tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81163412024-03-13T16:00:37.141-04:00-- Brian Megilligan's Pink Blog --Yeah, it's pink. You wanna make something of it?Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comBlogger279125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-81539651629489140982013-02-11T23:17:00.003-05:002013-02-11T23:17:56.385-05:00Testing....Testing...WOW it's been a long time since I wrote a blog post. So long, I see that the entire blogger interface has been revamped. It looks great! I'll have to play with it in my next post. Sometime next year maybe.Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-42753208597889951822011-08-02T23:43:00.003-04:002011-08-02T23:54:15.259-04:00What would you do to protect the children?At the very least, we want to protect the children. We would do anything to keep would-be predators from coming in contact with our children. We would especially keep the most reprehensible child pornographers from having access to any child, and from promulgating their wares abroad online.<br /><br />What would you be willing to do to stop these villains? Surrender your name? Your home address? Your phone number? These are public bits of information anyway so what's the harm, right? What about your eighteen month web history? Maybe, what have you to hide, right?<br /><br />OK, how about your credit card number? Bank account numbers?<br /><br />Well, a bill recently approved by a committee in congress has been approved and is about to be offered up for a vote to become law. This bill will require ISPs (that's Internet Service Providers such as AT&T, Time Warner, Comcast, Earthlink, etc) to compile a database of all of its users and record each user's name, address, phone number, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, and dynamic IP addresses. For eighteen months. As <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5825746">this excellent LifeHacker article points out</a>,<br /><br /><blockquote>"It's like handing over a year's worth of browser history plus the contents of your wallet to the police. The thing is, you're not really handing it over so much as your ISP is—without your consent." </blockquote><br />I would encourage you to read this article as it does an excellent job of pointing out assumptions and flaws contained in the hard-to-argue-with-titled bill, "Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011" (PCFIPA of 2011), as well as making great suggestions on how you can circumnavigate the potential ISP tracking of your online usage.<br /><br />Besides the issues and questions raised in this article, I would like to add my two cents.<br /><br /><ol><li>What happens when an administration decides to track everyday citizens' whereabouts online and upon disapproval, issue warrants without due process? (RIAA, anyone?)<br /></li><li>How comfortable are you with your ISP knowing where you do your banking, what investments you have, where you give your money, what political causes you support, what health issues you are concerned with, what careyou're considering buying?</li><li>How comfortable are you knowing that not only is your ISP storing a year and a half's worth of this information, but they could turn it over to the government at any point without you knowing?</li><li>Given Wikileaks, Lolsec, and Anon's ability to break into or gain access to government servers and gain information seemingly at will, how comfortable are you with your ISP's ability to secure this information about you, your friends and neighbors, and 270+ million American internet users?</li><li>Your ISP has to now manage a huge data server farm and its corresponding security. How comfortable are you with all of the necessary overhead that you will now be required to pay for?<br /></li></ol><br />What other concerns am I (and the LifeHacker article) missing?<br /><br /><a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20084939-281/house-panel-approves-broadened-isp-snooping-bill/">You can read more about the bill here</a>.Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-58862545743566669702011-07-26T22:51:00.003-04:002011-07-26T23:05:00.036-04:00How to Be a Successful Worship BandAfter years of working with band players in various churches, participating in numerous worhsip services in various churches, hearing worship bands at conferences, and evaluating worship leaders and worship bands, I have begun to assemble a list that aspiring worship bands may find useful in order to be successful. There are some thoughts in this list for most members of the band, though I'm sure I could have given more thought to the Dobro player.<br /><br /><ol><li>Pick keys that are too high for guys to sing, and too low for women to belt out.</li><li>Show off your chops by jumping the octave at a repeated phrase. Make sure no one else can possibly match you.</li><li>Shout out "Christianese" phrases between songs. They don't have to fit the context, they just have to sound good, amen?</li><li>Work hard at crafting all of your vowels so that you sound British or Australian.</li><li>Never sing any melody the same way twice, especially when teaching a new song to the church.</li><li>The only dynamic build you can ever use is repetitive eighth notes.</li><li>Make sure you rush those eighth notes.</li><li>Dynamics only exist in layers. "Quiet" is achieved mainly because only the acoustic guitar is finger picking at the moment.</li><li>If you're a keyboard player, try to duplicate the exact rhythms the guitar players are playing, in the exact same register.</li><li>If you're an electric guitar player, be sure to use all of your pedals at least once in a set, so as to disguise as much as possible the actual sound of your instrument.</li><li>Be sure that your stage volume is so hot that you cannot be effectively mixed in the house.</li><li>The form is ALWAYS V, V [add band], C, V, C, C, B, C, C, C, C [drums only], C, Tag.</li><li>Never change keys in the middle of a song.</li></ol>Alright, I've got us off to a good start, there's more, let's add to this list!Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-10104142853324583172011-07-15T20:45:00.003-04:002011-07-15T21:03:29.956-04:00I used to be pretty goodWhile rummaging through my iTunes library the other day I came across a performance of Rachmaninoff's Prelude #2 in D Major. This is a recording of Yours Truly, performing at my senior recital at <a href="http://www.cedarville.edu/">Cedarville University</a> in 1994.<br /><br />It's not jazz. It will take some work to listen to. I think this is my favorite piece from my recital. There were two significant challenges in this prelude. First, both the melody and the counter melody existed in the right hand. The challenge was to play the melody clearly while letting the counter melody sing sweetly over it without overcoming it.<br /><br />The other challenge was maintaining left hand eighth notes while playing the right hand triplet counter melody (about a third in). It's vintage Rachmaninoff, really. I think it's not a bad performance--probably the best one from my recital, and if you asked me, I could not play it for you today. I still enjoy listening to it though.