Author: Carl Setzer

A blogger blogging from just north of Seattle.

UFO buffs to offer ‘proof’ of aliens

Carl Setzer

I guess we’ll need to wait until September to see for sure.

 

 

UFO buffs to offer ‘proof’ of aliens

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Proof that a 12-foot creature with fiery red eyes spooked Braxton County schoolchildren in 1952. Proof that aliens crashed a spaceship near Roswell, N.M., in 1947. Proof that the U.S. military engaged alien spaceships in battle over the Atlantic Ocean more than 50 years ago.

"You’re going to see some hard evidence" at the Flatwoods Monster 55th Anniversary and Flying Saucer Extravaganza on Sept. 7-8 in Charleston, said promoter Larry Bailey. "That’s a promise. That’s not just promotional talk."

The UFO conference coincides with the 60th anniversary of an unexplained sighting of a crashed aircraft in New Mexico that is still a source of controversy and speculation of a government coverup. It’s also the 55th anniversary of sightings of a noxious-odor-emitting monster in Flatwoods in Braxton County.

Freddie May, one of the boys who saw the monster after a fireball fell from the sky in September 1952, is scheduled to attend. He will refute those who dismiss the monster as a hoax and others who say it was a gaseous ball that formed during a meteor shower.

Also on the lineup is author-illustrator Frank Feschino, who penned "The Braxton County Monster: The Cover-Up of The Flatwoods Monster." His follow-up book, "Shoot Them Down," details aerial combat he says was waged in 1952 between U.S. aircraft and alien ships over the ocean.

Feschino spent 14 years researching the sighting and plans to present a 53-minute documentary on his findings at the conference.

Staton Friedman, a former nuclear physicist who helped investigate the Roswell crash and has published more than 70 papers on UFOs, is also scheduled to attend.

 

Article and thoughts

Carl Setzer

A little story about the iPhone, particularly about its upcoming release, but also exploring its Seattle connections. My favorite part, though, is the writer calling Bill Gates the “Simon Cowell of the software world”.

 

Though the iPhone brings forth some serious geek lust in me, I just can’t see springing for this anytime soon. The price point is a biggie, but I also have a great deal invested in the Palm/Treo line. Also, I hardly use my iPod, so I can safely say that I don’t need that feature.

 

If I was richer, I would be more willing to take a risk on a new platform (it wouldn’t be as much a risk, since I could just run out a buy another gadget at will, though). As I sit, though, I need to consider price and currently offered features. It’ll be interesting to see how this device plays out, though. I think this will have a great impact, and make the smart-phone more mainstream.

 

Computer Science

Carl Setzer

I have explored computers deeply, I guess. I have studied Unix, FORTRAN, COBOL, and C. Just as importantly, I know what all this stuff is, which makes me a bit geeky. However, it was never my passion. All the way back in junior high, when I made a great deal of noise about wanting to work for NASA and build robots, I would read Plato, Campbell, ''The Beother's Karamatsov'', ''The Scarlett Letter'', ''The Red Badge Of Courage'', and such. Geeky, perhaps, but not of the same venue. Only rarely, and with effort, did I read sciencey text.

My main passions, as defined by what I love to read in my free-time. Would be poetry and History. My interest in Computer Science, et al, is much more linked to power and, more recently, money. A desire to prove people wrong about me, to prove my intelligence also drove this, and it's lingered way too long as a psychological subtext.

Sorrow

Carl Setzer

My life has been one long intersection with sorrow. Sadly, this is not so much because sorrow has sought me out as that I have desperately clung to it. My journey with misery is mostly my own doing; my own foolish reliance on tearing apart my past. I do not understand my need for this, my need to jump into, to review and trash each choice. This need to review everything and "explore" how things would be "better" if I had chosen "better" really serves me poorly. This has no value, it adds nothing of quality to my life, yet I do this again and again. More amazing, I've done this for years. A function of my anxiety, of my propensity towards depression perhaps? I don't know. I do know that I don't like it. I don't like the way it raises my blood-pressure, the way that it tortures my mind, nor the way that it chokes the goodness from my life.

Geeked Out Lawnmower

Carl Setzer

For the geek who doesn’t have quite everything.

 

 

Compare Prices: Lawnbott Evolution Automatic Robotic Lawn Mower

Lawnbott Evolution Automatic Robotic Lawn Mower photo

DESC: The Lawnbott Evolution is the most advanced robotic lawn mower on the market today. Capable of handling 33,000 fq. ft. (more than a acre lot) and slopes of up to 27 degrees. The Evolution is so sophisticated that as it mows it determines how fast the grass is growing and when it goes back to the charger (by itself) it will calculate the next time it needs to come out to keep your grass at the optimal height all season long without your help!The light-weight, high tech lithium ion battery allows very fast recharging. The Evolution can mow for about 3-4 hours, recharge itself for 4 hours and go back out again, all on it’s own.If lawn care services are getting expensive, this automatic lawnmower is just what you are looking for. It only costs about $7.00 a year in electricity to keep your yard beautiful all season long.The Evolution comes with a full two year warranty

 

Night

Carl Setzer

A mind moves beneath the calm. time’s unable to truly calm the winds. Stillness fleeting, not withering, yet stunted. Never towering, yet amazingly alive amist hostile winds. Dreaming of quiet pastures which I fear.

Statistical Thoughts

Carl Setzer
I was in a webinar recently which sited some statistics, and gave details into the sampling methods. What struck me most was their reliance on telephone polls. Not unusual at all, but my brain being what it is, I had to wonder if telephone polls are truly valid anymore. How many people, in today’s age, answer a call from “Out of Area” (a significant geometric problem) or “Name Withheld”? Are we getting a valid sample if the only people they talk to are those without caller-id? Or am I just silly to not want to bother with these types of phone calls? Maybe answering polls ought to be a civic duty, like jury duty.

102 ways to make your blog not suck

Carl Setzer
102 Ways to make your blog not suck by Solomon Rothman at Social Media Systems
 
I don’t know if I agree with all of these, but they’re good tips. Here are my favorites
 
10) Use spell check
22) Don’t overload the site with ads
94) Check facts; they’re online and easy to find.
95) Don’t blog pissed off; remember your words are permanent, so least attempt to calm down or be rational
 
Lastly (though not included on Solomon’s list) remember why you’re interested in blogging. And don’t get too caught up in the advice the pundits throw out.

Life in the church

Carl Setzer

One of my blogging colleagues wrote recently about issues she’s having with her (Episcopal) parish priest. Now, I spent many years working for a church and have a somewhat unique, perhaps skewed, perspective. Anyway, issues within a congregation are always particularly painful. Consider one key point, if you will. People feel an intense attachment to their congregations, to the buildings. This is, at its core, not only good but essential. However, at times it can cause anguish. Messing with components of worship really becomes messing with the core of people’s identity, with their relationship with the divine. If not dealt with well, you are telling those you disagree with that their relationship with God is somehow wrong. Not very priestly, or pastoral in any sense. It’s quite critical for clergy (in particular, but not excluded to them) to keep this in mind lest they harm their flock. The “my way or the highway” mentality may work for leading a Republican congress, but not a parish. It’s ugly, un-pastoral, and damn un-Christian.