Are We There Yet? http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/ When you're 10 years old, it's a plea for freedom. What does it mean when you're in the driver's seat? en Copyright 2007 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 17:01:32 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Airplane Fiction Early next month, I'll be traveling to China for a week on the premise of business. CeBIT Asia is taking place in Shanghai from October 10-13 and our company will be attending the show during one of those days as a guest of our distributor in China, which has a booth at the show. Naturally, you don't go to China simply for a trade show. There will be copious amounts of site seeing along the way that will take us to Beijing and Xi'an before arriving at our final destination in Shanghai.

The first, and only, time I've traveled internationally was 7 years ago when my wife and I honeymooned in Cancun, Mexico. Obviously, the travel landscape has changed significantly since then. We entered Mexico with nothing more than our birth certificates. Now, we have passports and the required travel visa to enter China.

With the latest restrictions on air travel and the items you're allowed to carry on-board, I've given more thought than normal to what will occupy the space of my carry-on(s). With this fresh in my mind, I was quick to catch the headlines of many recent articles detailing the lengths at which the US government is willing to go to categorize and inventory US citizens as they travel to and fro. To wit, it appears that the NSA / FBI / CIA / DHS is concerned with the reading materials of passengers.

Reading happens to be one of my passions in life. It's rare that I don't have at least one book on my nightstand at home and a queue of several more waiting in the wings to be read. Naturally, books are a staple of my carry-on luggage in every flight (and long car ride) I've ever had the pleasure of taking part in.

And why have I gone to such lengths to write all this up, you're asking?

The book that I'm currently reading, which will most likely be finished while I'm somewhere in the middle of the Pacific en route to Beijing, is the science fiction classic The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress from Robert Heinlein. The front cover of the book states it to be "(h)is classic, Hugo Award-winning novel of libertarian revolution." It is a book following the revolution to free Luna (the Moon, which has become a futuristic version of early 19th century Australia) from the oppression and tyranny of its token ruler (the Warden) and his puppet-masters on Terra (Earth).

I suppose now would be a bad time to also state my support for Ron Paul's campaign for President?

Oops. I suppose a print-out of this entry will also find its way in to the database detailing my reading habits.

]]> http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/09/airplane_fiction.htm http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/09/airplane_fiction.htm The Real World Sun, 23 Sep 2007 17:01:32 -0600 1,000 Words

Are we there yet, indeed.

]]> http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/09/1000_words.htm http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/09/1000_words.htm Family The Real World Tue, 04 Sep 2007 12:46:30 -0600 Failed Upgrades Another few months, another woefully neglected blog. So neglected is it that I realized my Movable Type installation is out-of-date. Six Apart has moved on to version 4.0 of the Movable Type publishing platform, and I'm still running version 3.34.

For the most part, I've never been a big fan of upgrading things just for the sake of it. If something isn't broke, there's no reason to fix it. That's not to say that every software title installed on my computer is running the same version that I first installed. I like new features, improved interfaces, and more eye candy as much as the next guy. I certainly never miss a Windows Update, but one could easily make the argument that Windows is exempt from the aforementioned adage as it's fundamentally broke and therefore always requires fixing.

However, upgrading something like Movable Type isn't as cut-and-dry as it might sound.

