The Full Nelson

To be a rooster

2006-05-03T14:33:00.000-05:00

Well, it’s been a while.

It seems that all that’s going on at WILL today is nothing compared to the crisis that I had to deal with this morning. First off, let me say this: I’m the most unlucky kid in the entire University today.

Here’s why: all electricity on only my side of the dorm room shut off sometime right after I went to bed last night. ONLY MY SIDE OF THE ROOM! My roommate’s computer was fine. His fan was still in operation. His alarm clock woke him in the morning.

I woke up to the sun…an hour late, on the last day of class no less!

This was not what I needed. I mean, seriously, how does only my side of the room lose all electricity, and nowhere else in the entire University? It just seems like someone wanted to make my life really difficult today.

Not only was a really late (and, consequently, quite angry), but the milk and everything else in the refrigerator I bought yesterday was rotting away. So I start my morning in a giant haze of confusion, running around pressing buttons, trying to see if this and that works, figuring out what the heck happened overnight.

All the while I’m worrying that I’m incredibly late for my classes.

Then I’m lugging this awkward fridge down the hall to the lobby where I’m not even sure if there’s power yet. I’m hoping that something in there can be salvaged if the power’s still working.

I’m banging on my RA’s door because he apparently has a key to reset the circuit breaker to my room.

He doesn’t.

I’m practically yelling at the tired girl at the area office who says my RA is the only one who can fix my problem. He’s gone off to class and doesn’t give a care about his residents in the first place.

I’m running over to the area office in my sandals because I apparently have to sign a form before they can get anyone to look at the electricity.

And I’m wondering how long ago the electricity would’ve been fixed it I was in an apartment this year.

And everyone else is waking up to their alarms. Their wonderful, wonderful alarms.

It’s over three hours later. A switch is finally switched, and my day is ready to begin!

And here I am again, and I couldn’t be happier. Updating the podcast, I smile at the routine that I’ve followed all semester. Everything in the newsroom works according to a well-oiled machine, which is like a panacea to my hectic day.

Let’s just hope (knock on wood) they don’t lose power. Otherwise, they might be bringing out the old rooster like me tomorrow morning.

The busy man rush

2006-04-19T14:15:00.000-05:00

Whew, what a busy day for me!

Right now, I'm trying to do about 74 things, 73 of which I haven't really tried before.

Today, just a few things that I've been put in charge are clearing out the memory of a computer, editing, updating and archiving this week's and last's podcasts, cleaning up and editing digitized, deep archived Focus 580 programs (from the 1980s!) and adding to the WILL website.

Take a deep breath.

However, if I keep talking, my work here will never be done. Aight, wish me luck!

Ron Burgundy and me

2006-04-12T13:41:00.000-05:00

You have to applaud my enthusiasm for WILL.

Today, I showed up a half hour early to get working on the nicest day of the year. I’ve updated both the Focus 580 podcasts and I’m still not supposed to be here for another 20 minutes!

Yeah, it’s that interesting sometimes here. The people are always great to the interns. Almost every time I arrive from a long day’s work at class, they have a HUGE slice of my favorite chocolate cake with tantalizing vanilla frosting waiting for me with 19 candles (yeah, this is one BIG cake!).

Oh yeah, and I actually do some work here, but even that is glorious in its own right.

As a matter of fact, as I write this, two copy girls are fanning me with big…fans, keeping me cool on the hot seat. In addition, my poor back is always feeling great with a six-man lineup of masseuses constantly working out the knots.

I’m getting my nails filed and manicured (yes, while I’m typing this). While I’m typing and getting manicured, I’m editing video using Sony Vegas and Sony Sound Forge.

These two programs are very comprehensive to the point where I basically became proficient just by looking at them for five seconds. Definitely worth the investment if your work involves editing video and/or audio.

If I had to pick one person this internship makes me think of the most, it most definitely, without a single doubt, has to be…Ron Burgundy. I am an integral cog in the academic powerhouse that is Champaign, Ill.

