Eb profile picture

Eb

Eschew obfuscation, whilst doggedly pursuing the reduction of complexification.

About Me

Just a thought: When you're shopping for Christmas gifts this year, consider something different. Contribute to one of these worthy education causes:
Donor's Choose
Classroom Wishlist
Give to those who need it most.

Recent History:

The last year of my life has been convoluted and unpredictable. I'm doing the best I can with everything, though staying positive has been a challenge. I've spent a lot more time at the new gym which has helped; the facilities and 24-hour access are great.
I'm still optimizing Biodiesel reactors (I have more than one now). I've made a small amount of some decent fuel, but with my new reactors, I expect to get higher quality product considerably quicker. This is noted in my blogs from time to time.

My Bio:

I was raised on a cranberry marsh in Central Wisconsin. My family grows berries that become Ocean Spray juice. My favorite things to do in hometown are yet to be discovered.
I've studied at Mobile Dynamics , a technical school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Following that, I owned a small retail mobile electronics business in Marshfield, Wisconsin. I had a number of great employees - thanks Jason and Randy. We sold car stereos, cell phones, remote starters, and other mobile electronics. I recommend, without reservation, AlumaPro products, as well as Focal speakers and Audison amplifiers.
I left the retail business world to reenter college. I attended the University of Wisconsin - Superior in Superior, Wisconsin. I studied mathematics , physics, and chemistry. I had a great time at UWS and learned far more than I expected to. I tutored, graded, and directed computer-based statistics labs at UWS, all of which was enjoying. In May of 2004, I graduated with Honors.
Superior is just off the end of scenic Lake Superior and is directly across the river from Duluth, Minnesota. Enger Tower, in Duluth, provides a great overlook of the area. The Duluth Lift Bridge in Canal Park is a unique, must-see site as well. My favorite frequent in the area was Beaner's Central ; the staff is great, the coffee is excellent, and the live music is as good as you can get - indoors.
While living in the area, I traveled a bit. I really enjoyed going to Thunder Bay, Ontario . The drive from Duluth to Thunder Bay follows the North Shore of Lake Superior and is a great scenic trip.
Following my graduation from UWS, I moved to Houghton, Michigan , where I attended Michigan Technological University . I was a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Department of Mathematics and was working on a MS in Statistics. Houghton and the Upper Peninsula is full of natural beauty and history. There's too much to list, but visiting Copper Harbor is worth any distance drive.

Other Notables:

Following high school, I studied at the University of Wisconsin - Madison for a year. I was studying in the Farm and Industry Short Course .
Prior to my study at the University of Wisconsin - Superior , I studied for a semester at Mid-State Technical College .
I've also studied at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington. I loved living in B'ham. If you get a chance to visit, check out the sculptures on the WWU Campus and the Arboretum by campus.
For a stint, I lived in Lebanon, Oregon, where I taught math at the local high school. I managed to visit the Ocean a few times and thoroughly enjoyed it; these visits are addressed in my blogs.
I've also taught and studied at Western Michigan University . Kalamazoo is a neat town and the people are great; I love Water Street Coffee.

Online fun:


Which OS are You?
You are DNA. You're a smart person, and you appear
incredibly complex to people who don't know
you. You're incomparably full of information,
and most of it is useless.
Which Biological Molecule Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

My Interests

Exercise:

Disc Golf
Weight Training

Laughing:

MS IE Update
Einstein Joke
This Modern World

Volunteering:

Check out the following sites for excellent volunteer opportunities:Peace Corps - nuf saidThe AmeriCorps is like the Peace Corps, only without leaving the US. Take care in choosing a program if you enter, as this organization seems to be a bit bureaucratic. Some opportunities are very worthwhile, however, so don't let the difficulties deter you.Boys & Girls Club of America , a great place to help underprivileged kids (and a heck of a lot of fun too).This one falls outside of realm of volunteerism, but it's important to me in a similar way. I sponsor a great young man through the Christian Children's Fund .Volunteer Match

Education:

My academic interests lie within the areas of mathematics, chemical engineering, education, and quantitative analysis. I also enjoy physical sciences such as observational astronomy, physics, and chemisty. Check out Wolfram's MathWorld and ScienceWorld , both of which are awesome sites. Wolfram brought us Mathematica , of which I am both a user and a fan. I'm also interested in the history of mathematics. Check out MacTutor for more information.

Alternative Energy:

I'm also interested in alternative energy, in particular, producing biofuels. I like to read Home Power and do research using the internet as well. Journey to Forever has great information on biofuels. I'm currently building a new batch reactor system.

Sociology and Political Culture:

I'm interested in political education. I'm not interested in telling you what to think or believe like the poor-quality American media; rather, I'm interested in sharing / exchanging factual information. The first thing I recommend any America should do is read The Constitution of the United States and The Bill of Rights . In order to have a proper perspective on the intent of the founders, it's very beneficial to read the Federalist Papers . You also want to read Constitutional Amendments 11-27 .

IMPORTANT!!! - The single most pressing issue in American politics -- GET INVOLVED

Check out True Majority , and view the Oreos (for info on our Federal Budget) and BBs (for info on the preponderance of nukes) videos (both need sound). I also like to confirm facts using non-partisan sites like the Annenberg Political Fact Check and the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign .

