November 17, 2008
g0g0g0
Posted by dberger at 9:20 PM | Comments (0)
November 15, 2008
Red Ring of Death
After about two years of very occasional service (I can count the number of games played on my hands and have fingers left over) our XBox displayed the "Red Ring of Death" this evening, after locking up a couple times playing Lego Batman.
So I guess I join the ranks of those who've had to send their consoles in for repair. And just days before Left4Dead releases, of course.
Posted by dberger at 5:07 PM | Comments (1)
November 13, 2008
Ubuntu Install - Step-by-Step
19:23 As I type, I'm in the process of installing Ubuntu 8.10 onto my primary home machine.
Continue reading "Ubuntu Install - Step-by-Step"
Posted by dberger at 7:32 PM | Comments (3)
November 11, 2008
Remembrance, and Thanks
To those who have served in times of conflict, doing a job most would rather not, my thanks and respect.
Posted by dberger at 8:41 AM | Comments (0)
November 9, 2008
Now We're Cooking With Gas
Cooked the first "real meal" in the new kitchen - nothing fancy, flank steak with apple bacon (assembled by Costco), roasted herbed potatoes, and "Alan's Carrots." Boy did I miss a gas range - hot when you want it, cool when you don't, and no waiting for 5 minutes in between. The new broiler is awesome - like hell has opened up in my oven. And it makes me smile to know that running the range full bore is generating more BTU than the furnace that heats the whole house.
Posted by dberger at 7:35 PM | Comments (1)
November 4, 2008
Institutionalized Intolerance
I'm incredibly disappointed in California. Passing Prop 8 is the most intolerant, bigoted, and narrow minded behavior possible. It says it's ok to discriminate against people who are different from you. It says it's ok to impose your morals and values on someone else's life, even when their decisions have no affect on yours.
It's an act of cowardice and fear.
And I'm ashamed of it.
Posted by dberger at 8:59 PM | Comments (1)
Straight Up or On the Rocks
Dawnise turned me on to an article on slashfood about bar-tending - something of a fascination of mine. The author had a recommended reading list, and I was happy to find that the library had Straight Up or On the Rocks in their collection. I tossed it on my request queue, and it arrived the other day.
Continue reading "Straight Up or On the Rocks"
Posted by dberger at 7:15 AM | Comments (0)
November 1, 2008
Size Really Does Matter
The kitchen is mostly done - when I got home yesterday the dust barriers were gone, most of the trim work was finished, and by Monday or Tuesday it should be done.
Continue reading "Size Really Does Matter"
Posted by dberger at 9:45 PM | Comments (0)
October 29, 2008
Kitchen: Won't Be Long Now...
We have cabinets, counters, Advantium, sink (w/ faucet), and dishwasher all installed and operational.
The vent hood and stove are the only major bits left - and the rest is "finish work" - trim, baseboards, and the like.
We might have a working kitchen by weeks end.
I'm all a-quiver with antici-
Continue reading "Kitchen: Won't Be Long Now..."
Posted by dberger at 12:53 PM | Comments (0)
October 24, 2008
You Dropped your Rock
The granite guys are here - big slabs of granite in tow. By this afternoon, we'll have counters (knock woodstone).
Then we paint this weekend, and Dan hangs the uppers, installs the dishwasher, and we've got a kitchen again.
I can almost taste it...
Posted by dberger at 9:07 AM | Comments (2)
October 22, 2008
I'm a bad citizen
I mentioned being distressed by the notion of rational ignorance as presented in The Logic of Life, well, tonight I sat down to read through the voter pamphlet for the upcoming election...
Continue reading "I'm a bad citizen"
Posted by dberger at 7:35 PM | Comments (0)
October 19, 2008
Point-Counter-Point
The other day I got email from the library that The Logic of Life was waiting to be picked up. With Dawnise out of town, I've had more time to read than I normally find myself with (not a complaint, just an observation) and I worked through it pretty quickly. Tim Harford writes well, and the book is quite interesting, but I found it less compelling than my "other" recent economic read (Predictably Irrational).
Continue reading "Point-Counter-Point"
Posted by dberger at 9:47 PM | Comments (0)
October 18, 2008
Civilized
It's an absolutely gorgeous day out - cool, clear, lots of big fluffy clouds. I wandered out to take a walk around the neighborhood, and returned home to the sultry sounds of Diana Krall.
I think I'll make a cup of tea and see about making some progress on my latest read.
Posted by dberger at 2:14 PM | Comments (1)
And They're Off...
I dropped Vince and Dawnise off at SEATAC this morning for a 7am flight (which means up before 5, for those playing along at home). They're headed down to Southern California to attend their annual high holiday service at Knotts Berry Farm's Halloween Haunt.
Continue reading "And They're Off..."
Posted by dberger at 6:27 AM | Comments (0)
October 16, 2008
Another Day, Another Disappointing Meal...
Dawnise and I quite enjoy Mongolian BBQ, though we haven't had any in a couple years, We decided to break that trend tonight, and turned, once again, to Yelp (silly me) for guidance. There were two in the immediate vicinity - one got a paltry 2.5 stars, the other 3.5. Neither a ringing endorsement, but we figured we'd try the better of the two anyway.
I mean, fresh veggies, thin sliced meat - how bad could you really screw that up?
Continue reading "Another Day, Another Disappointing Meal..."
Posted by dberger at 8:03 PM | Comments (0)
October 15, 2008
It Begins
L4D is available for pre-purchase.
Posted by dberger at 3:47 PM | Comments (0)
October 14, 2008
Dinner, Redeux
I'm getting really tired of not having a kitchen - and the bad news is we're at least two weeks away from it being done.
We started our quest for dinner looking for a Mongolian BBQ place Dawnise remembered passing near the house, we didn't find it, and decided to let the GPS guide us to an alternative. I recognized "The Whistle Stop Ale House" from a previous Yelp search for breakfast places, and we (I) decided to give it a shot.
Turned out to be a mistake...
Continue reading "Dinner, Redeux"
Posted by dberger at 8:35 PM | Comments (0)
October 13, 2008
Memories of Bobby McGee's
There's a place in Brea - the last of a small franchise - called Bobby McGee's. We used to go there at least a couple times a year to celebrate various events - birthdays, mostly. They were great at accommodating large parties, and never kicked us out for throwing things (<cough>jelly-beans</cough>).
What I always looked forward to was the pepercorn steak - a new york steak crusted in cracked peppercorns (an item sadly missing from their current menu).
Tonight Dawnise and I tried The Keg across from the factoria mall, and while there was no help-your-self-to-all-the-jelly-beans-you-want salad-bar, the pepper steak was pretty damn respectable. Not Daniel's quality meat, but definitely repeatable.
Posted by dberger at 8:13 PM | Comments (2)
October 11, 2008
I didn't like the others, they were all too flat...
We went down to Kent today to choose "our" granite.
The counters have been a bit of a conundrum since the beginning of the project.
We've looked at probably a hundred granite samples, and never really did find one that was both aesthetically exciting and fiscally reasonable. One outfit had their samples labeled with terms like "low-end", "mid-range," "high end," and "$!$!$!$". Of course all the really pretty and unique ones were in the high-to-obscene price range, and I'm more of a mid-grade kinda spender.
Continue reading "I didn't like the others, they were all too flat..."
Posted by dberger at 4:05 PM | Comments (1)
October 10, 2008
The State of the Kitchen...
Since my last update on the 2nd, we've had definite progress on the kitchen. Good to their word, the cabinet maker delivered the corrected base cabinets yesterday, and our contractor has had the pipe fitter out to install the NG line for the new range and yesterday was the electrician installing the new lighting (and installing single pole double-throw switches, so we can actuate the lights from either door to the kitchen). Today is the electrical inspection, and this afternoon the granite installers come to template.
As of yesterday, we've turned the corner from "tear it apart" to "put it back together" - drywall soon, then uppers. Counter install is scheduled for two weeks from today, which should be the final step.
Course once that's all done, the hardwood floors, which needed refinishing when we moved in, will look really pathetic. Once the bank account recovers a bit we'll look into doing something about that...
