Nostalgia

I remember when this was totally cutting edge and like the coolest:

Oddly, this was cool, too:


Then again, this was really cool, too (you know the guy from Pulp Fiction?):

Happy Holidays

It says, "Wishing you happiness and time to 'paws' and celebrate life this holiday season."

Analisa & Crocket Summited Mt. Tallac... who'd a thunk it?

# # #

This just in: photos from the real photographer in the family:





MORE HERE:

http://www.flickr.com/drmarkidunn/







# # #
Newsflash.

Pictures of our own hike/climb, here (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=91701&id=531650997). Look at the freakin' terrain!!

# # #
A few hours ago Analisa and I just climbed a mountain.

I had NO idea what I was getting into. Analisa said we were going "hiking."

Just look at that monster!

Seriously, though, I'm glad I had the experience and look forward to many more... I'm hooked!

In another life, I have ice-climbed tethered to a crevasse-crossing team, camped on glaciers, canoed/portaged hundreds of miles of the border waters in the Canadian Quetico wilderness area, survived being trapped by mudslides from a tropical storm in NC's Pisgah forest, hiked Washington, Oregon, climbed Mt. Baker, and so on, etc.



However . . . my lifestyle has become, let's just say, a *bit* more sedentary as of late. I run a web technology gig (cdLLC) that involves lots of management via phone & email.

Translation: Much time is spent with my rear-end planted to a chair (when I'm not working from the world-famous internet treadmill workstation). I digress...

This was a BRUTAL hike/climb.

It's only five miles up, but at times, the trails seemed as if they were actually "booby-trapped" to roll an ankle or send a hiker plummeting off a rock face!


Loose rocks everywhere. Some small, creating the effect of hiking a trail paved with marbles, and others large and jagged.

And every rock is a surprise :). "Are you a loose rock, a wobbly rock, perhaps a foot entrapment rock?"

Snowbanks turning the trail into mud at the narrowest point where there is sheer mountain wall drop-off to the other side. "Keep your hands on the snow and lean AWAY from the death drop."

Here is a website that tells the story of our journey (exact same trail). Read it if you want, but definitely check out the photos. They are amazing panoramas of the view, and great shots of the unique rock formations

http://www.tahoebackcountry.net/hiking/desolation/tallac.htm (credit: all photos on this post are from the aforementioned site)

It was not until we returned that I discovered this hike is rated a 10/10- the black diamond of climbs.

Now I feel victorious and am psyched up again.

Kilimanjaro, here I come!

Oh hey- I almost forgot. ATT HSPDA net access is available at the summit and many other trail segments, so you can video chat to prove you really made it. Or bring along the laptop, set up camp, and park your mobile office there for a few days.

Good times

Funny is Everywhere, Installment II

The fine print is not completely legible at this resolution, so I have transcribed it for you.

The copy reads,"Please keep away. Thor, mighty god of thunder and lightning, locked securely inside (for past several thousand years). Kindly do not open as your immediate death, followed by 40-day-rain with flooding will result.

I think it's weird, you know, that it's just right there at a mall in Pacific Grove.

The Libertarian Farmer and the Federal DEA Agent

A DEA officer stops at a ranch in Montana , and talks with an old
rancher. He tells the rancher, 'I need to inspect your ranch for
illegally grown drugs.

The old rancher says, 'Okay, but do not go in that field over there'
as he points out the location.

The DEA officer verbally explodes saying, 'Mister, I have the
authority of the Federal Government with me.' Reaching into his rear
pants pocket, he removes his badge and proudly displays it to the
farmer. 'See this badge? This badge means I am allowed to go wherever
I wish...on any land. No questions asked or answers given. Have I made
myself clear? Do you understand?'

The old rancher nods politely, apologizes, and goes about his chores.

A short time later, the old rancher hears loud screams and sees the
DEA officer running for his life chased close behind by the rancher's
prize bull. With every step the bull is gaining ground on the officer,
and it seems likely that he'll get "horned" before he reaches safety.
The officer is clearly terrified.

