Pretensions and Delusions

A mirror site for my journal at http://djmahon.livejournal.com/ (Pretensions and Delusions). Because I don't waste enough of my time on the net as it is.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

And I'm back in #twittergulag.

I'm truly getting tired of Twitter's banning feature. They know it can be exploited, and they know it has been exploited - but, despite numerous complaints, they won't do anything about it.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Testing remote app

Just testing posts from my phone.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Self-Assessment, and Surprises.....

I got my final grades today: a B+ on the Investigative Research unit, resulting in an overall grade of A- (GPA of 3.7, CEU of 10.4). Not too shabby, really--I thought I would have scored a B to a B+. I cede my doubts to the judgement of the professionals.

I've been busy trying to tweak my resume ( I don't mean to gush, but the Resume Builder at LinkedIn Labs rocks--I am very happy with the results), and I when added the "Skills" feature, I found myself amazed at what is considered a skill (Objectivity is a skill? Really??), and just how many I actually have (my resume lists 19). I never thought I possessed so many--and these are just the ones that come to immediate attention.

All this time, I thought myself without marketable skills; now, I discover that I've had many skills all along.

It makes me wonder--what else about myself am I taking for granted?

Sunday, May 01, 2011

The Fat Man speaks...

First off, the breaking news is that Usama Bin Ladin is wormfood. Whether true or not, I cannot say, but CBS apparently thinks that US Forces in Afghanistan have the body. The President is supposed to be giving a press conference shortly. We'll see.

I've started a new blog/journal: The Fat Man Speaks... is to be my "Professional Investigator" journal, where I intend to post on what will (hopefully) be work-related issues. I will probably still be keeping Pretensions and Delusions for more personal issues (such as ranting over "Dilbert Moments"); I want to keep my personal life separate from my (hopefully) future professional life. I also hope to use the new journal as a networking tool, and an advertizing platform. We'll see how this works out.

23:15--It's official: UBL has run up the curtain, and is singing soprano with the sinners.

Monday, April 11, 2011

First, they came for Asimov's...

...and then they took down Analog...

I used to post frequently on both the Analog and Asimov's fora, back when I had the crazy idea of becoming a writer. A troll posting child porn has taken down both. These are the days that try men's souls...

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Which way did she go? Which way did she go?

Saturday was our on-foot surveillance exercise; the class was broken into 3-man teams, given the description of the target, a recent photo, and the location the surveillance was to start from. Follow the target for two hours, record their movements, and report back for debriefing. Get a photo for extra credit. Sounds simple, doesn't it?

I picked up my target the moment she arrived-- she was wearing a maroon sweater that stood out rather well. Arrived at the CambridgeSide Galleria Foodcourt at 13:02hrs, three year-old daughter in tow, and proceeded to sit down to eat lunch. At 13:20hrs, she and her daughter left the food court and entered the H&M department store on the first floor. At 13:25hrs, the target left H&M, and proceeded towards the escalator bank; I waited for them to round the corner, then moved to follow...

...and promptly lost them. They were out of sight no more than 10 seconds, and *poof*!--Gone.

The next two hours was a fun-filled thrill ride of locating the target, losing the target, re-acquiring the target, and worrying that my ham-handed actions had gotten me burned.

I don't care what Hollywood says--this shadowing/surveillance stuff is &^%$#@! hard!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Class Exercise-- BU PI100

Live from 808 Commonwealth Ave. We're covering Social Media & Networks, and how to build our own blogs.

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