predator times

How To Obtain The Day of Week Given a Date in Google Spreadsheets

2011-10-09T22:17:00.001-04:00

Google Spreadsheets has a nifty function named CHOOSE which exhibits behavior like the switch statement programmers all know and love. Basically, it allows one to select an action/value based on some input. This is GREAT!

I needed to fill cells with the day of the week given a date. There isn't any built-in function that performs this task in Google Spreadsheets right now. But, we can solve this very easily using the CHOOSE function.

=CHOOSE( weekday(H1), "Sun", "Mon", "Tue", "Wed", "Thu", "Fri", "Sat")

This formula is very simple:

The contents of cell H1 holds the date
The function weekday converts that date to a number from 1 through 7 representing the day of the week (Sunday=1)
This value, in turn, is then used by CHOOSE to select which value in the subsequent list to use in the current cell
Voila

E... to the Z.

In this case, we are converting dates to days of the week in the format I wanted. Now we can start getting all fancy. Imagine, instead of days of the week, the list of possible values were different formulas to compute some result. The formula to use depends on the value inserted in the first input to CHOOSE. However, remember that nothing is stopping even this first input from being yet another formula computing a specific result based on the data in particular cells.

With this function, the possibilities are endless!

Reference: See the second comment on this blogpost

How to Sign Off of Netflix on PS3

2011-09-29T15:11:00.000-04:00

The answer will shock you.... it's basically the Konami code:

Start up the Netflix App on your PS3
Go to the instant queue (just scroll to it at the bottom)
Input the following code sequence using your controller:

Up Up
Down Down
Left Right
Left Right
Up Up Up Up (this is the departure from the Konami code)

After doing this, a popup will emerge describing the account currently activated on the PS3 with an option to deactivate it. And Voila.

Crazy...... and no joke, this does work.

Reference: comment by dayanna on this ps3 community thread

Google Spreadsheets Tips: Not Equals, Newlines, And More!

2011-06-22T18:38:00.000-04:00

If you are like me, sometimes you just want to add a newline within a cell. And other times, you want to check whether item A is NOT EQUAL to item B within a formula. But dangit... how do you do it!? This entry will cover such tips and tricks as I learn more of them (filtering is pretty sweet too). Without further adieu:

Google Spreadsheets Formula Documentation
Not Equals
Newline
Filtering
Give me the value or give me ZERO... no errors PLEASE!!!

Google Spreadsheets Formula Documentation

That's the link to all the formulas available in google spreadsheets (hint: click on the title of this very section). It is a pain to find just going to google help (strange....). This first tip is golden! Now you know where the formula list is.

Not Equals

There are two ways to do not equals:

Use the symbol: <>
Use the function: NE()

The first one can be used in calls like the following:

=IF(A2<>"SKIP","Fanfare!","--")
=SUMIF(B4:B8,"<>2")

That first one will print "Fanfare!" in its cell if the contents of A2 is not equal to "SKIP". That second one will will sum the contents of the cells in the range B4 to B8 that are not equal to 2.

Pretty sweet huh?

Newline

Found this one searching google help. Check out this answer.

There are two ways to create a newline within a cell:

Use: &CHAR(10)&
Use shortcut: Ctrl+Enter
(i.e., press and hold the ctrl key and then press the enter key)

I typically use the second one.

Filtering

Filtering is pretty dang sweet. It allows you to select specific cells of one column, based on criteria against another column. And if you want to get even more crazy, you can add more column/criteria pairs. In fact, you can even do rows, or both columns AND rows (but your brain might explode... just sayin'.)

Example:

=2*sum( filter( C2:C40, C2:C40<>"#N/A") )

This formula will sum all of the values in the column C from rows 2 through 40 where the value within that cell is not equal to #N/A... and then multiply the result by 2. So if we had the following:

	C
2	4
3	2
4	#N/A
5	3

The answer would be 2*(4+2+3) = 2*9 = 18.

What filter basically does is return the values for all cells in the first range where the corresponding cell in the criteria range meets the criteria.

Let's look at another example:

=2*sum( filter( C2:C40, C2:C40<>"#N/A", D2:D40<>3) )

This formula will sum all of the values in the column C from rows 2 through 40 where the value within that cell is not equal to #N/A and the corresponding cells of column D from 2 through 40 is not equal to 3. The result is then multiplied by 2. So if we had the following:

	C	D
2	4	3
3	2	0
4	#N/A	2
5	3	9

The answer would be 2*(2+3) = 2*5 = 10.

Mull that one over a bit. But yes, filter is bad @$$.

Give me the value or give me ZERO... no errors PLEASE!!!

Answer: N( IFERROR( value ) )

This combination of functions is magical. It will return 0 if whatever you are trying to do for value bombs big time. But, if it doesn't bomb, this combo will return value.

Why would we want to do this? Check out the following data set:

	C	D	E
2	a	inc	3
3	b	inc	1
4	a	dec	-2
5	b	add	9

Okay, so we've got something identified by the letter "a" and something identified by the letter "b". We also have indicators that suggest incrementing (inc), decrementing (dec), and adding (add). In this data set, inc and add mean the same thing. So to get the total amount of a particular item in column C, we need to some the values in column E where the corresponding cells in column D equal inc or add.

Whew..... got that?

Let's take the item designated as "b". If we wanted to find the total amount of it, we need two sums:

sum of all rows in E corresponding to item "b" designated as inc
sum of all rows in E corresponding to item "b" designated as add

So, we filter on column E where column C="b" and where column D="inc". Then we filter again except change "inc" to "add".

= sum( filter(!E:E,!C:C="b",!D:D="inc") ) + sum( filter(!E:E,!C:C="b",!D:D="add") )

This will gives us the answer 9. Great! Now, if we do the same thing for "a", the answer will be #N/A. Why? Because there are no rows in the data set for item "a" designated as add. So the filter won't return anything, and sum will throw an error. We don't actually care that there were no rows designated as add. In fact, we would just be happy if it returned 0.

BAM! That's where N( IFERROR( value ) ) swoops in like Superman and saves the day (or like Deadpool with guns blasting). If we wrap each sum method in N( IFERROR( ) ), we will get the result of 3 for "a". WIN!

There may be a simpler way. If you know it, holla at me.

When do Options Expire?

