Bite My Shiny Metal ...

Futrurama is Back

From the article: "I just have one reaction: Huzzah!"
I agree.

Timbuk2 Weekend Contents

I went to a pool party on Saturday and decided to bring a bit of beer, with thanks to the Monks of course. I had bought two 6-packs for the party but need a transportation device. In comes the Timbuk2 bag to the rescue. I knew I got this bag for a reason. Browsing through the photo set below you can easily see that the beer fits into the bag, plus there is a bit more room for a towel, swimsuit, and some sunscreen. Brilliant. Hmmm, is that what the 2 stands for in Timbuk2.

Apparently, I learned during the pool party Jason Lee will play me in a movie of my life. Maybe it is the beard. Who will play you ?

Stupid Dress Codes

Last night I went out to a bar with some people from work. A specific bar was suggested beacuse of the outdoor patio and we were having some rather nice weather. When we tried to enter the bar I was informed I could not enter. Eh ? I was wearing my normal garb, tshirt, jeans and sandals. The tshirt and jeans were fine, but the sandals were a big no-no. Unfortunely, some people we were meeting had already entered the bar. Someone had the brillant idea to enter the bar, get the shoes of someone already inside and give them to me so I could enter. Wow, that was stupid. I returned the shoes of the kind soul and put mine back on, sat down and ordered a drink.

A couple of minutes later the bouncer who had originally not let me in tapped me on the back and asked where my shoes were. Grrrr. I asked if he was going to kick me out for my sandals and he basically said yes. So I asked if I could finish my drink and he was a bit hesitant about that but eventaully agreed. At this point, a woman from our group offered me her shoes if I would wear hers. See, women can wear sandals but men cannot. I decided to talk with the bouncer downstairs and he reluctanly agreed to the new situation. I spent the rest of the night in someone elses shoes sitting at a table with my shoes were not even visible.

I have run into places like this before but this was incredibly stupid. I would have thought I would have been denied entry because of my tshirt, or even my jeans, but my sandals. The reason I was given for the rule was that "We are trying to uphold a image". Interesting. While inside I saw people "dancing", i.e. rubbing up against each other. I suppose if I want to "dance" I need to have the proper shoes, for my own safety. Needlees to say, I will not be returning to this place.

Who is afraid of the ...

I heard some rumors that some people are afraid of esavage13 because he "knows" stuff. Like World Cup Football things. Well, I can certify that he knows some things but is not insane. Actually he is kind of cute and considerate. He wanted to buy this for me for the holiday season. He will not cause trouble for anybody except me. Trust Me.

I miss Suck.com

this soccer ball looks a lot like math

for those of you who are math nerds AND soccer fans, check out these movies of mathematical transformations of a soccer ball. complete with equations!

for the same demographic, i also recommend this BBC article about the new world cup ball. it's swervy!

Timbuk2 Bag

I got a new bag since my old backpack has started to show its age. I decided to get a Timbuk2 bag because it has slot to put my laptop and keep it protected. Here are some pictures.

Google Answers

While doing a search for a question I was talking with Katie about I ran across Google Answers. What you do is ask question, set your price, and then a researcher associated with Google Answers brings some calm to your mind. Interesting idea. I started looking through some of the questions. Oh boy, some of these are weird. My favorites are the tea and excel ones.

postage rate for a regular letter in the United States
what's the most points michael jordan has scored in a game?
The price of tea in china.
How many ribs do I have....?
percentages in excel
what type of spider is this?
Girls

And finally something useful:
world soccer cup on american tv

Frontline: AIDS

I like Frontline on PBS as it deals with interesting subjects form a vast number of topics. Tonight they are showing a history and spread of AIDS from its discovery in the early 1980s. It is incredible story of science, politics, and culture. I am only 30 minutes into the 2 hour long, 2 part story. More information is here.

salad dressing

Eric liked my homemade balsamic vinaigrette, so here is the recipe.

Combine:
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
1/8 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup canola oil
1 clove of garlic, cut in half
1+ tsp "Mrs. Dash" original spice mixture

Shake well. Pour on salad.
Makes 1 delicious cup.

I got this recipe from a family friend, Leigh Pomeroy, who is a former screenwriter and MN congressional candidate from Mankato, MN. Oh, wait, no. The other Mankato, MN. Leigh also is the father of identical twin boys for whom I used to babysit when they were little. Coincidence?

Wet Computer

I have had the worst luck with computers in the past months. This time it was the new apple laptop. I was walking home and was caught in a rainstorm. I and Kt got completely drenched. We were so wet I could squeeze water out of my jeans. I then realized some time later my computer was in my backpack.

