Cranezilla --Mark Crane's collection of rarely annotated links

Theories of Psychological Treatment | Theoretical Approaches: Psychoanalysis, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

"Prayer, although not much understood in the field of psychology, is an extraordinary—and I mean that literally: extra-ordinary, beyond the ordinary—form of cognitive-behavioral treatment. It can free you from all neurotic anxiety if you pray out of pure love, with all your mind and all your heart and all your strength as a renunciation of your social-psychological identity and pride."

Miller showing his age: "AUBURN HILLS -- A 38-year-old man playing a young man's sport looked every bit his age Wednesday night. Though foolhardy to declare Reggie Miller null and void in any playoff series, since few players have produced postseason dramatics with his career-long consistency, the scrutiny exists."

Oh great. I turn 38 in August.

TheFeature :: An Architect in the City of Bits: "What have you learned from the research so far?

Mitchell: The implications of location-awareness are far from obvious. The technology enables you to reconsider things as fundamental as, say, signage in a city. For example, we traditionally think of a stop sign as part of the fixed infrastructure of the city. But if you have a location-aware automobile, you can shift the stop sign to the dashboard so it pops up when you approach an intersection. If you have whole networks of location aware vehicles, the system becomes more elaborate. Perhaps the stop sign only pops up when there's another car coming from the opposite direction. You could even have elaborate intersection priority schemes. "

The New York Times > Technology > Circuits > For Some, the Blogging Never Stops: "Sometimes, too, the realization that no one is reading sets in. A few blogs have thousands of readers, but never have so many people written so much to be read by so few. By Jupiter Research's estimate, only 4 percent of online users read blogs.

Indeed, if a blog is likened to a conversation between a writer and readers, bloggers like Mr. Wiggins are having conversations largely with themselves."

USB webcam driver for Mac OS X: "Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can you include support in your driver?
A: Generally, no - not because we don't want to, but usually we don't have such a camera for testing available and we don't have the necessary developer documentation. If you can provide me with both, contact us. "

# posted by craniac @ Thursday, May 20, 2004 |

quote to get us moving: "Sooner or later in life comes a time when it is performance that counts - not promises, no possibilities, not potentialities - but performance...the law of improvement is the law...of participation, of performance.
- Richard L. Evans
so we have to finish our theses... "

1. get poster software on laptop
2. write a. about labs
3. record streaming radio (radio paradise) and look for mp3 slicing software.
4. audio hijack
5. two clips for crosman
6. optical sight question.
7. put assignments online, as well as Torino's response
8. download and respond to draft 2.
9. respond to bronwyn's note
10. use google for tasks and addresses, perhaps.
11. grab more dvds for trip. Connections.
12. Mark out good passages for presentation.

Ask MetaFilter | Community Weblog: "As the previous owner of used VWs - a Golf, a Jetta, and a Passat, I can answer that question with a hearty 'YES'. Go get a new car. Once a VW starts to go, it just sucks up money like a high-dollar stripper."

Ask MetaFilter | Community Weblog: "I'd walk away - I loved my 85 GTI, (and my family has owned an original Beetle, 5 Rabbit/Golfs and 2 Passats) but once it crossed 150K, it was just to expensive to continue the affair. The problem with a car that age (as scarabic has pointed out), even with a relatively young engine, is all the other stuff that doesn't even fail, per se, but just reaches the end of its useful life. Brake discs and rotors, shocks and struts, shift linkage, CV joints, instrument lights (you don't even want to guess the labor charge to pull apart a dashboard and replace a 50-cent bulb, not that it's a critical repair) and on and on.

If I had $6K and a car older than say, 7 or 8 years, I'd rent a Sawz-All, chop the roof off the existing car, drive my new convertible into the ground (we did this with a '79 Rabbit) and put my remaining $5950 down on a new car or something used coming off lease with a manufacturer's warranty. If the payment is still too high, I'd look for something else. $6K will buy you a mid to late '90s Honda Civic, for example."

CarFilter: Pimp out my 88 VW Golf, or put $5k into a newer, more reliable car? [more inside]

I've got an inherited 1988 VW Golf. It seems like every three months I'm dropping $3-500 bucks on a repair--wheel bearings, front end work, o2 sensor dead, etc.

the average repair cost per month for this car is about $85, not counting mileage, tires, oil changes and other consumables. It gets 27 mpg on my 40 minute (one way) commute.

My practical need is to get something that won't require as much maintenance and get my to work reliably and reasonably quietly. I'd like to keep my loan payments to around $100-$150, so maybe a low-mileage Saturn or something will do the trick.

However, I'm 37, we own a minivan, first mortgage, etc. and I'd really like to get something a little more fun to drive, that corners well. Despite its age-related creaks and rattles, and the fact that the steering is getting mushier, I like the feel of the VW steering. Oh, and the VW has about 60k on a transplanted Scirocco engine (8 valve).

So, do I:

1. get the boring commuter car, and satisfy my midlife crisis needs with a good stereo,

2. Get a Geo Metro or Suzuki Swift, something with great mileage, and then tweak it into a snappy little autocross car/commuter

3. Put $5k into the VW, turning it into a reliable, funner car to drive.

4. See a therapist about trying to find fulfillment through consumerism.

Soprano Ukulele - Geared Machines - Mahogany: "A New Ukulele superbly built from the finest woods. Clean workmanship and excellent fret dressing are the first things you'll probably notice. The necks are expertly shaped and finished in a satin lacquer for a professional easy playing feel. The tone is very close to those selling for those 6 times the price.

Satin Matte Mahogany Finish

Inlaid Position Markers

Carrying case included - a $13.95 value

Uke Parts

Compare up to $69.95 retail

But it Now for $18"

The recent revelations about mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by inexperienced guards, anxious to please authority figures (such as interrogators, CIA, etc.) reminds me of the famous prison simulation conducted at Stanford in 1965, by Philip Zombardo and Stanley Milgram. Stanley Milgram strikes me as the Andy Kaufman of Sociology. He's the same guy who got people to electrocute strangers.

(the BBC reenacted the experiment a few years ago.)

In some cultures, freewriting is used as a form of psychological torture. The North Koreans, for example, fully integrated writing as part of their brainwashing process. Right now I'm practicing freewriting along with my class, and frankly, I'm afraid of what horrible crap is going to gurgle out of my subconscious for all to see on this weblog. Driving to work today I listened to Marsha Sinetar's True Wealth. It's somewhat new-age-ish and cheesey, but it made a few great points about money. One of them was that if you feel uncomfortable or guilty about having money, you'll never get any, and that our attitudes about money come from our parents. My parents have the most screwed up relationship to money I can think of. Initially, I thought it was just that we were poor-ish, but upon reflection, everything they say and do about money is completely screwed up. Happy Mother's day, mom!

The computers in our room are completely hosed today, despite having been "deep freezed" and rebooted. This sucks, and gives people even more reason to hate technology, this class, and, of course, me.

This weekend I shaved my head. Why? Because I thought it would feel interesting. It feels almost the exact same as having a crewcut. I feel ripped off, and now I have to walk around looking like a chemo patient.