Accelerating the search for a cure...

On September 24, I'm walking in the Multiple Myeloma Race for Research in St. Paul, Minnesota, to help raise money to search for a cure for MM. As many (most?) of the people who read this know, my dad was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, an incurable cancer of the plasma cell, back in March, so this cause has suddenly become near and dear to my heart. Any support, in any amount, you can donate to the MMRF by sponsoring me, or those who are going to join our fundraising team (hurry up and register, guys, so I can link to you!) will be GREATLY appreciated by me and my family.

My fundraising page is here. The team fundraising page is here.

If you're in or near the Twin Cities, and would like to join our team, just shoot me a message and I'll send you an invitation to the team.

You can find out more about Multiple Myeloma here.

CFU Wind Energy

Our local utility company, Cedar Falls Utilities, offers wind power for those who wish to use it. So, in an effort to be more green, I dug through the last year's energy bills, figured out our average monthly usage, and purchased enough wind energy to cover it. My wife ordered a Kill A Watt power meter, so we can figure out which devices in our house are using the most energy and replace them or reduce our usage of them. Is it more expensive? Sure, but it reduces the amount of pollution we're personally responsible for, encourages more development of clean energy alternatives (I'm a big fan of nuclear energy, too bad no one else is), and gives us more incentive to reduce our power use at home.

An Inconvenient Truth

Holly and I saw An Inconvenient Truth on Monday night, which was probably the most interesting presentation I've ever seen. While the theatre was pretty empty, I still heard a gasp a few times when Gore revealed his line graphs. No one ever gasps at my charts... My only gripe is that I'd have liked a little more footnoting in the film itself, and a little less "human interest" about Gore. Those are minor quibbles about a film that everyone should go see. If I was Al Gore, in a month, I'd release the film for free on the internet, allowing anyone with a broadband connection to watch it at their computer or download and burn a DVD. The message is that important.

I've also looked for some serious criticism of the film, and so far, I haven't found any that's very compelling. The basic conclusions are that all the data points to a warming of the planet and a decrease in the amount of ice. These changes could be very dangerous for humans, possibly even catastrophic, and unless action is taken soon to change some of our behaviors, we may doom the future of millions of others.

One gripe I have with all those that claim to debate "Global Warming" is that they never specify criteria that would indicate Global Warming. How much carbon dioxide would cause global warming? How much ice should there be in Greenland? It makes you wonder if they're all just counting on the rapture to whisk them away, so they don't have to worry about it...

In any case, go see the movie, as Roger Ebert says:

In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to.

Gore successfully frames the issue not as a political one, but as a moral choice. Do we have an obligation to reduce emissions causing global warming to preserve the planet for the future? If so, we need to start now. Those who choose to frame global warming as a "debate" rather than a fact are choosing greed over morality, in the same way that tobacco companies have tried to frame the link between cigarettes and cancer as a "debate" for the last 50 years, when the science has been overwhelmingly clear.

Canceling AOL

Vincent Ferrari attempted to cancel his AOL account, and recorded the call with the CSR who attempted to "retain" him in the most obnoxious way possible. I'm reminded of when I called to cancel my AOL account a few years ago.

Old Tractor Auction

My Great Uncle Art Hoeft's farm/estate sale is Saturday (which also happens to be my 30th birthday). If you're into collecting old tractors or buggies, check it out, there are a lot of pictures on the sale bill.

Glacier-bound

After a nondescript motel continental breakfast, we're about to set off on the last leg of our trip to Glacier. I doubt I'll find much wi-fi there, but I've already been surprised to find Sprint PCS towers in Montana, as the Sprint coverage maps don't show them.

Hardin, MT

We've made it to Hardin, Montana, and I'm writing this from the Super 8. Their wireless doesn't work at all, but fortunately they have hard-wired ethernet in each room as well, so it doesn't really matter. When in Hardin, I suggest eating at the Purple Cow, a very local eatery with large portions and good service.

We stopped at Wall Drug, South Dakota today, as well as the Vore Buffalo Jump and the Little Bighorn Battlefield site.

Now pardon me while I go crash, I drove 600 miles today, and my biological clock is still an hour ahead of local time.

Mitchell, SD

We've made it to Mitchell, drove by the corn palace before eating at the Pizza Ranch and then crashed at the Thunderbird Lodge. I'd rate it about a 1.5-2 star, but at least they have free wi-fi!

Family Vacation

The Great Bokelman Family vacation starts today, we departed Cedar Falls, Iowa, around 1:30, and have arrived in Ventura, Iowa to pick up my grandparents before proceeding towards our final destination of Glacier National Park. Today's leg will take us as far as Mitchell, South Dakota. Home of the Corn Palace. I don't know how much internet we'll see along the way, but I'll post when I can...

Help Wanted

Yesterday, I started my new position as "Senior Systems Administrator". Today, we begin the search for my replacement, Systems Administrator.

CHARACTERISTIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Assists Senior Systems Administrator in maintaining the UNI active directory and ITS servers; installs, maintains, and updates application software packages that are critical to the ITS core mission; writes code to help automate manual functions (i.e. web based monitors, backup reports and data collection); evaluates and recommends updates of application software; coordinates with application users and other system administrators to ensure a smooth installation/update process; and troubleshoots server side problems and works with client support staff to ensure proper functionality.

2. Assists Senior Systems Administrator in maintaining centralized campus backup system; and works with other system administrators from across campus to ensure network backups and restores are performed in an optimal and reliable manner.

3. Consults with college and divisional system administrators on current standards; and assists with the planning, acquisition, implementation and maintenance of file, print, web, and application servers to prevent possible adverse effects on the central network.

4. Assists Computer Network Manager in troubleshooting and correcting problems associated with the UNI campus computer network; assists in troubleshooting wireless network connectivity issues; researches, evaluates, and recommends new technologies and determines their effect on the UNI computing environment; recommends network operating systems, hardware configurations, application software, and central monitoring systems; and helps establish installation and implementation standards.

NECESSARY QUALIFICATIONS: Bachelor’s degree plus at least four years of Microsoft server administration and experience with a large TCP/IP network environment required.