smays.com

John Mays - WWII

John Mays joined the navy on May 28, 1943. He was discharged on March 9, 1946. He served as a radio operator on several ships that saw action in the Pacific (USS Mount McKinley; USS Appalachian; USS New Jersey; USS Iowa; USS War Hawk). He seldom spoke of his war experiences, but took part in several invasions and was aboard ships that came under attack.

And John looked great in uniform. [Photo 1-Photo 2-Photo 3-Photo 4]

The Japanese surrended on August 15, 1945. My mom was in St. Louis for New Year's Eve, and the new year must have looked a lot brighter.

Disturbing.

Clicked across this last night on the Sundance channel. "WHOLE takes you into the world of people obessed with becoming an amputee. Some are "wannabes" while others succeed in ridding themselves of a limb. This documentary reveals the impact the obsession has on loved ones, and also examines how medical professionals are dealing with the growing worldwide network of amputee wannabes."

And it's a clip-on.

"Researchers analyzed swabs taken from 42 neckties worn by physicians and medical staff as well as 10 neckties from security staff at the medical center. The swabs were cultured on laboratory plates and analyzed for the growth of microorganisms. Of the 42 neckties belonging to the physicians and medical staff, 20 contained dangerous bacteria that can cause pneumonia, urinary tract infections, blood infections and other illnesses." More >>

stevemays@gmail.com

What's an invitation for a Gmail account worth? If you have an invitation to open an account on Google's new e-mail service, you could sell it on eBay for as much as $60. But if cash is a little too prosaic for you, your Gmail invitation could net you 4 pounds of fresh fudge, some Jewish mystical knowledge, a photo of a wife and a girlfriend kissing, a tarantula, Paris Hilton's phone number or any one of more than 1,000 other options. Full article at Wired.com

Your horse will weep.

The Sons of the Western Bootheel have re-released their CD of cowboy music. You can listen to one of their songs and order a copy here.

A Scanner Darkly

"Philip K. Dicks A Scanner Darkly is set to start filming this July. As has been reported, Keanu Reaves will play Bob Arctor, the Orange County narc who goes schizo after being assigned to spy on himself. Linklater has been planning this project for years; it was Reaves interest in the story that finally got the ball rolling. As has been already noted, Winona Ryder, Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson, and Rory Cochrane round out the cast, though it also needs to be mentioned that these are some of the most famous druggies in Hollywood."[Link to Boing Boing]

I've never met the most interesting people I'll never know.

I've been reading her website for years.

Living too long.

I attended a little get-together last weekend to mark the graduation of one of Barb's nephews. "You're just lucky we didn't make you come out wearing a SCUBA suit," I said. Blank looks. "Like in The Graduate," I said. More blank looks. "Dustin Hoffman?"

Still brilliant after all these years.

Eric Idle's The FCC Song.

Is it just me, or does this TV show just write itself?

Brianna --who has been homesteading the cube outside my office-- is leaving us. Her husband is taking a new job and she's going to be a governess. In her spare time, she has been coaching a girl's high school dance team.

Learning Life's Lessons early

The Jeffasaurus is alone, lonely and roaming the Isles of America. Join him if you dare.

No tower. No transmitter.

Home networking leader Linksys today made official a new product in the world of wireless media playback. This radio (appliance? gizmo?) can play digital audio over the wireless LAN without any help from the stereo receiver in your living room.

Coming in July.

New novels by two of my favorite authors. R is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton and Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen.

Cheese.

The new digital cameras and software can make you start thinking you take good photographs. Until you look at the professional stuff. Mike Ransdell (the son of a co-worker) is a sports photographer for the Kansas City Star.

Not for sale

No way to know if it's legit or just a way to get my email address but I received an email offering a $1,000 for the smays.com domain. While there's no shortage of people named Steve Mays out there, it's hard to imagine any of them being willing to cough up a grand for smays.com. I wrote back saying this little corner of cyber space is not for sale. Given the hassle of moving, I don't think I'd sell for $10K.

If you're looking for a reason to hang on.

The new season of Reno 911 debuts on June 9th on Comedy Central. Comedy is not dead on TV, it's just fled the lame networks for cable/satellite.

The Creation of Viretta

The Reverend Slick returned to Kennett last night to infuse new life into my good friend Viretta.

Un-Blogged.

Almost a week without a post. First part of the week at our Dallas office. Did not lug the new Thinkpad and it made the trip just that much easier. The hotel had a little business center where you could just plop down and log on for email and surfing. Very convenient. And they offered in-room broadband for about ten bucks a day. Now that I spend 10 hours a day online, it's nice to be unplugged from time to time. I had to be the only person on the plane without a cell phone OR a laptop.

Last couple of days dedicated to one of those unpleasant but life-saving procedures we 50-somethings must endure. If you have not done this drill, don't put it off. The run-up (so to speak) was a little gross but the procedure was a piece of cake. A little Demarol...a little Versed...and you don't feel/remember a thing. Which raises some interesting questions.

If you experienced the worst day of your life...something truly horrible...and there was a drug that made you forget the previous 24 hours, would you take it? If not, why? You have one hour and please leave your Blue Books on my desk as you leave.

Sit. Stay.

Last week was National Pet Week they had a little parade down Main Street (High Street, actually) here in Jefferson City on Saturday. This little video runs about 3 minutes and the file is 4.5 meg. I realize the music is obvious and over-done but it was late.

Breaker, breaker.