And if you think I have it good, just remember I’m just a measly intern. Wait ‘till you hear what the secretaries have…

Well, I better hold off on that for now (pist…the budget people at U of I might be reading). We’ll talk about all this on my LAST DAY of interning. Jeeeeaaaa.

I guess the only negative is that this all ends in less than a month.

Until next time...

2006-04-05T13:58:00.000-05:00

It’s me again, y’all. I hope you’re not getting tired of me…because I’m going to be here for at least four more weeks.

You say, “Well, Ryne, I won’t be tired of you if I’m still here and you pretty much have nothing new to report in the newsroom.”

I would say you’re a very smart person and you just proved me wrong. Then I would say I need some more sleep.

Either way, our Internet director will be back next time, and hopefully, I’ll actually be doing something that’s worth saying on this blog. Actually, I’m sure I’ll be doing something worth saying on this site.

Cool. In the next three weeks, we’ll see how much I can learn about Flash and RSS/podcasting. All this will be very useful if I want to keep up The Full Nelson and other sites in the future.

Aight. That’s about it. Go out and enjoy the amazing day outside…without a coat.

Just a suggestion from a bad experience.

Peace.

33 hours and counting

2006-04-03T14:08:00.000-05:00

All my inspiration and creativity have been sucked out of me.

All of my energy also seems to be sucked out of me.

Last night could’ve been one of the longest nights of my life. One of those times where you just lay there and lay there and lay there and wait.

For hours.

You get mad. You get furious at yourself for wasting time, but you know you’re just moving in a viscous circle – the more you worry and muss, the harder it will be to go to relax your body.

The mind plays much more of a role in your sleep than does your body. As a matter of fact, you mind plays a much larger role in the rest of life as well.

I feel better here in the WILL newsroom because of all the stimulation spinning through the room. It takes a man on his toes just to sort out what’s happening among the chaos.

No really. It’s not that busy around here…yet work does get done, and done very efficiently.

Even if the Cubs’ opening game is on the TV. Even if people are talking about their lunches. Even through I still can’t log into the program that updates the podcast…

Whew.

Point being, no matter what’s going on here (even if it doesn’t seem like much), you’re easily going to have an engaging time in the mind.

And that’s all I needed running on my 33rd consecutive waking hour. Peace!

What I do

2006-03-31T14:02:00.000-06:00

Not really anything to report today.

The radio is blaring in the background. Spirits are a bit higher probably due to the arrival of nice weather (please, let this be the beginning of consistently warm days).

The producers are calling and emailing, preparing what you’ll hear in the next couple weeks.

Reporters are walking around or writing their scripts. The printers are spitting out ink. A conversation about the day’s events and other job-related activities (what else?) is flowing in the corner behind me.

And I can’t help but think: it takes action to cull and present action.

Oh, and the intern sits with his back to it all…typing. Nothing more.

Superman in Cali

2006-03-29T13:32:00.000-06:00

I really don’t have much to report today besides the fact that somehow Jack is updating the podcasts all the way across the country.

I’m not sure how you can do what Jack’s doing from that distance, but when you’re the Yoda of the Internet I guess nothing should come as a surprise.

This man does a superhuman amount of work…and still manages to keep an intern busy thousands of miles away. Thanks Jack!

Happy Wednesday.

Your captain speaking!

2006-03-27T13:47:00.000-06:00

Ahh. Back to school.

Jack’s going to be out of the office for a couple weeks, so it’s basically me holding up the WILL site.

Yes, we’re already experiencing problems.

So far, I can’t get the podcast updated and am frantically trying to contact Jack in his warm and beautifully lulling climates.

If your computer starts to foam and hiss the next time you visit, promptly press the “Stop” button on your browser and hope for the best. This could very well be the most interesting two weeks in WILL history, folks.

We’re hoping for good things, but with Ryne Nelson at the helm, haha…well, we’ll just have to find out!