The old rancher throws down his tools, runs to the fence and yells at
the top of his lungs.....

'Your badge! Show him your badge!

The weird sh... err, "stuff," that I think about

This is very real, quantum physics and string theory. A change in one of a separated sub-atomic particle pair, up to a mile apart, triggers a change in the other. There is a connection in a realm we do are yet to perceive. Subatomic particles also travel backwards in time.

The content below is the best analogy to help in the understanding of higher dimensions/different universes/things beyond our perception, the foundation for Stephen Hawking's string theory. Yet it was written in 1884, 6 years before the invention of the bra, around the time of the plank road boom, I believe.

FLATLAND SUMMARY:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatland

The copyright has expired and it's free for all to redistribute:

FULL TEXT:
http://xahlee.org/flatland/index.html

AUDIO VERSION:
http://librivox.org/flatland-a-romance-of-many-dimensions-by-edwin-abbott-abbott

In closing, a quote by Albert Einstein:

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed."

I might need to go back to school to satisfy my lust for wonder. And this time I could party AND study!

Worth a listen

from:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvFz8ghX4Gs

"Interfaith... East-West... Peace," or, "Picking up the slack for the US Government."

Fed up with U.S. partisan politics? NGOs (non-government organizations) can make a difference. Here is an example:

From: http://www.jordantimes.com/index.php?news=15251

King briefs leading CEOs on reforms

Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania on
Sunday pose for a photo with members of the Society of International Business
Fellows (Photo by Yousef Allan)

AMMAN (JT) - Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania
received on Sunday a delegation from the Society of International Business
Fellows currently on a visit to the Kingdom.

At the meeting, King Abdullah briefed the delegates on the performance and
competitiveness of the Jordanian economy, highlighting the economic reforms the
country has embarked on over the past few years as well as its efforts to
attract projects and investments.

The Monarch also noted the steps Jordan has taken to mitigate the effects
of the global economic crisis on the strength of its economy.

Created in the US city of Atlanta in 1981, the society is a not-for-profit
entity that comprises about 450 directors and CEOs from around the world.

On politics, the King underlined the need to exert all possible efforts to
bring about peace in the region based on the two-state solution, which, he said,
is the sole solution to end the conflict in the region.

The two-state solution, the King said, is the key to addressing the
problems the Middle East faces.

Referring to the Common Word Initiative, which has become the leading
project for interfaith dialogue between Christians and Muslims, King Abdullah
emphasised the need to build bridges of communication and understanding between
followers of different religions.

In response to a question, Queen Rania said Jordan will continue to invest
in education and provide the best possible environment for educating Jordanians
and enhancing teachers’ effectiveness.

In this regard, the Queen referred to the Madrasati initiative she launched
in April 2008 which aims to make education a social responsibility and improve
the conditions of public schools across the Kingdom.

Queen Rania also stressed the importance of enhancing concord and
humanitarian cooperation in addressing misunderstandings and misconceptions.

23 March 2009

newest most awesomest t-shirt

Sometimes...



It's the simple things that get me through the day.

With that, I present you with the official new favorite shirt of Crock-Town:

Steelcase walkstation vs. Home-cooked Internet Treadmill Workstation & Home Gym

Anyone catch Steelcase's Walkstation featured on Regis and Kelly last week?

Say it with me now:

"Crockett Dunn sees the future."

(re: the Crock-station Internet Treadmill & Wired Home Gym, conceived in 2003, featured here http://internet-treadmill-workstation.blogspot.com/2008/12/welcome-statement-of-purpose.html).

Steelcase's first generation exer-station was also featured in TIME a while back, "DANGER: Walking While Working," found here: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1862448,00.html.

My editorial didn't make the cut, but seriously- being married to Analisa, a medical professional, I am keenly aware of our health as a society and the costs associated therewith. Not only that, being a knowledge worker in the midst of the post-information-revolution/gamer/obesity epidemic in America, the message is as seriously as a heart attack (yes, pun shamelessly intended).

