Internet Millions revistited

As you can see, the ads are finally gone! I did a little bit of house cleaning on the comments as well. I suspect that they went hand-in-hand, but to make sure, I've put some additional limitations on those who can leave comments on my blogs. Thanks everyone for putting up with it all for the past year.

For anyone who cares, in the roughly 1 year that I had Google AdSense installed on my blog (this was the only site I was using it on), it earned $1.78. That doesn't seem like a whole lot, but as you can tell, I have not done much to my blog in the last 9 months, so I think its pretty impressive, if you're trying to make a little extra income. If you're running a high volume site and don't mind the clutter, its probably a pretty good way of earning some extra operating money.

For me, its not worth the clutter and the extra moderation required. So now, back to your regularly scheduled programming...

Rising Early

Yesterday morning was overcast and relatively dark (towns always have lights on, for safety) when I woke up at 2:30 with Brayden. He fell back asleep relatively quickly, but unfortunately, I did not. I was preparing to go to Spring Into Focus, a yearly gathering that we have down in Columbus. This year, I kind of "planned" it (by which I mean I rented the facility and told my fellow Focus owners when, where and what I thought they should bring to eat), and I had a few things that I knew I needed to pick up Saturday morning before we all met to head down. Also, at 3:30AM, I think I was pretty hungry and I just didn't realize at the time that the hunger was probably what prevented me from going back to bed for a few more hours. Regardless of all of that, I rolled over in bed and to Rachel that I was going to get up and head out...at 3:30 in the morning. Rachel heard me, but obviously didn't comprehend, since I got a text from her later asking where I was at.

I did spend a little bit of time loading my car up. Any of you that have heard my car know that the fewer times I drive it through any given neighborhood before 8AM, the happier the neighbors are (zero being the ideal number). I have a box full of engine parts from my previous engine build that I was trying to sell and I have stored the box up in the shed behind our house. I was kind of surprised that the city cops weren't called to investigate me, since I was walking around in the dark beside the house and only flicked the flashlight on when I actually entered the shed.

By probably 4:15, I was packed up and ready to go. My first stop was a carwash, as I had been unable to wash the car for months (seriously...I'm not the car guy who freaks out about dust and dirt...I like to drive the things). The car wash card reader was not working, so I had to go up to the front of the gas station and buy a car wash. Apparently that early in the morning, you can't walk into the station, you have to pay through the wall. While I was standing there, I could hear soft strains of heavy metal coming from the tanker truck that was refilling the station. Things are different before the majority of the world wakes up.

My next stop was Wal-Mart. I needed to pick up a couple dozen hamburgers and buns, since I had said that I was going to bring them. Walmart is always open, but it doesn't mean its always presentable. The crates full of "fresh fruits and veggies" had been moved into the main aisle in front of the registers so that the floor could be waxed and polished. I think I was the first customer in a few hours, because shortly after walking in, someone got on the intercom and started barking out orders. As I walked by some of the stockers, I could hear them yelling down the aisle in protest to the intercom's orders. I figured since I was at Walmart, I was going to have the full Walmart experience, so I found a lousy styrofoam cooler, some 75%/25% beef (listed as 100% pure beef...that's good, I don't want to be feeding my friends squirrel unintentionally. At least the 25% fat generally cooks off), and some nutrious Wonderbread Honey Hamburger buns. That's an American picnic at its finest! Oh, and I was starting to realize how foolish I was at this point, so I picked up a small (read standard) can of Red Bull.

By this point, it was a little after 5 and I was not really sure what to do with myself. I had 3 hours before I was supposed to meet another guy in Wooster. Sound thought might have told me go home and go to bed. But, I'd already had my Red Bull and I was obviously not of sound thought. I sat in the car for close to 10 minutes debating things; I wanted to go take pictures, but I hate drawing attention to myself. I figured that any person standing around in the dark taking pictures is more than likely going to be labelled as "a suspicious person". Oh well, it'll be fine...



