11 - 2007 | ***Dave Does the Blog

One last jump

Robert Craig “Evel” Knievel has died at 69….

Robert Craig “Evel” Knievel has died at 69.

Framed

A big breakout item this year for Christmas gifting seems to be computer picture frames. These have been around for a number of years, but the technology seems to…

A big breakout item this year for Christmas gifting seems to be computer picture frames. These have been around for a number of years, but the technology seems to be finally clicking — USB and memory card interfaces, decent quantities of memory, decent resolution on the pictures. The ones I’ve been seeing most commonly run $100-$300 for something pretty nice.

Just two concerns:

You have to know that if the prices are that right now, next year they’ll be half the price for twice the memory and resolution.
I’m just not sure where I’d put one. Where is a backlit digital picture appropriate? If you put multiple pictures in rotation, how distracting is it, and do you really want people standing in your hall, or office, or family room, or bathroom watching the photos cycle? Sure, the screen saver on your PC is fine for that sort of thing — but that’s different from something hung on the wall as decor.

It’s this latter problem that really keeps me from asking for one — or thinking of getting one for anybody. What do you guys think?

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig

Back home. Weekly status report done and ready to mail. Ready to play hookey for the rest of the day … 🙂 Note to self — while a 6 a.m….

Back home.

Weekly status report done and ready to mail.

Ready to play hookey for the rest of the day … 🙂

Note to self — while a 6 a.m. flight sounds like a fine idea, even if you’re staying at the LAX Hilton it does still mean you really need to get up around 4 a.m., which does not sound like a fine idea … especially around 4 a.m.

Aaahhhh … Pillows …

An overnight stay at the LAX Hilton….

An overnight stay at the LAX Hilton.

Catalog themes

Sifting through several pounds of catalogs for Christmas shopping, three themes I’ve observed: Lots of Sudoku-related gifts, none of which look at all attractive or practical for the one Sudoku…

Sifting through several pounds of catalogs for Christmas shopping, three themes I’ve observed:

Lots of Sudoku-related gifts, none of which look at all attractive or practical for the one Sudoku maniac I know.
Digital picture frames have hit the big time, though they’re still pretty darned expensive. (I have my own doubts about such a gift, since most use of photographs in frames are as artistic impressions, vs. Moving Picture Attractions.)
Resistance to bacteria. Lots of germ-killing widgets, from toothbrush holders to humidifiers.

“To the Right … ever to the Right …”

Watching, from my hotel, the Republican / YouTube debate. Yeesh. Not sure if the questions were scarier, or the answers. And as I watch the candidates lurch off to the…

Watching, from my hotel, the Republican / YouTube debate.

Yeesh.

Not sure if the questions were scarier, or the answers.

And as I watch the candidates lurch off to the Right — with only the most occasional appeal to a more centrist position (from Rudy, natch), I can only conclude that pretty much anyone the Dems are likely to put up — my most or least favorite — would be preferable to this gang of idiots.

I’m just sayin’ …

Recipes

Quoth Margie, re the recipes in the Pasadena Magazine in my hotel room: Any recipe that feels obligated to spell out all the ingredients in its name is probably not…

Quoth Margie, re the recipes in the Pasadena Magazine in my hotel room:

Any recipe that feels obligated to spell out all the ingredients in its name is probably not any good.

Or something like that, regarding the recipe, “Turkey Breast Tournados with Spiced Sweet Potato Puree, Cranberry Gelee, Espresso Glace and Sage Peppercorn.” (from the Parkway Grill).

Busy day

Off in Pasadena on business, stick in a room with a couple dozen other IT mucky-mucks, discussing Sarbanes-Oxley planes plans for next year. Joy. Dinner tonight, though, at Twin Palms,…

Off in Pasadena on business, stick in a room with a couple dozen other IT mucky-mucks, discussing Sarbanes-Oxley ~~planes~~ plans for next year. Joy.

Dinner tonight, though, at Twin Palms, which should be nice.

“Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!”

Summary of current scientific research into clichés/stereotypes on birth order. New research undertaken by scientists at the University of Oslo would suggest that there is, in fact, a good deal…

Summary of current scientific research into clichés/stereotypes on birth order.

New research undertaken by scientists at the University of Oslo would suggest that there is, in fact, a good deal of truth in our family folklore. Using the IQ tests taken from the military records of 241,310 Norwegian conscripts, the scientists have found that eldest siblings are, on average, significantly “more intelligent” than second-borns.

