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GRAFFITI -- January 03, 2011 thru January 09, 2011>> Link to the Current Week <<Last Week << Mon Tues Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun >> Next Week Welcome to Orb Graffiti, a place for me to write daily about life and computers. Contrary to popular belief, the two are not interchangeable. About eMail - I publish email sometimes. If you send me an email and you want privacy or anonymity, please say so clearly at the beginning of your message. |
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January 3, 2011
2145 - First full week of the new year commenced. I needed to futz around with the page forwarding, which I usually manage to screw up one way or another since (A) I only do it once a year, and (B) it is a manual process since I'm a luddite when it comes to content management systems (aka Wordpress, etc). So if you spot something deranged (okay, more deranged than usual), please feel free to drop me a line here. Now, on to the next thing - ensuring that my books for the next semester are ordered. Ciao!
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January 4, 2011
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2210 - Sigh. I read that Gerry Rafferty has passed on. I have fond memories of his solo music, as well as the iconic "Stuck in the middle with you" from Stealers Wheel. Seems the first song that most people key on is Baker Street ... I liked that whole album, but my favorite tune isn't Baker Street, but Right Down The Line. Sad story, I must say, of the life he lived.
Much of my work day went into the first rounds of prep work for another major system reconstruction due on the weekend of the 15th. I'm laying out commands, milestones, and preparing for a meeting tomorrow to determine intermediate and post-administration application testing processes - that is, we have a suite of tests, but how many of them are warranted, given the type of work I'm doing. That's the question before tomorrow's gathering. I'll contribute a bit to that conversation, but mostly supply time lines and such so that we can schedule resources in.
Happy, too, that my set of Iain M. Banks books arrived, as did 20# of coffee from Sweet Maria's. It'll be another 3 weeks or so before I start roasting from this new set of coffees, but it's much better to have it here early than to run out, trust me. I'm a spoiled coffee snob, now. This week we're drinking Tanzania Nyamtimbo Peaberry, which I roasted to just about "Full City", and it is simply yummy — a rich, yet subtle set of flavors. Here's the SM description, scroll down just a bit. Yep, that's an archive page - they don't have that coffee on offer at present - we got that about four months ago.
Now, time to retire and read for a bit. Use of Weapons is top of the stack. Ciao!
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January 5, 2011
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2126 - My weekend project was to demo the bar at the bottom of the stairs in our basement. It's been there since we moved in, one of George's last projects, I think. Really nicely done, considering, and it served that entertainment space nicely. The problem is that it hasn't been an entertainment space since February of 2004, when I turned that part of the basement into my woodshop. So the bar served no purpose for us, although we could store/hide stuff behind it. Now I can put the rolling baker's rack that has all of Marcia's crafting supplies there, and a folding table beside that, to be set up as needed. There was a little sink back there, and I'm retaining that by putting in a small base cabinet. I'll fabricate a countertop, and reset the original small stainless sink.
All of the drywall went out with the trash on Tuesday, but I still have the stack of lumber that needs dismantling/cleaning up either for re-use or disposal. I plowed through about half of that stack tonight, cleaning out all the screws and nails, then storing away the lumber. Tomorrow, I'll try to chop up what's left (not worth cleaning up) and haul it to the dumpster on Friday. My woodshop is in a bit of a mess, and I need to clean out loads of crap. Then, maybe, I can do another project one of these days. Tired now, ciao!
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January 6, 2011
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2136 - Another day mostly spent writing preparatory material for that system work I'm doing on the 15th. I can't talk about the details, so I'm not sure why I'm boring you with telling you that I can't tell you...
There's a YouTube video entitled, "Condom Rocket Gone Wrong". I haven't clicked on it, and don't think I'm going to. Some things are better imagined (or, in this case, unimagined, or even unthought).