The outside of the bag was soaked too. The computer sleeve I got was wet as was my new little laptop. :( I opened up my computer and "Kernel Panic ...". After drying off most of the water I could, I powered the computer down and back up again. Ding ding ding, then nothing. Hmmmm. Maybe the power is low, so I plug in the power, no light on the connector, bad. After much brooding and getting annoyed at the computer and anyone who tried to do anything, it was time to call apple.

Me: Hi, my computer got wet and now it goes Ding ding ding.
Apple: Let me put you on hold
Me: Ok

I was then disconneted. Grrrr. Call again

Me: Hi my computer got wet and now it goes Ding ding ding
Appple: This sounds like your computer has bad RAM or it can not find your RAM, you need to take it into an Apple Store or send it in to get repaired.
Me: (under my breath) S*&t!
Me: Where is the nearest Apple store ?
Apple: Arlington, Virgina
Me: Ok, can I make an appointment ?
Apple: No, you have to wait for tomorrow.

Ok, put the computer down take a deep breath and wait for tomorrow. More brooding and terrible thoughts. I need to call Apple to tomorrow and make an appointment to get my computer fixed or taken in to be fixed. Either way I have to go to Virigina.

Next day:
I tried to turn my computer on the next day, just for "fun". Now it went "Bong" like it should. But it then gave me the folder with a Mac face and a "?". Hmmm, this seems a little better, but not great. I need to make an appointment anyway, so I called Apple.

Me: Hi, I called yesterday.
Apple: Ah, yes. Your computer goes Ding ding ding. They have already sent a box to your address to pick up your computer just in case it needs to be sent in.
Me: Umm, ok. Well, my computer no longer goes the ding ding ding thing. It now takes a Bong hit and shows that questions mark in a folder picture.
Apple: Ok. That icon means that the system cannot find your system software on any disk connected to your computer. Do you have the OSX boot disk ? Place that into the computer and when the computer goes "Bong" press and hold the "C" key until you get the spinning gear. That will take you into the install program and we will try to fix things from there.
...
After some booting time and me pressing the "C" key like it will save my life. During this time I also set up a apointment at the Apple Store to take my computer in.

Me: Ok. I am the install screen.
Apple: Go to Utilites and select Disk Utility. Then select your hard disk and select Repair disk.
Me: Ok, it is repairing. ....
Me: I got this gray screen that says to restart my computer.
Apple: Hold down the power key for a long time to power it down and then turn it back on. The disk repair crashed while it was making the repair.
Me: Ok, it is booting and I am not holding down the "C" key. ... It looks like it booted all the way, no little folder icon or anything. It is asking me to login.
Apple: Go ahead and log in and move your files to a safe place, just in case you need to send your computer in. I also want you to make sure and go to the appointment at the Apple Store.
Me: Ok and thanks for your help.
Apple: I am still not is wrong with your computer. It may have intermittant RAM issues, but the people at the Apple Store could tell you better.

I took the long Metro ride out to Virginia and visited the Apple Store. They checked everything out about the computer and I told he entire story from above. This took about a half and hour as I wandered around the Apple store saying, "Oh, I want that" and "Wouldn't it be cool to have that gigantic screen!". At the Apple Store, they started the computer with the Boot Disk and holding down the Apple Key or the option key, I am not sure. The computer went through all sorts of self-checks of RAM and hard drives and other stuff.

In the end, everything checked out ok and I am using the computer. I guess getting the computer wet is a bad idea. Some goods things did come out of this. Katie let me use her new Timbuk2 bag and I think I am going to get one as well. It has a built in compartment for a computer and is water proof, plus all sort of little pockets. Apple customer support was really pleasant, helpful, and knowledgeable. I guess neat little computer is cool, but having someone else fix it is even better. I feel like a ad. Oh and the "I'm a Mac ..." ads were running on a continous loop in the store. They got annoying in the end.

Party, Party, Work

The end of this last week was full of parties. On Wednesday was the Geophysical Laboratory (GL) centennial which included a day full of talks (which I skipped), dinner and drinks that evening. People shared their memories of GL while others ate. On Thursday, Kt flew in from up north to come to Carnegie Evening in DC. There was a talk about Biomass as a possible alternative energy source with dinner and drinks afterwards. People still complain about the dress code (not black-tie anymore) and the food (no more raw oyster bar), but everything was still done incredibly well. Now the weekend comes and it is time to do some work not done during the week. Kt has probe time this coming week, but it should not be as bad as it has been in the past. I have a proposal due on Thursday and some more work I have been putting off to work on the proposal. As I said, party, party, work .....

