Baseball's All Star game requires each team be represented by at least one player. This was a good idea, when there were 10 teams in each league. But now with 14 AL teams and 16 NL teams, you end up having some deserving players snubbed because some low-ranking team has to have someone at the game. To my knowledge, the NBA, NHL, and NFL have no such requirements for their All Star games.

Question #1: Should MLB eliminate this rule?

Additionally, MLB allows fans to vote for the starting lineups. Result is a popularity contest. IMO, Sammy Sosa does not deserve to be a starter this year, yet is #2 in outfielder voting. IMO, either Andrew Jones or Albert Pujols are much more deserving of a start. Similar has happened in previous seasons, such as 1990's Mike Schmidt getting voted a starter despite retirement in May, or the countless Ken Griffey Jr injuries.

This year MLB is allowing players to vote as well, and their vote will carry some weight.

Question #2: Will it help?

Wahoo!!

I'm a workin' boy again! I got a job!

I dont start until after the July 4 weekend, and I'm gonna be moving back home with my parents for a few months.

But - I got a job!

Special thankyous are to be granted to those who posted very good suggestions in my previous JE about the length of the resume.

So I'm working on my resume and have reached a point where nothing else will fit on one page.

I could go for two pages, except that I'm told by COM profs and Career Management Center advisors that two pagers quickly hit the trash can, regardless of their content.

I could jettison some stuff on there, but doing that makes myself look significantly less skilled and experienced than I really am. And I've already gotten rid of some things that I felt I could afford to.

The margins and line spacing is so tight right now that putting anything else in forces a second page anyway. And no, I'm not shrinking the font size. I already made it 11 from 12 last September, and I'm not going to strain a reader's eyes by making it 10.

Thoughts anyone?

Senior Project - DONE! Ok, so we finished it Monday and demo'd it Wednesday, but it's DONE!

The CS Dept this year also started giving a $250 prize to the best overall project. We came in second.

other news.... or rather a question:

On course evaluation forms, does anyone actually read the comments? I had a *really* bad professor this term, and wrote an extensive narrative on the comment form about him. I took time to prepare it as the form was an online form and made sure it was something readable and worth reading (including bait at the beginning to get the reader to read the end). I do know profs get these forms in a few weeks, but are they actually read?

If you hurry....

Visit CNet News.com. Note that there are TWO postings of Report: Home networking to branch out, same links, same times, same summaries. Guess CT & buddies are no longer the only ones......

Some of you may have seen past journal entries of mine ripping the press on how they scare the public, sensationalize, etc, all without fact checking. (And praising journalists like John Stossel for efforts to counter it) A few summers ago, for instance, was "Summer of the Shark" off the southeastern coast, even though the number of attacks and the sizes of the shark populations were consistent with the numbers of previous years. Despite this, the press's handling scared people in taking vacations elsewhere, leading to a lack of tourism in beach communities, and which sent their local econimies downhill fast.

My prediction: Tornadoes will be a hot topic this summer in the press, no matter how bad the numbers actually are.

Many out there say that patching is a difficult process, and takes time. Some say that keeping patches in place is also tough to do, making the entire concept of patch maintenance difficult as well. It's so bad that some just skip the process entirely.

I seem to recall there being a graphical tool out there that allows direct access into a MySQL database, and allows direct viewing and manipulation of data from there by sending in SQL queries. Data views were presented in an Excel-style table. I cant remember the name of this thing.

Anyone know of this tool and where it can be located?

I am amazed. Kevin Millwood - one of three big off-season acquisitions by the Phillies - has thrown a no-hitter today vs the Giants.

I just wish I was able to be at home to watch it to the end. I had to leave after the fifth, but I called my dad who says he would have otherwise just kept doing other work around the house and may have never noticed if not for my call.

Why wasnt I home? Intramural sand volleyball. Our team took 2 of 3 sets to pull out a come-from behind win. 25-21, 20-25, 16-14.

so i've tried to steer clear of posting politcal stuff about the gulf war ii, but what they hey, this site is hilarious:

http://www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com/

My faviorite is the section on the minister in history.

Should the AL nuke the DH?

Update: For the non-baseball inclined, the abbreviations are for "American League" and "Designated Hitter."

So it's a nice day out, ideal for bike riding to campus. I get about 2 blocks from home and whack! - Some guy opens his car door just as I pass.

I think I was lucky. Had he been a split second earlier, I'd have taken the edge of the door headstrong and nose first, but instead took most of the brunt with my upper right arm, leaving a 6-7 inch long scrape from about 2 inches above the elbow up to the shoulder on the outer side of the arm. There was also no other traffic on that block - leaving plenty of room for me to jump off the bike as I fell.

A pair of large medicated bandages from CVS seem to be handling it for now, but the arm just hurts. What I can and cant do seems to vary - I could drag a chair across the floor but couldnt stick a straw in a cup from McDonalds. I guess it depends on which muscles are in use. I can move the arm around with no apparent restriction in movement, just some pain while doing so.

Bike sustained minimal damage. Right side brake handle broke, but that looks like it'll be easily fixed, and the seat got twisted, also easily fixed. The guy's car had no evidence of what happened.

Question - Do I put something like a heat pack or cold pack or something else on the upper arm? Suggestions? Other ideas - like leaving it alone?

My Dad sent me a fw'd email he got from a buddy. It contained a very good photo I thought I'd share, but since slashdot wont allow uploading of images, Google Image search to the rescue. You may have seen them, but here are a few links to them:

pic 1 pic 2

So I'm traveling by air soon, and am a little concerned about the idea of leaving my bag unlocked. So I checked out the TSA website, and the FAQ on the topic suggests using "standard cable ties" as an alternative. Anyone see the Catch-22 on that? You would need to carry wire cutters in your carry-on luggage in order to snip the tie when you reach the destination. But -- wire cutters are banned from carry-ons!

I could use a bread-tie, but those are weak and break easily. I could place an opened lock inside my bag, and leave a note asking they put it on, but that would require the screener to actually open the bag in order to find it.

Suggestions? Particularly anyone who has traveled since they've started this kind of screening?

RANT - If they (the TSA) wants to screen the inside of bags, they should do so at the ticket counter with the passenger present. This wouldnt open up the can of worms associated with leaving bags unlocked (particular those minimum waged baggage handlers and people hoping to get freebies at the luggage claim carosel). The screener can open the bag, poke and prod as he/she pleases, and the passenger can then lock the bag, and the screener hands the bag to the clerk who puts it on the belt. Result? none of this breaking locks, no leaving bags unlocked, no using cable ties that you cant undo when you reach your destination.

So in my last JE was about me goin on national tv for the league final.

We lost that game, meaning we dont go to the NCAA field of 65 and the big dance. But we were still good enough for the smaller dance: the NIT.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) at 7:30, Drexel heads cross-town to take on the Temple Owls. No word on TV coverage - most likely it'll only be televised locally.

Interesting thing in the paper - the two teams haven't played a regular season game in years. The last meeting was 1994, and even that was the first round of the NCAA playoffs.

No word (yet) on whether the band will be going. Most likely we will, but if we dont I'm still headed there (along with a bunch of others) - it's just a short ride on the subway.

oh - and today is the annual city coaches vs. cancer event, where all 6 city b-ball coaches hold a luncheon. i dont think cheney and flint will be sitting next to each other :)