As many of you know, I really love keeping data. Any kind of data. I figure if I track everything, even if I don't know how I can use the data, in the future I'll have it to make the choice. But if I don't track it now, I may regret not having it, and all will be lost.

Neil Young is awesome. From what I've read, he was a bit of a creative ass hole when he was younger, but apparently at some point something changed, and he became this really friendly guy. Of course, I've never met him, but even if you look only to his album art, and listen to his music, you can see the change.

well, i'm not sure i want to get into a big debate about it on avalantern, but regarding genetically modified foods, i'm with you. the trickiest part is defining what genetically modified even means! seedless watermelons are genetically modified simply by breeding. (though my friend believes big corporations did this to make seeds more valuable.)

Some really neato staircases.



(via @mentalfloss)

This video of a miniature wunderland is absolutely incredible. Neil Young, you may have a run for your money!

(via @billammend)

I'm sure this article is a bit over the top, but even if you take it with a grain of salt it's horrifying. We all know these things happen in our food industry, so why does no one talk about it? Why are we only talking about Banks being evil, or electronics companies exploiting Chinese factories (and paying them well above local minimum wage)?

Monsanto is an interesting case. In addition to being the planet's largest seed vendor, with 23 percent of the market, it licenses its patented genetic

]]> http://avalantern.com/thelowlypeon/blogs/2012/01/21/7-Miles THE Lowly Peon Sun, 22 Jan 2012 16:07:35 -0800

(for those interested, i posted the result of the new luhn process at github and a description here)

]]> http://avalantern.com/thelowlypeon/links/2012/01/22/Green-House-Gas-Data-for-the-US THE Lowly Peon Sun, 22 Jan 2012 08:16:32 -0800

The EPA requires that emitters of lots of green house gases publish data about their pollutants, and they publish it here. This website is horrible, but the data is pretty unreal.

The great Houston area has some of the most pollutant plants in the US.

]]> http://avalantern.com/thelowlypeon/blogs/2012/01/21/7-Miles THE Lowly Peon Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:06:02 -0800

No, not that movie.

]]> http://avalantern.com/thelowlypeon/links/2012/01/08/Street-Art-Utopia THE Lowly Peon Sun, 08 Jan 2012 12:44:58 -0800

This website is a collection of street art. Some of this stuff is really awesome.

I thought benji would like this one:

]]> http://avalantern.com/thelowlypeon/links/2012/01/07/Between-the-Lines THE Lowly Peon Sat, 07 Jan 2012 14:51:00 -0800

I've always assumed that cities like LA and Houston are horribly sprawled because they were, in one way or another, designed around the automobile. This parking expert believes it's not the car that caused this concrete paradise, but the parking lots.

Also, did you know that parking lots really came from Oklahoma City? And they make loads of money.

]]> http://avalantern.com/thelowlypeon/blogs/2011/12/16/My-History-with-a-Jawbone-UP THE Lowly Peon Wed, 21 Dec 2011 11:13:37 -0800

well, a few days ago, my second UP died. because two UPs, from different places, times, and probably production times, both died at different times, i figure it may be best to get a refund on that one instead of a replacement. i'm excited for jawbone to release their 2.0 version of this, as i believe it will be really solid. i just can't afford to risk a third UP dying after they end the no questions refund.

so i got a fitbit instead :)

]]> http://avalantern.com/thelowlypeon/blogs/2011/12/16/My-History-with-a-Jawbone-UP THE Lowly Peon Fri, 16 Dec 2011 11:08:39 -0800

my review is here: http://petercompernolle.com/2011/12/17/UP-review

]]> http://avalantern.com/thelowlypeon/blogs/2011/12/16/My-History-with-a-Jawbone-UP THE Lowly Peon Fri, 16 Dec 2011 08:40:11 -0800

Note: this is not a review of my UP by Jawbone, but simply a (long winded) summary of my history with it them.