<br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="audioUrl=http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1395024/Rachmaninoff%20Prelude%202%20D%20Maj.mp3" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3523697345-audio-player.swf" quality="best" height="27" width="400"></embed>Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-63585159501688220152011-07-09T22:58:00.003-04:002011-07-09T23:00:19.750-04:00How Books Were Made (1947)It is so fascinating to me to watch this laborious process. In a comparatively short time (since the original printing press) we have eliminated the need for all of these with e-pub books. No printing, no binding, no cutting, no gluing. Everyone can be an author. This comes with its problems too of course!<br /><br />Take a minute to watch this video:<br /><br /><br /><object style="height: 390px; width: 640px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hBztGX-2i1M?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hBztGX-2i1M?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="390" width="640"></embed></object>Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-41373797334756275152011-05-22T22:39:00.002-04:002011-05-22T22:54:29.124-04:00How to Build a Winning Baseball TeamI have to take a moment to say something about baseball. It's been a while. I enjoy the game and the team I have followed since 1994 has been the Cleveland Indians. They enjoyed their big years in the 90s, with sellout home games, and then lost many of their best players to big contract free agency (Albert Bell, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome), or to big trades (Bartolo Colon, Roberto Alomar). They went through their "rebuilding" phase (a term teams use when their players are young and mediocre and they don't really expect them to compete). Well, this season, it may finally be paying off.<br /><br />As of today, the Indians own the best record in all of baseball, have a 7 game lead in the AL central, and are highest in the league with +66 runs scored versus runs allowed.<br /><br />One of the ways they got to this point was through trades. Trades of big name players, especially Cy Young award-winning pitchers (two years in a row!) is particularly painful to watch. You're giving up a proven and known quantity for "prospects." (Another baseball term that means "we think they're going to be pretty good.")<br /><br />So looking at key trades over the last five years, we can see how the current team has emerged. Below is a partial list of trades. Who was traded, and who was received in return. I only included players who are on the current big league 25 man roster.<br /><br /> PLAYERS TRADED --- CURRENT MLB PLAYERS<br /><style type="text/css">ol{margin:0;padding:0}p{margin:0}.c1{vertical-align:top;width:234.0pt;border-style:solid;border-color:#000000;border-width:1.0pt;padding:5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt 5.0pt}.c3{line-height:1.15;padding-top:0pt;height:11pt;text-align:left;direction:ltr;padding-bottom:0pt}.c0{line-height:1.0;padding-top:0pt;text-align:left;direction:ltr;padding-bottom:0pt}.c4{width:468.0pt;background-color:#ffffff;padding:72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt}.c2{border-collapse:collapse}body{color:#000000;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial}h1{padding-top:24.0pt;color:#000000;font-size:24pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold;padding-bottom:6.0pt}h2{padding-top:18.0pt;color:#000000;font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold;padding-bottom:4.0pt}h3{padding-top:14.0pt;color:#000000;font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold;padding-bottom:4.0pt}h4{padding-top:12.0pt;color:#000000;font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold;padding-bottom:2.0pt}h5{padding-top:11.0pt;color:#000000;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold;padding-bottom:2.0pt}h6{padding-top:10.0pt;color:#000000;font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold;padding-bottom:2.0pt}</style><p class="c3"><span></span></p><table class="c2" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td class="c1"><p class="c0"><span>Eduardo Perez</span></p></td><td class="c1"><p class="c0"><span>Asdrubal Cabrera</span></p></td></tr><tr><td class="c1"><p class="c0"><span>Ben Broussard</span></p></td><td class="c1"><p class="c0"><span>Shin-Soo Choo</span></p></td></tr><tr><td class="c1"><p class="c0"><span>CC Sabathia</span></p></td><td class="c1"><p class="c0"><span>Matt LaPorta, Michael Brantley</span></p></td></tr><tr><td class="c1"><p class="c0"><span>Casey Blake</span></p></td><td class="c1"><p class="c0"><span>Carlos Santana</span></p></td></tr><tr><td class="c1"><p class="c0"><span>Franklin Guiterrez</span></p></td><td class="c1"><p class="c0"><span>Joe Smith</span></p></td></tr><tr><td class="c1"><p class="c0"><span>Mark DeRosa</span></p></td><td class="c1"><p class="c0"><span>Chris Perez</span></p></td></tr><tr><td class="c1"><p class="c0"><span>Cliff Lee/Ben Francisco</span></p></td><td class="c1"><p class="c0"><span>Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson, </span></p></td></tr><tr><td class="c1"><p class="c0"><span>Victor Martinez</span></p></td><td class="c1"><p class="c0"><span>Justin Masterson</span></p></td></tr><tr><td class="c1"><p class="c0"><span>Kelly Shoppach</span></p></td><td class="c1"><p class="c0"><span>Mitch Talbot</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />So in evaluating this chart, one of the questions we must ask ourselves is, knowing what we know now about these young players, would we make the trades in reverse today? In other words, would you exchange Justin Masterson for Victor Martinez today? Probably not.Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-52491147439258607812011-05-09T00:21:00.002-04:002011-05-09T00:29:12.101-04:00My iPhone Tracking DataYou've probably heard all about the privacy concerns and conspiracy theories related to why Apple has been tracking your location data--or at least storing it. The news broke in recent weeks, thanks almost entirely to a couple of researchers who created a little app that interpreted the data hidden away and synchronized through iTunes to your computer.<br /><br />Using the simple little app they created (<a href="http://petewarden.github.com/iPhoneTracker/">read all about it here</a>), I decided to show those who are curious how it works by giving you more than just a simple screen shot of the resulting map that you may have seen posted around the internet.<br /><br />Here it is, complete with my commentary:<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tQ4pMVvQx3g?hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tQ4pMVvQx3g?hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />I should mention that there is no evidence that this was ever sent back to Apple, and further, <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20056344-281.html">knowledge of the existence of this file is not new information</a>!<br /><br />Fellow iPhone users, do you feel as though your privacy has been violated?Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-50315622483090102632011-05-04T21:46:00.002-04:002011-05-04T21:49:12.927-04:00How has the internet affected the behaviour of music consumers?My Answer to a Quora question <a href="http://qr.ae/3hBw">found here</a>.<br /><br /><div class="qtext_editor_content qed_content" id="__w2_bPSNn9r_editor" contenteditable="true">I once heard someone describe the diminished perception of the value of music this way: <span></span><span></span><br /><br /><span></span><span></span>Once upon a time, people used to buy their music recorded on vinyl discs called "LPs" In this medium, you could of course play your music, but you could also almost SEE your music. The music was represented in little tiny grooves pressed into the platter. You could easily damage the music you loved by scratching it with the very device intended to let you enjoy it.