spacer gif
blog archives:

friends:
Amy
Erin
Kirstin
Leanne
Moneypenny
Narf
Ruppert
Ryan
Shannon
Stearns

recent photos:
Day 15: July 6
Ahrndt Xmas, December 23, 2006
01-27-06
UP Trip 2005
July 2005
all photos

Forums DOT lukpac.org
The Leper Network

political links:
This Modern World
Atrios
Daily Kos
Media Matters
Crooks and Liars

external links
open new windows
e-mail
Atom feed
Archives links

Powered By Blogger

12.29.2004
I don't want any Rolex watches, replica or otherwise. I don't want Viagra, Cialis or Regalis either. Nor am I interested in cheating housewives.

Thank you.

[] post a comment

12.21.2004
It's a bit sick, really.

Ten years ago we were about to get our first computer. A Macintosh Performa 630 - 8 MB of RAM, 33 MHz 68LC040 processor (roughly on par with a 486), and a 250 MB hard drive. Not to mention a 14" monitor and HP 550C printer - it was color! No, the PowerPC machines were a tad expensive and not really necessary, right? Oh, and I almost forgot the 2400 bps modem. All of which seemed amazingly advanced compared to the Apple II machines I'd used growing up. Or even the SE's and LCII's from school.

Flash forward 10 years. In the house we have 3 Macs (one of which sees regular use), 3 desktop PCs (2 for servers, all used semi-regularly), 2 PC laptops (used every day), DSL, cable modem, 100Base-T wired Ethernet and 802.11g wireless. Oh, and 2 photo quality printers. I've got two 80 GB hard drives sitting in boxes. What was unthinkable 10 years ago (CD burning) isn't even an "extra" option today. Oh, and I can burn DVDs today, a format which didn't even exist on paper 10 years ago.

How quaint will this all seem 10 years from now?

[] post a comment

12.17.2004
I'm finally done with my class for the semester. No, it wasn't a huge drain, but it's one less thing to worry about.

Go listen to "Edge of Seventeen" and tell me Stevie Nicks doesn't sound like Cartman.

It's interesting how blogging seems to go in spurts. Lately I either haven't had much to say, or haven't been in front of a computer when I did.

Now some churches are telling people they should only patronize stores that wish "Merry Christmas" and not "Happy holidays":
Although plenty of preachers give sermons urging congregants to "put Christ back in Christmas," Wooden decided to speak to a wider audience - and in characteristically brazen fashion.

"Attention Christians!" read the full-page ad that ran Nov. 24 in the News & Observer.

"Have you noticed you don't hear Silent Night? Where has Noel Gone? ... Had It Not Been for Christ ... There Would Be No Christmas!"

The ad went on to urge "all Christians to spend their hard-earned dollars with merchants who include the greeting 'Merry Christmas' in their holiday advertising promotions this Christmas."
When I first read this I thought it was stupid, but nothing huge. But after giving it some thought I came to the conclusion that this attitude is really sickening. Never mind the fact that the holiday actually has Pagan, not Biblical origins, and that Jesus most likely wasn't born on 12/25 (or even during that time of year at all). Never mind that "putting Christ back into Christmas" should be about celebrating His birth (if you're into that sort of thing), not what stores put in their ads. No, the big issue here is the notion that Christians should only give their business to stores that are openly Christian. You're a Jew? Sorry, if you don't say Merry Christmas, we don't want to shop at your store.

That anybody should be expected to celebrate Christmas is a bit sickening to me. I'd like to know what these same people would do if Jews insisted on making sure everyone acknowledged Yom Kippur or Muslims did the same for Ramadan. Ryan put a nice spin on things:
I hate it when Christians in this country act like some persecuted minority. It's as though white people were complaining that black people don't call them "massuh" anymore, therefore not showing sufficient respect. "Dammit, we're dominant, and if you don't explicitly acknowledge that at every real or imagined opportunity, you're oppressing us!"
Happy holidays!

[] post a comment

12.06.2004
Luke's motivational message of the day..."don't give up".

Tonight at bowling my first game was going like crap. I closed two frames and threw 9's on every frame except the 10th, where I threw a 6. That gave me a 100, which wasn't even up to my average (it's at about 114 now).

About ready to pack it up and go home, I started the second game by throwing extra hard - out of anger I suppose. And - I got a strike. And another one. Didn't strike in the third, but I picked up the spare. Hit another strike in the fourth. Of course, in the fifth frame - the only frame that matters, the beer frame - I fouled. The only time I've *ever* done that, league or otherwise. Salvaged a 9 out of my second throw, threw a few more strikes and spares, and ended up with a 211. The highest I've ever thrown (I think my previous high was a 180).

The third game started slow, but even that turned out good - 161. And I beat Brett and Josh both in games 2 and 3. Now I just need to reproduce all of this.

Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?

[] post a comment

The Simpsons Archive

Vital stats:
DOB 2/16/79. I'm a web developer at the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. I like lots of old music, including The Who. I spend a lot of time working with computers. And my favorite TV show (when I actually decide to watch TV, that is), obviously, is The Simpsons.

Education:
In May 2002 I officially graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a BS in computer science. In 1997 (man that seems like a long time ago) I graduated from Washington Park HS. Yes, I know, that site isn't very impressive, and no, I haven't touched it for several years.

WFS Logo

WFS:
One of the best experiences I have ever had was on a trip called Western Field Studies. This is a 33 day adventure throughout the western United States. Students travel on a school bus to national parks, monuments, forests, and places of historical interest and camp out (in tents or under the stars). I was a part of trip 25, which took place in the summer of 1996. A first for WFS was we took along a laptop computer and kept up a web site. That link will take you to the 1996 site, where there is a link to the current site.