Douglas Purdy

Every January 1st, since 2007, I have started the New Year by jumping in a large body of water.

Each year there is a different cohort of people that I am with.

Back in 2007 it was Don Box, Mike Abbott, and Brad Lovering, among others.

Last year, it was Dennis Pilarinos.

This year it is all me in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, although my brother waded a little to take pictures, for which I am thankful.

Now if you think this ritual is strange, I can add to that by talking about the importance of water purification and honoring the archetype of the Roman god Janus (where January comes from).

But I will forgo that and just show some pictures.

Next year I am going surfing.

I normally tweet things like this, but I have been reading Thus Spake Zarathustra and Beyond Good and Evil for what seems the 21th time (they should be read together, I have found) and this post really spoke to me.

From EcoGeek.org

Lori Marino at Emory University is taking a scientific approach to determining how human dolphi[n]s are. She’s simply running them through an MRI and measuring the complexity of their brains. The result, unsurprisingly, is that dolphins are extremely smart. Their brains, according to Emory, are more complex than any other non-human brain, beating out Chimpanzees for the title.

The question that post raises is how this fact should impact the way that treat dolphins and the ethics associated with that.

My question is a little more in depth, as I would love to question the fundamental values that led us to believe that (generally) humans are more valuable than dolphins.

As absurd as it may seem, ask yourself the question, “Why am I more valuable than a dolphin?” and then follow the chain down to your axiomatic values.

You may think that has a simple answer, but under careful scrutiny you end up with a teleological question and those sorts of questions are very hard indeed.

That aside, I think it is wonderful that we are getting some quant that we can use to determine the intelligence of a given non-human species.

I just looked at my most played songs that were released in 2009 (not my most played songs of the year).

New Fang: Them Crooked Vultures

Mind Eraser, No Chaser: Them Crooked Vultures

See You: Dinosaur Jr.

Catch & Release: Silversun Pickups

Best I Ever Had: Drake

Panic Switch: Silversun Pickups

Stillborn (Acoustic Version): Black Label Society

Check My Brain: Alice In Chains

Black Gives Way to Blue (Piano Mix): Alice In Chains

Run This Town (feat. Rihanna & Kanye West): Jay-Z

First two from http://scifiwire.com/2009/10/secret-photo-reveals-dart.php.  Last one from me.

My post the other day with the lyrics of “Going to California” was a bit of an inside joke.

I am starting to tell people outside of the company now (I think Dion was the first), so I’ll just create a post.

After PDC 2009 (you should go, it is going to be great), I’ll be moving back to the Valley again.

Same team, same technology, same sort of work (slightly different focus), but with different location.

These means more time at my favorite coffee shop and hopefully getting Microsoft into some the parties that we aren’t invite to right now (and maybe starting a few of our own).

Morning on Lake Washington with Seattle in the distance…

This is my favorite monologue in movie history.  I have even bought this DVD for people at work, just so they can see it.

Alec Baldwin plays the perfect asshole (rivaled only by his “I am God” performance in Malice), but this doesn’t take away from the power of the scene or of the acting.

The look on Jack Lemon’s face when Alec Baldwin pulls out the brass balls says it all.

You may have noticed that I now have ads on the sidebar of the site and within certain feed postings.

I am doing this experiment for two reasons.  First, I want to better understand how the ad funding model works (I know enough about it to be dangerous).  Second, I want to make some money.

Strictly speaking, I don’t need the money.  By all objective standards, I have enough.  By the subjective standards of most of the world, I have more than my fair share.  By my standards, I get a bill every month for the server hosting this blog and I want some way to offset it.  Another way to put it: Hobbies should pay for themselves (and maybe make a little extra).

So what have I learned so far?

1. People don’t like ads.  At least they don’t some to like the ads being served for my content.  Or I suppose people don’t like my content.
2. Feed ads pay.  They really do.  Feed ads seems to have a +10 hit point advantage in the ad campaign universe.  I can guess why, but if you know exactly why please add a comment, as it will help me understand this space better (and maybe make my content so compelling, someone will click on an ad).

I am going to keep running this experiment for a while.  I am thinking about trying different content approachs and ad placement to see if there is some coorelation (and potential causation) with the ad click rate.  We’ll see how it goes.

Still pulling over old posts from my defunct blog…  This is post is a reminder that no matter how bad you think your life is, it is a likely cakewalk compared to what other people have had to deal with — and many still do with on a daily basis…

I am tired of fighting.  Our chiefs are killed.  Looking Glass is dead.  Toohulhulsote is dead.  The old men are all dead.  It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led the young men is dead.

It is cold and we have no blankets.  The little children are freezing to death.  My people, some of them, have run away to the hills and have no blankets, no food.  No one knows where they are–perhaps freezing to death.

I want to have time to look for my children and see how many I can find.  Maybe I shall find them among the dead.

Hear me, my chiefs.  I am tired.  My heart is sick and sad.  From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Joseph

I am pulling over some notable posts from an older blog.  I could have written a script to make this transparent and non-lossy, but I am a big believer in only saving what you think is valuable, remembering that value (and reminding others of the value) and letting the rest go.

From http://www.fastcompany.com/profile-blog/our-deepest-fear:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

The title of this post is from someone else however…