From The Landmark Police Notebook (subscription required for web site access):
1:48 p.m. Possible past house break reported, someone went into basement and "smeared poop" on a CD; spoke to parents who advised son home all day and bored
5:13 p.m. Walk-in with complaint about trooper and an incident at gas station; advised not to blow horn unless for safety issue; said she won't buy gas in Holden again
Thursday, June 12, 2008
This fortnight in RoasterBoy's playlist
Get RB Playlist
Buena Vista Social Club De Camino a La Vereda Buena Vista Social Club The Rolling Stones Honky Tonk Women Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! [LIVE] Lou Reed Power & Glory Part II Magic & Loss Robert Gordon (With Link Wray) Blue Eyes (Don't Run Away) Fresh Fish Special Vampire Weekend Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa Vampire Weekend Fleetwood Mac Although The Sun Is Shining The Vaudeville Years - 1968 To 1970 (Disc 1) Black Eyed Peas Shut Up Elephunk Jim Carroll Band Nothing Is True Catholic Boy …
Let's see: guitar, guitar picking, recording techniques, harmonies. We pretty much wouldn't have music if it wasn't for Les Paul. And, while we're at it, let's remember how good Mary Ford was, a singer and a guitar player in her own right: FARK.com: Fark Video Player (3657059) Happy 93rd birthday, Les Paul. Here he is, a-pickin' and a-grinnin' with Mary Ford in 1954
Alabama 3 Bullet Proof The Original Five Blind Boys Of Alabama I'll Fly Away Alabama 3 The Night We Nearly Got Busted The Original Five Blind Boys Of Alabama I've Got A Home The Blind Boys Of Alabama No More The Original Five Blind Boys Of Alabama Count Me In Grateful Dead Alabama Getaway > Alabama Sacred Harp Singers Antioch - Alabama Sacred Harp Singers The Original Five Blind Boys Of Alabama This May Be The Last Time The Five Blind Boys Of Alabama featuring Clarence Fountain…
Curtis Mayfield would have been 66 today. Here's Curtis performing one of his most frequently covered songs: YouTube - Curtis Mayfield - People Get Ready
The Associated Press: Rock pioneer Bo Diddley dies at age 79
More on FIID
This morning, I installed AutoIT, a nifty freeware product that helps me write small programs. At the end of the installation procedure, the setup program strongly urged me to read the release notes:
Proceeding to the release notes, I learn that this new version can break some of my old scripts:
In a commercial product. the developers might provide a conversion utility that would make old scripts work properly. Or, they could have made changes in a more elaborate way to ensure that the enw version of AutoIT is backward-compatible (every AutoIT script written since the beginning of time would run, even though old programs would not be able to use the new features).
Because some customers depend on a particular pattern of behavior for certain products, we've had to make products bug-compatible: we would not fix certain bugs in old releases because customers had developed their own work-arounds to those bugs. Fixing the bugs would require that customer do work to unfix their own fixes. Got it?
Anyway, the AutoIT team was able to deliver another release of their fine product by fixing it in documentation (FIID).
Proceeding to the release notes, I learn that this new version can break some of my old scripts:
In a commercial product. the developers might provide a conversion utility that would make old scripts work properly. Or, they could have made changes in a more elaborate way to ensure that the enw version of AutoIT is backward-compatible (every AutoIT script written since the beginning of time would run, even though old programs would not be able to use the new features).
Because some customers depend on a particular pattern of behavior for certain products, we've had to make products bug-compatible: we would not fix certain bugs in old releases because customers had developed their own work-arounds to those bugs. Fixing the bugs would require that customer do work to unfix their own fixes. Got it?
Anyway, the AutoIT team was able to deliver another release of their fine product by fixing it in documentation (FIID).
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
If you were planning to be buried today, please wait.
We had some big thunderstorms during the night. Strong winds knocked down trees and branches. St. John's Cemetery in Worcester was hit hard.
How to improve a poorly-designed highway
There's a long-standing tradition in the computer industry. (It may be in other industries as well, but my experience has been in high tech.) When there's a problem that either too difficult for the development team to fix or it's a problem that's found too late in the development cycle, such that fixing it would delay the release, the problem is fixed in documentation. Meaning that the manual, help file, or release notes will describe how to work around the problem. The original problem is still there, but the team has absolved itself by telling the user that there is a problem.
Well, the Mass. Highway Department has found a way to fix bad highway design: fix it in documentation. Put up big signs that tell the drivers that the next few miles are a mess.
This sign is set just as Interstates 190 and 290 merge. Whether you're coming toward Worcester from the north or east, you'll go through a stretch of highway that goes from three lanes to two to five to four to three, all within a mile or so. Then, the driving gets weird and slow as the highway snakes through the city.
It's a testimony to the drivers in and around the city that there aren't more accidents in this stretch of road.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
A sad note for our extended family
From today's T&G obituaries: Thelma (Westerman) Lebeaux, 89
(It may be a bit confusing for some. My mother, also named Thelma, married Linc Lebeaux in the mid-70s. Linc died in 1995, my mother in 2000.)
Mike Lebeaux joined in Sunday's celebration for MFH. We talked for several minutes about how his mother was doing, which, at the time, was ok. I remember our family minister, Neil Bakker, remark that death comes mid-sentence.
Our thoughts and prayers to Mike, Rich, and Sue and their families.
(It may be a bit confusing for some. My mother, also named Thelma, married Linc Lebeaux in the mid-70s. Linc died in 1995, my mother in 2000.)
Mike Lebeaux joined in Sunday's celebration for MFH. We talked for several minutes about how his mother was doing, which, at the time, was ok. I remember our family minister, Neil Bakker, remark that death comes mid-sentence.