Full Linkage

2006-03-15T14:06:00.000-06:00

Today is the day The Full Nelson gets linked.

Mark your calendar - on March 15, 2006, at 2:15 – 5 o’clock, The Full Nelson has officially become official. I’d like to take this moment to thank my one reader who voted on the poll and all you others who left a total of 0 comments over the past few weeks.

If The Full Nelson hasn’t been widely popular yet, it’s about to. With the support of the immensely popular WILL website, this site may soon take off into the blog stratosphere!

Michael Jordan didn’t get into North Carolina without the help of the Adidas ABCD basketball camp (and his coach’s gross inflation of his statistics). Tiger Woods didn’t become the great golfer until he donned a Nike golf polo. And Mark Cuban certainly didn’t become the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks without the added convenience of a Flowbee.

David Beckham wouldn’t be Beckham without Posh Spice.

So if I was Jim Cramer and this was a beta internet site about the go public, I would be shouting, “BUY, BUY, BUY!!!”

The Full Nelson has everything to take off (special feature: favorite snack food poll on the side), and now has all the reasons to do so.

Next step, government investigations and court cases.

Happy (Official) St. Patrick’s Day and Spring Break!

Wind burn immunity

2006-03-13T14:07:00.000-06:00

Wind burn.

I never really understood the concept, and I still don’t today. Although, if there was ever such a thing, I’m pretty sure the name originally came from a Six Flags roller coaster.

Wind is so furious that you have to watch for aerial attacks by stray umbrellas, half-full chocolate sauce bottles and 14-pound Shakespeare anthologies. Unfortunately, the wind hasn’t heisted my Shakespeare book yet.

Weather channels have gone from predicting tornados to hit last night to consulting bird calls and wind chimes. When Champaign didn’t even get a single drop of rain, word had it they gave up the Doppler for the good ‘ole licking-the-finger technique.

Winds have reached the speed where contemporary methods of weather monitoring have become obsolete. Things are definitely wrong when dung can be smelt four miles upwind from the University’s official horse and swine laboratory.

However, this does not worry me in the slightest.

I am assured safety inside the newsroom because, as a general rule, nothing ever happens to news reporters! As a way to secretly palliate the effects of the stereotypical dismal monetary compensation, news reporters are granted lifetime hazard immunity. Almost all reporters die rich of natural causes and laughing at life insurance agents.

Today, I’ve seen all sorts of things. One kid’s hat blew into the middle of the street just seconds before entering the bus, and two trucks promptly ran over the hat. More than three consecutive blades of grass where green, two women were running with scissors and 29 chef’s aprons ended up in various trees on the quad.

So be careful today. WILL will be watching safely.

Peace, it's Friday!

2006-03-10T13:21:00.000-06:00

Friday!

How can we not start this off without talking about the overtime college basketball upset thriller last night?

Syracuse knocked off No. 1-ranked U-Conn. Whoopee!

Now…moving on.

This is a good day just to let your mind rest. If your week has been anything remotely similar to mine, things have been pretty crazy. Let’s take this moment to take a breath of the (thankfully) super-fresh air outside and smile at Spring.

Yes, I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say we’re not going to be seeing anymore snow until September. Ahhhhhh.

Let this day represent the rebirth after the rebirth. Make this the moment to rededicate yourself to those New Years resolutions. Remember to call your mother this weekend. Choose olive oil rather than Ranch dressing tonight. Go all out.

As I alluded to before, March Madness is just around the corner. This is another reason to get pumped up for the rest of this month.

March is such a great time because of all the changes that occur. Don’t be one to sit inside and let it all fly by. Watch life paint the world again. Suck it all in through your nostrils. Absorb it all with your eyes.

Treasure it with your brain.

Peace!

Amazon gets stuff done

2006-03-08T15:45:00.000-06:00

I think the value of any experience can be measured in the number of new places it takes you.

That’s why being a WILL intern is so important to me.

