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August 31, 2006
Hard-Boiled Cyberpunk Overload
I don't normally re-read books - not 'cause I don't enjoy reading, far from it, but because there are so many books, and so little time. I'm the same about wine, unless I need a bottle to take to a gathering, I'll always buy the one I haven't had over the one I have.
The one standing exception to my "no-re-read" policy is Neuromancer, which I tend to end up reading about every year.
Continue reading "Hard-Boiled Cyberpunk Overload"
Posted by dberger at 8:17 PM | Comments (1)
MTP Sucks
MTP sucks big hairy caterpillars.
There are no good sync tools (ala rsync) for MTP, and I'm halfway through transferring 35G to my Zen Touch after 5 hours.
Ridiculous.
Oh, and Microsoft Media Player (you know, from the guys who wrote MTP) is very possibly the worst MTP transfer tool that exists. It doesn't like special characters in meta-data, and truncates. So "AC/DC" becomes "AC."
Brilliant.
Posted by dberger at 3:03 PM | Comments (0)
August 29, 2006
MovableType Upgrade
I've just upgraded to version 3.3(2) of Movable Type.
If you see anything strange that may be a result of this change, please let me know.
Posted by dberger at 2:47 PM | Comments (0)
Cutting the Layer Cake
I discovered yesterday, to my horror, that under DOS (and it's Windows descendants) each application is responsible for doing what, in the POSIX world, is referred to as "globbing."
Continue reading "Cutting the Layer Cake"
Posted by dberger at 9:27 AM | Comments (1)
August 28, 2006
Gorram West Wing
Brad has been on my ass for years (literally) to watch West Wing. Even went so far as to buy me the first season on DVD.
We watched the last episode of the 1st Season tonight.
I bought Season two moments ago.
If you've seen Season 1 you know that we're hanging on the edge of our seats.
No spoilers, please.
Posted by dberger at 10:10 PM | Comments (1)
The Body Acoustic
Good Stuff. (And even though the ex-ex-pats are back on US soil, here's a local link.)
Posted by dberger at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)
Weekend Recap
On Saturday Dawnise and I went down to the Island farmers market, she got her weekly Corn Cake, I had a blueberry scone, and we got a coffee from Pegasus. We wandered a bit, enjoying the morning and our breakfast, and then wandered up 305 toward the Kitsap County Fair.
The fair wasn't much, nothing like the OC or LA county fairs (or even the Puyallup fair), but it was a pleasant way to spend a couple hours. The photography showings had some very nice work, and Dawnise saw quilt/craft entries from a couple ladies she knows from her quilt guild.
Continue reading "Weekend Recap"
Posted by dberger at 7:56 AM | Comments (0)
August 25, 2006
There Goes the Neighborhood
I'm working from home today, and Dawnise is out at a hair appointment, so I had to answer the door when the doorbell rang a short while ago.
It took two years, but the gorram bible-thumpers found us.
I said thanks but no thanks, and only thought after closing the door that I should have pointed out that this was a private road and they were trespassing.
Posted by dberger at 12:31 PM | Comments (2)
DRM is a Losing Battle
Cory says so and I wholeheartedly agree.
And here's the latest bit of evidence.
Posted by dberger at 12:28 PM | Comments (0)
August 24, 2006
Traditions
Over the course of my career to date, I've had the pleasure to work with Edmond Mesrobian three separate times. We met while we were both at Disney Online in the early 90's, I worked with him in a vendor/customer setting while with OpenMarket in the late 90's, and after OpenMarket killed Transact, I joined Edmond at the-company-formerly-known-as-Checkout-dot-com. Most recently I joined Edmond at RealNetworks.
One of the traditions Edmond brought with him was the making of Armenian Coffee in his office.
Continue reading "Traditions"
Posted by dberger at 2:24 PM | Comments (1)
August 17, 2006
More Praise for Shure
I'm listening to Everything But the Girl through my Shure E2C's on my ferry ride to work. As the song ended, I looked up to discover that several folks around me were glaring at the parents of a kid throwing a tantrum... sitting right next to me.