]]> http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/09/failed_upgrades.htm http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/09/failed_upgrades.htm Blog Related Mon, 03 Sep 2007 00:55:30 -0600 Preamble: Seeds of Insanity More to come on lawns and the insanity that lies within. But first, a little commentary from someone who knows a thing about creation. I didn't write this. I don't know did. But it sure is funny. God: "Frank, you know all about gardens and nature, what in the world is going on down there on Earth? What happened to all the dandelions, violets, thistles and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect, no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honeybees, and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectangles." St. Francis: "It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers weeds and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass." God: "Grass? But it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds, and bees, only grubs and sod worms, it's temperamental with temperatures. Do these suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?" St. Francis: "Apparently so Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn. " God: "The spring rains and warm weather probably make the grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy." St. Francis: "Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little they cut it, sometimes twice a week." God: "They cut it? Do they bale it like hay?" St. Francis: "Not exactly Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags." God: "They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?" St. Francis: "No sir. Just the opposite. They pay to throw it away." God: "Now let me get this straight. They fertilize the grass so it will grow, and when it does grow, they cut it off and then pay to throw it away?" St. Francis: "Yes sir. God: "These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work!" St. Francis: "You aren't going to believe this, Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it." God: "What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. Plus, as they rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil. It's a natural circle of life." St. Francis: "You had better sit down Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away." God: "No way! What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter and to keep the soil moist and loose? St. Francis: "After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in the place of leaves." God: "And where do they get this mulch?" St.: Francis: "They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch." http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/06/preamble_seeds_of_insanity.htm http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/06/preamble_seeds_of_insanity.htm The Real World Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:37:55 -0600 Cross Country Musings Last Wednesday, I began a cross country trek from SE Wisconsin to Western New York (or WNY as they seem to refer to it) to attend my oldest brother's college graduation. Previous to this trip, the longest I had traveled by car as the primary driver was a 5.5 hour trip a suburb of Detroit, MI for a friend's wedding. Of course, that was a very different trip from this one as gas was around $2.00 / gallon and I was not traveling with 2 kids under the age of 5.

As much as I'd like to say that a lot of preparation went in to the planning of this trip, that's not true. It's just not me to study the course, anticipate and plot potential problems, and make out contingencies. I searched for directions on various online map sites (namely Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps, and Windows Live) to ascertain that they all agreed on the route to take (they did). As we were leaving on a weekday, we planned to leave in the evening and drive through the night to make it easiest on the kids and avoid traffic in the metropolitan areas (e.g. Chicago and Cleveland). The return trip was scheduled for a Sunday making traffic a mostly moot point, especially since Chicago traffic would be normal that evening after the Cubs and White Sox played each other that afternoon. Therein lies the extent of my cross country driving plans.

So, five days later, my brother has graduated cum laude with a B.B.A and I've returned from my trip. What follows are my observations...

]]> http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/05/cross_country_musings.htm http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/05/cross_country_musings.htm The Real World Thu, 24 May 2007 01:39:00 -0600 Software Installers Do Not Own My Computer It's always been a pet peeve of mine when software installers (and uninstallers, for that matter) treat a user's desktop and registry as their own personal playground. As far as I'm concerned, I'm leasing that space out to an application until further notice. It's a temporary home, not a permanent one. As such, an application would do well to not make any assumptions about where it's okay for them place shortcuts on my computer. If it's going to ask me what directory and program group I want it installed in, it's not a stretch of the imagination to believe that I'll also want to dictate whether or not the application is worthy of acquiring a piece of the the limited (and valuable) real estate afforded by the quick launch toolbar and system tray.

But of course, not every company out there sees it my way. One of the worst offenders of this dictum has always been Apple. It's difficult to enjoy all the media offered on the Internet without installing Apple's QuickTime media player. As an iPod owner, it's virtually impossible to go without installing iTunes, which requires installation of QuickTime as well.

]]> http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/05/software_installers_do_not_own.htm http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/05/software_installers_do_not_own.htm Computing / Internet Wed, 09 May 2007 21:07:20 -0600 Like Neo on the Roof of a Building... ...it's bullet time (boooooo).

  • A rumor out of a Chinese publication, Commercial Times, states that production on Xbox 360's containing the scaled down 65nm processor could begin this May in time for a Fall release. A less power hungry, cooler-running Xbox 360 would be the straw that breaks this camel's back. Cooler internal temperatures translates in to more reliable hardware, which allays my great fear of the investment. A redesigned main board to take advantage of the changes means an eventual price drop. (via Ars Technica)
  • On my way to work every day, I've been watching a new building get constructed on the side of the road. It's finally completed and looks like it's been occupied by an entrepreneur. The name of the store is "Forgotten Treasures" and the windows of the store are filled with dated clothing, old knick-knacks, and other various tchotchke. The store's superficial similarity to Leland Gaunt's Needful Things is rather eerie.
  • I rented another movie through Amazon Unbox for my TiVo. It took 2 hours 35 minutes to download a 1 hour 55 minute movie. Until I can watch a movie as it downloads, I still don't see the value of this service. I guess I'm not as opposed to driving to a rental store (or, more likely, skipping the rental altogether) as most people.
  • The movie we rented was Man of the Year. We thought we were renting a comedy about a comedian that gets elected the President of the United States. What we got was a not-even-remotely-funny comedy crossed with a thriller about buggy software in a company's electronic voting machines that elects the wrong candidate (who happens to be a comedian) and their subsequent attempts to silence a potential whistle-blower. It's a good thing nothing like that could ever happen, huh?

