We've moved to tangollama.wordpress.com

So long and thanks for all the fish

2010-11-05T19:55:00.003-04:00

It is with hopeful yet bittersweet sentiments that I bid farewell to Blogger. We've had a few laughs, but when you wouldn't open up and let me in, we both knew it wouldn't last.

My new home is at... Wordpress.com

http://tangollama.wordpress.com

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Africa is THIS big

2010-10-14T12:51:00.002-04:00

Props to Joel Glovier who forwarded this to me. For those of you keeping score at home, that's Texas jammed into the space where Niger is in Africa.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Alqaeda Takes Credit for Facebook Crash

2010-09-23T16:38:00.003-04:00

Remember folks, freedom isn't free...

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Dad Life

2010-09-19T16:45:00.000-04:00

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

It's a trap!

2010-09-14T15:41:00.002-04:00

Why can't Messiah College be called "the Rebels". Help us Admiral AckBar. You're our only hope.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Cabbage Patch - More Terrible Videos

2010-09-11T20:28:00.001-04:00

Props to Joel Glovier for sharing this wonderfully terrible video.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Code Monkey

2010-09-07T23:00:00.001-04:00

To all my warm fuzzy secret-hearted brothers and sisters out there...

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

I can't believe I work at CURE...

2010-07-23T17:38:00.001-04:00

This afternoon, I was watching this video on training in CURE hospitals around the world just before taking off the for the weekend and I cannot believe I work here. It is just awesome... http://beta.helpcurenow.org/media/videos/?v=http://vimeo.com/13341404

CURE PW Training from CURE Video on Vimeo.

The Onion will make you laugh

2010-07-01T09:52:00.001-04:00

Thanks for Jason for the forward.

Christian Groups: Biblical Armageddon Must Be Taught Alongside Global Warming

Cheers - cause I'm so British... and busy,
joel

Growtivation

2010-05-13T08:09:00.004-04:00

For all those interested in the intersection of church and post-modernism, a tribute to the relevant church format

"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

A talk on innovation from Geoffrey Moore

2010-04-15T17:15:00.001-04:00

I saw this great video on innovation this afternoon and figured some or all of you would appreciate it. It's a good talk from Geoffrey Moore on innovation in a software business from a professional organization to which I belong

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

An Engineer's Guide to Cats

2010-02-26T14:40:00.001-05:00

Wow - two posts in one day. Thanks to my friends at NTEN for the forward of this video - An Engineer's Guide to Cats

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

That's a Peace Prize

2010-02-26T08:53:00.000-05:00

Cheers - cause I'm so British

Mapping Technology Worth Blogging

2010-02-18T10:42:00.001-05:00

This is cool. You should watch it.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

I just discovered QR Codes

2010-01-15T23:37:00.002-05:00

And I think I just found something cool enough to qualify for another tattoo!

This says "Yahweh is God" (like my name).

I know... I am a dork.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Ann Colter, Ronald Reagan, Eric Mangini, and the emotional roller coaster that is the Llama's Extravaganza

2010-01-10T00:13:00.004-05:00

I was forwarded this article by Ann Colter tonight - a scathing accurate description of Christianity, the easiest and hardest religion in the world. Enjoy.

http://www.anncoulter.com (it's the post for January 6, 2010)

AND... I ran across this t-shirt advertisement and it made me laugh.

Finally, I found out this weekend that Mangini is staying... which makes be uncontrollably depressed, and I watched the Eagles loose to the Cowboys... again, depressing.

But thank God for good friends and many hands to make light work of a move.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

The Oatmeal

2010-01-07T21:57:00.003-05:00

I'm sure its been out there and known for a while, HOWEVER, I just discovered this beautiful one-man wrecking ball of comedy - theoatmeal.com. Please observe...

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/computers
a discourse on why you should never tell someone you can fix their computer

http://theoatmeal.com/story/twilight
a diatribe on how the Twilight series works... and why it is stupid

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling
words you must stop misspelling

http://www.thingsbearslove.com/
self-described

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/beer
20 things you must know about beer.

http://www.marvelousmanboobs.com/
Again, self-described

I urge you to laugh and enjoy yourself. You are welcome. That is all.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Tango and Cre are Moving in January

2009-12-17T08:12:00.005-05:00

Good news. We are less than 2 weeks away from closing on the sale of our current home and purchasing our new town home. Now does anyone know a reasonably priced painter and moving service?

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Cold? Try a Blanket this Holiday Season

2009-12-14T15:43:00.002-05:00

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

When you're a Browns fan, you need to take joy in the little things, like the Steelers missing the playoffs

2009-12-11T10:58:00.005-05:00

When you're a Browns fan, you need to take joy in the little things. Today, that joy is in the knowledge that my putrid but beloved Browns (along with the blessing of an unbelievably cold night) completely wrecked the chances of the Steelers to compete for a playoff spot. In celebration, my father took this picture. Enjoy.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
joel

ps - now my hope is that this fluke win does not net Mangidiot a chance to keep his job. That would be an ironic payback by the Steelernation... and just our luck

I found the Muppets on the Internet today

2009-12-08T22:51:00.003-05:00

Today, I found out that Muppet Studios has a Facebook Fan Page, a Twitter account, and has posted a Youtube video that involves the entire gang singing Bohemian Rhapsody. Apparently nearly 10M other people already knew that, but let me be the 10Mth to the party to share with you if you haven't seen already.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Today's interesting Internet video

2009-11-19T23:30:00.001-05:00

Props to Dale Brantner for the link. Be amazed by the death metal monk.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Internet Vendor Appreciation Post

2009-11-10T13:37:00.004-05:00

Today at CURE International, I've been thrust into the world of Internet tool vendors. Today, I'm creating accounts on Vimeo as a premium video provider, Wufoo as a survey functionality provider, and comparing Mgive and Mobile Cause as text-to-give providers. In most cases, I'm very pleased.