For the first time in nearly two years on campus, I went to the Grainger Engineering Library. There, WILL internet director Jack Brighton was testing the interface of a new OAI (Open Access Initiative) site – CIC. To my knowledge, CIC archives the content in Big Ten special collection libraries.

Jack and I were pretty impressed. Searching content among these sites was fairly sleek and straight-forward, almost like searching the UIUC library catalog but better. It included thumbnail pictures of some of the sites, and a lot of good metadata.

As far as I could see, the interface only had two major problems: 1) Unclear search directions, and 2) No one really wants to search special library collections!

The best part, though, was that Jack got a $15 gift certificate to Amazon.com for providing his critique of the site!

We also got some good ideas for WILL’s own OAI project, which is still in the woodwork. Walking back from Grainger, we pretty much decided on the next step:

$15 gift certificates for grad students knowledgeable in creating databases and OAI.

The advice diet

2006-03-06T13:12:00.000-06:00

Whooo weee! It’s a nasty day in March!

No one wants to be outside in the gross weather. And that’s cool…because it’s Monday and we can still afford to be somewhat lazy.

And what a better way to spend your time inside than with WILL?!

Listen to the radio, for instance. Right now I’m listening the Afternoon Magazine to a certified nutritionist and owner of Nutrition On The Move, Susan Kundrat, who’s dolling out tips and secrets like Santa does presents on Christmas Eve.

Try the television. Try the internet. Make a trail mix of media on your downtime…all without spending a cent of your rainy day stash.

You need to circuit train your brain in order to prevent it from idleness. This does not strain your brain muscle. It helps it recover from the pounding it takes during the day. WILL is your recovery after strenuous brain tissue exercise.

Here’s some food for thought, and this should hit home with anyone who saw The Island this summer. What if personal fitness technology developed to the point where machines would dictate our diet for every meal? In the movie, a computer analyzed one’s urine in the morning and laid out a specific diet for the day.

Of course, this might aid in human nutrition and health and would shelve all these confusing and sometimes contradictory claims we hear from different health “experts” everyday, but would we really want to give up our favorite foods, deserts, snacks, etc.?

Even more so, would we want to depend on a computer for yet another part of our life? Listen to our podcast and form your own opinion while listening to Kundrat’s advice to callers. Personally, I’m never sure whether I’m eating correctly or exercising enough or whether I should care at all anymore.

Sometimes too much information combined with a great desire to learn can be deadly.

Be careful when you enter this marketplace of knowledge and ideas. Measure everything with a grain of salt and be sure not to make drastic changes based on what an “expert” says.

Of course, it’s okay to try something new, but if it’s not working then listen to your intuition. Lifestyle is personal. Advice and statistics are general.

Stay warm and have fun!

My major is "Genius"

2006-03-03T15:16:00.000-06:00

I’m involved with a class of graduate students. Yes, the University felt I was so good that they slipped under the table a degree in “Genius” and sent me on my way to my Ph.D. Sugar.

So you want to know two things: 1) Why am I telling you this, and 2) How do I do the same thing?

First, let’s tackle the far more difficult first issue. WILL is currently tackling the issue of archiving content and metadata. While others can say they’re doing the same thing, none have near a complete product. I see this as a real test of U of I’s digital archiving brainpower. Get pumped. Uhh.

They want to create a digital nexus of archived content – video and audio – to make it easier for the public to find old programs and for them to easily search past programs. This is not easy, but would be GRRRRREAT!!! if these grad students can make any headway on this project.

So this is why I’m involved with this graduate student class. I, as intern emeritus of this project, will continue my great duty of updating The Full Nelson, and keeping YOU on top of all the positive (of course, there won’t be any negative) progress.

Coooool.

Now, to the second issue: how do you get the University to under-the-table you that coveted piece of paper? As I said, it’s simple.

Become a WILL online intern! Peace.

Quiche at work

2006-03-01T14:06:00.000-06:00

Man, there's so much to talk about today here at this WILL newsroom!

First, I'd like to mention quiche.