]]> http://avalantern.com/thelowlypeon/blogs/2011/11/13/Health--Gizmos#comments THE Lowly Peon Tue, 15 Nov 2011 08:34:00 -0800

bentomas: well, i'd show you the results of the last two days, but UP doesn't have any means for exporting. it's hard to communicate this in text, but that is a big part of my review so far.

i've been pretty pleased with it, except for a few minor issues (it's hard to put on a long sleeve shirt because of the rubber material, for example). the thing that is most irritating is that i slept like crap on sunday night, but it said i got decent sleep (note: the objective details of my sleep were accura

]]> http://avalantern.com/thelowlypeon/blogs/2011/11/13/Health--Gizmos THE Lowly Peon Sun, 13 Nov 2011 11:46:02 -0800

I love gizmos, and I love feeling healthy. So what better than a gizmo that helps you be healthier?

]]> http://avalantern.com/thelowlypeon/blogs/2011/11/05/My-Running-Goal THE Lowly Peon Sat, 05 Nov 2011 07:39:14 -0700

I've been running a bunch lately, and it feels great. In fact, I continuously get notifications from Runkeeper.com that I've beaten my personal record for distance, distance in a week, etc. (See my progress here!)

]]> http://avalantern.com/thelowlypeon/blogs/2011/11/05/UP-by-Jawbone THE Lowly Peon Sat, 05 Nov 2011 07:30:15 -0700

I decided to get an UP by Jawbone, a bracelet that tracks your activity in hopes of making you more active and healthier. I'm aware that this is a gimmick, but I'm excited to track my activity. Data!

]]> http://avalantern.com/thelowlypeon/blogs/2011/10/23/Tipping#comments THE Lowly Peon Sat, 05 Nov 2011 07:21:51 -0700

Poppy: Sorry, it's been a long time and i still haven't responded. I suppose I'm not really sure how to, because you do raise some good points.

Essentially, I feel the whole system is broken. The incentive to work hard should be simply because it's your job. I work hard, I work long hours sometimes, and I don't get tips or overtime. I do it because it's my responsibility, and I'd lose my job if I didn't. In many other parts of the world, it's the same thing. Why should service industry people

]]> http://avalantern.com/thelowlypeon/blogs/2011/10/23/Tipping THE Lowly Peon Mon, 24 Oct 2011 07:46:49 -0700

New campaign: "just say no."

(thanks, @scottsouders)

]]> http://avalantern.com/thelowlypeon/blogs/2011/10/23/Tipping THE Lowly Peon Sun, 23 Oct 2011 17:02:26 -0700

I worked in the service industry a long time. Sometimes front of the house, sometimes back of the house, sometimes as an expeditor. And in all those years, I worked for tips. Rather, I worked because it was my job (big difference), and earned tips as a result. And in all those years, and in every year since, I've wondered why the hell the system works in such a way that we are obligated to leave money on top of already expensive prices, and the servers rely on people doing so to even earn minimum wage.

]]> http://avalantern.com/thelowlypeon/links/2011/10/18/Levitation THE Lowly Peon Tue, 18 Oct 2011 11:23:08 -0700

This is the most amazing thing I have EVER seen.

]]> http://avalantern.com/thelowlypeon/blogs/2011/10/09/Naps THE Lowly Peon Sun, 09 Oct 2011 14:33:11 -0700

I don't really understand how people can take naps so frequently. Due to a pretty interesting weekend I am running very short on sleep, so daisy and I just took a quick nap. And now, a few minutes after having woken up, I am very very confused.

]]> http://avalantern.com/thelowlypeon/links/2011/10/04/Wedding-Photos THE Lowly Peon Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:19:02 -0700

We finally got the wedding photos! Be sure to check them out. Lots of good ones. Sooner or later I'll get the full res copies, and I have permission to put them on my site. I'll throw some kind of site together, or use the one I made for petercompernolle.com/photos

]]> http://avalantern.com/thelowlypeon/blogs/2011/10/04/Apparently-I-love-Consuming-Media THE Lowly Peon Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:16:26 -0700

Lately I really have felt that there's not enough time in a day. The weather in Houston has finally dropped below 95f, I've been really into exercising, and it's fall, which means good TV is on.

]]>