2011-06-07T09:00:00.002-04:00

This is a long time coming. I think I've had my reference articles opened in Chrome tabs for a year now (yeah, you read that correctly... one year). So, when do the financial instruments known as options expire? The answer isn't a simple one. It depends on what type of option we're talking about, and potentially on what underlying to which this instrument derives its value. This article aims to distill the answers in as concise a way as possible. Here goes:

Option Type	Option Frequency	Expiration	Last Trading Opportunity	Settlement	Reconciled	Proviso

Equity	Weekly	Friday	Fri @ 16:00H	Fri @ 16:00H	Fri @ 17:00H

Equity	Monthly	Saturday following the third Friday of the month	Fri @ 16:00H	Fri @ 16:00H	Sat @ 17:00H

Index (PM)	Weekly	Friday	Thu @ 16:00H	Fri @ 16:00H	Fri @ 17:00H

Index (PM)	Monthly	Saturday following the third Friday of the month	Thu @ 16:00H	Fri @ 16:00H	Sat @ 17:00H

Index (AM)	Weekly	Friday	Thu @ 16:00H	Fri @ AM	Fri @ 17:00H	Settlement computed once all opening prices of all underlyings that represent this index are recorded

Index (AM)	Monthly	Saturday following the third Friday of the month	Thu @ 16:00H	Fri @ AM	Sat @ 17:00H	Settlement computed once all opening prices of all underlyings that represent this index are recorded

*All times above are Eastern Standard Time (EST)

Allowing the option to expire "worthless" is a bad idea if the price is anywhere near the strike. Due to settlement and reconciliation processes, the option you thought was out-of-the-money may actually end up being in-the-money (and vice-versa). This is particularly bad if you are unhedged in a short position or don't have the funds in an account where a long position is automatically exercised.

Other Facts

American Style Exercise: Options can be exercised anytime before expiration
European Style Exercise: Options can only be exercised at expiration

When holidays occur, last trading dates and index settlements get pushed earlier one day (as expected)
Equity Options have American Style Exercise
Index Options have European Style Exercise -- some are American

Sources

Options Expiration and Exercise
Options Expiration FAQ
CBOE Glossary
Options Don't Expire on Fridays
What are the terms of Short-Term Options?

How to Permanently Delete Images in iPhoto

2011-06-05T12:53:00.000-04:00

Did you know... iPhoto has it's own trash can!? Yup! Like you, I did not realize this fact. iPhoto does so many things under the hood, it's hard to know what exactly is going on. Did you know that if you do red-eye removal on a photo, a new copy of that photo is made? iPhoto wants to make sure the original photo stays intact so that we, the users, may always have access to it. Okay, let's get on with the purpose of this post.

Album:

Is a "view" on the photos in your library
Think of albums as "Labels" in GMail

many labels (albums) can point to the same e-mail (photo)
you can create as many labels (albums) as you want
deleting a photo from an album is akin to removing a GMail label from an e-mail -- that e-mail (photo) is simply removed from that view (label/album), but the e-mail still exists in your library
deleting a label (album) does not delete your e-mails (photos); it only removes the association

Library:

all of your photos
deleting a photo in your library moves it to iPhoto's trash -- i.e., it still exists

So far, I hope the distinctions have been clear between deleting a photo in an album versus deleting a photo in your library. Once you have deleted a photo in your library (and it has been moved to the trash), you must EMPTY THE TRASH to permanently remove the photo from your computer. There are three ways to do this:

1. Use the main menu bar

a) click on "iPhoto" in the main menu

b) click on "Empty Trash"

c) FANFARE!!!

2. Use the trash icon

a) look under "Recent"

b) right click on "Trash"

c) select "Empty Trash"

d) FANFARE!!!

(Note: the icon will appear under "Recent" if you've recently viewed/emptied trash)

3. Use a shortcut

a) make sure you haven't selected any images anywhere

b) press shift-command-delete

My Country Music Experiment

2011-05-07T10:00:00.003-04:00

Country music gets a gigantic load of hate, primarily from us city dwellers. And I can't count myself outside of that hating crowd! At least... up until I finally made good on my word to give country a chance. It must have been six or so years ago when I realized, "Man, you've been broadening your music tastes across the board... and you STILL haven't given country a fair shot!" And there that thought lingered -- in the distant recesses of my mind.

Then, maybe about two months ago, I got a tip that the NCAA Wrestling Championships were on ESPN2. Jumping out of my seat I rushed to that sweet HDTV and frantically flipped through hunting for the channel. Soon it dawned on me... we don't have that channel (dag...NAMIT!). The channel I landed on was some country music channel. I thought, "Meh, might as well leave it on in the background. I have been planning to give country a shot for who knows how long now." So began my experiment...

The majority of the music I heard, I did not like (no shocker there). But surprisingly, there were quite a few I did like! I mean, I expected there to be close to zero; instead there were more like ten! So, on to the next phase. PANDORA TIME! I seeded a new station with three tracks:

My Kinda Party by Jason Aldean
Save A Horse [Ride A Cowboy] by Big & Rich
This by Darius Rucker

Here is a YouTube video for My Kinda Party:

Two months and numerous thumbed down tracks later, I'm still digging this station! The seeds worked great, and cutthroat curating is keeping it on point. What I've gleaned is that country nowadays is not like the country of before (and that country music fans are EXTREMELY stoked about bringing new people into the fold). Technically, I hear that the stuff I seem to have fallen for is country "pop" music. And, it is HARD to stay seated when the good stuff comes on!

Now if Pandora didn't exist, there's no way I would have really followed through on giving country music a chance. But Pandora makes it way easy. All I had to do was seed and thumb up or down the tracks it began playing. All the while, the algorithm powering Pandora gets smarter, converging on the type of country striking my fancy and playing more and more aligned picks. It's great! And if you haven't started using Pandora yet... get on it!

My experiment has revealed so far that country music pretty much revolves around the following:

Keepin' it real
Embracing your humanness
Complimenting a woman every chance you get
Standing tall for what you believe in (don't back down)

You can't go wrong with that! All four are realized in various styles of play. I'm a fan of the faster, more upbeat styles with some serious drum beats. The style makes it hard for a brother to remain seated. The music is MAD enjoyable. The storytelling is so genuine and somewhat innocent you can't help but get sucked in, and not to mention unintentionally HILARIOUS in quite a few songs. The music definitely about living life to the max and being real while pursuing that endeavor... ALL IN PEOPLE. You gotta have a great time and make the most of life, and you gotta do it with those whom you are close. In addition, let's not forget moments of pure chillin'.