In the process, I found this great video, enjoy.

Trillions from MAYAnMAYA on Vimeo.

Let's hear it for focused companies that provide great, well-defined, well-implemented services on the Internet, eh? Let's hope we're all working for one some day.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

It's Monday and there's Simpson's Quotes on the Internet

2009-11-09T10:14:00.004-05:00

Thanks to Matt Shandera for a reminder of the transitive property of Simpsons quotes, when you can use a Simpson's quote in a related topic that does not precisely match the same Simpson's circumstance, yet retains its hilarious quotient.

Thus presented, the Frogurt quote. Enjoy.

Happy Monday.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Rainy Days, The House Where Nobody Lives, and Apple

2009-10-27T22:53:00.009-04:00

It's been a rainy day in Central PA, and thanks to the magic of generation 1 U2 iPod and the random feature on my VW Golf stereo, I found Tom Waits' Mule Variations. I normally hate days like this - rainy and gloomy - and I wouldn't normally be so transfixed by an album like this one, but today they just fit together in a way that was just a little bit special in an otherwise very usual day. That's one of the great things about carrying your music library in a wallet-sized device - you get to remember that you have music you forgot you love.

Many props to Bryce Flurie who turned me on to Waits and to Dale Brantner who let me burn the album 5+ years ago.

So if you find someone
Someone to have, someone to hold
Don't trade it for silver
Don't trade it for gold
I have all of life's treasures
And they are fine and they are good
They remind me that houses
Are just made of wood
What makes a house grand
Ain't the roof or the doors
If there's love in a house
It's a palace for sure
Without love...
It ain't nothin but a house
A house where nobody lives

- from "The House Where Nobody Lives", Mule Variations, Tom Waits

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Videos vs. Search and a Low-Tech Stumble Upon

2009-10-23T15:16:00.005-04:00

At my new gig at CURE International, I was sitting through a 3-hr initial meeting with a PR firm that specializes (among other things) multi-channel marketing and messaging for non-profits called Masterworks. I shared emails with their director of interactive media, went to his Twitter account, and then to their corporate blog when I ran across this fact posted there.

August 2009
# of searches of Google: 9.4 Billion
# of videos viewed on YouTube: 10 Billion

Yup... that's right. YouTube is delivering more VIDEOS than Google is processing searches. Still think buying YouTube was a mistake by Google?

Sounds like a good time to be in the video software market...

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Another Cleveland Video

2009-10-21T22:32:00.002-04:00

At least we're not Detriot...

My favorite line: "Our economy's based on Lebron James!"

High props to Ted Brandt who posted this on my facebook Wall. Cheers dude.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

John Riggins Tells It Like He Sees It

2009-10-15T12:40:00.004-04:00

Browns fans, don't we need someone speaking up on behalf of the best interest of the franchise, like Riggins is doing for Washington, and NO that person should not be Jim Brown. Let's please pick someone who can put together a few sentences

Sidenote: an obvious, interesting use of new media...

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

The 2009 Cleveland Browns Really Suck

2009-09-27T16:41:00.006-04:00

I have lots of things I can blog about and will in the coming weeks. Today, the subject of the day is the Cleveland Browns.

I have been a Browns fan since 1985, and I've been a student of the game and Browns history ever since. I know about the good years - decades before my birth. I have lived through some very bad years. I have faithfully supported my team through thick and thin. Simply put: the 2009 Cleveland Browns are the very WORST Browns team they have ever fielded. Brady Quinn, DA, Eric Mangini, Wimbley, Mr. Lerner, name your Browns employee. Basically everyone but Shaun Rogers needs to go. I deserve better than this. We all deserve better than this.

Today, the Browns made me watch them loose to the Baltimore Ravens again, and it's insulting to all of us.

Like all businesses, the Browns trouble starts at the top with the leadership in the front office. The Rooney family is a model for great NFL ownership. They hire the right people, support the organization, enforce the right culture - a professional and honorable culture, and they draft so stinkin' well.

Until the city of Cleveland demands a level of commitment from the team equal to OUR commitment to the Browns, we'll always be the bottom feeders. People don't make fun of me for being a Browns fan. They just feel sorry for me. I feel sorry for me too.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

The Replacements

2009-09-02T20:06:00.008-04:00

Every once in a while, someone has an idea so good, you have to tell people about it. This is one such occasion.

Last Saturday night was our annual fantasy football live draft, held every year in my living room. Our league commissioner is one of my dear friends since college, Kyle Letner. He works for an A/V company as an engineer and always brings a projector along to show the big board on our massive living room wall. Over the years (as is the case throughout this great land), we have come to love Draft Night. It's reaching high holiday status as one of my top-5 favorite nights of the year.

So at the end of the draft - an evening full of laughter and pain as we made good and bad moves, my wife Cre remarks how she wishes we could do it all over again, but maybe this time with the leftover players....

Thus, The Replacements was born

The premise is simple, for a second league, the members of our first league will redraft. But this time, we're taking all the top players off the board: the Lock Outs (ah la 1987), leaving us to draft the replacements - players who are good, but not stellar. So this Monday night, we'll be drafting again in my living room for our second draft minus...

The Top 10 QB's

The Top 25 RB's

The Top 25 WR's

The Top 10 TE's

The Top 10 Kickers

The Top 10 Defenses

...as rated by ESPN's pre-season fantasy board.

I'll report back on how I did and how it went.

Btw, for those interested, my first fantasy team (Onside Kick League) can we seen here, and my Replacements team can we found here.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

The funniest thing I've read in a long time

2009-08-19T08:00:00.001-04:00

I needed a laugh and Jason Yakelis provided the following: http://emailsfromcrazypeople.com/2009/08/15/view-obstruction-part-deux/#more-357

You're gonna want to read this.