I first moved over a few parking lots and took some car pictures. They were kind of fun, but there was too much light from Walmart. I had to get farther away...I took a few more pictures of the car at some of the medical buildings near Walmart, but was starting to get a little bit bored of car photography. I've taken a lot of pictures of my car since I've owned it and it hasn't changed enough to warrant millions of pictures. So I began to wander further afield...

I was going to head downtown and take some pictures along Main Street! I love longer exposures of cityscapes at night. The Sodium Vapor street lights really make the color of old bricks really pop out. On my way between the north end and downtown, I became distracted by an innocous behemoth that, until this point in time, had gone largely unnoticed by me. The watertower by Kean Elementary. That lead to other interesting discoveries and I was officially sidetracked (those who work with me know how easily that happens).





The next two pictures are the same subject, taken 1 minute apart. Obviously with different apperature settings.





Finally by about 6:30, I was able to get downtown. By this point, the Eastern sky was lightening, so exposure times were dropping a little bit. However, there were still a few cool pictures to be had before the sun came up and fleshed out the color spectrum, until it was completely muted.







There is always light around us, we just have to open our eyes wide enough and look long enough. Our perception of the world around us is tinted by the light in which we see it. Is it possible that by being exposed to too broad of a spectrum, we are unable to see beauty in the ordinary?

Do you Recall...

You have to know that I couldn't let this topic be for long, seeing my interest in all things automotive. Of course I have an opinion. By now, I'm sure that every person in the world knows of the "gas pedal issue with Toyotas", so I'm not going to get too in-depth on the background.

I don't want to sound as though I'm full of myself, but for the last several years, I've been telling friends that my opinion is that Toyota is heading for a rude awakening. It was pretty obvious to me around 2004, when Toyota started battling with Ford and GM to be the 3rd largest automaker in the world. The problem is that Toyota has built its empire entirely on the premise that they sell quality. Everyone knows that person who obsessively reads Consumer Reports; Toyota always comes out with the Favorable review, while the domestic counterparts often receive a subpar rating. To me, it seemed highly improbable that a company could move more product without tarnishing their reputation for quality. I was right...kind of.

The fact is that Toyota has actually been working on re-inventing the proverbial wheel. They have been looking for ways to improve or at least make cars more efficient, or simple [by simple, please refer back to the initial paragraph of my previous blog entry, where layer upon layer of user interfaces make complex objects appear to function simply].

Take for instance, the now infamous Toyota gas pedals. In 2002, Toyota introduced their first drive-by-wire system in their Lexus brand. Instead of having a cable that connects your foot directly to the throttle-body on the car, your foot now essentially pushes a variable resistance switch, which the car's computer then translates into some degree of throttle plate motion. In typical cable-operated accelerators, you had to worry about the cable stretching, or worse corroding and breaking. So, in the name of reliability, out went the cable and in went the wires and switches. Toyota could recoup the additional cost through their image of reliability, where a lot of "domestic" [the term is used loosely, to define a manufacturer who traces their origins to the United States] automakers would have a hard time justifying the additional expense.

Take also for instance, their regenerative braking, which they use in their hybrid vehicles. I was hoping initially when I did some investigation into their regenerative braking systems that it was something based the KERS [Kinetic Energy Recovery System] system currently employed in Formula 1. With Toyota's involvement in F1, they seemed like one of the manufacturers who would actually take that type of technological innovation and apply it to their street cars. Its cool; basically a 30kg flywheel that gets spun up under braking, then when you get to a straight stretch, you push a button, which pops a clutch and spins out an extra 50 HP for a bit of an advantage [the numbers I threw out are basically guestimates, but give you an idea]. Unfortunately, Toyota is using a relatively mundane energy recovery system. Its the hybrid drive electric motor, that when you depress the brakes, turns into a generator and recharges the battery. Obviously a smarter choice, since the electric motor is already on there, there's not reason to add a KERS system as well.