And maaaaan, the women must feel like they're on cloud 9 all the time. For real! In nearly every genre of music women are talked up. But in the country songs I dig, women are pretty much (all in a good way) the most precious, beautiful, wild, dangerous, independent, exotic, amazing entities to ever exist. In addition, the lady is complimented with such clever use of words it reminded me of the days of good R&B where you knew the artists were singing about some intimate details but done in such a dressed up way it was straight beautiful and beyond smooth.

So, country music gets my thumbs up. I'm all about music that is great fun, gets you moving, and tells a great story or hits on real topics. Music lately has been moving away from that, so this was a refreshing breath of air and vitality. Give country a try! And use Pandora to do it -- makes finding your niche a cinch.

In addition to My Kinda Party mentioned earlier, here's a list of some of my current favorites with a bulleted shortlist below the widget. Click on the widget to see the longer list and play samples.

She's Country by Jason Aldean
Picture Of Me by Lee Brice
What Was I Thinkin' by Dierks Bentley
What Country Is by Luke Bryan
Southern State Of Mind by Darius Rucker
Gimmie That Girl by Joe Nichols
Smoke A Little Smoke by Eric Church
Love Like Crazy by Lee Brice

Integrating Eclipse, Subversion, and JIRA Studio on a Mac

2011-04-01T09:30:00.007-04:00

Another one for my fellow fully integrated development environment junkies. Continuing on with the mantra, "My tools should work for me, not the other way around," this post will discuss how to integrate Subversion and JIRA Studio into Eclipse 3.6 Helios in order to facilitate development and streamline workflow. This was done on a Mac running OS X version 10.6.7.

Some background, JIRA Studio is the hosted version of the JIRA issue tracking and project management suite. Of all the issue tracking tools I've used (Bugzilla, Trac, Redmine, and others), JIRA handily surpasses them all. The Studio instance also integrates many of Atlassian's other products into one integrated suite that is beyond sweet (no pun intended).

Alright, let's get on to it!

Installing/Updating Eclipse

Download the latest eclipse installation per your requirements. I installed the OS X 64-Bit Java EE version which can be found here:

http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/

Save the file and move to wherever you want to extract it (/Applications/eclipse/ is not a bad idea).

gunzip <eclipse-version.tar.gz>
tar -xvf <eclipse-version.tar>

These commands will extract the contents into a folder likely named eclipse. I suggest renaming that folder to be representative of the installation.

mv eclipse eclipse-jee-helios-64

Launch Eclipse and select a workspace.

If you were using an older version of Eclipse, most of your workspace configurations are contained within the workspace and will be carried over. You will, however, need to re-download any plugins. Most plugins would need to be updated anyway due to the new version of Eclipse. Do this by going to "Help" on the main Eclipse menu bar and selecting "Eclipse Marketplace" or "Install New Software". With the latter, you will need to add update sites manually.

Installing JavaHL
(Required for Subclipse)

In order for Subclipse to work, it requires JavaHL (Java bindings to Subversion) to be installed. Visit http://subclipse.tigris.org/wiki/JavaHL for more background. I've come across two ways to realize this step:

Via MacPorts
Via CollabNet

The former avoids the off putting user registration/verification step required by the latter. But if the target system does not already have MacPorts installed, then a rather involved process will follow if using option 1. Otherwise, if MacPorts is already installed, option 1 is likely the better alternative with regards to keeping the target system updated and current.

Via Option 1:

However, the JavaHL Subclipse Wiki Entry does indicate that using MacPorts may result in a loading error from Subclipse if the target system is utilizing the native 64-bit JVM provided on Snow Leopard. The wiki claims this is due to MacPorts compiling the JavaHL packages as 32-bit binaries. Option 2 includes binaries for both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures and thus circumvents this issue.

Via Option 2:

Note that after installation, we will augment the path such that this new Subversion installation is the one first found by any callers. In other words, the native Subversion binaries of OS X will still remain, just frog jumped.

Go to http://www.open.collab.net/downloads/community/
If don't already have an account, you will have to create one (it's free).
Download the Universal Subversion binaries for your version of OS X.
Double-click on the .dmg file.
Double-click on the package that appears and follow instructions to complete installation (not different from typical installation procedures of .dmg distributions).
Issue the following command in a terminal window to frog jump these binaries in front of the native OS X Subversion installation:

export PATH=/opt/subversion/bin:$PATH

Both of the following items can be installed via the Eclipse Marketplace. However, you have less control over the version you want to install. So, the following the descriptions utilize the non-marketplace method. This involves adding a plugin's "update site" to your Eclipse installation.

Installing Subclipse

It is TREMENDOUSLY important that you install the version of Subclipse matching your version of Subversion. In addition, if you plan on utilizing multiple Subversion tools to interact with your local copy of the repository, all should be using the same version.

The Subclipse update sites can be found on the Tigris site. I've listed a couple here for your convenience:

http://subclipse.tigris.org/update_1.6.x Subversion 1.6.x
http://subclipse.tigris.org/update_1.4.x Subversion 1.5.x

Add the update site to Eclipse:

Click on "Help" on the main Eclipse menu bar
Select "Install New Software"
Click on the "Add" button on the top right of the dialogue window
Enter an optional name like "Subclipse 1.6.x" and enter the 1.6.x update site (listed above) in the "location" text field
Click "Ok"
Now select the update site from the menu and click on next.

You will see several items appear with check boxes to select software.

You can select everything, or just the items you need. Make sure that anything labeled "required" is checked. Items having a dimmed connector icon are already installed and need not be checked.

Click next and keep on following the instructions and accepting the license agreements
After installation completes, opt to restart Eclipse

Check that Subclipse operates with JavaHL:

Go to "Eclipse > Preferences..."
Expand "Team"
Click on "SVN"

If there is no error from clicking on "SVN", then aside from your personal preferences the installation and configuration should be complete.

Installing the Atlassian Eclipse Connector

The following are the connector's update sites:

http://update.atlassian.com/atlassian-eclipse-plugin/e3.6
http://update.atlassian.com/atlassian-eclipse-plugin/e3.5

Use the link below if you want the connector that still includes Crucible and Fisheye support (works for both Eclipse 3.5 and 3.6):

http://update.atlassian.com/atlassian-eclipse-plugin/2.3.0/e3.5

Follow the same procedure as outlined in "Installing Subclipse" to get the Atlassian Eclipse Connector plugin installed. Again, opt to restart Eclipse after installation.

