The first five or 10 minutes of each meeting is spent getting network cables and power cords connected and working properly. From time to time, we will have an occasional struggle with a network switch or projector or screen. In case you wondered, this is what happened to all those A/V nerds whom you used to mock in high school oh so many years ago.
For all the "exceptional public interest" about Blackberry's being essential to business, it's interesting to learn that the most popular piece of Blackberry software on one site is RimMario, a port of the Super Mario Brothers game.
Recently, Jet Blue announced that they would be serving Dunkin' Donuts coffee on their flights. One less reason to fly with them. I don't like DD's coffee or their donuts. Tim Horton's in the Great White North does a much better job on both. Canada takes its donuts very seriously. (PDF viewer required.)
Scottish health officials are recommending that youngsters have haggis just once a week. No more all-you-can-eat haggisfests.
Because I'm here and not there, I'll miss a birthday party this evening. If I was there, I'd just mix up the presents.
Happy Birthday, Mike.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Net connections. Got some spare net connections, mister?
Beneath the din of our everyday life is a silence, a silence that results from the stopping of the hearts of Blackberry owners. Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal by Research in Motion (RIM), the maker of the Blackberry, on a lower court's injunction in a patent dispute. (RIM is a Canadian company, but most of its business is in the states.) As it stands now, the Blackberry service in U.S. could go dark in February. I don't think that it will happen, though. There's too much money involved and there are too many addicted users. RIM will find a way to settle, although they lost almost all of their bargaining power. The deal that they turned down last fall looks pretty good.
The hotel is having a problem; its network cannot connect to the outside world. I learned this when I called their tech support. It's been a long time since I've talked with someone so bored and so condescending. I can be an idiot about some stuff, but not this.
We had a similar problem in the room where we are meeting with the customer. I began to think that I had the Midas touch - everything I touch turns to mufflers.
With the network connections down, the three-hour meeting was finished in two. The connections were restored in time for the lunch break. I can pretty well guarantee that we'll use all of the allocated time for the afternoon meetings.
The hotel is having a problem; its network cannot connect to the outside world. I learned this when I called their tech support. It's been a long time since I've talked with someone so bored and so condescending. I can be an idiot about some stuff, but not this.
We had a similar problem in the room where we are meeting with the customer. I began to think that I had the Midas touch - everything I touch turns to mufflers.
With the network connections down, the three-hour meeting was finished in two. The connections were restored in time for the lunch break. I can pretty well guarantee that we'll use all of the allocated time for the afternoon meetings.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Moo 2: The Re-Herding
An other center seat, but further back, all the better to smell the exhaust fumes from the jet engines.
Note to my fellow travelers: You will have to bend down to remove your shoes when you go through the security gate. Please be considerate of those who will see what they see when you bend over to take off your shoes. That thong that you are wearing might bring delight to you and to those with whom you are intimate. For the folks behind you in the line, not so much.
When I arrived at the Avis lot, my rental car was running and warm, a nice touch for a cold Chicago night. About a half foot of snow fell during the day, but the roads were clear.
Big city TV may be lame, but big city radio can be interesting. On the ride from O'Hare, I heard Latin music backed with a German polka band (complete with tuba).
Friend Tom reminded me that the blog style of writing has been around for a long time, that we're employing some new technology and names, but what we're doing remains the same. Going back to the 50s, my mother kept up the Hakkarainen Clipping Service (motto: no obligation to read, acknowledge, or return). She would send magazine and newspaper clippings, sometimes whole books, and, later, photocopies. I brought out an web version a few years ago and a marginally more technical blog a couple of years later.
Note to my fellow travelers: You will have to bend down to remove your shoes when you go through the security gate. Please be considerate of those who will see what they see when you bend over to take off your shoes. That thong that you are wearing might bring delight to you and to those with whom you are intimate. For the folks behind you in the line, not so much.
When I arrived at the Avis lot, my rental car was running and warm, a nice touch for a cold Chicago night. About a half foot of snow fell during the day, but the roads were clear.
Big city TV may be lame, but big city radio can be interesting. On the ride from O'Hare, I heard Latin music backed with a German polka band (complete with tuba).
Friend Tom reminded me that the blog style of writing has been around for a long time, that we're employing some new technology and names, but what we're doing remains the same. Going back to the 50s, my mother kept up the Hakkarainen Clipping Service (motto: no obligation to read, acknowledge, or return). She would send magazine and newspaper clippings, sometimes whole books, and, later, photocopies. I brought out an web version a few years ago and a marginally more technical blog a couple of years later.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
No shirt. No shoes. It must be January.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if you opened the paper one morning and found that the obituary page was empty?
The temperature dropped below freezing last night and snow is in the forecast for tomorrow. But, we've had harsher Octobers than this.
When it came time to remove the CD racks to prepare for painting the family room wall, it also came time for the CDs to go into the attic. I'm not ready to part with them yet, but I also haven't played a CD for close to two years.
Thoreau writes about the Mucclasse Indians who would burn their old possesions as a way of cleansing and simplifying their lives.
Keeping with the theme of one song/many versions, I've collected about a dozen versions of Pipeline by The Ventures. Don, sometimes solo, sometimes with his brother, Vinnie, used to do a pretty good version of the song. We hang out in their cellar, listening to the cheesy little amp, reading Mad magazine, next to the full-size pool table. Don could also do great recreations of Spike Jones tunes, such as the ever-charming Cocktails for Two.
Did you leave your Weinerwhistle™ in your other jacket? Fear not, for the Interactive Web Weinerwhistle is here.
It's a test of endurance, I know, but think of the children.
The temperature dropped below freezing last night and snow is in the forecast for tomorrow. But, we've had harsher Octobers than this.
When it came time to remove the CD racks to prepare for painting the family room wall, it also came time for the CDs to go into the attic. I'm not ready to part with them yet, but I also haven't played a CD for close to two years.
Thoreau writes about the Mucclasse Indians who would burn their old possesions as a way of cleansing and simplifying their lives.
Keeping with the theme of one song/many versions, I've collected about a dozen versions of Pipeline by The Ventures. Don, sometimes solo, sometimes with his brother, Vinnie, used to do a pretty good version of the song. We hang out in their cellar, listening to the cheesy little amp, reading Mad magazine, next to the full-size pool table. Don could also do great recreations of Spike Jones tunes, such as the ever-charming Cocktails for Two.
Did you leave your Weinerwhistle™ in your other jacket? Fear not, for the Interactive Web Weinerwhistle is here.
It's a test of endurance, I know, but think of the children.
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