Observations

A cool example of street art. Wish I had thought of something like this.

Troy Davis: Making the invisible visible from Amnesty International on Vimeo.

The other day I was working on converting a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet from an (.xls) to a (.csv) file so that it could be read by my web server, for a zip code store-locator (Lookup Runner) that I was working on. It was being stubborn and only accepted CSV files that were delimited by semicolons(;) and not commas(,). However, every time I tried to export the file as a CSV the columns would appear un-merged, and I couldn’t figure out what was going wrong. So in my case I needed my data to be displayed in the following format for a zip code store locator web application.

Example:
Name;Street1;Street2;City;State;Country;Zip;Phone;Website

I started with a new workbook and pasted in data from another spreadsheet, each data set was in its own column. For example, column “A” contained the business “Name”, Column “B” contained “Street1″ and so on.

I needed to have all the data to be in a single column and separated by semicolons, but for whatever reason Microsoft Excel wasn’t having it, it insisted on comma delimited .CSV files. After a bunch of run around I discovered a solution.

1. Once you have a separate column for each of the data sets, I saved the document as a .CSV (comma delimited) document.
2. Reopen the document but this time in Microsoft Word. This will dump your data into a Microsoft Word document with commas separating everything.
3. Now do a “find and replace” and change all the commas to semicolons.
4. Copy and paste the new data back into a spreadsheet within Microsoft Excel. In my case they needed to be in a single column.
5. Save the document as a .CSV (Comma Delimited) document. The semicolons remain and no commas appear, and my web server was able to read this document.

I searched for quite awhile an noticed other people with the same question.  I hope this helps.

Those that know me know I love the Delton 3030 album. Deltron 3030 is a hiphop super group collabo, composed of Del the Funkee Homosapien, Dan the Automator, and DJ Kid Koala. They are a very interesting and original group and they have only put out one cd so far.

Deltron 3030 is the name of the album, and the whole album is set in the year 3030 and tells of the fight by Deltron Zero (Del’s alter ego) against huge corporations that rule the universe. The lyrics paint a surreal world that feels almost Orwellian, and each track tells another part of the story. This album has topped my favorites and could be the best album of all time in my book. I have been patiently waiting for their second CD to come out. Since 2004 it has been in development, and here we are in 2010 and it’s not out yet.

Well while surfing the inter-webs yesterday, I discovered that the album isn’t a hoax and it really is in development. Below is a video featuring Del, and he reveals 2 tracks off of the new album. I can’t wait for this to come out.

Below are a few tracks from the first Deltron album “3030″.

Deltron 3030 – 3030

Deltron 3030 – Mastermind

Deltron 3030 – Madness

Deltron 3030 – Positive Contact

Deltron 3030 – Upgrade

Deltron 3030 – Time Keeps on Slipping

Deltron 3030 – Love Story

In my new quest to find foods and drinks that are high in antioxidants, I decided to try Bom Dia (Good Morning) Açai with Pomegranate, I saw it on the shelf at HyVee for about $3.

Having never tried either fruit, I must say this was really tasty.  Its got a rich full sweet and tart flavor.

Since trying the Açai with Pomegranate, I have been drinking one of these babies almost every other day.  Açai and Pomegranate like most very dark fruits (including blackberries and blueberries) are high in antioxidants which have cancer fighting properties.  It’s good to consume antioxidants in one form or another everyday to help protect yourself from cancer.

Bom Dia is made with berries that were picked by hand, cooled immediately, and made into juice in Brazil within 12 hours, to prevent the juice from degrading and losing it’s nutrients.  Go out and try this, it’s really good!  Look for it near the produce section, in a cooler or by other refrigerated juices.

Vitamin Profile: Vitamin C 20%,  Calcium 4%, Iron 2%, Vitamin K 30%, Manganese 45%, Riboflavin 2%, High in Antioxidants!

(I had trouble finding a picture of the product for this blog post.  The picture on the left shows the original Açai flavor, and not the one containing Pomegranate, look for the one with the red cap, or try them all!)

How CNN covered the biggest intelligence leak in history.

