jacob.russell

Leeward Design


sad start to the blog

April 16th, 2008 at 12:56 am

You’ll have to excuse the slow start to the blog here while I’m getting through the past few weeks of the semester.  Some interesting statistics for the end of this semester:

  • 4 all nighters for work
  • 39 pages of documentation created on my own (including code)
  • 27 pages of documentation created as a group (all from scratch)
  • 3 ten minute presentations (all 3 in a suit, 1 in front of the CEO and several staff from an NPO)
  • 1 web site with complete accessibility for the blind and visually impaired
  • 2 nasty blisters on my feet from the shoes I have to wear with my suit

And all that without including the exams I have to study for next week, or the other homework mixed in. :D

But basically, I’ll be writing more when life is a little more sane.


hobbits probably did it

April 7th, 2008 at 11:13 am

NZ Man ‘Used Hedgehog as Weapon’

Yes.  That is all. :)


funnier on his own

April 7th, 2008 at 9:44 am

Not only did Conan not need writers in order to be funny, I’ll go as far as to say his show was funnier without them.

Edit: Well darn, that didn’t last long… already taken down for copyright.  Basically it was a bunch of clips from Conan during the writers strike that were high quality humor.  Now it’s nothing. :)


you kidding me?

April 6th, 2008 at 4:51 pm

I officially graduate TWENTY days from today, assuming I pass everything.

That’s less then 3 weeks.

I have so much to do  I might well explode.

I have no idea where I’m going to live 21 days from now.

I have no idea where I’ll find a job.

In fact I haven’t even had time to send out my resume anywhere.

This is why you don’t take 18 credits in your last semester kids.


macgyver is my hero

March 31st, 2008 at 7:18 pm

My buddy Nate found this online and had it in his away message, and I couldn’t not post it.  CBS has put the full first season of MacGyver on their web site for free.  Definitely worth watching in case you find yourself in a shady situation with piece of gum and a belt buckle. ;)

MacGyiver - Season One


a note about commenting

March 29th, 2008 at 2:09 am

Just so anyone who’s starting to wander around knows how commenting is set up here, I’m gonna lay it out for you:

  • You must be registered in order to comment, it’s an easy process, but it cuts down on spam (a lot) and keeps people from saying mean things while hiding behind the guise of anonymity.   By all means feel free to say mean things if you disagree with me, but this way at least I’ll know who doesn’t like me. :)
  • Your -first- comment must be approved before it’ll show up.  This is another spam fighting technique that allows me to cut spammers off at the pass.  All this means for you is that after you leave your first comment it won’t show up until I give it the go-ahead.
  • After the first comment you’ll be able to comment as much as you want and it will show up right away!

I hope that registering won’t be a problem for anyone, but really I think that even if nothing else this is a good way to keep things organized.  So, that said, go comment!


now here’s a real man

March 29th, 2008 at 1:57 am

A Victim Treats His Mugger Right : NPR

Article linked right there above, but I’ve got to tell you, this guy really impresses me.  I’m not sure why, but it tugged at my emotions that someone would be this generous and understanding of someone who tried to rob them.  Course, could’ve also been Edwin McCain’s “I’ll Be” playing in iTunes, but whatcha gonna do?

It makes me happy to see that there’s people this selfless still out there.  I mean honestly, if someone mugs you and steals your wallet, your first reaction will be what?  Fear?  Of course.  Then probably anger.  But to take the kid out to dinner and give him some life lessons that, while they may not change his life, well could, is pretty amazing.  Gives a new meaning to the idea of criminal corrections.

I’d like to shake his hand.


liberals are more giving?

March 28th, 2008 at 12:45 pm

Or are they?

I’ve always just assumed, or used what I thought was common sense in the belief that as a whole, liberals are more giving people then conservatives.  This is from my perspective as someone who came into college as a right wing conservative who has become a moderate in college, though I would by no means call myself a liberal.  That said it has always been somewhat of a sad admission that liberals, the tree-hugging, ‘love wins’ (sorry Mars Hill attendees), bleeding hearts that they are, are also more giving of their time and money to the causes they support.  It makes sense right?

Apparently it doesn’t.  Check out the following quote from the article “Conservatives More Liberal Givers” on RealClearPolitics.com:

  • Although liberal families’ incomes average 6 percent higher than those of conservative families, conservative-headed households give, on average, 30 percent more to charity than the average liberal-headed household ($1,600 per year vs. $1,227).
  • Conservatives also donate more time and give more blood.
  • Residents of the states that voted for John Kerry in 2004 gave smaller percentages of their incomes to charity than did residents of states that voted for George Bush.
  • Bush carried 24 of the 25 states where charitable giving was above average.
  • In the 10 reddest states, in which Bush got more than 60 percent majorities, the average percentage of personal income donated to charity was 3.5. Residents of the bluest states, which gave Bush less than 40 percent, donated just 1.9 percent.
  • People who reject the idea that “government has a responsibility to reduce income inequality” give an average of four times more than people who accept that proposition.

That’s pretty clear evidence that my perception of what types of people give more to charity was completely incorrect.  If you look at the full article it goes more into detail about why this is the case, but the reason that stood out more to me is that the majority of Christians are conservatives, and this is the single most charitable people group when religion and political stance are considered.  The article also states that the least charitable group is secular conservatives, which makes it fairly apparant that political leaning isn’t the greatest determining factor.

Kind of puts a different perspective on things…


blog is back

March 27th, 2008 at 3:39 pm

So I decided to give blogging another shot after a year (or has it been longer) off.  I figure that since I’m getting close to graduating (either 1 month or 3, depending on how well I finish the semester) it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have this up for those of my friends who are curious about what I’m doing after college.  It’ll probably be a little less personal then it was before, but that comes with the territory of growing up and trying to find a ‘career’ job.

So yeah, ironically I guess I dont have much to say right at the moment.  But I will be around now posting up both what’s going on in my life and I’m sure random soapboxing, since I’m usually annoyed about some bit of stupidity. :)