Connect Atlassian Eclipse Connector to JIRA

Launch Eclipse
If you have the default workbench layout in Eclipse, then a "Task" panel should appear in the upper left
Clicking on the new task icon on this panel will bring up the following menu:
Click on add repository; the following dialogue should appear:
Select JIRA
Augment options if desired
Verify the configuration

Once the repository is all set, you'll need to add queries to get your tasks to appear in the task window. Using the same steps we walked through to reach the "Add Repository" selection, we can reach the "New Query" selection. The rest should be self-explanatory.

Hope this helps!

VMware Fusion + Ubuntu + Shared Folders

2011-03-28T09:30:00.000-04:00

For you crazies out there trying to circumvent lockouts... you may have endeavored to create a development environment utilizing multiple technologies to facilitate your need. Case in point:

This setup allows me to run various programs on my local system when I'm not on campus. However, the tiny gotchas in setting up the environment have serious bite! The setup involves VMware Fusion on a Mac running an Ubuntu installation in a virtual machine and sharing folders between the host operating system (OS X) and the guest (Ubuntu). My Ubuntu installation is actually augmented as a Debathena station.

This post will only cover getting around the problems encountered when sharing folders between the Mac and the Ubuntu Virtual Machine running concurrently. More specifically, making sure that it can be seen from the guest and streamlining to mitigate against the risk of system updates breaking the shared folders functionality. Creating the whole environment from scratch might be the topic of another post. Anyway, I found a mechanism so that shared folders work, but it does require a manual operation whenever the virtual machine is launched.

The problem revolves around VMware Tools. VMware tools provides extra features that allow for a more seamless operation between the host and guest operating systems such that the line splitting the two is blurred. This includes copy/paste functionality, shared folders, and more. However, installing VMware tools is quite a process. There are a few ways to do it:

using the open-vm-tools package provided by Ubuntu
using packages.vmware.com from VMware itself
manually via the VMware host you are running

Of these three, method 2 will allow you to utilize the standard package manager operations provided by the Ubuntu operating system to manage updates. And that... is priceless. When I first created this development environment, I went with option 3. Everything worked beautifully, although I had to use the 32-bit 10.04 Lucid version of Ubuntu instead of the 64-bit 10.10 version after hitting several road bumps. Then at some future date, I had to install a slew of updates... this is when vmware tools got broken and, more specifically, shared folders.

Go with option 2....

Installation via Option 2

The following sites provide pretty good instruction on how to get vmware tools installed:

Unfortunately, it will take some back and forth between the two guides to fully complete the installation as the former is missing some steps mentioned in the latter. Here is my abridged version (actual command line commands will be in bold italics):

(optional) if vmware tools is already installed via option 3, it must be uninstalled:

sudo vmware-uninstall-tools.pl

create a directory to store some keys (doesn't matter where)
navigate to that directory
wget http://packages.vmware.com/tools/keys/VMWARE-PACKAGING-GPG-DSA-KEY.pub
wget http://packages.vmware.com/tools/keys/VMWARE-PACKAGING-GPG-RSA-KEY.pub
wget http://packages.vmware.com/tools/VMWARE-PACKAGING-GPG-KEY.pub
sudo apt-key add *KEY.pub
cd /etc/apt/sources.list.d
sudo emacs -nw vmware-tools.list
add the following line to that file followed by a newline:

deb http://packages.vmware.com/tools/esx/4.1latest/ubuntu lucid main restricted

ctrl+x ctrl+s (saves the file)
ctrl+x ctrl+c (exits emacs)
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install vmware-open-vm-tools-kmod-source
sudo module-assistant prepare
sudo module-assistant build vmware-open-vm-tools-kmod-source
sudo module-assistant install vmware-open-vm-tools-kmod
sudo apt-get install vmware-open-vm-tools

There is a chance that step 14 will generate an error in the vain of, "I don't know what file you are talking about...." If this happens, something likely went wrong in steps 9-12. Make sure there is a new line at the end of the file.

At some point during those steps, a reboot or two will likely be required.

Installation Verification

After all these steps, it is wise to verify the installation. According to the VMware documentation, this can be done by running the following command:

/etc/init.d/vmware-tools status

In this status, you want to verify that "vmware-guestd" is running (for ESX releases prior to 4.1) or "vmtoolsd" is running (for ESX releases 4.1 and later). The documentation also says to check that certain kernel modules are running using the /sbin/lsmod command. See page 29 under "Verify VMware Tools installation" in the documentation for more details.

Verifying Shared Folders

If you desire to share folders on your OS X side with the Ubuntu guest, a few extra steps will be required.

On the VMware Fusion menu bar, select "Virtual Machine"
Click on "Shared Folders"
If a shared folder hasn't yet been created, select "Add a Shared Folder"

When completed return to the "Virtual Machine > Shared Folders" menu option

Select "Open Shared Folders Settings..." and verify your desired settings

Now that a shared folder is verified to exist on the VMware Fusion software, check that it can be seen within the Ubuntu guest (it likely won't):

Open a terminal window
ls /mnt/hgfs/

If your shared folder does not get listed, it means Ubuntu cannot see it. Return to the VMware Fusion menu bar and do the following:

Select "Virtual Machine > Shared Folders > Turn Shared Folders Off"
Select "Virtual Machine > Shared Folders > Turn Shared Folders On"

That's right, simply toggle shared folders off and on. Return to the terminal window on the Ubuntu guest and run the same command again:

ls /mnt/hgfs/

This time, your shared folder should get listed. And off you go.

You should now be able to ensure vmware tools is always updated via Ubuntu's package manager. However, every time the Ubuntu guest is relaunched, the shared folders toggling trick will need to be executed to ensure the guest can see the shared folders.

Run along now, hope this helps!

Rappers Hit Up Tech Conferences Too

2009-12-04T15:05:00.001-05:00

It should come as no surprise that tech is a part of the game too. I'm sure you've heard, as have I, that CD album sales are down and that the giant music labels are trying to fight against a roaring tide that seeks to upend the old business models. The web has and continues to level the playing field. And rappers are discovering this. In this guest lecture at Stanford (part of Standford's Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Seminar), artists Quincy Jones III and Chamillionaire lay it down for us. The web is changing how we communicate, how new fans are reached, and how street cred for products is measured. It's all about community. The current rage of social networks fuels this type of economy. Those who are on top of the game stand to make greater strides into reaching fans than those shunning the tech. In this talk, Chamillionaire mentions how he was clowned for using the internet back in the day for promoting his indy songs. But his early adoption kicked back some serious ROI. Both Quincy and Chamillionaire are staying on top of the game by embracing tech, hitting up tech conferences, and incorporating the cutting edge into their respective strategies. Check it out here:

NOTE: If the above doesn't play (seems like there might not be a video feed), click through to the site here, and click on "Download" to get the MP3 file. You can also find it on iTunes and subscribe to Stanford's podcast.

