Category Archives: Uncategorized

Look, I’m not for 4th Amendment overreach but this PRISM thing. Let’s be honest…. I’m pretty proud of Americans for developing this ingenious piece of engineering. If it does what it claims to do (and not what the hype says it does), it’s nothing short of one of the major wonders of the modern world.

Think about it.

You, me, everyone… we live in patterns. We go to work, sit at the same desk, talk to the same people, have friends that we see regularly, talk to the roughly same set of people… every day.

But the patterns are not so simple. We may talk to all kinds of different people, go to all kinds of different places, drive all kinds of cars, use all kinds of sites, stay in all kinds of hotels, travel to all kinds of places… and that all seems random but there are patterns like job requirements, hobbies, personal enjoyment and other seemingly abstract glue that makes patterns out of all that too.

Somehow, NSA has found a way to see patterns. Patterns, patterns everywhere. Organized chaos. And seeing patterns helps them see when something is out of pattern. Dissonance. Unusual variety.

The fact that chaos theory can be analyzed in such a way… is truly a feat of engineering.

As WordPress 3.6 goes to beta, it’s awesome the way the new default theme, TwentyThirteen (that I’m using on this site), handles a variety of post formats.

[UPDATED] Ravens Fan and Game Watch Groups Around the Nation

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I’m moving from Austin back to Baltimore today, and over the last two and a half years, I’ve been privileged to be able to participate in an incredible community of Baltimore Ravens fans deep in the heart of Texas. We’ve grown as a group to over 100 fans during peak games, while living in the shadow of the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans.

When I moved to Austin, I was only aware of one Ravens fan group outside of Baltimore – and that was Atlanta. I was stoked to hear about the Austin group (We call ourselves the 512 Nest) and I have watched every game with this group except when I have been at the games themselves.

With the AFC Championship game this coming week, a lot of folks around the country will be jumping on the bandwagon of the Baltimore Ravens or the New England Patriots, the Atlanta Falcons or the San Francisco 49ers.

If you’re looking to cheer on the Ravens and are looking for a group of fans in your area – whether or not you are a Ravens fan is irrelevant, as long as you want to watch with other Ravens fans – here are my currently known list of groups:

  • Austin, Texas – The 512 Nest – The Upper Decks, 301 Barton Springs Rd, Austin TX 78704
  • Los Angeles/Hollywood – The West Wing, The Parlor Hollywood, 7250 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046
  • Atlanta, Georgia = ATL Ravens, Sports & Recreation, 942 Peachtree St, Atlanta GA 30309
  • Houston, Texas – Houston Area Ravens Fans, Pub Fiction, 2303 Smith St, #100, Houston, TX 77006
  • Ft. Lauderdale, FL – The Florida Flock (South), Maguire’s, 535 N. Andrews Ave., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301
  • Ft. Lauderdale (Juno Beach) – The Florida Flock (North), Kirby’s Sports Pub and Grill, Plaza La Mar, 841 Donald Ross Rd, Juno Beach, FL 33408
  • San Francisco, CA – Ravens in the Fog, Thieves Tavern, 496 14th St, San Francisco, CA 94103
  • San Diego, CA – Dirty Birds, 4656 Mission Blvd, San Diego, CA 92109
  • Denver, CO – Baltimore Ravens in Colorado – Chopper’s Sports Grill, 80 South Madison St, Denver, CO 80209
  • Orlando, FL – Orlando Ravens Flock
  • Jacksonville, FL – Duval Bad Birds, Blackfinn American Grille, 4840 Big Island Drive #05, Jacksonville, FL 32246

I know there are more. Please let me know of any I didn’t list. Enjoy the game Sunday and GO RAVENS!

Updated: Ft. Lauderdale, San Francisco, San Diego and Denver groups added per Dave in comments. Thanks!

Update 2: Added Orlando, Jacksonville, and a second Ft. Lauderdale location thanks to the Florida Flock.