Author Archives: mhick255

How to Read 100 Blogs a Day

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Sometimes people ask me how I keep up with so many blogs, websites, and general news. My secret (other than being easily distracted) is my trusty RSS reader. Using an RSS reader and some simple information management skills, you can easily skim dozens of blogs each day.

What is RSS?

RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication.” It’s a way for websites to “syndicate” their content for use by other websites and software, just like a syndicated newspaper column can be published in hundreds of newspapers at the same time. At minimum, the RSS feed will contain the title of the new article and a brief summary, but many websites will make the full text, images, mp3 or PDF attachments, etc., of their articles available through RSS. For these websites, you can read their entire content without ever visiting their website. The RSS content is called the website’s RSS feed.

Why is RSS better than just visiting the website?

RSS feeds are better because of time and attention. Continue reading →

Expanded Gambling in Kentucky

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Here’s a letter to the editor I just sent to the Cincinnati Enquirer.  I hope they’ll publish it:

Dear Editor,

In Patrick Crowley’s rosy article about expanded gambling in Kentucky (“Ind. racino rakes money”), Gov. Beshear hopes that new racetrack casinos will eventually bring in $1 billion a year in revenues. This “revenue” will come from the gambling losses of average Kentuckians – nearly $250 lost by every man, woman, and child in the commonwealth. Like most Kentuckians, my wife and I support our family of five on a very tight budget. Yet our governor hopes that our family will lose $1,000 a year at his new casinos. That’s over two months worth of groceries for us! I’d certainly like to support the governor, so can he suggest two months a year when my family won’t need to eat?

Sincerely,
Micheal Hickerson

Note: Crowley’s article was headlined “Ind. racino rakes money” in the print edition of the Sunday Kentucky Enquirer.  Apparently, an editor decided that “Horse interests back racino bill” was a more accurate title. I agree, considering that the article quotes numerous horse industry officials, and doesn’t quote even a single critic of expanded gambling.  (It does quote Senate President David Williams, who favors expanded incentives for horsetrack betting, but not new forms of gambling at horsetracks.)

Up and Hayao Miyazaki

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Yesterday, my wife and I took our girls to see Up. The movie was excellent (as attested by its 98% fresh rating at RottenTomatoes.com), but what struck me was the number of themes picked up from the movies of  Hayao Miyazaki, the “Japanese Walt Disney.” Miyazaki is probably best known in the U.S. for Spirited Away. Other notable films of his include My Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Princess Mononoke. Pete Doctor, the director of Up, has expressed his fondness for Miyazaki’s work.

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In Up, I noticed the following themes picked up from Miyazaki’s movies:

On top of this, Russell, the young star of Up, is Asian American (a rarity in American films, not to mention American animated films), which might also be a tip of the hat towards Miyazaki.

So, do you see the same things that I see?  Is Up a feature-length homage to Hayao Miyazaki?

Swine Flu and Religious Persecution

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Several media outlets are reporting that Egypt has ordered all pigs in the country to be slaughtered, out of concerns over swine flu. What does this have to do with religion? The Wall Street Journal has the best summary:

Egyptian human-rights activists have long complained of discrimination against Copts in education and in governmental hiring practices. The pork industry, a relatively small sector that caters to Christians and expatriates in Egypt, is one of the few businesses run exclusively by the Copts.

Pork is unclean in Islam, so the only pig farmers in Egypt are Christians. Sunday, the Christian farmers protested in the streets, and there is a danger of violence. Please be praying for the peace of Egypt, for reason to prevail (there is no evidence that humans can catch this flu directly from pigs), and for Christ to be lifted up.

When the Rain Comes In

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rain or shineOkay – cheesy illustration time. This morning, I checked the forecast and saw that thunderstorms are predicted through next Monday (I’m writing this on Tuesday morning). We’ve been extremely busy the past week, I haven’t had a chance to mow our lawn, and the grass was starting to resemble the Amazon. To make matters worse, both of our neighbors just cut their grass with professional-grade mowers, giving them that super-clean, striped look like a Major League ballpark. To make matters even worse, my boss is coming to visit me this week, and I want to make a good impression, since he hasn’t seen our new house yet.

There wasn’t time to mow the whole yard, so I made an executive decision to mow just the front lawn. So there I am, mowing my front lawn at 8:15 in the morning, with storm clouds moving in, knowing full well that my back yard looks horrible, with no plans to even attempt to clean it up for at least a week.

So, here’s the cheesy illustration: what’s your front lawn? When the storms of life move in, what do you rush to make presentable (or presentable enough compared to everyone around you)? What’s your back yard? What do you ignore because, even though it’s just as important and looks even worse, only you and your family can see it?

Photo: Ben McLoed, via Flickr