Do you think marathon runners are nuts? How about ultra-marathon runners. These races start at a "paltry" 100 kilometers and extend up to the (current) ultimate single race: the Badwater 135 mile race in Death Valley. Dean Karnazes has run many of these races multiple times, has also raced to the South Pole in -40 (yes, (yes, negative) degree temperatures, and ran for 350 miles--three days--straight without sleep.

And, yes he is human: Here is a professional evaluation, and proof: brief story or the detailed story

Most people cannot conceive of running a marathon let alone an Endurance 50 or E50. He plans to run 50 marathons... and as if that wasn't enough, to do it in 50 consecutive days, one in each of the 50 states of America. As of this writting he is currently running his 29th marathon.

Dean, my best wishes go out to you. You are an inspriation to everybody. And, that reminds me, I need to get back into my excercise regimen.

Need I say more? -> Stilton (yes, stinky cheese) perfume.

Gods Debris by Scott Adams --> "a religion/science book written by a cartoonist, using hypnosis techniques in the writing". I haven't read it so, I could not put it any better. And, after reading it I am not sure I will be able to improve upon that.

Somebody will need to explain this one to me because I don't get it:

Zara update and pictures! YEAH!!! To see the latest pictures of this beautiful girl follow this link.

Zara is maturing so quickly. Some recent notable events:

She has been sitting up unaided for about 2 months now, though she still needs help getting into that position.

Thuesday, 3/28 she first reached for daddy and mommy -- heart melting time.

That Thursday (3/28), she first picked up and started drinking from a bottle, while in a sitting position. This has become good thing for mom & dad when she consents to hold her bottle. Alas, she does still prefers that we do it, particularly if she is tired but, if she is hungry and we are dawdling she isn't shy.

The next day, Friday, 3/31 she stood up holding on to something for the first time. She was holding onto floor-length mirror and just having the time of her life with that beautiful baby she saw in it!

While we suspected it the previous weekend this past Friday, 3/31 was also the first time we can say for sure that she has become clingy to mom and dad. Though, she hasn't become shy around strangers (yet).

This has been an unbelievable week for little Z. On Thursday, 4/6 she stood for the first time without any type of support. And, it was on the couch next to me none-the-less! She is just amazing.

On Monday she had a check up and is doing well. 75% for heigh, 92% for weight, and about 90% for head size. None of that is unusual right before they crawl and we should expect it again just before she walks (though that maybe happening now also--keep reading) While she may be difficult to get to sleep we don't have any issue getting her to eat. The doctor found her [re]actions and curiousity to be precocious. She had three shots which was probably more difficult on dad than her. She is generally easy going, takes a bump on the head and continues on (except for the ones that leave red bumps for days--sorry Zara!) so, when she got the first shot she looked surprised and opened her mouth but she didn't cry. When she got the second one though she decided that she had had enough with the first one...

This week Zara has learned how to fall from a sitting position onto her back or stomach without injury and is working on crawling. She has progressed from absolutely hating being on her stomach to tolerating it, I think because she knows it is a means to learning to move around. She still would rather not be on her stomach (and usually doesn't last long there). She has also come to object to sitting--when you try to put her down (sitting) she will straighten her whole body as stiff as a board to try to get you to stand her up. She really likes standing! I think shed do that for hours if mom or dad had the patience. I get the distinct impression that she would rahter give the whole crawling thing a miss and go straight to walking. Either way, it is time for us to start thinking about what to do with that square glass topped coffee table (sharp corners). With the menace it has been to my shins, I can only imagine...

There are a lot of things about my pre-Zara life that I miss... but, I would not trade her in to have them back again. In addition to amazing, she is adorable, amusing, addictive -- and those are just the As off the top of my head! -- a just slightly proud father.