<span></span><span></span><br /><br />A few years later, the disc became smaller and shinier. The compact disc converted the visible grooves on the LP to invisible pits on a ceramic disc. The pits were read by an invisible beam of light. The disc may (or may not) have been more durable than the LP, and access to the tracks were nearly very fast, the artwork and inserts became smaller, and more information could be placed on these little discs than the larger LP counterparts.<span></span><span></span><br /><br />Finally, we have progressed to a place where an individual song has been reduced to a file on a computer. Files have little value. We drag them from place to virtual place, move them from hard drive to hard drive, they can be accessed and played instantly, but they carry no artwork other than a simple icon (maybe) electronically associated with it. The file can have varying degrees of quality that the artist and producer has no control over, and can even be edited by a user with a free software.<span></span><span></span><br /><br />So from one generation to the next we move from music that you can hold in your hand and see on the grooves of a disc to music that has very little intrinsic value of a computer file-- even the EXACT music that may have previously existed on an LP. Music from the internet has been reduced to an icon on your screen. <span></span><span></span><span></span><span></span><span></span><span></span><br /><br />So in one way, the internet has affected the behavior of music consumers by subtly devaluing the product itself, in part because the medium on which it exists has changed so significantly.<br /><br />This may be one reason why it is so hard to convince younger folks that when they transfer a file from one place to another, they are stealing--but that's a whole other discussion. <span></span><span></span><span></span><span></span><br /></div>Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-70406455724493423452011-05-04T01:15:00.002-04:002011-05-04T01:17:51.304-04:00Lessons from the job huntAs I continue my job search I am paradoxically applying for less positions and opportunities, not more. I am also refining my search and being more selective about which jobs I apply for.<br /><br />This may seem counter-intuitive since I am not in a situation to be picky. I need a job.<br /><br />My background brings with it a very specific and niche set of skills. Need a quality pianist? I can do that. Need a group rehearsed? I can do that too. Need an arrangement, orchestration, I can plan a worship service, conduct an orchestra rehearsal, make a drum loop. And I can do that stuff pretty well.<br /><br />The problem is, no one is asking for that. At least not yet.<br /><br />This time of unemployment has been a time of self-evaluation and self-discovery. I would venture that everyone who has gone through a similar situation has come to a personal assessment like I have. You almost have to.<br /><br />When I first started looking, I naively applied to positions by answering a question no one was asking: "Could I see myself doing that?" What I have finally realized is that though I could probably learn skills involved in online education, brand marketing, technical writing, or IT support, and probably become really good at that stuff, I don't really have any experience in those areas. It took a while for me to move from imagining myself doing something I've never done, and thinking I could be pretty good at it to realizing I need to reevaluate many of the non-musical components of my previous jobs and ask myself a series of questions to help draw out tasks I have done that are corporate-world transferable. I have discovered that a single piece of paper is all the hiring manager or HR person has to find out what they can about me. They aren't interested in reading between the lines. I need to be specific. The statement: "Helped team communication through web sites and online tools." says very little to an uniformed reader, even though I knew everything that was involved in that task. But in expanding on this statement, I can come up with a couple of bullet points:<br /><br /><ul><li>Created and designed web site functionality and navigation for a members-only web site.</li></ul><ul><li>Populated web pages with long-form text, photos, embedded scripts, tables, lists, and Twitter feeds, as well as media curation (pdf, mp3, and video uploads) using a content management (CMS) tool.</li></ul><br />This kind of content was drawn out of me recently by a hiring manager who asked a couple of follow up questions that answered what probably should have existed on my resume in the first place.<br /><br />I recently attended a Dick Hart seminar where he laid out several questions to ask yourself. Actually, he suggested to have someone interview you with these questions while you record your answers. He said when you go back and listen, you will pick up pieces that you should include in your resume that you might not have thought of otherwise.<br /><br /><ol><li>How good was I?</li><li>What happened as a result of performing the project or task?</li><li>Did I save any money or increase revenue as a result of my effort?</li><li>How accurate was I?</li><li>Was I ahead of schedule or did I just meet the schedule?</li><li>Did I supervise people? How many?</li><li>Did I exceed my quota? Show me the numbers.</li><li>What was my role on the team?</li><li>What impact did I make?</li><li>Do results jump out at the reviewer?</li></ol><br />I'm sure there are more good questions a mock interviewer could come up with to draw even more out of me.<br /><br />What have you learned about yourself from your periods of unemployment?Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-33328840002037930032011-03-31T22:46:00.004-04:002011-03-31T23:03:10.887-04:00Job Interviews as DatingI have taken a little break from our OBX gift vacation, which is so backwards, I don't even want to get into it. Anyway, I was called back for an interview tomorrow morning. This is a company I applied for back in January, but the person they hired didn't work out so they're moving on down the list. I'm not sure this position is for me, but I am interested to learn more.<br /><br />I have related to some of my friends that moving into the interview stage in the job hunt is like dating someone. I have had a few interviews over the last couple of months. I have gone to one interview where shortly after I arrived, I knew I wanted nothing to do with the job. Of course, I was called back for a second interview. I decided to go just for the experience.<br /><br />The polar opposite was an interview I had last week with a firm that I could see myself investing many years in. It just sounds like a fun job and the people there seem great. I really hope I get it.<br /><br />The paranoia that goes with the waiting game can be applied to either the dating scenario or the job interview:<br /><br /><ol><li>How did it go? Oh we had a great time. Had a lot in common, really hit it off well.</li><li>Did they like you? yeah, I think so, couldn't tell if they were just nice and polite or if there was genuine interest, but the conversation really flowed well.</li><li>Did you like them? Oh yeah, I can definitely see myself with them.