Wow, check it out! Boxed water. Cool marketing idea. I hope they sell it in Minnesota soon, I’d try it. Read more about it here.

With the political rhetoric in full swing this election cycle. And both sides blaming the other for the countries problems. We decided to dig a bit deeper and compare which states are doing the best with social and economic issues.

Click the image to activate the interactive info-graphic, and click through each section to see what we came up with…

Here is a cool independent hiphop artist I found on Last.fm. I really like these tracks so far.

Cannibal Ox – Invisible Streets Be Testin’ You

Cannibal Ox – The F Word

Cannibal Ox – A B-Boy Alpha

Cannibal Ox – Real Earth

Since I stopped watching TV, I have saved so much money. I stopped being influenced by television ads, wasting time vegging out in front of the tube just watching whatever comes on and turning off my brain.  I feel like I have a better understanding of the world now that I don’t watch it.  TV is a powerful thing.  Recently though it has gotten worse.  A lot worse.  From the endless slew of new reality TV shows that feature obnoxious, over confident douche bags who believe they are entitled to anything, and are dumbing down the masses of people who watch these shows exclusively.

It’s clear now that most television networks are more interested in tweaking their programming to play on your emotions, and not just laughter.   Fox News has successfully brainwashed a large group of people (mostly old people and people incapable of critical thinking) into voting against their own good.  They play right into the fears of white, Christian conservatives and it’s viewers glue themselves to the channel.  In turn the channel embraces this by empowering radical ideology to take hold.  They manage to convince people that they are in danger, of their country changing, Muslims are out to get us, or that Obama somehow hates white people.  Clearly this works for them and has propelled Fox News to the highest ratings of any news channel on TV.  I talk about Fox News since it is such an obvious target, but I should point out MSNBC, does the same thing.

(watch the 3 part series for free here)

It’s so nice not to have to be bombarded with prescription drug commercials, political ads, and the bias slant on news that many networks now favor.  This is not to say that I don’t watch television shows at all, but those I do, I watch on Hulu (with AdBlock on) or download from iTunes or other sources.  I watch lots of documentaries and read more.

Television used to be really entertaining to me. But now I get news from NPR radio, blogs, and I find that I do more research while reading. If I don’t understand what I am reading or doubt it’s validity, I can look up more details, check out sources, research facts and so on. People are vocal and open on the internet, and will immediately call out an article in the comments section if false information appears, or link to a story with another view, or different facts. In general, sanity prevails overall due to the power of the crowd, and free speech.

This isn’t meant to be a holier-than-thou post but simply a suggestion. I think everyone would be happier and more sane if we all just stopped mindlessly watching television. The world, this economy, this life isn’t as bad as you think. Be happier! Turn of your television, and turn on your brain.

You are young yet‥but the time will arrive when you will learn to judge for yourself. ‥Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see. ~ Edgar Allan Poe

MPR

Minnesota Public Radio.  Ok, you may laugh but to me this is the last place left to get the real news.  Almost everything on T.V. or radio is owned by some huge company like News Corp (check out their holdings), Clear Channel and so on, which all seem to have  their own particular spin of the news.  Picking and choosing stories that won’t offend their sponsors.  To know whats going on I rely on MPR, which is a variation of NPR.  MPR has the largest active listener base of any public radio station in the country. But no worries if you don’t live in Minnesota, you can still listen to it streaming online.  I listen to it on and off throughout my day.  Often times they recommend new documentaries, or interview very interesting people.  You get an educated perspective of the world, that is less grim and more sane than most newscasts.  They don’t play on peoples fears to increase their listener base.  They present facts and you decide.  They give equal time to both sides, and question each side critically.

The Current
I initially started listening to MPR because of “the Current” another public radio station that specializes in playing music from artists on independent labels.  If you’re like me and just feel that music has been getting worse and worse, and that talentless bullshit music from Beyonce, and Black Eyed Peas get non stop radio play, seriously check out the Current.  I have been pleasantly surprised at how good the local music scene is here.  There is something for everyone on this station.  It’s music with depth and meaning, not just some ridiculous club beat (it’s all just clicks and whistles.  Listen to the Current online here.