Margaret and I were looking for something exciting to do this weekend, so we decided to try tubing down the Potomac. We have previously done tubing on the Delaware (when we both lived in Philadelphia) and had a bunch of fun. From what we remember, it was a leisurely ride down the Delaware, over some small rocks that bump your butt, and maybe some sunburn.

So I did some quick research on tubing outfits in the DC area and decided to go with Butts Tubes (BTI) in Harper’s Ferry, VA, about 45 minutes from our house (I would expect it to be about 90 minutes from downtown). There were a few other companies that offered tubing in that area, but Butts was the only one that offered whitewater tubing. Being (moderately) daring people, that is what we wanted to do.

Not being in any kind of hurry on Sunday, we got up (without an alarm) and went. Turned out that the time we left was an idea time, as we got to Harper’s Ferry at about 10:30. There was no line, so we went right up and paid our fee. Turns out that BTI has a deal that makes it cheaper before 11, so we were able to take advantage of that as well.

We then went and waited for a whitewater bus to take us out to the river. Didn’t take long, maybe 10 minutes (it wasn’t very crowded). We were lucky enough to already own REALLY nice PFD’s, so we brought ours. It was nice as ours have a bit more room in the arm area to move your arm around and also has a nice collection of pockets to stow things in. If you don’t have a PFD, BTI is more than happy to provide one. On our way to the drop-off point, the bus driver pointed out the pick-up point, about 2 minutes away from BTI’s HQ. After 10 minutes, we arrived at the drop-off point where we were met my a National Park Service Ranger (Hello Mister Park Ranger!). He was basically there to explain to us where we are allowed to go in, make sure we all had on PFD’s, and had no alcohol. After the 60 second spiel, we were off to the river.

The water was warm, as was the air so it was actually pretty nice to get into the water. This is when I started having problems. Turns out I have a big butt, and it wouldn’t fit into the tube all that well. Basically, I had to hold myself upright the entire time, or else lie down flat across the tube. When we were paying for our adventure, we splurged on the nicer tubes with handles. In retrospect, we may have been better off with the simple back tubes, as they seemed to provide more butt room. All in all not the most comfortable ride (but if you have a smaller butt, this may not be a problem), but we made do with it.

The ride is described as class I, II, and III rapids. I wasn’t that impressed with the rapids as first, as they just seemed to be little bumps. But there were some big ones, and I promise you that about 90 minutes in there are at least 2 class III rapids that were pretty awesome!

We had paid our dues to BTI (and through them, to the NPS), but I hadn’t yet paid my dues to the river gods. While trying to paddle over to help Margaret (who got knocked off her tube on one of the rapids), I cut my had on one of the rocks in the water. It hurt quite a bit, but not enough to take me off the water. So I ended up making a blood sacrifice to the river gods, and they seemed appeased. Margaret’s sacrifice was a little different than mine, as she sacrificed a hat to the river gods and they weren’t as happy with her sacrifice so they kept knocking her off her tube. But we both made it through.

Once we made it back to BTI, we realized how lucky we were to get there early. The line for Credit Cards was about 10 people deep, and the cash lines was at least 20. Mental note for next time: arrive early, preferable before 11. BTI has a nice deal, you pay your fee and you can ride all day. They even recommend taking one trip, coming back to BTI and having a little lunch, and then heading back to the water. We could have done that option, but we were tired and didn’t want to make any more sacrifices.

Even with the difficulties we encountered, I would probably do it again. Or maybe we’ll do whitewater rafting next time…

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So why is VOIP considered so hot? Mainly one reason: price. VOIP providers can vastly undersell traditional phone companies, especially when it comes to long distance and international calling. This is mainly because they are (currently) free from most regulation. They don’t have to pay international or long distance termination fees and taxes, so they don’t have that cost to pass on to you, the consumer. In addition, they are offering an inferior service (sorry, the truth hurts sometimes). Think about the last time you picked up you telephone handset and didn’t get a dial tone? Can you even remember such a time? (I can’t). OK, now think. When was the last time you broadband Internet connection went down? (yesterday…).