Because football is coming soon and we miss it

2009-07-23T19:39:00.002-04:00

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

MobileAppDev in Zambia

2009-07-16T20:45:00.004-04:00

The Messiah College Mobile Application Development project is on the ground in Zambia for its initial field test. You can follow the project at http://blog.mobileappdev.org

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

BetterThanMarmaduke.com

2009-07-15T22:48:00.004-04:00

Cre and I just launched a new website. http://betterthanmarmaduke.com.

From the homepage of the website:

This website is based on one core belief: Marmaduke is the worst comic known to man. This is not meant to insult the author; it is merely a fact that must be addressed. It's time comedy was held to a standard. That's why we're here.

Perhaps Marmaduke has the potential to be funny, perhaps not. Our goal here is to find out. So several times a week, we will post the latest Marmaduke with its given caption. You be the judge. If we're wrong, let us know. Otherwise, suggest an alternative. So, to recap:

Write a caption that makes Marmaduke funny

Rate the caption of others

Redeem the idea that funny is something earned

Enjoy,

cre

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Visit Cleveland!

2009-07-14T17:04:00.001-04:00

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

You wouldn't take medical advise from Lucky Strike, so...

2009-07-02T17:28:00.006-04:00

As is occasionally my pattern, the following post is overtly religious. If you're not interested, don't read further. Feel forewarned.

This is an advertisement...

...and this is an article.

We can see these two things next to each other in a magazine, and when we read them, our brains naturally understand that the difference between the two: what they're purpose is, what they're meant to communicate, how reliable the content is, etc. So you wouldn't take medical advise from a Lucky Strike ad.

Newsflash. The same is true with the Bible. No. You won't find health food articles there, but you will find very different forms of literature. The 66 books that comprise the Christian Bible (or the 39 that compromise the Hebrew Bible) were each written in very different literary styles because they were meant (originally) to communicate in a very contextual way to the people of that day and even to specific audiences.

So ask yourself why someone would ever think it was logical to blankly, blindly, and uniformly read the Bible and assume that the words hold some ethereal truth that exists outside of their context. Does the Bible contain universal truth? Yes, I believe so, BUT that universal truth is God's character, not the specific instructions given by Paul to the church of Thessalonica or even the specific laws handed down by Moses to the Isrealites in 1400 BC. The Bible can teach many things, but it mostly clearly communicates one thing: the character and actions of God in the course of human history. If you believe God was involved in its writing (and I do), then you can believe that if you understand what was written and why, you can know something about the Creator and Sustainer of the universe and maybe get to know Him better.

In a nutshell, that's why I study the Bible, and why I get very angry when I see others who claim to be speaking for God misusing it, picking and choosing which verses apply to people's lives today, completely missing the point, and ultimately misrepresenting God to the people who (I believe) He cares for. The issue is not which words in this book apply me or even to us today and how but what does this writing teach me about God! If you can seek to understand that, THEN you can start to understand how that word applies to God's intention and interest for life.

As I've done that very thing, I've found that it makes all the difference in the world. In Paul's letter to the Romans, he challenged the 1st century church there to engage their faith in this way:

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God."

Happy 4th of July, and thanks to Mel for inspiring me to write this.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Bernie Kosar is bankrupt and an 8-year old Joel's childhood dies a little more

2009-06-19T21:10:00.003-04:00

The weekend starts on down note as the AP breaks a story that my childhood hero, Bernie Kosar, has had to file for bankruptcy. This sort of thing happens, but I find it particularly noteworthy that it happens to the best player to wear a Brown's uniform in 30 years. The Browns are cursed.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

2 YEARS

2009-06-15T09:08:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow, I will have been married to Cre Carbonaro for 2 years and that is a very good thing.

Cheers - cause I'm so very fortunate,
tango

Thank YOU Fail Blog

2009-06-11T11:47:00.002-04:00

Feeling down? You could be this guy.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

What was lost is found

2009-05-30T07:56:00.004-04:00

True stories of the Internet and the times we live in.

View Larger Map

Monday morning, I woke up in Cincinnati, Ohio after participating in Gheorghe's wedding. Myself, Cre, the guys, and their respective wives piled into a 15-passenger van and drove for home. Around lunch time, we stopped on Route 70 some 45 minutes short of Wheeling, WV for lunch. Having my fill on gas station food, Cre and I decided to grab a quick bite at Denny's. When we arrived our home that evening, I found that my iPhone was missing. I then took the following steps:

1) Cre looked up all Denny's resturants on Route 70 using her iPhone and found the number for the Denny's we were at
2) I called the Denny's. They had my phone. I called my phone to verify.
3) I logged into Fedex.com and scheduled a pickup at the Denny's for Tuesday at a time when the Manager I had spoken to would be on duty.

Tuesday, I got a call from the Denny's and the Fedex guy. He had my phone and was shipping it. All he needed to confirm was my Fedex account number.

Wednesday afternoon, my iPhone was back in my possession, in need of a full re-charging.

So to recap:
Monday: loose phone in Eastern Ohio
Wednesday: have phone back on my doorstep

Lost iPhone + wife's iPhone + Google Maps + Fedex.com = Returned iPhone

Yeah Interweb.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Gheorghe is married

2009-05-26T21:25:00.002-04:00

My dear friend George Frank, the former engineer turned pastor, married the love of his life in Cincinnati, Ohio this weekend. We rented a 15-passenger van and drove 10 adults and 2 kids to frontier of the midwest. It was exhausting... and the best thing I've done with my time in a while

Enjoy.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Tango Discovers Recuts

2009-05-26T21:22:00.001-04:00

Mel was good enough to introduce me to recuts on YouTube today. This is too great not to take the 1 min 23 seconds to miss.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Cre Gets Her Masters Degree

2009-05-17T14:14:00.004-04:00

If you follow my blog, you will know I am married to one Christina (Cre) Carbonaro (-Worrall). You will also know that we have both been attending a local seminary (Evangelical Theological Seminary). We started the same semester in the same class in 2004. Cre received her MAR in Old Testament Theology this weekend.

