The Quacks

Daylight Savings Time

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Rodgers) — Sun, 15 Mar 2015 15:05:00 +0000

Last Sunday, we changed the clocks an hour ahead and shifted sunset well after 7pm in Columbia. For some reason, the mornings seemed much darker than normal. Granted the time change moved the time of sunrise from 6:44 am to 7:44 am, but I don't recall it being as dark in past years. For comparison, the latest the sun rises in December/January is 7:30am. We get back to that time around March 18th. I've lived in Columbia several years now, so I figure the westward/southward location compared to Long Island shouldn't have as great an effect on me.

For all intents and purposes, we've shifted to Central Standard Time in the east. Through college, DST began on the first Sunday of April. In 2015, that would have shifted the start of DST to April 5th, when the sunrise is at 6:06 / 7:06 am. I was living in NY for one year (2007) after the new schedule of switching the second Sunday in March was enacted. The timing there works out to move sunrise to exactly when the latest time occurs in the winter (7:06am, using Bridgeport, CT as an estimate).

Of course none of this really matters long term, next year the change is made March 13th, when sunrise will be at 7:37am. I find it funny that I went to such an extent looking up the late sunrise times because I am more of a night person, and generally enjoy the later sunsets. What it really probably comes down to is having a dog now that is more in tune with being fed early in the morning.

Starting Over

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Rodgers) — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 03:32:00 +0000

I've made it a point this year to get back into my website. It's now March, and the ball is only starting to roll. I want to begin updating the site by posting here more and even though this is just tangential to the other content on the site, I can at least use this as a way to get back into it. I've been posting on here since 2008, and it's been very irregular; I haven't made any updates to mattrodgers.net since 2010. To start, here's a few goals:

at least one post a week
improve python skills, and begin introducing them to the website
take more pictures, post to the site
add a resume area that focuses on technical skills
develop some web mapping projects

Hopefully I'll stick to these simple areas and in a few months the site will be much fresher.

The Library

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Rodgers) — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 18:52:00 +0000

I've decided to start a new section on my blog. This area will be called the library, and I will connect to articles I've recently read and found interesting, or things I plan to read. This will also be a place for me to place stuff I think friends may want to read. The first addition will be an article in the New York Times Magazine on Mario Cuomo titled: "Mario Cuomo Still Believes".

Activist side of things

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Rodgers) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 16:32:00 +0000

Throughout my blog updates (which admittedly came over the span of months quite often) I've tried to stay away from political discussion. It can make blood boil fast. I often find myself dancing around this line when discussing politics with conservative friends. It is instructive, though. I like to think my opinions are better formed when I run them up against an opposing view and can see where my holes and strong points are.
In any case, what I'm trying to get to is the case that was decided this past week by the Supreme Court. For how many years we've listened to the political right bastardize the liberal opinions of the Court as overreaching and activist. Now, with an opinion from the right that nullifies laws extending back a century and contradicts three opinions of the Court in the last twenty years, we hear none of this banter. The majority view of the court reached on Thursday not only extends an unwarranted liberty to a state-created structure, it also upends the voice of individuals. Money is power, and money can be a voice, but corporations and unions are not individuals. I understand that there were issues with the old rules: corporations with a media company attached, ie. General Electric (not anymore), or News Corp, were given greater freedom in expressing their views close to an election than those lacking such groups. However, to declare this entire section of law unconstitutional is disturbing. We can only hope that Congress, can come together to rewrite legislation controlling these special interests before the bidding war begins.

Update, Main Page

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Rodgers) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 09:23:00 +0000

Continuing on edits made to the main page the last few nights, I have come close to finishing some significant edits to the main page. To start, the page has been organized slightly differently, with the News, Sports, and School menus moving across the page from right to left. This has freed up some space in the Current Weather Corner, which was actually contracted in size, resulting in a smaller window in the lower right corner. The window which used to show webcams is now used for displaying weather radar, which is controlled through a menu directly above. The webcams may be added back in at a later date after I check that they are all working (4 or 6 were not). Much of the title bar is now an image, with the links following below. In the middle of the site now resides a site index, which describes the major portions of the site behind the index page.

Some changes are still in the works, such as cleaning up the html and resetting the CSS styles. I recognize that the iframe setup for the radar will prevent any users acessing the website with IE from using them, however, to my knowledge I have yet to find a fix for that issue. This may be something that is resolved in the next major build of the main page, and further the website, converting to a master page format

12/28/09: Snow In the Forecast

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Rodgers) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:04:00 +0000

Looks like another nor'easter will be making it's way north along the coast around New Year's Eve. Right now it is difficult to tell where the rain/snow line will end up, but there definitely looks to be enough moisture in this storm to produce another mess.

12/26/09: New Main Page Updates

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Rodgers) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 09:49:00 +0000

Tonight, actually early this morning, I changed a portion of the main page. For a while I have been using the Quack to record changes to my website. Instead of entering these changes on the main page in text, they are now shown through an RSS feed that is using feedburner. This is a service offered by Google that I have added to my website. The new object will show the most recent posts, and cycle through them continually helping to clean up that part of the main page and conserve some space. Over the next few days there will likely continue to be some tweaking. Currently clicking on the object will take you directly to the main page of the blog, showing the most recent blog entry. Now since it's 5AM I'm off to sleep. Merry Christmas!