Salut!

US Airways Flight 1549 Air Traffic Control Audio, Video

I just listened to this and was very moved.

I had read that there had never been a zero-casualty water ditch. I have also read that water ditching is not even included as a scenario in the flight training simulators anymore.

This is powerful, when you hear the air traffic controller say, "they're gone," at the end, when in fact, as we all know, they they were not at all "gone," but very much "there."

---

If you are interested in this topic, here is an article and audio about Air Traffic Controller awards, including audio and commentary about amazing events, including a traffic controller talking down a daughter after the pilot (her father), and the mother, both suffered incapacitating medical emergencies.

Story & Audio from NPR, here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4654062

Annoyed with Your Push-to-Talk Button? Re-map it to MS Voice Command.

Not exactly breaking news, but during this flight (Hello again Denver!), I just got around to re-mapping my ATT Tilt's bothersome PTT (Push to Talk) button. You'll need to backup your registry and be enough of a tinkerer to know how to edit the registry in Windows Mobile.

PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK. INCORRECTLY EDITING THE REGISTRY CAN KILL YOUR PHONE.

Background:

There is a button on the top left of the HTC Kaiser a.k.a. 8125. With the, "ATT Tilt," branded version of this phone, this button, when depressed, asks something along the lines of, "Are you sure you wish to activate Push-to-Talk? Additional service charges will be incurred."

I'm not a walkie-talkie, "where you at?" kind of guy, so I do not wish to activate and purchase PTT Service. Heck, even if I wanted that capability, I could probably find some freeware IM/Voip app to work just fine, rather than purchase a new "service."

This reminds me- post a comment if you would like me to create a blog post about the Internet Connection Sharing app already built into Windows Mobile. There is no need to purchase a separate "computer" data plan and PC card. With a standard USB cable and Windows Mobile, the functionality is already available.

Here is the good stuff:

REMAP PTT, FROM,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/archive/index.php/t-335995.html

Worked for me. You have to read the whole post.
For my own purposes as well, here are the consolidated steps to take. Until someone improves on this, I keep all this stuff in a directory so I can reconfigure my device as necessary. Here goes...

I think the trick is the PTT settings take precedence when the device boots up so delete the PTT registry settings under HKLM/Services/PTT.

Delete the whole sub tree, then
From HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Shell\Keys
Add a new key called "40C6"Add a string under the key called "Name" with the value "Button 6"

Add a new key called "40C7"Add a string under this key called "Name" with the value "Button 6 (hold)"
(Note, do not enter the quotes, thare are to delimit what belongs in the registry entry)

Go to the Buttons settings and assign a program to the new entries. [Crockett note: I use MS Voice Command].

Do a soft reset [Crockett note: use a paperclip or pen to hit the reset button in the tiny pinhole on the bottom of the phone, or take the battery out] which will remove the PTT settings from the buffer and enable your key changes.

Thanks for all the help.

I'd say the only caveat is if you some day want to use the PTT features, it would be a good idea to take an inventory of what is under the PTT node in the registry.

Crockett Dunn [via Mobile Device]

Gitmo

Jump to ~5:36 in the video below. This is brilliant, using comedy to dissect the concept of terrorism, and how to win without declaring an indefinite war on it.



Related story: http://crockettdunn.blogspot.com/2007/06/end-of-era.html

A Little ZEN to go with you iTunes GENIUS

This morning on the treadmill, I was noting that I listen (pretty much every day) to Ah-Ha's, "Take on Me," in its entirety, simply because I am not warmed up enough mentally or physically to change or filter the music. [I suppose one day I will be shuffling toothless around with a walker singing the lyrics to this song with 100% accuracy.]

Anyway, iTunes has built in 3 varieties of "Shuffle By," but I need more.

