January 2007

finally too cool for tumblr.
did you mean: past, present, updates, wednesday lite, strava, or results: usac, obra.

January 4, 2007
don't even start it up

GET /linux/ HTTP/1.1 Host: www.novell.com HTTP/1.1 302 Found Location: http://www.novell.com/linux/unixtolinux GET /linux/unixtolinux HTTP/1.1 Host: www.novell.com HTTP/1.1 200 OK Content-Type: text/html <body onload="self.location.replace('/linux/');"> <meta http-equiv="refresh" content="1;url=/linux/"> <script [...]></script> <noscript>[...]</noscript>

alternate titles included: dusting off the cobwebs, and my personal favourite: your infinite loop of refreshes and redirects is ready.

(http://www.novell.com/linux/ is the default home page for firefox on SLED 10)

posted by jacob around January 4, 2007

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January 8, 2007
cambridge joe

it started off innocently enough. another angry tirade on badtransit from some enraged commuter, probably confused because they tried to use their receipt as a ticket again.

but this post was different... it had a familiar voice, and was atypically well-reasoned. must not be a commuter rail or bus rider! i scanned to the end to see where the author was from to find, unsurprisingly, another blame charlie firster from the left bank.

it was fuzzy at first, but the pieces of the puzzle began to fit together quickly. only having $20s, girlfriend, and joe had just paid for his entire lunch using $1 coins. then there was the trademark use of such racially charged phrases as "squawbuck", but the clincher was his claiming to have lived here for seven years.

for shame!

also i wish i had the eloquence to come up with the phrase "I don't recall the Rive Gauche being the site for hulking chemical plants" but alas that would require knowing what the rive gauche was. or is?

man it would have been even more embarassing if i had left it in as rive cauche.

posted by jacob around January 8, 2007

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January 9, 2007
almost

so, yeah! stevenote fever is sweeping INTERNET. traditionally, i've had a sweet tooth for many things apple, and networked/media things silver and/or shiny in general. for example, last year i ordered a macbook pro (and tivo 3) the instant i could. hmm but this year... this year i guess i only have next year's macworld to look forward to.

the (`)tv (as my friends are typing it) is kinda ho-hum. we knew it was coming, it doesn't do anything a mac mini plugged in to your tv can't really do, and it doesn't even do tivo. if i could actually rip all my dvds with iTunes and use it, that would be something. we'll see what 2008 brings.

now the iPhone is something that should be tailor made for me! i mean honestly. an ipod and phone that fit into one pocket? with a phone ui actually designed by apple? even now i find myself getting excited about the idea, and yet...

the first problem is that it seems a little big. i mean, this isn't 2001 anymore! the most awesome thing about the first iPod was that i could carry all of my music with me everywhere. but then i accidentally tasted the sweet nectar of the mini, and have not been able to look back. i don't even carry around my signature sony headphones anymore, now that i live this ultra-portable life! you see, i can't have the weight of the iPod keeping me down as i race to catch a D-line train in the morning. and oh, the unsightly bulges...

but i guess steve probably drives around or sits on airplanes a lot, and the size is probably acceptable to him. and i suppose are people who carry around not only a standard iPod, but a blackbear-y as well. i guess they'll be ok with using one of those beasts, but i want one nano-sized device to carry around with me (i still don't care about video on the iPod).

but the real killer tile of the iPhone is... the interface? shocking, but turns out to be true.

the first problem with the touch interface is that it doesn't give you physical feedback. this is the same problem that the dock connector iPod had. namely, it's difficult to tell if you clicked on a button or not. it just feels awkward. there's a reason why people enjoy clicky keyboards, or the weight of fine piano keys.

my receiver remote suffers a similar, but slightly different, problem. without physical buttons, it's difficult to navigate the ui while looking at something else, such as your television. this remote is less cluttered, like the iPhone's interface, but that doesn't make it more usable. in fact, the newer revision of this remote has more physical buttons, exactly to correct for this problem.

in comparision, the all-wonderful tivo remote is totally usable while concentrating on your tv. the buttons come in many different shapes (and colors!), and there are a few different "zones" that you'll use depending on what you're doing: flipping through tivo menus, actions used while actually watching recorded shows, and a number pad. and the buttons feel good both to the touch and the push. it's a great device!

(actually, i think we liked sony's tivo remote even a little better. go figure.)

the current iPods are great at this, too! i do a lot of volume and track skipping while my iPod is in my pocket, out of sight. i would be disappointed to have to give up that functionality, as simple as it might sound.

with all these considerations, i shudder to imagine writing text messages or emails on this device.

that leaves web access as its only possible savior, to which i will simply scoff, "the screen's too small."

so yeah, i'll be waiting for the second gen, or maybe an iPhone nano.

posted by jacob around January 9, 2007

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January 13, 2007
a time to heal

i was pretty sad when i picked up my number friday, knowing i wasn't going to run the race this morning. but i didn't mind not having to be over at epcot by 5 am, so i guess it all worked out.

i was quite surprised to find a copy of rock band for the ps2 at the best buy here! joe thinks he's playing drums, with me singing and brette on guitar. this explains his affection for arcade fire.

last night i managed to get the new google mobile into an unrecoverable state; if you have something in the local drafts, but you couldn't reconnect and it therefore lost your password, it seems to deadlock when you start it up; removing and reinstalling was the only thing i could find. serendipitously, while trying to find the url to download it again, i ended up installing a slightly different version than the one i had before; this was the correct one for my phone, and was set up to use all of the buttons and the full screen, like the mobile app i had originally. again, it all works out.