Travel Map Updated

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Rodgers) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:55:00 +0000

Finally added something to my website again, and it's an update of the travel map. This addition includes my trip to and from Oklahoma in August and Knoxville in October. Now I'll have to make a trip to Kentucky to clear some holes.

Travel Map Updated

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Rodgers) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 06:31:00 +0000

Updated the travel map tonight. I think the only thing that had to be added was the trip to Tennessee. That adds another state to my list, with a visit to Cocke and Sevier counties. Gatlinburg was a really cool town, though granted a bit of a tourist trap. I'll have to post the pics. On the way back, Mary, Caglar, and I took a detour and did some hiking in the Smokies, and drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The mountains were beautiful and the air refreshing compared to the 90 degree heat Columbia has been experiencing. The new map replaced the old one, of the same name (travelmap.gif) and is located in the Maps folder. I'm working on a GIS solution for this which will allow updating to be easier and for me to expand this mapping to a few other projects.

The Spread of WalMart and Target

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Rodgers) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:56:00 +0000

I happened to run into this site Flowing Data, which looks like it takes on some interesting mapping ideas. They have two projects which show the spread of WalMart and Target across the country. Comparing them shows some interesting decisions in their spread; it seems like Walmart moved outwards from it's initial base in Arkansas and saturated new markets, whereas Target aimed to go to mostly any major market in the Midwest before expanding outward. Click below for each project:

Walmart
Target

Main Page and About Me Updated

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Rodgers) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 07:31:00 +0000

I made a number of edits tonight to the website. The About Me page was revised and updated. I also made changes to the format of the main page, changing the banner, and some font issues below. I still cannot figure out how to get IE to recognize the iframe for the webcams. Firefox is showing them correctly. When I make the next update I will likely move the travel map into the Maps. A few other code changes need to be made. I need to work on standardizing the css tags in a separate file.

the Pictures Updated

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Rodgers) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 05:24:00 +0000

Click on the Pictures, it will take you to pictures I've posted that have been collecting on my desktop.

New Apartment

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Rodgers) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:42:00 +0000

I'm just about ready to say goodbye to True St. Me and Nate (my roommate) rented a UHaul this morning and moved just about everything out. Two and a half hours to pack it in....45 minutes to unload....must be the difference in stairs. So for the first time in a year I'm spending a night away from True St...not through any alcohol inducement. Should have the move complete by the end of the month...when they kick us out. MDR

Main Weather Page Update

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Rodgers) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 04:14:00 +0000

The main weather page was updated again, this time adding links to other weather pages, and fixing the other temperatures menu. The fourth (bottom) temperature is linked to the menu choice, which was previously extremely small; it is now the same size as the other temperatures.

How to Get Your Boss Fired....

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Rodgers) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 01:44:00 +0000

Play 34-35 baseball almost halfway through the season....
Lose a 7 game lead over Philadelphia with 7 games to go....

Yeah.....nice job guys....might want to get your asses in gear. Some of the best talent in baseball resides on the New York Mets and they've squandered away everything. How many times do Mets fans get to watch the team do this. It's a shame it takes this.

Then again....
On what team does the bench coach....ie. now the Mets manager....get thrown out of a game after arguing with the umps about a ball which hit the foul pole (a homerun)is called back from being a homerun - - - while the manager does nothing but accepts it.

Exactly.

Main Weather Page update

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Rodgers) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 05:36:00 +0000

I updated the main weather page. Initially, it had only resources for the Northeast and Long Island, I'm changing that to be based more on the US, and build other locally based pages. There is still more to do, but the graphics are in. I plan to expand these to be selectable at 3 hour intervals. The radar and satellite imagery is coming from Unisys and the Surface Analysis from the HPC at NOAA.

A few changes....

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Rodgers) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 06:31:00 +0000

Made a few edits to the main page of the website tonight. I updated the About me page and loaded it up. Basically it now goes up to this summer. I also rerouted a few things on the main page, such as updates linking to here instead of the update page. I haven't decided if I am going to post something containing the changes I've made since July 2005. I also added color to the recent changes, though that was a minor screw-up from changing a piece of code around a few months back. Also, the default web cam is changed to Mt. Nittany, since the IST cam is currently not working. I hope in the next week to complete all of the other changes I have in mind.

Website Updates

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Rodgers) — Thu, 29 May 2008 03:45:00 +0000

As this is a much easier forum to post changes to currently, and this will become only increasingly linked to my website, I will begin posting changes to my website on here. All changes will be labelled Edits.

Back in New York

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Rodgers) — Thu, 29 May 2008 01:56:00 +0000

I got back onto the island on Sunday after a great weekend in DC. I'm going to be in NY for all of June and July before a return to Columbia for one last year. I also started back at Bowne again and all is going really well on the project I'm on. That's all for now.

This is what happens when...

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Rodgers) — Thu, 15 May 2008 06:03:00 +0000

....You elect an Eagles fan to Congress
Now I'm no Patriots fan...I'm actually a Jets fan (that team that decided to open this whole shit show to begin with last fall), however, aren't there more important things for one of a state's 2 representatives in the Senate to be questioning? The NY Times reports on Thursday that US Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) is not happy with the result of the NFL investigation. Oh yeah, as I mentioned before, he's an Eagles fan too, remember that team where the QB was throwing up on the sideline while losing to the Patriots in a recent Super Bowl. My guess is, there's some lingering hostility to from what was probably a not so fun Sunday night.