If it isn’t already part of your regular workday, fie upon you! Go ahead, get out to the store, find an oven and get cooking!

The good folks at WILL discovered today that quiche is a great-great-great-cousin of the most successful, powerful food in the entire world: the egg. Basically, the quiche is a couple single cells inside a bed of crust with whatever you want mixed in!

Fortunately, this is all made easy for today’s busy worker like you and (almost busy) me. All you have to do is find this morning’s Focus 580 podcast on the WILL site. Doyle Moore, WILL Chef-in-Residence, extols all the virtues of quiche and how and how not to pronounce this food…AND…allergies!

Listening to this could cause the greatest utility per minute of 2006. No kidding.

So while you’re making this masterpiece, listen to this podcast. It’s an infallible way to become the most popular person at work…and most certainly put you up for promotion. Feed the boss the best quiche and display your suave listening choice by playing WILL.

Then, for Lent, it might be best to give up this 600-calories-per-slice pie, if not for any other reason but to allow yourself time to digest.

Alright, I’m hungry, so I’m going to continue listening to this podcast. It’s almost as good as eating the real thing.

Snoop Doggy Dogg

2006-02-24T14:11:00.000-06:00

I had a really great idea for this blog entry, and there was no way for it to happen so I don’t know what I’m going to do.

I’ve lost the clichéd light at the end of my tunnel. Tunnel vision.

Hummm….

Haaaaa.

Okay.

My idea was this…

I was going to write this entry while listening to Snoop Dogg’s hit single “Drop It Like It’s Hot” over and over and over on my iPod. It would be have sweet! It would have completely drawn you into the entry.

It would have started your weekend off right!

But…my iPod doesn’t have that song. It used to. It did. It used to.

But now it doesn’t.

Either way, it’s Friday afternoon, and what am I still doing on this computer? Actually, what are YOU still doing on your computer? Man, that just got me depressed. That got me sad.

Snap your fingers, that’s as long as it took to 180 my mood here.

Now I’m doubly sad, and I may very well break out in tears at any moment here. First, my idea for this entry is gone and now I’m thinking of all the happy, active people who are already getting their weekend on.

WILL can cheer me up somehow, as I’m sure it has you mucho times over the years. Maybe I’ll turn the dial to the FM classical music. Maybe. I’ll turn the dial.

I could surf the site some more. Listen to some of the broadcasts I missed this morning by downloading the podcasts.

Somehow, I get sadder and sadder. This is a poor pit of sadness that I’m falling into. It’s a Friday and I should be happy. You should be happy. But I’m not.

I’m not happy because my anticipation went overboard. My anticipation is a cup overflowing. Continually overflowing.

Overflowing.

No, he didn't ask me

2006-02-22T14:07:00.000-06:00

Sooooooo…

WILL’s Internet director (and my boss) Jack Brighton is at meetings in Seattle for the rest of the week. I’ve never been to Seattle, but Jack says a lot of great things about it.

Take pictures Jack. Bring me back some pictures.

Either way, Jack has the utmost confidence in me as his internet intern. Last night, I get an email from him, and this is what he wrote:

Have fun while I'm gone (I mean work hard), and don't burn down the house...

Um…yeah. Obviously, Jack has a great sense of humor, and he’s a really great and knowledgeable and understanding and helpful guy. I’ve been his intern for almost six weeks. I know enough to not go burning down the WILL building. No, he should’ve said something else.

Like, “And don’t make me the topic of your next two blog posts while I’m gone!”

Haha, and he thought having me convert old cassettes to digital audio files would keep me busy! Life is good.

Moving past the perpetually interesting topic of Jack Brighton, I consider this tedious job of converting audiocassettes a process to grand benefit of mankind. Some of these tapes are ancient and have some really important material on them.

Soon, they’ll all be available at the click of a mouse while you’re visiting the WILL site!

Not only that, WILL will have tons and tons of extra space to store more useful things like toothpaste and new shoelaces (both of which I could really use).

