Events

Last night, while watching the Seahawks-Packers game (and rooting for the Seahawks for the same reason I wore a Giants hat to a Reds game), I saw the end of the rule of law. For three weeks, the National Football League referees have been locked out in a pensions dispute. The NFL has called in refs from the lower rungs of college sports, causing, to put it politely, controversy. Games have gotten longer by about 15 minutes as the replacement refs double-check the rules and the replays, causing players...

My laptop's solid-state drive died this afternoon. It had a long, long life (23 months—almost double what they usually get). I am thankful to the departed SSD for that, and: for dying after the client presentation, not before; for dying on the first day of a three-week project, not the last; and for living 23 months, which is about as spectacular as a dog living 23 years. I am now rebuilding my laptop on a larger but slightly slower SSD, which I hope lasts nearly as long.

Yesterday I posted a shot of the Cincinnati Reds clinching the National League Central Division title. Here's the whole park, from the cheap seats: And here's a little nerd humor for you. Why can't anyone hit a home run over Cincinnati's center-field wall? Because no one can find it: More Cincinnati photos after my 1pm meeting...

Yesterday afternoon, I saw this happen: That's the Cincinnati Reds just after they beat Los Angeles to become the National League Central Division champions this year. And because they beat L.A., they helped San Francisco clinch the West, making it an all-around fun afternoon. (N.B.: I wore a Giants hat to the game.) More Cincinnati and Great American Ball Park photos when I get back to Chicago.

It's a beautiful afternoon for a ballgame, at least here in Cincinnati, where I hope to see the Reds become the first team this season to clinch its division outright. I'll actually be wearing a Giants hat, as a Cincinnati win against the Dodgers today moves San Francisco's magic number to 1—and I want to see them in the playoffs. Anyway, it's 21°C, partly cloudy, and Oktoberfest is right outside my hotel room. I am optimistic about this trip to the 24th park in the Geas. Update: O noes! I missed the...

As a person with a bachelors degree in history, this compilation of Republican ideas about history made me laugh. And cry: 1500s: The American Revolutionary War begins: “The reason we fought the revolution in the sixteenth century was to get away from that kind of onerous crown.”—Rick Perry 1619-1808: Africans set sail for America in search of freedom: “Other than Native Americans, who were here, all of us have the same story.”—Michele Bachmann 1812: The American War for Independence ends: “ ‘The...

Via writer Daniel Vergara, the Guardian U.K. newspaper posted a quiz on Mitt Romney's gaffes: Who said: 1. On making the case for greater consumer choice in health insurance: “I like being able to fire people who provide services to me.” Mitt Romney John McCain Et cetera. Well, it seems Mitt made a cracking impression on the Brits, what what!

Deny thy boardroom and refuse thy chiefs, Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn on-time, And let the Cactus purchase you! Sorry. For those joining our program in progress, "Cactus" is the callsign of US Airways, who are now in merger talks with the airline I fly all the time, American. Today American's pilots are trying to make that merger happen more quickly, but they have come to bury American, not to praise it. American's pilots, who spurned management's "last best" offer before the company went into...

Before I forget, and get lost in my work again today: Exelon Energy's power outage SMS notifications actually work. You should sign up. Loyola University ethics professor Al Gini wonders why college students cheat. WBEZ has yet another 'Chicago has Great Craft Breweries' article that I couldn't resist reading. Mitt Romney has the distinction of being the only presidential candidate since before 1988 with net unfavorable ratings in mid-September. Every other candidate, Democratic or Republican, who has...

Last night, around 11:30pm, the power went out in my apartment building and the ones on either side. I know this because the five UPS units around my place all started screaming immediately. There are enough of them to give me about 10 minutes to cleanly shut down the servers, which I did, but not before texting the local power company to report it. They had it on again at 1:15am, just after I'd fallen asleep. I finally got to bed around 2 after bringing all the servers back online, rebooting my desktop...