<br /></li><li>When will you hear if you got the job? I don't know. They said they would call "by the end of next week." Does that mean Thursday? Do I give up if I don't hear from them by Friday? What time on Friday is the point of no return before i have to wait until next week?<br /></li><li>Are they interviewing other candidates? Yeah, I think they are. but I really hope I get the rose.</li><li>It's been a week since the interview, have you heard from them? No, not yet. Should I call? I don't want to seem too--um--desperate. But I want them to know that I'm interested, that can't hurt right?<br /></li><li>Did you call? Yeah, I hope I wasn't too talky. I hope they weren't annoyed by the interruption to their day. I hope I showed the right amount of interest without seeming annoying. I hope that was initiative they heard, not reaching out to grab something not there.</li><li>What did they say? Oh, I'm still a candidate, they'll make a decision by tomorrow or "early next week."<br /></li><li>What are you doing? Waiting by the phone.</li></ol>Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-87516859200512153472011-03-29T21:31:00.003-04:002011-03-29T21:38:35.661-04:00Things I have learned from being unemployedOn January 3rd of this year, I learned that my position, along with eight other full time Providence employees was to be eliminated. My responsibilities were over and I was free to go. Not the news I had either expected nor wanted to begin the new year.<br /><br />My job search began the day I came home. I hadn't searched for a job since 1996. This was going to be a challenge. It has been a difficult time for our family and for me as I am forced to rethink my future and career and ministry choices. It has sometimes been a time of emotional deflation and at other times optimism to see what new things are next.<br /><br />Here are a few things I have learned along the way:<br /><br /><ul><li>I'm not the only person who has ever lost a job.</li><li>We are blessed with unbelievable friends who have done way more for us than they had to.</li><li>I will never forget even the littlest things that our friends have done for us.</li><li>I will forever relate differently to friends who go through this. I did not understand what a challenge this is when my friends went through this in the past.</li><li>Being let go from a church in the way we were means that you not only lose your job, you lose confidence in the leadership of your church, and therefore, you lose your church.</li><li>Losing your job from a church challenges your assumptions that you are supposed to continue in church music indefinitely.</li><li>It is a huge challenge to write a resume, when you haven't thought of one in nearly 15 years.</li><li>It's an even bigger challenge to write dozens of resumes, almost a new one everyday, focused in a million and one different directions.</li><li>Nobody is in the hurry to hire me that I am to start working.</li><li>Three months of severance may seem like plenty of time, but it goes by so fast.</li><li>Health insurance for the family is not inexpensive.</li><li>I'm used to working hard and seeing the results of my work. I have never worked harder than I have to find a job but I have nothing to show for it.</li><li>It's crazy to think about all the things I would be willing to do, even though I might not like most of them. Once I hear of one or two things that I REALLY want, though, I can't stop thinking about them.</li><li>From my experience, anybody who hires me will wondering what they ever did without me.</li><li>To quote a good friend: It is not up to me to provide for my family; it is ultimately the Lord's promise. I am straining to put my trust in him.</li></ul>Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-50312676143940060252010-11-06T10:50:00.002-04:002010-11-06T11:00:30.520-04:00New Tiered water pricing in RaleighYou may have noticed that there has been a change to the web presence and billing cycle of the Raleigh water utilities. As I perused the site today, I discovered the introduction of a new pricing plan for Raleigh residents. From <a href="http://www.raleighnc.gov/home/content/FinUtilityBilling/Articles/TieredRates.html">this page</a>:<br /><br /><p></p><blockquote><p>Beginning in November, Raleigh and Garner residential customers will be billed using a new, tiered billing structure with new rates. Only single-meter residences are changing to tiered billing. Apartments with master meters are not changing to tiered rates.</p> <p>There are 3 tiers based on consumption. Each tier is billed at a different rate. Those who use less water will pay less.</p> <p><strong>INSIDE Raleigh and Garner city limits</strong><br />Residential Water Rates</p> <ul><li>Tier 1 = 1-4 CCF billed at $2.28</li><li>Tier 2= 5-10 CCF billed at $3.80</li><li>Tier 3= 11+ CCF billed at $5.07</li></ul><br /></blockquote>In response, I have written this letter to be sent to <a href="mailto:%22UtilityBilling@raleighnc.gov%22">UtilityBilling@raleighnc.gov</a>:<br /><blockquote><br />Hello-<br /><br />I am frustrated to read that you are implementing a tiered rate program on your water usage fees. In general, when I think of bulk consumption, pricing usually goes down per unit sold. In this case, you are charging more per unit sold.<br /><br />I understand the motivation behind this kind of structure. The ultimate goal is that of conservation. However, for those of us with several people living in a household, there will never be anything we can do apart from taking a two week vacation that will reduce our consumption to the 1-4 CCF per month range.<br /><br />Not only are we in essence being punished for having more people in our household, we're being charged a higher rate per CCF than we previously were. (It appears that my rate was $2.65/CCF)<br /><br />I find this analogous to driving to the gas station to fill up with fuel and finding out that my charge per gallon varies dependent upon the size of my gas tank. By extension, since the size of the gas tanks are generally proportioned to the size of the vehicle, it would be like charging gas at a variable per gallon rate based on how many people were in the car.<br /><br />Can you please explain how this approach is a fair way to charge for a utility we all depend on? If you feel there are abusers of the resources available to us, then charge them for their usage, but don't make the rest of us bear the burden of those who (in your opinion) overuse their share of water.</blockquote>Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-63487151367256766502010-09-30T14:34:00.003-04:002010-09-30T14:36:12.505-04:00Our services are out of control<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLMgXlGX0280fEngIZbcPWSGGIl6V9uR2WtQyp22FKCeSciWvxV9lxROVWbItwAKjrxEtwjYbwTJcReQ7Uc5Bl3FnvaV1ooo4LU6bSU1m7lKa-MeOlqeApZWkLDePu1tGyxhgC4A/s1600/Picture+1.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 270px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLMgXlGX0280fEngIZbcPWSGGIl6V9uR2WtQyp22FKCeSciWvxV9lxROVWbItwAKjrxEtwjYbwTJcReQ7Uc5Bl3FnvaV1ooo4LU6bSU1m7lKa-MeOlqeApZWkLDePu1tGyxhgC4A/s400/Picture+1.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522776968908012322" border="0" /></a>This is a screen shot from my phone via the PlanningCenter app a couple of weeks ago. Made me chuckleBrian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-30445106166459489452010-09-08T23:37:00.004-04:002010-09-08T23:56:06.533-04:00How to Pray for Your Kid<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbHkBMtuz7ktxWSWGjLzBEOGZJ5dLsMbnWQeyN3Vz4P1-mZpfvbhcWzn5FIlMGTJ6PUolfya4X8bL4wqXb3RDT3UJsAYqO5VV6nDAIoiWhA3wzCswX568Ox6b6OpQat3t-rw66hg/s1600/296569_1_box_dp.