July 23, 2003
Will Studiously Ignore Blog For Food
Today, the club gains another member. I have been downsized, rendered superfluous, liquidated, declared surplus and kicked to the curb. Yep, another blogger laid off. At least I'm in good company.
I kinda saw this coming, felt the axe poised above my career's neck, but it managed to surprise me nonetheless. It was an amicable break, no rancor or bruised feelings, and I've got some contract work lined up to tide me over for a bit. Still, I'm kinda bummed.
You'll notice, maybe, possibly, that there's a PayPal button down there near the bottom. I feel like pounded shit for mentioning it, but there it is. However, if you're in a giving mood, go hit Andy's up before mine. He's got more mouths to feed.
Finally, the thought that's been on all of our minds: Will this lack of employment lead to greater blog activity? Beats the hell out of me. We'll see how it goes.
Wish me luck over the next month or two. This has the potential to get very interesting.
July 22, 2003
Another Hiatus
Gonna be quiet here for a while, probably 'til next week. Sorry to disappoint, but real life is intruding.
See ya later.
Update: It's official. Shit.
July 18, 2003
Splat
See how many of the little fuckers you can get in the air at the same time.
(Link shamelessly stolen from MetaFilter, 'cause I can.)
July 17, 2003
A Spam-Free World?
Steve linked to a Dvorak piece on how to Spam-proof e-mail yesterday, and in his comments I left him a fairly non-technical response that seems to have been mostly correct, if a bit verbose.
That got me thinking about the implications of secure, authenticated e-mail while heading down to the bar to meet up with Andy, and I came up with a question that I'd like to pose to my (sparse, masochistic) readership:
If you could eliminate spam at the cost of eliminating anonymous e-mail, would you? Why or why not?
Let me know what you think. I'll save my opinion until after I get some responses.
Well, this sucks
The indomitable Andy, proprietor-in-chief of The World Wide Rant, got laid off today.
Go over there and give him some money.
July 11, 2003
Big Day
Today, at 1:30, Alison and her parents will be taking the Oath and becoming citizens of the United States of America. This is a hell of a big occasion, in my opinion, and I wouldn't miss it for the world.
I'll be leaving work early to witness and celebrate their shiny new citizenship, then it's on to dress shopping (not for me. perverts.), a housewarming party, and an evening of soaking up the beats at yon friendly club. Should be worthy.
Have fun, party smart, and don't forget that it's never too late to buy me a Ferrari!
Just kidding.
Mostly...
July 10, 2003
July 09, 2003
iMac - First thoughts
I'm a PC/Unix guy: I've got Intel inside, Sparcs coming out the ears and Microsoft tells me Where I Want To Go Today. I've got six computers in my office, 16 more in the closet (I'll get to 'em one day, honey, honest!), a 30 drive SparcArray in the garage, but nary an Apple among them. Hell, I hadn't touched an Apple since I got certified on them, 8 years ago.
One of the reasons I've never purchased an Apple is thier exorbitant price. My current gaming rig, the Gateway, only set me back $1400, and I'm only expecting to pay ~$2000 for the water-cooled superbeast I'm going to build this winter. The $2000 base price tag for a new Mac is too rich for my blood.
I was mourning my lack of Mac when to my rescue came Sir Zomby of Boy with an iMac DV (It's Graphite!) running OS 9.1. Money changed hands, the iMac was installed in the RoverDataCenter, and I was reminded of all the reasons that I hate the Mac OS. Hangs. Crashes. Random bizarre shit. Happy Mac! Sad Mac. Might play a DVD. Might not. Might just spit the fucking thing out. Who knows? It's like dealing with a mentally-deficient toddler, except you can power off the Mac when it pisses you off. People get all strange when you try to power off toddlers.
The iMac sat on my desk, forlorn and unloved, for several weeks while I attempted to procure a copy of an OS that had not been written using the Million Monkeys+Million Keyboards=Shakespeare programming method. Sir Matt of Hair mentioned that he had a copy of 10.2 and lent it to me, but it wouldn't install. Undaunted, he searched his apartment for an alternative, and came back with a copy of 10.1 that did install. Happy days.