From Cre Gets Her Masters

Needless to say, we are all very proud of her. She is however making us call her Master for the remainder of the weekend. I don't mind. I would likely do the same.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

ps - many thanks to her two advisors David Dorsey and Laurie Mellinger for their many investments in her education.

Tango's continuing saga towards a Masters in Religion: Jeremiah 22:20-23

2009-05-15T12:50:00.007-04:00

For those interested in my carrying-ons at the graduate school level, I just completed my final paper for my course on the book of Jeremiah. My paper topic considered the identification and interpretation of Jeremiah 22:20-23. The text is a 4-verse section in a 3 chapter portion of the scroll that focuses on messages to the kings of Judah in Jeremiah's day. I'm arguing (unfortunately not definitively) that this section of verses should be linked to the previous section (Jeremiah 22:13-19) for dating and audience - at least in it's written form.

http://www.javabrewery.com/joel/papers/Jeremiah_22_20-23.pdf

Exciting stuff, huh?

Well... I enjoy it.

I ended the paper with the following quote from the previous verses. It's Jeremiah's message to the king of that day, Jehoiakim. His father (Josiah) was a good man, but Jehoiakim was a greedy and selfish leader. It's a good word to all of living in a day of plenty:

Does it make you a king
to have more and more cedar?
Did not your father have food and drink?
He did what was right and just,
so all went well with him.
He defended the cause of the poor and needy,
and so all went well.
Is that not what it means to know me?"
declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 22:15-16

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Dan Heinemeier Hanson on Making Money with Software

2009-05-05T21:32:00.004-04:00

A novel concept that I hope to crack myself....

Charging Money for Software???

And because I'm thinking about the Rails guys

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Good software is a beautiful thing

2009-04-27T10:27:00.002-04:00

I'm trying to configure Entourage to run with our Exchange server. It totally sucks!

I needed a http debugger tool and found Charles. So far, so good. Good software is a beautiful thing.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Sometimes, we all need a little more cowbell

2009-04-26T01:18:00.003-04:00

"Babies, before we're done here, you all be wearing gold-platted diapers!"

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Musings from another week

2009-04-22T22:44:00.002-04:00

A few random comments....

I hate Lost recap Shows

Tonight is one of those Lost recap shows. I hate these things. I've been watching every week. Sitting through full seasons of having nothing to show for it except repeated utterances of "what the f***!" I feel like it's letting all those people who haven't paid their dues with the show to "get on board". As a life long Browns fan, the bandwagoning makes me sick.

Investor Presentations and "Roadmaps"
We just got through an investor presentation here at "the Mzinga". It was a really great experience for me personally as well as the whole team. The more we talk about where we're going and what we've got, the more excited I am about the future.

Mashups

Thanks to Trevor for his forward. I present to you Beer Mappings - a mashup project that charting and blogging on breweries all over the world.

Cheers cause 'm so British,
tango

Social Media at Best Buy

2009-04-09T20:24:00.003-04:00

Using social tools at Best Buy to engage employees. It's a great demonstration of one use case that my company, Mzinga, is well-positioned to serve. Thanks to Bill Kratzer for the video...

Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson in conversation with Peter Hirshberg at Google Zeitgeist from peter hirshberg on Vimeo.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Twitter, Sergey Brin, and living in a Facebook world

2009-04-05T11:28:00.011-04:00

First, I have a confession: I now have a Twitter account. For a long time, I've been a serious hater of the service, believing that the main goal of Twitter is to promote small, self-important people by assisting them in gathering an army of even more pathetic sycophants. I still believe that to be one unfortunate use of the service, but there is also something else happening on Twitter with regards to the dissemination of information. At Mzinga, our support team is using it as a kind of public, archived IM to provide both one-on-one assistance and instant FAQ's. And recent events like the Mumbai terrorist attack lead to some interesting questions about Twitter as a kind of broadcast network. There is a lot of noise on Twitter, but there is also a kind of mechanical turk quality (that's a good thing) to it's information sharing. It could be that marriage of Google and Twitter (rumored as being discussed) could be the basis to crystalize it's true value prop - to society or business or wherever it lands. Anyway, what exactly the "it" is that's it's providing I'm not precisely sure of yet, but I'm there observing.

One of the streams I'm following is TechCrunch - primarily for professional purposes. They have an article on their site about Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google. Apparently, he started a blog back in the Fall of '08 but after a couple posts (the second of which he revealed something semi-personal about his medical history), he stopped. The article is all about the event, but it got me thinking about the complexity of living in a world where our professional and personal lives find a collision point on Facebook. When is it no longer ok to be yourself on the Internet? Is that a generational issue or is it a reality of public life?

I personally like to believe that the Generation-Y types (of which I have been informed I am apparently not one) will care less about the humanity (read: fallenness or flaws) of public figures and focus more on their performance in their public or professional facets, but that is still to be proved out. They are afterall (for better or worse) the first generation to face the question of whether or not the President of the United States could still be the President after getting caught receiving oral sex in the oval office. Regardless of what one thinks of the man or the event or the rightness or wrongness of it happening where it did, it strikes me as a fairly significant event in the information age.

Anyway, enjoy the read if you click through...

On a religious note, this topic got me wondering if the wisdom literature of the Old Testament has anything to say about this topic. I don't know yet, but rest assured that if it does, I'll report back.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Shout out to Timmy Morgan

2009-03-28T10:02:00.003-04:00

As is occasionally the case, Timmy Morgan's posted a new video, which you can watch here:

and for those who haven't seen it previously, my favorite Morgan video yet...

I was thinking about Timmy's impersonation on Gandolf this week

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Musings from a strange week

2009-03-22T09:10:00.005-04:00

The past week+ was easily the strangest of my professional life. It was a week that ended in me being named the VP of Engineering for Mzinga. The accompanying are some of the thoughts that have passed through my head this week:

Know your business
Every year, Sam Adams gets everyone in the company to brew beer. The purpose is simple. They make beer, and everyone who works for that company ought to know their core business and how it's produced. We can't expect everyone at Mzinga to write "Hello World", but I do plan to educate the organization on how we make software and why we do it that way.