posted by jacob around January 13, 2007

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January 13, 2007
cookbook reviews volume one!

at some point in the last year or so i ended up with a copy of the bittman. it has remained on my shelf, sandwiched between unopened copies of the verilog hardware description language and the picture of dorian gray.

until tonight!

i've been wanting some pancakes lately and figured tomorrow would be a good day to give them a try. since i'm not making them today, this is merely part one of this review.

fortunately, it does contain recipes for pancakes (i was unsure if it would). however, it contains multiple pancake recipes, each deficient in some matter. what if i want basic, light, and fluffy sourdough pancakes? the uncompromising pancake enthusiast is left completely on his own.

the second problem is that the times are orders of magnitude too conservative. for example, the basic pancakes suggest 20 minutes. that's barely enough time to get to whole foods to get eggs and milk, let alone the second trip needed to get baking powder instead of baking soda.

then, if i want to upgrade to the "light and fluffy" version, i'm going to need at least 20 minutes to just get to bed bath & beyond for a whisk. so far, we're looking at around 90 minutes, and then i have to wait for the butter to get warm. who needs this?!

however, bittman's saving grace can be found in the section titled "eight other ideas for pancakes." nestled between two citrus-crazed lunacies is the following gem:

5. Spoon the batter over pieces of cooked bacon.

tomorrow really will be the first day of the rest of my life.

posted by jacob around January 13, 2007

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January 17, 2007
why am i not in australia

posted by jacob around January 17, 2007

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January 22, 2007
i'm glad i don't work on calendar software anymore

one.

two.

posted by jacob around January 22, 2007

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January 29, 2007
an inauspicious start

i should have known something was up when i saw a blue line train already in the station at scollay under. even more worrying was that it didn't close its doors and pull away before i could get on. apparently there were some switching problems, so i left to find a taxi after waiting a couple of minutes. fortunately it wasn't closed. that would have been only too awesome.

the store didn't have any liberty-sized toothpaste or solution containers, and since i was bringing my parka (it's expected to get up to 6 in edmonton on saturday) on board, i figured i'd just check my bag this time. most of it did arrive in toronto, but part of the handle was gone. i went to complain about it, and got some piece of paper, and headed to leave the customs area.

unfortunately my customs form had a pink line on it? so i had to go to immigration.

the not-too-unpleasant customs worker and i put our noses to our collective grindstones, and pounded out a rough draft of my biography. he was in for constant surprises. first, that i don't have printed proof of my return next week (it is 2007, these things are emailed. i did offer, if given access to a printer, to provide documents which say anything he wanted. he frowned at me something fierce). next, i don't have the address of my friend memorized, even when i've never been to his new place. and was i sure i wasn't here to do any work? sadly, the words to express how little i was planning on working this week simply failed to come out of my agape mouth.

i'm not too surprised, though. there aren't that many people that fly to alberta in february to see some band (did i mention it will get down to -10 saturday night?). maybe i should wear my jsb shirt when i fly? and i guess it's a stretch for me to expect the customs agent to be able to get his head around the fact that someone might actually have friends. and maybe these friends just happen to live in canada.

or maybe it was the fact that i haven't shaved in two weeks and my passport expires in three months. and it happens to be almost completely full with canadian customs stamps. also i probably shouldn't have made those darcy tucker jokes.

oh, and did you know that pearson's terminal two is closing? what they don't tell you when you book your flight is that all of the atm and money changing services in terminal 2 are already closed. and taxis no longer wait to pick people up. i had to take the shuttle over to terminal 1 for that.

at least the law of averages says the rest of my trip should be pretty smooth, right? i mean, it could have been worse. i think the 6:30 am flight still hadn't left before my 11:00 am.

also: !!!

posted by jacob around January 29, 2007

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January 30, 2007
my stupid trip continues

another harrowing taxi ride in toronto! (i can't believe i never wrote about the story of the OCD-taxi-driver-in-a-blizzard ride the the last time i flew in, but it happened)

apparently today's ordeal stemmed from parliament's new regulation banning the sale or use of windshield wiper fluid by ontario taxis. it was as if someone had put a half-dozen layers of 3M "magic" tape over the windshield. i spent the whole ride gripping the door handle as we swerved back and forth over 4 lanes of highway so that the driver could see the road at an angle through the side windows. i would have said something, but there were two or three other taxis doing the same thing. when in rome...

so far things have gone smoothly, though. i would like to congratulate canada on getting an airport terminal with working atm machines! and i'm sitting at the gate, and not a single person has checked any id of mine.

the weather isn't looking any better. now the high for thursday in calgary is supposed to be -2F?

time to board.

posted by jacob around January 30, 2007

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January 30, 2007
hysterical and useless

well that was sort of exciting. about 40 minutes before we landed they made that cliche announcement asking if there was a doctor on the plane. it was a little humbling, thinking that the only thing i could help with on a plane is if maybe the landing gear were stuck because some pam module was seg faulting, or maybe if there was like a bomb that could only be defused with simpsons trivia, or something.

these are not vital skills, in the hunter-gatherer sense of the word.

the calgary airport is notoriously difficult to exit. if you've ever been, you're surely familiar with the thousands upon thousands of glass-eyed seniors, in their red vests and white cowboy hats, aimlessly wandering the corridors of the airport; they've probably been trapped here for decades. some of them have even managed to build small golf carts out of used honey roasted peanut wrappers and discarded baggage claim tags.

posted by jacob around January 30, 2007

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January 31, 2007
the other picture is even blurrier

posted by jacob around January 31, 2007

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