Rod Trent at myITforum.com : Miscellaneous Nothings

Decision-making 101: Should you let your employees work from home?

rodtrent — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 00:08:11 GMT

You know your employees. Are they more likely to wear pants or shorts at home? Could a video conference call turn into an HR episode? Here’s how to decide

Decision-making 101: Should you let your employees work from home?

Things I've eaten - the list so far

rodtrent — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 00:51:00 GMT

Whenever I visit a new place, I make it my goal to find the most unique local cuisine and consume it. I travel to China, so that makes it pretty easy to find strange items - but, you'd be surprised the places in the U.S. that have interesting local eats.

Here's my current list which I'll add to as I either a) remember, or b) continue my trek across the world.

To some of you, items in the list may sound like everyday fare - but I'm only posting the things that I've seen people wince about when I've mentioned them.

Here we go...

Snake
Sea snake
Scorpion (the whole shebang, including stinger)
Raw Oysters
Crawfish
Turtle (soup)
Duck - pretty much all parts of the duck including the brain
Lots of Pig parts including brain, face, ears, feet, etc.
Sea urchin
Dog
Silk worm
Grasshopper
Cicada
Bear (steak)
Rabbit
Bison
Pretty much every part of the chicken (feet and other innards)
Scrapple
Blood/Black pudding
Chocolate covered ants
Earthworm
Alligator (gator wings)
Pigeon
Grubs
Escargot
Bird’s Nest Soup (swallow puke)
Haggis
Shark fin soup
Head cheese
Kangaroo
Fish (not weird by itself – but I really like to eat fish eyes)
Guasano (worm from the Agave plant)
POI
Durian
Wasp
Bee
Goat

The only items in this list that I would NOT eat again are silk worm (explodes like freshen-up gum) and Sea Urchin (tastes like a mouthful of sand and sea water – I really DID almost wretch on this one).

My favorites in the list so far? Scorpion (crunchy - tastes like peanuts and probably my most favorite snack in the world), duck brain (amazingly good even though you suck it straight out of the duck's skull), raw oysters (slimy, yet satisfying - plus I could eat 100 of these in one sitting), and gator wings (like a tough chicken - want to know what the "wings" are?).

Feel free to comment about your interesting feedbag items.

The Geek Alphabet

rodtrent — Mon, 17 May 2010 19:21:50 GMT

As a geek, you definitely know your ABCs, but do you know these? From A to Z, “away team” to “zork,” here is [GAS]’s take on the Geek Alphabet

The Geek Alphabet

Obama is my BFF…

rodtrent — Mon, 03 May 2010 13:08:09 GMT

Funny stuff! Jim Bezden posted this to the myITforum Off-Topic email list. If you attended MMS 2010, you know what the BFF button is about…

iPad – iFail?

rodtrent — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:04:44 GMT

Haitian Relief Request

rodtrent — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:54:15 GMT

My church, Community Harvest Church, will be receiving a special offering this Sunday, during both AM services (8:30 and 11:00), for the relief efforts in Haiti. Our missionary to Haiti, Terry Essex, will be with us during the 11:00 AM service to give us an update and receive the offering.

Terry operates an orphanage located about 35 miles from Port au Prince and has a direct contact on the ground. Already 100 refugees have come to the compound.

100% of the money received will go to the relief efforts (food and medical supplies) in Haiti. Western Union is currently waiving all fees for the relief effort (normally 11%). $100 will feed 10 people for 3 months or a $1,000.00 will feed 100 people for 3 months. Please prayerfully consider making a generous contribution to assist with the relief efforts. If you are unable to attend Sunday, please send a check or money order made out to Community Harvest Church, P.O. Box 79 Germantown, OH 45327 and designate it for Haitian Relief. Thank you!

Gearing up for the next trip to China…

rodtrent — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:00:18 GMT

It’s been a busy time around the Trent house for what seems like forever. China in March, MMS 2009 in April, local soccer program all summer, a kid starting college on a Track scholarship, a new baby, a daughter turning 16, etc., etc. So, now that I have a bit of extra time, it’s time to start planning for next year already.

The new year (2010) will bring some awesome things. MMS 2010 for one, but also, more importantly, our next trip to China.

We’re planning our next trip to China for March 2010, and we always need assistance in the form of prayers, support, and funds. If you want something real to support in this day-and-age, check into joining our cause.

We’re using the Causes.com web site to host our China missions, which also hooks into Facebook (if you use that). Here’s the permanent URL:

http://www.causes.com/causes/391836

Feel free to join, ask questions, and please consider donating to a worthy cause.

And, as always, as we travel across China again in March 2010, we’ll keep you updated constantly through Twitter and Facebook.

