A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

-Robert A. Heinlein

That's always been a favorite quote of mine and, though I can't say I can do ALL of those (yet), it's one that I take to heart.

Scott Hanselman had a good post up yesterday called Please Learn to Think about Abstractions, in response to Jeff Atwood's Please Don't Learn to Code and Zed Shaw's rebuttal Please Don't Become Anything, Especially Not A Programmer, in which he makes a point very similar to Heinlein's:

...
Everything is a layer of abstraction over something else. I push a button on my Prius and the car starts. No need even for a key in the ignition. A hundred plus years of internal combustion abstracted away to a simple push button.

...

I think everyone should learn how to think and when to dig deeper and should be able to do it in a welcoming and friendly environment.

Learn how to question how things work. Learn that everything new and simple hides something large and complex. We are all standing on the shoulders of giants like Newton, Tesla, Kettering, Berners-Lee, and on and on.

You can choose to live in a world where things just work, or you can choose to dig a little. You don't need to learn to code, you don't need to be an expert in everything but know that you can learn. You can learn a little or a lot. I don't think the Mayor of New York needs to know how to code, but it'd be nice if he knew a little about DNS and a little about HTTP
...

I come across this phenomenon, the "Let the professional handle it" mindset, quite often. Hell - I used to have that mindset to a degree. It's definitely a lot less work to just call the plumber or the electrician or buy your way out of a problem, but it certainly doesn't help you prevent it next time. But if you don't try, you'll never learn. Then the next time it happens, you'll "call the professional" again and still be no better off.

To Scott's point, and Zed's, I'll take a ton of bad code over no code at all if it means that someone is learning a new way to do something, learning how to think a bit differently, or trying to solve a problem themselves.

There are a handful of Hall and Oates songs that I've always liked but I never went out of my way to listen to the duo. I didn't own any of their albums nor did I ever see them tour.

So it wasn't exactly breaking news to me when I heard back in 2008 about a new concept Daryl Hall had created. But after several friends and family recommended it, I checked it out and was hooked. Live From Daryl's House is an interesting concept. Each month, Daryl Hall invites an artist or music group to his house where he and his band jam for several hours, covering some of Hall and Oates's songs as well as some from the guest artist.

Two episodes have become favorites and get played relatively often:

Episode 5: KT Tunstall
Here is a clip of them playing Out of Time

Episode 15: Company of Thieves
Here is a clip of them playing Pressure, a Company of Thieves tune:

I highly recommend checking out the show and, even if you're not a fan of Daryl or his music, check the archives. He's had quite a few guest artists that cover a wide variety of music.

Found via Facebook - Vika Yermolyeva can seriously rock a piano! She covers an insane variety of excellent songs.

Sweet Child O' Mine


Hurt


More Than A Feeling - a rather unique cover


Personal Jesus - actually covering Johnny Cash's version


Stop by her site and give her a listen!

Denver, CO and Canton, OH both had great entries in the "Cops Gone Wild" category.

Denver was a strong contender with this one:

A Denver police officer fired for driving 88 mph above the speed limit while intoxicated has appealed his dismissal, arguing that the penalty is unfair and overly harsh.

Derrick Curtis Saunders, who had previously been cleared of charges he pointed a gun at a McDonald's employee in 2009, was arrested for speeding and DUI by the Colorado State Patrol. He couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

Saunders was traveling 143 mph in a 55-mph zone on June 17, 2010, according to the order terminating him, issued by Manager of Safety Alex Martinez on Dec. 7.

Source: Denver Post

Canton brought out their big guns with Officer Harless :

Officer Daniel Harless, who is currently under investigation for threatening to execute a concealed handgun license-holder during a traffic stop, and for a separate incident in which he threatened to send the suspects "to the grave" if they moved, adding, "I will shoot you in the face and I'll go to sleep tonight," is now also under investigation for a THIRD incident which was also caught on tape.

Source: Buckeye Firearms Association

So, to summarize:

Denver - a Denver cop drives drunk at a massively high speed (143 mph in a 55 mph zone) and gets fired, sentenced to five days in jail, fined $300 and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service. Seems a bit lenient to me, but at least it was some form of punishment.

Canton - a Canton cop threatens to execute people on THREE separate occasions and gets to keep his job while awaiting the results of a "hearing" and the only reason the hearing even happened is because of the publicity surrounding the THIRD incident. Had that youtube video not gone viral, it's likely that Canton would have swept this under the rug AGAIN.

