What isn’t Apple, audiobooks, or alcohol is probably cats.
General news and thinking about living in the Alderete-McCune household.
On Friday Basta went in for her annual vet appointment. The vet called her “chunky.” She was not amused.
On Friday Basta went in for her annual vet appointment. Getting her into the cat carrier was a chore, because she’s big and muscular, and really, really did not want to be in the box. It took both Rochelle and I grabbing her and pushing her in to get it done.
When we got to the vet, she got weighed. 13.8 pounds. Or, as the vet put it, “chunky.”
Last night I saw Iron Monkey. The similarities between it and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon only serve to make the differences more obvious; Crouching Tiger, with its broader scope and vision, more complex characters, and much more interesting storyline, is a much, much better film.
Last night I saw Iron Monkey. The film, which was made several years before Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, clearly inspired elements in the later film. They have similar historical/mythical Chinese settings and achieve similar levels in martial arts action choreography (which is to say, they’re both spectacular to watch).
But the similarities only serve to make the differences more obvious. Crouching Tiger, with its broader scope and vision, more complex characters, and much more interesting storyline, is a much, much better film.
At work yesterday our IT department installed a bunch of updates on my computer. I always worry about installing updates for no reason, but they wanted to do it, so I let them. Maybe I shouldn’t have…
At work yesterday our IT department installed a bunch of updates on my computer. I always worry about installing updates for no reason, but they wanted to do it, so I let them.
So far nothing seems amiss. But after reading this guy’s upgrade story, I’m a little worried.
For years I’ve lived with hundreds of unanswered e-mail messages sitting in my Inbox at home, which causes me to ignore most of them. With a little motivation from some magic numbers I’m getting ahead of the situation.
For years I’ve lived with hundreds of unanswered e-mail messages sitting in my Inbox at home. Since e-mail is my preferred form of communication this is a real problem, because basically anything “below the fold,” that is, not in the first screen of my Inbox, gets ignored, often indefinitely.
Periodically I would get into a groove and file some, delete more, and answer or act upon others, without ever really getting the situation under control. But recently I’ve been on a roll, hitting magic numbers that provide new motivation. Last weekend it was getting under 300, on Saturday it was 200. After last evening I’m under 150.
My Inbox displays 26 messages in one screen, so theoretically my final magic number should be 25. For now, though, the only number I’m looking at is 100.
Now if only I could make this happen at work…
An ode to a startup, and what it’s like to be inside, shoveling.
One month before our web site went live, and about 10 months before we went bankrupt, one of my co-workers at Cymerc sent this around:
You ever feel like you are in the engine room of a submarine?
And you are shoveling coal into the engine.
And building the ship at the same time.
You are not sure where you are going.
And you haven’t seen the sun for some time.
But you are pretty sure someone is steering
Because you haven’t hit anything yet?
I still love it!
(Note: I don’t know if it’s original, but I’ll credit it to Clark Weber until I hear differently.)
Rochelle has a firm belief that people who live in San Francisco should have to justify living here, by taking advantage of unique aspects of living in the city on a regular basis. This new channel will cover some of those unique things, or other random stuff that we do on our days off, that would otherwise end up in the Miscellaneous category.
Rochelle has a firm belief that people who live in San Francisco should have to justify living here, by taking advantage of unique aspects of living in the city on a regular basis.
This new channel will cover some of those unique things, or other random stuff that we do on our days off, that would otherwise end up in the Miscellaneous category.
Today one of those unique things is going on at the Toronado, SF’s best beer bar. That’s right, it’s Belgian Beer month, and today is the kickoff.
You should be here.
Odd Todd is probably the funniest of the various “I’m unemployed and have lots of time, so I’m going to document what’s it’s like to be unemployed on the Internet” sites.
OK, here’s another one. Odd Todd is probably the funniest of the various “I’m unemployed and have lots of time, so I’m going to document what’s it’s like to be unemployed on the Internet” sites.
The weirdest thing about this one is that the narration is in a voice that sounds a lot like one of Rochelle’s co-workers, who I met just after viewing the cartoon. It made it very difficult actually hear what he was saying, instead of just marveling at his voice…
Anyway, there’s a couple cartoons, and while the visuals are very stick-figure, the narration and audio is terrific. Recommended.
Unemployed Theo is an amusing little web site that lets those not in the technology industry see what the life of a dot.bomb victim is like.
Unemployed Theo is an amusing little web site that lets those not in the technology industry see what the life of a dot.bomb victim is like.
Rochelle and I were doing this ourselves, about a year ago. Not coincidentally, Rochelle will be getting her Masters in Tequila later today, and mine should come in another month or so. If we’d stayed unemployed, I’m sure we’d be getting ready to receive our doctorates instead…and living in the basement on macaroni and cheese…
We are the Blogs. Journalism will be Assimilated. And journalist John Hiler thinks it’s for the better. (He’s right.)
John Hiler has written a great article about how weblogging is changing the face of journalism. While he uses the Borg metaphor, it’s pretty clear that he thinks the changes will be for the better.
Funnily enough, Rochelle’s had some experience with something like this. Chowhound.com, a food-oriented discussion site where Rochelle frequently participates, seems to spawn a mainstream food story every couple of weeks. For example, there was a vibrant discussion about taco trucks, with many people telling about their favorites. And sure enough, the Chronicle soon ran a story about taco trucks in the Bay Area, an article we read and enjoyed.
The best journalists credit their sources and inspiration, because it means they’ll get more of it. Right now weblogging and online communities of all types are very new, but it’s clear their impact on and integration into mainstream culture is something we’ll be noticing for some time.
TeacherReviews.com looks like a great resource for getting honest information from fellow students about what classes and professors to take — and who to avoid.
Rochelle is taking a web building class this semester, and for her final project is working on a system that will help capture student reviews of the instructors in her program (MLIS at San Jose State).
As part of her research, she found a site, TeacherReviews.com, which does much the same thing, but for any school in the world.
It’s a pretty nicely done site, and if you’re currently in school (even part-time, like Rochelle and I), you should take a few minutes and add your reviews to the site.
And pass the URL along to your classmates; these things are only useful if there’s a good body of knowledge that gets preserved.
The Guy I Almost Was is an online comic that tells you where “cyber-culture” really came from, with a reminder of how much the early ’90s sucked. Suddenly the dot.com bubble doesn’t seem so awful anymore.
A fun read, recommended.
Seeking to “narrow the focus of the drug war to the true enemy,” Congress passed a bill legalizing drug use for the gainfully employed Monday.
In an interesting new development in the War On Drugs, Congress has passed a bill legalizing drug use if you are gainfully employed.
“Stockbrokers, lawyers, English professors…you’re not the problem here,” said DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson at a White House press conference.
“Drugs are addictive, and that’s true whether you’re a ghetto gang member or a Harvard-educated entertainment lawyer. But the cold, hard truth is, if the ghetto kid gets hooked, he isn’t going to clean up in a rehab clinic in Palm Springs and maybe even become president, now, is he? That’s why we need to protect the less fortunate among us with the threat of arrest and incarceration.”