The problem lies in the fact that its impossible to engineer a perfect system and mass produce it. The drive-by-wire system eliminates a potential problem under the hood, but leaves a relatively vulnerable electrical contact down in the foot-well, where snowy shoes reside. Granted, automotive electrical systems are surprisingly robust, but strange things happen when electricity and water mix. According to Toyota, moisture gets into the accelerator pedal assembly and causes an intermittent signal, resulting in unanticipated acceleration. According to Steve Wozniak, the lovable Techippy founder of Apple, his 2010 Prius has accelerated uncontrollably while in cruise control (including at least one occasion over 100 MPH). He believed it was a software issue, but to me that sounds like some sort of oblique hint at wanting to have a part in Toyota's computer integration.

Regardless of the product issues that Toyota is having at the moment, a large portion of the current problem lies with the end users. I'm not going to absolve Toyota from blame, because a sticky accelerator is never a good situation. However, is it really rocket science to shift the car out of D and into N(or however the CVT synergy drive module is labeled in the Prius)? There was some enthusiast banter about whether its even possible to shift a car out of D while it is in motion, but it seems illogical that you couldn't; that's a last ditch safety feature. Is it possible that consumers have become so out of touch with their transportation appliances that they don't even understand the fundamentals of car operation?

Likewise, the media has exacerbated the whole issue. Maybe I'm just blessed with being a fortunate "domestic" car owner and understand how the whole recall thing works, but apparently every late-model Toyota owner is concerned that their car might have a sticky accelerator (or laggy regenerative braking system, as the case may be) and has been calling their dealership to ask, "is my car broken?". You should get a letter in the mail, an email or some form of contact from Toyota if your vehicle is affected. If your car manufacturer cares about your business, they'll contact you and let you know what you need to do.

My favorite media example is the guy who had just purchased a new pickup truck and wanted to get a refund from his dealer, so he could get a truck he didn't think he was going to have problems with. The dealership refused, so as he got into his truck, the accelerator stuck and he crashed into the dealership. Please. That sounds like the worst contrived story ever. Do you think they'll ever substantiate the claim that the throttle stuck? No. Do I believe for a second that the throttle caused him to crash into the dealership? No. Without knowing how the dealership was laid out, how do you hit a building that you are leaving? Also, if he was just in a parking spot, how did he gather enough momentum in a short period of time to wreck into the dealership? Sounds to me like a disgruntled customer.

As a bit of an aside (without sounding like too much of a blue blooded "domestic" car nut), a number of the Japanese car makers have had some pretty serious issues with their cars that they've been attempting to cover-up for as long as they could. Mitsubishi was having some quality control issues in the late 90s, which nearly put them out of business by 2004. However, they seem to have recuperated and have a reasonably stout product line-up at the moment. Likewise, Toyota also had issues with excessive engine gunk causing premature failure in their V6s. Somehow they managed to completely blame that on service issues, which enabled them to get owners to pay for at least a portion of the repairs. "Domestic" manufacturers have had more than their share of quality issues, but from my experience, they've been fairly open with their customers and have worked with them to resolve their issues, instead of trying to blame as many different factors as they can before they take the blame themselves.

My opinion: There's probably never been a better time to get a great deal on a lightly used late model Camry.

Virtual Reality

I just finished reading a great book by Matthew Crawford, titled Shop Class as Soulcraft and I just have to respond with my two cents. In summary, Crawford (a Physicist with a Ph.D in Political History who makes a living repairing vintage motorcycles...and writing books) makes the case that a Post-Industrial Revolution is taking place, where instead of Industry being mechanized and depersonalized, Corporate office work is being mechanized and transformed into assembly line work. Instead of allowing employees to operate autonomously, work functions are divided, so that each individual only performs a small role in the overall scheme of things. When problems arise, there is generally a company-wide protocol which is followed to rectify the situation. It only requires knowledge of the protocol, not knowledge of how the protocol works to resolve issues. This expedites problem resolutions, which reduces downtime and as a result, improves profit. Culturally, we seem to have embraced the fact that we prefer to acknowledge that something is broken and let someone (something?) else figure out why it is broken. Crawford asserts that there seems to be a desire to give the illusion of simplifying life by adding layer upon layer of user interfaces to the world around us. He gives the example of a Mercedes Benz; the entire engine is covered with pieces of stylized plastic and there is no oil dipstick. When you pop the hood of your car, there are no belts or spark plugs to replace and no fluids to check. The ultimate result of this simplification is Virtual Reality, where physical interaction with the world around us is not necessary and all work performed can be theoretical.