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 138px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbHkBMtuz7ktxWSWGjLzBEOGZJ5dLsMbnWQeyN3Vz4P1-mZpfvbhcWzn5FIlMGTJ6PUolfya4X8bL4wqXb3RDT3UJsAYqO5VV6nDAIoiWhA3wzCswX568Ox6b6OpQat3t-rw66hg/s200/296569_1_box_dp.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514756627535465618" border="0" /></a>Recently, I went through Dennis and Barbara Rainey's Passport2Purity book with my son. Inside is a list of valuable suggestions on how to pray for your child. This is a list of 26 suggestions of things to petition the Lord for over the life of your child. I'm hoping the Rainey's don't mind if I re-post that list here!<br /><br /><ol><li>Pray that God will protect your preteen's innocence.</li><li>Pray that God will bring godly friends into your preteen's life.</li><li>Pray that your preteen won't forget how to laugh.</li><li>Pray that God will draw your preteen into a relationship with Him or deepen the relationship that's already established.</li><li>Pray that God will bring other godly adults into your preteen's life</li><li>Pray that your preteen will be grounded in the spiritual disciplines of Bible study, prayer, and worship.</li><li>Pray that your preteen will learn to love the unlovely (reach out to other kids)</li><li>Pray that God will bring about tests of character in your preteen's life to help him learn how to stand strong in his convictions.</li><li>Pray that your preteen will develop humility.</li><li>Pray that you will catch your preteen in sin in order to have opportunities to train him.</li><li>Pray that your preteen will develop a larger peer group of believers that can have its own identity--enjoying music, parties, and memories together.</li><li>Pray that intellectual understanding of the changes in your preteen's body will give him cause to praise God for His glorious creation.</li><li>Pray that your preteen will respect and treat the opposite sex in a biblical manner.</li><li>Pray that your preteen will develop his own convictions about what he watches, listens to, and reads.</li><li>Pray that your preteen will learn self-control.</li><li>Pray that if your preteen is lying to you, God will allow you to catch him in that lie. Pray also that God will give him the courage to follow through with restitution and repentance.</li><li>Pray that your preteen will not give in to the temptation to use drugs or alchol.</li><li>Pray that your preteen will develop a loving and caring relationship with his siblings.</li><li>Pray that your preteen will learn how to manage his anger.</li><li>Pray that your preteen will learn how to control his tongue.</li><li>Pray that God will protect your preteen's mind from being polluted by pornographic images and ideas.</li><li>Pray that your preteen will not develop an attachment and preoccupation with material things.</li><li>Pray that God will keep the communication lines open between you and your preteen during the teenage years.</li><li>Pray that your preteen will develop biblical convictions.</li><li>Pray that your preteen will stand strong wen peers pressure him to do something contrary to those convictions.</li><li>Pray that your preteen will begin to understand God's mission for his life.<br /></li></ol>Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-7273420362941963812010-08-09T00:02:00.000-04:002010-08-09T00:03:34.350-04:00What motivates you to work?<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/u6XAPnuFjJc&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/u6XAPnuFjJc&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="385" width="640"></embed></object>Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-51615937003113946612010-05-01T00:19:00.003-04:002010-05-01T00:40:44.240-04:00Something New in the Church<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.amazon.com/Life-Medieval-City-Joseph-Gies/dp/0060908807/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272688575&sr=8-1"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 132px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaKJrGQjkjbMzEuJxSd9Yf6mOmzzZPWHdaE9XCJ9PSHjdRHJvSA1YWPUEExEOI-dJbqV7P5V9mq4T4SGnZL6SSJfdzOymvoCDmYmgrNpsDtKbaIpEgbSIVJzi6QqODx1kqfOyULw/s200/Picture+3.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466156745284149026" border="0" /></a>We can all think of ways in which new technology has become a fixture in modern churches. From video screens to light production to sound mixes, some in church leadership (including myself) can't imagine planning and executing a corporate worship gathering without the aid of some of these technological innovations.<br /><br />The "advance" of any area will bring with it its share of critics.<br /><br />With that thought in mind, I was humored recently while reading the end of the chapter entitled "The Cathedral" in Joseph and Frances Gies' Life in a Medieval City. Addressing the issue of new innovations available at the time of the 13th century, they write,<br /><br /><blockquote>Thirteenth-century bishops are delighted with the technology that gives them their incomparable cathedrals. Interestingly enough, clerical opinion in the past was not always so favorable. St. Bernard wrote angrily to William, abbot of St Thierry, about the great Cluniac churches: "Why this excessive height, the enormous length, this unnecessary width, these sumptuous ornaments and curious paintings that draw the eyes and distract the attention from meditation? . . . We, the monks, who have forsaken ordinary life and who have renounced the riches and ostentation of the world . . . in whom do we hope to awake devotion with these ornaments? . . . One could spend a whole day gaping instead of mediating on God. What ineptitude, and what expense!"</blockquote><br /><br />How interesting that over 700 years later, the concerns and criticisms are the same, just the names and types of technologies have changed.Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-73697356707355008032010-04-20T22:50:00.002-04:002010-04-20T22:53:00.660-04:00Reason to Buy Travel InsuranceI've never purchased any, but I may reconsider if I ever make plans to fly somewhere for vacation!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiMtsWr_CL8pUkYSCr4JmMjetu5MuvGFr_djISKWhsjigUFtMt2Wgl20g_-jxQ90x2ueko1YEYtX2MABaEbiJzlnsF-AGAgFHoHuq6bgrcmokvlYJompTefUSzxlIqOWZm2nM5bA/s1600/volcano.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 390px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiMtsWr_CL8pUkYSCr4JmMjetu5MuvGFr_djISKWhsjigUFtMt2Wgl20g_-jxQ90x2ueko1YEYtX2MABaEbiJzlnsF-AGAgFHoHuq6bgrcmokvlYJompTefUSzxlIqOWZm2nM5bA/s400/volcano.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462418240332233698" border="0" /></a>Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-22378985981678318672010-01-26T09:47:00.000-05:002010-01-26T09:48:20.693-05:00Something NewHere it is...<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />....there it went.<br /><br />Have a great day!Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-85504577522827308182009-12-14T21:05:00.005-05:002009-12-14T21:24:15.404-05:00Summer Project #2<div style="text-align: center;">Our deck steps were in bad shape. They were cracked and warping and not anything you'd want to walk over in bare feet.