Roadtrip Nation

Michael Marriner and Brian McAllister from Roadtrip Nation came to my work today and talked about their roadtrip that they took after college. They also showed several short documentaries of their trip.
Here is the blurb about it from the RoadTrip Nation website:

“Roadtrip Nation was started when some recent college grads, who had no idea what they wanted to do with their lives, decided to take a roadtrip to figure it out. They bought an old run-down 31-foot RV, painted it neon green, and hit the road for 3 months and 17,000 miles to explore how other individuals found their roads in life. Along the way, they interviewed over 80 people, including: a Lobsterman in Maine, the scientist who decoded the Human Genome, the Director of Saturday Night Live, the stylist for Madonna, and Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz. All of the leaders shared where they were in their twenties, and how they resisted pressures of conformity to find their roads in life.”

Here are some quotes that came from the documentary. Many come from college students that they interviewed.

“What’s the next step? I don’t know and it scares me.”

“Small decision now will affect my entire life”

“Sometimes I feel like the path that I am on was laid out for me some way”
“I don’t need to sit here and say I’m going to do this or I’m going to do that. I’m going to be who I am right now.”

“I’m still kind of lost about what my road will be, but I feel that will be part of my adventure”

“Everyone’s road was completely different, but the one thing that we say was no one’s path was linear.”

“Live your life with integrity.” –be true to yourself

“You are hardwired to do something in this world. All of the seeds for what you are to become are there. It is just a matter of accessing it and fulfilling it.”

“Let’s be honest with ourselves. If we do not have the answers, then let us not pretend that we do.”

Sam Ross, Founder of Fantastic Sams: “When you want to do what you want to do, you got to throw the book away. And as long as you do it honestly, then you will win every time”

Interviewer: “What if you don’t know what you want to do?”

Sam Ross: “It will come to you”

Interviewer: “What do you do until then?”

Sam Ross: “Keep breathing”

They wrote three books that were a result of what they learned during the roadtrip about how other people found their paths and how you can find your path.

Roadtrip Nation: A Guide to Discovering Your Path In Life

Finding The Open Road: A Guide to Self-Construction Rather Than Mass Production (Roadtrip Nation)

Roadtrip Nation: Destination Unknown (Define Your Own Road in Life)

A PSALM OF LIFE

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

WHAT THE HEART OF THE YOUNG MAN
                    SAID TO THE PSALMIST

    TELL me not, in mournful numbers,
        Life is but an empty dream ! —
    For the soul is dead that slumbers,
        And things are not what they seem.

    Life is real !   Life is earnest!
        And the grave is not its goal ;
    Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
        Was not spoken of the soul.

    Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
        Is our destined end or way ;
    But to act, that each to-morrow
        Find us farther than to-day.

    Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
        And our hearts, though stout and brave,
    Still, like muffled drums, are beating
        Funeral marches to the grave.

    In the world’s broad field of battle,
        In the bivouac of Life,
    Be not like dumb, driven cattle !
        Be a hero in the strife !

    Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant !
        Let the dead Past bury its dead !
    Act,— act in the living Present !
        Heart within, and God o’erhead !

    Lives of great men all remind us
        We can make our lives sublime,
    And, departing, leave behind us
        Footprints on the sands of time ;

    Footprints, that perhaps another,
        Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
    A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
        Seeing, shall take heart again.

    Let us, then, be up and doing,
        With a heart for any fate ;
    Still achieving, still pursuing,
        Learn to labor and to wait.

Star Wars parody – Chad Vader – Day Manager

This is a really funny Star Wars parody.

Part 1: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CiW838wNiM

Part 2: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPVlljVWqBg

 

24 TV Series – Season 1

24 - Season One  I just learned about 24 at Microsoft TechEd in Boston this past June.  Cloe was part of the keynote address, and I found her character to be very funny.  After talking to my co-workers about it, I decided it was something that I needed to check out.  So, I was able find Season 4 in Walmart.  My wife and I watched that in about a week, and we were hooked.  So, for my wife’s birthday, I got here seasons I, II, and III to complete our collection.

Each season is exactly 1 day.  Each episode represents 1 hour of real time.  At the end of each episode, you are on the end of your chair wondering what is going to happen in the next episode.

There is very little connection between the seasons, so I did not feel we missed much just watching Season 4.  However, there are somethings that we know while watching Season 1, that takes away some of the suprise.  For that reason, it makes sense to watch them in order.

I highly recommend the series.  And more importantly, I suggest you start watching it on a Friday afternoon so as not to impact your work.

You could work on NASA’s Crew Exploration Vehicle Program

 

On Saturday, August 12, 2006 there will be a job fair for positions that will work on the Crew Exploration Vehicle.  You can find more at www.cevcareers.com/.  Also, I have compiled information about all the jobs listed into a spreadsheet.

Can you walk a mile in 6 minutes?

Friday’s episode of RocketBoom featured Race Walking.  The gentleman in the show claims to be able to walk a mile in 6 minutes.  It is worth a look.

 So, what is the difference between walking and running when you do a mile in 6 minutes?  Well, it all comes down to form.  There are two rules that must be followed to be considered walking.  First, you must maintain contact with the ground at all times.  Second, the knee of the supporting leg must be kept straight from the time it touches the ground till the time it passes under the body.

 You can see Race Walking 101 for more information.

 

The traffic has really dropped down

The traffic has really dropped down.  I believe that the big upswing was a result of the article that I posted on Digg.com and Reddit.com.  It seems that the traffic from that site really peaks on the next day and then tappers back down the day after that.

 My plans at the moment are to post an article to those sites weekly with the goal of trying to get an article on the “popular” page.

Are you an Amazon Associate and do you use WordPress?

Get paid for recommending things to your friends and readers.  Amazon has an associate program that you should sign up for.

Amazon Associates

If you are using WordPress, then you should download two plugins:

Now-Reading – This Plugin will maintain a list of all the books that you plan to read, are reading, and have read.  You can post reviews and give ratings.  The books show up in your sidebar.  Also, it creates links to Amazon using your associate id so that you get a commission if anyone buys the book.

WP-Amazon – This adds a “Insert from Amazon” link below the article edit window.  It allows for you to search for products on Amazon and to insert links to those products in your articles with your associate id.

 

 

Finally got the layout fixed

I broke the default WordPress layout when I tried hacking it to put the Google ads and Google search into it.  I have found several layouts that either support Google AdSense directly, or have spots open for it.  Here are some links to them:

ProBlogger Clean theme for WordPress

 Burnin’ R

 AdSenes Ready Theme

 Here is the one I am currently using:

MW

 

 

 

Product that will allow you to easily build a community wireless network

I have dreamed about building a wireless network in my community that would allow for our neighbors to connect to one another without depending on a internet connection, it would allow for wifi devices to operate all over the neighborhood, and it would allow for us to share our network connections to improve reliability and perhaps performance.

I have looked at MIT’s RoofNet project.  It looked interesting, but required a lot of time to research and get going.  A new company called Meraki Networks is planning to release some products to make it possible for people like us to create such a network.  www.meraki.net/products.htmlÂ