Aight, that’s about it for me. Things are literally starting to fade out as I continue my 10-day homework-induced boycott of sleep. Until next time, peeeaaace!

My Mongolian chocolate

2006-02-20T15:35:00.000-06:00

Today could probably be considered a monumental day at WILL although you wouldn’t know it by hanging around the newsroom.

The printer is still puttin’ ink to paper like a New York Times printing press at deadline. I in particular am affected by this because my cubicle is conveniently positioned such that my head is about six inches away from the buzzing bugger of a machine.

I can’t get mad at it, though, because without it there would be no news! That, and it’s just a printer.

Somehow, through all this humming and buzzing and murmuring normalcy is something quite out of the ordinary. And it’s just in the other room in the form of a large, black box! In the words of the late Hunter S., Hoho!

Either way, don’t confuse this large, cold mass of metal and lights to be just another computer. No, this happens to be a large, cold mass of metal and lights that also happens to stream radio waves over the internet. Streaming, as they call it, happens to be proliferating like the baby name “Aiden.”

Basically, radio streaming WILL online means a couple things for you and me, as avid listeners:

1) WILL will soon be easily be accessed online.
2) WILL will soon be easily be accessed online to those vacationing in Mongolia.

What a grand day it is! Knowing that I can listen to WILL even if I happen to be in Outer Mongolia (which I frequently am) is a very calming sentiment. This is just another strong step for the station as it heads into the bright future of the digital age.

So as Jack and I continue to set up this wiz-bang of a contraption, there will be only one last pressing and important question to consider:

How to stream mounds of chocolate to Outer Mongolia.

Chocolate and WILL – a winning combination right there! Peace!

As good as...my pretzels

2006-02-17T15:05:00.000-06:00

The best thing about my life as an intern is this bag of Rold Gold pretzels...barely beating out learning how to render a 105-minute earthquake talk for WILL's video archive (coming soon!).

Honestly, though, haven't you felt that strong craving for a bag of 3.5 servings worth of salty, wonderful, baked pretzels? That's why the folks at WILL secretly endorse Frito Lay...for a constant supply of these succulent treats (jk, jk)! Rold Gold pretzels beat out homemade brownies any day!

Today's Chicago Tribune says the city is looking to provide Wi-Fi internet access to its millions and millions and millions of residents (Total population: 2,862,244 - ed). This is a great time to be a Chicagoan.

Soon, a matrix of little, tiny zeros and ones will blanket commuters, large buildings and...Grant Park. A major metropolitan area will be another step closer to looking, acting and working like a well-oiled machine. Heck, maybe a omnipotent machine will be a mayoral candidate in the distant future! Tomorrow, Keanu Reeves won't be all that good of a fighter. This could be a problem in the future...for Keanu.

But, today is today!

Wireless Internet is great for the economy and great for our knowledge. It's all coming together at the perfect time. For the economy, sales of laptops, Blackberries and Sidekicks all skyrocket (Buy! Buy!, Jim Cramer...Buy!). For our knowledge, sites like WILL will be more available.

Not only will WILL radio be live streaming soon, but a great (and I really mean great) video archive is in the works! Internet director Jack Brighton and I will be working on these things extensively in the remaining 11 (or is it 12?) weeks of the spring '06 semester.

They'll be up and running in no-time. Let the City of Wind and everyone else check it out!

With unfettered access to Wi-Fi and WILL online, a world-class city like Chicago needs only one more thing: Rold Gold Pretzels!

The WILL intern

2006-02-17T14:31:00.000-06:00

As far as I'm concerned, the best invention of the 21st Century is the Weblog. How else would a WILL intern/UIUC undergrad get a chance to speak about life in Champaign?!

As the semester roles on, I'll keep you updated on all the happenings at the University's NPR- and PBS-affliate. You'll get the down-low on not just what you see everyday on the TV, radio or online, but also the what you DON'T see.

The Full Nelson is your fly on the WILL newroom wall!

Talk to ya soon.