Archives for August 2008

Grandpa Rickety Twice Over

August 12, 2008 by rickety 5 Comments

This is a family blog so it is appropriate to post once in a while about birthdays, new births, and pregnancies. Speaking of which you may recall that I blogged about Sarah and Derek expecting a boy in October, their first child. Of course some family members decided to fire up their creativity and contribute to naming the baby and came up with mossly good suggestions like:

Pete Moss
Forrest Moss
Chris Moss

I am really looking forward to being a grandpa. To make things even better, on 29th June Adelaide and Steven announced that their first baby is due in February. We do not know the gender yet. Last week they said it was OK to let everybody know. If the photograph is anything to go by this is going to be one beautiful baby.

So now I will soon be a grandpa twice over. Awesome!

How to not NoFollow

August 11, 2008 by rickety 17 Comments

The NoFollow attribute

When you comment on a blog and leave your own blog address you will get a backlink that search engines will pick up that will help you to increase your ranking. However, many blogs use the NoFollow attribute to make search engines ignore your backlink. They do this by including code like this:

href="http://www.rickety.us" rel="nofollow"

You can see it in a blog’s comments by using your browser’s “View Page Source” command. Blogger and WordPress both have NoFollow turned on by default, as do many other blogging platforms. Some blogs delay removing the NoFollow by a measured number of hours and others require a certain number of comments. I call these type of blogs restricted DoFollow.

Removing NoFollow

When I used to remove NoFollow from my WordPress blog I used the DoFollow plugin by Denis de Bernardy. I no longer remove the NoFollow attribute. This is purely an effort to reduce the number of plugins I use. Note that links placed in the body of the comment will still be NoFollow but the website listing typed into the website box will be DoFollow. Of course there is really no DoFollow attribute but if the NoFollow attribute is removed, the link is automatically followed.

Detecting NoFollow

The way I prefer to detect NoFollow is to use the Firefox SearchStatus plugin. Once loaded, when you go to comment you will see links that are NoFollow in a pink box. Very useful.

Finding DoFollow

There are a number of DoFollow directories that list DoFollow blogs. The problem is that restricted DoFollow blogs are mixed in with the the good unrestricted blogs. In some directories there are even some NoFollow blogs that slip through. Now that gets really annoying. So for a time I kept my own directories. With the SearchStatus plugin, when I came across DoFollow blogs, as I read the comments I would add them to my directory. Just surfing by a blog’s homepage that has Recent Comments displayed, Stylish will display the true colors of a commenter’s link.

A more direct approach is to use Google Image Search for “U Comment I Follow” (with the quotes). You might even want to make sure that the same text is displayed in your alt tag when you choose a DoFollow image for your blog.

Update

I have discontinued using the dofollow plugin to reduce the number of plugins I use.

Scripture Links

August 10, 2008 by rickety 2 Comments

Note: Since lds.org was redesigned many of these shortcuts do not work. Check back for updates.

Studying from my scriptures is a great way to improve my life. I want to know how to quickly get to them online, and it has been useful to me to learn these shortcuts.

To link to a scripture so that it is highlighted use:

scriptures.lds.org/en/hel/13/26-30#25
where:
en = English (de=German, es=Spanish, fr=French, it=Italian)
hel = Helaman
13 = chapter
26-30 = verse range
#25 = starting verse at the top of the page (not highlighted).

Notes:
When no language is specified, defaults to English.
Here is a list of abbreviations. This is about all you need to know except for a few additional ones I list.

To refer to separate verses use commas:
scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/89/1,4-5#1

To refer to the study helps indexes:

scriptures.lds.org/en/gs links to Guide to the Scriptures. Substitute for gs bd, tg, in, jst, biblemaps, or chmaps for the other helps. Add a through z to access the contents, for example scriptures.lds.org/en/gs/d lists all topics beginning with d. This works for the other helps except for the JST which uses a number to refer to select passages. biblemaps, in addition to a through z, also accepts a map number from 1 to 14 as does chmaps with map numbers from 1 to 7. biblephotos and chphotos only accept numbers 1 to 32 and 1 to 18 respectively.