I hadn't even noticed.
:)
Posted by dberger at 8:09 AM | Comments (0)
August 16, 2006
The Continuing Search for Quicksilver for Windows
Quicksilver is, hands down, the best Mac application I found during my stint with my Powerbook. It's powerful, beautiful, simple, and everything computing should be.
Unfortunately, what's it's not, is Windows.
I plunked down money for AppRocket, but it has a horrible run-away thread problem on my work machine that renders it useless, and the Candy Labs folks haven't answered any of my several emails for support. So screw 'em.
Continue reading "The Continuing Search for Quicksilver for Windows"
Posted by dberger at 2:02 PM | Comments (0)
It's really happening
Dawnise got her tickets booked yesterday - she is, in fact, going to S. Africa for 2 and a half Weeks in the middle of September.
I'm completely excited for her - I think the trip will be an incredible experience.
Continue reading "It's really happening"
Posted by dberger at 8:19 AM | Comments (1)
August 15, 2006
Non sequitur of the day
Spotted on my ferry ride home: A Harley Davidson leather jacket with the phrase "Superbly Engineered" across the back.
Engineering's not exactly the first thing I think of when I hear (a) Harley.
But maybe that's just me.
Posted by dberger at 9:08 PM | Comments (0)
External Validation is Always Good
I discovered, by accident, that the ACSAC paper that John Jones, Ravi, and I wrote, based on my thesis (PowerPoint slides), is being used by Mike Erlinger @ Mudd in his security course.
I'm stoked :)
Posted by dberger at 12:30 PM | Comments (0)
August 14, 2006
Busy Weekend
Saturday Dawnise and I decided to head into Seattle and spend some time at the Seattle Center, with the dual purpose of taking in the Pacific Northwest Quiltfest and the Game On! exhibit at the Pacific Science Center.
Continue reading "Busy Weekend"
Posted by dberger at 7:53 AM | Comments (1)
August 11, 2006
Another (brief) visit
Kathye and Alyssa are in Washington for a wedding, and they managed to hop a ferry over and spend a couple hours on the island. I had arranged to work from home today, just in case that actually happened, so we went down town for lunch at Isla Bonita and ice-cream (sorbet for me, thanks) at Mora.
It was great to see them both, and the visit was over far to quickly.
Posted by dberger at 5:16 PM | Comments (0)
Where Was This...
When I was living with my Powerbook, I ended up forking out for CodeTek Virtual Desktop, just for it's focus-follows-mouse feature. Seems someone else got annoyed enough to do something about it.
Posted by dberger at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)
August 10, 2006
Dinner With Friends
I found out last week that Julia Peker, a former colleague and good friend, would be in Seattle on business today and tomorrow, and fortunately the stars aligned sufficiently that I joined her and a couple other folks for dinner tonight. We ate at Marjorie in Bell-town on 2nd. The food (the prefix "Chef's Whimsical Tasting Menu" was very nice, and I can definitely imagine going back.
At the moment, I'm on the ferry home - later than I expected, but happy to have had the chance to catch up.
Posted by dberger at 10:59 PM | Comments (0)
The Only Thing Worse than Security Theater...
Since 9/11, I've been rating about the hopelessly pointless security theater imposed on air travelers by the TSA.
All the instituted security measures have been reactions to observed threats - prohibiting anything sharp after the initial attack, forcing shoes to be removed after the failed shoe bomb, even today's announcement banning carry-on liquids. They've all been reactionary.
Continue reading "The Only Thing Worse than Security Theater..."
Posted by dberger at 12:50 PM | Comments (1)
August 9, 2006
The Perfect (Shit) Storm
Relying, as we do, on the ferry, we signed up for email alerts - if a boat is running late, or there's something odd about the traffic to or from the dock, they send out a note.
Handy stuff, that.