New GChat Mobile Icon?

2009-11-24T14:15:00.002-05:00

I was logged into GMail and noticed on my GChat side bar the appearance of a new icon... a mobile phone! I've pointed it out in the image on the left. It hadn't appeared before today and I turned on the "robots" icon lab feature a few days ago. So this is probably new! And pretty kool. I wonder if it is drawing from GMail's contact management, or from Google Voice. If you hover over this contact, an option to SMS appears. Pretty neat.

Gmail and Safari 4 beta issue

2009-03-08T14:25:00.004-04:00

Just a quick post. Some of you out there may be using the brand spanking new Safari 4 beta. It is SWEEEEEEEEET by the way. And by sweet, I mean fast. Anyway, if you are using Google Gears with Gmail for offline access, you may experience problems with Safari 4 (on a Mac at least). What you will see when you attempt to log in is a beautiful blank page. Yes, blank and staring at you. If you run the Web Inspector, you will see that an error is occurring on load. The error is:

TypeError: Result of expression 'mc().create' [undefined] is not a function.

I've had numerous problems with offline Gmail on Safari (on a Mac) even before the beta. So I thought it might have something to do with it.

The (Workaround) Fix : Disable Gmail from Google Gears

Click on the "Safari" menu item on the menu bar
Select "Google Gears Settings..."
Click on the "Denied" radio button for everything Gmail related
Voila

All done! Now if you need offline access to Gmail, this solution will not work for you. Apple (or Google) needs to actually resolve the issue so that offline Gmail is functional.

How to Launch Web Inspector

If you see the "Develop" menu item, skip to step 6
Click on the "Safari" menu item on the menu bar
Select "Preferences..."
Click on the "Advanced" tab
Make sure the checkbox next to "Show Develop menu in menu bar" is activated
Click on the "Develop" menu item on the menu bar
Select "Show Web Inspector"

The Dreaded Wash Sale Rule

2008-04-15T12:36:00.004-04:00

It's tax time and you are a fledgling investor. You've been dabbling in the markets trading various securities, even options! During all this activity you might have heard about something called a wash sale. But did you really pay attention? Nope! You thought, "Meh, I'll worry about that later. I've got a general handle on what it means. Back to trading!" And then tax time hit.......

This post might be too late for some of you, seeing how it is the 11th hour. But just in case, I thought I'd provide a little insight. A wash sale is defined by the IRS Publication 550 as follows:

A wash sale occurs when you sell or trade stock or securities at a loss and within 30 days before or after the sale you:

Buy substantially identical stock or securities,
Acquire substantially identical stock or securities in a fully taxable trade, or
Acquire a contract or option to buy substantially identical stock or securities

What is meant by substantially identical? Typically it means buying the same security. And yes, that includes options on that security! Doesn't that suck? Yeah... tell me about it.

Why is this rule in effect? It is there to dissuade people from selling and buying a stock just to get the the loss write off. See, if you take a loss on an investment, the IRS has a provision that allows investors to deduct the loss come tax time. BUT... if you try to game the system, the IRS sticks it to you. When a wash sale occurs, you cannot deduct the loss.

What can you do? You add the loss into the cost basis of the shares of stock you bought back within that window. Oh, and you have to add them proportionately. Say for instance you sold 100 shares of XYZ at a loss and bought 150 shares of XYZ within a 30 day window prior to or after selling those first 100 shares. The loss you just incurred is considered a wash. That's right, you can't deduct that loss! BUT, you can apply that loss to the cost basis of 100 of the 150 shares of XYZ that you bought.

So what does this mean? It means you haven't lost the chance to deduct the loss; you only have to be a little more patient. By allowing you to add the loss to the cost basis of the new shares, the IRS gives you the opportunity to take the loss later -- that is if the new shares are also sold at a loss.

Okay, so you have a problem. You need to determine whether or not you have a wash sale. You now know that a wash sale occurs when there is buying and selling of the same security, whether it be purely stock, options, or any combination, within a certain 30 day window. What happens if I buy a stock and options on that stock on the same day and both are sold within 30 days of the buying and the selling...... Specific ain't it? Yes, that's what I did. And I thought I was in a Catch 22. Why? Because if you take the wash sale terminology word for word, it may seem like you are screwed and cannot take any loss. It would sound like this:

Bought 100 shares of stock XYZ and 2 Call option contracts on stock XYZ on Day 1
Sold 100 shares of stock XYZ on Day 10 at a loss
Did I buy substantially identical stock within a 30 day window? Yes, the options.
Loss in sale of stock XYZ on Day 10 is a wash
Add cost basis of shares of XYZ to equivalent number of shares in the options contract ( so to one of the two contracts since each contract holds 100 shares )
Both XYZ call options expire at a loss on Day 25
Did I buy substantially identical stock within a 30 day window? Yes, the stock.
....WHAT!? Is my loss on the options a wash too!?

No! You are safe. You've already taken into account the stock. The number of shares in that stock you sold at a loss no longer exist and the loss has been added to the cost basis of the options. So when you ask the 30-day window question about the options, the stock that you sold earlier is no longer in the picture as it has already been accounted for.

Okay, now there are several rules for wash sales. It gets pretty hairy, believe you me. And if you have a lot of complex situations like the one above (combinations of options, stock, and maybe other stuff), or a high frequency of trades, then doing this by hand is NOT an option. You want to use a program. I've done this research so you don't have to anymore. Check it out:

Where can I get software to do these calculations and generate Schedule D's?

GainsKeeper: Handles the simple stuff. Does NOT support wash sale determination when it involves the combination of stock and options: "GainsKeeper does not adjust for wash sales across long and short holdings. Nor will GainsKeeper generate a wash sale if you sell an equity at a loss, and then open a call option for the same equity within the wash sale window." GainsKeeper is a web application with an online interface that can electronically aggregate your data from any number of brokerages you may have. It has a 30-day free trial.

TradeLog: Handles the complex stuff. DOES support wash sale determination when it involves the combination of stock and options. It also handles rules regarding puts, shorts, etc. It is said that TradeLog applies the most stringent rules so as to catch any possible condition of a wash sale. So if you want to be safe, use TradeLog. This is a downloadable application and also supports download of data from any number of brokerages you may have. It has a free trial as well (see the right most bar on the that page).