Old Testament

Example: scriptures.lds.org/en/ps/127/4-5#5

Only use ot for contents (ot/contents) or The Epistle Dedicatory
(ot/epstlddc)

Genesis gen	Ecclesiastes eccl
Exodus ex	The Song of Solomon song
Leviticus lev	Isaiah isa
Numbers num	Jeremiah jer
Deuteronomy deut	Lamentations lam
Joshua josh	Ezekiel ezek
Judges judg	Daniel dan
Ruth ruth	Hosea hosea
1 Samuel 1_sam	Joel joel
2 Samuel 2_sam	Amos amos
1 Kings 1_kgs	Obadiah obad
2 Kings 2_kgs	Jonah jonah
1 Chronicles 1_chr	Micah micah
2 Chronicles 2_chr	Nahum nahum
Ezra ezra	Habakkuk hab
Nehemiah neh	Zephaniah zeph
Esther esth	Haggai hag
Job job	Zechariah zech
Psalms ps	Malachi mal
Proverbs prov

New Testament

Example: scriptures.lds.org/en/eph/4/32#32

Only use nt for contents (nt/contents)

Matthew matt	1 Timothy 1_tim
Mark mark	2 Timothy 2_tim
Luke luke	Titus titus
John john	Philemon philem
The Acts acts	To the Hebrews heb
The Epistle to the Romans rom	The Epistle of James james
1 Corinthians 1_cor	1 Peter 1_pet
2 Corinthians 2_cor	2 Peter 2_pet
Galatians gal	1 John 1_jn
Ephesians eph	2 John 2_jn
Philippians philip	3 John 3_jn
Colossians col	Jude jude
1 Thessalonians 1_thes	Revelation rev
2 Thessalonians 2_thes

Book of Mormon

Example: scriptures.lds.org/en/moro/10/32-33#32

Only use bm for the first seven items below

Book of Mormon contents bm/contents
Title Page bm/ttlpg
Introduction bm/introduction
The Testimony of Three Witnesses bm/thrwtnss
The Testimony of Eight Witnesses bm/eghtwtns
Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith bm/jstestimony
A Brief Explanation about The Book of Mormon bm/explanation
First Nephi 1_ne	Alma alma
Second Nephi 2_ne	Helaman hel
Jacob jacob	Third Nephi morm
Enos enos	Fourth Nephi 4_ne
Jarom jarom	Mormon 1_ne
Omni omni	Ether ether
Words of Mormon w_of_m	Moroni moro
Mosiah mosiah

Doctrine and Covenants

Example: scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/121/46#46

Doctrine and Covenants contents dc/contents

Explanatory Introduction dc/introduction

Chronological Order of Contents dc/chrono

Official Declaration—1 od/1

Official Declaration—2 od/2

Pearl of Great Price

Example: scriptures.lds.org/en/a_of_f/1/13#13

Pearl of Great Price contents pgp/contents

Introductory Note pgp/introduction

Selections from the Book of Moses moses

The Book of Abraham abr

Facsimile No. 1 abr/fac_1

Facsimile No. 2 abr/fac_2

Facsimile No. 3 abr/fac_3

Joseph Smith—Matthew js_m

Joseph Smith—History js_h

The Articles of Faith a_of_f

Ward Campout 2008

August 9, 2008 by rickety 3 Comments

Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to me.

Todd wins oven gloves that he really needed during the cookout

Friday evening Jill and I were minding our own business when Max called and asked if we would like to spend the evening at the ward campout. We wouldn’t stay over but would just eat the food and leave and perhaps visit for awhile. Jill had been working hard all afternoon on the invitations for Melissa’s bridal shower and she needed me to help to get them finished. So I had hard duty putting the stamps on the envelopes. They were self-adhesive stamps so I didn’t even break into a sweat.

Sharon and Max came by, I grabbed my camera and my rickety gorilla stand and we stopped at the store to buy supper to eat at the Weber Memorial Park. To stave off hunger we had to eat the bag of chips on the drive to the campground. I wanted to get Subway sandwiches but Max forced me to eat chicken which turned out to be a good choice as did it ever taste good. After we ate we placed our chairs around the campfire and visited with a few of the ward members. The temperature was very comfortable and I relaxed around the fire breathing in the wonderful aroma of smoking wood. You can’t camp unless you come back home stinking of smoke.

