Holdout Imperial Army soldier 'not Japanese,' mediator says

"GENERAL SANTOS, The Philippines -- At least one of the two old men said to be former Japanese Imperial Army soldiers who have remained on Mindanao since the end of World War II 'is not Japanese,' Embassy officials in Manila said Monday."

Wow, cool.

Futagoyama Oyakata passed away

A little over two and a half hours ago, the former Sumo Ozeki ("Champion") Futagoyama, father of two Yokozuna ("Grand Champion") Takanohana II and Wakanohana III, passed away from cancer of the mouth. I didn't know him when he was active, only as the Oyakata ("coach"). But the descriptions of his last few months had a very similar parallel with the passing of my father some four years and three months ago. No one reading this is likely to know what I'm talking about but that's ok. I do, and that's enough.

[05/31/05] A good obituary for the Oyakata is in the Mainichi Daily News.

Sleepless in Dale City

You know what's a real bitch (besides my ex-wife*)? That's when you get insomnia when you've taken a sleeping pill. What's worse is when you are up and at'em because you almost choked from aspirating gastric fluids into your lungs. That's how Jon Bonham, Bon Scott & Steve Clark all died. The only difference is that for me no alcohol was involved. So I'm up writing silliness for this communications venue. If I wasn't so broke I'd go buy something to take my mind off of everything. But I am so I can't. And for those of you out there who think you're broke, it's very likely that I would be able to live quite happily on your salary. Really.















*Hi there sweetie.

"Computing for Fun and Profit"

by Joe Klemmer
New Rider Press ©200X
ISBN 0-000-00000-X

Table of Contents

Introduction	"Why write this book?
Chapter 1	"Define Computing"
Chapter 2	"Define Profit"
Chapter 3	"Areas of Expertise"
Chapter 4	"How to choose an Area of Expertise"
Chapter 5	"Making the best of what you have"
Chapter 6	"Success vs Profit"
Chapter 7	"Profit vs Wealth"
Chapter 8	"How best to 'enjoy' your Profit"
Appendix A	"Myths of Computing"
Appendix B	"Additional Resources"
Appendix C	"Example Business Plan and Profit Timeline"
Index

Synopsis:
This book is for anyone who is in the computing field who would like to be able to make a better living for themselves. This is not for people who want to "get rich quick" nor for the dot com millionaires. This is for the working stiff cranking out code as an occupation. While this book doesn't specifically target those who code for the love of coding, there are aspects presented here that would still be of use to the Artisan Coder.

Comments on the European GP

Man, what a finish! Though Kimi didn't get the poll this week, he was just "nicked" out by one of the local boys Nick Heidfeld, and after a restart due to some gearbox problems that left Giancarlo Fisichella stuck on the grid he rocketed out of the gate and took the lead right off. Fisichella had to do the restart from pit lane.

Then more fun. A small pile-up on the very first turn dropped a number of the field back and totally scrambled everything. The only casualty was Mark Webber's Williams-BMW.

After that it was a battle for second as Räikkönen did what he's done the past 3 races, pull his McLaren-Mercedes away from everyone. David Coulthard had his Red Bull car up in forth just before the first round of pit stops. When the leaders pealed off, it left the Englishman in first place. It seems that the team is really pushing for competitiveness. Unfortunately he was assessed a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. He was still able to finish 4th. Red Bull almost had both cars in the points but Vitantonio Liuzzi finished just 0.5 seconds behind the Toyota of Jarno Trulli. Trulli was also assessed a drive-through for having pit crew on the grid to long. The rules are that everyone of the crew must be off the track 15 seconds before the race.

Both Ferrari's were mired in the middle of the pack and got caught up in the first turn shenanigans. With some deft driving they both ended up in the points with Rubens taking a podium for third. Heidfeld brought his Williams-BMW in for second and Fernando Alonso drove his Renault in for his 4th win of the season.