If you are a company that has people who travel internationally, you seriously need to think about supporting VOIP for your traveling workers. While I was traveling to Denmark on business in April, I met up with some people whose company used VOIP for all their internal phone calls (this is an extreme). When they got to their hotel rooms at night, they paid the hotel for access to the Internet to check their e-mail and do work and stuff. Since they also had the VOIP software on their laptops, they were able to make free phone calls rather than paying the standard telephone rate (I was paying a $1/minute on my cell phone…). Their phone traffic was converted into Internet traffic that streamed back to their company HQ in California. Once there, the equipment would hook it up to the regular phone network so they could talk to people in the office, or even their family at home. And it was all charged as a local call.

This technology also allows executives to have office extensions at home that look and act just like their phones in the office. You can call your CEO on his normal extension, and he could be at home, in the office, or even in a different country and it all looks the same to the person making the call!

It turns out that in the next couple of months my wife is probably going to be doing some international travel for business. The last time she had to do this, we used SMS on our cell phones to send messages back and forth to communicate and coordinate phone calls (nothing like wasting money calling the hotel when she is still out at dinner…). This time I plan on putting some VOIP software (Skype) on her laptop so we can talk for free, as long as she has Internet access. And if she can’t access the Internet, I can still use SkypeOut to make a VOIP call that is local to the country she is in at a reduced rate (we’re talking like $0.02 or $0.07 a minute). At this point, I would be remiss in my duties if I don’t point out this guide to Using your Bluetooth Headset with Windows XP which allows you to make your calls using the same Bluetooth headset you currently use with your cell phone.

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This is the interesting fact I learned at work today. Apparently the fart molecules are heavier than regular air molecules. This (apparently) also means than fart molecules travel slower than sound. I’m thinking of designing a tool that can measure the time difference from the sound of the fart until the smell reaches the tool and calculate the distance to the fart origin. This way we always answer the eternal question of “Who Farted?”

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To celebrate the anniversary of the first moon landing by Apollo 11, Google has applied its Maps technology to the surface of the moon. Make sure to zoom in all the way to get a special Easter egg!

(via Boing Boing)

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Margaret reminded me just tonight that this is book 6 of the 7 book Harry Potter series. Harry is set to graduate from Hogwarts towards the end of the next book! Does that mean we only have a single book left to enjoy the wonderful Harry Potter Universe (I’m going to coin the phrase Potterverse)? Or will we be hearing more from JK Rowling?

My initial reaction is that we will get more Harry Potter books when Ms. Rowling runs out of money. Then I thought about it some more, and she can’t possibly ever run out of money, between the money she has made on the books, the movies, and the the merchandise. But more realistically, I think she will declare Harry Potter done after book 7. Or at least done for a little bit.

I think after some time (maybe 2 years or so) without writing anything new in the Potterverse, I think she is going to start missing it. She will have spent enough time from writing, that she will forget how tiring it is to write them. And she will go back. But don’t expect her to pick up with Harry entering the workforce. And don’t expect her to start with a new batch of Hogwarts first years. My prediction is that we’ll get at least a single story from the Potterverse, that may only peripherally involve any of the existing characters. And it will almost definitely have no mention of Lord Voldermort. If she feels comfortable with the direction that that novel is taking, she may leverage it into a new Potterverse series.

All this money she has made really benefits us, her fans. Since she has more than enough money to live comfortable for the rest of her life, she dosen’t need to write any more books. She won’t have to churn our crap like may authors do (Piers Anthony) to keep paying the bills. She can take her time and write something that she is truly happy with. And in the end, all the Harry Potter fans will be better off.

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I heard Phil Liggett use the work “penultimate” to describe the second to last climb in todays race. With the possible exception of Dennis Miller, I’ve never heard a sports announcer (propery!) use a word with that many syllables.

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I picked up my copy of the new Harry Potter book at Walmart yesterday when they opened at 7:00 AM. I’m only 150 pages into it (I had things to do, so I unfortunately couldn’t dedicate the day to reading it…), but I had some initial thoughts about it.

One thing that I have really liked so far about the new book is how JK Rowling has brought the post 9/11 feel into her books. Her description of Diagon Alley and also the security measures recommended by the Ministry of Magic happen to reflect the real world. Even though the possibility of a Death Eater grabbing you on the street in the middle of the day is about as likely as Malfoy complimenting Harry, the “gang” couldn’t go out alone and had to make sure that Mr. Weasley went with them. I also loved the protection against Polyjuice Potion (Agree on questions to ask people to prove that they are who they look like. ie. What is your favorite jam?). That so captures the (mostly) insane security measures recommend to people following 9/11. Thankfully over time in our world, calmer heads prevailed and most of those nonsense security measures have gone away.

