Time: The Devour of All Things

Has it been nearly a week since I've contributed to this project? I must say it has. I've been out and about this past week, staying with family for the 4th, then on a camping trip. But back to grind I go... I've learned a few things this past week, now that I'm being more reflective. I'll probably forget most of these things before I can chronicle them, but I'll try...

Dead Links on AG Chronicles

I hate dial-up!!! I'm traveling intrastate a bit now, in the midst of launching this project and website. At home I have high speed Internet, but not at my secondary location. Only dial-up. It's maddening!!! I curse dial-up for being so slow, but I also curse web technology for hogging so much damn bandwith.

In the infancy of computer tele-communications, as in the infancy of PC computing, I think programmers were simply forced to be frugal... and we all benefited. Bill Gates is quoted as having said something like, "640K of memory should be enough for anybody." Gates denies saying it, but you get the gist. This allegedly from the guy who founded the company notorious for memory and processor-creep.

My first modem was 2400 baud. I ran a BBS (Bulletin Board System... the predecessor of websites for you young 'uns) on this 2400 baud modem. I had callers dialing in at 300 baud. And we took care of business. We had our discussion groups, email, file transfers, and even online games, all hosted on an MS-DOS computer over a 2400 baud connection. Granted, my BBS had only color ASCII graphics, but it did the job.

NOW, I can't even update my freakin' website because the web FTP interface from my hosting service takes 10 minutes to load over a 56K connection, and it freezes up 90% of the time. My ftp client's build expired and I need to download a 3MB update, but that download corrupts for some reason, so I can't use that either. And though I do have internet service via Alltel for my smartphone, Alltel offers only 1x(slow...) and not EVDO(fast!!!) in my area.

So all this ranting just to let you know that I do realize all the 'page' links on the site are inoperable, and that I am working on the content, but it'll take some time before I can upload the content. I did finally order DSL for my secondary location, because dial-up is infuriating and often useless, but it'll be a week before they switch it on. So, hang tight!

Statistics, I need help!

So I took a course or two in stats while in college. I always found mathematics fascinating, but I never really believed it would be useful. Sure, while working in a research lab, but in the outside world?

Well, I have a need now. How do I derive meaningful stats about this project? I layed out some metrics in the metrics pages, but how do I analyze the results? I'm not entirely sure. So I used the only statistic that I can readily pull out of my head: average.

I will rate my progress daily in each of the 5 life categories on a scale of 1 to 5. I assigned two definitions to each number, a subjective one and an objective one, so that I have some flexibility in rating the day.

My goal is a daily average of 4 across the board.

I need some help here with spreadsheets. I'm too tired right now to describe what I'm trying to do, but if you are really good at spreadsheet formulas, email me so we can chat.

What profit is there in this?

Public accountability is one of the premises on which this project is based. For this to work, I need to be incredibly honest. Being honest with you, the reader, compels me to be honest with myself. However, this slope is wrought with repercussions of an unknown degree, namely that I don't know if and what I write will be held against me in the future.

Will family and friends scorn me if I speak of a subject they find unsavory? Will business associates discriminate against me for what they might perceive as a character flaw?

How much will honesty hurt me? What if I reveal I've committed larceny, but wasn't caught? What if I mention an interest in necrophilia? What if mention an affair I had with another man? These are not facts in my life, but what of similarly controversial revelations? Is honesty worth whatever cost it incurs?

I'll probably use this test: What profit is there in this? Of course, by 'profit' I refer not to monetary gain, but to a net benefit of some kind. Honesty fundamentalists might argue that omission of fact is dishonesty. I don't agree. Thus unless someone can convince me otherwise I'll continue this way. Besides do you really want to know all my deep dark secrets just for sake of knowing? There are some juicy ones...