No Line on the Horizon
I'm fixated on "Magnificent" and "Breathe" this week. Still loving the album...

Truly Transparent Management
Starting Monday AM, the department head conference call is going to be open to all employees at Mzinga to listen in. It's an interesting and radical idea. I don't know if it's going to work, but I really like that we're going to give it a shot.

To be patah
I was doing my homework this weekend and ran into the Hebrew verb patah in Jeremiah 20:7,10. It seems to be used in the context of people who are gullible for (sometimes) malicious intent. But the writings of the prophets is the only place in the Hebrew Bible where Yahweh is the one who "patahs" (Jeremiah 20:7,10, Ezekiel 14:9, and Hosea 2:14). I'm trying to figure out what that means. More on this later.

Roadmaps are BS
As part of my new job, I need to clearly communicate our technology and product roadmap (with my new colleague Jody P - the VP of Products). That is totally appropriate given our roles. That being said, I have always hated goals and plans that project what you will be doing 18 months down the road. It's an illogical concept, as we all know - especially in technology - that your plans today have very little chance of matching up with the requirements of tomorrow. All you can do is build the sort of platform that allows you to meet those needs when they come along. I know we have that, so I'm happy to engage in the exercise of fortune telling.

Boss
Mel won't stop calling me boss. I'm going to throw something at him soon.

It's all about the team
On a similar note, I'm have been and am very, very fortunate to have the team of true professionals surrounding me in Mechanicsburg and Burlington. When I cam back to KP in 2006, I did so with the intention of demonstrating that the people in the Engineering department were the greatest asset of the organization. They continue to demonstrate that day-in and day-out.

More later, but for now...

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

They waylay only themselves!

2009-03-09T22:37:00.008-04:00

Proverbs 1:10-19

10 My son, if sinners entice you,
do not give in to them.

11 If they say, "Come along with us;
let's lie in wait for someone's blood,
let's waylay some harmless soul;

12 let's swallow them alive, like the grave,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

13 we will get all sorts of valuable things
and fill our houses with plunder;

14 throw in your lot with us,
and we will share a common purse"-

15 my son, do not go along with them,
do not set foot on their paths;

16 for their feet rush into sin,
they are swift to shed blood.

17 How useless to spread a net
in full view of all the birds!

18 These men lie in wait for their own blood;
they waylay only themselves!

19 Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain;
it takes away the lives of those who get it.

Verse 15 is bolded as the clear central point of the symmetrical structure of this wise saying.

Verse 17 appears to be mistranslated. It should be something like "birds only see the seed spread on the ground and are trapped in the net". The point is that the birds, like the gangs, only see what can be gained in their unjust and evil act, instead of the trouble that awaits them in pursuing this path.

Cre and I read this tonight before bed. It is strangely poignant.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

1000 ft below Mexico

2009-03-09T19:16:00.001-04:00

Well worth a flip through the photo gallery...

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Another Social Networking Blog Commentary

2009-03-05T20:38:00.003-05:00

The good...

The bad...

And the ugly...

No Line on the Horizon

2009-03-03T07:18:00.026-05:00

If you follow my Blogging Extravaganza, you know that the new U2 album comes out today. The following is my attempt at chronicling the days events.

6:17AM EST - I awake to a text message from Ben Martin. "Did you watch the gap?" - a reference to Letterman. No but it is waiting for me on my DVR

6:19AM EST - I download the album from iTunes. I appreciate the offer to "complete my album" but I'll take another version of "Get on your Boots" to ensure the album can be listened to as one piece of art

6:20AM EST - First time I hear "No Line on the Horizon". I wake Cre with the sounds. She does not seem as pleased as I might be :)

6:27AM EST - I formulate and enunciate my first parody to the album's title track. I am not at liberty to divulge the lyrics, but being as it is early and I am not too clever, it involves my wife and my dog Ezra. Sidenote: I am realizing more everyday that I am very much like Michael Scott. "Lazy Scranton" is only a few steps from where I live.

6:29AM EST - My iPhone is updated.

7:10AM EST - I get the idea to write this blog post.

7:19AM EST - My iPod is updated.

7:45AM EST - I am heading to work. My updates will be infrequent now, as I have a very full day and my employer (Mzinga) rejected my proposal to make March 3rd an official company holiday.

7:55AM EST - On the ride to work, the first three tracks down. I am very pleased already and can tell it will be a good day.

11:20AM EST - The day is dragging me down (as it can tend to do), but I remember that it is release day and feel better that lunch is coming. People in the office have remarked that I seem in a good mood. I smile knowingly.

12:25PM EST - I respond to an email from Dale in Santo Domingo. He can't download the album, but the weather is good. I am both jealous of him and sad for him. Waiting can indeed be the hardest part (that's what...)

1:02PM EST - Make it through tracks "Unknown Caller", "I'll Go Crazy", and "Get on Your Boots". Let me in the sound indeed.

1:47PM EST - My day is getting even better, as my grad school course schedule for Summer and Fall is published today. Apparently, I will be taking Hebrew this summer!

4:27PM EST - I have told no less than 20 people that today is the release day. (Would that I become so enthusiastic regarding issues that really matter)

6:27PM EST - I get home with no wife and no dog to greet me. I'm going to make dinner. With the choice before me of whether or not to finish the album or restart it and blast my kitchen with sweet Moroccan-influenced rhythms, I restart and "rock out" as much as a bald white man might. I am reminded of good nights on the roof of a Tunisian beach bar with the wind blowing and good tunes in the streets.

8:43PM EST - It is the rare cat these days who genuinely enjoys most everything an artist produces, but I do with U2. Some would call that sheepish weakness to do so. I choose to consider it one of my pure, unadulterated pleasures - free from the judgment and ultra-criticism that plagues and drives the rest of my life. I like Unforgetable Fire. I like Zooropa. I like Pop and use it as my workout album. I will probably grow to really like this album. I'm thankful to enjoy something without the "but".

