Michael Baird May 12th, 2007
NCARB sure takes their sweet time grading tests. It’s the waiting that kills you. Good news finally arrived today. That’s two down, seven to go. Next test is Lateral Forces, scheduled for Thursday, June 21 at 8am.
Michael Baird May 8th, 2007
Got this shot after the MS walk on Sunday. Really pleased with the look. Processes include tone mapping, high pass filtering on the bean, unsharp masking and color matching.
Michael Baird May 3rd, 2007
Great tip on lifehacker today about using classic paintings to spice up your photos. I took this cute photo of Olivia and used Claude Monet’s “The Walk. Lady with a Parasol” as a source for the color match. The result is both cute (in my opinion) and vibrant.
Michael Baird April 25th, 2007
On my Focus.
Front passenger side. Cracked suspension spring; makes a loud clanging sound whenever I turn the steering wheel.
I have an uncle-in-law who is a mechanic, usually he is willing and able to provide any maintenance needed, but has recently been experiencing problems with his sciatic nerve. Not wanting to cause him any further pain or anguish I am going to do the work myself with some tips and supervision from him.
Parts list from NAPA:
- 2 Struts: $105.98
- 2 Springs: $117.00
- 2 Strut Bearing Plates: $92.38
or
- 2 Monroe Quick Strut Modular Assemblies: $308
The math is simple. To buy and assemble the spring and struts it would cost $315.36 plus tax while the Quick Struts would only cost $308 plus tax.
The real savings is in time and safety. By using the Quick Struts, I shouldn’t have to worry about compressing any springs or assembling the parts before installation.
So the choice is:
OR
It’s nice when life gives you these kinds of choices…
Michael Baird April 24th, 2007
I have a Architectural Registration Exam scheduled for Friday the 27th. I decided to take General Structures. I would consider it to be one of the harder tests, from my point of view.
Studying is a bit of a chore when the only thing you want to do when you get home from work is spend time with your family. But I had to schedule it. I have to start taking tests. I am subject to the rolling clock, which means i have to retake tests if I haven’t passed all of them within five years. Plus they are updating the test format to ARE 4.0. The newer tests are multiple choice / fill in the blank / vignettes all mixed together whereas the current tests are either multiple choice OR vignettes.
I just need to buckle down, schedule and study. I may fail a couple, but I can’t pass them if I don’t take them.
Michael Baird April 20th, 2007
photo by Xenith.org (terms)
Boingboing.net has a post about a challenge to have people commit the eternal sin and post it up on youtube.
Now, officially, I’m a Christian. Raised in a somewhat religious household. Attended a non-denominational Bible Church in Chillicothe, Illinois. Attended church weekly, sometimes by force. But I would like to think that I paid attention, learned good from bad and was lucky enough to attend a small town church with a gentle and sensible pastor with a relatively realistic view on life and religion. It is where I came to realize that religion isn’t always a hootin, hollerin glamour show. It is personal, and a choice that can not be forced on others. And that your actions will make more of an impact than your words ever will. So I like to think that I have a fairly informed view of the Christian religion.
That being said, I was unaware of an eternal sin, other than not accepting Christ as your savior…
So, intrigued with the subject, I had an interesting google talk exchange with my brother, a graduate in some ministerial capacity from Wheaton College (for whatever reason I can never remember exactly in what), who I usually default to when a religious question pops up.
He said in his life of attending church he can only recall one or two instances where the eternal sin is brought up. So rarely spoken of in church perhaps because pastors and ministers don’t want to explain to the Sunday attendees that the big sell has a caveat.
Yes God will forgive you of ALL sins no matter what. No questions asked, no matter how many times you sin, no matter what the sin is……..except for that one sin.
He pointed me towards a nice write-up by pastor John Piper from Bethlehem Baptist Church that gives a bit more of an interpretation of the unforgivable sin. It does appear to exist and for people who believe, apparently there is a line you can cross that puts you beyond repentance. Whether making a video and denying the existence of the Holy Spirit will put you over the line is probably debatable.
From John Piper’s article:
The unforgivable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an act of resistance which belittles the Holy Spirit so grievously that he withdraws for ever with his convicting power so that we are never able to repent and be forgiven.
Making the video may not cross the line, but posting it on youtube might just do the trick. Who knows…
Michael Baird April 18th, 2007
I ran across this great link on digg. It’s a collection of sweet-ass free Photoshop brushes.
Click for full size version (1280×1024)
Michael Baird March 28th, 2007
You know what I love about the internet? It gives the middle aged men with beards, backpacks and neckstrap passes something to do.
Michael Baird March 19th, 2007
This is the first line of an absolutely great article titled “Unhappy Meals” from the New York Times. It covers almost all the bases about eating with regard to health and lifestyle.
The gist of the article is in the title. Eat food, not foodstuffs, not nutrient enriched chemical creations. A good rule of thumb is to imagine if your great great grandmother would recognize it as food. Keep your food intake in check, and watch the amount of meat you eat.
This article, while long, is a must read for anyone who struggles with their weight or needs a ground floor introduction on the right way to eat. Even for those who think they know what they are doing because they are following recommended dietary guidelines, this article will shed some light on who is influencing those guidelines and who is really benefiting in the end (hint: most likely not you).
So clear some time in your schedule, grab a carrot and click here to read the whole article.
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