Thus, I coined, "Zen Playlists"... every time you listen to a song within one of these playlists (filtered by play date), that song no longer meets the playlist criteria, and is removed from the list:

You can go back as far as you like in the past, depending on how your files are tagged, and you can go up to the prior year.

--CD

If you dig this kind of thing, see http://internet-treadmill-workstation.blogspot.com/.

most awesomest picture

Not much time to post this month.... when it rains it pours (in a good way).


This is the best picture ever.

Flea from the Chili Peppers, totally in the zone. I like to imagine he's doing the solo from Stone Cold on Mother's Milk.


Compliments of the company formerly known as Groovetography, (http://michaelweintrob.com/portfolio/)

Michael, a high school colleague of mine, has a press pass and does this for a living- once sold a Rolling Stone cover I think, but there were other plans for the week of 9/11/2001.

Michael's success has led him to put his name on the company, http://michaelweintrob.com/

3 items:

1. Michale Weintrob takes incredible, one-of-a-kind photos
2. Michael Weintrob has a wicked-cool job: livin' the dream
   
3. I desperately want Michael, rather, Michael Weintrob Photography, (http://www.michaelweintrob.com), to sell me the high-res version of the above print.

Collectors- check out this "one of a kind" list: http://michaelweintrob.com/pdf/mweintrob_stock_list.pdf

BACK IN STOCK!!! Carnivorous Plant Set (top candidate for most awesomest 2009 list)

BACK IN STOCK!!! Carnivorous Plant Set, from ThinkGeek.com:

Little Desktop Of Horrors...

Here at ThinkGeek, we truly understand you have needs. Especially at work where minutes often last hours and hours become days. You need to be entertained, you don't want your neurons to prematurely atrophy. You crave stimulation. You crave a Carnivorous desktop plant set. Perfect for the casual office worker who delights in watching insects slowly meet their makers as they are painfully digested by an engaging variety of meat-sucking flora. Nothing quite like it.

So what's our recommendation? Grab a set and grow your own collection of feared and famous carnivorous plants. This deluxe set has seeds from over ten varieties of carnivorous plants! Watch these fascinating plants grow into bug-eating monsters and delight in creating your own authentic bog with the included peat planting mix, blue Swamp Rocks, three Bog Buddies and full color decals. This rare and unusual collection of carnivorous plants will flourish for years in this specially designed terrarium with proper care...

Each Complete Kit Includes:

• Growing Dome
  
• Planting Mixture
  
• Carnivorous Seed Pack:
  
  
  
  • Venus Fly Trap
    
  • Yellow Trumpet
    
  • Hooded Pitcher Plant
    
  • Purple Pitcher Plant
    
  • Pale Trumpet
    
  • Temperate Sundew Plants
    
  • Cobra Lillies
    
  
  
• 3 Photo Decals
  
• 3 Bog Buddies
  
• Swamp Rocks
  
• Instructions and Information Manual
  

NOTE: Unlike Insta-Pets(TM)like Sea Monkeys or Triops, your carnivorous plant set will take several weeks to get started. But have patience friends, the blood-curdlingplant-on-insect action will be worth the wait! We guarantee it or pay us double!

FINALLY! Facebook profiles for my plants!!!

Let's face it, everyone needs one of these.

Look, I'm not complaining or anything, but the mainstream technology market is always 5+ years late delivering the stuff I really want. I always have to shop in Japan for the good stuff.

Examples:

1. I yearned for a computer-sync-able pda/camera/mp3/GPS/phone in 1999. Windows mobile is still in its infancy, but I am slightly appeased.
   