Offwall.com: This is a FREE online calculator. It seems very sophisticated and boasts 6 configurations for calculations. These configurations depend on the complexity of your situation. Configuration 6 is the catch all and, some say, is the configuration that TradeLog uses. To use the calculator you must register. Once registered, you can upload your information.

All of these solutions generate Schedule D's. However, Offwall.com is the only one that will do it for free. So what kind of pinch are you in?

By the way, does Turbo Tax Premiere adequately determine wash sales? I can't say for certain, but it DOES use GainsKeeper. And we know from the GainsKeeper website that GainsKeeper does NOT handle the more complex wash sale triggers.....

I hope this helps! Ganbare!

Other links:

About Wash Sales (from Fairmark)
About Wash Sales (from TradeLog)

Bear Stearns for $2 may not hold?

2008-03-18T11:09:00.001-04:00

In my previous post I asked the question, how is Bear Stearns trading above $2 when the deal on the table is for $2 a share. SmartMoney has an article that brings some light to the situation. Obviously this offer is just cold to the bone! There is much more behind the scenes concerning why, especially regarding the repercussions of the alternative - bankruptcy. Anyway, the shareholders who are getting the major screw are not happy and it sounds like they will fight this price. Since the process of closing the deal could drag on for 12 months, the likelihood of forcing the offer to increase may be pretty good, especially since JP Morgan is guaranteeing all of Bear's trading activity within the firm for the entire period the deal is being negotiated. What does this mean? Well, it means that Bear Stearns can still do business! That is if other investment houses trust JP Morgan's guarantee and continue to trade with Bear (note that it was the pulling out action of counterparties last week that also hurt Bear, further deterioting confidence in the firm). So, if Bear can still operate, there is a possibility it can fix its financial situation, get back to stability, and maybe even start tearing a new path on the street. In that event, Bear would be worth more. It's now trading at $6.80. Those who bought yesterday have doubled!

Talk about a swing!

2008-03-17T12:52:00.003-04:00

Early this morning I noticed, on my Google Sidebar, that premarket trading indicated stocks were about to get hit... BIG time. I wondered, "Whoa! What could be going on to elicit such a reaction!?" So I whipped open Google Finance and behold the word was in, JPMorgan Chase is buying Bear Stearns for $2 a share. WHAT!? Yes people, JPMorgan somehow put together a deal to buy one of the top tier Investment Banks in the country for ONLY $2 a share! Needless to say, the stock price of Bear plummeted to $3 and change for an 80-90% drop in price after Friday's close. If that wasn't bad enough, note that this stock was trading in the $60 - $70 range last Monday... exactly one week ago. It dropped to the upper $20s and low $30s last Friday. And again, I tell you, it's now at $3 and change.

JPMorgan Chase pretty much scored the deal of the year, that is if it can weather the financial difficulties Bear is fighting off to make it worthwhile. Much of the plunge in the stock during last week seemed to be due to rumors that lead people to head for the hills, at least according to Bear CEO Alan D. Schwartz. Check out this BBC article for more detail. Nevertheless, the price dove and the Fed was not having it. Both the Fed and JPM stepped to the plate.

Here are some questions. If JPMorgan Chase is buying Bear Stearns for $2 a share, how is Bear's stock trading above $2? Is this a short arbitrage opportunity? And what about the larger more looming question of, how in the WORLD does a top tier company like Bear go from a 52-week high of $158.36 to $3 and change? And especially since about half of that happened in 7 days! But wait, check this... what's even scarier is that apparently the way in which the Fed stepped in to help Bear is reminiscent of the ways in which the Fed stepped in to help organizations during the Great Depression.... that is according to this article from Reuters. Resorting to measures that haven't been used since the Great Depression..... WHOA!

There are tons of articles on the web about this incident. Do a Google search; there will be no lack of its abundance. Just watch out for the people trying to spin this out of control crying doom and gloom. Yes, it's alarming. What should you do? Be careful out there. More importantly, stomp out the Greed bug. The market is tremendously volatile right now. If you are trading, get in and get out. Be happy with any profit you make. Those of you trusting your 401K retirement funds to some mutual fund manager.... you better pay attention to what's going on. There is no such thing as a free lunch and there is no genie out there. Bear is 77% institution owned according to Google Finance. That means a lot of the big boys hold this stock, including without question SEVERAL mutual funds. And nearly all 401Ks invest in mutual funds. I mean come on, who would expect a top tier Investment Bank to suddenly plunge.... Be careful out there.

Oh, and for you conspiracy theorists.... this article from the Street.com should prove mighty interesting. Somebody made a lot of money....

Can We Get Back to Basics?

2007-10-08T14:17:00.000-04:00

There comes a point when people take things way to seriously, introducing wave after wave of complexity where simplicity should be the focus. Moreover, individuals and organizations begin to take the teachings, writings, or advice of someone or some entity and add upon it all KINDS of rules and regulations. Who are they to do such a thing? Especially when these kinds of additions begin to deviate from the core idea, that which is basic, and transform the focus to something altogether antithetical. Let us take, for instance, the current gripe the Church of England has with Insomniac Games/Sony.

Matt Peckham reports in his blog entry for Game On that the Church of England is calling for the removal of Insomniac's game, Resistance: Fall of Man, from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts' (BAFTA) video game award shortlist. Read Peckham's piece to get a back story, and also checkout this Wikipedia entry for even more background about the game itself and the ensuing real world battle royale between Sony and the Church. In summary though, the controversy is over a major gun battle taking place between human soldiers and the alien invaders inside of a virtual representation of the Manchester Cathedral within the game. The Church is irate about the bloodbath depicted and the desecration that results. I am concerned less with legal and more with something deeper.

So what does all this have to do with getting back to the basics? Simple, is the Church more concerned with the building itself or the potential destructive power that such a depiction might have on the relationship of a person and his/her God? If it is the former, then the Church itself has a much bigger problem to contend with - has the building become its idol? If it is the latter, then the Church still has a major problem to contend with, just not as big. That problem? Members whose strength of faith rests on a physical inanimate building rather than the level and depth of relationship he or she has with God.

The question here is motive, plain and simple.

Jesus Christ laid the smack down on the Pharisees of old who put the law, especially the hundreds of additions to the original Mosaic law, above the only real command of Love. That's right, two laws encompass everything that is everything: Love God with everything you have, and love your neighbor. Where any other law or tradition violates these two, love is the path taken, not the law. Peep Mark 3:1-6 in the Bible to catch a glimpse of this in action.