Posted by dberger at 7:14 AM | Comments (0)
October 2, 2008
A Shoe Has Dropped
Well, we're no longer waiting for something to go sideways on the kitchen - we (well, Dawnise) discovered that one of the base cabinets was made incorrectly. It was 9" shorter than we expected, and (it turns out) 6" shorter than the plans they were fabricating from.
The details of the snafu aren't terribly interesting, though it wasn't "our fault" so it only affects the time-line of the project, not the cost. It does mean that the cabinet has to be re-made, and that I had to call the granite company and tell them they can't come template tomorrow.
The cabinet maker has committed to having the replacement on-site by next Thursday, so tomorrow morning I'll call and see if I can get back on the granite installers calendar.
Posted by dberger at 10:16 PM | Comments (0)
September 29, 2008
A weekend and then some
Saturday night we and the Beltz's had tickets to Who's Live Anyway at the Moore. The show was hilarious, and reminded me of all the laughs we had at the Who's Line tapings we attended while living in S. California. Before the show Dawnise and I stopped for happy hour at Tango (home of el Diablo) and had their food for the first time. Good stuff, definitely worthy of a repeat performance.
Sunday we decided to take advantage of the weather and hop on the bike for the first time in what seems like ages. We left a bit after 9, had breakfast at the Brown Bag Cafe in Kirkland, and then made pretty much every "wrong" turn possible to finally end up here.
Tonight, the fun continues when we leave (in about 45 minutes) for a Jackson Browne concert at Seattle Center.
Good times.
Posted by dberger at 5:18 PM | Comments (0)
September 28, 2008
Predictably Irrational
I forget where I heard about Dan Ariely's book Predictably Irrational, but I had the presence to put it on my library hold list at the time. It came in a week or so ago, and I finished it while watching Dawnise bake for the last time in our current oven.
As I sat here for a few minutes, trying to summarize my thoughts, I realized I need a bit more time to digest the work. It's either "very interesting" or "incredibly significant," and perhaps both. Through repeated experiment, Ariely turns classical economic theory - with it's foundation built on rational actors making rational decisions - into something of a laughing stock. He shows, in contexts ranging from honesty, to sexual arousal, to our reaction to something being "free" how humans not only don't act rationally, they act predictably irrationally.
Read it, digest it, and let's talk - I want someone to bounce this one off of...
Posted by dberger at 7:04 PM | Comments (1)
September 26, 2008
A Tale of Four Americanos
A Top Pot Donuts opened across the street from work, which is both a blessing and a curse.
Bellevue has no shortage of coffee places - there are three Starbucks in a two block radius of the office, and two Tully's - but finding a good Cafe Americano (or even a good cup of drip) has been damn near impossible.
Turns out that in addition to really yummy donuts, Top Pot makes a pretty reasonable Americano. It looks like espresso, complete with crema, smells like espresso, and has flavor beyond the "acrid bitter" that Starbucks and Tully's seem to aim for (and hit pretty reliably, I might add).
Posted by dberger at 4:50 PM | Comments (0)
September 24, 2008
Here We Go
Tomorrow morning, Dan arrives to start the demo phase of the kitchen project. Dawnise has kicked ass packing up the kitchen over the past two days, and aside from some random stuff on the counters, I think we're in good shape... Tomorrow morning we take care of the last few items, and take "pre-demo" pictures.
The cabinet folks have re-confirmed their Monday delivery, the appliances are ready to go with a few days notice, and the granite folks show up in just over a week to template.
No turning back now...
Posted by dberger at 9:21 PM | Comments (0)
There's a bit of money I didn't plan to spend...
Got the bike back to I-90 motorsports, and a few hours later they called to tell me that they'd figured out why the fuel warning light was staying on...
Continue reading "There's a bit of money I didn't plan to spend..."
Posted by dberger at 3:03 PM | Comments (0)
September 23, 2008
I'm Too Young To Feel This Old
My lower back is grumpy, and getting on the race bike this morning didn't help.
Grumble, grumble.
On the plus side, I got confirmation that all the appliances are sitting in the warehouse ready for delivery with a couple days notice, the granite templating is on-schedule, and by this afternoon I should know if the cabinet makers are going to hit their Monday date.
Posted by dberger at 10:24 AM | Comments (0)
September 20, 2008
Fall Is In The Air, And Other Updates
It's cool and drizzly this morning - and last night, before nodding off, Dawnise and I were discussing the eventual coming of winter. I found I was looking forward to it with some anticipation - which is a switch from last year, when the coming of winter brought thoughts of commuting to work on the motorcycle in the cold, and treacherous trips in and out of the garage in our rear-wheel drive car. The leaves on the tree outside our bedroom window are getting color on their edges...
Continue reading "Fall Is In The Air, And Other Updates"
Posted by dberger at 10:01 AM | Comments (0)
September 19, 2008
Leverage: Archimedes vs. Le Gendre
As you may have heard, the US is in something of a financial crisis at the moment. - some are saying it's the worst since Black Tuesday. Others are saying it's worse.
I'm not a financier, I don't pretend to understand the market, I've always lived by a fairly simple set of rules - "you can't spend more than you have," and "don't gamble what you can't afford to lose."
They've served me well - allowing me to live a fairly luxurious lifestyle (incredibly luxurious by global standards), and weather downturns in both local and global economy. They're not going to get me rich quick, and they're positively anathema to the notion of leverage.
Continue reading "Leverage: Archimedes vs. Le Gendre"
Posted by dberger at 6:42 PM | Comments (4)
September 18, 2008
Comcast Made Me Do It
The recent change by Comcast - clarifying their "acceptable use policy" as no more than 250GB/month, but not giving users a means to measure their progress toward that cap, finally convinced me to turn on security on our wireless network.
Continue reading "Comcast Made Me Do It"
Posted by dberger at 8:53 PM | Comments (0)
September 16, 2008
T-Mobile VoIP@Home - Strike 1
Didn't think about testing this during our eval - and sure enough, can't send faxes from the multi-function printer anymore.
If I sent more than a fax or two a year I'd be annoyed.
But I don't, so I'm mostly not.
Posted by dberger at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)
September 10, 2008
iTunes: Now With Less of What You Use Most!
After a few minutes use, I came to the conclusion that Apple had dropped the one feature I found useful in iTunes (album shuffle) and "replaced" it with "Genius" (they sure love that word - the techs at their stores are Genius's, and they sit at a Genius Bar.)
Continue reading "iTunes: Now With Less of What You Use Most!"
Posted by dberger at 1:15 PM | Comments (1)
I Wasn't Expecting the Spanish Inquisition...
Yesterday, on the way home from work, I witnessed a hit-and-run. Inching forward in a right turn lane behind a red light, the white pickup in front of me failed to stop before crunching into the rear bumper of the sedan in front of him. He backed off, cranked the wheel hard left, cut across two lanes of traffic, and made a right turn from the left turn lane at the light.
Continue reading "I Wasn't Expecting the Spanish Inquisition... "
Posted by dberger at 8:09 AM | Comments (0)
September 9, 2008
Bandwidth Caps and the Burden of Proof
A few weeks ago, several media outlets carried the story that Comcast has finally announced a concrete bandwidth cap for it's residential customers. I don't mind having limits placed on my service - and now that Comcast has announced that 250GB/month is the magic number, it seems only reasonable that they give me an easy way to see how close I am to that limit.
They haven't, of course, so I submitted the following note to them via their online support mechanism this evening...
Continue reading "Bandwidth Caps and the Burden of Proof"
Posted by dberger at 9:24 PM | Comments (0)
September 8, 2008
Naked Fingers
I left my wedding band on the bathroom counter this morning.
My finger feels naked, and I suspect I'm going to keep "checking" for the missing ring all day.
Posted by dberger at 7:56 AM | Comments (1)
September 7, 2008
Maginot Line
Over the course of 6 weeks, the exterminator has pulled around 8 (dead) rats out of the basement, and the local population has consumed around 18 "anti-coagulant non-secondary poisoning" bait blocks. Two weeks ago, the exterminator (a very pleasant So. Cal. expat who goes by 'Mac') and I think we figured out where they're getting in, and this morning I spent several hours (a chunk of that looking for a misplaced tool) building my own version of the Maginot Line...