I'd like to meet:

1) Anyone fun!

2) Anyone that can hold up their end of a converation.

3) Anyone that can teach me something, share a new perspective with me, or help me learn in general

3) Just say hello. I'm friendly - seriously. I won't bite ... errr, rather, I can't bite through the internet.

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My World Visitor Map!

Music:

I have unique tastes in music. I listen mostly to rock, metal, and grunge. I also like live, cafe styles.

While National Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Radio are not predominately music broadcasters, but I do find their programming to be excellent. I also enjoy the BBC .

While in grad school, I developed an affinity for British Hard House, Breakbeat, and Goa-Psy Trance; Godskitchen always has something interesting going on, but I listen to the Goa-Psy streams at Digitally Imported most of the time. I enjoy many different genres of music, as long as it's good music.


Movies:

"...in a post-9-11 world, the American people expect their leaders to be decisive. To not have shot his friend in the face would have sent a message to the quail that America is weak..."

Television:

Scrubs, The Daily Show, The Chappell Show, The Science Channel

Books:

People's History of the United States, 1492 to Present
by Howard Zinn.
The history of the United States, as observed by the people who lived it versus the typical, faceless-state version of history. This book is hard to read, in the sense that its disturbing; so far, I've been left with some major questions; why do we celebrate people who committed genocide like Christopher Columbus?
A Short History of Progress
by Ronald Wright.
A Short History carries a message similar to Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, but it's non-fiction and written from a historical perspective.

Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley
This book is about a dystopia. The concept is similar to Orwell's 1984, but it's more realistic. If I recall, it was written about a century ago; much of what Huxley wrote has come true. If you pick up this book, make sure to pick up a copy with the Brave New World Revisited as part of the book and read that as well; it's a great supplement. Demolition Man, the movie with Stallone and Snipes, picked up some of it's future concept from this book; it's a set in a similar dystopia and Huxley is the name of one of the major characters. There are other coincidences as well.

Innumeracy
by John Allen Paulos
Math, as applicable to the everyday; understandable for all.

The Meaning of It All
by Dr. Richard Feynman
"No government has the right to decide on the truth of scientific principles, nor to prescribe in any way the character of the questions investigated. Neither may a government determine the aesthetic value of artistic creations, nor limit the forms of literacy or artistic expression. Nor should it pronounce on the validity of economic, historic, religious, or philosophical doctrines. Instead it has a duty to its citizens to maintain the freedom, to let those citizens contribute to the further adventure and the development of the human race".

Heroes:

Jesus, Galileo Galilei, my family, sure there are more.

My Blog

Poll: Your Life Metric

Friends,I'm curious to know 1) what your life metric is and 2) what you wish your metric were. (a metric is defined as a standard of measurement) Asking another way, how do you measure your success/fa...
Posted by Eb on Sun, 26 Nov 2006 04:54:00 PST

Fun with my tracker / are you from Illinois?

Interestingly enough, I've been monitoring my Myspace page visitors. I have a frequent visitor from Abbott Laboratories, near Chicago. I don't know that I know anyone there, but it doesn make me curio...
Posted by Eb on Tue, 31 Oct 2006 08:22:00 PST

Words of a founding father


Posted by Eb on Tue, 31 Oct 2006 07:11:00 PST

Check out this video: How to hack an electronic voting machine

Posted By:RockoGet this video and more at MySpace.com...
Posted by Eb on Mon, 30 Oct 2006 06:35:00 PST

Iowa State

I'm not sure what I was hoping to find when I came here and it's unclear whether I found it or not. I did learn quite a bit, and I tend to think well when I drive, so the 5 hours down was helpful. Ame...
Posted by Eb on Thu, 12 Oct 2006 12:03:00 PST

Recent profile addition

Hey all,I added this link to my profile as it's the most important American political cause I know of. We CAN get all the big money out of politics and return to the one person - one equal voice style...
Posted by Eb on Thu, 12 Oct 2006 06:58:00 PST

Gym rat

Woo hoo! Being a gym rat has paid off. I'm wearing some pants I haven't worn in years and they fit. Swweeeeeeet! Granted, I've lost no weight, but my arse is smaller (and firmer too). Rock on - work s...
Posted by Eb on Fri, 06 Oct 2006 08:36:00 PST

Too funny (and completely appropriate)

CountdownTurn off your script blocker if you're using Firefox extensions....
Posted by Eb on Sun, 17 Sep 2006 07:07:00 PST

And there was much rejoicing

Yes! My season Packer tickets have arrived and I'll actually get to go to a few games this year  It's amazing how good Packer fans are; even following a bad year, the remainder of my tickets are ...
Posted by Eb on Mon, 28 Aug 2006 05:27:00 PST

My summer job was ...

My summer working with Upward Bound students was probably the best job I've had. Aside from some difficulty with an inexperienced boss (which was trouble-ridden), the time spent was very worthwhile. S...
Posted by Eb on Fri, 28 Jul 2006 12:35:00 PST