patrick schneider

Recap of the past few days:

• Friday: judo, sleep.
• Saturday: breakfast, Chris & Lizzy came in town midday, beer and burgers at Boulevard, Robin’s place for some random football, The Tavern for more football and beer, Kristen calls with an extra ticket to the Longhorns game, I go for the first half, leave at halftime and miss the greatest comeback in UT history, Trudy’s, sleep.
• Sunday: Trianon coffee, Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast, Academy to buy golf balls, golf @ HRC w/Jeff and Jessica, Freebirds w/Jeff, Robin picked me up and we shopped for awhile… got some new socks. They’re gray.
• Monday: work, judo
• Today: work, lunch with Moser (!), home, workout, going to head to the local watering hole tonight… meeting Robin and Moser there.

PBS is a good channel. Watched Frontline tonight. Interesting things about “The Persuaders” (i.e. the new marketing and advertising gurus). You should check out acxiom and be very afraid. They have banks and banks of servers with information about you. I promise. Of course they will use it for good. Good like marketing to you effectively. Reduce the junk mail. Only get what you interested in.

::Dire Straits - Walk of Life::

If you are in need of inexpensive CD duplication (or inexpensive DVD duplication), my friend Jared has started a company just for you. From what I know, they are extremely fast, reliable, and quality-focused. Send me a note and I’ll hook you up with him. In the meantime, I’ll see if I can find direct contact information for them (website, etc.).

…today. I wound my way through downtown, through some residential areas, over on Lamar, up through some more residential areas, then up the Shoal Creek corridor. If you take a look at the Austin Bicycle Map, find Route 31, and you’ll have a good idea of my journey.

Today’s bicycle commuting stats:

• Miles: Approximately 14
• Time: 1 hr. 25 minutes
• Avg. Speed: need a computer
• Max Speed: need a computer

Hopefully I’ll be able to get better statistics when I invest in a computer. Anyway, I feel great and am ready to tackle the workday…

…testing out BloGTK 1.0 after changing my password.

…another test to see if I can edit previous posts.

Well, with the rising cost of gasoline and my very fuel inefficient FJ60, I’ve decided to commute via bicycle as much as I am able. The ride varies from 15 to 20 miles, depending on the route. The 15 mile commute is residential and extraordinarily hilly, while the 20 mile commute happens mainly on a highway shoulder with a gradual incline.

At this point, I’ve only done the complete journey once (to work, in the morning). I’ve been riding elsewhere (to the store, to Robin’s apartment, etc.), though, to help build confidence while cycling in traffic. Today I drove to work, but I plan on cycling to campus for judo, home afterward, then back up to work in the morning. I’ll leave the LC at the office (it’s covered!).

I’ll follow up tomorrow with news on how the bicycle commuting is going. Hopefully I can add a section of the site (perhaps under DIY) on how my commuting venture is going.

Oh, currently I’m riding an ‘02 or ‘03 Raleigh M20. My dad won it as some kind of prize at one of the birding conventions he attended. The bike is nice enough (for being free!), but it’s undersized and under-capable for my purposes… I’m currently researching better options and plan on purchasing something new within a few months. Hopefully I can leave notes on that as well.

Yesterday was N8’s last day in town. He’s off to New Mexico for some PhD work. We played “beer pong,” though my cup stayed empty. The thought of drinking anything after a ping pong ball lands in your cup is hardly appetizing. But… good luck to you N8. I’m going to visit at some point. No kidding. I’d better be able to stay with you for free.

Hurricane is a Carribean word. Yet another tidbit from English Words from Latin and Greek Elements.

Anne, who I haven’t talked to in quite some time, emailed me yesterday. Unfortunately, I’ll be missing her and some of the other girls that are coming to Austin for the weekend — and going toobing no less. C’est la vie. The Red House will probably be working its magic as usual.

Time to get back to work.

Interesting news: http://www.gmail-is-too-creepy.com/

Also: http://www.eff.org/effector/17/13.php#II

From a co-worker:

Google uses cookies - bits of identifying data that automatically allow a website to “recognize” you - to link every Google search you conduct on the same computer and browser. This could be used to help Google to refine your search results or their display to match your preferences more closely. Even though Google keeps this search information stored on its servers, without your name and other personalized information it has no way explicitly to link searches to your other activities and correspondence on the Internet.

The problem is that the Gmail service may change this. All of a sudden, Google can know exactly who you are every time you search the Internet using its service. And not only that, its databases know who is sending you email, to whom you respond, and even what you write about. With innumerable search results and up to 1 gigabyte of email messages per Gmail account at its disposal, Google could pull together an extremely detailed dossier on each of the millions of people who use its services every day. Such a vast assemblage of nuanced personal information could become a bigger privacy nightmare than government projects such as Total Information Awareness (TIA).

Get your memory-enhancing, antioxidant-rich decliciousness. $1.99/pint at the local grocers around here. Eat a pint at a time.

Talked to Matt Moser last night. He seems to be doing well, but, like Robin is apparently working an insane amount of hours. Provided some pressing work has to get done, I don’t mind staying late and finishing up… but on a consistent basis? Not for me. Anyway, not sure if he’ll be back in Austin anytime soon… everyone down here is rooting for him though. See Moser? I even started a blog.

I was in WholeFoods the other day to pick up some standard green tea when I stumbled upon white tea. There have been some interesting studies done on it recently, and some not so recently. (It might be better for you than green tea.)

I learned chocolate is an Aztec word that means is a combination of “bitter” and “water”. This and more can be found in the systematic vocabulary building book I’m using: English Words from Latin and Greek Elements.

Oh, also the book Moser recommended to me is fantastic. I highly recommend it: Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Good if you’re into things like understaning what makes you tick.

…what happened to First & Second POSTs?