So, I pulled the OS X 10.6.6 update today, and got my copy of the Mac App Store, too. Apple is brilliant. Yes, you can get software for the Mac from virtually anywhere. You can buy it on Amazon, at Newegg, or even at the Apple retail experience lounge (errr, store). But iTunes, and the App Stores for iPhone and iPad have had a chance to sink into the consciousness of the digirati, and App Store is a winner. When someone can just get a free (lite) version of software from the App Store, know that it's vetted by Apple (and thus "safe"), they will. Once hooked, the purchase of the full-boat version from the App Store is a shoo-in. And Apple rakes in 30%, or whatever the number is. It's going to kill every other market for Apple software on the planet, and Steve Jobs is the new J. P. Morgan of our day.
Buy an equivalent piece of software for Windows today. It costs more, you have activation keys that YOU have to deal with. You have to keep up with updates. And because Microsoft doesn't doesn't enforce much in the way of style or API, you can end up with a pig in a poke that doesn't do what you want. Mac software has always had enforced impeccable style and integration with the system APIs. And now, when updates come out, they come through the App Store. Easier to manage for users, easier to manage for developers. Yes, yes, yes...
...Everyone has to do it Apple's way. But that's not utterly terrible. There's still choice and frankly better choice than exists for Windows. And there are tools, especially corporate tools, (and games) that only work on Windows. Linux and the other Open Source operating systems have more choice than anyone, and better choices than either Mac or Windows... but you have to search a lot of haystacks to find your needles. When I have all three operating environments available to me, I'm happy. I don't mind flipping between systems to use the software I want to use, in each place. I've got a great setup here on my Linux workstation, and I'm really happy with it. But Mail.app is the best MUA (eMail User Agent) software I've ever used. If for nothing else, it keeps me coming back to the Mac. There's the deep, deep temptation to buy a big Mac Pro and plug it into this big honking Samsung flatscreen monitor, and make happy noises. But I can't see spending that kind of dough, just to get hardware that's approved to run OS X.
So, my take is, the App Store owns 80% or more of Mac software distribution within the next year. And Apple stock goes though the roof. If Apple had a proper tablet PC, that'd be the bee's knees, too. Then I probably couldn't resist.
Jerry's having fun at CES, I read. Me, I'm doing the day job, and trying to decide how much of a mental investment I want to make in Python. Or if I should head down the Java path, because that's where all the cool kids are. My inner SA says, Python! So, that's probably the answer. Ciao!
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January 7, 2011
0/0/0 ... except for walking the mutt!
2132 - Definitely Python. And I left the office ... then they decided to do the holiday gift exchange in my department. So, Facetime to the rescue. Dog duty and roasting coffee tonight, ate most of the evening. I guess I didn't get done what I wanted to, but that's sometimes life. Ciao!
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January 8, 2011
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January 9, 2011
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1835 - So, yesterday I did some stuff. Nothing particularly exciting, I fear, or I might remember what it was. Mostly reading I think, from The Seven Military Classics From Ancient China. That's one of my course books for the upcoming semester - I'm trying to get a jump ahead by pre-reading. Supper out last night at Rips. Both Joe Don and I had the prime rib, which was very tasty. Chicken and veggies were consumed by the females. Today? Shopping, dog time, and reading, along with a couple of hours of remote work on a Solaris box. I've got more of that coming up momentarily, so I'll take a break here...
2208 - And I'm back, a little over 3 hours later. About the time I was done working, Marcia got home, so we settled in and watched a couple of episodes of Holmes on Homes. Now ...
Our condolences to the families and units of these fallen warriors.
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Visit the rest of the DAYNOTES GANG, a collection of bright minds and sharp wits. Really, I don't know why they tolerate me <grin>. My personal inspiration for these pages is Dr. Jerry Pournelle. I am also indebted to Bob Thompson and Tom Syroid for their patience, guidance and feedback. Of course, I am sustained by and beholden to my lovely wife, Marcia. You can find her online too, at http://www.dutchgirl.net/. Thanks for dropping by.
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