70 percent of truckers own computers and nearly two-thirds have Internet access at home. Wireless Internet is fast becoming as vital a communications tool for drivers as CB radio, truckers say, giving them a way to stay in closer touch with home and to entertain themselves. [AP story via Doc]

What an opportunity.

"The greatest country in history. We can do so much. We will do so much. This country was, after all, founded to move into the future, not to hold onto the habits and ideas of the past. For most countries, if you ask them what they are, what's unique and defining about them, they'll point to their past. Not us. Americans have always pointed to the future. If you want to understand us, look at what we're going to do. Americans face forward." A speech that David Weinberger wrote but never gave.

John Conner: We're not gonna

John Conner: We're not gonna make it are we? People, I mean.
Terminator: It's in your nature to destroy yourselves.
John Conner: Major drag, huh?

-- Terminator II: Judgement Day

Captain Lewis

RIP TechTV.

I now have an extra 90 minutes a day. Next to HBO, this was my favorite channel.

Unwired.

This post comes to you from the deck overlooking Barb's beautiful yard (she did all the work). Wireless at long last, thanks to the efforts of Joel and Phil, two of the IT gods at Learfield. I'm told that untethered computing is a very different experience in subtle ways. I'm looking forward to flipping open the Thinkpad from an easy chair, in bed or here on the deck. This is the way it's supposed to work.

Younger than that now.

You can skip this post if you're not from Kennett. If you are, and 50+, perhaps you can help me ID some of the people in this photograph. I can only get a handful. Front row (seated): Terry Reeder, Steve Mays. Second row: Karen McAlister (?), Larry Cowgill, Jim Henson, Unknown3, Gene Overall, Unknown4, Mike French. Third row: Unknown5, Unknown6, Unknown7, Mary Talbert, Buddy Shivley, Mike Neeley. You can help me fill in the blanks at stevemays@hotmail.com

Needed some help with

Needed some help with a Linksys router last week and wound up talking to a lady in Punjab or Kandahar or some such place. I could live with the 5 second delay on the satellite/phone hook-up but her English was just slightly better than my Punjabie. Gave up on the Linksys router and purchased one by Netgear. I found myself reading the back of the box to see if there was any mention of where their tech support folks are located. I think that would be a strong selling feature. I'd pay more for a product if I knew I'd be speaking to someone in the U.S.A.

Gmail.

As a long-time Blogger subscriber (going on three years), I got an invite to beta test Google's new email service, Gmail. And they allowed me to invite two friends to try the service. One of whom pointed out that these accounts are selling for as much as $50 on eBay. Might be just because not everyone can get them yet... or the gig of storage. I'm not ready to drop Hotmail as my back-up (to work) email.

Outsourcing fascism.

"In the 21st century, the secret police will have corporate IDs." [David Weinberger]

Linking to individual posts.

I'm not sure I've ever explained this but, if I have, it won't hurt to mention it again. If you want to link to a specific post on this weblog, you can use the "permalink" found at the bottom of each post. This can also be used if you want to email a link to someone. Just right-click on the corresponding "LINK" ...select COPY SHORTCUT... and then past that into your email. That link will get you back to that post, even after it's archived.

What could be better than Tivo?

Later this month, the BBC will launch a pilot project that could lead to all television programs being made available on the Internet. Viewers will be able to scan an online guide and download any show.

I may weep.

1.3 megabits per second.

It doesn't make you a baaad person.

Bob from Madison, Wisconsin, was bothered by the image evoked in the previous post ("Was he on the lamb?"). He suggested that I probably meant, "On the lam" and went on to define the word. To escape, as from prison. Flight, especially from the law: escaped convicts on the lam. Dictionary.com provided no origin for the word "lam." I thought the expression derived from thieves stealing sheep and fleeing (on the lamb). I feel a little sheepish about my linguistic lapse but being "on the lamb" would certainly explain the name change.

Mase

While transcribing some of my mother's notes in the family Bible, I noticed that great grandfather spelled his name "Mase." My grandfather spelled his name, "Mays." That branch of the family tree originated in upstate New York and I'm not sure how my grandfather came to live in Missouri. But why the name change? Religious or ethnic angle? Was he on the lamb? Never heard a word about this growing up. Wonder if there's a good story behind the change. I really don't want to get hooked on the family tree thing but this is kind of interesting.

Jesusblog.com.

Doc Searls wonders "what if Jesus had a blog." I know, I know... the Bible is God's Word so Jesus wouldn't NEED a blog. But, see, it's just an idea. If he were here today (I know, I know) and could could talk to us using this medium... it would be wonderful. We'll see, somebody has the domain. (I particularly like the "Coming Soon")

So real, no one will ever know.

"Nothing gives you the upper hand like knowing the other guy is wearing somebody else's hair." -- Lawrence Block's The Burglar on the Prowl.

Fast Lane.

Two years ago I signed up for ADSL service with a local ISP. 512Kbps down/128Kbps up...for $50 a month. Yesterday I switched to Sprint and now have 1.5Mbps down/256Kbps up...for $60 month. I was really dreading the switch but it went smoothly. And the Sprint reps were amazing. My initial contact ("Dave") called frequently with updates and early this morning to be sure everything was working properly. I ran into a little snag during set up and called Sprint tech support. "Rocky" was in North Carolina (not Pakistan). He spoke English and was very helpful. Had me going in 15 minutes.

I'm now surfing at twice the speed for just pennies a day more. Since the early modem days (300 baud!) I've dreamed of a fast connection. Oh, if I only had a T1 line! Imagine my surprise when I learned that my DSL line is the same speed as a T1. Next challenge: going wireless at home. To be continued.