I also love the way that JK Rowling separated the world into two generations: Kids and Adults. And with her later books, she has been able to link the situations that the Kids face to actions and things that happened to their parents. It is not like we are living in an isolated world where these kids are having brand new adventures. Rather, it is a rich world where the actions of our fathers have a direct effect on our lives.

But all these changes has me wondering a little bit: Is this still a kids book? While the writing uses simple words and sentence structures that very much suit a kids reading level, the issues dealt with aren’t always kid friendly. But maybe reading about how Harry handles issues like Death is a good introduction for a kid to start thinking about it. I don’t know, but I would probably let my kids read it (my parents let me read anything I could get my hands on when I was a kid and I didn’t turn out that bad).

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Originally from Boing Boing, but a Guardian article on doing Dumbledore’s Death Scene in the Style of Famous Authors. I’m including one below, but the full list can be found in the article.

Jane Austen:

It is a truth universally acknowledged that an old wizard in possession of a big secret must be in danger of his life.

However little known the existence of this secret, or the views of a such a wizard may be on his first entering Hogwarts, it takes little time for minds of surrounding magicians to consider it the rightful property of themselves or one of their number.

“My dear Dumbledore,” said Hermione one day, “have you heard that there is a dark cloud brooding over the castle?”

Dumbledore mumbled that he had not.

“But there is,” returned she. “Ron Weasley has just been outside and told me all about it.”

Dumbledore made no answer.

“Do you not want to know what is causing it?” she cried impatiently, turning to face the old wizard.

Again, Dumbledore was provokingly silent.

“You must know that Ron says that it is caused by Voldemort. He came down on Monday on a broomstick to view the place and was so much delighted with Harry’s absence that he immediately called in… Dumbledore, do you not wish to hear the remainder?

Dumbledore slumped forward over the pianoforte at which he had been sitting. A discreet trickle of blood began to darken the keys.

Dumbledore? Dumbledore, my dear! You have delighted us at the piano long enough. Really. Now do tell me what you think, Dumbledore.

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With ubiquity of cell phones today, many people need to take a lesson in proper cell phone etiquette. This problem is keenly noticeable when you mix bathrooms with Cell Phones. So I’ve provided a handy little numbered list of Rules of Etiquette for Cell Phone Use in a Public Bathroom:

1. If you are on the phone, don’t enter the bathroom. Finish up your call and then head in. If it is urgent (the bathroom visit, not the call), then tell the person you will have to call them back and the proceed to take care of business. Nobody wants you hanging around in the bathroom talking on your phone. Creep.
2. Phones and urinals don’t mix. Period.
3. If you are riding the porcelain throne and the phone rings, don’t answer it! I promise you that the caller really doesn’t want to hear those noises while they are talking to you. And nobody in the bathroom with you wants to hear your call either. We came in there to take care of business and be left alone. If it is important, they will leave a message or call back later. And I promise you, if you are talking on the phone and I am in the other stall, the person you are talking to WILL hear my noises…
4. MAJOR PET PEEVE ALERT: Don’t just let your phone ring if you aren’t going to answer it. This goes for everywhere, not just in the bathroom. Every cell phone made has some way of turning off the ringer while receiving an incoming call. Figure out how yours works and USE IT. Do you have any idea how annoying it is to hear Spanish Flea over and over again when I know that you aren’t going to answer the call? Just silence it and save us all some trouble.
5. If you are going to surf the web or play games on your phone while on the john, please turn the noises off. We don’t want to hear you responding to e-mails on your blackberry while making a deposit…

Really people, this is all pretty much common sense!

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You remember Statler and Waldorf. They were the two Muppets who sat in the balcony and ripped on the Muppet Show. They’re back and now have their own show available on streaming media sponsored by Movies.com where they talk about (wait for it) movies.

Now I know that this is just another outlet for the movie industry to push their movies. And I also know that their reporting has to be a bit biased (if you are sponsored by the movie industry, are you really going to give a movie a bad review?). In spite of both of these concerns, I watched their first episode and it was great! While they did give out a bad review in the first episode, it wasn’t as harsh as it could have been. But the episode was entertaining and informative, which is always good in a movie review show.

Now why can’t I download the movie instead of streaming it? (but I’ll save that rant for another day…)

Statler & Waldorf: From the Balcony

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