From Jon Udell's recent Infoworld article:
As the Macintosh clan soaks up Unix, LDAP, and first-class scripting languages, the Unix tribe is discovering AppleScript, AppleEvents, and most crucially, a refined end-user sensibility. The world has never seen, until now, a Unix computer that the average computer novice could use.
For my take on how Mac OS X relates to RedHat Linux, read the November issue of Linux Magazine.
From the Defective Yeti
I started thinking about this yesterday, when I had this hil-lare-ious idea of taking the movie poster for My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and Photoshopping it so that it contained pictures of Bill Gates and Keven Smith and whatever, and then renaming it My Big Fat Geek Wedding! Ha! But then I foolishly decided to search Google for the phrase "My Big Fat Geek Wedding" and found out that I am the last person on Earth to think of this. Stupid search engine.
Yeah, I've been there before.
So my neighbor came downstairs to bang on my front door. "Do you smell smoke?!" she asked? "Now I do!" I said, after having opened my front door.
There was a fire of some sort burning in the house attached to our building. We poked around for a minute. She ran around to their front door and tried to see if they were home. They were not. She saw flames in their back patio--right near my front door. She grabbed the hose. I prepared to call 911, as I had brought my phone out with me.
Moments later, the fire was out. It was small. The fire department arrived. Someone else must have called--probably the group across the street who were staring at us.
The verdict: They smoke. It was probably a cigarette that wasn't properly extinguished.
This bothers me not because they could have burned their house down, but because it is attached to mine, so it could have burned mine down too (as well as my upstairs neighbor).
This is just too funny. At least if you've watched much Star Trek.
Heh.
I just joined KQED, the Bay Area's premier public radio station (yes, they do TV too). My "subscription" lapsed about a year ago and I had forgotten until their recent pledge drive.
If you're in the area and listen to KQED once in a while, consider doing the same--even if it's just $10. I'll be the first to admit that NPR and KQED aren't all that they could be, but they're so much better than the commercial alternatives. Heck, I probably listen to 12 hours worth of it every weekend.
When you meet a beautiful girl, have the chance to talk with her for over 4 hours, and eventually get her business card (and hope to ask her out)... check the contact information.
That's all I'm saying on the matter. For now. Maybe more later.
On a related note, I feel like Lloyd in Say Anything--right at the beginning of the movie when he says, "I want to get hurt."
On a related note, I love Cusack movies. Thanks to Netflix, I also have Grosse Point Blank sitting here too.
Damn. I just heard that David is going to be Redwood City next month. But the show is already sold out. Damn. I'd love to go to that show. I wish there was a better way to find out about this stuff in advance. Where are the RSS feeds for upcoming shows from tickets.com, tickermatser.com, and so on.
Yeah, that'd be good. Maybe one feed per category: comedy, rock, country, and so on.
So we've been having major server problems all day. And, of course, it hit them all at once. Ugh. What a freaking mess.
According to this morning's report on KQED, Bay Area apartment rents are down to their lowest levels since 1999. However, I also recently heard that Bay Area housing prices are still on the rise. In fact, prices are up 12% from this time last year.
Does this strike anyone else as being odd? Perhaps we should start tearing down apartments and building houses...
With the recent changes in climate and stuff (cooler, darker earlier), I haven't been biking much AT ALL. And I know it's just gonna get worse as time goes on. I probably won't do any serious biking (other than afternoon rides on the weekend) until Spring. I'm starting to feel it. I'm sluggish. The scale is reading higher numbers.
The bottom line is that I need to get off my ass more. And regularly. I need something for every season. But I'm not sure what I should get into now. I've thought of using the exercise bikes in the gym at work. On the plus side: (1) I'm already at work, so it's easy. (2) It could happen in the early evening or late afternoon, which is when I always start to drag anyway. (3) I could read a book or something, since there's no steering necessary. Heck, maybe I'd even catch up on this big pile of books and magazines.
On the negative side: (1) It could get boring quickly. I suppose some headphone and good MP3s would help, though. (2) Being that it'd be less fun than "real" biking outside, it might be easier to slip out of the routine.
I'm not sure. I've never been much of a runner--not that I've ever tried. I've also never been one for (most) group sports. So you won't find me on the basketball court. Maybe volleyball, but the weather won't be right for that until Spring, too.
Any ideas? What do other guy geeks out there do?
Update: I forgot to mention that I used to go to the gym on a semi-regular basis during some of my semesters of college. It seemed to depend a lot on my schedule, the weather, and having someone to go with me. Hmm. What lessons should I have learned by now?
Kasia just pointed me at Naked Skydiving.
It's gotta be chilly up there.
Wal-Mart has opened an online DVD rental service at its Web site, confirming speculation that the market for online DVD rentals created by Netflix would attract a large, established company. Wal-Mart's offering is aimed directly at Netflix, offering similar services for $18.86 per month, versus Netflix's rate of $19.95. For each service, customers request DVDs online, and the company pays postage to ship the films. There are no due dates for either service, though subscribers are allowed only three movies at a time. Reed Hastings, chief executive of Netflix, said he is not concerned about Wal-Mart's "unimaginative" and "slavish imitation of Netflix." He said his company knows "the area better" and can beat Wal-Mart. A spokeswoman for Wal-Mart said the company would modify the service in coming months based on feedback from subscribers. She said the number of subscribers will probably be limited until the full roll-out of the service next year.
Via San Jose Mercury News, 15 October 2002 and EduPage
I'm so behind on blog reading. Wow. It's amazing what a few days away can do.
We drove out to the nearby orchard so I could get some Jonathon apples to eat and take back to California. I've yet to find anywhere that I could get them in or near Silicon Valley. Anyone know?
Got apples and some donuts. That was lunch.
Now I'm all packed and ready to head back to the land of expensive housing, sunny weather, traffic jams, and good Chinese food. I'll be back in Ohio around Thanksgiving time rather than Christmas this year. I may be able to avoid snow completely this year--if I'm lucky.
I agree with the FuzzyBlog on this one. People need to write with the reader in mind. See my previous rant, too.
As noted over in reflective surface, task switching sucks. I often complain about that at work. It really, really slows me down at times.
Well, it's under 50 degrees out right now (10am Eastern). It's gonna maybe possibly freeze tonight. Then, 16 hours later, I'll be on a plane back to sunny California.
I had forgotten what it's like to have seasons other than (warm/sunny and cooler/rainy). Mental Note: Move to somewhere that has seasons one of these days.