Continue reading "Maginot Line"
Posted by dberger at 1:00 PM | Comments (1)
September 5, 2008
It's All Good
Lately I've been hyper-sensitive to the fact that, as my aunt Amy likes to say, "it's all good."
Continue reading "It's All Good"
Posted by dberger at 12:21 PM | Comments (0)
August 30, 2008
An evening gone sideways
Last night I decided, somewhat on a whim, to shuffle around some furniture. We have two sets of sofas - one set that in the game room, and one in the front room - and I wanted to swap them; both to change up the look of the room, and because we use the ones in the front room more often, so spreading wear more evenly seemed like a good idea.
Continue reading "An evening gone sideways"
Posted by dberger at 5:46 PM | Comments (0)
August 22, 2008
Good Food
One of the things that frustrated Dawnise and I upon moving to Washington was our inability to find good Indian food. We had a set of favorite places in Southern and Central California (Diamond Palace in Diamond Bar, and Taj Palace in San Louis Obispo for example), and upon arrival we set out to find local equivalents.
We had some adequate experiences in Seattle proper, and tried what passed for Indian food on the Olympic Peninsula several times - always coming away disappointed (and occasionally downright disgusted).
Fortunately, Dawnise found Pabla, in Renton. We'd been there several times to partake of their lunch buffet, and tonight made our first (but definitely not our last) trip for dinner. From the chili pakoras to the lentils, the food was great - well spiced, very flavorful. The service has always been prompt without being pushy, and while the atmosphere and decor aren't going to win any prizes, it's a comfortable place for a casual meal.
One thing I don't "get" about Indian food is how when the food arrives at the table your first thought is always "this isn't going to be enough" - and when you've made it through half, or two-thirds of it, you flip to thinking "there's no way we can eat all this."
It's a kind of magic, really.
Posted by dberger at 8:53 PM | Comments (0)
August 20, 2008
Hold On To Them Hats And Glasses...
We're officially in the "remodeling the kitchen" business. I met with our chosen contractor today, got the contract, a copy of the final bid, and handed him a check to get the cabinets ordered and a deposit to cement us on his schedule for early September.
Continue reading "Hold On To Them Hats And Glasses..."
Posted by dberger at 10:35 PM | Comments (0)
August 10, 2008
Bringing Telephone into the modern Age
One of the steps in deciding to move forward with (and self-finance) the kitchen was to do a quick review of our monthly expenses, and the only thing that really jumped out as proverbial low-hanging fruit was the nearly $50 a month we spend on the home phone line. We decided to take advantage of the fact that Dawnise's cel is now through T-Mobile and try out their T-Mobile @ Home offering.
Continue reading "Bringing Telephone into the modern Age"
Posted by dberger at 9:29 PM | Comments (2)
August 9, 2008
If you can't pronounce it, stay the hell away from it...
I caught a statement from some policy wonk on the radio about Iran's "nucular" program.
Is it that fucking hard to pronounce nuclear? I mean really.
New. Clear.
You say it pretty much like you spell it. (Perhaps they can't spell, or read.)
If you can't say the word, you should be disqualified from being involved, in any way, with US policy on the subject.
Posted by dberger at 3:03 PM | Comments (1)
August 8, 2008
Wildlife in the 'burbs
We were worried, when moving back to the burbs, that our wildlife quotient would bottom out. Seems the concern was unwarranted. Since moving in we've seen squirrels, deer, coyote, and even a bobcat in the back yard, not to mention the various birds that come to the feeder.
I'd probably be less stoked about the bobcat if I had kids (or a dog), but since I've neither, watching it trot through the back yard was pretty cool.
Posted by dberger at 1:49 PM | Comments (0)
August 7, 2008
My Time of the Month
I've been in a downright bitchy mood for the past week.
No good reason.
No success in self-analysis and correction.
And I'm afraid I'm dragging Dawnise along despite her efforts.
It's to the point where I'm grumpy 'cause I'm grumpy.
That doesn't feel positive.
Posted by dberger at 10:00 PM | Comments (2)
Rats!
I finally got around to calling an exterminator to come look at the basement, and just to make sure he wouldn't say "nope, no problem here" we walked in to find a dead roof rat on the floor.
He looked around the basement, agreed with me that there was no obvious point of entry (which is bad - it means that stopping them will be difficult/damn near impossible) and then proceeded to enumerate my options.
Continue reading "Rats!"
Posted by dberger at 7:41 PM | Comments (0)
August 1, 2008
Neither a Borrower...
We've decided to move forward with the kitchen remodel, despite it costing significantly more than we'd planned. We've got a meeting with the contractor mid-week next week to go over the final plans and discuss scheduling.
Continue reading "Neither a Borrower..."
Posted by dberger at 10:41 PM | Comments (0)
July 31, 2008
My Tax Dollars At Work
We found water on Mars.
Could I allocate more of my tax money to the space program, to universal healthcare, to alternative energy, and less to the war in iraq and paying the salaries of public officials who oppose same-sex marriage on the grounds that it damages family values?
Who do I talk to about that?
Posted by dberger at 9:26 PM | Comments (0)
July 25, 2008
Wargames and Hot Fuzz
Last night - a one-night only 25th anniversary (my god, that long already?) showing of Wargames - the first movie I ever saw that made it cool to be a computer geek (followed shortly thereafter by Cloak & Dagger which made it cool-ish to be an RPG geek).
The pre-screening documentary sucked (though it did include Capt. Crunch, who I think only part of the audience recognized), as did the trailer for the direct-to-dvd sequel. The only other cool bit was the revelation that the guy responsible for making the WOPR's lights blink was doing it, in real-time, in BASIC on an Apple ][. I got more from the first few paragraphs of the wired article than the cheezy documentary.
Tonight, Hot Fuzz, which was freaking hilarious (albeit gory in the same measure as was Shaun of the Dead). By the Power of Grayskull indeed.
Posted by dberger at 10:15 PM | Comments (0)
July 20, 2008
Coffee
We had brunch today with some friends at Chance's Pancake Corral in Bellevue. The food was alright, but the coffee was pretty disappointing. I was particularly disappointed by this, as I've been out of coffee at home for a while, and was looking forward to a good cup this morning.
The last coffee I bought at home was a bag of Kirkland "New Guinea" blend, which wasn't amazing, but at around $4 a pound was hard to argue with. It was robust, tasty, without being acrid.
This afternoon, Dawnise happened to be down the street from Vivace, in Seattle, and got me a half pound each of their three varietals. At more than double the price of the aforementioned Kirkland roast, it's not something I buy every time, but having just finished an iced Americano, damn it's good stuff...
Posted by dberger at 5:54 PM | Comments (2)
What I learned from Dr. Horrible
Neil Patrick Harris can sing. Who'd a thunk.
Somewhere, there's an institution where I can get a PhD in "horribleness" - wonder if that requires field work...
Nathan Fillion does sleazy pretty well - and needs a new IMDB head-shot.
Amusing.
Posted by dberger at 9:10 AM | Comments (2)
July 19, 2008
Coverart and Python and Perl, Oh My!
I started playing around with the MusicBrainz taging application (Picard) - and noticed a plugin that would download album art, something iTunes failed at pretty miserably (finding art for only around half of my albums). I was all excited, 'till I tried it and discovered that Picard didn't know how to write tags to FLAC headers, only into ID3 tags.
Continue reading "Coverart and Python and Perl, Oh My!"
Posted by dberger at 9:20 PM | Comments (0)
Gorram Video Drivers
After a couple months of inactivity, I loaded up the SketchUp drawing I had made of the planned Kitchen remodel to review it and make some small changes.
I spent the next half hour trying not to chuck my notebook out the window in frustration, as SketchUp just refused to do what I wanted (specifically, the push/pull tool wouldn't select faces). I finally gave up on my drawing and tried a simple repro case, figuring something about the geometry in my drawing was screwing things up.
Nope - alone in the drawing field, the push/pull tool just wasn't working.
It work last time, so through the haze of frustration, I realized that my drawing hadn't changed, SketchUp hadn't changed, and the only thing that might have changed that seemed relevant was the video driver version.