The primary point of the book is that people are intrinsically motivated by overcoming an obstacle that impedes their progress and that by allowing some other agency to overcome an obstacle, people are more prone to feel unfulfilled. When the book was recommended to me, it was based on a statement that I had made regarding my dissatisfaction with my current line of work and my desire to move into a more technical field (notably as a mechanic). I had no idea of the broader commentary that Crawford would provide in his book. He has a very cynical view of higher education, referring to some college graduates as having purchased a Brand Name diploma and colleges cashing in on their respective brand. He also mentions that, although he doesn't feel that his college education was a waste, guidance counselors should reconsider recommending that all students should attend college.

The author's fulfillment as a motorcycle mechanic comes from knowing that each repair he performs is unique in its own right. It can not be defined by a univeral statement or reduced to a simple procedural protocol. The initial task of a person who repairs something that they did not create themselves is to assess possible causes of the issue. Written references make a good initial starting point, but as he mentions in the later portion of his book, attempting to follow a shop manual can sometimes lead the technician in the wrong direction, and its usually best to follow intuition.

This book came at a pretty crucial time for me. I work for a contract research service provider and with the economy in the situation that it is, our company is pretty much at the whim and whimper of its clients. As a result, we've started seeing a lot of bizarre work requests, some bordering on the cusp of insanity. At the same time, the work force has been trimmed and the expectation is that work will still continue to be performed at previous levels of quality and speed. From these factors and a few others, I've pretty much decided that my current career path is not one that I want to be in for the next 20 years. My dream for the last few years has been to have a little car repair shop with one or two bays, where I can work as an independent mechanic, performing mostly basic maintenance, but also having the freedom to take on pretty much any project that catches my fancy.

The one factor that has so far dissuaded me from making the leap is that it seems our particular corner of Ohio has thus far resisted the trend of everyone transitioning to white collar work and there are still a copious number of independent mechanics in the area. I think the best way of overcoming this is to either specialize in some make or type of car that does not have a large number of mechanics in the area (ie Vintage cars, German cars, etc.). The other hurdle which I have imposed on myself is a feeling of inadequacy in the mechanical arts. I don't have any schooling as a mechanic and I've only had limited experiences working on cars myself. I don't really see it as a problem, because from previous experience most repair work is pretty straightforward after you've done something similar before. However, I feel as though I'd have a lot to prove to a prospective client.

I've noticed a bit of optimism in myself over the last week. Prior to this point, I've kind of been uncertain as to the path I've wanted my life to take. Now I feel as though God has kind of laid a path for me and I just need to make the transition.

Everyday Jesus

Its always interesting when inspiration strikes...and its also interesting how long it takes for some ideas to gestate. About three weeks ago, I got up early on a Saturday morning and hopped in the car to go to Focus In The Field. Its been an annual pilgrimage for Rachel and I for a few years back when we were dating. Then, when we got married, interest in the event kind of died down and it wasn't an official gathering for a few years. This year, it came back big, so I knew I had to go. However, with Brayden, Rachel was unfortunately unable to join me in my 500 mile trek in the deathtrap. Some irrelevant background information.

I left home at a little before 5:30 on Saturday. It was a little bit rainy, but the majority of the storms were not over Wooster when I left. However, it was still a little bit drizzly when I arrived in Ashland and decided to stop for breakfast at McDonalds. As I entered the seating area, I was a little bit surprised to see someone else there. At 5:50 on a rainy Saturday morning, you don't really expect to see anyone other than people that have to be somewhere. However, this morning, there was an Amish man sitting at a table in the corner of the dining area, working on a cup of coffee.