OS X Apps falling out of the sky

Still playing around with the new OS X. I am still having fun and glad I switched, plus everything is so "clean". I found a number of cool sites and programs that make me feel a little more at home.

• Mac OS X Hints
• CocoaDev
• Apple Developer Connection

• Adium (im)
  
• Chicken of the VNC (vnc)
• MPlayer (movie player)
• SSHKeyChain or SSH Tunnel Manager
  
• MacBiff (mail)

Wow, a list great.
Word of Caution: I would suggest being very careful of walking under a palm tree, you are never sure what may fall out.

Bird Mumps

I am sick today and it is terrible. I keep hearing news about Mumps and Bird Flu, which both have flu like symptoms. So I figure I have both. My beak is beginning to swell and my feathers are covered in goose bumps from being hot/cold. Icky. I hope to be better soon.

Back and Forth

Spent most of today and yesterday running about fixing code for collegues as well as my own. In between those times I played a bit with the son of a visiting collegue. I think playing was more fun than debugging code, but it involves much more slober. The codes were dumb little things that if not set properly will propagate and create lots of havoc. The scripts of course do not check for "saneness" of parameters, it just assumes that they are present and correct. I guess that is what you get for code research codes handed down from person to person, with the origin basically unknown. Munge.

demolition day

Today, GSO was the hottest spot in all of Rhode Island. Governor Carcieri declared GSO as the official state viewing site for the demolition of the old Jamestown Bridge (no doubt Buddy Cianci had his hand in it somewhere too). Traffic has been flowing across the "new" Jamestown-Verrazano Bridge since 1992. So every family in the whole state packed the kids in the car and camped out on the GSO beach to see the big event. What a zoo. I got to watch from the roof of my building. Ka-boom!

San Francisco 1906

Today is the aniversery of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. There is a whole lot of information regarding the earthquake with a meeting in SF. Movies of earthquake simulations can be found here and further down the page. Many of the people I know and work with were involved in makeing these movies. For those who do not know, this is the kind of work that I do and I am glad to see it getting some good press. Pictures from 1906 can be found here. To note, the story about a cow being swallowed by a fault is incorrect, the farmer squeezed the cow into the hold made by the fault.

Shouldn't you be working ?

Found Maelstrom and Apeiron for OSX yesterday. Could not find PuyoPuyo though. I played these games my first year in college and they are still incredibly fun.

Aperion

Maelstrom

Busy Weekend

Oh, what a weekend. It was jam packed. On Saturday I went to the Air and Space Museum Annex at Dulles Airport with Kelly and one of her family friends. Katie was jealous of me going. I told her we would go the next time she was in DC. They had the Space Shuttle, a Concord Jet, and a SR-71 Blackbird on display. From there we tried to find Arlington National cemetery. We ended up at the Pentagon and stopped the car because we were lost. The pentagon police asked if what we were doing, we said we were lost, so they gave us a police escort to the cemetery. Following that I went to a birthday party for someone at work.
Sunday was the Red Sox - Orioles game at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Kelly and I decided to go early and have brunch because it was a mid-day game. We found Blue Moon Cafe and the food was excellent. However, during the meal I realized I forgot the baseball tickets back in DC, almost an hour traveling each way. We called the box office to try and get new tickets and they told us we could get our tickets reprinted for $5. Yeah. The game was cold, but the Red Sox triumphed behind the pitching of Wakefield. After the game, we joined some of my friends from work at an really good Afghan restaurant. It had the same name as a one in Boston and San Francisco. The Baltimore version was owned by the brother in law of the owner of the other two. Busy Busy weekend.

New Shiny Computer

Got the new little computer yesterday. It is, as some one said, "shiny and pretty". I have been installing software on it all day and it is very easy to use so far. I got the wireless easily setup at work and at home. Some things were a bit confusing, like how to install x11 and how to get my ipod to talk nice with the laptop. Thanks to Katie again, a program called Senuti, copying songs to and from the ipod, and restoring the ipod I was able to accomplish this. It really should be much easier.

News on News

Listening to the news today, the big story was the one anchor moving from one tv network to another. Do I really care ? No. Apparently the news outlets, all of them, seem to think we need to know about it. It is really something that should have had maybe a few minutes devoted to it, but they used up almost half the day. The news outlets developed such a woody about the story. News about News, like me telling everyone every detail about my work. I don't care.