So I disabled 3d acceleration and viola, it started behaving rationally (albeit slowly). Seems that ATI's latest Radeon Mobility drivers (8-6-mobile_xp32_dd_ccc_enu_64787) just don't work with SketchUp.
There's a half-hour of my life I'll never get back.
And since ATI doesn't "officially support" their mobile products (they defer you to the OEM, who tends to release drivers once in a dogs age) I'm pretty much screwed. Guess I can just use SketchUp in software rendering mode, but panning/rotating even my relatively simple room drawing is nearly unusable.
I hate computers.
Posted by dberger at 11:51 AM | Comments (1)
July 17, 2008
Digital Photo Workflow - Simplified
Dawnise went out to have dinner with some friends tonight, so I took the opportunity to tinker with my camera again, and get the photos I took at the 4th of July up on flickr.
In the process, I discovered that for most photos, I'm probably going to use exiftool to extract the JPG "PreviewImage" from the RAW image files, and upload them. Oh, and if I don't ask jUploader to resize images, it doesn't eat memory like it's going out of style, and conveniently the preview image is only a bit larger than I'd normally upload, so that seems workable.
The other day (probably around when my eval ended) I got a discount offer from the LightZone folks, but they still don't support my camera, so it doesn't make much sense to spend money on the product.
Posted by dberger at 10:26 PM | Comments (0)
July 13, 2008
Eddie Izzard + Ice Cream
Nise snagged us tickets to Friday night's Eddie Izzard show at the Paramount. We've loved Izzard since Scott and Amanda introduced us to him (well, to his material) years back, but we'd never seen him live before Friday night.
It was exactly like his DVDs.
Only live-er.
And every bit as funny.
Continue reading "Eddie Izzard + Ice Cream"
Posted by dberger at 9:47 AM | Comments (0)
July 6, 2008
Beer, beer, glorious beer.
Yesterday morning Dawnise and I went to Karen's housewarming brunch, then hopped over to Chris and Rebeca's place in Seattle for a light lunch before heading to the International Beer Fest at Seattle Center.
Hic.
Continue reading "Beer, beer, glorious beer."
Posted by dberger at 10:46 AM | Comments (1)
July 4, 2008
Random And Sundry...
The weather up here's been all over the place. Last weekend it was hot (for Washington - low 90's), two nights ago we had a nearly 24 hour summer storm, complete with thunder and lightning, today it's gone from overcast to partly sunny. We've taken to calling it "weather by Sybil."
Continue reading "Random And Sundry..."
Posted by dberger at 2:08 PM | Comments (0)
June 27, 2008
DP Work Flow, Redux
My search for a comfortable workflow, which I've mentioned twice before, has continued on and off for the past week or so, and I wish I could say I've got it nailed, but I don't, quite...
I do have more images up on flickr, for those who care to look.
Continue reading "DP Work Flow, Redux"
Posted by dberger at 8:07 PM | Comments (1)
June 20, 2008
Avenue Q
Dawnise and I caught Avenue Q on it's way through Seattle last night at the Paramount. The show was hilarious - if you have the chance, I highly recommend checking it out.
Posted by dberger at 10:51 AM | Comments (1)
June 19, 2008
In Search of (Linux) Photo Workflow
So I got back from NY with a couple hundred RAW (.cr2) shots on the camera, and took another hundred or so the following weekend between Bainbridge and Port Angeles.
I pulled the SDHC card out of the camera and imported the crop of photos into f-spot, thinking "hey - this is just working."
I knew it couldn't be that easy...
Continue reading "In Search of (Linux) Photo Workflow"
Posted by dberger at 2:47 PM | Comments (0)
June 18, 2008
Robin Hood - Redux
I mentioned before that we started watching Robin Hood. After getting through a half-dozen episodes, I've decided I wanted to like it much more than I actually do, so I'm removing it from my queue (the queue that Netflix is eliminating in a few months) and sending back the two unwatched disks we have down stairs.
It wasn't bad, it just wasn't good either. And life's too short to watch "meh" television.
Posted by dberger at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)
Why Does Netflix Hate their Customers?
Dawnise got a message from Netflix today saying that in September they'll be eliminating the profiles feature (launched in 2005) that's allowed me to independently maintain a queue of disks and rate movies (and get recommendations). There was no explanation offered, and they're not even going to merge the queues, or preserve them for reference - their advice is to "merge them" yourself or print them out.
This follows on the heels of their announcing that they'll charge customers extra to rent Blue Ray, despite the media costs being the same and having not done so for the duration of the HD war.
Despite having just purchased the Roku Netflix player, and being happy with it overall, I'm suddenly in the market for an alternative DVD rental service. I'm confident I can resell the Roku box, and if I can't, it was "only" $100 - which both made the decision to buy one easy, and made me willing to obsolete it over this blatant disregard for their customers.
At the very least, we'll be reducing our disks per month (currenty 4-at-a-time), and I'm going to look at Blockbuster's service.
We're not the only ones upset - the "blogosphere" (I hate that word) seems to have picked up the story and run with it.
I just submitted the following to Netflix:
Good Day;Like many customers, I'm reacting to your announcement- received by my wife, the primary account holder - that you're eliminating the profiles feature in September.
Since your spokesperson has made it clear that the "decision is final", I wanted to make it clear that we will be reducing our monthly service level (and hence payment) in response to this reduced functionality.
We'll also be investigating alternative rental service providers. Should we find one offering a profiles feature, or even comparable service for less money, we'll be switching and canceling our service outright. The decision to eliminate this feature has forced me to pay most of the switching cost simply to preserve my queue - so for the first time since establishing a relationship with Netflix, I feel I've little to lose by closing our account.
Posted by dberger at 9:20 PM | Comments (0)
June 17, 2008
I bought a Watch
For reasons I can't explain, over the last several months I've had the desire to start wearing a wrist watch for the first time since high school.
Continue reading "I bought a Watch"
Posted by dberger at 10:03 AM | Comments (0)
A good weekend, but sooo tired
Dawnise and I spent last weekend in Port Angeles with friends celebrating a birthday. We almost didn't go, owing to having only gotten back from the east coast last weekend and having a small list of things that need doing around the house, but ultimately decided that spending time with friends was more important, and I'm glad we did.
Continue reading "A good weekend, but sooo tired"
Posted by dberger at 9:38 AM | Comments (0)
June 12, 2008
Go SCOTUS
It's only taken several years longer than it should have for SCOTUS to rule that the Bush administration overstepped their authority in suspending Habeas Corpus for detainees at Guantanamo Bay, and that the farcical "substitute" set out in the Detainee Treatment Act was inadequate.
Posted by dberger at 7:23 PM | Comments (0)
Ask Slashdot
I posted to ask slashdot this morning - if the moderators find it interesting enough, it may appear on the site some time soon...
dberger writes "I'm looking for a solution to what can't be a unique problem. My wife and I each have our own machines — one running OS X and one running Linux. We take a fair number of digital photos, and store them on a shared network attached drive. She's using iPhoto (mostly by inertia) and I've been using F-Spot. The problem is that neither of these application — nor any application I've found — deals well with the idea that "someone else" may add photos to, or remove photos from, the library. This seems to be true even if both parties are using the same application. So we end up with this horrible work-flow for importing photos that involves me importing the new batch into F-Spot, then telling iPhoto to re-scan the entire library (which takes longer as the size of the library grows). Deletes are a painful process, as are making simple edits available to both of us. I'm curious what slashdotters facing the same problem are doing to solve it — perhaps I'm missing some silver bullet that would take the pain away and let us spend more time enjoying our photos rather than managing them."
Posted by dberger at 7:29 AM | Comments (1)
June 9, 2008
The Black Swan
I mentioned Fooled by Randomness when I read it back in 2007 (gads, was it really that long ago?) and I just finished Taleb's second book - The Black Swan - The Impact of the Highly Improbable.
Like the first, I found it a flawed presentation with some fundamentally sound observations on how we - as humans - search for certainty where there is none, to the point of deluding ourselves into thinking we've found it, and drawing strong convictions through rational thought from faulty premises.
