World Cup


15
Jul 14

Tuesday’s thousand words

We’re in something of a mild stretch of weather. Not too far north temperatures are 10 to 20 degrees below average. At least, for a brief time, our sky looked like this:

sky

The high today was 88 and it was mostly cloudy. I rode a few miles, just down through the back of the neighborhood and then out and up over the top of it. Of course it was raining by then. The plan was to use my legs a little bit before running a 5K through the neighborhood. After an Olympic-distance triathlon last weekend I get to simultaneously rest and taper for a sprint triathlon this coming weekend.

A real triathlete would probably find no problem with that schedule. I’m trying to figure out how to not work (rest is an important part of training) and train (because there’s clearly a lot for me to do) especially since I need improvement (a lot of improvement).

Things to read … because reading always brings improvement.

Two World Cup stories, to wrap up the mega-event. North Korea Is Telling Its Citizens That Their Team Is In The World Cup Final:

The report says North Korea’s brave side crushed Japan 7-0, USA 4-0 and China 2-0 in the group stages, before going on to reach the final… against Portugal.

I think the scores against that fictional group indicate a lot about North Korea’s geopolitics, too.

I wonder how many times North Korea has won the World Cup in their propaganda.

Dutch beat Brazil to claim bronze:

There was no lap of honour for the hosts as they trudged off down the tunnel with their heads bowed in shame.

Fragile in the back, runs that couldn’t produce from the middle and when they lost Neymar they lost their entire offense. They simply weren’t a good side, but they deserved better than they got from their crowd.

Here are two versions of a big local story: GE Aviation selects Auburn for $50 million 3D printing facility and GE Aviation in Auburn: Details on the new manufacturing project, incentives and how to apply for jobs. It is described as a first-of-its-kind facility. The plant now has 70 employees and should have 300 by the end of the decade.

Two more things about the Renaissance Man Triathlon: Husband and wife coordinate triathlon in Florence and some advice I received, in the comments.

A few other quick stories for varied interest:

New @congressedits Twitter Account Tracks Anonymous Wikipedia Updates

New Cosby show could debut as soon as next summer

Research: Human friendships based on genetic similarities beyond the superficial

Sydney Cromwell, the new editor of The Samford Crimson got an opinion piece published in Editor & Publisher. We’re excited for her for this and plenty of other reasons. She’s a talented student, strong young journalist and she’ll be a great editor, too.

Here’s a timeline for word nerds. “Language evolves”: The AP Stylebook during the last 30 years. Some of the changes are better than others, of course.

We knew this was coming: Sports Illustrated’s ‘Dirty Game’ articles spark false-light lawsuit.

This may be one of the best reads of the week: Retargeting Is Flawed; the Future Is Pretargeting:

There is no time in my life I am less likely to buy some white pants, a toaster or a flight to Los Angeles than after I’ve just bought these items, yet that’s precisely the time I see ads for these products or services.

These ghostly images stalk our internet journeys like shadows. While ineffective, these ads come to us by some of the most advanced technology there is. By some measures, they are the most appropriate ads to serve us; they can be the most noticeable, but they are also the most pointless.

The subhead reads “The future lies in targeting based on what we’re about to do, not what we’ve just done.” That’s very true. If you look at retailers, and some of the more forward-thinking online locales like Amazon, you’ll see the solutions coming in algorithms based on your habits, locale, where you are in the store, what you’ve looked at or purchased. It is based on your history, and trying to peer you up with other previous customers. Algorithms, by their very nature, have to improve, and the user experience will improve with it.

There’s a great chart in this story which deserves a careful examination: Which Types of Ads Do College Students Pay Attention to?

Our parents were all felons. Remember when your mom or dad told you to go outside and get lost? North Augusta Mother Charged With Unlawful Conduct Towards A Child:

A North Augusta mother is in jail after witnesses say she left her nine-year-old daughter at a nearby park, for hours at a time, more than once.

The mother, Debra Harrell has been booked for unlawful conduct towards a child.

The incident report goes into great detail, even saying the mother confessed to leaving her nine-year-old daughter at a park while she went to work.

The little girl is fine, but some say an area the mother thought was safe could have turned dangerous.

On the basis of “coulda” a child was entered into the South Carolina Department of Social Services. There is a fund raiser in the mom’s name.

So every time I was in the woods, walking in my neighborhood or spending a Friday night at the mall, the movies or the mini-golf place, to say nothing of the hundreds and hundreds of hours at the YMCA were all an opportunity for the authorities to step in. The silliness of this story, and the coverage, suggests there may be some changes in the charges. This is a simple and sad overreach.

I feel safer already: TSA Agent Stops Reporter Because He Didn’t Know Washington D.C. Is Part Of The United States.

I recently published three pictures on Tumblr that I haven’t yet mentioned on the site. You can find them here, here and here.

Today’s Weird Al is a catchy little ditty, guaranteed to make word nerds swoon:


9
Jul 14

Did Frost like fries?

