here, it was a good summer.

Payphone

Stella's Cafe in Collegetown Ithaca, New York (607) 273-9631

The Payphone Project

When the world runs at a sprinting clip, sometimes it's safe to sip. Take it slow, answer the ring. When the time comes, you'll do your thing. Pick up the phone, talk for a minute. Have a laugh with the time you give it.

Blogged with Flock

From Flock to the would be flocklings...

On Friday I was demoing all night at the Techcrunch Party at August Capital. To those not familiar with Silicon Valley, this was where all the web industry movers and shakers gathered at a Sand Hill Road venture capital firm's offices, to attend the party hosted by the most popular industry blog. Yep, that same Sand Hill Road where entrepreneurs go to pitch their ideas in the hopes of becoming the Google or Yahoo!. Anyway, one thing I kept hearing over and over again from the partygoers was "I've heard about Flock, but haven't tried it since last year". That's despite several positive articles by Techcrunch editor Michael Arrington since we released Beta 1 in June.On Saturday a blogger named Luke wrote an article about what your choice of web browser reveals about your personality. He had over a dozen browsers in his list, but not Flock. The post got lots of traffic from being on the front page of digg, a website where people submit stories and vote their favorites to the top. Almost a dozen people jumped in the comments and said "what about Flock?"So if you've heard about Flock a few times and haven't tried it out yet, why not give it a test drive? We'd love your feedback. Flockstars, why not find a friend that knows what it is and help them try it out?

blogs

technorati tags:flock, browser, new, exciting, tech

Blogged with Flock

Amazon Down

Well, I never...


I'm sure they'll be back up in a giffy. Maybe I'll just go play with Gliffy.

So Twenty-First Century

I ordered prints from Flickr today. The old world merged with the new.

Friday

IMAGE0019.JPG
Originally uploaded by Jrome.

When Friday has finally come
We amble on out for some lunch in the sun.

Outdoor Play

IMAGE0009.JPG
Originally uploaded by Jrome.

When birthdays and rain clouds meet,
There is normally no ordinary treat,
But to sit outside in the warm warm rains,
And play play play until the clouds part ways.

When the sunlight peeks we'll hoist our umbrellas,
When the rain comes back we'll still be under dem fellas,
Running hands through the drops that drip,
And laughing at everything all the grown-ups miss.

Adobe Twist coming this summer

Adobe Systems Incorporated: Bill McCoy, General Manager, ePublishing Business

Bill gave the keynote at the idpf "Connected & Mobile 2006" conference in NYC yesterday. He had some interesting news and gave a nice presentation. He started off by talking about how there's much talk about hardware, and he's sure there will be a device that catches the masses. But he made it known that there is progress on the software side. The idea that open source, easily transmitted reading software is on the horizon. And OEBPS specification is the place to start, and the form to champion for getting publishers excited again about all things electronic, all things web. Let's not say "eBook."

So what's Adobe doing? Well, Acrobat works, but it is not a product that was designed for the reader, or even for the general consumer, for that matter. Hardly anyone, except the design professional working in the publishing industry needs markup, layers, etc that Acrobat provides. What the consumer needs is something that is "Optimized for reading."

So, Adobe will be launching a new product this summer, code named "Twist."

TWIST is a consumer optimized reading centric application. It downloads in less than two seconds (which he did off of Adobe's VPN). It will refit content to the size of the open window (he showed this, it works!) - this means it can look good, read well, and function great on any size device , no matter what size its screen! And for publishers, the best news is it does all that right from the OEBPS. That's right, it will produce a fine user experience directly from OEBPS, no reflow, no rehash. (No word, and probably no function either, about background reference material.)

It will be out this summer in beta. So this summer check out labs.adobe.com for Twist.

Oh, and during his keynote, he mentioned Flickr. Good man!

Elephants Walking

Bay to breakers happened this past weekend, but I wasn't there to see it.
I couldn't get there, I couldn't be there, I couldn't couldn't couldn't.
You see, I live three thousand or so miles away, so the miles wouldn't let me. They wouldn't.

Now if I had an elephant, I could have walked there.
Astride the elephant or walking alongside
We'd have made a team, quite a pair!
But no matter anyway, for there is not where I reside.

Samply

tile sample 2
Originally uploaded by Jrome.

Gliffy Writely Google Yahoo!
Stickley Berkeley california voodoo.
Listography Flickr Digg Delicious
These tiles are ambitious.

spring weekend

spring weekend
Originally uploaded by Jrome.

The bike is red and so is the blood
That rushed to my head when I stood up.
I've got very far to go, I can just feel it
This life that I live and this air - I just breath it.

It tastes like spring, dappled in green.
It's best for me I think, better than than dreams.

Out for a Walk

Out for a Walk
Originally uploaded by Jrome.

Trotting along with a wagon in tow, my head feels as if it's gonna explode. I'll pick up the house and take it for a walk, I'd open my mouth but I just can't talk.

Springtime is Green

Like an old man recalling his childhood when he holds his grandchild, I recall the beauty of spring when I see the green in the leaves again.

dusty

I work in an office. It's usually quiet. But Monday, they ripped out ourkitchenette. They put the Bunn in the hallway just outside the door, and put sheet plastic up with duct tape that didn't really stay stuck to the wall. This building was built in the 1930s. I'm sure there are things in the walls that we're not supposed to breath. I moved (they ripped up my office to expand the kitchenette) to a closed off section of the building, and yesterday, when I came over to see the work, I smelled the dust. Chalky dusty. The air wasn't exactly thick with it, but I could easily tell there was construction going on. I could certainly hear it too! It was loud - I mean the crew was using powertools, like reciprocating Sawzalls, that usually require ear protection. There are probably fifteen people who work in this half of the building, working 8 hours without proper ventilation or dust masks.

