Category: Uncategorized

Dallasblog.com reports about a new service from Amazon called Mechanical Turk.

The idea is to break up complex desktop jobs into small portions, then pay for production of each of these “Human Intelligence Tasks” directly. Right now the activity is dominated by college kids and the housebound who take on HITs for chump change. But the concept has legs.

Maybe this will help us get over those annoying tasks like balancing our checkbooks.
When I get a moment I’ll check it out and let you know what’s going on.

So last night, the Rolling Stones stole a page out of U2’s book with their large catwalk performance at the Super Bowl half-time show.
I personally am not a huge Stones fan when it comes to their live show. It leaves me wanting.
Mick Jagger sounds like he’s just saying the words and not singing them. As if he’s out of breath from all his arm flailing about.
But I thought about the biggest half-time shows in recent years and I do believe U2 tops them all, with Paul McCartney coming in a close second and the Stones third.
As NPR pointed out this morning, why is halftime at America’s biggest event of the year headlined by non-American bands?
Is there an American band who can even compete?
Is there even an American super group like U2, the Stones or the Beatles?
Is it because American music is more focused on solo-acts?
The closest supergroup I can come up with is the Eagles – but I can’t see them rocking out at the Superbowl.
Green Day did ok at the opening game of the season, but they don’t have the mass appeal of the fore-mentioned bands.
If you got to pick next year’s half-time show performer, who would it be and why?
And anyone who votes for Brittney Spears is automatically disqualified (just because I can).

So I’ve been asked to be a judge for a chili cook off tonight.
Never done that before, but I’ve eaten chili before and I know what I like, so I guess that’s all good.
Hopefully I’ll be able to sleep tonight and not have to make any late night runs to get antacid or heartburn medicine.

From KWTX
Crusaders Makes Changes on Staff

Belton, TX – University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football offensive coordinator George Haffner is retiring, effective February 1st, Crusader head coach Pete Fredenburg announced today. Haffner’s retirement caps a 40-year coaching career that saw him spend 31 years in Division I and advance to the Division III National Championship game with the Crusaders. Haffner spent seven seasons as the offensive coordinator for UMHB and the team broke school offensive records in every season during his tenure. The Crusader offense has been ranked in the top 20 in the nation in rushing offense and scoring offense in each of the past three seasons. Haffner helped guide the UMHB football team to three American Southwest Conference championships, four NCAA Division III National Championship berths and a national runner-up finish in 2004.
“It is a great time to step aside and spend some time with my family, especially my wife, while I feel good,” Coach Haffner said. “I’m going to enjoy the chance to step back and just be a fan for a while. I will cherish my years at UMHB and it has been a great feeling to have the opportunity to work with Pete Fredenburg to develop a program. Everyone on campus, from the President, to the athletic department, to the student body was so excited about the success we were able to have in the program. I worked with some great players and coaches and I know that they will continue to be successful in that program and I look forward to the chance to be a fan and enjoy the success that is still ahead.”
“We are really going to miss George because he gave us so much knowledge and experience,” Crusader head coach Pete Fredenburg said. “The great thing about George was that he really put his ego aside and didn’t care about what kind of numbers the offense put up, he wanted to do what we needed to do to win football games.”
The Crusader offense produced ten All-Americans, a Gagliradi Trophy finalist and a Rimington Trophy winner during Haffner’s tenure in Belton. The Crusaders fashioned a 57-11 regular season record in his seven seasons and UMHB went 62-15 overall during his time with the Crusaders. Haffner also spent 22 years as an offensive coordinator in Division I, working with coaching legends Bobby Bowden, Johnny Majors and Vince Dooley. He coached a pair of Heisman Trophy winners in Tony Dorsett and Herschel Walker. Haffner was also part of a national championship, three conference champions and 11 bowl games while serving as the offensive coordinator at the University of Georgia. He made collegiate coaching stops at Florida State University, the University of Pittsburgh, Iowa State University, Louisiana State University and Texas A&M University. Coach Haffner is a graduate of McNeese State University and he also played two years of football at the University of Notre Dame. Haffner played professionally for the Baltimore Colts and the Norfolk Neptunes of the Continental Football League before starting his coaching career. Coach Haffner and his wife Norberta have two children.
To fill the void left by Haffner’s retirement, the Crusaders are promoting two offensive assistant coaches. Receivers coach Matt Robinson will take over the reins as the Crusaders offensive coordinator and running backs coach Jeff Shinn will be elevated to full-time assistant coach.
“Matt has a great knowledge of our offense and how to move the football,” Fredenburg said. “He has been a big part of our game-planning and play calling the past few years and part of that is a credit to George Haffner and the way he has worked with Matt, so I think Matt will do a great job as offensive coordinator. Jeff Shinn has been here since the beginning of the program and I really credit him with kind of holding everybody together during the first couple of years when we weren’t so successful. He has done a great job on the field and he has an infectious personality and enthusiasm that I think will really serve him well in recruiting and working with our game plans from here on out.”
Robinson will be entering his seventh season with the Crusaders next year. Robinson has helped develop five All-Conference receivers during his tenure and also spent three seasons as head coach of the UMHB junior varsity program. He spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Northwest Missouri State University and also served one year as an assistant coach at Southern Arkansas. Robinson also spent one year coaching at Wimberley High School prior to joining the Crusaders coaching staff. He is a 1996 graduate of Southwestern Oklahoma State University, where he played quarterback for the Savages. Robinson and his wife, Michelle, have a son, Will Freedom.
Shinn moves to full-time assistant coach after spending the past four seasons as a student and graduate assistant coach for the Crusaders. He has developed four All-Conference running backs during his tenure with the Crusaders. Shinn also helped guide a UMHB running game that ranked 10th in the country in rushing yardage this past season. Shinn is a 2003 graduate of UMHB and he earned his Master’s Degree from UMHB in December. He spent four seasons as the starting fullback for the Crusaders and finished his career as UMHB’s second leading career rusher. He also scored the first touchdown in the history of the Crusader football program.

Since their story on ABC World News last month, Ultimate Christian Wrestling has gotten more and more exposure.
Some of it has been stories picked up in other magazines or newspapers, and other stories have been original to the news source.
Either way, I think its good for their ministry as well as ours.

A candidate for Ellis County Judge sent out a letter to Ellis County employees recently.
In the letter she did a “Letterman-like Top Ten List of Reasons You Should Vote For Me For Ellis County Judge.”
Number 10 was, “I’m not a politician.”
This seems to be a popular cry from new candidates for office.
“I’m not a politician. I’m not from Washington. I’m not like everyone else.”
I think they should add, “But if you elect me, I’ll be one. And apparently I want to be one or else I wouldn’t be running for office.”
Eric suggested, what if we applied for jobs like politicians campaign?
“I’m not a journalist. I know people don’t tend to trust journalists, so you won’t have to worry about me, because I’m not a journalist.”