Show Me the Code

Hillary in tuzla

2008-03-28T16:36:00.001-07:00

To bad she is not going to win the primary.

The Belmont Club: The Wilders film

2008-03-28T16:24:00.001-07:00

The Belmont Club: The Wilders film
In analyzing the film and it likely consequences, Wretchard comes to a depressing conclusion

With Bush's coalition warfighting strategy under attack both from liberals and conservatives, the public may be left with stark choice of either regarding Islam as an misunderstood ideological "friend" -- the abstract equivalent of a protected minority class -- or as an implacable enemy, one bent on the destruction of the West. The problem with this formulation is that the pacifist approach is certain to be discredited over time because Islamic radicalism will implacably attack. And without the coalition strategy available policy will oscillate between the extremes. The price for not fighting the War on Terror effectively is that it eventually degenerates into a War of Civilizations.

I am often worried about the paths that the Long War is going to take.

A successful bag Coup

2008-03-20T20:52:00.001-07:00

Bryan has succesfully completed his coup to get our Philosophickal Salon blogging at Allan Goff's entanglements.

Quantum Reference

2008-02-07T20:04:00.000-08:00

My friend Allan Goff finally started a blog the Quantum Reference. Now if we can just get him to post regularly.

Voting for Java 6 on OS X

2007-11-06T05:57:00.000-08:00

Here is my vote. 13949712720901ForOSX

Hat tip to Rich.

Review of Logan's Road House

2007-10-06T22:22:00.001-07:00

Logan's Road House,Sunrise, Citrus Heights, CA, USA

Great steaks in a super casual Atmosphere.

Logan's Road House is place where you can throw peanut shells on the floor and enjoy great steaks.

Rated 5/5 on Oct 07 2007 by Nick Chalko

Review Tags: casual, resturant, steak

Rate this review or write your own at LouderVoice

Nick the Noogler.

2007-07-30T22:34:00.001-07:00

It's Official. I am a Noogler. I just completed my first day at Google. And boy did it turn out to be a long one.

Everything at google went great, except for my laptop which was windows and did not work. The google buddy team is setting up a macbook for me. The food was FANTASTIC. I had both lunch and dinner, but I sure didn't plan on still being at work till 9pm my first day.

This weekend Maria, Kelsey and I went to Valencia to visit Kayla at the California Institute of Arts, Inner Spark program. We stayed in LA until 8pm on Sunday, so to make things easy for my first day at Google, we drove to Mountain View and rented a Hotel. Maria planed on shopping and checking out the area until I was done around 6pm. I called her at 6:15 and said I was done. At 6:17pm she called back saying the car would not start. At 8pm when the tow truck said it was more than just a dead battery, we realized all of the car rental places had closed. The tow truck driver took Maria and Kelsey to the Dodge dealer. The manager at the Dodge dealership took pity on Maria and gave her a loaner car. A convertible, probably in hopes that the wife a new google employee would fall in love with it.

Finally at 9pm Maria arrived to pick me. I showed her and Kelsey around the campus, but all the
Cafe's had closed, so they ended up eating at Taco Bell.

Now we are checked back into a Hotel again. Tomorrow we will straighten out the car situation.
I'll post more about being a noogler tomorrow.

Last Day at Powerschool

2007-07-25T13:57:00.000-07:00

Today is my last day at Powerschool.
I joined Powerschool in Aug 2004, it has been a good 3 years. I am glad for the opportunities I had here, the interesting and difficult problems I got to work on. Powerschool has a top self team of developers. The development team can produce a quality product for any task handed to them.

Cookies for S-4
Originally uploaded by chalko.

I want to especially thank everyone who supported me and my Marines when I was in Iraq.

I start work for Google on Monday as a Java Programmer in the Enterprise Division.

I wish everyone at Powerschool Fair Winds and Following Seas.

Book Review: Blueprint for Action by Thomas P.M. Barnett

2007-06-24T15:14:00.000-07:00

Concrete steps for a world you want to live in

Jun 24, 2007 by

Nick Chalko

Blue Print for Action by Thomas P.M. Barnett

★★★★☆
Barnett's follow up to the Pentagon's New Map is a thought provoking book with detailed concrete steps we can take to "a future worth creating".

His main points are:

Need a SysAdmin force (Police and Civil Service) not just a Leviathan(Unbeatable Military)

The Marine Corps and the Army will focus on "Small Wars"

The rest of the core will have to help with the Sys Admin tasks for things to work

China will (and will have to) become a partner in the process

I really enjoyed the book and I am hopeful that I can be a part of creating that kind of future. However one part really worries me.
Barnett suggest we trade Taiwan to China for there support in removing Kim Il Jung.

I think this is a horrible idea. Selling out Tiawan is going to send the wrong signals to Japan, Thailand, and other Asian country. Barnett points out how China is in a position to waver between threats and trade to get what it wants and can deter most of our efforts in the area at will, but in this case thinks China will act in a way that benefits the United States. I hope the United States finds a way that deals with North Korea without selling out it friends in Taiwan.

Everyone interested in world politics should read this book because, for Good and Bad, it will shape international political thought in the United States for the next Decade

This
hReview brought to you by the
hReview Creator.

I figured he would go up there and step on somebody's neck, and that would be the end of it.

2007-06-07T17:18:00.001-07:00

Graying duo keep passenger in check - The Boston Globe:

Hayden, a 65-year-old former police commander, had enlisted a gray-haired gentleman sitting next to him to assist. The man turned out to be a former US Marine.

"I had looked around the plane for help, and all the younger guys had averted their eyes. When I asked the guy next to me if he was up to it, all he said was, 'Retired captain. USMC.' I said, 'You'll do,' " Hayden recalled. "So, basically, a couple of grandfathers took care of the situation."

Hayden's wife of 42 years, Katie, who was also on the flight, was less impressed. Even as her husband struggled with the agitated passenger, she barely looked up from "The Richest Man in Babylon," the book she was reading.

"Bob's been shot at. He's been stabbed. He's taken knives away. He knows how to handle those situations. I figured he would go up there and step on somebody's neck, and that would be the end of it. I knew how that situation would end. I didn't know how the book would end."

Semper Fi.

Technorati Tags: USMC

Review: "Good to Great" by Jim Collins.

2007-05-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

A good book on Business Leadership

Good to Great is one of the books on my son Kyle's required reading list as an intern at
Sunset Christian Center.
One of the blogs I read must have referenced it, because I recognized the title, so I decided to read it after Kyle had finished.

Business Leadership books are not what I normally read, but I found this book a good read. I thought the insight were good, with enough careful statistics to enable the author to say something more than "Successful company Succeed".
The five key points of the book are:

First Who ... Then What

Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith).

The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity within the Three Circles).

A Culture of Discipline.

Technology Accelerators.

All of these work together. Here is my translation of the key points.

Hire the right people

Be honest about what you can and can not be the best at.

Stick to only what you can: be the best at, be passionate about, and be profitable at.

The right people working on important stuff they care about are self disciplined about it.

Technology is not the magic answer, but it can be that magic that takes your right people, working on the right stuff, to new levels.

The book also stresses that the Rock Star CEO does not make a great company because that company is unlikely to remain great when he leaves.

hReview by Nick Chalko , 2007/05/28

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't: Jim Collins; Collins 2001-10