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3L6rCADP5u_fBt_unQTjlBOFdOiYPTjWxtNjd7ikUUXc-dCWpQRKlHvvIXDf5DFcF5Oe6BQ27QEzjZXkjmMk9IU9LQs882PojsRxa1q4-8PL2eaYlDQBW6RRXc7de2YCp2s8Msg/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3L6rCADP5u_fBt_unQTjlBOFdOiYPTjWxtNjd7ikUUXc-dCWpQRKlHvvIXDf5DFcF5Oe6BQ27QEzjZXkjmMk9IU9LQs882PojsRxa1q4-8PL2eaYlDQBW6RRXc7de2YCp2s8Msg/s400/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415281243245257586" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0LPNJcDunPNy4Hb6JtmQm6tgNlPPCBZWRl4GZcIeh6M7BJ3naplLQc_kVCGttNpa-OZQEYYhKxtP5wc-0WMz2MgNfYuV1dZMEc1Vsp4MtsQ_UZp8M89q_hV6jN-1SXXUCETs6xw/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0LPNJcDunPNy4Hb6JtmQm6tgNlPPCBZWRl4GZcIeh6M7BJ3naplLQc_kVCGttNpa-OZQEYYhKxtP5wc-0WMz2MgNfYuV1dZMEc1Vsp4MtsQ_UZp8M89q_hV6jN-1SXXUCETs6xw/s400/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415281245781299842" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">So we (I) undertook a project of removing the steps and the risers and replacing them with new ones.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2VGZY6-puJVWdqrAhwVrdX_BItxF5A4suTPosc4QUAUhVzPNsSgFLKWW3LOwKFNJixj7gtEjKGVD3cIue7DutAlc2dz-wP8vMsWO4K3NE5gY6iAQN1nhLBrOF72ysCqmhP5HZGA/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2VGZY6-puJVWdqrAhwVrdX_BItxF5A4suTPosc4QUAUhVzPNsSgFLKWW3LOwKFNJixj7gtEjKGVD3cIue7DutAlc2dz-wP8vMsWO4K3NE5gY6iAQN1nhLBrOF72ysCqmhP5HZGA/s400/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415281252154316978" border="0" /></a><br />I cut new boards to length (thanks for the saw, dad) and stained them on all sides, then mounted them back on the stringers. Here were the first few I did. It was so cool to see the boards bead up after a brief shower.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZd7anZ8dWWWIy1BDnNTSHinmb3J8TbaAgUJwmMODEo8I31-n0pJBqBCFbTkb9X1R5I7QU_KKsm9YJUGzv5cGm_MjxTxlCFgC2p7qwYp2B3rGWcEuwHYLzuizC9k7WmgYLuRaRDg/s1600-h/4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZd7anZ8dWWWIy1BDnNTSHinmb3J8TbaAgUJwmMODEo8I31-n0pJBqBCFbTkb9X1R5I7QU_KKsm9YJUGzv5cGm_MjxTxlCFgC2p7qwYp2B3rGWcEuwHYLzuizC9k7WmgYLuRaRDg/s400/4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415281255828439746" border="0" /></a>Reece was a big helper.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIXi5-8aBYdaMCDwQFzeyi1yIWUX0YiEeuIicQIwzx-R8h4e1xX_BxRuFP0nWQSQAOpKALtawb9jdtHCvjiC3qB-j2gbkqSd_9WveEew32c7p7LnkRR9F8gq5QOV_wCwtETfPi8A/s1600-h/6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIXi5-8aBYdaMCDwQFzeyi1yIWUX0YiEeuIicQIwzx-R8h4e1xX_BxRuFP0nWQSQAOpKALtawb9jdtHCvjiC3qB-j2gbkqSd_9WveEew32c7p7LnkRR9F8gq5QOV_wCwtETfPi8A/s400/6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415281526856496258" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIqxmCrN9ptR-YlTRmSMf_iWcnCf1a5rdz8Qa-qN5G-PDIy1NSZkpqqo646qLNP99Z86VcYGJNQMMR5pvTZL4z3oN0nUVE4b89Pae_5Gp21hW1d-4wYfvm4cgD4CfvOehxXdgXeg/s1600-h/8.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIqxmCrN9ptR-YlTRmSMf_iWcnCf1a5rdz8Qa-qN5G-PDIy1NSZkpqqo646qLNP99Z86VcYGJNQMMR5pvTZL4z3oN0nUVE4b89Pae_5Gp21hW1d-4wYfvm4cgD4CfvOehxXdgXeg/s400/8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415281533718312962" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">He was so curious, he just couldn't stand to not be involved.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4blTQi_97yPCr3ooeDVBoidimTQECrrmLSAhf67YsXJ81hzrSQVhGniMpNyRRrj25mI3VAHEXkV2_3nrzP8_DDXoTFILsqtKg2IcAkx3n8XmHSp_gtN_Zr5iwEBA8AdDInHUFDg/s1600-h/7.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4blTQi_97yPCr3ooeDVBoidimTQECrrmLSAhf67YsXJ81hzrSQVhGniMpNyRRrj25mI3VAHEXkV2_3nrzP8_DDXoTFILsqtKg2IcAkx3n8XmHSp_gtN_Zr5iwEBA8AdDInHUFDg/s400/7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415281531296889474" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn2FstxW0OYMgFAf0mirXJsygvsLasbwJxifMJAb8DVrSxinAmfmvDSv4CE_Bw1X7XjriV6P1Lw-hLApZMYcbZS-4yPlobrqifQOiIz60yJ9Si-NTpg8FMi-Eo3W5OXJoi81P70g/s1600-h/5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn2FstxW0OYMgFAf0mirXJsygvsLasbwJxifMJAb8DVrSxinAmfmvDSv4CE_Bw1X7XjriV6P1Lw-hLApZMYcbZS-4yPlobrqifQOiIz60yJ9Si-NTpg8FMi-Eo3W5OXJoi81P70g/s400/5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415281259627698354" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Janet and I stained the whole deck.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXDnIT5hdU76YYX79OHxD_34lU7Lr_-ZqgvbUH-S9Wu_0VI4qDbaR887zq_tbNlr1qKABa3IpJzeH-gQbPJN4lZH6hdp1WlYtGBq2fyhwIzxmkjXg6H86y951M3KUb3Qyhy-DHVw/s1600-h/9.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXDnIT5hdU76YYX79OHxD_34lU7Lr_-ZqgvbUH-S9Wu_0VI4qDbaR887zq_tbNlr1qKABa3IpJzeH-gQbPJN4lZH6hdp1WlYtGBq2fyhwIzxmkjXg6H86y951M3KUb3Qyhy-DHVw/s400/9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415281543937369186" border="0" /></a><br />This probably took three months from start to finish. In part, because we were also working on summer project #3...Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-76795448513888370252009-11-25T23:59:00.004-05:002009-11-26T00:04:59.841-05:00My Dream JobMaybe when I "retire" I'll do this. I don't know, I guess you might say I already enjoy my dream job, but this would be even dreamer. It took this picture this summer at a Durham Bulls game. The house "organist" is just sitting out there in the open, doing his thing.<br /><br />He gets to watch baseball every day, and make thousands of people listen to him while he plays the keyboard. I could do this.<br /><br />Of course, I would take requests.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD9AcZKjJIN3ET7s8Gua4fhiO4Brn9Leb7wa10NI99DzGFhx-DjsSCrDggelQbvnF5xZJYMg0dQcDOrQpCyo7ntIwRtsJ-X5FYe0zvblN_7Fa42pCw5gGJBBDKhz7dzi5qAagFRg/s1600/Dream+Job+Circle.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 301px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD9AcZKjJIN3ET7s8Gua4fhiO4Brn9Leb7wa10NI99DzGFhx-DjsSCrDggelQbvnF5xZJYMg0dQcDOrQpCyo7ntIwRtsJ-X5FYe0zvblN_7Fa42pCw5gGJBBDKhz7dzi5qAagFRg/s400/Dream+Job+Circle.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408273143661024290" border="0" /></a>Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-24798497677201710442009-11-24T22:04:00.003-05:002009-11-24T22:31:48.703-05:00Facebook ScamI have occasional discussions with my wife about the various pros and cons of social networking in general and Facebook in particular. Even though she hasn't jumped on the bandwagon of Facebook yet, I had an experience today that should make us all think twice about our connections and who is really on the other end of the line.<br /><br />In my browser I have set two perma-tabs and faviconized tabs that are always open. (Check out this <a href="http://smarterware.org/2962/twig-tip-icon-only-perma-tabs-for-gmail-and-google-reader">great hack</a> from <a href="http://smarterware.org/">smarterware</a> using Firefox extensions). So even when I'm not actively using one of those browser windows, I'm constantly logged in to Facebook and my Google Reader.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZZknuSipuJ71sepvpTJmg6x8vEcyE7c0qQhS1gIHtMsjDS-x5m72owF759FLyxHBR7-ff1yF5KTZZYYlXseGSdyf9v8rzzVW7yUXSO9FECErhH_8fZUbEgVFLeqnWJQMZYOWyg/s1600/Picture+1.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 130px; height: 103px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZZknuSipuJ71sepvpTJmg6x8vEcyE7c0qQhS1gIHtMsjDS-x5m72owF759FLyxHBR7-ff1yF5KTZZYYlXseGSdyf9v8rzzVW7yUXSO9FECErhH_8fZUbEgVFLeqnWJQMZYOWyg/s320/Picture+1.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407877332838894066" border="0" /></a><br /><br />While working elsewhere today, I heard the familiar chat pop come through my speakers indicating that someone was sending me messages. I flipped over to the Facebook tab and found that my friend Micah, whom I have not spoken with since our high school graduation, and whom, other than this Facebook connection I have shared maybe one sentence of "hey how ya doin'?" initiated the following conversation:<br /><br /><blockquote>Micah<br />hey!