]]> http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/04/like_neo_on_the_roof_of_a_buil.htm http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/04/like_neo_on_the_roof_of_a_buil.htm Geek Misc Mon, 30 Apr 2007 18:53:51 -0600 Job Applications / Resumes I've spent a fair amount of time over the past 12-18 months reviewing resumes and conducting interviews with people applying for various positions at my company. In that time period, I've been pretty shocked at the quality, or rather the lack thereof, evident in the submissions I receive from many people. Your resume and cover letter is the first thing I'm going to see about you as a prospective employee at my company. It is from this information and how it's presented to me that I will decide whether or not to spend more time conversing with you, up to and including a face-to-face interview. When you consider the fact that: 1) I have other responsibilities on the job outside of hiring, and 2) I have a lot of resumes to go through, it would seem to follow that while your resume isn't going to matter much once you've got the job, it's the single most important factor prior to that event.

With that in mind, here's some advice to the job hunters out there. My advice is being given from the perspective of a small, technology oriented, Web-based business.

]]> http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/04/job_applications_resumes.htm http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/04/job_applications_resumes.htm The Real World Wed, 25 Apr 2007 20:21:53 -0600 Amazon Unbox on TiVo: Not Video on Demand Six weeks ago, my monthly TiVo newsletter informed me of a partnership they had formed with Amazon to provide their Unbox video download service to TiVo subscribers. The Unbox service allows you to purchase or "rent" movies and television episodes through the Amazon website. Once your purchase is made, you can download the video to your computer (or potentially multiple computers if the copyright allows) for watching. Your rental is good for 30 days, however that changes to 24 hours once you start playing the video for the first time. Your purchased videos can always be downloaded from the service, so you don't have to store it permanently on your hard drive or TiVo (where space is at a higher premium).

The notice from TiVo came along with a $15 credit to the Unbox service if I signed up by April 30. If you have a TiVo connected to your home network, you've still got a few days to sign up and get the credit, too. Who doesn't like getting something for free? So I signed up so I could try out the service at a later date.

]]> http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/04/amazon_unbox_on_tivo_not_video.htm http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/04/amazon_unbox_on_tivo_not_video.htm Geek Misc Tue, 24 Apr 2007 20:51:40 -0600 StyleCatcher Ups and Downs I recently started messing with the StyleCatcher Movable Type plug-in to accommodate a few other blogs running on this server. On the surface, it's a great concept. Customizing templates on older versions of Movable Type was a bit of a daunting task and required more time than I cared to dedicate to the task. Now that the base template is centered around CSS, this customization process is a lot easier. Six Apart's style contest was also a great idea to get talented web developers to create a gallery of templates to showcase the changes.

Now that StyleCatcher is properly configured, I can appreciate how streamlined and simple the process can be. Unfortunately, it took a fair amount of tinkering to get to this point and it's still not behaving properly under all circumstances.

]]> http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/04/stylecatcher_ups_and_downs.htm http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/04/stylecatcher_ups_and_downs.htm Blog Related Fri, 20 Apr 2007 20:10:07 -0600 Follow-up: Klipsch ProMedia's Repaired A couple weeks ago, I wrote about my broken Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 speakers. The flimsy, cheap DIN plug was no longer making a solid connection with the subwoofer. The Klipsch web site continued to show replacement controls pods as unavailable, so I elected to fix them myself instead.