Ahem.

(via GeekPress)

This one’s for BD …

Wow, I’d no idea there was a whole YouTube culture behind The Nails’ 1981 song “88 Lines about 44 Women.” 88 Lines about 44 Women (Pictures) Kim Possible – 88 Lines…

Wow, I’d no idea there was a whole YouTube culture behind The Nails‘ 1981 song “88 Lines about 44 Women.”

88 Lines about 44 Women (Pictures)
Kim Possible – 88 Lines
88 Lines about 44 Anime Girls
88 Lines about 44 Women
88 Lines about 44 Professors
88 Lines about 44 Women (in Drag)
88 Lines about 44 Women – Love Hina Style
88 Lines

Which I only learned when following up this (sadly text-only) “88 Lines about 44 Fangirls“

(via Kelson)

(And, of course, it’s for BD because it’s a long list of YouTube links … and, of course, because The Nails were from Boulder 🙂 )

What goes around, comes around …

Kelson observed a few weeks ago (as I catch up with browsing): Five years ago, Mozilla was forced to rename the Phoenix web browser because Phoenix Technologies was working on…

Kelson observed a few weeks ago (as I catch up with browsing):

Five years ago, Mozilla was forced to rename the Phoenix web browser because Phoenix Technologies was working on an in-BIOS browser that would let you get on the internet and troubleshoot/download drivers/etc. even if your operating system was trashed. It became Firebird, and then Firefox. The Phoenix product has finally been released. Ironically, it’s evolved into an embedded Linux distro that runs … Firefox.

Meanwhile, Les notes that Firefox 3 beta 1 is now available for download …

Balkanized North America

By just tweaking a few historical facts, here’s a “fun” map of a North America that is no longer just two nations (three if you count Mexico), but a good…

By just tweaking a few historical facts, here’s a “fun” map of a North America that is no longer just two nations (three if you count Mexico), but a good dozen-and-a-half.

Good grist for an alternate history novel, at the very least.

Common CAUSS?

Pulling off the highway Sunday, I saw a sign for CAUSS — Citizens Against Ugly Street Spam. The purpose of CAUSS is to eliminate unsightly and illegal street signs. These…

Pulling off the highway Sunday, I saw a sign for CAUSS — Citizens Against Ugly Street Spam.

The purpose of CAUSS is to eliminate unsightly and illegal street signs. These signs are also known as street spam, bandit and snipe signs, vertical litter, illegal signs and utility pole advertising. Examples include got junk?, single?, single in (your city), (your city) singles, looking for love, I buy houses, we buy Houses, I buy homes, rent to own, lease purchase, avoid foreclosure, sell your house in 9 days, sell your home in 7 Days, CEO income, cash for your home, real estate apprentice wanted, work at home, work from home, I lost 40 pounds, have a pc, and quality affordable health insurance. CAUSS emphasizes working with Code Enforcement in dealing with the blight of ugly, illegal signs.

An interesting idea — though aside from the Code Enforcement, there’s also a more “direct action” element, as the CAUSS sign was tacked to another sign at the intersection — one very much like the ones above — from which the phone number had been clearly chopped off.

Hmmmm.

Most sign sharks prefer to remove the entire sign. Some sharks have found that if you remove a sign another spammer will come along and assume that spot as simply “unclaimed”. These sharks disable the sign (by slashing or painting) but leave part of the sign and thereby send a message to all spammers that their signs will be disabled too. Both complete removal and disabling of signs discourage the placement of new signs and this is the common long-term goal.

I guess … and certainly it’s a laudable cause. Still, defacing a public sign, even an illegal / reprehensible one, seems … worrisome. I mean, it’s got that knee-jerk “Yeah, you go, guys!” kind of appeal to it, but it sets a (yes) social precedent that folks whose righteousness (and legality) might be a bit sketchier.

Kindling

So the other shoe dropped with Amazon announcing a full-blown eBook reader and service called “Kindle.” There’s two barriers, to my mind, in the adoption of eBooks — at least…

So the other shoe dropped with Amazon announcing a full-blown eBook reader and service called “Kindle.”

There’s two barriers, to my mind, in the adoption of eBooks — at least for me.

Technology: I need something that is as easy and portable and fast to use as a paperback book. The Kindle’s stats sound good, and, hey, it would be nice to have a bunch of books with me on an airplane or business trip. Still, is it actually as easy to use (and read from) as a paperback?