Less directly applied than the first ("Fooled" ostensibly focused on randomness in financial markets, The Black Swan doesn't pretend to narrow it's focus at all) it was a bit long, and slightly repetitious, but an interesting and thought-provoking read none-the-less.
Posted by dberger at 6:44 PM | Comments (0)
June 8, 2008
I need a Vacation...
A week ago last Friday Dawnise and I caught the red-eye from Seattle to Boston, grabbed a rental car, and started a week-long trip in NJ, NY, and MA.
We celebrated my paternal grandparents 65th wedding anniversary, spent two days exploring Manhattan with my family and my new camera (more on that later), managed to catch up with a couple old friends in the city, drove back to Boston and fought rush-hour traffic to get my brother to a bus on time, had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants with more old friends, and got stuck in Denver for nearly 4 hours longer than planned on the way home, collapsing into bed at 4am yesterday, before waking up and spending the afternoon/evening at a housewarming party.
Tomorrow, I go back to work.
I could use some time off.
Continue reading "I need a Vacation..."
Posted by dberger at 9:31 PM | Comments (1)
May 26, 2008
New Toys
On Saturday Dawnise and I needed to hit Costco, and ended up coming home with a bit more than we planned.
Continue reading "New Toys"
Posted by dberger at 1:17 PM | Comments (0)
In Memoriam
I've never been sure how "memorial day" translates to "BBQ and drink beer" but that's America for you, I guess.
To the fallen. To the lost. To those who never really made it home.
May you find peace.
Posted by dberger at 7:58 AM | Comments (0)
May 25, 2008
So Good, and So Bad For You
Last night Dawnise and I went to Alfred and Jodie's for a BBQ, and Dawnise followed through with her long-standing "threat" to make bacon burgers.
As in patties of ground bacon.
Continue reading "So Good, and So Bad For You"
Posted by dberger at 8:37 AM | Comments (0)
May 23, 2008
Squirrel + Airzooka = Awesome
We've got a bird feeder hanging off our back deck - and despite it being the type with a weight-activated cage meant to prevent non-avian diners, we've got a pretty determined squirrel.
Dawnise, in a moment of inspiration, grabbed the Airzooka.
I've only managed to hit him once so far, but damn was it funny.
Posted by dberger at 12:33 PM | Comments (0)
So. Much. Sugar.
About every six months, Dawnise or I get a hankering for a donut. This morning was one of those mornings, so we hopped in the car and headed to our local Krispy Kreme.
I've eaten (gulp) four glazed donuts this morning, and a cup of coffee.
And for some reason - I really can't explain it - I just went and looked at their published nutritional information.
I've had 800 calories, 120% of my daily recommended saturated fat, and 40 grams of sugar.
Suddenly I don't feel so well.
But still, they are tasty.
Posted by dberger at 9:56 AM | Comments (0)
I Hate Waiting
Monday is Memorial day, which I'm sure is obvious to most of you (who get the day off), but I'd forgotten
That means my camera, shipped UPS 3 Day on Thursday, won't arrive 'till Tuesday. It's currently on it's way from Ontario, CA to Portland, OR.
I hate waiting...
Posted by dberger at 9:44 AM | Comments (0)
May 21, 2008
Expensive Hobbies
I'm not good at spending money on myself. I'll pick up small stuff, like music, the occasional book or DVD (though I've pretty much stopped accumulating books and DVDs, the library and Netflix work really well), but anything with a price tag in the three digits makes me think long, and hard.
Continue reading "Expensive Hobbies"
Posted by dberger at 10:24 AM | Comments (2)
May 17, 2008
Long Way Round
While waiting for the decidedly un-Seattle-like weather to break yesterday, I finished up Long Way Round, Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman's account of riding two BMW GS 1150's around the world - from London to New York.
It was an interesting book, in part because it was the first motorcycle travelogue I've read that didn't instill in me a deep desire to follow in their footsteps. I think part of the problem is that both of the principals are actors not writers - and it shows. But more fundamentally, they paint a picture of constant adversary, crappy riding conditions, and deep loneliness and homesickness that completely overshadows any positives that came out of the trip.
It seems likely that they wrote the book as a sort of foot-note to the documentary they made of their travels, but having read the book first, I doubt I'll make an effort to see the documentary. It was an impressive feat of perseverance and logistics, but not something I see myself ever aspiring to.
Posted by dberger at 5:48 PM | Comments (1)
Let's Go Fly A Kite (redux)
Our attempt to get our kite aloft on Thursday night ended in disappointment, and the weather prediction for Friday and Saturday was "hot," so Dawnise and I decided that I'd play hookie from work on Friday and we'd head to one of the self-proclaimed kite capitals, Long Beach, WA for an over-night get-away.
Continue reading "Let's Go Fly A Kite (redux)"
Posted by dberger at 4:55 PM | Comments (1)
May 15, 2008
Let's Go Fly A Kite
Today was absolutely beautiful - the sun was out, the clouds were white and fluffy, and there was a pleasant breeze all day. I took the motorcycle in to work this morning, and as I passed the park on my way home had an idea...
So Dawnise and I grabbed the kite from the garage and took a walk back to the park, only to find that the wind was too small for the great-hulking pirate ship of a kite (on the bottom of the page) we've got. So after 20 or so minutes of trying, we packed it in and walked home.
Still, it was a nice walk, and a really glorious day.
Posted by dberger at 9:36 PM | Comments (0)
A Month With a Blackberry
It's been about a month since I decommissioned my Treo 650 in favor of a work-provided BlackBerry 8100 ("Perl").
I've found that I like it much better than my Treo, despite the predictive type keyboard taking some getting used to.
Continue reading "A Month With a Blackberry"
Posted by dberger at 1:45 PM | Comments (0)
May 13, 2008
I Think I'm Gonna Need a Bigger Trap...
The question of weather or not we've got rodents has been answered.
In a fairly big way.
Continue reading "I Think I'm Gonna Need a Bigger Trap..."
Posted by dberger at 8:31 AM | Comments (0)
May 12, 2008
Kitchen Update
A colleague turned me on to a contractor he's worked with happily a couple times, including a "down to the studs" kitchen remodel, and we've had some promising initial conversations with him that might lead to us actually doing the kitchen.
Continue reading "Kitchen Update"
Posted by dberger at 9:28 AM | Comments (0)
Robin Hood: First Reactions
While watching the Dr. Who episode The Family of Blood, Dawnise and I were both quite impressed with Harry Lloyd, so I took a look at what else he's been in of late, and ended up adding Robin Hood to my Netflix queue. The first disc arrived the other day, and Dawnise and I watched two episodes last night...
Continue reading "Robin Hood: First Reactions"
Posted by dberger at 9:10 AM | Comments (0)
May 9, 2008
Of Mice and Viruses
Seems that disturbing the insulation and, in particular, vacuuming out the basement the other night may not have been my best idea ever.
Continue reading "Of Mice and Viruses"
Posted by dberger at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)
May 8, 2008
Mice: The Ongoing Saga
Dawnise was out last night - she had a craft-group meeting on the island, and spent the night there with a friend to "do" the annual Girls Night Out today/tonight. (It starts at Noon, which isn't technically "night," is it?) So I got home from work and decided to attack the basement and see what I could learn about the mouse problem.
Continue reading "Mice: The Ongoing Saga"
Posted by dberger at 8:44 AM | Comments (0)
May 5, 2008
Mice: D.I.Y., or call someone?
Looks like we've got mice - Dawnise found droppings in the basement/crawl space. Nothing in the living space (yet).
I checked all the ground-level venting, and it's appropriately screened (1/2" mesh). We just did a roof, so I'm sure we disturbed an existing problem, rather than being recently invaded.
The previous owners had an inspection/treatment about a year ago - at the time (based on the invoice I got when we bought the house) it looks like they put down some traps, and in two weeks got no kills and called the problem solved.
I think they're coming in between the insulation and the sub-floor somehow, so I'd have to pull down the insulation, see if I can figure out where they're coming in and stop them, with prejudice.
So, the question is, is it worth fighting the battle without the heavy artillery of a pest control company?
Anyone?
