Rainier - The Gentleman Dog

John Bredesen

Retired IT Leader, Author, and bad pun appreciater

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  • February 20, 2020

    How Much Football Is Even In A Football Broadcast? | FiveThirtyEight

    The numbers are startling. An average NFL broadcast lasts well over three hours, yet it delivers a total of only 18 minutes of football action. How Much Football Is Even In A Football Broadcast? | FiveThirtyEight But somehow, viewers feel they are getting value from the broadcast. There are lessons in here in attention, the need […]

  • February 12, 2020

    Spring Training starts

    The true harbinger of spring is not crocuses or swallows returning to Capistrano, but the sound of the bat on the ball. Bill Veeck

  • February 4, 2020

    The Fake Image/Video Arms Race Continues

    It is not always easy to tell the difference between real and fake photographs. But the pressure to get it right has never been more urgent as the amount of false political content online continues to rise. On Tuesday, Jigsaw, a company that develops cutting-edge tech and is owned by Google’s parent, unveiled a free […]

  • January 19, 2020

    Neil Peart: Sadness and a profound Thank You

    Some of you know that I am a long-time fan of the band Rush. Found them in college (thanks Jim!) and bought all their albums in several formats. They have been a large part of the soundtrack to my entire adult life; various times, various songs, various reasons. The drummer, Neil Peart, recently passed away […]

  • January 15, 2020

    Phoenix Residence: My sister is now on the Board of Directors!

    My younger sister lives in a group home operated by Phoenix Residences. The staff do an awesome job in a challenging financial situation. My older sister** was recently elected to the Phoenix Board of Directors. I think her analytic and communication skills, along with her compassion, will be a great addition. Congrats Sis! ** Special […]

  • January 8, 2020

    The dark side of electronic waste recycling – The Verge

    Electronics can be hazardous when disposed of improperly, and the Basel Action Network, or BAN, investigates the underground world of the e-waste trade. The nonprofit group secretly embeds trackers in discarded devices, then hands them to recyclers to see where they end up, exposing bad practices in the process. After dropping bugged LCD monitors in […]

  • December 18, 2019

    Word Of The Day: tsundoku

    Tsundoku: acquiring reading materials but letting them pile up in one’s home without reading them

  • December 16, 2019

    The Christmas Model Train

    The Christmas tree train went up today. Like every year. I remember having a model train when I was a kid. The old 3-rail O scale. It had a diesel engine and some really cool cars. Ok, John, stop with the description and search the internet for it…bingo — found it on my first search […]

  • December 16, 2019

    Overlooked No More: Rose Mackenberg, Houdini’s Secret ‘Ghost-Buster’ – The New York Times

    To expose fake psychics, Houdini employed a small army of undercover agents, calling them “my own secret service.” Rose Mackenberg, a private eye, was his foremost operative. Overlooked No More: Rose Mackenberg, Houdini’s Secret ‘Ghost-Buster’ – The New York Times You may need to register (free) to read this. A cool story about one of […]

  • December 11, 2019

    Ghosting job applicants

    An acquaintance of mine, who wants to stay anonymous for obvious reasons, provided me the data for the above chart. The data came from their last job hunting experience. While a successful job search — after all, they got offers — there is something very disturbing that I would like to point out.

  • December 9, 2019

    Scrolling to The Deep Sea

    https://neal.fun/deep-sea/ The above picture is one of the many things to learn at Neal Agarwal’s “The Deep Sea’ website. Scroll down from the surface and you will see creatures down to the very deepest part of the ocean. More people have been to the Moon than the Hadal Zone (6000m). https://neal.fun/deap-sea/ Click on the ‘Neal.fun’ […]

  • December 6, 2019

    In Defense of the Bandwagon

    This time of year, American football gets a lot of attention in the US media. And in offices, bars, and coffee shops. I am a sports fan for reasons that are outside the scope of this post. I am also a fan of the bandwagon (pun intended). If a team isn’t winning, why should I […]

  • December 4, 2019

    Music Is Magic: Stairway To Heaven performed by Heart & Others @ Kennedy Center

    I grew up listening to rock music. Specifically, classic rock back before it had earned the ‘classic’ moniker by refusing to die. Stairway to Heaven was a favorite of mine and many others. It didn’t get a lot of airplay on the main radio stations as it was over 8 minutes long — much longer […]

  • December 1, 2019

    Where is the Tesla that SpaceX sent into space?

    SpaceX launched a car into space on February 6, 2018. Some dismissed as a stupid rich guy thing. I enjoyed it immensely. SpaceX is doing remarkable work, with NASA’s help, in getting the space effort going again. Putting the Tesla Roadster, and a space dummy, on a trajectory towards Mars caught the public’s attention. If […]

  • November 28, 2019

    Thankfulness

    Today is Thanksgiving, a time to be thankful.  I am very thankful for my health. Knock on wood, I have dodged severe health issues.  I am very thankful for my family. The household I grew up in had love and books, both of which, through zero effort on my part, set me on a good […]

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