9:46PM EST - After sitting through a TiVO'ed edition of American Idol (I do like Simon - big surprise there), I see the boys on Letterman and hear "Breathe" for the first time. I then listen to the last few tracks on my laptop. I wonder what it might be to be like loose electricity.

10:10PM EST - Listen to a few tracks again and look up my first lyrics page.

My thoughts (an initital review if one might be so bold to say):

- The first 3 tracks are very good and appropriately innovative
- Track 3 feels like an alter call - a modern "Just as I Am"
- It might be my orientation, but they seem to be getting more overtly spiritual the older they get... and not Joel Olstein "spiritual"... I'm thankful for that
- In general, I like it very much and I have a sense that I will like it even more in the coming days. When I first heard Atomic Bomb, I eventually determined that I loved everything except "Love & Peace". After I heard that song in concert, I decided that was very good as well. It's a good bet to expect similar results here.

10:35PM EST - I consider not publishing this. Against my better judgment, well... you see.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Stupid Smarch Weather

2009-03-02T20:38:00.003-05:00

It snowed again today...

On the brighter side, summer comin' is just around the corner.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Another U2-related Post

2009-02-25T08:10:00.003-05:00

Only one more until the new album (an album cover) finds its way into my everyday life.

Much thanks to my dear friend Ben Martin for this clip from the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Jeremiah and Social Media

2009-02-17T14:38:00.004-05:00

Last night, Cre and I were sitting through the third week of our class on Jeremiah at Evangelical Theological Seminary with our professor, Dave Dorsey. At the break, I was surfing the web and Googled "Jeremiah". The following wikipedia article was on the top on the search results. Read the subsection on "Rabbinic Literature".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremiah#Rabbinic_literature

A perfect example of why teachers can't let kids use wikipedia as a source :)

...so you know you're getting the best possible information.

Whoa to you Internet indeed.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

New U2 Video

2009-02-16T13:45:00.001-05:00

The album comes out in a couple weeks. Needless to say, I am excited.

Get on Your Boots.

Let me in the sound indeed.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Jackson Pollack

2009-01-28T14:41:00.004-05:00

I saw this photo on the Google homepage today and thought fondly back to the first time I saw a Pollack painting. A dear friend of mine who's an artist himself took me to NYC, and I went to "the Met" for the first time. Cre and I went back there over Christmas this year.

It's good to see beautiful things, and good to remember the past.

Also, check out this really engaging website: http://www.jacksonpollock.org

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Porpoise Driven Life

2009-01-24T21:28:00.003-05:00

... loving the jab at the lying snake that is commonly known as Joel Olstein (read Jeremiah).

Cheers 'cause I'm so British,
tango

Eric Mangini's Best Move Ever

2009-01-08T12:51:00.002-05:00

As we all know now, Eric Mangini is the Browns new head coach. Here's hoping this syncing feeling in my gut is gas. On the upside, watch the Sopranos...

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Beleaguered Browns Fans are Grasping for a New Hope

2008-12-08T13:24:00.002-05:00

The website is is cowher09.com...

Personally, I'm not convinced that this is the answer, but with an owner like Randy Lerner, I'm not sure we can expect to magically pull the next Mike Tomlin. Given that, I'm hoping Bill can somehow bring himself to leave his $2M, one day a week job at CBS to help the team that gave him his start in Pro coaching.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

I am somebody

2008-12-04T23:23:00.007-05:00

All my life, I've been looking for validation that I am someone of import. Today, I stumbled upon verification that I am - in fact - something special.

Cre was asking where my tag line "cheers cause I'm so British" came from. I directed her to the appropriate Marzipan Answering Machine (Go to message 4) where the tag line was initially uttered.

When I Googled "cheers cause I'm so British", guess what came up as the top of the search results... You guessed it!!! Tango the Gifted Llama's Blogging Extravaganza. Google thinks I exist and recognizes that tag line as being associated with me and not Strong Bad. I will likely live off this glow for the next several hours... maybe even a whole day.

Anyway.

Cheers cause I'm so British,
tango

Another utterance from tango...

2008-12-04T19:24:00.001-05:00

Mobile post sent by tangollama using Utterli. Replies. mp3

Happy Thanksgiving from this guy

2008-11-25T15:06:00.003-05:00

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

(appropriate cred to Ted Brandt for his excellent use of the email forward)

The fool has said in his heart...

2008-11-12T17:57:00.001-05:00

Psalm 14 - King David, 1000 BC

Obama Victory Aftermath

2008-11-06T08:05:00.001-05:00

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Cindy McCain in Mechanicsburg

2008-10-19T13:34:00.008-04:00

Cre, George, Cassi, and I were leaving Deiner's restaurant after a lovely late-morning breakfast and encountered the GOP's victory bus outside of the next-door Colony House. Cre and Cindy McCain had a good little exchange.

Breakfast at the Colony House when you're next door to Deiner's is the sort of bad decision-making that is getting Obama elected. Still, an interesting morning. Good to see Tom Ridge as well...

mccain

Quote of the event: A dorky kid next to us in the rope line says,

"Were you guys at the [Sean] Hannity concert last night? We went twice!"

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Lookout! Here comes the Spiderman

2008-10-09T22:54:00.002-04:00

In a piece of U2 / Spiderman-related news....

http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5497&Itemid=99

Thanks to Mr. Yakelis for the link.