Posted by dberger at 7:45 PM | Comments (0)
May 1, 2008
V for Constantine
Over the past couple weeks, Dawnise has had outings that have left me and the DVD collection alone for a couple evenings, so I've been able to (re-)watch a couple movies that she's not been interested in.
I I was surprised at how well both Constantine and V for Vendetta held up to reviewing.
Since seeing them both for the first time, I've made it a point to read the material on which they were based (I've not read all the Hellblazer stories, but I've read several), and while both works deviated significantly from their sources, they were both entertaining and engaging in their own right.
Without reading too much into this comparison, they're sorta like DADoES and Bladerunner.
I give 'em both a thumbs up.
Posted by dberger at 8:58 AM | Comments (0)
April 30, 2008
The Roof, The Roof, The Roof Has Gone Missing
This morning, shortly after I left for work, there was a large dumpster delivered to our driveway, and a short time later a crew arrived to start tearing off the old cedar shake roof and put on a new solid roof deck.
Tomorrow the shingles are roof-top delivered, and the whole thing should be done on Friday.
The old roof was going on 20 years old and hadn't been maintained (given the pitch of the roof, I can't say I'd have been keen to climb up there on a regular basis). Some shakes were missing, felt was visible, and it wasn't going to make it much longer without help. Oh, and the cost of composition roofing is trending up along with crude oil (it's a petroleum product, after all), so waiting wasn't going to make it cheaper.
Posted by dberger at 1:14 PM | Comments (0)
Bats
I heard on NPR this morning (Morning Edition is one of the positive side-effects of commuting by car) that there's a mystery disease wiping out the bat population in the north east.
Continue reading "Bats"
Posted by dberger at 9:23 AM | Comments (1)
April 27, 2008
Whining About Being a Grup
Two weeks ago we wrote a rather sizable check for half of our new roof - and in about a week (weather permitting) when the job's done, we'll write another one just like it. We knew buying the house that it needed a roof, and we got a credit toward the cost from the sellers, but what that really means is we paid less for the house, and the roof's still coming out of our pocket.
Continue reading "Whining About Being a Grup"
Posted by dberger at 5:45 PM | Comments (0)
The only reason politics exists...
...is to ensure that the people have the freedom to laugh.
- Rebo, Babylon 5: "Day of the Dead"
We had tickets for the Capitol Steps last night at the Paramount theater in Seattle.
A night of pure hilarity.
Continue reading "The only reason politics exists..."
Posted by dberger at 5:02 PM | Comments (0)
April 21, 2008
I'm a Terrible Patient
I've been sick since returning from Cabo. Nothing horrible - just a cold that's sapped my energy. Started a a sore throat and head ache, moved into my sinus toward the end of last week and turned me into a human snot machine. I'm not one to take a cold lying down - which frustrates the hell out of Dawnise...
Continue reading "I'm a Terrible Patient"
Posted by dberger at 8:39 AM | Comments (1)
April 17, 2008
Bags
I like to say I don't collect things, generally speaking, but I'm starting to wonder if that's really true...
I've mentioned my fascination with coffee makers before, and I'm still amassing music and fountain pens, but I try to be picky about the things I accumulate.
Continue reading "Bags"
Posted by dberger at 5:39 PM | Comments (0)
The New Cruelty
After arriving in Cabo to find my phone a useless brick, and spending a chunk of an afternoon playing physical hide-and-seek with one of the other team members who needed to find me to resolve a problem back in the office, I've ditched AT&T.
Continue reading "The New Cruelty"
Posted by dberger at 9:09 AM | Comments (0)
April 13, 2008
Vacation Recap
After fifteen (count 'em fifteen) hours, three flights, and a whole lot of hassle caused by the fact that our return flight from SDJ was booked on American Airlines we made it home this morning just after midnight.
We ended up getting booked on an Aero Mexico flight from SJD to Mexico city, had enough time to claim our bags, get through security, get to Alaska and get on a flight from Mexico City to LAX where we had to get off the plane, clear customs, get our bags, re-check our bags, leave the security perimeter, go-through security again, and get back on the same flight to Seattle. 15 hours, and not a decent meal all day.
Continue reading "Vacation Recap"
Posted by dberger at 5:02 PM | Comments (1)
April 3, 2008
It's been over a year, it must be time to get pissed @ AT&T again
In January of last year, I had a knock-down-drag-out with AT&TCingular.
I finally got someone on their end who knew their arse from their elbow who was able to add the Blackberry Data plan to my "old AT&T account" - something several other representatives insisted was impossible without "upgrading" to Cingular service (pay more, get less), and getting a new Sim and phone number and two year contract.
And having managed to avoid talking to anyone at Cingular since, I had forgotten how much I hate those guys... 'till tonight...
Continue reading "It's been over a year, it must be time to get pissed @ AT&T again"
Posted by dberger at 7:18 PM | Comments (0)
April 2, 2008
What Do You Do With An Old Dead Helmet
Now that I have a shiny new (safety yellow) Arai Profile, and Dawnise has a shiny new (red) Arai Quantum, I need to figure out what to do with our old helmets, both of which are past their use-by dates.
I hate the idea of throwing them away, and googling for "recycle motorcycle helmet" reveals nothing useful ("recycle old helmet" is slightly better, but reveals mostly folks bemoaning the fact that they can't find a way to recycle bicycle helmets).
I'm afraid to put them on freecycle or craigslist, 'cause some idiot will think he (or she)'s getting a bargain and expect an old well traveled helmet to provide actual protection, which it won't.
And yea, I know I can't stop stupidity in others, but that doesn't mean I should make it easy for someone to hurt themselves.
Anyone got any brilliant ideas?
Posted by dberger at 6:53 PM | Comments (0)
Gastronomic Remembrance
Dawnise and I went to the restaurant at the Newcastle golf club for a dinner of French Onion Soup (and iced tea, of course).
It wasn't Alan's soup, but it seemed a fitting way to observe the anniversary of his passing
Most of me can't believe it's already been a year.
Posted by dberger at 7:22 AM | Comments (0)
March 31, 2008
Damn that Aaron Sorkin...
It started innocently enough - Dawnise suggested we watch an episode or two of West Wing.
Nearly four hours later we stopped - having held our breath through Commencement, Twenty Five, 7A WF 83429, and The Dogs of War.
Wow.
Posted by dberger at 10:06 PM | Comments (2)
March 28, 2008
WTF?
It's snowing.
It's March 28th.
In Seattle.
And it's snowing.
WTF?
Posted by dberger at 1:20 PM | Comments (1)
March 27, 2008
My Love/Hate Relationship with Contact Lenses
I've needed vision correction since I was a kid, and as soon as I was old enough, and could convince my parents, I got contact lenses. Both my folks wear lenses (or at least did while I was growing up) and I'm told that as a young child I would play with the leavings of a paper whole punch, pretending to "put in my lenses."
Continue reading "My Love/Hate Relationship with Contact Lenses"
Posted by dberger at 8:35 PM | Comments (0)
March 22, 2008
Riding Season is nearly upon us
It's weird to think about riding having a season. Last year, I rode year round - rain, shine, cold, whatever. Unless there was ice or snow on the ground, I was on the bike.
Continue reading "Riding Season is nearly upon us"
Posted by dberger at 2:13 PM | Comments (0)
March 21, 2008
...To Defend The Frontier Against Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada...
Got The Last Starfighter on HD-DVD from Netflix today.
It looked amazing - and when I consider that they did all this in the early 80's on a single Cray makes the technical achievement even more impressive. According to that Wikipedia article, X-MP they used to render that movie was about 1/10th the processing power of the CPU in the machine I'm typing this on. My new GeForce 9600 has five times as much memory as the high-end configuration of the Cray (128MB) - and that's just my graphics card.
Now I wanna play the game (which looks way better than did the Atari version that was plugged in the end credits).
And the theme's gonna be stuck in my head all night, I can tell.
Posted by dberger at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)
March 20, 2008
Evolution: Fool me twice, shame on me...
I've been a contributor to and user of Evolution since it was an early stage Ximian project, but I think I've run it for the last time.
A few months ago I discovered that at some point it had "forgotten" my setting to save copies of outgoing emails on my IMAP server, and was instead storing them nowhere.
