Jamie Thingelstad

Anybody that has talked to me about music recently knows that I’ve been working on a huge project to move all of our music to a home media server in MP3 format. A couple of months ago I completed ripping and tagging all of our CDs to the recently built Teraserver (home server with a total of 1.4 terabytes of disk). That was a huge milestone as it involved going through nearly 1,000 CDs.

However, still in front of me was my (relatively small) collection of records – good ole’ vinyl. Well I just completed ripping, splitting into tracks and tagging all my vinyl as well to the media server so I have now completed my project. :-)

We did the Minnetonka Summer Festival 8k run this morning. This is the first time we have done this run (two years ago we did the 2 mile fun run that is part of this event). The course was fairly hilly and challenging but an enjoyable run nonetheless.

The pancake breakfast afterwards was a bit cheesey but very good and exceptionally cheap.

Today was the opening day for Fahrenheit 9/11 (there was an early opening in New York on Wednesday). Tammy and I have been planning on seeing this since we first heard of it and were excited to finally take in the movie.

First of all, you know that the movie you are going to is not just “some random film” when on your drive home you see a person with a bed sheet that has “Fahrenheit 9/11” written on it draping it over a freeway overpass. This is a charged movie that takes some very serious political stances.

Secondly, I am fully aware that Michael Moore is as left as they come. If you turn the dial all the way left, push until the dial breaks, and then keep going left you may get to Michael Moore eventually. However, even with this fact this is still a very good film.

Put simply for anyone that may not want to read a lot – you need to see this movie. Really, I’m not saying you should see it, I’m saying you need to see it. If you pay $1 in taxes. If you care at all about our troops. If you care about our country in any way. You simply have to see this movie.

There, I got that out of the way. I wont try to give a review of the movie, there are plenty of places that will give you that. I can tell you that the film is heart touching and made me incredibly pissed at the same time. All of Michael Moore’s movies are a wake-up call, but this is a totally different level. Watching George W. sit in a Florida school room after knowing that the World Trade Towers were hit 5 minutes earlier for a PR visit is enough to make a person ill.

I do want to take a moment to thank George W. though for one thing and that is waking both Tammy and I up. After seeing what can happen we will both take note to be more active and see what we can do to further the causes of groups that we approve of and simultaneously limit the actions of the “Bush Dynasty” and their cohorts.

Occasionally people clap at the end of a movie. This film nearly got a standing ovation. I was smiling with a grin from ear-to-ear as I left the theater though and saw that the showing after ours had sold out, as did ours, and there was a line of people down to the lobby waiting to see Fahrenheit 9/11. I hope you all see it. I hope everyone sees it.

If you are curious it is a Live Strong wristband. This is part of the Wear Yellow fundraising campaign from the Lance Armstrong Foundation to raise money for cancer research. As many of you know I’m a fan of professional cycling, and as almost any US fan of american cycling I’m also a fan of Lance Armstrong.

It’s amazing to me how hostile some drivers are to people on bicycles. This article in the Star Tribune highlights another recent hit & run. It just makes me sick.

You can help, even if you don’t ride a bicycle. If you see someone driving aggressively against a cycling you can report the unsafe driving over the web to the police. Also, you can support local advocacy groups for pedestrian and bicycle safety.

The first privately funded spacecraft successfully reached suborbital space today!

Our power, which is horrible and goes out on a regular basis blipped today. This was a very short blip. Some devices didn’t reset. The UPS on all the system that have them kicked in and more sensitive systems did reset.

I’m logging this mainly for my own purposes with XcelEnergy.

Tammy and I went and played paintball today. It was pretty fun. Neither of us had done this before. Tammy actually brought the flag home for the victory in two different games. We played about 7 or 8 games throughout the day. My first game I played defense and didn’t even fire a shot. That was no fun. I also learned on the other side that Rambo tactics only work in the movies. Running and jumping over barriers with two guns blazing is just a quick way to get yourself out of the game.

Paintballs do sting a bit when they hit, but no welts to speak of. Quite a bit of fun. We played at Combat Zone which is about 90 minutes out of the cities up by St. Croix State Park (we were just there last weekend. It was a really well ran place and the people who ran it were good folks.

Huge thanks to Kristina Mauersberger for coordinating and herding all the cats to actually get this setup!

“The average American is listed in at least 50 databases, and that’s not counting government files.”

This is the lead line in this article from PC Magazine about the amount of data that is stored about you in all the databases that different corporations have. Privacy on the Internet continues to be a long-term issue that concerns me greatly. I worry that our personal information is becoming a commodity on the network and that it will only be the technically savvy/elite and wealthy that are able to retain some control of their personal information.

What can you do to help ebb the flow? Be aware of this issue! The next time you are at Best Buy and they ask you for your zip code when making a purchase, say no! When asked to give freely information that can be used to give a profile for you, refuse. If you receive value that you feel is justified for turning over this information then go ahead, this is a transaction to buy your personal information. Just don’t give it away!

Organizations like the EFF are keeping an eye on this and they can use your support. Also, there is legislative action going on in this arena and it’s worth being aware of and letting your representatives know you care. With George W. at the helm, who knows what could happen to privacy legislation!