2. Currently the Internet Treadmill Workstation and Ultimate Wired Home Gym are only offered by me. The internet gym seems obvious.... I've been building it since 2006, but no merchant has yet come up with a high-quality, single packaged unit.
3. And where are our standardized bluetooth connections to our in-car computer terminals??? No, not just for phone functionality- I mean the full terminal: address book, calendar, GPS, MP3. The whole 9 yards.
4. For the above to work, speech recognition has to be ubiquitously integrated with all mobile or in-vehicle computers. They technology is available, it just requires a lot of processing power is all. But Ray Kurzweil's been doing this type of thing since I was 2 years old!
5. And my Bill Gate's style smart-home, where I have an RF ID tag, and each room adjusts to one of my preset, personalized settings as I enter (lights on, perhaps TiVo begins playing the Daily Show... or based on time, lights dim over a period of 10 minutes, white noise machine activates, and bedtime sequence is initiated... and the dining room lights and soft Jazz music upon entry at 6 PM. Why can't this stuff be mass marketed? If it's a function of demand, c'mon everyone, demand it :)!!!
   

Oh how I digress. The point of this blog post is below.

An exception has occurred to my being ahead of the technology adoption curve. ThinkGeek.com
is ahead of the curve with me, delivering cool technology relatively shortly after I desire it. Heck, I love them so much, I'll give 'em a logo on this post:


SO, I am pleased to announce, that at long last, all of our household plants can finally have their own Facebook.com profiles, with automatic status updates via Twitter! FINALLY!

Check it out here, @ ThinkGeek.com..

I think I'm going to buy a $20 RC Helicopter from there, too, or a chain mail shirt to protect me from sharks and in battle. Can't decide. On the one hand, I already have one chain mail glove.
On the other hand, I don't have chain mail headgear or pants, and shark attacks are unlikely.

What to do, what to do.

I think I'll go with the vacuum-powered, wall-driving RC car.

Elite Contractor Cooperative/Alliance... we're growing

Crockett Dunn, LLC, has spent years seeking out the very best people in every field related to web-based information technology:

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Survival for the high-powered, IT Exec: The ultimate wired office/gym!

The ultimate wired office/gym! Walkstation! Internet Treadmill Workstation! Sounds silly? Yes, as first? Like being alive? The this is no joke. I've been working with Physical Therapist on this for 4 years now:(see http://crockettdunn.blogspot.com/2008/02/holy-grail-found-introducing-best.html ) Survival for the high-powered, IT Exec: The ultimate wired office/gym! Hello there. My name is Crockett. I own an IT business. I love life... I mean, I love being alive, and I intend to postpone the cessation of my being alive for as long as possible. This product list is for the serious information technology worker concerned for her or his physical health. Let's face it, our generation has seen enough sedentary IT worker and computer addicts die of cardiovascular related illnesses anywhere from their late 20s to early 40s. This is serious. So perhaps it's more appropriate to say that this product listing is intended to help the IT/Knowledge worker stay healthy, and SURVIVE in an industry that constantly begs us to "please be seated." The Ultimate Internet Treadmill Workstation, Totally Wired Home Gym, and generally surviving and staying healthy as an information technology professional have all generated enough interest to merit going beyond my "generic, personal," blogs and offering this as an Amazon List, and an exclusive blog, here, http://internet-treadmill-workstation.blogspot.com/. With that, to those seeking physical and fiscal health in this post-information-revolution era in which we live, I say, "WELCOME!" (from the treadmill, in fact). Come in, explore, and most of all SHARE your methods and experiences with countering what has historically been a purely sedentary vocation. [user community at http://internet-treadmill-workstation.blogspot.com.

healing power of laughter

Dave Chapelle is a solid dude. Click on the video below, or if you don't see an embedded video, use this link.

I saw Chapelle on "inside the actors studio," and was struck by the fact that he doesn't water-down his material very much to please his audience.... he is true to his own feelings, you know?

It has been observed that some of the most brilliant, intuitive [non-degree-holding] sociologist and philosopher comedians of this century have had to compromise themselves and their acts, and become more actor/performers than expressing their true selves. Sometimes they end up quite bitter. Extreme cases: Bill Hicks, Andy Kaufman. Makes you wonder if they died young of bitterness-induced cancer.

Anyway, I was pleased to see this (click to begin playing video):
. . . . . . . .





[if you don't see a video embedded above, click here for video].


too soon?