Just then I heard the sound of aircraft in the distance. It looked liked there were three of them flying really low. They buzzed over the campground and banked to make another pass. They dropped even lower and suddenly the ground around us was alive with miniature volcanoes exploding all in a row. But the noise told me it was machine gun fire and the holes in the back of the empty chair confirmed it. No-one was hurt on that first pass but we just couldn’t spare any more chairs. I was galvanized into action, I really didn’t want the dutch oven cooking to be ruined. I ran to man the gun (every campground should have one) and opened up. Thankfully budget cuts had not reached to eliminating park ammunition but had cut out police patrols instead. I got two of the planes but the remaining one took off to the east. I think I got his fuel tank so that will cost him a penny or two at the pump.

Jill was shaking me, “Wake up, you were yelling ‘Take cover’ in your sleep. What were you dreaming about?” I replied, “You know, I do believe it’s time to shoot some pictures.” Jill said, “Who put the holes in my chair?” I answered, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

The children were tubing in the river and trying out the slide. Todd won the dutch oven cookout with a peach raspberry cobler. Soon it was time to head home and Jill and I were glad that the Blair’s are such good friends and neighbors.

My Experience with Prosper

August 8, 2008 by rickety 8 Comments

Two months ago I funded my Prosper account with a few hundred dollars. Prosper connects those seeking a loan with lenders. Risk of default from rickety borrowers can be spread out by investing only $50 per loan. The interest rate is determined by lenders bidding the rate at which they are willing to loan.

When I am searching for loans to bid on I check off the homeowner box and select a B or higher Prosper credit rating. I allow any debt-to-income (DTI) ratio in the search. I then sort on hours left for bidding and select prospects with interest rates 10% or higher. I find the better the credit rating the lower the risk. The correlation is amazing. I look for lower requested dollar amounts to be borrowed and those that need the money for credit card debt consolidation or for their business. Currently my lending is earning 17% but I am allowing for 7% of this to be defaults which will give be a net return of 10%. I shall not grieve though even if my net drops to 3%.

One can join a Prosper group and pick up tips on possible candidates for loans. I have loaned to a business borrower, based on a group tip, who had an E Prosper credit rating. I am rewarded with a return of 30% which bumps up my average return. I recommend you don’t have too many of these in your portfolio because of the risk of default.

[Read more…]

What Rick Needs

August 7, 2008 by rickety 11 Comments

Searching for What Rick Needs

Here is something I found amusing. I saw it on Titania’s blog a few days ago. The idea is to search on Google with your name first and then needs, for example Rick needs. I tried using Rickety needs but the results were nonsensical. Here are the first ten Rick needs that Google listed when I searched on Wednesday:

Rick needs a massage.
Rick Needs YOU!
To run a strong race Rick needs our help, including financial help.
Rick needs to be cloned.
Rick needs bail money.
The only weight Rick needs to be trying to deal is to see if NutriSystem, Jenny Craig, Atkins, Slim fast and Weight Watchers will let him be the spokesperson for his next rap album.
Rick needs to borrow your engine hoist.
Rick‘s cool but he needs to open up more.
Rick needs to tag the load instead of letting the guy wire tag it for him.
What Rick needs now: partnerships with ad agencies that want to deliver big, beautiful graphics to their clients.

Amalgamating What Rick Needs

Now try and connect the ideas of all ten results together in one sentence. I have numbered the part of the sentence that matches the search results. For example, in the sentence below to pay is the essence of search result number 3, including financial help.

Cool (8) Rick needs you (2) to pay (3) for his massage (1) with bail money (5) to help him lose weight (6) so he doesn’t need an engine hoist (7) to lift him but he really should tag himself (9) before he is cloned (4) or produces any graphics (10).

If you try it yourself, share your results in the comments.

Results may vary by location and could be skewed by personalization based on your web history. Results may not amuse and are not insured by the FDIC. No animals were harmed during computations and all-electric search engines were employed to protect the environment.

Estimates are not Deadlines

August 6, 2008 by rickety 2 Comments

Project Deadline

Last year I worked on a software project that was suddenly elevated in importance. I was asked how long would it be before it was finished. I casually responded, “About two weeks if I can get the rickety development hardware to work.” This very rough estimate became a deadline almost immediately and caused a great deal of pressure to come my way. Part of the problem was random hardware errors that caused grief for my software. Eventually another programmer was drafted in to help with the software and two engineers tracked down the source of the hardware errors. During this fiasco I pondered the difference between an estimate and a deadline and how they became closely married together.