Now that I've used Mac OS X for two whole nights, I feel like putting some of my initial impressions down.
Visually: OS X is pretty. Very, very pretty. Everything is crisp and clear, though I'd love to run at a resolution higher than 1024x768. Hardware limitations suck.
Speed: Not bad, considering the iMac is equipped with a G3 400 and 256mb RAM. Apps take about 5-10 seconds to start, but response time within the apps is reasonable. Switching between apps is very slow, though, often longer than it took to launch the original app.
Interface: I'm slowly progressing past the "Where the fuck is everything?" stage and starting to grasp the design. Being the PC Luser that I am, I like menus. In fact, I like them a lot. So the lack of menus is making progress slow. I also like fast mouse movement, but I guess that's just an Apple thing. The dock is nifty.
BSD subsystem: Now, this I'm comfortable with. Haven't done a lot aside from opening the term, reading a few config files, and looking at the directory structure, but what I have done is nice and familiar. One gripe I have is all the system/application folders that are inhabiting root, but that's just a preference. I dislike it when root is cluttered.
Oh, and I really like iTunes. Started it up, found a European progressive trance station and rocked those itty-bitty speakers. Damn easy to use. I think I'm going to have to plug the externals and sub into it to really enjoy the sound, but the internal speakers were acceptable.
The adventure begins. I'm going to continue to play with the thing and post whatever I find relevant/irritating/confusing in hopes that some Mac guru will come along and save me from my stupidity. If anyone reading this knows of any nifty things I should play with, please drop a comment.
Finally, I have no idea what's up with the medieval names in paragraphs three and four. Seemed like a funny idea at the time.
July 08, 2003
Change in plans
Those of you who I'd spoken(written) to about going to see Battery Park on Thursday of this week are gonna be disappointed, I'm afraid. They lost their drummer a few days ago, and have cancelled all future show until they find another.
Sigh. I was really looking forward to that show, too.
July 03, 2003
10 Things
Dinesh D'souza penned this list of the 10 things he loves about the US. Today's required reading, and for a reason.
Alison, She Who Must Be Adored, is a Canadian citizen, born in Edmonton. On Monday, she and her family will be interviewing with the INS and taking the citizenship test required to become a naturalized American citizen. Big day, big honor. I'm very excited for her.
So, without further ado, Go Ali!
I know this is early, but there is no way in hell I will be functioning at a high enough level to think before Monday afternoon.
Relaxation
Warning: Rambling semi-personal entry. Click at your own risk.
The audit is done, finally. Two painful 14 hour days. We should be hearing the results soon.
Life is good. Busy, but good. Ali and I had our first 'us' weekend in a few months last Saturday, which was very nice. Friday was dinner and drinks with some friends in Denver. Got up early Saturday morning and drove up to Silverthorne with Carmella and The Moron. Looked at possible venues for our wedding next year, then went kayaking on Lake Dillon (Now with water!) Finished the night with a delicious chicken wrap and more than a few G&T's. On Sunday, we met some friends at the Colorado Brewers' Festival (Favorite t-shirt - "There is no fort. Beer Collins, CO"), then rounded out the night with sushi and nabeyaki udon at a little Japanese restaraunt near the house.
That was the most relaxing weekend I've had all summer.
Lots of stuff going on for the next couple months. Moving in with the Love of My Life, repainting and redecorating the townhome, digging up and replacing the back yard dirt and sprinkler system, building the custom desk for the computer room, buying furniture, designing/building the climbing wall in the garage, and preparing for the inevitable housewarming party. This doesn't include the multiple (housewarming and otherwise) parties, two b-days, two camping trips, two concerts, multiple houseguests, whitewater rafting, climbing Mt. Sherman with Ali and Andy, basic wedding planning, or the skydiving trip I'm trying to jam in there somewhere.
With any luck, my schedule should start clearing up by November, just in time to start boarding again. :)
I've been avoiding deluging my (few and obviously masochistic) readers with the day to day personal glurge that makes up my life, but every now and then I can't help it. Please, feel free to savage me in the comments.