Archive for October, 2009
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31 Oct 2009Discuss
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31 Oct 2009
Some fantastic business analysis of the recent announcement of free turn-by-turn directions on all Android phones. -
31 Oct 2009
"Gus's lobster costume was snubbed for the dog park awards. Winners: Sherlock Holmes, hunter, gravedigger."
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31 Oct 2009
"Who else is sick of North Korean Realism? You know what I mean."
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30 Oct 2009
"I'm seeing Pixies and Weezer in Boston 9 days apart. Maybe then I should retire from concert-going forever."
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29 Oct 2009
Her trip looks like it was amazing. I wish I had been with her.
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29 Oct 2009
"The photo in the HDTV that woot.com is selling today is a one I took of a Jack O'Lantern that M made."
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28 Oct 2009
"SHE'S BACK!"
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28 Oct 2009
Turn-by-turn navigation and speech guidance, free in the upcoming Android 2.0! Take that, $99 TomTom iPhone app!
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28 Oct 2009
"RT @NASA_Ares_I_X Ares I-X has lift off!"
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27 Oct 2009
"M's on a plane on her way home! She'll be here in 29 hours (17 in the air, 12 in Zurich)!"
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27 Oct 2009
""It looks like you paid a lot for that haircut." A $15 buzzcut can be distinguished from a free one?"
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27 Oct 2009
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26 Oct 2009
"Correction thanks to @Bizangles: The team with more days off between LCS and WS is 13-4 since 1990 and 18-11 all time! http://bit.ly/1JzWQE"
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26 Oct 2009
"The team with more days off between LCS and WS is only 4-13 since 1990 and 11-18 all time. http://bit.ly/1JzWQE (Who cares! Go Phillies!)"
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26 Oct 2009Another infinite loop
When Gus disappears for 10 minutes, there's a good chance that this is where he is.
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26 Oct 2009
RIP 1990s
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25 Oct 2009
This video is totally worth an hour of your time.
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25 Oct 2009
"Heard from M. She's sleeping in a bed in a hotel tonight. She'll be home in 3 days!"
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25 Oct 2009
"I did lots of fun things and Twittered none of them. Win or fail?"
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24 Oct 2009
"Shabu Shabu is still tasty, even at 11pm."
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23 Oct 2009
As far as I can tell, Chris and Brian invented this on the bus from Philly to Boston. It looks spectacularly fun.
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23 Oct 2009
"I think my costume and I will be drinking alone together at home this year. Wink wink."
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23 Oct 2009
That is so clever.
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23 Oct 2009
If you’re lucky, this is the last time you’ll hear me mention Windows 7 for a while. But I’ve received a number of queries about my continued use of it for a while now. I have some very excellent reasons that I figured I should put in writing for easy reference.
- Proactive non-reason: I don’t hate Apple. I think their hardware is beautiful and I think Mac OS X is one of the most usable Operating Systems around (although it’s got a learning curve like any OS does). Their prices are on the high end of reasonable, considering the hardware is generally top-of-the-line and well-built.
- Proactive non-reason: I am pro-open-source. I think Linus’ Law is spot on, and I think that “Release Early, Release Often” is a faster way to quality software. But I’m not an ideologue. I run Linux exclusively at work, but also I use plenty of closed-source applications without complaining. I’ll even purchase DRM-ed media without much grumbling.
- I like to build my own computers. There’s something about the hundreds of interlocking details that appeals to my nature. The challenge of learning (or re-learning) interfaces and chipsets and how memory works is exciting. (Aside: I find the enjoyment that I get from following sports to be somewhat similar. They’re complex worlds with details that are almost entirely self-consistent. And its the exceptions and quirks that make them enticing.)
- Unfortunately, Mac OS X doesn’t work on non-Apple hardware, at least not officially. And I don’t feel comfortable applying a delicate hack that will make that work on my every-day machine.
- My wife needs Windows for phone syncing and work applications. As a doctor, there are a number of applications she runs on her phone and at home to access charts and medical databases. Some of them have iPhone options, and a couple have cripped web versions, but none of them that I know of yet have a full-featured client that will work under either Mac OS X or Linux client.
- I like to play games. I do it less than I did back in college, but I still spend five or six hours a week playing Team Fortress 2 or Trackmania or a number of other games. There are few Mac OS X or Linux versions of most games: Windows is by far the most popular gaming platform. (Gaming works well in Parallels within Mac OS X, but you still need a Windows install/license.)
- Dual booting is more trouble than it’s worth. I have no problem with Windows. In fact, so far, Windows 7 is really nice and stable and it plays nice with all of my hardware. I have several good reasons to use Windows, but no compelling reason to use something else. So I have no reason to go through the effort to set up a second OS.