September's Dose of St. Augustine

2008-09-25T19:53:00.004-04:00

Whoever, therefore, thinks that he understands the divine Scriptures or any part of them so that it does not build the double love of God and of our neighbor does not understand it at all. Whoever finds a lesson there useful to the building of charity, even though he has not said what the author may be shown to have intended in that place, has not been deceived ... [Book One, Section 39]

... if he is deceived in an interpretation which builds up charity, which is the end of the commandments, he is deceived in the same way as a man who leaves a road by mistake but passes through a field to the same place toward which the road itself leads. But he is to be corrected and shown that it is more useful not to leave the road, lest the habit of deviating force him to take a crossroad or a perverse way. [Book One, Section 40]

Here's thanks to God for His pursuit and correction, hoping He keeps me (and all of us) on the right road.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Spiritual H2O

2008-09-24T11:13:00.004-04:00

I can't believe it, but this looks real.

Spiritually uplifting, and it tastes good too.

(Don't stand to close to the Spiritual H2O guys.)

See ya later dudes!

In all your roads

2008-09-17T21:55:00.000-04:00

Note: Be forewarned. This post is overtly Christian. If you happen to be one of the very few people who read this blog b/c you find it mindlessly entertaining but have no interest in the Bible or God, look away. Otherwise, I hope its beneficial.

This week, I found out I'm getting something of a promotion, and at least a change in my responsibilities to more strategic efforts. I didn't necessarily ask for it; and after I understood what was being asked of me, I wasn't sure if I actually wanted it. Don't get me wrong. At the core, I'm very excited by the opportunity. My responsibilities have increased, and I'm being asked to deliver some very critical and risky, yet exciting, projects in the organization. However, it comes with a very real, necessary cost. I'm going to have to be away from my home and wife - who I happen to like being with very much - for (on the order of) 2 days a week, nearly every week for the next several months. It's going to boil down to only 1 overnight away per week - which in the grand scheme is nothing compared to even some of our friends, but A) its not like I'm working for a mission (i.e. Mzinga is a for-profit company, not a para-church organization) and B) that is one more night then Cre and I would prefer. Overall, its not that bad, but we've both gotten so we don't really sleep that well when the other is away. (I'm thankful we've grown accustom to one another...)

Anyway, after discussion, consideration, prayer, and counsel from trusted friends and family, we decided that God had opened this door and we were going to give it a shot. We're trusting God for the outcomes and next moves... or at least trying to.

So last night I'm praying about this issue and Proverbs 3:5-6 comes to mind. I'm very careful to ascribe things to God in a judicious way. In this case, I'm fairly confident He was in it (Proverbs 22:6 might have something to say about that as well - thanks Mom & Dad).

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in Yahweh with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

Anyway, for the last 24 hours, I've been turning that word over in my head. At first, it had its usual effect, which sounds something like, "Don't try to figure it all out b/c you can't. Instead, trust God, do what's right, and roll with the punches... in every part of life, even at work." It's a good word, and one that I continually commit to memory and then promptly forget...

However tonight, while mowing my lawn, a new thought occurred to me: What the heck does "acknowledging" God in my "ways" mean?!?

A few years ago, I had the privilege of studying under Dave Dorsey. Those that know him know that you cannot go through his OT classes without understanding road metaphors and literary forms in the Hebrew Bible. Proverbs 3:6 is a great example of both. That word "ways" is the Hebrew word derek. If you've driven around Israel and read the street signs, you know that derek = street or road, so it looks like we've got a road metaphor. The second word "paths" is the Hebrew word orah, which until tonight, I wasn't familiar with. As best I can tell, its a simile to derek, though it does have an interesting use in the book Job, where its translated "seige ramp". Anyway, my point is that the verse is a poetic repetition, meant to emphasize the author's point. In the case of the writer of Proverbs, he's trying to convince his audience of the benefits of following Yahweh's "path" - which is wisdom. Read simplistically, one might translate verse 6:

In all your roads know/acknowledge Yahweh, and He will make your road favorable (or straight)

In the Old Testament, "straight" roads imply roads that are flat, straight, safe, or generally easier to traverse. In a world where you walk everywhere, a favorable road can make all the difference in the journey, so what the author is saying is that "acknowledging" God is a very good, beneficial thing. The implication is that God's way is not just the altruistically moral or virtuous way, but the best way, the straightest way to get where you should be headed, and the wisest way (Note that the Bible defines wisdom as what is best for us in the long run).

The word translated "acknowledge" is the Hebrew verb yada. It occurs 947 times in the Old Testament and is translated into everything from "having sex" to "being close friends" to "apply" and "understand", but the most frequent way its translated is "know". So what does it mean to know or acknowledge - to yada - God on your road (derek)? More generally, what does it mean to to yada anyone on your derek?

First, I don't think its about prayer. There's no textual evidence to make me think the author meant "talk to God on the road", though that is a good thing to do. I'm also pretty convinced its not about adapting the "Post-game Interview Preface for Christian Athletes". You know that one where a wide receiver says something like, "I'd like to thank God/Jesus Christ for giving me the strength to catch 12 passes for 150 yards and 2 TD's." (that's 39 fantasy football points in the Onside Kick League for those keeping score at home) I'm sure many of them are sincere and God appreciates them getting the word out - free media and all that, but I doubt that's what the author of Proverbs was going for by "acknowledging" God.

So what else? Does it mean to pay Him respect or homage? If so, how? Is it about representing Him well on the journey? Is it simply saying that we should walk as He would walk / do as He would do on the road? Is it possible that the road where we "know" Him is His road (i.e. an obvious conclusion like "if you walk the road God wants you to walk, your path will be made straight... Duh")? More to the point, whatever it does mean, what does/can it practically look like to do this?

I asked Cre this question and she said something to the affect of the following, "I acknowledge my parents everyday, in the way I live my life. I am a reflection of them, and I journey through life reflecting that knowledge of who they are and who they raised me to be."

That sounded pretty astute to me - especially since she was tired and wanted me to let her go to bed. Still, I'm not 100% convinced yet - thus my post.

