Wil Wheaton on how to respond to being called a nerd

I was fortunate to attend a school, growing up, where not only were “nerd” qualities valued and nurtured but so were humanistic values.

I feel for any child who is bullied at school for shining brightly. To be honest, I’m not much of a Wil Wheaton fangirl but his response to a little girl, who asked how to handle being treated poorly, is laudable.

TEDx Talk: The happy secret to better work

One of my friends who used to live here in Santa Fe shared this with me today. Besides having good advice, Sean Achor of GoodThink Inc is highly entertaining. I have seen some pretty dry TED talks but this was really captivating. It’s been a while since I was involved in Wisdom 2.0 or the Happiness movement but it is a passion of mine and increasingly important, as I traverse the Fortune 100 world.

Very cool but frightening Beaver Creek Fire Video

Hat tip to @incidentinfo for sharing this video from Beaver Creek.

Beaver Creek Wildfire Video from SCVP Cordovano Video&Production on Vimeo.

This video about the West Fork Complex is beautiful

West Fork Complex from Hon schlapfer on Vimeo.

Video: The Legal Tender Grand Re-Opening

And a grand re-opening it was. Welcome back everyone! Thanks to everyone who made this possible. We love this bar!

Stuff in the news 6/18/2013 – Wildfires

• Repeating from yesterday because it’s important…. From our friends at incidentinfo.org: Luke Sheehy was a California Smokejumper. On June 10, 2013 he made his last jump into a fire on the Modoc National Forest. He was killed when a piece of a tree fell on him. He was 28 years old. Here’s how you can help. Please share out this page when you click through.
• Following up on yesterday’s wildfire post, in which there was piece on people building in fire zones, the state of Colorado has a task force to address the issue. Colorado wildfire task force tackles building in burn zones
• In 2012, more than 20 wildfires in Utah were caused by target shooting. With a bad fire season upon us again this year in the West, Utah officials have set out restrictions on activity to mitigate risk. The restrictions include a ban on target shooting of exploding targets. Other restrictions are listed in the same source. According to BLM in Salt Lake City, target shooting in dry rocks or vegetation can also spark fires but that doesn’t seem to be included in the restrictions just set out.
• Mother Nature Network released a listing of 10 of the Worst Wildfires in U.S. History. While the rankings aren’t actually consistent – some are based on dollar figures, sone on acreage, and some on the most important factor in my opinion, loss of life – it’s interesting reading.
• More of a fire science piece than a wildfire thing but did you ever wonder how fire works in space? Here’s What Happens When You Light a Fire in Space
• Generally, I’m skeptical of studies done by pharma companies, large or small. That said, this is a frightening statistic: Three quarters (75 percent) of the surveyed firefighters/EMTs are more concerned about dying of a heart attack than in the line of duty. This is International Fire/EMS Health & Safety Week. Why is it harder to accomplish our personal health goals than a work-related task or project? Here’s a great story on a Delaware teen who’s trying to help. Be sure to also  click-through to the Heart Healthy Firefighter program!

• Resources to Cover Wildfire Season: Tips for Homeowners to Prepare Homes, Evacuate
• Check out these pretty amazing data maps on US disaster dangers: The most dangerous places to live in America: Spectacular maps show the devastating effects of Mother Nature
• Waldo Canyon fire survivors are helping Black Forest fire survivors to cope. Colorado wildfire survivors mentor Black Forest Fire victims
• The reason that last post caught my eye is that I found an intriguing book at Unabridged Books in Chicago over the weekend. It’s Surviving Survival: The Art and Science of Resilience by Laurence Gonzales. The book deals not so much with surviving the tragedies that happen in rare circumstances (I say this because there was an alligator attack and a crocodile attack in the first few chapters – how often does that happen?). Rather, the focus of the book is the PTSD that besets survivors when they re-enter society. This is a highly recommended read.

Stuff in the news 6/17/2013 – Wildfires

• NM Fire Info has been posting the link to the NIFC daily situation report on Facebook, since we got hot and heavy into fire season. It occurred to me that if someone asked me, I don’t know that I’d be very good at explaining it to someone. You know me – when in doubt, look it up. Here is a link to a PDF document on NIFC that explains what’s in there:  Understanding the Information Provided in the National Incident Management Situation Report (IMSR)
• Speaking of things I use but am sometimes at a loss to explain, I am in search of a good explanation of how to read a fire map. If you can help me find one, please post the link in a comment. I promise to give you credit when I include it in the next stuff in the news post 🙂
• Using the term “scurried” for residents trying to put out this fire may have been a poor choice of words. Flagstaff juveniles burning ants start wildfire
• Here’s one of those articles that is policy-related and something we all ask from time to time, I think. The topic just came up in casual conversation this past weekend in the context of building in flood-plains. I don’t have an answer but I think these sorts of pieces are important to read and discuss. It’s always important, when doing so, to dig all the way back to the original sources, though, especially given the title of the piece. Why does the government encourage people to build homes in wildfire zones?
• Ummm, ewwwww….  Firefighters doused with retardant during wildfires at the Black Forest Fire in Colorado.
• Those of us who live in the West have already pretty much figured this out but… Explosive and expensive wildfires in Colorado becoming `new normal’
• From our friends at incidentinfo.org: Luke Sheehy was a California Smokejumper. On June 10, 2013 he made his last jump into a fire on the Modoc National Forest. He was killed when a piece of a tree fell on him. He was 28 years old. Here’s how you can help. Please share out this page when you click through.

Stuff in the news 6/11/2013 – Wildfires

 

• “…officials and residents continue to try to rely primarily on firefighting improvements and greater firefighting expenditures, instead of limiting development at the wild-urban interface, enforcing rules for property owners, preventing rebuilding in fire zones, and changing “fuel management” practices to shrink the supply of tinder, these fire-policy critics charge. Wildfire policy: Time for US to rely less on shovels, hoses, retardant? (+video) – CSMonitor.com
• Understory fires have destroyed 3% of the Amazon forests over the past 12 years, according to NASA. That is significantly more than other causes, such as farming, mining, and illegal logging, among other causes previously thought to be the cause of the deforestation. That is not to say any of these identified threats are good, of course, but the dryness in general is a grave threat. NASA Confirmed Urgent Need to Save the Amazon Rainforest
• $67 million has been given to the following states for drought, fire, and storm relief, through the USDA Emergency Watershed Program: Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Wisconsin, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, New Mexico and Ohio. Colorado got $19 million of the relief money, with the remainder being shared by the other states.
• I can’t even fathom this number but NorCal is up to about 8,000 lightning strikes over the past two days and p. 60 related small fires.
• On a soft news note, there is a piece on wildland fire leadership and introversion that is worth a read. This source, as a rule, tends to promote how-to-be-a-leader books, which are bit dogmatic for my tastes but the TED talk by Susan Cain is valuable. The Solitude Side of Leadership

Hasan Elahi: FBI, here I am!

This is my Chill out – it’s Friday message. With as much as I tweet about privacy, you know I really do care but let’s interject a moment of levity anyhow.

Incredible new search technology: Google Nose

via Tastefully Offensive