The Motto of the United States

Freakonomics has voted on a new motto for the United States using only six words. I like the result:

Our Worst Critics Prefer to Stay

This sums up my feelings on the country right now. This is why I do not like the title of Obama's book (The Audacity of Hope) and the statement by his wife (her husband's success being the first time in her adult life she has been proud of America). We live in a country where we can disagree. We live in a country that has unprecedented freedom even when compared to itself historically. We live in a country where a black woman can get an Ivy League education in law, marry a tremendously popular politician, and still say that she has never been proud of her country. It's great to be American and there's no better proof of that than the success of it's most vocal critics.

Comics

via xkcd.com


via whythatsdelightful.wordpress.com

Where I At?

I feel like I should update those of you who I don't talk to on a regular basis with the comings and goings of my life. I refuse to give a reason since it would be superfluous and entirely unhelpful to say "I'm busy".

My Research
I am currently working on 2 different topics.

The first topic is actually the more pressing. I am writing a paper with Dr. Christopher Branton about how we can better teach Software Engineering in the classroom. I think we have some really good ideas, but as of yet, we are like blind guys at an orgy. (Just feeling things out.)

The second is preparing for my proposal defense. My current topic is the architecture profiling of distributed systems. The details of the topic are left off partially because they are subject to publication and mostly because it is probably extremely boring to anyone reading this. Moving on...

My Stuff
I bought an iPhone. I am really impressed by the device. It has been more useful in DTD life than I ever thought it would. I've been letting everyone play with it which has led to a couple of friends purchasing one as well. Natasha also got us a plasma TV. It's big. Grace loves it. Moving on...

Grace Nickel
This girl is crazy. She is getting smarter and more active every day. I really feel like more of an involved Dad now that she can interact with me pretty well and play for longer than I can. I don't have an online photo site, but Natasha does. http://picasaweb.google.com/natashaburris

My work
I've also done a couple of websites during my spare time:

The first is for the United Way of Washington Area which at the time of this post is still a one level site.

In the wild at uwofwa.org

The second is the Franklinton Chamber of Commerce. Not really my design style, but really fit their goals for the site.

In the wild at franklintonlouisiana.org

Lagniappe

A new banner has been posted on the right hand side of this page. It is for a movie that will be coming out by Ben Stein. Be sure to check out the trailer by visiting the link.