For that matter, if I lose a paperback, or misplace it around the house, I can grab another one off the shelf. If I lose my Kindle, I’m hosed until I replace it. Hrm. A single point of failure is not a good thing.

Ownership: Amazon lost me here when they started talking about a proprietary format. I don’t want a proprietary format — I want something that will read anything out there that I can download. It’s also not clear with the article what the level of “ownership” of the purchased books / magazines is. What do I really own for my $9.99? Does that ownership last only as long as Amazon decides to support the system? Could my purchased library vanish overnight? Will it be compatible with Kindle 2.0? Will it be compatible with another, better reader? Will my kids be able to inherit my collection? Can I give a book I’ve “bought” to someone else? Or loan it?

Paperbacks, even hardcovers, may wear out, or get lost, or get damaged. But, by God, you own that sucker, and can take it anywhere, and do anything you want with it. Until an eBook reader can do that, for the same price, and with advantages beyond saving luggage and shelf space, I’ll stick with analog, thankyouverymuch.

Hash

Oh, boy, you can use Google to decrypt MD5-encoded passwords. Um … yippee? It only actually works on dictionary-entry passwords (which are big no-no’s anyway)….

Oh, boy, you can use Google to decrypt MD5-encoded passwords.

Um … yippee?

It only actually works on dictionary-entry passwords (which are big no-no’s anyway).

Galactic!

Played our first “real” installment of Doyce’s Galactic gamma-test on Sunday. Jay and Randy were out, so it was Chris and Tim and myself. Galactic has an interesting mechanic. It’s…

Played our first “real” installment of Doyce’s Galactic gamma-test on Sunday. Jay and Randy were out, so it was Chris and Tim and myself.

Galactic has an interesting mechanic. It’s a limited-session game — three “quests” then the finale — and your main character is a starship captain trying to gather information about the mysterious “Scourge” that destroyed the human empire thousands of years ago, and from which now your people are only beginning to recover. I say “main” character because while each player runs a starship captain, they also get to run a crew member on each other player’s crew.

Thus, while I play Allysande Daen, the young overly-serious former naval officer now searching for my father captain, Chris played the slacker/druggy engineer Smoke and Tim played my valet, Bosley. When it was Tim’s turn to run things with his luxury liner / survivalist captain, Chris was playing a fighting-priest security officer and I was the callow purser/intern. While Chris was playing his techno-archaeologist captain, Tim had the Jayne-esque button man and I played the captain’s ex-wife and ship’s negotiator.

It keeps things interesting, so that even while the “focus” is on other players, you always have something to do. The game, mechanics, too, promote lots of involvement in collaborative story-telling and some good (non-sim) dice tactics.

I’m really pleased with how the system is working at the moment, and am looking forward to the next game.

Tales from the Crypt

Life begins in the new, ostensibly temporary office. Yes, that is a fire alarm flasher on my wall. UPDATE: So about 80% unpacked (to the extent I plan to…

Life begins in the new, ostensibly temporary office. Yes, that is a fire alarm flasher on my wall.

UPDATE: So about 80% unpacked (to the extent I plan to unpack in this office). I was clever enough to pack differentiating between “Stuff I Must Immediately Have” and “Stuff I Can Live Without for a While” (most of it), so that helps. Biggest questions at the moment are whether I should put up some art (and mar the walls) and whether cartoons are acceptable window decor in this neck of the woods.

A brief return to normalcy …

Monday. Jim and Ginger head off back to California. I go back to work. As does Margie. Katherine returns to school. Of course … … I have about two weeks…

Monday.

Jim and Ginger head off back to California.

I go back to work. As does Margie. Katherine returns to school.

Of course …

… I have about two weeks of e-mail to catch up on (stuff that accumulated while I was away on business plus stuff that accumulated while I was on vacation).

… I have a business trip I fly off to on Tuesday, for which I have various preparations I needs must do.

… plus the Usual Gang of Odd Things to Do, including staff reviews, self-review, status reports, etc. Oh, plus follow-up on the business trip of week before last.

Look to a slightly longer return to normalcy on, oh, Friday …

And, as a side note, a zillion thanks to Margie, and Katherine, and Jim and Ginger, for the current State of the House. Not only do we have the craft room, and the loft, as previously reported. But the rest of the Hawaiian decor is up in Katherine’s room, and the master bedroom …

… has …

… floor.

(And lest the latter sound in the least snarky or accusatory, way too much floor in the master bedroom has been covered with my Stuff. That it’s now all magically clean is … miraculous. Thanks, folks.)