Monday, February 28, 2005
Hood Canal Getaway
We had a great overnight getaway to Hood Canal on Saturday night. I highly recommend the Alderbrook Resort out there. It was way nicer than I expected -- great food, great service, great view, and what a setting. The whole place was renovated a few years ago and is really well done. We also enjoyed some fantastic deep tissue massage at the spa. Quite a treat. We were surprised to run in to two other couples we knew, so I guess this is not exactly a secret locationâ¦
Friday, February 25, 2005
Home, Finally
Big news yesterday afternoon as we closed on our new home a day earlier than expected. I can't believe the deal is finally done. What a relief after the years of anticipation. Now for the fun part... moving!
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Renting
I am becoming a Brian Unger fan. He has had some really funny stories lately, and I really appreciated the story he did on Monday on the crazy real estate market these days. Hopefully (crossing my fingers we close succesfully on the house we are buying) I will soon leave the ranks of renters and join the crowd of young people paying way to high mortgage payments. Either way, this story rings true.
Monday, February 21, 2005
FTBAAIKC
That stands for Fighting the Battle Against Acronyms in Kitsap County.
In Kitsap County, they are starting to do something about one of my pet peeves, acronym-speak.
In Kitsap County, they are starting to do something about one of my pet peeves, acronym-speak.
Goodbye Dr. Gonzo
There is news today of the suicide of Hunter S. Thompson. For me Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was right up there with Huckleberry Finn and On the Road with books that captured my attention and imagination as a young man. Though his work was uneven, paranoid, delusional, drug-induced, inflamatory, and often fictional, I think he managed to prove his theory that the best fiction is more true than any kind of journalism.
Friday, February 18, 2005
Lost and Found Sound: Machines that Time Forgot
This is a cool story from NPR about the problem of losing sound recordings because the devices used to create the recordings go out of style, out of production, or in to a state of dis-repair. It is a problem we will see with digital recordings as well, as the codecs used go out of style. There are already a signifigant number of people who have trouble accessing old files from NPR's online archives because the RealAudio codec used back in 1996 is not widely supported in current players.
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Serial burglar caught on webcam
I want to set up a webcam like this, though I would probably use it to see what my cats do when I'm not at home rather than as a security feature. This really does seem like a better system than an alarm if the goal is to catch the crook.
Ford SynUS
Picture a blend of a bank vault, an armored car and a compact car, and you'll get a pretty good image of the SynUS, one of Ford's bizarre entries in the North American International Auto Show. No more worries about drive-by shootings on the way to the 7-11!
The Dog Underground Railroad
I read this article on Slate today about the nationwide underground dog rescue movement. I had no idea people were getting so organized about rescuing abused dogs.
I'm happy for the dogs but it is also interesting to think how much people are willing to do for dogs but not for other people. I think the author is on target with this comment:
"It's easy to see why dog rescue is a mushrooming culture. Turning a troubled person's life around is difficult, but rescuers with commitment and time and a few dollars can radically alter the fate of a dog. And there are millions of dogs—nearly 10 million in the shelter system, many others mistreated in private homes—in need of rescuing. We will not run out anytime soon. The fact that so many thousands of people devote themselves to this effort raises some important questions about our society's priorities, but there's no doubt it will continue."
I'm happy for the dogs but it is also interesting to think how much people are willing to do for dogs but not for other people. I think the author is on target with this comment:
"It's easy to see why dog rescue is a mushrooming culture. Turning a troubled person's life around is difficult, but rescuers with commitment and time and a few dollars can radically alter the fate of a dog. And there are millions of dogs—nearly 10 million in the shelter system, many others mistreated in private homes—in need of rescuing. We will not run out anytime soon. The fact that so many thousands of people devote themselves to this effort raises some important questions about our society's priorities, but there's no doubt it will continue."
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Kerouac's 'On the Road' Manuscript Unfurled
I read Jack Kerouac's On the Road in high school and it had a major impact on me at the time, so I was interested to hear this story on NPR and finally get to see the famous scroll he wrote it on.
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Annoyed at Work
This blog is just terrible. And I'm hooked!
Recently Read: Misery by Stephen King
I loved the look on my brother's face when I mentioned I was reading this... and that I LIKED it. I may have been dis-owned right then and there. But sometimes it's a lot of fun to read some good pulp fiction. I have never seen the movie, so this was a real page-turner for me. It was predicatble and disgusting, but strangely satisfying nonetheless.
Now I guess the pressure is on to spend my time reading something more redeeming. As my wife likes to cheerfully point out, you don't know how many books you have left...
Now I guess the pressure is on to spend my time reading something more redeeming. As my wife likes to cheerfully point out, you don't know how many books you have left...
Altered HIV Attacks Mice Tumors
There was a story yesterday on the Wired Web site about a new method of gene therapy that uses the HIV virus to attack cancer cells. Amazing (and scary!) stuff. I hope it works.
Friday, February 11, 2005
The Typo Millionaires
If you are a terrible typist like me, then you often find yourself at unintended destinations on the Web. (Like this week when I made a typo when trying to go to surveymonkey.com and ended up with a screen full of pop-up ads instead.) There's an article on Slate today that is more of a rant about how annoying this is, but still makes for an interesting read.
Interesting tid-bit: "Various studies have estimated that 10 percent to 20 percent of all hand-entered URLs are mistyped, adding up to at least 20 million wrong numbers per day."
Interesting tid-bit: "Various studies have estimated that 10 percent to 20 percent of all hand-entered URLs are mistyped, adding up to at least 20 million wrong numbers per day."
London Ikea opening spurs stampede, stabbing
Imagine what you would get if you mixed a roudy UK soccer match with an Ikea sale. I think it would be this.
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Diminished Attention
"I really depend on small technical distractions to keep me away from the things I dread doing." That quote says it all, but this article in the NY Times goes a bit deeper into the problem of diminished attention, people seeking out distractions, and having trouble achieving "a state of flow."
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Dilbert
Well it's finally happened. The end is near. I've gone over the edge. I am laughing at Dilbert and cannot fight off the urge to share it.
Friday, February 04, 2005
Orphaned Quiznos
I loved this story from the Seattle Times today about a local Quiznos whose owner took off. When the checks started bouncing most of the staff quit (as I would expect anyone to). But the manager and a couple of others started running the restaurant using cash from the cash register and asking customers' forgiveness as they slowly ran out of everything.
UPDATE (KING-TV)
UPDATE (KING-TV)
Thursday, February 03, 2005
That's a lot of wings!
Approximately 54 million pounds of chicken wings will be consumed on Super Bowl Sunday, about 14 million pounds more than what usually sells in a week, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That's a lot of wings!
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Recently Read: White Fang by Jack London
It was great when I was nine and is almost as good still. OK, I'll admit, it may be time to rise above a fourth grade reading level. But sometimes it is comforting to re-read the books you remember from when you were a kid. This story is a fun, quick read and was a nice change of pace. And it makes me glad that I am not a wolf and that I don't live in the snow or have to hunt for food or fight off viscous wolves! That poor White Fang! (I hope I'm not spoiling things by saying that, thankfully, things turn out OK in the end.)
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