Is the Church's motive love or other? Is the building holding a higher place of honor in the Church's minds and hearts than God himself? Has this building become an idol? If the answer to these questions point away from God, then I bet God would rather the building destroyed in reality for this building is causing the people to stumble ( peep Mark 9:42-47 spoken in extreme ). God is concerned more with the relationship people cultivate with Him than with any physical item or organization. Because if that relationship is strong, then that individual will take on the mind and character of God. And when that happens, this individual will have Life in abundance, and will interact with his or her fellow men and women in such ways that will bless all in overflowing capacity. A building cannot teach you that.

We need to get back to the basics. We need to get back to the core of what Christ taught. If something else takes the place of love, developing a strong relationship with Pops (God), and basing the strength of our faith on that, it must be ousted for it will only lead to our destruction. God is a creator, not a destroyer. So why should we waste our time on things that will only bring us ruin and destruction?

It is my hope that the Church has already investigated such things and are walking the walk. If the Church's motive is thus pure, and the building is not an idol clouding sound judgment, then I endorse its investigation into the matter at hand. More specifically, I endorse its investigation into the MOTIVE behind Insomniac's inclusion of such a scene.

If Insomniac's goal was to defame and desecrate the image of the church, and more specifically the being that is God, then I say "bring da ruckus!" That kind of motive is entirely evil, selfish, and destructive and thus deserving of repercussions. It shows no respect. But you know what? If that were the motive, I wouldn't worry much about the come uppins Insomniac/Sony could receive at the hands of men (even though it could be devastating). I'd worry more about the come uppins the decision makers would receive when they face God himself (I would not wish that on anybody!).

In the end, it is just a building. I mean, the White House was blown up in the movies Independence Day and Transformers, the former in replica reality and the latter with.... I won't say... I don't want to ruin it for those who haven't seen the film. What's important is the motive and the ideas behind these acts, the people they may or may not hurt, and the unforeseen repercussions it, and any reactions, may have on lives going forward.

No matter what or in whom you believe, spread love people. Spread love.

Languages + Martial Arts

2005-08-29T23:14:00.000-04:00

Languages are pretty interesting. Some are ultra complex, while others are extremely simple. But all languages have a couple things in common. One obvious commonality is they all seek to allow one to communicate his or her thoughts, ideas, or current state of being to another as clearly and vividly as one is able. Another pretty sweet thing about languages is that once you have mastered it, you no longer really have to think about it. The words just flow, as if instinctual. Now what if we take that concept and apply it to other things in life... say martial arts.

My old sensei (Tony Avila) and I recently started thinking about languages as applied to martial arts when talking about progress in the arts as his San-dan test approached. We study American Jiu Jitsu by the way (MIT NY). When you first jump into martial arts, it's all about absorbing all of the awesome techniques coming your way. All you can really think about is, "Man, this is so cool!" Then you reach black belt and you realize, "Wow, I still don't know anything." Matter of fact, black belt is like having just learned how to say your first words. Pretty exciting!

So anyway, you learn words, you learn phrases, you learn sentences, you learn paragraphs... The goal is to eventually get to the point where the martial art is no longer something you have to think about, but something that just flows. You become so fluent in the language that you can string together any combination of words fluidly and effortlessly into an amazing piece of prose or poetry. The art is no longer something you merely study, but something you influence, soemthing that has become yours, something that resonates with your very essence. It is no longer something that is out there and you are trying to grasp. No, instead it is something that is in you and you have personalized. Your movements convey your personality. Your teaching convey your experience. Your fluidity demonstrates your level of fluency.

During my old sensei's test, I saw some of this demonstrated. It is amazing what you come to find out when something goes "wrong." What do you do when you make a mistake? What happens when a technique slips, or a stick gets knocked out of your hand? When these apparent "errors" emerge, that is when your true colors come to surface and the level of your language competency becomes apparent. The beginnings of Sensei Tony's language emerged during these times, and they were fluid.

Time to hit that next level.

Miracle Sleep Pill

2005-08-23T19:42:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you, but if I could sleep less and still get the rejuvenation required by sleep, I would be ALL OVER THAT. Don't get me wrong, sleep is awesome, especially after working out like a madman and draining all of your energy training, playing a sport with friends or in competition, exercising, pulling all-nighters... you know, whatever gets your blood pumping. Sleep does indeed feel oh so sweet. However, on the flip side, sleep is also about 7 or 8 hours of time clandestinely sneaking away in the "momentary" blink of a deceived eye. With a bit of math, we can see that if one slept, on average, 6 hours a day (accounting for the 4-5 years at MIT where sleep was not an option... hah hah) for the first 24 years of your life, he or she will have slept away approximately 1/4 of his or her life. That's a HUGE chunk: 52,416 of the 209,664 hours of your life spent sleeping. Do you know how many awesome experiences you could have engaged in with 52,416 extra hours!? Anything that has ever peaked your interest you would now have a chance at trying your hand. Matter of fact, you could develop those talents that all this time you wished you had more opportunity to develop! Do you realize how many places you could then travel to and take in the sights, sounds, culture, and adventure? Exciting!

I have been fantasizing about such a thing for some time now. Would it be possible to develop a pill that, when taken, all a human would need is one hour of sleep to be completely rejuvenated? Then I thought of the possibilities that would emerge if such a pill became reality. In my world, such a pill would be awesome! I could start drawing more, writing more, eating more, training more, researching (even cooler things) more, inventing more, traveling more, dancing more, developing even deeper relationships and tighter interactions with people, hanging out more... the list goes on. But alas, there is at least one problem with such a pill... and that is the human factor.

What's the human factor? Well, we are greedy!!! Hah hah! No matter how much we try to hide it, diminish it, or destroy it, at some inner level we hunger for more all the time. So, inevitably, people would begin to work themselves to death. People do it now! Imagine if they had more time. Would work hours increase? Some people would be of the mindset, "Hey, I can work more hours, and pull in more cash flow! Then I can buy even more things or engage in even more activity!" How would the quality of work and commitment demanded out of you from employers, educational institutions, professional societies, government, and others, change? Would we actually have more time to do more of the things we'd like to get our hands on? Or would we instead be doing more of the same, just longer hours. The truth is, this phenomeon is something we can't escape: no matter how well intentioned a thing, someone will find a way to use it for ill, in any myriad of ways that word ill can play out. The question then becomes, will the benefits outweigh the risks? But enough philosophizing. There exists now a version of this miracle pill!