As in not saving copies.
This morning, when looking for a message I sent just moments ago, I discovered it had forgotten again.
This is the worst kind of bug - data lost, no warning.
Thunderbird, here I come.
Posted by dberger at 7:24 AM | Comments (0)
March 19, 2008
Some Days You're The Hydrant
Today was an all around craptacular day.
Continue reading "Some Days You're The Hydrant"
Posted by dberger at 7:15 PM | Comments (0)
March 17, 2008
Credit Card Companies "Looking Out For Me"
I finally gave up trying to nurse my machine along, and put together a $600 shopping list of new parts (motherboard, CPU, RAM, video card, guided by the ArsTechnica System Guide). I placed the order with NewEgg this morning, and a couple hours later got an email from them saying that the credit card authorization was declined.
I called the issuing bank and got the classic "our anti-fraud system declined the authorization, 'cause we're looking out for you" line of bullshit. Apparently BofA (the issuer of my Alaska card) figures I don't know that Federal Law limits my liability for unauthorized charges to $50 (zero, if I've reported the card stolen prior to the use).
Looking out for me? Not hardly.
Posted by dberger at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)
He robbed from the rich and he gave to the poor...
Since HD-DVD has officially lost, and the add-on drive for our XBox 360 will soon be as useful as the 2400 baud US Robotics modem I still have on a shelf in my office, I reordered my Netflix queue, sorting all the stuff I really wanted to see on HD-DVD to the top.
The other day we sat down and watched The Adventures of Robin Hood.
Continue reading "He robbed from the rich and he gave to the poor..."
Posted by dberger at 9:11 AM | Comments (0)
March 16, 2008
Anything You Can Do Linux Can Do Better Cheaper
Found this article last night describing using VirtualBox to run Windows apps along side linux apps ala Parallels "Coherence" or VMWare Fusions "Unity."
And if you don't need USB, it's free as in speech.
And if you do need USB, but it's only for personal use, it's free as in beer.
("speech?" "beer"? what? Try this.)
Doesn't seem to do DirectX emulation as Parallels and (to a lesser degree) VMWare do on the Mac, but given that it's open source, I can't imagine it'll be long before someone integrates the Wine D3D to OpenGL thunking code.
I haven't personally had the need to run Windows apps for a long time - since realizing that tracking personal finance in Quicken was costing me more time than it was returning in useful (actionable) information, but still - it's a neat capability.
Posted by dberger at 9:04 AM | Comments (0)
March 10, 2008
Beat It With the LEGO Stick
One of the only video games Dawnise and I have spent any serious amount of time playing is Lego Star Wars. It's an awesome game - hours of fun, great attitude, terrific.
So we're both looking forward to the release of Lego Indiana Jones and Lego Batman, both slated for release this summer.
Posted by dberger at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)
Making the Switch - Update
Hopefully Dawnise will blog about her experiences thus far using her new Mac, so I'm going to focus on "my" side of the equation - i.e. helping her adjust to her new surroundings.
Mostly that means helping her migrate her data from her Windows machine to her new Mac, and helping her find and select day-to-day use applications.
Continue reading "Making the Switch - Update"
Posted by dberger at 9:20 AM | Comments (0)
March 4, 2008
The power of words
Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons passed away today at the age of 69.
He will be missed.
Continue reading "The power of words"
Posted by dberger at 10:58 AM | Comments (1)
March 2, 2008
Low Key Weekend...
Dawnise started feeling under the weather late last week, and by Friday it was pretty clear she was headed for sick. So this weekend has been pretty quiet. As I type, she's asleep on the sofa in the game room, and Otto - our black and white cat - is asleep on her lap.
Continue reading "Low Key Weekend..."
Posted by dberger at 12:32 PM | Comments (0)
February 29, 2008
I *knew* it was too easy...
I always do our taxes early - and if the government owes us money, we file early.
I'm usually really good about making sure we've got all the documents we're waiting for, and taxes are pretty much a non-issue...
Well, Dawnise came in from getting the mail and said "we got some tax information."
Sweet!, I thought, our refund arrived...
Continue reading "I *knew* it was too easy..."
Posted by dberger at 7:15 PM | Comments (0)
February 27, 2008
Are They Made With Real Girlscouts?
One of the guys at work was selling Girl Scout cookies for his daughters troops - so yesterday I came home with a couple boxes.
Ahhhh the smell of thin-mints.
Posted by dberger at 8:26 PM | Comments (1)
A $200 what?
Dawnise was kind enough to sacrifice what turned into most of her day to take the BMW into the shop. The driver-side headlight (one of the Xenon high intensity jobs) had been failing intermittently, and while they had it I wanted them to install an AUX input for the stereo.
She got it there at 10:30 this morning, and they informed her it wouldn't be ready 'till "at least 4pm."
Continue reading "A $200 what?"
Posted by dberger at 3:56 PM | Comments (0)
February 25, 2008
My Other Transport...
While finishing up the extras disc of Doctor Who Season 3 this evening, Dawnise suddenly comes out with:
"It's too bad your mom doesn't still have her license plate frame. It would mean something again."
It took me several seconds to figure out what she meant.
When Dawnise and I first met - around age 15 - my mom had a license plate frame that read:
My Other Transport...
Is a T.A.R.D.I.S.
Knowing my parents, there's a good chance it's in a box, in their basement.
Now I'm thinking of getting one made for our new Subaru...
Posted by dberger at 9:40 PM | Comments (2)
Clean Vehicles Run Better
In honor of a whole weekend of absolutely beautiful weather, Dawnise gave me a hand washing all three motorcycles yesterday afternoon.
I had considered riding to work this morning but I woke up with a back-ache, which I had been working on prior to washing the motorcycles.
Now I need to buy another garage door opener (for the bay that the bikes are in) and figure out where I can put the big recycling bin so it doesn't interfere with getting the RS in and out of the garage.
Posted by dberger at 8:00 AM | Comments (3)
February 21, 2008
Ravioli
We just finished Good Eats: Use Your Noodle (2) - about Ravioli.
It made me miss my parents (and my mom's ravioli).
Posted by dberger at 7:52 PM | Comments (1)
February 20, 2008
Thieves Suck
Last night - around 10 - I put three DVDs in our mailbox - headed back to Netflix.
Dawnise just informed me that there was a note from the postal person saying that the outgoing flag was up, but there was nothing in the box.
Continue reading "Thieves Suck"
Posted by dberger at 5:00 PM | Comments (1)
What's the Bad Stuff?
Dawnise and I enjoy a card game from Steve Jackson Games called Munchkin - it's sort of a stripped-down parody of the typical D&D dungeon crawl. The tag line - "Kill the Monsters, Steal the Treasure, Stab Your Buddy" - pretty much sums up the essence.
If you meet a monster you can't kill, it does something bad to you - this deleterious effect is described on the monster card as "The Bad Stuff."
"The Bad Stuff" ranges from losing items, to being dead (at which point, the other players go through your pockets looking for loose change).
Continue reading "What's the Bad Stuff?"
Posted by dberger at 8:51 AM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2008
Just a Little Bit Warmer...
It's working.
Not riding the motorcycle to work in the nasty of winter has totally renewed my interest. And springs taking her own sweet time to get here, but it was almost warm enough to put the top down on the way home yesterday.
I'm itching for the days to get a little warmer, and the snow in the passes to melt a bit so we can start planning some road trips.
I suspect watching the first few episodes of Feasting on Asphalt probably helped, too.
Posted by dberger at 8:24 AM | Comments (0)
February 18, 2008
I Don't Mean To Go Off On A Rant Here...
Someone needs to kick the so-called "content owners" in their collective head.
Five minutes of searching reveals I can either wait for Doctor Who to start airing on SciFi in April, wait for an as-yet unannounced DVD release date, or I can steal them - or at least the Christmas Special - now, as in this moment.
I mean come on people. I'm willing to pay for access to the content - why are you (the collective you) being such complete and udder idiots about releasing it?
Yea, I know, rhetorical question...
Posted by dberger at 10:32 PM | Comments (0)
I'm pretty sure this means I'm crazy
We watched the final three episodes of the third season of Doctor Who this evening.
