Alas, I used to be the number one Michael Bauer on Google. Then that San Francisco food critic Michael Bauer took the number one spot. That wasn’t much of a problem as I get treated like royalty when I dine in the Foggy City. Now, I’ve slipped to number three as the artist Michael Bauer has a freaking Saatchi Gallery site. His work is pretty cool so I guess I’m OK with that. Any of these German guys come on strong and I’m going to have to launch my own little jihad to regain my ranking though. Sprechen Sie Deutsch, baby?

I sent copies of the following to the Colorado Secretary of State, the Colorado Senator who is Chairman of the Business, Labor and Technology Committee, and the Editor of the Denver Post.

The State for Colorado may be improperly imposing hidden business fees, supporting discriminatory computer contracts and risking the privacy and security of business financial information. How? Every year, businesses must file an Annual Report. Filing electronically is only $10 – unless you try to file a report using widely available alternatives to Microsoft technology. When you file using one of these alternatives you are never given any indication during the filing that you are not using “recommended” technology. Your credit card information is taken but you may never receive confirmation that your transaction has completed or you might be given some vague message that “the server is not responding.”

What you will subsequently receive is a printed notice of “Delinquency to File” – with the fee now raised to $50.

In this day and age this is wholly unacceptable. There are numerous commercial transactions conducted every second on the Internet where this sort of thing doesn’t happen. At the least it is far below acceptable best practices of software development for online commercial transactions. At the worst it raises serious concerns over the privacy and security of financial information provided by businesses around the state to the state.
I urge you to investigate this matter and take appropriate action.

If you’re going to play paintball with me, here’s how to get to the field. We’re looking to play from 10am to 2pm so it’s a good idea to be there by 9am to get all setup. Plan on bringing about $80. Call me at 303 888 5881. Wear shoes you don’t mind getting dirty, dark long-sleeve and long pants clothes, and some light gloves (like cycling gloves).

I setup a little feeder this weekend out of my little space in Copper and (after about 20 shots) finally caught this Broad Tail Hummingbird in some semblance of focus.

I updated my Flickr Photostream with a few new shots. Just trying to learn how to use this new fangled camera I got. I like Colors on the Craton (which is what geologists call the entire midsection of the United States the Interior Stable Craton - big floating raft of rock on our tectonic plate.)

I’ve spent a little too much time but have updated all my sites. This one, Koano, SeeingForests, and even (drumroll) Internet.ORG. Long time coming for this cobbler to get some new shoes. Some work to be done on feedback forms but other than that, pretty happy.

Bought this here new theme the Thesis Theme and am pretty happy so far. Have some ideas on modifying it but thought it was high time to get something a little more professional looking.

This is a letter to the Editor of the Denver Post. The article Ski deaths prompt look for link demonstrates how we humans are compelled to create patterns to explain things - and how those who should know better don’t stop those with credentials from doing so. Numbers are used, statistics are implied, and causes are stipulated - all without any sound basis in truly rational reasoning. The author strives to imply that groomed slopes are at fault. 9 of the 17 hit trees on groomed runs. He goes on to say that 7 of those 9 had helmets on. Maybe the helmets were at fault. Ridiculous? Certainly. Just as ridiculous as any of the other cause-and-effect relations you could surmise. The lack of intellectual rigor goes on. The author states that there “rarely is statistical proof supporting one theory for why people die skiing”. The phrase “statistical proof” is an oxymoron. You have correlation with statistics, not proof. As such, the choice of word should be “never” not “rarely.”

In any case, the truly random thing about this letter is that I’m actually on the Management Team of Slope Watch, part of Ski Patrol at Copper Mountain. I’ve “stood post” at Copper for seven years helping everyone have as enjoyable a skiing and riding experience as possible in congested areas. I stated on my blog that there “are no patterns” in these incidents. This brought the comment from the author in an email exchange that this was the “canned response from every Kool-aid drinker who has ever earned a dollar from a skier”. I’m actually a volunteer, have never earned a dollar from Copper, and don’t imbibe high fructose drinks. BUT NONE OF THIS IS THE POINT. You could replace the article with something about food poisoning in the restaurant industry. It doesn’t matter. I don’t care about the ski industry. What I do care about is intellectual rigor and the responsibility of journalists - and their editors - not to so blithely dismiss the bitterly random unique circumstance of each one of these tragic deaths by trying to explain them in some cartoon-like semblance of intellectualism. It repels the reality and trivializes the tragic.

The Denver Post article Ski deaths prompt look for link tries to make sense of the terrible tragedies of 17 deaths at Colorado Ski Resorts this year. This article really isn’t about the skiing deaths. It’s really just a classic display of ignorance (both explicit and implicit) of trying to explain the intrinsically random nature of life - with a little sensationalism mixed in. For example, the headline itself is misleading: “Ski deaths prompt…” Who’s “prompting” here? The newspaper. No other source is quoted in the article as calling for an investigation. What’s the “kicker”? “Do manicured hills encourage unsafe speeds?” The implication? There must be some cause and effect relationship. Let’s pick this one. Despite all of the “questions” that are raised every time a spike happens (again by the newspaper) - Lack of helmets, lack of snow, snowboarders, young males, terrain parks - let’s pick this one. Why? Because 13 of the 17 deaths occurred near groomed trails. Has to be the groomed trails. Couldn’t possibly be because THIS IS WHERE MOST PEOPLE SKI. It’s just another case of someone who doesn’t understand statistics (17 is a sufficiently large sample size - not) or who misleads us into thinking that he does as the article states that there is “rarely statistical proof supporting one theory” - care to point to ONE study that has drawn a statistically significant correlation? These deaths are horrible. Each of them a singular loss for family and friends. But that’s just what they are. Singular losses. Stop disparaging them with deluded attempts to see patterns that aren’t there. Or blame it on the Spaghetti Monster. Either way, show some respect and some clarity of thinking. BTW, I know of that which I speak. I’ve been part of Slope Watch at Copper Mountain the last 7 years. A terrific program started by the legendary Ward Jackson, Slope Watch has evolved from a few intrepid folks cutting crosses out of old Ski Patrol uniforms to a 100+ professionally managed organization that’s an integral part of Ski Patrol at Copper Mountain. We’re dedicated to helping Patrol provide skier and rider safety and education. We’re out there every day doing what it takes to make the hill as safe as possible in conjunction with all the other teams on the mountain from Lift Operations to Park Crew. There are no patterns - trail, rider, helmet, age. Each incident is unique. Tragedy is random. Write about that.

Following up on my earlier post, I was thinking that I may actually have stumbled onto something. I think that there may be a higher correlation between Microsoft (Windows) users and mental illness than between Apple (Leopard) users. As this recent study clearly shows, there is clearly a creative effect caused by the Apple logo. I wonder what the effect of flashing the Windows logo would have? In fact, I’d wager that the Windows brand - because of its association with the untold pain and suffering caused by the Window Operating System - may actually cause the viewer physical discomfort (I know I want to throw up every time I see it). Now, this leads me to believe that once this is proven that this could very well lead to the largest class action suit mankind has ever seen. I was going to try to setup a test but don’t want to start causing vast swaths of the population to turn to stone.