I wonder why they couldn't have done this after hours? To listen to the Sawzall for 6-8 hours has made me and just about everyone a bit edgy, and I'm not even sitting right outside the door!

Greasecar Subaru

Reuters reported Monday that Fuji Heavy Industries (parent company of Subaru) is developing a diesel powerplant that could debut in Subaru's European lineup as early as 2007. Subaru will likely launch its new diesel first as an option for the European market Legacy.


Once that happens, I'll be the first one on the block with my greasecar sube.

Weekend's Near: I'm ready for Take Off, Capt'n!

I'm ready. My bags are packed. Next week I'm slumming in some other office. See those old phone booths? They're going the way of the wagon. The faint taste of stale cigarettes still lingers within them. I think I was born in the wrong time.

"I'm in the right place at the wrong time?" - Jack White, Under Blackpool Lights, DVD

Ride on Diablo

03-26-06_1250
Originally uploaded by Jrome.

A few of us rode on Diablo back round the end of March. It was a fantastically sunny and warm day. Cool enough to wear some wool on the way down (what's new about that!?) and still get a suntan (sunburn!) on the way up. Glorius.

Actually I rode a Saluki. Thanks!

Blue Cup 1

Blue Cup 1
Originally uploaded by Jrome.

chck your oil then check your head

Spring Shadows

IMAGE0044.JPG
Originally uploaded by Jrome.

With the rain a-coming this weekend, we were active on Friday afternoon, soaking up the last rays. When there's no chalk, dirt entertains.

Kizzer

Kizzer
Originally uploaded by Jrome.

I am but a small force in the world today.
I cried on my pillow in the bed as I lay.
I smiled at her calling me at 5:03.
She is my life in a fur coat and she is nearly all that I need.

Big Wheel Keep on Turning

Originally uploaded by whileseated.

It ain't down SF's twistiest street, contrary to what the masses tell you. Check out the streets over by Vermot near SF General.

My big wheel had sweet STP stickers. I wore out the wheels and had to get new ones.

Jack n Coke

I heard the song, I seen the clip, I love the band, I dig the man, I drink coke, I ain't no bloke, I sing the song, I sing along, I da da da da, and it's ordinary. It's a commercial, but like most any commercial, I'm not running out to buy anything. I'm singing the song. I'm humming along. And this song is nice. It's not condescending, it's not selfish, it's not a lot of things. It's just a nice song that Jack got paid to write. Good for him that he can write such a nice song for cash. His baby will need it. Thank goodness for Jack White. And for John Gillis too.

See it here: http://www.spin.com/features/news/2006/04/060417_jackwhite/

Springtime is Swingtime

DSCN0315.JPG
Originally uploaded by Jrome.

perfecting the feet grab kick start, this seasoned swing team executes it brilliantly. what a great start to the season of swinging!

nice weather nice sweater

jerome creek 4_1
Originally uploaded by Jrome.

I went for a ride in late March on Diablo with GP and Steve. This picture pretty much sums it up - it was a great!

We rode up on the road to the ranger station and then took trails coming down. Surprisingly I didn't get a splash of mud on me, even with the wet trail and numerous stream crossings. The bike had little loafers on front and rear racks, and that probably saved me the splatter.

springtime

Image(063)
Originally uploaded by Jrome.

I can feel it. There's spring somewhere. This was more than a year ago. Hugo.

sp[a]ce oddity.jpg

sp[a]ce oddity.jpg
Originally uploaded by Jrome.

While I was on my ride, I was dressed as any self respecting super hero (I no wear a cape however!) and I must report on the facts.

I said a friendly "Hello!" to everyone I came upon. Riders would wave or say "Hi!" back, but no pedestrians smiled or responded. This supports the belief that to non-cyclists, those who ride in the superhero getup are less likely to be thought of as people. More likely they are "serious guys" in "funny suits" or something of the sort. I know more than a few people who have seen me out riding, but never knew it was me because of my "costume." Dark sunglasses don't help (I wasn't wearing any on my Sunday ride however) but spandex and lycra aren't exactly what normal people consider normal attire. Even for specialized sporting events. (Look at skiiing. Even skiiing has moved from the spandex racer suits of the 70s and 80s to the snow pant look that any snow enthusiast might consider normal attire.)

I think I need to do more research. My next ride - I'm wearing normal clothes.

03-05-06_Leeds by the River.jpg

03-05-06_Leeds by the River.jpg
Originally uploaded by Jrome.

I went on a ride Sunday afternoon. The temp was around 40, but there was a slight wind that really made it feel chilly. Maybe I'm just older now, so old that I feel the effects of the weather. The knees felt sore following the 45 minutes I was out. I did one large moderate climb. The rest of the ride I just strolled along. Bikes are great.

Mine's on its way. Our neighbor has the same cat as the one on the right. Odd. But True.

I bought mine on Amazon. Aren't I special.

I hear they're great live. But isn't everyone?

It's the guys who are great dead who are truly impressive.

Here's a list:

1. George Washington
2. Steve Burns
3. Son House
4. Alexander Hamilton

that's about it.

W.A.S. (not was)

These guys are good. Goofy good. Like some sort of modern day Sabotage video, minus Cochese.

We Are Scientists. Learn to love them. Cause your Mom probably won't. Unless she's also my mom. My mom most likely wouldn't mind them. As long as the volume was low. Cause remember, loud music now when you're young can cause serious damage later on in life. Right Pete?

PETE! I'm talking to you. Jesus.