So, what's the lesson we learned? If you're a supreme, power-mad asshole of the highest order who threatens to beat, torture, and execute a man ON CAMERA (like Officer Harless), then you should choose the Canton, OH police department over the Denver, CO police department.

My son has been asking when he can come to the range with me for quite some time. I figured I'd ease him into it so I suggested to my brother that a BB gun would be a good gift idea. Well, he certainly took that idea and ran with it!

What did he open Christmas morning? A Crosman BB/Pellet rifle! To say he was excited would be an understatement.


John on Christmas morning


In the backyard

Got him out this morning to shoot it for the first time. Lined a few empty cans and an empty milk jug at about 30 feet. While not a natural (yet!), he managed to hit about 50% of the targets the first time! He's a bit small to really use it well - we will see how well he grows into over the next few years before we upgrade him to his own .22 rifle.

I was one proud papa this morning!

Merry Christmas to all of my friends and family. And you too. Ha! Here's a bit of Eric Johnson - a decent way to get in the Christmas spirit.



Now all that you need is some Die Hard and you'll be good to go!

Just had a fantastic lunch at Penn Brewery, a local German brew pub. I've been there several times over the last ten years and it's always had good German food. They brew their own beer too and most of them are fantastic. But today's meal, despite not including an excellent beer, was extremely good. I had their Bacon Brew Dog. It's menu description is:

A 10 inch Silver Star frankfurter stuffed with fresh jalapenos, wrapped in three pieces of bacon, then deep fried and topped with shredded cheddar jack cheese, BBQ sauce and vinegar slaw in a hot dog bun.

Hot damn is it all that and more! The jalapenos were very fresh and pretty hot, the bacon was very crispy, and the BBQ sauce and slaw paired well together. The only thing I would have changed is to put it on a more substantial bun - this one started falling apart when confronted with so much tasty goodness.

Cheers to Penn Brewery - that was a tasty dog!

If you haven't checked out Gretchen Menn before, do it now. She's a phenomenal guitarist who was influenced heavily by Steve Morse, Eric Johnson, and Frank Zappa. You can definitely hear a bit of Eric Johnson in her playing. Quite a few of her songs have vaulted into my playlist.

Valentino's Victory Lap


Oleo Strut

"There are no American infidels in Baghdad. Never!" - that was quote from Baghdad Bob, the Iraqi Minister of Information, during the initial phase of war in Iraq. He was brutally, and deservedly, mocked for his inane and obvious lies.

It appears that, even here in America, we have our own version. Our own Beltway Bob.

His name is Eric Holder, US Attorney General.

Attorney General Eric Holder insists "nobody at the Justice Department has lied" about the gun-running scandal Fast and Furious. That in itself is a lie, as his deputy's emails prove.

- Investors Business Daily

And, much like Iraqi Information Minister, Eric "Beltway Bob" Holder is the mouthpiece for a corrupt and evil bureaucracy that engages in, covers up, and glosses over the very criminal actions for which they're so eager to prosecute others.

Looks like Officer Daniel Harless, a Canton Ohio police officer, may FINALLY get his disciplinary hearing. Buckeye Firearms reports that, after being postponed several times, it is currently scheduled for December 15th. The reason for previous postponements? He's on sick leave due to a PTSD disability.

As I've said before, Officer Harless is a supreme, power-mad asshole of the highest order who threatens to beat, torture, and execute a man ON CAMERA. He's the one making threats like this:

I swear to God this little bull crap you pulled has me so hot. You know what I should have done? I tell you what I should have done. As soon as I saw your gun I shoulda taken two steps back, pulled my Glock 40, and just put ten bullets in your ass and let you drop. And I wouldn't of lost any sleep. Do you understand me? And he would have been a nice witness as I executed you because you're stupid.

- Buckeye Firearms article
- YouTube video of the incident

Officer Harless should be jailed for threatening and intimidating someone as an officer of the law. At the very least, he should be fired and never employed as a police officer again. Of course, that's what should have happened the last time Officer Harless went nuclear on the job. Good luck, Canton Ohio. Hopefully the thin blue line won't sweep this one under rug ... again. And hopefully Allen Schulman has stopped crying in his wheaties.