This one is long over due, but, I just cannot bring myself to let it slide. At the end of October 2005 I receive a letter from Blockbuster regarding a class action suit against them that was settled in 2001. (Way to be timely there Blockbuster!!) In 2002 a Texas court determined the settlement to be fair, reasonable, and adequate, which, I am sure, to most of the plaintiffs means paltry. Anyway, I digress. Again, I receive this notice late in October of 2005, and with it was 7 coupons for free or discounted videos and merchandise from Blockbuster; either free movie rentals or $1 off. So, I received 7 of these coupons each of which expired on November 28, 2005--one month later!. So, the improper behavior that Blockbuster enganged in to my detriment over Im not sure how many years, they expect to rectify by giving me more coupons to use in a single month than I have rented movies in most years as one of their customers. And, of course, the coupons state that only one can be used per purchase, etc. etc. I wish a blight on their finances and were I not a kind person, would say their personage. Please don't miss[understand] a very important point here, which is that I have had no objection to Blockbluster or their practices before this point. But, this behavior is inexcusable!

I am not going to get into Blockbusters "No more late fees"(instead you agree to purchase the video) campaign. I, at least, have had no involvement with that.

All these years I never knew what was in my own metaphorical back yard. I found this while perusing Google Earth: Among the countys natural curiosities may be mentioned the "Ringing Rocks," on Stone Hill, three miles northeast of Pottstown. They consist of trap rocks, exceedingly hard and compact, which on being struck with a hammer, ring like iron. These rocks are piled one on another, and cover about one and a half acres of ground, within which no trees or bushes are found growing. It is supposed that the largest rocks would weigh from five to twenty-five tons each, and some of the apertures are visible to the depth of twenty-five feet. A number of impressions can be seen on them, among which are three closely resembling the human foot, from three to six inches in depth; also a number resembling the tracks of horses, and elephants, and cannonballs from six to twelve inches in diameter. The sounds emitted by these rocks are various, depending on their shape and size. Some when struck resemble the ringing of anvils, others of church bells, with all their intermediate tones. As was well said by old Aristotle, there is a statue in every block of marble, but it takes a sculptor to find It, so it might be said of these rocks, in every one there is some note in music, but it would still take the aid of a skilled musician to discover it. It was the early German settlers who gave these rocks the name of Klingleberg, meaning Ringing Hill.

For those that have trouble getting out of bed in the morning (YOU know who you are!) one (or more) of these alarm clocks may help.

Quite unlike old horses (which are said to go to pasture), old space suits usually get an ungloriflied decommissioning. But, not this one. It is to become (find out about its creation) SuitSat (its website). You can follow its progress here.

Well, according to Chinese astrology that is. Dogs possess the best traits of human nature - loyalty, honesty and the capability of inspiring other peoples confidence because you know how to keep secrets. However, they are somewhat selfish, stubborn, eccentric, possibly emotionally cold and sometimes distant at parties.

But, if you are a regular reader of this page you probably already knew that.

For everbody out there that finds their life: boring, complex, too difficult; is sick of it, has been told "Get a Life"; wants to: shake it up, spice it up, tone it down; or just wants to explore the options, there is a website dedicated to providing such items. SecondLife.com has just the thing for your for just $9.95/month...

So, first there was email. Then came spammers followed by spam blocking software. This software primarily relies on keyworks to determine if a message is spam. Spammers have circumvented this by introducing first spelling permutations (errors) and more recently markup to obfuscate the content from software but allow it to still be discernable by humans.

I don't see why this latest measure has slowed the spam counter-measures. This is not to say that we shouldn't strive for a better prevention mechanism all together instead of being reactive. But, detection algorithm changes to handle the preceeding seem obvious enough. First, add a spell checker to messages. Too many errors then result in a message being flagged as spam. For those that cannot spell, type or don't care enough about either of the preceeding, whose message get flagged (or even canned) I don't feel sorry at all. Learn to care, spell and type. Second, strip/convert markup. What is left can be filtered using the other usual methods: soundex, character-set/code-page equivalencies, etc...

Then again, perhaps I should put my (rather professional) fingers where my mouth is...

This weekend will be the first time that Ms. Zara Coakley flies. The immediate family will be returning the Dads (hmmm, that still sounds odd) old stomping grounds to visit the folks, remaining family and friends. We hope all fare well in this endeavor including the other airline passengers (because if they dont, it means there will two very stressed parents upon landing).