I'm not really sure what it was about the man, but for some reason, I had a very strong feeling of Christ's presence while I was sitting there, eating my breakfast. I briefly debated conversing with the man, as it almost seemed as though he were waiting for something. I was going to offer him a ride to wherever he needed to go. I had more than 200 miles to go, but I could certainly spare 20 minutes to take him around town. However, my car is not exactly conducive to providing taxi service and I wondered if he would still be grateful for a ride after the fact. As I was finishing up, he got up and walked out of the dining area. I left only a minute or two later and as I drove around the restaurant to leave, I could see no sign of the Amish man. He literally vanished into the pre-dawn gloom.

For much of the rest of the drive, I turned over in my head whether or not I should have offered him a ride, or at least had some sort of conversation with him. The other image that I turned over in my head was whether we might find Jesus collecting himself in the quiet of an early morning fast-food joint. Perhaps it was a weekly ritual for the man, reflecting on the week before the hustle and bustle of travelers impinged upon his little sanctuary.

Regardless of the underlying reason for the man's presence, I started thinking about Everyday Jesus. Its taken me a little over 3 weeks to allow my thoughts to marginally congeal into a blog, but the concept of Everyday Jesus has stayed with me. Really, what it boils down to is how we live on a daily basis. I realize that this is kind of a fundamental tenant of Christanity (albeit one that seems to get lost in the noise of evangelism and other more boisterous behavior), but its good to be reminded of it from time to time.

I was reminded that morning that I really need to take time to digest my experiences occasionally. Whether that means, going to McDonalds at 5:30 and reflecting over a cup of coffee for an hour, or taking a solitary weekend retreat every couple of months, I realized that its something that I don't allow myself (and a lot of people don't). We're too caught up in the moment, too busy experiencing life's highs and lows, reading, fellowshipping, etc., that we forget that we need to take time to see how God is working (or even be grateful for how He's working).

The other thing that the Everyday Jesus phrase encompassed for me was to be a stranger servant. I felt really convicted for not offering the Amish man a ride after he left. I have no idea where he was going; for all I know he works at one of the hotels nearby (the Amish in Ashland are of a much lower order than a lot of those from Holmes County, so I don't know what their employment status is). But he could have also had a long journey in the drizzly darkness. We as a society are too afraid of strangers. I don't think I know anyone who has offered assistance to a stranger, later to find out that the person they had helped was a dangerous person (aside from Adam, I think he picked up a hitch-hiker who had been convicted of Felonious Assalt, but Adam doesn't really count because he's had lots of interesting life experiences; like the day he called off work because he had died the night before...true story). The majority of people are still good and when they're in a vulnerable situation, they're likely to be even more grateful for assistance.

I read a post recently about why people have had such a strong reaction to 9/11. The comment was an off-hand remark about society by a person who has no official official qualification in that regard. However, I found the statement to be quite true. Essentially what he said was that our society has become so reliant on other people (be it the military for protection, TV for opinions, etc), that it is helpless in the face of trauma. My sister-in-law made a similar comment about the solution for problems that the people in her community faced was to call an "expert". I've actually been thinking a lot about what it means to be an expert as well, but I'll keep that for another post. My thought is that the reason our society seems so helpless is that no one is sticking out their neck for anyone else.

Mainstream news tells us that there is a lot to be afraid of when it comes to helping others. Are we too afraid of the litigious nature of our society to be of service to our fellow countrymen? I've seen a lot of jokes made about people being sued for attempting to help someone who either didn't want to be helped or was in some way injured as a result of the assistance. However, I think there is some truth to that, although I can't provide concrete proof of precedence. Are we afraid of the serial killers that roam our highways, waiting for someone to fall into their trap? That man standing on the side of the road, next to his old pick-up truck could actually just be waiting for some unsuspecting good Samaritan to stop by, so he can bundle them up and keep them in his basement dungeon for all of eternity. Really?