My alarm went off. I hit the snooze button. Music started playing again. I snoozed. It sounded off once more, I rolled over and started having weird snippets of strange dreams. There were happy dogs to pet, and I was happy to do it, but there was a sense of foreboding, the kind you have when you know something bad is about to happen to the character on TV. Only I am not a television character and have no reason or real sense of why anything bad would happen. So I try not to acknowledge it or let on, for the happy dogs.

I hit the snooze button again.

It is part of my charm.

I watched the Tour de France stage, which everyone hyped beyond belief yesterday. And, with the announcers, lost track of the number of crashes, which took us to the sublimely ridiculous moment of asking the cyclists, before they’d had the chance to wipe the mud from their faces, if this stage which they had hyped so much, so not be included in the future. Television is a curious thing. When it steps unselfconsciously out of its element that is when it is most in its element, though the players never seem aware.

There’s only so many times you need to see guys lose control of their under-inflated tires in a roundabout and smack the asphalt. The cobblestones and rain together, it seems, were not worth it today. I should just go back to watching the mountain stages. I only watch the bike races for the mountains and the scenery anyway. But I watched that today.

Here’s a race I’d watch, Women’s Tour de France Needs You:

In one of the biggest developments in the history of the Tour de France, women will take their place in the iconic race this year…but now it’s up to you to help them.

Following a massive worldwide push for women to have their own Tour de France the UCI and ASO have responded with a one day race on the final stage.

[…]

This may just be one day, but it’s not a token gesture. It’s a trial. A test to see how popular, supported and lucrative women’s cycling is. It won’t remain a one day race forever, moving forward it will grow and develop in the sporting landscape and in people’s consciousness.

And a trailer for a related documentary:

I finished the laundry. I moved things around.

I had Whataburger for a late lunch and, there in the parking lot, got to watch two teenagers have a marginally dramatic disagreement. She was mad at him about something. And he loved her, you know. She worked at the Whataburger and her coworkers thought enough of all of it to come outside. He, in trying to demonstrate his love despite whatever had made her mad, parked behind her car and mine.

So I saved the day. Move the car, bub. I have fries to eat and many miles to go, etc.

Judging by his reaction, this guy had never read Robert Frost. But he had the sullen look down. And while he did that, she went inside to work and he left.

I wonder what he did wrong.

I did a full inventory of things at work. I wrote emails. I repaired tripods. You don’t know fun until you’ve fixed tripods with nothing more than a pair of pliers.

I listened to the Argentina-Netherlands game. Glad I didn’t watch that woof-fest.

All of that kept me longer than I’d hoped, but it did give me these views:

sunset

sunset

sunset

sunset

sunset

So, you know, a perfectly wonderful and stunning day.

Things to read … because reading always makes your day.

We’ll start off across the pond. Ed Miliband’s scare tactics will not cure the NHS:

A report published by the Royal College of Surgeons and Age UK shows that rationing is being extended to cover life-saving operations on elderly patients. A study found that in large parts of the country, hardly anyone above the age of 75 was receiving surgery for conditions such as breast cancer and gall bladder removal. This is wrong. There should be no automatic cut-off age for treatment, not least because the elderly have contributed sufficiently in taxes throughout their working lives to expect to be afforded decent and proper care.

Is it just me, or should that last sentence have a full stop at the comma?

Another interesting story about the U.S. you’ll find more prominently abroad. US military studied how to influence Twitter users in Darpa-funded research

This is one of the more thorough and cogent essays of the day. Media Ignorance Is Becoming A Serious Problem

I opened a closet door in my inventory efforts today. Don’t think I didn’t think of this. Misplaced Vials Of Smallpox Found Abandoned In Storage Room

There is a lot of interesting stuff to unpack here. A lot. Implementation Of Europe’s ‘Right To Be Forgotten’ About As Absurd As You’d Expect

Closer to home … Pathway to Graduation helps struggling readers succeed:

“I like the program because I got the nicest teachers and I like what we do in our decoding and fluency and we get into small groups and we work together and we try to figure the problem out,” Hicks said.

The college part goes two ways. It teaches younger students to dream of a future and furthering their education and it gives students in Samford’s School of Education valuable experience.

Service learning is such a great tool. I wish there were more ways to implement it in every field — and it is in place in a lot of areas to begin with.

Police: Mother of missing boy didn’t remember letting cousin take him home when she was intoxicated As always on al.com, avoid the comments.

Two interesting data points here. How Obamacare has changed the rate of Alabama’s uninsured

Words to live by. CNN’s social news editor: Engagement doesn’t have to mean clickbait

This is becoming a common refrain, I know. Mobile Leads Rise in Media Ad Spending

But … in that context …

The whole world is changing. The great disruptor in your pocket or purse is a part of that. Interesting feeling, no?


1
Jul 14

Tim Howard saved this blog

In honor of America, and the U.S. Men’s National Team:

Here’s the team’s hype video:

And, this, easily, is one of the most amazing pre-game packages you’ve ever seen:

If you find a better one, let me know.