Today, about mid-day, I got this:
Drivers and bus riders should anticipate heavy congestion today, August 9, with THREE major crowd events adding to peak hour traffic this afternoon: Safeco Field - 1:35pm Mariners game, which ends around 4:30pm; Qwest Field - International soccer match starts at 8:00pm with game-goers arriving in SODO as early as 5:30pm; Key Arena - 7:30pm Faith Hill/Tim McGraw Concert whose attendees will impact traffic on I-5 and elsewhere in the Seattle area.
Continue reading "The Perfect (Shit) Storm"
Posted by dberger at 5:36 PM | Comments (0)
August 8, 2006
Asus W3J Initial Reactions
After an annoying delay thanks to UPS, my notebook arrived at the house yesterday. After dinner, I took it out of the package and did a quick DOA test, and I took it with me this morning on the ferry ride to work.
After having it for only an hour, it's clear why they're so hard to get 'hold of in the states - ASUS has a winner on their hands here.
Continue reading "Asus W3J Initial Reactions"
Posted by dberger at 9:54 AM | Comments (0)
August 7, 2006
The Seagulls Don't Need Micky-D's
I love taking the ferry to and from work in the summer. In the morning I sit inside, watch the mist rise over the sound and the sun finally poke through, and on the way home I sit on the sun deck, enjoying the (what else) sun and fresh air.
That is, unless the tourists take over.
Continue reading "The Seagulls Don't Need Micky-D's"
Posted by dberger at 8:53 PM | Comments (0)
August 4, 2006
The Musical Stylings Of...
Whole albums this time.,,
The Sunrise EP by Cause & Effect (My Collection)
Firefly Soundtrack composed by Greg Edmonson (Amazon, My Collection)
Shivers by Armin Van Buuren (My Collection)
Posted by dberger at 9:01 PM | Comments (0)
I Hate Waiting...
I finally got the notebook situation @ Work sorted - we returned the leviathan they purchased, and I ordered an Asus W3J from NewEgg on Monday.
The showed the item as in-stock, an assertion which was reiterated by the CSR I spoke to prior to placing the order (these units have been a bit hard to find). I paid for 3 day shipping, and the unit left CA on Tuesday.
So I should be getting it today, right? Well, don't hold your breath...
Continue reading "I Hate Waiting..."
Posted by dberger at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)
August 3, 2006
Roving Mars
Picked up (and polished off) another book off my reading stack. Steve Squyers - the PI on the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers came to Real as part of our authors series, and after loving every minute of his talk, I bought two signed copies of his book; one for me, and one for Vince.
That was back in December of last year.
The other day Dawnise and I were visiting with our neighbors Dave and Marcia up the hill and the conversation turned to the space program. Turns out Dave's about as big a space-case as I am, and after deciding to loan him Gene Krantz' and Robert Zubrin's books (Failure is Not An Option, and The Case for Mars, respectively) I decided it was high time I read Roving Mars.
Continue reading "Roving Mars"
Posted by dberger at 9:58 PM | Comments (0)
Future Shock
A couple months before I left Real, Alvin Toffler spoke as part of his book tour for his latest book: Revolutionary Wealth. He was an interesting (albeit a bit rambly) speaker, and I bought his new book, as well as a paperback copy of Future Shock.
Continue reading "Future Shock"
Posted by dberger at 11:03 AM | Comments (0)
How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love a Crappy Codec
I've been listening to my Zen Touch through the pair of Shure E2C's that I got to replace my Kenwood active noise canceling 'phones that got broken on a recent trip.
The Shure's sound pretty good. A little weak on the low-end, but they're in-ear 'phones, so I don't expect chest-thumping bass. And despite my skepticism, they do a good job of sound isolation - I use 'em on the ferry daily, and they block out nearly all the ambient noise. I haven't had a chance to try 'em on a plane yet, but I think they'll do ok.
Mp3... well, it's adequate. I've had to crank up the encoding rate to get sound that I like, so the on-disk size of my collection has grown by about 23% compared to my previous encode using Ogg Vorbis at 144Kbps.
Another case of better being the enemy of good enough.
Posted by dberger at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)