As a Christian, I often look at the New Testament and see all of the miracles that Jesus worked. Huge miracles; feeding thousands with a loaf of bread and a few fish; turning water into wine. The list of spectacles goes on. The thing that the New Testament does not explicitly portray is what Jesus (and his disciples and other followers) did on a daily basis. With good reason, as its hard enough to get people to read the Bible as it is...can you imagine reading it if it detailed every day of Jesus' life? From a theological standpoint, Everyday Jesus is probably as shallow a concept as they come. Jesus is a historical figure, not active in the Modern Church, that's the work of the Spirit. However, Everyday Jesus provides a model for us to live by.

I think that as a Mennonite, its easiest for me to relate to modeling a servant heart and spending time reflecting on life's events instead of some of the other popular Christian lifestyle models. The following statements probably run perpendicular to the intent of my post, but Evangelism is a downright scary prospect to me (and I would almost go as far as to call it Unchristian...but not quite). All people are flawed, and for an evangelical person to call out a non-believer (or an individual who has strayed from the faith), that person will be judged for every place where they've fallen short of glorifying God. God doesn't judge that person, but the non-believer can see right through a person who talks, but doesn't live it. As a servant, you deny yourself (but don't deny that you're flawed), which hopefully opens meaningful dialogue. A servant does not single out a non-believer, but instead caters to those in need.

I've derailed a little bit, but most of all, I feel convicted. I've been in several situations in recent years where I had the opportunity to serve someone and have not taken the opportunity. Likewise, I spend my time on meaningless busywork instead of taking time to reflect on the blessings that God has given me. I have much growing to do...

Google AdSense (AKA Internet Millions!)

So I went ahead and sold out my ideals...I decided to subscribe to Google's AdSense. Please let me know if they become overly obnoxious. Its kind of a continuation of a project that I started at the beginning of the year to see whether you can actually make money on the internet.

I started out with a Knowledge Network account. I had gotten an phone call from someone about it, so being curious, I agreed to participate. Basically, I receive an email every couple of days telling me that there is a survey available. The surveys take about 10 minutes to answer and generally relate to current event topics, like Healthcare, the economy, online activity, etc. For every survey, you receive 1000 points for participating (sometimes more). Each 1000 points is redeemable for a handful of prize drawings, or you can cash out points in increments of 25000 points (equal to $25). Having participated for about 8 months, I have cashed out $35 (and wasted a couple points on prize drawings). Along with this, I am also allowing Knowledge Networks to monitor my internet usage for 20000 points the first month and 15000 points quarterly thereafter. I realize that it may seem intrusive to some, but I figured that I might as well try to recoup some of the cost of my internet for doing nothing more than what I would normally do.

Regardless, I'll keep everyone posted on how well AdSense works out and also if I come across any other marginally legitimate means of making money on the internet. Let me know if you have any opinions one way or the other, or any comments that you'd like to make on your own experiences.

Ponderings of one who thinks too much

Fascination and fear both come from the unknown. How is it that two disparate emotions can have the same root? Rachel has been telling me about a book that she read last year about how to discipline children and that the author asserts that children's negative behavior is entirely driven by fear or avoidance thereof.

My initial thought was that this was bogus. Children have to be driven by more than just fear. Children are curious, sometimes they seem completely fearless when it comes to behavior, with no regard for consequences. However, the more I've thought about it, the more I've started to believe that fear is the primary emotion that everyone experiences.

Fear is truly an all-encompassing emotion. Its negative; fear of failure prevents us from attempting something new. Its positive; fear of consequences keep us from breaking the law. Most other emotions are very one-sided; anger can be construed in a positive and negative light, but an angry person is generally a person who has lost control. Love is universally considered a positive feeling. By not having a bias, fear becomes possibly the most primal emotion.

How is it, then, that some people are afraid of things, while other people are completely fascinated by the same thing? Take spiders for instance, most people are terrified of them. They're hairy, they behave strangely and we're always told that the average person eats 5 spiders in their sleep every year. Yet, people study spiders; other people keep taratulas as pets.

I really don't have an answer as to why certain people display fear while others are curious, but I think its something that is interesting to be aware of as you go throughout your day.