So what do you think? Give me some feedback - in person or in the blog comments. If you need me, I may be in Boston, trusting that God is making my road straight.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Bono Fatigue

2008-09-06T13:34:00.000-04:00

I've found myself growing in my wish that the new U2 album would hit the shelves, as if I needed it. Fortunately, I've found a community of people with a common condition: Bono Fatigue

From the website: This site is for U2 fans suffering from Bono Fatigue as a result of an over-consumption of U2 music, Bono interviews, Africa-related relief ideas etc. (BF can manifest in many ways. If you don't have it, you'll know it when you get it.) Since people at this site are recovering from BF, and are hoping to work through it and re-introduce U2 back to their lives, please do not post band photos, art or quotes unless absolutely necessary to your comment. Give others a chance to walk through this at their own pace. Thanks! Heal and enjoy.

Cheers cause I'm so British,
tango

Hug a Developer...

2008-08-28T09:27:00.000-04:00

Monday AM Management

2008-08-18T09:44:00.000-04:00

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Blangst

2008-08-14T22:10:00.000-04:00

Blangst, n.,: Internet-fueled anxiety about a situation that increases proportionately with the number of bloggers and posters who write about it.

I'm not sure, but I believe I'm spending my life promoting this kind of behavior...

Much thanks to my dear friend, Nick Alger, for the education

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Names for churches brought to you by the Holyland

2008-08-10T21:12:00.000-04:00

Israel 2008

2008-08-07T10:59:00.000-04:00

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Robert Mugabe and Jeremiah

2008-07-06T17:03:00.000-04:00

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/04/AR2008070402771.html

Jeremiah 17:10

Mzinga's Fridge Cleanup Day

2008-06-30T10:17:00.000-04:00

One of my peers made this..

You better get your hopes up!!

2008-06-23T13:13:00.000-04:00

Football is coming.

http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d804f24a7

iSmite

2008-06-14T12:37:00.001-04:00

New to the iPhone.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Because its YouTube, this is America, and we can

2008-06-14T12:26:00.001-04:00

More proof that flying cars are just around the corner...

2008-05-30T14:42:00.000-04:00

Another installment in our occasional series on cool stuff in the world of science and technology research. Enjoy...

http://www.sri.com/rd/electroadhesion.html

Yes, you read right. Electro Adhesion.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

The Star Spangled Banner

2008-05-26T21:02:00.000-04:00

Happy Memorial Day from the Worrall house!

Cheers - cause I love my country,
tango

Late to the Calacanis Effigy-Burning

2008-05-12T13:55:00.000-04:00

For those of you who enjoy reading about the world of software and the state of the art in software engineering, two articles for you. I ran into this through my good buddy Mel Norbeck after our VP Social Media and resident podcaster, Aaron Strout, announced an upcoming interview with Jason Calacanis.

I wish that I had found this earlier, so that I could properly rip Calacanis for his "fire people who are not workaholics" gem. Fortunately, the folks at 37 Signals spoke out on behalf of all of us software professionals who think that software business owners (particularly those that don't understand the craft) are dopes. In fairness, much of his article makes sense, but the workaholics comment is the sort of thinking that has plagued us for the last 15 years and allows idiots at the C-level to think that working hard is REALLY more important than working smart. This kind of thinking is why I will have to run my own business someday, just to have a decent place to work.

Enjoy the read.

http://www.calacanis.com/2008/03/07/how-to-save-money-running-a-startup-17-really-good-tips

http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/902-fire-the-workaholics

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

On NFL Draft Weekend, Looking Back on Tim Couch

2008-04-26T17:56:00.000-04:00

Today, a new set of quarterbacks will be drafted. ESPN has a great, short article on the mishaps of the position and the pressure, covering none other than the infamous Tim Couch. He was never a bad guy, but he represents the pit-in-your-stomach, heart-breaking disappointment that is life as a Browns fan. If you have the time, enjoy the read...

Good luck Matt Ryan. I'll withhold the same for Joe Flacco (Billick's gone but they're still the Ravens)

Ezra and the Consequences of a Lawn Unkept

2008-04-24T23:14:00.000-04:00

It took me 2+ hrs to mow. It needed to be done. I lost Ezra the other day in the yard, and it took way too long to find him.

Sermon Central

2008-04-24T23:10:00.000-04:00

This guy is really good. He should turn professional.

Ben Stein made a movie

2008-04-13T14:41:00.000-04:00

For those of you how love science or Ben Stein or both... a documentary confronting the issue of intellectual bigotry towards the concept of intelligent design as the origin for the universe. I have no idea if it will help or hurt the cause that seeks to rationally discuss whether our existence could be on purpose, but I think its interesting that the conversation will happen.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

Timmy Morgan in Timlates

2008-04-08T20:29:00.000-04:00

I'm always a fan of a guy working to make it in comedy. Here's Timmy in his very first workout video

1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4

2008-04-06T12:18:00.000-04:00

You've probably seen this before. If you have the stomach for a good laugh at the expense of your childhood, enjoy.

Use Calculus to Find the Identity of Batman

2008-04-05T15:43:00.000-04:00

Batman is on page 6....

Wednesdays need the Muppets

2008-04-02T08:17:00.000-04:00

Remember the 80's?

The Kids Zone at Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board

2008-04-01T20:10:00.000-04:00

Again, I can't make this stuff up....

One might ask why the Liquor Gestapo in PA has a KIDS section their website... but then, that question would imply that government - particularly state government - has a clue.

Also, enjoy this amusing article on the subject at inyork.com.

Goodbye Mugabe? Almost too good to be true.

2008-04-01T15:55:00.000-04:00

Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe may be on his way out. If you're a person of prayer, please do pray this happens. Enjoy the read...

The situation is fragile. We can hope that the news on the horizon is true and that a new day is dawning for Zimbabwe.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango

I can't make this stuff up... Christvertising.com

2008-03-31T21:09:00.000-04:00

Fact: God loves this guy.
Fact: God may also choose to smite this dude at any second, so watch it while its still there...

God bless your brand.

It's been one of those days...

2008-03-19T13:50:00.000-04:00