Jack Black

Jack White

I have decided that Jack Black and Jack White should get together and form a musical duo. Then they should record a cover of "Ebony and Ivory". Oh man, that would so rock.

You know, just when I thought I had the US government figured out, they throw me for a loop. For example, I thought they were a bunch of SUV-driving, big-business, anti-environment lunatics. But now I discover that really, they're all about preserving our natural world. Why, just yesterday congress voted in favour of legislation to extend daylight savings time in the US by two months every year. Should this bill become law, savings time would start a month earlier and end a month later.

We all know that daylight savings time has always been hugely popular and the American public has long clamoured for more of it. But congress had a specific reason for this bill. You see, it saves energy. It's good for the environment. If we have more daylight, we won't need to use as much electricity.

Energy crisis averted. That's a relief. Sure, it might cost huge amounts of money in upgrades to computer hardware and software, not to mention headaches in trying to coordinate US and Canadian business and travel during March and October. But nothing will stop congress from pursuing its bold new environmentalist agenda. I assume this agenda reads something like "start at the bottom with the most idiotic, least productive change, and work up to policy that actually matters."

Okay, I need to break the heavy sarcasm long enough to say: what the hell? In what alternate universe does this proposal make any sense? Or, as an expert on CBC said this morning, "If they really wanted to save energy, they'd go after the SUVs."

I keep waiting for news from the US that makes me finally accept that the government there has completely and irretrievably lost its mind. I've held out for a long time, but this might be the breaking point. I take solace in the fact that it's a minor change in world affairs, but that doesn't stop it from being monumentally stupid.

Incidentally, this story doesn't seem to be getting a lot of press so far. If you're in the US, it's your duty to whine about it and tell people around you while rolling your eyes.

I just received a very strange phone call. A person called from a firm that does work overlapping my research area. He discovered me because a google search on a phrase that's relevant to both of us brought up one of my academic web pages (call it Page X) as the first hit.

So far so good, I thought. This guy wants to talk shop, or ask me to do some consulting, or wants a printed copy of my thesis, etc.

No sir. He wanted to pay me to put a link from Page X to his company website. He wanted me to be a GoogleWhore. Presumably he's unable to buy his way directly to the top of the google rankings, and would therefore like to sneak in through the side door by having me link to him.

I politely excused myself by saying that it would be against the university's rules for me to put advertising on my web page. I don't actually know whether that's true, or whether a link to his company would qualify as advertising per se, but I suspect it would not be viewed favourably by my employer. More importantly, it would look really bad to the web visitors I hope to attract, namely people interested in my research. And most importantly, I would feel filthy. Yuck!

Upon reflection, though, I might have turned this call to some advantage rather than immediately dismissing it. Just minutes before, I had been reading about a new provincial funding initiative for research. They will fund one third of research done in collaboration with the private sector. This is a good way to pursue projects that have potential commercial impact. So I should have tried that strategy on him: "Rather than give me a hundred dollars to mention your webpage, why don't you give me a hundred thousand dollars and I'll do research with you? Then I'll be delighted to mention my corporate partner on the project's web page." This didn't occur to me until it was too late. It's for the best -- I don't think I'd want to be allied with a company that had made this kind of offer to me in the first place.

Once again, my father took on the role of thingo's temporal conscience, telling me that the front page had faded completely away. Oh, puh-leeze. The Stagnometer is designed to fade the text to white at thirty days. We're only at twenty-eight by my reckoning. Use this rule of thumb: if it can be read, then we're not dead. If you want to see the difference, you can always set the Stagnometer manually: compare Thingo at twenty-eight days with Thingo at thirty days.

Still, my sacred oath as a member of the blog-o-sphere compels me to offer an update once in a while. As an aside, note that when bloggers say "things have come up and I'll have to cut back on posting", they always end up posting more. So let me try that. Things have come up and I'll have to cut back on posting. No, actually, having a newborn around the house means that there's more to do at home day-to-day, and Nath doesn't have the time to do it all. So I'm simply finding myself with less free time than usual. And, somewhat shamefully, what free time I do have has been spent watching television shows. First it was the first season of Babylon 5, then the third season of Northen Exposure. Hopefully the fourth season won't be out for a while.

Vorlon is nearing seven weeks of age. He's cute, he's strong, he's smiley, and he's very hungry. Also he doesn't sleep very much. Certainly not compared to Zebula, who by this point was sleeping at least through the night, if not beyond. There isn't much else to report. I mean, at this age they don't do very much. Check back in a few months.

Zebula, on the other hand, does lots of things. One of the more recent milestones is that she appears to know left from right. I don't know if this is normal at her age, but I find it impressive. I mean, many adults can't make the distinction reliably.

We've got some busy times ahead starting at the end of the month. First I'll be at a conference in Banff for a week. When I return we'll be heading to Eric's wedding on the beach at Lake Huron. Then, a few days later, we're off for a family vacation in New Brunswick. When we return, I'll have a few short days before the start of the fall term and teaching.

The last update that's required is to this website. Thingo is badly in need of some reorganization, and I'd still love to add a search tool. Maybe I can take a fresh look later this month.