The Master, and ...The Face of Boe...
Awesome.
I'm sitting here seriously contemplating getting cable so I can watch season four in April (and Sarah Jane, too!), rather than waiting for the DVD release.
And I'm considering spending $70 each on the three seasons released thus far.
This must be what going mad feels like.
Posted by dberger at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2008
Crappy Television, Redux
The last couple episodes of Torchwood we've watched have been "downers" - and after getting the second "holy-crap-I-don't-have-that-sort-of-money" bid on the kitchen, and learning that a good friend had to fly back to S. Africa to be with her terminally ill father, "downer" wasn't what we were looking for to distract us for a couple hours this evening.
So we cracked open Season Four of The West Wing.
I continue to be impressed by the show - the acting and writing are so spot-on, that after a many month hiatus, it felt like we only been away a few days.
The line, in Bartlett's speech - "The Streets of Heaven are too crowded with angels" struck me with palpable force. And the fact that it wasn't created for that moment, but "borrowed" does nothing to reduce it's poignancy.
Janinne, our thoughts are with you and your family.
Posted by dberger at 9:33 PM | Comments (0)
February 11, 2008
It's Worse Than That, It's Broken, Jim
That nifty-looking coffee maker I got the other day? Well it failed (as in cracked through) when I half filled it with warm tap water to clean it before use.
I dropped a note and a picture to sweetmarias where I purchased it, and they informed me that they can't replace it as Bodum has discontinued it - likely due to breakage issues.
"Give up bad design for good" indeed.
Too bad - it was pretty...
Posted by dberger at 9:57 PM | Comments (0)
Technology Compromises
I've ranted about how Apple's hardware line doesn't offer me solutions, only compromises before - but to recap, despite being pretty sure at this point we'll be buying Dawnise a Mac, it's still terribly unclear which Mac we'll settle for.
Continue reading "Technology Compromises"
Posted by dberger at 6:03 PM | Comments (1)
A History of the Amiga - Re-igniting Passion
Jeremy Reimer has been publishing A History of the Amiga over at ArsTechnica.
Continue reading "A History of the Amiga - Re-igniting Passion"
Posted by dberger at 8:35 AM | Comments (1)
February 10, 2008
Why Do We Get All the Crap Television?
I'll just say up front that having not "had television" for a bit over three years, it's possible - however unlikely - that TV's gotten hugely, way, lots better since I last checked.
But I doubt it.
Continue reading "Why Do We Get All the Crap Television?"
Posted by dberger at 9:24 PM | Comments (1)
February 7, 2008
I... Am Not Left Handed
Shortly before we ended up moving out of So. Cal I took a fencing class with a friend (you out there Geoff?) - enjoyed it a lot, although my knees didn't.
So when Dawnise saw that Bellevue Parks and Rec were offering an intro fencing class, she encouraged me to sign up (and actually, she did the signing up for me, 'cause she's sweet that way). The first meeting was supposed to be two weeks ago, but it was postponed due to poor participation, so the first meeting was tonight...
Continue reading "I... Am Not Left Handed"
Posted by dberger at 8:24 PM | Comments (0)
Death and...
Taxes.
It's (already) that time of year again.
Continue reading "Death and..."
Posted by dberger at 10:27 AM | Comments (0)
February 6, 2008
An Unhealthy Obsession With Coffee (Makers)
I'm not generally a collector. I have a reasonable sized CD collection (around 700 CDs at last count), and I guess I share some blame in our sizable movie collection (several hundred, but I don't have that count in my head), and most of you know I collect fountain pens (numbering in the tens).
I'd have to say that the top of my "mostly useless" collection scale is my fascination with coffee makers.
Continue reading "An Unhealthy Obsession With Coffee (Makers)"
Posted by dberger at 5:35 PM | Comments (0)
February 5, 2008
The Ongoing Saga of Flaky Hardware
Well, after being stable for a couple weeks, my home machine started acting up again, disproving my theory that the drive trouble I was having were power-supply related.
Continue reading "The Ongoing Saga of Flaky Hardware"
Posted by dberger at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)
February 1, 2008
Sharing Access to Digital Photos
Dawnise has a Windows box, and uses an app called ACDSee as her image viewer of choice.
I have a Linux box, and use f-spot to access and organize our photo collection.
The pictures themselves live on our network attached storage, easily accessible from both her machine and mine, as well as our notebooks on the wireless network.
You can probably already guess this doesn't have a happy ending...
Continue reading "Sharing Access to Digital Photos"
Posted by dberger at 2:36 PM | Comments (1)
Microsoft + Yahoo == Bye-Bye Flickr
You've probably seen that Microsoft made an unsolicited buyout bid to the tune of 44.6 Billion-with-a-b dollars for Yahoo!.
My very first thought, when I saw the headline on my yahoo page, was that should Microsoft succeed, I'll have to finally seriously look at Google's "personal home page" stuff.
My second thought - moments later - was that a successful takeover will spell the end of my relationship with Flickr, which up to this point has been overwhelmingly positive.
Posted by dberger at 8:03 AM | Comments (4)
January 31, 2008
I guess it's just the way I'm wired
It seems I tend to repeat myself.
Even here.
I was about to write a blog post, when it all started to feel familiar...
Turns out, it was.
Maybe this time I'll try do something about it.
Or maybe the memory of the thing is better than the thing itself, and I should just remember.
Is that possible?
Posted by dberger at 5:11 PM | Comments (1)
January 25, 2008
Kitchen Remodel, Step 1
We got our new fridge today - a stainless steel, 25 cu ft, bottom-freezer, french-door Maytag.
It's the first freezer-on-the-bottom fridge I've ever had, and I'm already hooked. No more stooping to get into the fridge.
The only downside so far is that the stainless door panels aren't magnetic.
Otherwise, it's big, it's quiet, it's pretty energy efficient, and unlike the fridge that the previous owners left, the defrost drain isn't easily clogged and near impossible to clear, so the freezer won't fill up with ice about once a month.
Posted by dberger at 12:53 PM | Comments (0)
January 24, 2008
Camera
As speculated, Canon announced their model refresh today - the 450D, a.k.a. Rebel XSi.
It won't hit shelves 'till April.
And of course, just to punish me, they've switched from CF to SD/SDHC - which means the 16GB CF card I just bought in anticipation of getting the camera is as useful to me as tits on a bull.
Crap.
Posted by dberger at 8:03 AM | Comments (0)
January 23, 2008
Bandwidth
I've decided to try to quantify the variability of my cable modem bandwidth. Just before 7 this morning, I ran a speed test:
Continue reading "Bandwidth"
Posted by dberger at 6:58 AM | Comments (0)
January 22, 2008
Camera
After thinking about it for several years, I'm finally "in the market" for a DSLR.
My dad always (well, as far back as I remember) had Nikons - two F bodies. He brought the cameras out occasionally - less and less often as I grew up and the kids became more of the focus (groan) on any given outing. So my first thought was to buy a D40x and borrow his lenses, but after talking to a bunch of friends who've made the plunge, I've decided to go Canon.
Continue reading "Camera"
Posted by dberger at 8:07 AM | Comments (0)
January 18, 2008
Low Maintenance Strikes Again
While our stuff was being moved into the new house, I noticed that the three lights on posts that flank the driveway and steps to the front door kept turning on and off. I feared there was an electrical short under the concrete, and resolved to get to the bottom of it as soon as I had a chance.
Continue reading "Low Maintenance Strikes Again"
Posted by dberger at 10:04 PM | Comments (0)
January 17, 2008
Why My Next Machine (Still) Won't Be a Mac
My desktop machine has been acting flaky lately. I suspect it's the power supply - and on that theory I bought a replacement, and took the opportunity to get a better (quieter) case while I was at it.
My power supply theory could turn out to be wrong, in which case the symptoms suggest some core component is failing - probably the on-board SATA controller.
So I started pricing out upgrades, and wondering if this is the upgrade when I either buy a "brand name" machine, or ditch the desktop machine and go notebook all the way.
Continue reading "Why My Next Machine (Still) Won't Be a Mac"
Posted by dberger at 10:53 AM |