<br />you there?<br />10:30amBrian<br />hey man! what's up!?<br />10:31amMicah<br />not good at the moment<br />10:31amBrian<br />what's going on man<br />10:31amMicah<br />i'm stuck in London,England at the moment<br />10:31amBrian<br />not a bad place to be stuck, I'd say? flight delayed?<br />10:31amMicah<br />i was mugged at gun point last night<br />10:32amBrian<br />oh wow...down town?<br />10:32amMicah<br />here in england<br />10:32amBrian<br />did they beat you up?<br />10:32amMicah<br />all cash,credit card and cell were stolen off me<br />i was hurt,bruises all over my neck<br />10:33amBrian<br />awe man, I'm sorry...did they take a passport?<br />10:33amMicah<br />i still have my passport with me<br />i've been to the US embassy and the cops here<br />they're both not helping issues at all<br />10:34amBrian<br />not working together?<br />10:34amMicah<br />they asked me to wait for 3weeks,but my flight leaves in less than 3hrs from now<br />but the hotel manager won;t let me leave</blockquote><br /><br />At this point, I'm trying to picture his scenario, the embassy, the cops, and the hotel thing. These pieces didn't elide in my head, almost as though he doesn't want to admit something--but I kept going:<br /><br /><blockquote>10:35amBrian<br />because you have no credit card?<br />10:35amMicah<br />yeah to settle the hotel bills<br />10:35amBrian<br />are you there on business?<br />10:35amMicah<br />yeah<br />i need your help urgently</blockquote><br /><br />OK. I paused. At this point, a lot of questions are going through my mind. Remember, I haven't seen or heard from this guy since high school. I'm beginning to have doubts, but I continue.<br /><br /><blockquote>10:35amBrian<br />what do you need?<br />10:36amMicah<br />i need you to lend me some few bucks to settle the hotel bills<br />i'll pay you back tomorrow as soon as i get back home<br />i don;t want to miss my flight<br />10:36amBrian<br />so you're there on business? why do you need ME to do that? what can't your company do that?<br />10:37amMicah<br />i came here on a business trip by myself<br />10:37amBrian<br />no one else state-side to support you? are you in business on your own?<br />10:38amMicah<br />yeah<br />no one to contact now<br />please help me<br />10:38amBrian<br />hang on a sec<br />10:38amMicah<br />ok</blockquote><br /><br />At this point, I'm smelling something funny, but just to get a second opinion from a guy who also knew Micah from high school, I called my good friend <a href="http://twitter.com/danpritchett2">Dan</a>. Right away he declared it a scam. I didn't want to be played, but I didn't want to leave an old buddy in need. Dan's idea: ask him something about himself that only he would know. Yes. Of course:<br /><br /><blockquote>10:45amBrian<br />hey help me out here.<br />10:46amMicah<br />huh?<br />10:46amBrian<br />I need to verify you are who you say you are.<br />10:46amMicah<br />sure<br />go ahead ask me any question<br />10:46amBrian<br />what was the name of the group you founded at Kings?</blockquote><br /><br />I imagine at this point if the scammer is on Micah's page, he's probably glancing through his profile trying to find an answer. Notice the time that elapses before his response:<br /><br /><blockquote>10:48amMicah<br />you kidding me?<br />10:48amBrian<br />nope. you would know.</blockquote><br /><br /><br />And that's how it ended. He never finished the talk and we never went any further. I emailed Micah from the address given on his profile page but I haven't heard back from him. I hope our hunch was right and he's not at this moment sitting in the hotel lobby in London waiting for someone to bail him out.Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-62204293239388986882009-11-19T18:55:00.002-05:002009-11-19T18:56:50.129-05:00What's Google been working on?Yeah, I'm a Google fanboy. Here's what they're working on. I like the way they think, though it probably scares some of you.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0QRO3gKj3qw&color1=0x6699&color2=0x54abd6&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0QRO3gKj3qw&color1=0x6699&color2=0x54abd6&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-81936008524909026122009-11-13T15:12:00.006-05:002009-11-13T15:42:20.260-05:00Summer Project #1I'm certainly no <a href="http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/biography/0,,420047,00.html">Roger Cook</a>, but I took a crack at unifying our back yard this summer by removing a fence and some landscaping.<br /><br />The previous owners of our house had a couple of dogs. The customized their (our) house and back yard for these dogs by putting in doggy doors so that the dogs had freedom to move in and out when they wanted. They also put a fence down the middle of the yard so the dogs could do their "thing" on one side and so they could enjoy the other side.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh07u_O1SoNrNm9pcnLCa6WDw0FxDEFuoP6fuo4dilMVpBuEGkN0d7mNtqkRMHlXvnrq5yB4f8SVVhsLSdHyKuBLoQwjQ5kTdXv9Ifb5Zpdmybp4hY63qdx78-LMhOdbkJ5pYGFNg/s1600-h/back+yard.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh07u_O1SoNrNm9pcnLCa6WDw0FxDEFuoP6fuo4dilMVpBuEGkN0d7mNtqkRMHlXvnrq5yB4f8SVVhsLSdHyKuBLoQwjQ5kTdXv9Ifb5Zpdmybp4hY63qdx78-LMhOdbkJ5pYGFNg/s400/back+yard.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403688256395260930" border="0" /></a><br />Since the time we moved in, I have wanted to remove that fence and bushes and landscaping they put down the middle of the backyard, and regain a contiguous backyard for our kids to enjoy. The yards in our neighborhood are not large, but our backyard is probably one of the largest and most private, since we are on a cul-du-sac and since there is protected greenland behind our house.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV4VE8tmcYXTbTVSzaE4GXe0D_4z4cuWvblDPXGibZB24aec3U-WJQhtjnpCCc2Wm0oSI9d75Y18WUzryuW1hMyoI2ANXrxJeLTLJLFLhHlMgDdKd14J9AzX9CXmYgGXY3kBJb3w/s1600-h/Satelite+of+Yard+2009.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 336px; height: 377px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV4VE8tmcYXTbTVSzaE4GXe0D_4z4cuWvblDPXGibZB24aec3U-WJQhtjnpCCc2Wm0oSI9d75Y18WUzryuW1hMyoI2ANXrxJeLTLJLFLhHlMgDdKd14J9AzX9CXmYgGXY3kBJb3w/s400/Satelite+of+Yard+2009.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403690121180322898" border="0" /></a><br /><br />So the poject began over several weeks (read: months) as I pulled out seven bushes and other plants.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHjpmmKg2Hcj4fGkIgHv0Gw8YgQ-F4K_-j6WDQjh4YGCiDvJKNC8S6RWMZr4jJcVeyqgFiJSqmZGZ7oXRtyo7_5z5iZtYMDFl2flmUA8aCART4I1o0CVfKQXXFnBD75RQauj7NZg/s1600-h/DSC_0003.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 269px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHjpmmKg2Hcj4fGkIgHv0Gw8YgQ-F4K_-j6WDQjh4YGCiDvJKNC8S6RWMZr4jJcVeyqgFiJSqmZGZ7oXRtyo7_5z5iZtYMDFl2flmUA8aCART4I1o0CVfKQXXFnBD75RQauj7NZg/s400/DSC_0003.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403688260120887170" border="0" /></a><br />the fence posts were anchored in concrete so I had to cut them out with a reciprocating saw.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh68NztAY09w8rN4yo6j2cyYsmlQXxCI_NW0btoSiXMSrW_q4TaEqqQNxze9b7xpGfHw_eEeFEh-b90ZZ0VCELFmAUTyriyUabEoeiKtOfJ-Xbw-hdVrD1inHE-ycRFBT2t18Www/s1600-h/DSCN0006.