You might be asking yourself, what happened to Kimi? If he took the lead and held onto it like a pit bull why didn't he finish first? It seems that the Flying Finn scuttled his own race. With about 5 or 6 laps to go, and leading by some 15 seconds, Kimi lost focus and locked up the front right which took him off onto the gravel. He easily came back on with no damage to the chassis but a huge flat spot on the right front tire. This caused a great amount of vibration and bouncing of that tire. With so few lamps to go and with Alonso still behind him he had no real option to do anything but stay out and hope things held together long enough to finish. While Alonso was gulping up massive amounts of distance it looked like the Finn would be able to hold on. But just as they started the final lap the damage was to much for the strut and it let go in a shower of carbon fiber. The wheel itself didn't blow but it did come pretty close to hitting Kimi in the head. Only the safety tether held it from any danger. So it was that he had to settle for eleventh.

So here's what things look like after a hair over a third of the season. The McLaren-Mercedes team is looking very strong. Especially Kimi. If he doesn't have mechanical problems he could conceivably be on a five race win streak. The Renaults are still looking good and there's promise for continued success this season. The team of the year so far has, in my eyes, been Red Bull. Save for Monaco they have scored points in every race. BAR-Honda seems to be in a stall that could threaten to become a tailspin. After their two race suspension they looked very mediocre in this outing.

Lastly we get to Ferrari. The last two races Michael and Rubins have both put in some good racing. The problem seems to be that they can't qualify high enough to make any use from it. The going theory is that the Bridgestone tires don't perform well until they have a good number of laps behind them. And with the one tire per race rule they can't work things out from testing to qualifying to race. I think, though, that they will start to come along the rest of the season. But it will be a miracle if Michael can hold onto his championship.

Now it's off to Canada in two weeks. I wish I could be there for that.

Comments on the Monaco GP

Man. There's nothing to say, really. Kimi Räikkönen truly was the Flying Finn as he almost swept all the "stats" for the race. He started at poll and led every lap of the race. The only thing he didn't get was fast lap, which was turned in my Michael Schumacher. Kimi had an almost 40 second lead with around 10 or so laps to go. He slowed up tremendously to save the tires and engine but still finished a hair under 14 seconds in front of Nick Heidfeld. Speaking of whom, Nick made a killer move to pass Fernando Alonso with only a few laps left to give Williams-BMW second. Of course Mark Webber in the other Williams car had to keep up so he passed Alonso a few laps after Nick, thus giving Williams two podium finishes. The two Ferrari's finished 7th and 8th to at least get some points. I figured that there'd be a much more competitive season for Ferrari but this isn't what anybody imagined.

2005 Constructors Championship
Pos Constructor        Points
1     Renault            63
2     McLaren-Mercedes   51
3     Toyota             43
4     Williams-BMW       35
5     Ferrari            21
6     Red Bull Racing    14
7     Sauber-Petronas     7

If the McLaren's can keep from having the bad luck they've had over the last few years it looks like Kimi is ready fulfill the promise of being a championship caliber driver.

And Bridgestone better hurry up and do something because they are getting thrashed this year.

Meeting of minds, both large and small

Got an appointment with my sons teacher for tomorrow. The guidance counselor will be there, too, as well as my mother (in full Grandma mode). This is likely to be a windmill tilting day but I want it known that the school has gone to far with their handling of my son. Yes, he can be a little disruptive, but he's not a liar. Not when "Honesty in the Heart" is invoked. We'll see what happens but this late in the year I doubt the school will do anything. We are going to start thinking about what other schools might be available for him for next year.

Not happy right now

I am going to my sons school tomorrow to, politely and cordially, tear a new one for his teacher and the administration staff. I know my son isn't the most attentive student around, hell he won't shut-up and pay attention when he's home with me (until I get firm with him). But it now seems that he is getting labeled as a "Trouble Maker" so he gets blamed for just about everything that happens, even if he isn't in the room when it happens. I will not have this label pinned on him for the rest of his life just because some teachers and school staff don't know how to work with and teach boys. And if it gets into a "he said/she said" thing I have one big card I can play. That is there is a way to make sure that my son is telling the truth. I used this method on him today and he told me what is going on at school and, to be frank, I'm pi$$ed!

Grandma is coming as well. And if they think I'm bad they better run for their lives when she gets started. They are going to need Station 13 because she's going to light a serious fire under them.