Spotted on Slashdot, this pill apparently reverses the effects of sleep deprivation. It's not quite the miracle pill of my fantasy, but it is a step in that direction. Check out the article, it is pretty interesting.

Feats of Strength

2005-08-21T01:03:00.000-04:00

A feat of strength is always something that puts people into a state of awe. Why? Because witnessing these "mere" feats of strength assaults our senses in such away that we cannot help but be set on our heels! In some cases, these feats of strength are so freakishly out of this world that our minds just blank. In other cases, we just stand there, agape and amazed. The annual World's Strongest Man comeptition exhibits some of these outstanding feats (like pulling a sizeable truck strapped via chest harness 100ft with raw leg pumping strength). Check out xtrememass for a fuller description or WSM on Wikipedia for a *super* short description. Other feats of strength are those done by cleverly leveraging knowledge of physics. Ever heard of the Coral Castle? Composed of stones weighing an average of 6 tons, the castle was built by ONE single man... who was 5 feet tall and 100 pounds... wow... But what about our other fellow organisms with whom we co-exist... roaming this rock called earth?

Some Amazing Strength

A flea can move things 100x its weight, and it can exert a jumping force of 150 G's (that's 150x the force of gravity... WOW!) [Bug Attack, National Geographic Channel]

A tick clamps down and does not budge until it is done feeding. It can suck blood upwards of 10x its own weight, maybe even more [Bug Attack, National Geographic Channel]. That's like me, at 155 pounds, sitting down in the morning and having a feast until I am 1,550 pounds!!! That's almost 3/4 of a TON! I would not be able to move...

[The following appeared on Dangerous Encounters, National Geographic Channel]

A domestic dog has a bite force of 317 pounds (human equivalent of obliterating a single sheep bone in one chomp).

A lion has a bite force of 691 pounds (human equivalent of obliterating two sheep bones in one chomp).

A hiyena has a bite force of 1,000 pounds (!!!) (human equivalent of obliterating three sheep bones in one chomp).

A snapping turtle (mind you, they have no teeth) nudges hiyenas with a bite force of 1,004 pounds!!!

A Florida crocodile has a bite force of... sit down of this one... no really... 2,500 pounds!!!!! *IF* a human had that kind of bite force, we would be able to chomp through a giant cow bone with one single chomping action splitting it in half.

By the way, on the show they cast a likeness of a human skull out of some metal and hooked its jaws up to some suped up hydraulics. They then used this way awesome contraption to show what a human could chomp through if we had these levels of bite force. And when I say obliterate... I mean OBLITERATE. Bones were crushed and snapped like NOTHING... and you could see the tell-tale puffs of powder that result when something is crushed/snapped like a twig. It was awesome!

My friends, the world is an amazing, dangerous, and exciting place!

Reality Check

2005-08-20T12:06:00.000-04:00

While eating a bowl of Life Cereal (good stuff), I turned on the TV to catch whatever might be on (since it is rare that I do). While flipping through, I came to the National Geographic Channel's Bug Attack show. OH MY GOODNESS... the critters that are out there... man! It never ceases to amaze me, the things we know that we don't know and the things that we don't even know that we don't know.

It's easy for us, as humans, to think we are indestructable. I mean, we are living large! We've sought out land, made it habitable, and moved on in. We dominate the world... us humans. Matter of fact, you could say we are on top of the food chain. As a result, it is so easy to forget that things smaller than the head of a pin can take a full grown human out in less than a day. Yeah... scary. As if lethal ones weren't bad enough... there are other critters that don't kill you, just give you a debilitating condition that you'll have to bout with for the rest of your life! Straight CRAZY!

The show was some reality check, reminding me of the truth of our fragile genetic makeup. It's good to be reminded of our mortality though. I think it's healthy and allows us to keep a proper perspective about life. What's more, it allows us to remember just how precious life truly is because things can change in the blink of an eye (sometimes even faster). So, my charge to you, don't let life pass you by, enjoy every passing moment, launch yourself into the adventure that life is, and make it one awesome ride!

Okay, on to some of the more interesting and less disgusting non-lethal critters. Though I have to say, the host of the show is crazy. Knowing what these critters can do, homeboy STILL gets up close and personal! I give him props, but you won't find me engaging in such close encounters, no way.

Jumper Ant - That's right, they jump... about 5 centimeters. They've got skills too. When they notice a prey, they don't attack head on. Instead they come up from behind or above and then pounce. Then they're like, "DINNER TIME! WOOO!" and take a monster bite. It's more like a sting with their long pincers. At the same time, they drop some venom that, depending on the person, can stop (or come close to stopping) your breathing in 5 minutes..... freaky.

Black Widow - There's a small family in a suburb located in Pheonix, Arizona. They have a spider farm... more specifically, a black widow spider farm RIGHT IN THEIR HOUSE. All three (husband, wife, and daughter) run the business. They extract the black widow's venom and sell them to scientists making anti-venom medicine. You just have to see it... man.... Anyway, a Black Widow's venom feels like a charlie horse with 10x the umph (according to the husband). It's so painful, it feels like the muscle is contracting to the point of nearly snapping the bone.

Super Deadly Wasp - I forget its actual name, but apparently this wasp is the most aggressive wasp whose bite/venom combo is the most painful non-lethal bite out there. The show didn't detail what it actually feels like, and what causes the intense pain, but by the host's and his accomplace's ultra caution when approaching a hive... that pain is no joke. So check it out, these two approach a hive home to about 200 of these bad boys. The expert tells the host that they are going to try and snatch the hive... yeah... crazy. But first, in order to test the aggressiveness of the hive, the expert says they need to blow up a balloon and place it between the hive and themselves. He then proceeds to tell the host that each wasp can sting up to 5 times. The host does the math and says... "so, that's, at worst, about 500 stings each right? And these things have the worst and most painful wasp bite known to man? I'm going to stand... over here." The expert goes on to explain that *if* the wasps burst the balloon (it was a monster black balloon too by the way)... run. Within seconds after only slightly disturbing the nest, the whole swarm pounced, the balloon burst with a quickness, and both host and expert high tailed it while falling over themselves trying to get past natural rain forest obstacles. It was pretty funny to watch actually ;-D

First post... is wack yo, heh ;-D

2005-08-12T22:59:00.000-04:00

Testing baby... testing.... this my first post baby, yeah! checkit, bam bam hoorah!