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh68NztAY09w8rN4yo6j2cyYsmlQXxCI_NW0btoSiXMSrW_q4TaEqqQNxze9b7xpGfHw_eEeFEh-b90ZZ0VCELFmAUTyriyUabEoeiKtOfJ-Xbw-hdVrD1inHE-ycRFBT2t18Www/s400/DSCN0006.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403688263872359202" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I rented a rototiller and planted grass seed.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMKUO_P6-_eZlIPEYYppdCWmRjiargMb0HKqEEVuIFqf6RVjbj1mQkMuNpYwgl4UTaqWgpNSv3dP6ps0J1CR5MeYjj1M90UzfbYHS4y6b9toZifnP5ba90zjuJHPEg0QaihSVWUw/s1600-h/DSCN0005.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMKUO_P6-_eZlIPEYYppdCWmRjiargMb0HKqEEVuIFqf6RVjbj1mQkMuNpYwgl4UTaqWgpNSv3dP6ps0J1CR5MeYjj1M90UzfbYHS4y6b9toZifnP5ba90zjuJHPEg0QaihSVWUw/s400/DSCN0005.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403688267356786002" border="0" /></a><br />After a couple of weeks (in October) the grass came up and I removed the straw. I only wish the rest of the yard looked as good as this single strip.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNdG7fFGydNP-7ZLgQtEyC8a6jIF1t7G_HUDWolIhQYIsg5yeSLrnEL8NraZv5pHPSLzD-CzkrvSeTBpkAT7Nkm1GQ0Zq2P_lDh2Gjl7CsBlXnVqO7cfYLCGonJo3kQuxNTC1fPg/s1600-h/DSC_0004.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNdG7fFGydNP-7ZLgQtEyC8a6jIF1t7G_HUDWolIhQYIsg5yeSLrnEL8NraZv5pHPSLzD-CzkrvSeTBpkAT7Nkm1GQ0Zq2P_lDh2Gjl7CsBlXnVqO7cfYLCGonJo3kQuxNTC1fPg/s400/DSC_0004.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403688277837192994" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio23w4JRBCF591_6vYd0itBIqSIKQ1ABmMmrJQP_qm6uQQe13XjIFnsj04HtHjhx7UMBTttU0wcvmGLU90OL3Efq64efzsokyEzz1NXwGCdN8gNGoR3Ckq-BVaybWgc61Xyl7lzA/s1600-h/DSC_0003-2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio23w4JRBCF591_6vYd0itBIqSIKQ1ABmMmrJQP_qm6uQQe13XjIFnsj04HtHjhx7UMBTttU0wcvmGLU90OL3Efq64efzsokyEzz1NXwGCdN8gNGoR3Ckq-BVaybWgc61Xyl7lzA/s400/DSC_0003-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403689549325727282" border="0" /></a>Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-79518294947753627172009-11-01T21:10:00.005-05:002009-11-01T21:29:32.438-05:00Sort by MagicDo you use Google Reader? I've written extensively about it <a href="http://brianmegilligan.blogspot.com/2008/02/using-rss.html">here</a>.<br /><br />Now, Google has this clever new feature <a href="http://smarterware.org/">Gina</a> pointed out on <a href="http://twit.tv/twig">TWiG</a>, which I think is really slick.<br /><br />If you're like me, you add many web posts to your feed and sort them by category. This sort is best handled with folders. Well now there's this nifty little feature called "sort by magic" which is an option under the "Folder Settings" pull down.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrZWijpGRf-uOl1fBJG_rn0j4-gnFxAhyphenhyphenjOY4ET_vR6Of83rM6L8ysnPU6VE-x_8ql0d1vPi6IAYLEcAXJ7hoQsXM8z0YI77JcA4vfRe0g1Qr9YvV57UeiB94grhO2Bm9ZH98p4g/s1600-h/Picture+2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 185px; height: 178px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrZWijpGRf-uOl1fBJG_rn0j4-gnFxAhyphenhyphenjOY4ET_vR6Of83rM6L8ysnPU6VE-x_8ql0d1vPi6IAYLEcAXJ7hoQsXM8z0YI77JcA4vfRe0g1Qr9YvV57UeiB94grhO2Bm9ZH98p4g/s400/Picture+2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399326661678473538" border="0" /></a>What it does is sort to the top of the list items that it thinks you will be most interested in based on your browsing habits. If you've shared, emailed, starred or "liked" certain types of posts in the past, it will elevate similar items to the top of your list. It works best if you have a lot of unread items as it will not show any regard for read vs unread items.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWHqw0f1uxRDlCHB_4KwTy7ZXxB2ZuTgtE4zNnhvKpHumdEDFz9HReartIv0Aib1Csx4r-W9cdTPO0oux7kYlKXmXIWdoXVpM1wzXbM-ih8t3x3EyrChBxYH28_iebPjvbhUM2Jg/s1600-h/Picture+4.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 20px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWHqw0f1uxRDlCHB_4KwTy7ZXxB2ZuTgtE4zNnhvKpHumdEDFz9HReartIv0Aib1Csx4r-W9cdTPO0oux7kYlKXmXIWdoXVpM1wzXbM-ih8t3x3EyrChBxYH28_iebPjvbhUM2Jg/s400/Picture+4.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399327342574941746" border="0" /></a><br />One more way in which Google knows even more about our browsing habits and interests. Ostensibly so they can sell you another ad.Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116341.post-3420173989189470592009-09-05T21:52:00.000-04:002009-09-05T21:53:26.169-04:00Resolute<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/103176.Resolute_The_Epic_Search_for_the_Northwest_Passage_and_John_Franklin_and_the_Discovery_of_the_Queen_s_Ghost_Ship" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Resolute: The Epic Search for the Northwest Passage and John Franklin, and the Discovery of the Queen's Ghost Ship" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171490620m/103176.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/103176.Resolute_The_Epic_Search_for_the_Northwest_Passage_and_John_Franklin_and_the_Discovery_of_the_Queen_s_Ghost_Ship">Resolute: The Epic Search for the Northwest Passage and John Franklin, and the Discovery of the Queen's Ghost Ship</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/30996.Martin_W_Sandler">Martin W. Sandler</a><br /><br /><br />My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/64955544">3 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />I would recommend this book. It may seem like the last subject you'd want to read about: a bunch of 19th century Britons trying to find a way to the Pacific Ocean over the top of North America.<br /><br />I'll be honest, if you had asked me if I knew what the North West Passage was before I read this book, I would have told you that is what Lewis and Clark were looking for.<br /><br />OK, so some random thoughts:<br /><br />• though the title is "Resolute" the book is far broader than about a boat that was lost and then found while looking for someone else that was lost.<br /><br />• the whole Arctic expedition thing was about two things: Finding the Northwest Passage, and/or finding the North Pole. The one who found either first would bring both personal and national glory.<br /><br />• the Royal navy was too proud to think about seeking counsel from those who might actually have experience in the Arctic. Namely the native Inuit people, who knew how to survive the year-round cold, and the whalers who knew how to navigate the ice flows and northern climates.<br /><br />• The people who explored and were lost or died or even returned unsuccessful in their quest were seen as heroes. This whole Arctic thing was a pretty big deal in the mid 1800's and captivated public attention, even though these explorers would leave and vanish from public consciousness for years at a time.<br /><br />I would recommend this book because this vast story is well-told. There are a lot of characters spanning the approximately 80 years of attempts to conquer the Arctic, but <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/30996.Martin_W_Sandler" title="Martin W. Sandler">Martin W. Sandler</a> organizes his book well with extended end notes (that stay out of the way of the drama of the story) and appendices that are quite interesting.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/965025-brian">View all my reviews >></a>Brian Megilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471029033794309001noreply@blogger.com