NASCAR, apparently not content to merely own the racing business, wants to dominate it. Team sponsors are hard to come by. At $15 million and up for a season, small wonder.
Now, NASCAR sees fit to sue AT&T for $100 million.
Man, when your sponsor is acquired by another, it seems to me there should be some kind of understanding. NASCAR wants $100 mil worth. I might take my business to local dirt tracks.
Let ‘em understand that.
-k-
[tags]NASCAR, nextel, at&t, richardchildressracing[/tags]
The DirecTV HotPass driver channel listing for today’s running of the Citizens Bank 400 from Michigan International Speedway lists out thusly:
#2-Kurt Busch, 795
#29-Kevin Harvick, 796
#24-Jeff Gordon, 797
#01-Mark Martin, 798
#8-Dale Earnhardt Jr., 799
June Bug back on 799, and all’s right with the world.
-k-
I’ve been pushing buttons, clicking mice, and typing in arcane crap from command lines for a good many years now. And today carried on that tradition. I was on my way to the bank to deposit some checks 1, with a trip to my franchise haircut place planned for afterwards. A ring of the cellphone derailed the tonsorial plans, as an admin buddy of mine found himself in undeserved distress from system users.
He needed some help; no problem, I’ll be home when I’m done at the bank. The haircut can wait.
Some of our filesystems had gone out to lunch due to failure of external systems which we don’t manage.
First step was to assess the damage. I logged in from home, my buddy was ensconced in his shabby cubicle at work, and we did the evaluation of the problem. No smoking gun. Damn. So, iff’en you cant fix it, you monitor the problem.
Over the next few hours, we crafted a simple-minded little script to watch our stuff, put that script in cron, and wired it up to the Tivoli monitors we already use. Tested it, and by damn, it catches the problem, without solving same.
This is what sysadmins do:
Not a lot of work-specific stuff, but admins help each other out. That’s rule #1.
-k-
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By accent anyhow, at least according to this:
| What American accent do you have? (Best version so far)
Midland (“Midland” is not necessarily the same thing as “Midwest”) The default, lowest-common-denominator American accent that newscasters try to imitate. Since it’s a neutral accent, just because you have a Midland accent doesn’t mean you’re from the Midland.
|
| Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests. |
Note the number of green states there. I may be compelled to revisit Indiana and Ohio for their pigmentation on that map.
-k-
Don Herbert, better known to a generation of TV watching geek wannabes as Mr. Wizard, has passed away at age 89. From 1951 to 1964, Mr. Wizard graced TV screens with his Ask Mr. Wizard series, wherein he explored science with a laid-back, decidedly not cutting edge presentation, most of which used ordinary household items to conduct experiments, and explain phenomena.
A former colleague of his, Steve Jacobs, recalled Mr. Wizard’s approach like this:
When Jacobs would reach for beakers and flasks, Herbert would remind him that science didn’t require special tools.
“’You could use a mayonnaise jar for that,’” Jacobs recalled being chided by Herbert. “He tried to bust the image of scientists and that science wasn’t just for special people and places.”
Hmmm, maybe he was an uplifter before uplifting was cool.
Not a lot of glitz and glamor involved in his presentation, but he stirred my curiosity when I was a kid.
-k-
[tags]donherbert, mrwizard, uplifter[/tags]
CBS has acknowledged the fans of the series Jericho, who mounted an internet and mail based campaign to keep Jericho on the air. The campaign included sending bags of roasted nuts to CBS executives.
And CBS listened. They’ve bought another 7 episodes which will be shown later this year or early next year. From the linked-to statement:
As a result, CBS has ordered seven episodes of “Jericho” for mid-season next year. In success, there is the potential for more. But, for there to be more “Jericho,” we will need more viewers.A loyal and passionate community has clearly formed around the show. But that community needs to grow. It needs to grow on the CBS Television Network, as well as on the many digital platforms where we make the show available.
We will count on you to rally around the show, to recruit new viewers with the same grass-roots energy, intensity and volume you have displayed in recent weeks.
So, y’all tune in now. Even if you personally don’t like the show. Tune it in on the spare teevee in the guest room, download those episodes. Keeping Jericho on the air will make SWMBO and I very happy. We’ll be watchin’ it as long as they’re showin’ it.
-k-
The DirecTV HotPass channel lineup for today’s running of the Pocono 500 from Pocono Raceway shapes up like this:
#2-Kurt Busch, 795
#17-Matt Kenseth, 796
#31-Jeff Burton, 797
#40-David Stremme, 798
#11-Denny Hamlin, 799
No Dale Jr on 799 today. Denny Hamlin swept both races at Pocono last year. Wonder if there’s any correlation?
-k-
Well, one of my two nodes is alive, and roaring (almost literally), undergoing a shakedown install of RedHat ES4 as I type. A pretty good effort all the way around; SWMBO is tickled that the computer guts supply is cut in half; I’m tickled that I got the thing together, with only a minimal number of trips to the confessional for cussin’ required.
I’m going to defer the second node until next weekend; there are several reasons for this:
In other test lab happenings, the cases for these machines are awesome. It’s the first time I’ve ever messed around in computer innards without barking my knuckles, getting cut, or inflicting other bodily injury on myself.
All computers need names, and with the silver and black cases, i was reminded of the Oakland Raiders1 and some of the great players that have graced that franchise. These nodes will be christened lamonica2 and stabler.3
All in all, a good day.
-k-
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Yesterday, the UPS guy delivered my computer cases for my two new Linux nodes. And today marks the arrival of one box of computer guts 1 to be installed in the said cases. The UPS guy arrived before I got home, so SWMBO stepped up and helped in shipping and receiving. She informed me that the box was “kinda heavy.” She was right. I’ve got it all unpacked, and the computer guts are now neatly stacked and inventoried, pending assembly, probably this weekend. Definitely this weekend, SWMBO is already practicing the stink-eye after her retrieval of the box of guts from the loading dock front porch.
Computing is a brutal sport sometimes.
-k-
[tags]tigerdirect[/tags]
UPDATE: Maybe is was the hunk of Dale Earnhardt Sr die cast that arrived today as well. SWMBO said “I’m surrounded by effing boxes.” But, man, this is from Dale the Movie.
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