May, 2008 | Greg Nilsen

Stock Market Facination

May

2008

About a month ago, my wife sent me a link to CNBC's Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge, saying that she thought it would be something I'd be interested in. That probably came from my participation in ProTrade over the last year, which allows you to trade stock in athletes and teams based on their performance. Granted, ...

The Andromeda Strain-ed

May

2008

I enjoy the work of Michael Crichton. I've read most of what he's published, and I think his combination of science and imagination is fascinating.The Andromeda Strain is one of his most understated works of suspense, as he puts a team of scientists in a high-security lab as they try to figure out what exactly ...

Yes, I Am A Penguins Fan

May

2008

It has been a long time since I really followed hockey. Probably since the Whalers left Hartford, I just haven't been as interested in the sport. But I have to admit that last year around playoff time, I started rooting for the Pittsburgh Penguins. They were just a young, talented but scrappy team that was ...

Dickenson College Graduation '08: Worst. Graduation. Ever.

May

2008

This past weekend, my wife and I traveled out to Dickenson College in Carlisle, PA for my sister-in-law Marissa's commencement ceremony, and it had to be one of the worst graduation ceremonies I've ever seen: The held it outdoors, despite a forecast of heavy rain (which we were told is a Dickenson tradition, which the ...

Some "Spygate" Perspective

May

2008

Shortly after I posted my thoughts on Sen. Specter earlier, I found the following posted on Mike Reiss' blog at the Boston Globe: Pennsylvania senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said yesterday that he feels there should be an independent investigation of the New England Patriots' videotaping procedures, similar to what took place in baseball with the ...

Good Ol' Wastin' Specter

May

2008

Well, Senator Arlen Specter is at it again folks, beating his dead horse. After all, it's just one big conspiracy for the NFL to save face and protect the Patriots. We all know that either the Steelers or Eagles should have won every one of the previous 42 Super Bowls, and the NFL has just ...

Dynamic Fraction Display For ColdFusion 2

May

2008

Ever want to store a value in a database as a decimal value, but then display that value on your ColdFusion website as a fraction. Well, now you can! The following function (cut out of a more general CFC) does just that for fractions as precise as 1/100, and will handle the whole number parts ...

Discovering Pittsburgh: Monterey Bay Fish Grotto

May

2008

Last week at my job, we had one of our clients in town. Looking for a nice place in town to take them, we decided on the Monterey Bay Fish Grotto, a beautiful seafood restaurant that sits up on the top of Mount Washington overlooking downtown Pittsburgh. First of all, the view is simply amazing. ...

Workin' Hard Or…

May

2008

Yea, I wish I could say “Hardly Workin'”. Instead, it's been a crazy week with lots of time critical projects, meetings, and face-to-face time with clients. Between Monday and Wednesday, I put in over 32 hours of work! Thankfully things are calming back down now, but I really don't have many urges to go near ...