Our thoughts and prayers to Mike, Rich, and Sue and their families.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Michael's graduation
On Saturday afternoon, we attended Michael's graduation from Wachusett Regional High School, held at the DCU Center in Worcester. Mike is working for his father this summer, along with a second job at Walgreen's.
The graduation ceremony included a performance by the high school's wind ensemble, featuring their trombone section. Here's a short video clip of their presentation, including their dance number. Michael is fourth from left.
After the music and speeches came the reason that we were all there: the awarding of the diplomas. The presenter even pronounced Mike's name correctly (which didn't happen at my high school graduation):
On Sunday, we had a grand party of family and friends at Mike and Lynn's house. We stayed until five in the afternoon, just as the second line was forming.
The graduation ceremony included a performance by the high school's wind ensemble, featuring their trombone section. Here's a short video clip of their presentation, including their dance number. Michael is fourth from left.
After the music and speeches came the reason that we were all there: the awarding of the diplomas. The presenter even pronounced Mike's name correctly (which didn't happen at my high school graduation):
On Sunday, we had a grand party of family and friends at Mike and Lynn's house. We stayed until five in the afternoon, just as the second line was forming.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Hoboken?
According to these people, Hoboken NJ is among The-10-Brainiest-Places-to-Retire. Let us see these brains of which they speak.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Nichols and Stone may be closing
Nichols and Stone is one of the last chair manufacturers in Gardner and seems to be on its way out: Worcester Telegram & Gazette: Furniture maker teetering on brink
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Don't do the crime if you can't do the rhyme
Middlebury VT hooligans sentenced to poetry classes after party at former Robert Frost home turns destructive: Frost house vandals learn about poetic justice - CNN.com
Monday, June 02, 2008
Here's what you missed on Feb 2, 1965
From the Gardner News, TV listings:
And, the Westminster selectmen remind us to keep Fido at home:
Things you wouldn't know unless you asked Calvin's dad.
Quotes: Ask Calvin's Dad
Q. How come old photographs are always black and white? Didn't they have color film back then?
A. Sure they did. In fact, those old photographs are in color. It's just that the world was black and white then. The world didn't turn color until sometime in the 1930s, and it was pretty grainy color for a while, too.
Q. But then why are old paintings in color?! If the world was black and white, wouldn't artists have painted it that way?
A. Not necessarily. A lot of great artists were insane.
Q. But... But how could they have painted in color anyway? Wouldn't their paints have been shades of gray back then?
A. Of course, but they turned colors like everything else did in the '30s.
Q. So why didn't old black and white photos turn color too?
A. Because they were color pictures of black and white, remember?
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Why Obama has won the contest
We're angry, uneducated and unhealthy. Now what? (Scripting News)
"I want a President who welcomes the chaos and then figures out how we can be smart about the hand we've been dealt. Not one that whines and complains about how irrational the world is."
Be an American - Buy something
This pretty much sums up the Bush policies toward economic development, patriotism, and the war on terror. Just in time for your economic stimulus check. If you send these folks, The Something Store, they'll send you something. You won't know you'll get until you get it, but, hey, we're at war here.
Rev. Wright, Rev. Hagee, and the company we keep
Anyone who lives any kind of an interesting life is going to hang around with people who cause them trouble. This presidential race is no different. Just as the Clintons faced in the 90s, both senators Barack Obama and John McCain will have people from the fringes saying and doing things that makes it appear that the candidates are more radical than they are. My advice to myself on this is fairly simple: get over it.
The people of Utah keep re-electing Sen. Orrin Hatch, even though Hatch is good friends with Ted Kennedy. No one's going to confuse the two. The same with Alan Simpson and Robert Reich in their PBS discussion show, "The Long and Short of It." Harry Truman was elected to the Senate because he had the backing of Jim Pendergast's political and racketeering machine. Shunned for a time, Truman became one of the most independent and respected presidents.
Yeah, I know about dogs and fleas and all that. I also know that taking the measure of a person is a lot more complicated than just looking at the person's friends.
My mother was often curious about a person's ethnicity and occupation. She knew that these traits didn't fully define a person, but did tell something important. Someone might be a scientist who also practices meditation or a conservative Republican business owner who runs a food pantry. We only get to know the whole person by knowing the whole person and we only get to love a person by loving the whole person.
The people of Utah keep re-electing Sen. Orrin Hatch, even though Hatch is good friends with Ted Kennedy. No one's going to confuse the two. The same with Alan Simpson and Robert Reich in their PBS discussion show, "The Long and Short of It." Harry Truman was elected to the Senate because he had the backing of Jim Pendergast's political and racketeering machine. Shunned for a time, Truman became one of the most independent and respected presidents.
Yeah, I know about dogs and fleas and all that. I also know that taking the measure of a person is a lot more complicated than just looking at the person's friends.
My mother was often curious about a person's ethnicity and occupation. She knew that these traits didn't fully define a person, but did tell something important. Someone might be a scientist who also practices meditation or a conservative Republican business owner who runs a food pantry. We only get to know the whole person by knowing the whole person and we only get to love a person by loving the whole person.
Dept. of Wiring
For a time in the 90s, I managed a quality assurance team in a small company that tested networked storage. We had lots of cables because we were testing dozens of systems connected to several servers. It was really easy to have the wiring get out of control. That's a particular problem when you're dealing with fiber-optic cable. These cables have threads of glass in the core. If the cable is looped too tightly or is crimped, the glass can break and the cable is useless. (This sample only shows a few fiber cables, the ones in orange.)
Dark Roasted Blend: Disturbing Wiring, Part 4
Dark Roasted Blend: Disturbing Wiring, Part 4
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