For those that are looking to do the same thing, here's the parts list:

]]> http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/04/followup_klipsch_promedias_rep.htm http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/04/followup_klipsch_promedias_rep.htm Computing / Internet Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:37:19 -0600 Book: Needful Things Needful Things Book CoverTitle: Needful Things
Author: Stephen King
Copyright (Original): 1992 (1991)
Pages: 736
More Information: Wikipedia Entry

I read Needful Things for the first time about 15 years ago. It was the second book I had read that was written by Stephen King (The Shining was the first). Although I have enjoyed reading both of these books, I never read many more of his books after this one. Looking through his bibliography, it would appear that the majority of his books that I've read since are those with recent movies based on them, including The Green Mile and Different Seasons (a series of 4 short stories with 3 having spawned movies - The Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me, and Apt Pupil). I've never read either of his two most popular books (It or The Stand). Perhaps I should do so.

While searching my bookshelf for something to read a month ago, I decided it was time to revisit Needful Things once again.

]]> http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/04/book_needful_things.htm http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/04/book_needful_things.htm Books Sun, 15 Apr 2007 20:00:00 -0600 First Time Wii I had a chance to play a co-worker's Nintendo Wii after work this evening (if you're giggling, please leave now). It's the first time I've ever played with it, much less seen one in person. By all accounts, the Wii is still incredibly hard to find. One of my co-workers happened to get lucky one morning waiting for a Target store to open and was able to snag one from their limited shipment.

There were some problems getting the remotes to function properly at first, which I was told was very odd considering that no problems of that sort had been encountered for the past couple weeks. I seem to have this kind of effect on hardware of all sorts. Monitors wear out prematurely when it's my desk they call home. Removable DVD drives refuse to be recognized when notebooks are booted up in my docking station. Devices that work flawlessly 99.9% of the time refuse to function as intended in my presence.

It's a gift; what else can I say?

]]> http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/04/first_time_wii.htm http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/04/first_time_wii.htm Gaming Fri, 13 Apr 2007 18:56:21 -0600 April Snow Showers Bring....Wait, What? I've never been a big fan of cold weather. I've always been of the thought that it's easier to deal with hot weather and find ways to cool off than it is to deal with cold weather and find ways to warm up. Thus, I'm rarely happy to see the arrival of winter and am always happy to see it go.

If only the changing of seasons was that clear-cut.

It's currently snowing throughout most of the state of Wisconsin. My little corner of the state is forecast to accumulate 4"-6" of snow when all is said and done. As it's been snowing for the past 10 hours or so, I'd say they're right on target. Since the temperature is hovering between 30-32 F, it's a very dense, heavy, wet snow. The last time it snowed like this, my snowblower didn't handle it very well. Of course, there was also about a foot of it on my driveway, which is still of the gravel variety. Fortunately, the expected temperatures of well above freezing over the next few days should eliminate the need to be proactive about its removal.

For now, I guess I'll just have to dream of a forecast like this.

]]> http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/04/april_snow_showers_bringwait_w.htm http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/04/april_snow_showers_bringwait_w.htm The Real World Wed, 11 Apr 2007 21:11:01 -0600 Obsession Confession With apologies to guitar god Slash, I have an obsession confession to make. You see, as a self-professed geek, I deal with the occasional fit of desire for a new device or gadget. This by itself can be all the persuasion required by many individuals to translate their indulgence in to a purchase. However, my circumstances are complicated by a streak of frugality that would embarrass most people. I'm told that many years ago when I had attained a constant level of income through my paper route such that I could afford to purchase Christmas presents for my family members, I planned out presents for everyone to limit my expenditures to no more than $10. If I recall correctly, a pack of bubblegum was involved for one of my lucky siblings.

In other words, I rarely cave in to my obsessions. My approach has always been to deny myself the latest gadget or gizmo when the urge strikes. If, after a sufficient quantity of time has passed, the urge continues to surface and cannot be ignored, I begin to entertain the idea of the purchase and determine whether or not it makes fiscal and functional sense. Is it affordable? Will it do something for me from an entertainment or usefulness standpoint that can be easily justified? Are those reasons sufficiently persuasive that they can sway the keeper of the bank accounts?

]]> http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/04/obsession_confession.htm http://www.FutureViperOwner.com/2007/04/obsession_confession.htm Gaming Mon, 09 Apr 2007 23:40:45 -0600