The game was revealing and frustrating and pretty much what we expected. Tim Howard was nothing short of impeccable, Belgium was fulfilling their destiny. The U.S. never really played to their potential. The defense still has holes. We lost another starter to another hamstring. And despite all of that it fell to an agonizingly close piece of physics, the bend of an ankle, the arc of one ball and a great, great spirit. The U.S. played hard, even when they weren’t playing well. If the young members of this team improves, and the work that’s going into the larger program nationwide pans out, there are big things ahead. And they’ll play like it.

Tim Howard, briefly, was the Secretary of Defense. He was a lot of things today, becoming the newest and best meme of the day — since that’s the way we talk to one another now, this is worth noting. He was surely impressive, and he deserved a better defense in front of him.

Things to read … because you deserve to have great things to read.

Just the links, because the links should be good enough today.

BBC makes its training resources free to the public in 11 languages

The headline isn’t even the most damning thing about this story. I-Team: Acton Vet Finally Gets VA Doctor’s Appointment – 2 Years After He Died

I’ll have mine to go … 3D Printed Organs Coming Soon


28
Jun 14

The present, the past, the immediate future

Spent the day watching World Cup. I have come to at least one conclusion: Brazil shouldn’t win the tournament. They just aren’t as good as the great Brazilian teams, and they’ll prove to not be of the same quality as the better teams that are still in the thing. Also, Colombia is a fun team to watch.

One hundred years ago … This was the front page of the New York Times: ARCHDUKE FRANCIS FERDINAND AND HIS CONSORT, THE DUCHESS OF HOHENBERG, ARE ASSASSINATED WHILE DRIVING THROUGH STREETS OF SARAJEVO, BOSNIA.

And, if you’ll remember your high school history, that led to all of Europe arming up for war. The link has some great contemporary content, if you’re interested.

The Guardian, meanwhile, is coming to terms with how they played down the assassination:

The Manchester Guardian, then edited by the legendary CP Scott, was far from alone in playing down the significance of the death of the archduke, shot by the young radical Bosnian Serb, Gavrilo Princip, in Sarajevo. The Sleepwalkers, historian Christopher Clark’s seminal work on how Europe went to war in 1914, reflects the mixture of complacency and rhetoric Europe indulged in.

But the Guardian did devote the bulk of its main news page, illustrated by a small map and family tree of the Austrian royal house, to the shooting.

[…]

The next day, 30 June 1914, a Guardian headline read “World’s Sympathy with Aged Emperor”. The paper noted that the archduke and his wife had recently visited London and, his uncle, emperor Franz Joseph, held the title of a British field marshal.

[…]

Though the newspaper’s first analysis – headlined What the Murders May Mean – played down the “immediate or salient” effect on European politics, it did warn of the dangers of increased hostility between Austria and Serbia. It also warned of “the more serious danger of a Russian attack” on Austria in defence of its Slavic ally.

It is a fascinating little summary as the paper looks back upon itself.

We’re still learning about that war, meanwhile. Earlier this month Finland announced they had divers that have discovered a lost WWI German U-boat, apparently preserved in exceptional condition.

I wonder what the researchers will learn.

Maybe there will be an augmented reality tour of it one day. Here’s the latest from the AR world, by the way.

Or would you prefer holorooms at Lowe’s? Non makeup makeup? Actual spy glasses? Or South Park?

Fascinating world.

Hope yours is riveting too!


26
Jun 14

Soccer tacos

We went to a bar and grill to watch the game today, because soccer is a communal sport. The place was full just after 10 a.m. That’s when the priest came in, wearing his collar, sat at the bar and ordered some wings.

That’s the World Cup to me.

This is billed as the Out Of This World Cup:

So the U.S. lost, playing poorly but close against a dominate German team, but still advanced. And now all of the Americans that refuse to understand soccer — And it isn’t that they don’t get it. I’ve tried explaining things, and people are so intent on hating the sport because of reasons and feet and other nations’ success and a refusal to consider that the word “football” can have multiple meanings that they’ll dismiss anything you say, even if they are mentally capable of grasping a round robin format — will dismiss the round robin format.

We celebrated in that most American way, with tacos. They were good. First time I’d been to Tacorita. Now I’ll have to go back.

Today I’ve learned: that you will pay $271 as the fine for riding a bicycle on a sidewalk. (I don’t ride on sidewalks, because I, like pedestrians, would like to live. Every traffic violation you can commit in a car, save one, is less expensive. Drive a car on a sidewalk? That’ll only set you back $164.

You figure that out.

When you need a pilot, ask for a Marine Aviator. That guy landed his Harrier on a stool. There’s video.

I have some work to do. Triathlon for Masters Athletes: Lifestyle Adjustments

Sometimes people see more in a photograph than I do, which is good. Always, though, you need the context. Otherwise you just think “Dogs!” Photo Series Captures The Quiet Dignity Of Search And Rescue Dogs That Served During 9/11. There is a book of the prints available, as well.