If you own a Zune (or an Xbox 360), a gentleman has released a tool called Encode360. It does all of the stuff you would expect a modern encoding tool to do, including watching a directory for files for transcoding.
In a subject near and dear to my heart, Drobo has released a $700 home storage robot. Kickass. As soon as these are shipping, I’ll buy a couple, stuff them with drives, and party on.
In an AP article titled Unprovoked Beatings of Homeless Soaring, it’s noted:
Twenty-six members of Congress have asked the Government Accountability Office to determine whether attacks on the homeless should be classified as hate crimes under federal law. In the meantime, homeless hate-crime bills are moving through the legislatures of six states: Maryland, California, Massachusetts, Nevada, Texas and Florida.
The article is a litany of stories of brutal assaults and murders of homeless people; many of the cases end in conviction for the acts. If prosecutors are able to put people in jail for these crimes, why do we need further legislation?
Sometimes, late at night when the parking garage is empty, I’ll run slaloms through the pillars in the parking garage. To make it more interesting, I’ll run them on the
exterior rows - barely enough room for the MoJ to make a turn. I’ve noticed that after a short while, I’ll start planning the turn after next - this is when my speed picks
up quite a bit. I’m no longer worried about the next turn, as I’ve already executed it mentally. The same sense of detachment comes when shooting targets with a pistol
- after a while, the next shot has already happened and I’m planning the shot after. This is when my hit rate goes way up. The expense comes when I need to handle a fault;
a missed plate or a turn that took too long will reset me to having to plan each action ahead of time and think it through while I execute it. Times and accuracy suffer.
I’ve noticed the same sort of detachment when driving well above the speed of other traffic - at a certain point, you can see the patterns in the traffic; it becomes
more profitable to regard the other traffic as static obstacles instead of dynamic vehicles. This only happens (for me) when I get well above the going rate of other
traffic. Sadly, regarding the dynamic as static opens you to faults when a car changes lanes unexpectedly; the cost of recovering the fault can be high, so I haven’t done
this type of activity in a long time.
I would call these flow states, but I think it’s a distinct phenomena. I’m open to feedback; when you’re doing well, do you detach or do you more completely engage?
I saw a video once of a female top fuel driver who said she talks everything through on her trip down the track. She got a lot of feedback saying this was impossible,
so she taped her talking on one trip. It was an amazing verbal assault, with every shift and nudge of the wheel spoken in high-speed verbiage before the execution of
the action; I’d say her plan for coming out on top is one of complete engagement. Mine is detachment. Yours?
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Unorganized Militia