Deadline Origins

It was brought to my attention by Mirriam-Webster that the first meaning of deadline is “a line drawn within or around a prison that a prisoner passes at the risk of being shot.” It was a real line, drawn in the dirt in Civil War camps. The prisoners were told that if they crossed the line they were dead. It was soon called the dead line. The term was then applied to other situations with strict boundaries. Newspaper editors started to set deadlines and other writers began to use the term. Deadlines are now essential not just for reporters and other writers but in every kind of activity.

Software Development Deadlines

When an estimate morphs into a deadline the effectiveness of the software development declines and puts excessive pressure on developers, making their lives miserable. Working more hours does not necessarily result in more production and applying pressure to workers is not the optimum way to motivate. A deadline is often an arbitrary date set by someone who is not familiar with the project.

A good software team should already consist of motivated people. People cannot be pressured to think. Clear thinking does not come this way. Likewise forcing people to work harder results in short term productivity gains at the expense of quality which has to be corrected later. Working overtime to meet a deadline can cause staff burnout and does nothing to improve inefficient processes. Excessive overtime disrupts personal lives and causes employees to run errands on work time.

Refining Estimates

Updating estimates should be a normal part of the process and encouraged by management. Refining is a better word because it implies a normal process of improving on the initial estimate. Estimates will take into account what is to be done and at what rate and allowance made for requirements added or subtracted. Risks can be identified and accounted for.

Reality should never be at the mercy of wishful thinking. If on my project, estimation as a continuous process of refinement was the norm much of my grief (and management’s) would have been avoided.

Postscript

I did indeed finish my project though it took longer than two weeks. I was compensated with the equivalent time off for the hours of overtime I worked. Probably my biggest lesson learned is to pad my estimates until such time as Estimate and Deadline get a divorce. Well my friend that is all, I have a deadline to meet.

About the Photo: This is Andersonville, one of the most notorious southern prisoner of war prisons in the Civil war. This is in the inside of the complex. There was the wall (the logs in the background) and the fence, which was called the deadline. Soldiers had orders to shoot anyone who crossed the line. Photo Credit: upturnedface

Americans for American Energy Act

August 5, 2008 by rickety 2 Comments

Rob Bishop is the representative of the district in which I live. I have reproduced here a simplified list of his energy act, H.R. 6384, which has already been co-sponsored by more than two dozen other lawmakers and runs some 215 pages long. The 12 steps to greater and less rickety energy independence are to:

1. Increase the supply of natural gas.
2. Development of American oil resources.
3. Develop oil shale.
4. Utilize America’s coal supply.
5. Increase the use of nuclear power.
6. Invest in renewable resources.
7. Promote greater energy efficiency and conservation.
8. Increase America’s gasoline refining capacity.
9. Adopt regulatory relief and tax reform.
10. Improve America’s transmission and energy infrastructure systems.
11. Restore our energy workforce.
12. Develop new energy technologies.

I can simplify the list even more. This is what I think we should do in order of priority:

1. Replace oil and natural gas electrical generation with coal.
2. Replace oil furnaces with natural gas. Heavily promote natural gas and electric vehicles.
3. Greatly expand nuclear power generation of electricity.
4. Invest heavily in solar power.

What is your take on all of this? What would be your priorities? Your comments are welcome.

Mission Reflexiones: Comienzos

August 4, 2008 by jake Leave a Comment

My guest writer today is my son Jake Willoughby who just sent this post via email from Mexico.

More than two years ago in May I received my calling to Mexico as an official representative of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and of the Savior Himself. I remember calmly opening the envelope with the cameras rolling and reading the letter that extended my call to serve in the Mexico, Mexico City North Mission. My feelings indifferent as I was glad to serve the Lord wheresoever He desired. I had a great desire to learn another language and my two brothers had learned Spanish in their missions. I believe the realization of what I had undertaking did not sink in until I entered the Missionary Training Center in Provo.

Wednesday, 23rd of August, 2006: My family accompanied me to Provo to see me off. I had already been through the experience with my two brothers so I knew what to expect. I dropped my luggage in the indicated place, and signed in. After the short meeting they instructed us to say goodbye and part from our family through opposite doors. I had learned from my older brother, Paul, that getting it over quickly is the best way. I gave a quick hug to everyone and said “goodbye.” I was eager to enter the other door and start the mission I had prepared for all of my life.