Seti May Have Received Its First Reply : SCI FI PI // SCI FI Channel

rodtrent — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:45:46 GMT

Coolest possible alien news (although probably really not) for a while.
A meeting at the American Astronomical Soceity (it's 213th) has provided the platform for NASA to reveal that they've picked up a radio signal six times more powerful than all previous radio signals PUT TOGETHER - and they haven't yet been able to narrow it down to a natural source.
Which means only one thing. Aliens.
Or, something really, really cool. And big.
Here's what space.com had to say about it:
"Many objects in the universe, including stars and quasars, emit radio waves. Even our home galaxy, the Milky Way, emits a static hiss (first detected in 1931 by physicist Karl Jansky). Other galaxies also send out a background radio hiss.
But the newly detected signal, described here today at the 213th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, is far louder than astronomers expected.
There is "something new and interesting going on in the universe," said Alan Kogut of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
A team led by Kogut detected the signal with a balloon-borne instrument named ARCADE (Absolute Radiometer for Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Diffuse Emission).
In July 2006, the instrument was launched from NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas, and reached an altitude of about 120,000 feet (36,500 meters), where the atmosphere thins into the vacuum of space.
ARCADE's mission was to search the sky for faint signs of heat from the first generation of stars, but instead they heard a roar from the distant reaches of the universe.
"The universe really threw us a curve," Kogut said. "Instead of the faint signal we hoped to find, here was this booming noise six times louder than anyone had predicted."
Detailed analysis of the signal ruled out primordial stars or any known radio sources, including gas in the outermost halo of our own galaxy.
Other radio galaxies also can't account for the noise – there just aren't enough of them.
"You'd have to pack them into the universe like sardines," said study team member Dale Fixsen of the University of Maryland. "There wouldn't be any space left between one galaxy and the next."
The signal is measured to be six times brighter than the combined emission of all known radio sources in the universe.
For now, the origin of the signal remains a mystery.
"We really don't know what it is,"said team member Michael Seiffert of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
And not only has it presented astronomers with a new puzzle, it is obscuring the sought-for signal from the earliest stars. But the cosmic static may itself provide important clues to the development of galaxies when the universe was much younger, less than half its present age. Because the radio waves come from far away, traveling at the speed of light, they therefore represent an earlier time in the universe.
"This is what makes science so exciting," Seiffert said. "You start out on a path to measure something – in this case, the heat from the very first stars – but run into something else entirely, some unexplained."

Seti May Have Received Its First Reply : SCI FI PI // SCI FI Channel

Amazing time-lapse video shows 2008 in 40 seconds

rodtrent — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:22:27 GMT

One year in 40 seconds from Eirik Solheim on Vimeo.

British Navy Releases "Windows For Submarines" (MSFT)

rodtrent — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:04:36 GMT

The British Royal Navy has developed a modified version of the Windows XP operating system for its warships. The first version, "Windows for Submarines," is being installed on the fleets nuclear submarines. Versions of this operating system is being adapted for surface ships as well.

British Navy Releases "Windows For Submarines" (MSFT)

Oldest’s Dunk in game over the weekend

rodtrent — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 23:35:30 GMT

Our oldest, Alex, who you’ve read about here for is mad Track skills also plays basketball in his Senior year. Over the weekend he boxed out the shooter, grabbed the long rebound and made his way down the court for a tomahawk jam. He was also fouled on the play.

Oldest gets photo in the paper again…

rodtrent — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 14:33:46 GMT

He gets his photo in the paper due to his Track skills regularly, but here’s a couple from last night’s season opener. Alex’s team lost, but they used the foul shot photo in the local newspaper.

Have you had a positive DHL experience?

rodtrent — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:16:45 GMT

If you read through my blog postings for the last few years you’ll find some endearing stories about my DHL experiences. I have never had a positive DHL experience. I don’t think I’m alone. If so, they are singling me out which isn’t cool anyway.

I received a response to a DHL post today indicating that while DHL may possibly be the worst delivery carrier in the domestic market, they are the #1 provider for international small parcel delivery.

So…that leaves it to you. Have you had a positive DHL experience you would like to share? Any international (or U.S.) users want to chime in?

Does your professional demeanor change in the current economy? – just some thoughts…

rodtrent — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:57:52 GMT

With lay-offs happening and more looming, and consulting gigs trashed due to the economic landscape of today, how do you promote yourself to stand out in a long line of folks who need jobs and projects?

Does the current economic landscape change how you act and react to customer requests and concerns? Has the economy affected your professional attitude at all?

I’m sure it will shortly. Those with horrible bedside manners will probably be the first to be affected.

I can sense a time coming shortly where we’ll have to potentially change our attitudes toward the job and projects. Maybe, that’s already happening. Folks are seeing lay-offs all around them and are already starting to dust-off and spiff-up the old resume – just in case. Some continue to go on as normal without considering that attitudes and reactions could spell doom for their professional career.

Consider that it’s time for professional improvement. What you could have brushed off casually in the past may be the deciding point of today.

DHL scaling back U.S. operations?

rodtrent — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:45:50 GMT

FedEx says so. This is something I had not heard about until I received an email from FedEx.

FedEx’s link whisked me away to this page which talks about DHL scaling back, as well as, how FedEx is ready to serve:

http://choose.fedex.mediacdt.com/

Frankly, IMO, DHL is the worst carrier out there. I’ve complained about them before. See here:

Why does MS insist on DHL?

Is DHL the worst delivery company out there?