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You are viewing the most recent 20 entries January 6th, 2010herooftheage @ 11:09 pm: Tom 1. Winter 0
 ... though to be fair, as matches go, this was definitely the undercard - it was neither very cold nor very windy out today. Still, it turns out I was able to dress warmly enough to walk from my house to Mary Chung's in comfort - which is probably about 7 miles or so. The heated vest Meredith got me seems to have been the tipping point for that operation. The battery does last over two hours, so I was warm the entire way - even walking across the Mass. Ave. bridge.
jducoeur @ 04:38 pm: Another element clicks into place
 Remember my recent speculations about what I want in my GPS? Well, they're getting closer -- in going to Google Maps right now, I see that, alongside the current traffic view, I can also ask it to show me the *expected* traffic and travel time for my route at a given time, and it makes its best guess based on historical information. I'm amused, mostly because I wasn't expecting that feature for a couple of months yet. I wonder how long it'll be before they factor it into the route planning in the GPS... Tags: technology
bostonbabydolls @ 09:10 am: [Tweets] The Big Book of Twitter
 This is the daily feed of our tweets. If you want to read them as they actually happen, you can follow us at www.twitter.com/bostonbabydolls
January 5th, 2010jducoeur @ 10:47 pm: The return of jQuote
In a recent conversation, I was reminded of our old, original quotefile from college -- it didn't exactly plumb the deepest wells of wit, but there was a lot of sentimental value to it. And it reminded me that, y'know, I really *enjoy* the quote-collecting game, and used to be really into it. Sufficiently into it that, when I found myself out of work for seven months during the dot-com crash of 2002, I spent the last month or two writing a fancy shareware package to manage them. jQuote is a fun tool: a quotefile program for the hardcore quotes geek. It hooks into Windows, so that you can press ctrl-shift-q from any program and insert a randomly-chosen quote at the cursor position. It defines a special XML format for quotefile management, including all sorts of capabilities that most people don't even think about, such as categories, filtering, and permission tracking. The intent was to foster quotefile trading, so that the geeks could really go at it. And then, of course, I got a real job -- the graveyard of fun projects. To be fair, jQuote had succeeded at its primary purpose: to give me enough serious C# experience to serve as a major resume booster. But I never got around to fixing the last major bug. (Which I still haven't figured out: it seems to interfere with Windows shutdown somehow. ETA: But Google comes through: here's the answer. Hopefully that'll fix it.) And since it was intended to be a beta, I'd coded an expiration date into the package. When that computer died a couple of years later, I didn't get around to installing C# on the next one; when jQuote finally expired, I didn't have an easy way to recompile it. So the project simply died. That was five years ago. But y'know -- I still enjoy the silly quotes game, and I still enjoy those thousand-plus quotes I've got in jQuote format. Dreams of shareware fortune aside, I wrote the tool because *I* wanted it. So I've just downloaded the free version of C#, spruced up the code slightly (and removed that stupid expiration date), and gotten it running again. I'm not worrying about the damned installer (which was more trouble than the program itself), but if there's interest from people who want to just download and run the program manually, I ought to be able to put it somewhere on one of our websites. And so, the Random Quote du Jour, my signature from days of yore, returns. I probably won't use it as consistently as I once did, but it's fun to have it around again, allowing me my moments of random Zen... Random Quote du Jour:"The real question for 1988 is whether we're going to go forward to tomorrow or past to the -- to the back!" -- Vice President Dan Quayle
jducoeur @ 03:05 pm: A Quiz Designed to Give You Fitts
Today's link comes via my co-worker Bob Peterson, who pointed the engineering group to it. It's not so much about programming this time; rather, it's about UI design. But really, if you're a programmer coming anywhere near the UI, it's well worth reading. I recommend going through the page as it says: take the quiz seriously, try to come up with the answers on your own, and then continue on to the answers. The point of the exercise is to demonstrate a basic principle of UI design that is very often overlooked, and he makes a bunch of good cases for why it should be paid attention to. (Personally, I got a few of the answers right off the top of my head, but didn't suss the common thread until it was pointed out.) Some longtime engineers will undoubtedly look at this and decide that it is pointlessly persnickety -- that the recommendations violate How Things Are Done, and are more trouble than they're worth. But part of what separates a truly great UI from a merely functional one is re-examining your assumptions frequently, and paying attention to those persnickety details. (One reason why our new check fraud product is going to win in the marketplace is that we *are* spending the time to design and build an unconventional but kickass UI...) Tags: programming
bostonbabydolls @ 09:02 am: [Tweets] The Big Book of Twitter
This is the daily feed of our tweets. If you want to read them as they actually happen, you can follow us at www.twitter.com/bostonbabydolls
January 4th, 2010kestrell @ 07:29 pm: Sick again + trying to find a ride to Arisia for Friday
 So I havethis bad cold with a painful cough and, for some reason, insomnia that defies even sleeping pills, which doesn't make me any happier. I have an entire cookie tin full of various prescription and over-the-counter drugs and bags of cough drops, along with a collection of Alan Moore CDs (there's a reason for that). My voice keeps going in and out but I've ordered more of the magic pralines http://kestrell.livejournal.com/552277.html . So, although I am hoping to be well enough to go to Arisia, I expect I will be pretty low energy, so I'm trying to find a ride to get to the hotel on Friday around noonish. I realize that getting to Cambridge by way of Dorchester is not exactly intuitive, but I would be willing to chip in with gas money if someone would be willing to give me a ride to the con. Tags: arisia, health
chaiya @ 01:21 pm: Exciting Announcement of Guests for 2011 Arisia!
 As revealed yesterday in the concom meeting, the slate of guests of honor for Arisia 2011 is as follows: Kelley Armstrong, writer gohShaenon Garrity, webcomic gohJosh Simpson, artist gohRené Walling, fan goh (aka ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) cyberneticnomad, co-chair of the 2009 Montreal Worldcon) In addition, I am still waiting to hear final confirmation from the likely musical goh. We had been holding off on the announcement for this reason, but since the Arisia 2010 Souvenir Book (and thus the 2011 ad) needed to go to press, it seems a good time to announce publicly where things stand. :) Arisia 2011 will be held in the Waterfront Westin on January 14-17, 2011. I know we're currently gearing up for a great convention in a couple of weeks, but feel free to join me in my excitement for 2011, too! Current Mood:  accomplished Current Music: Adam Ezra , conventions, volunteering
January 3rd, 2010negothick @ 09:12 pm: Redbox rentals
 In between netflix flicks, I just watched Coraline and Paranormal Activities. Coraline was scarier, and the acting was much more believable, with the Coraline puppet showing much more range of facial expressions than the meat puppet in Paranormal.
herooftheage @ 06:16 pm: None of this silly dice-rolling simulation
I got a copy of Memoir '44 for Christmas, which is a wargame-lite about WWII. Here's one of the special rules in the Saint Mere-Eglise scenario: Before the Allied side takes its first turn, the Allied player has an additional airdrop.
Hold four infanty figures in your hand about 12 inches above the battlefield. Drop the figures. If a figure falls off the board or lands in a hex with another enemy or friendly unit, this figure is out of action and placed back in the box. No Victory medal is awarded to the Axis player on this occasion.
If the figure is not out of action, place an additional three figures from the box into the infantry figure's hex. The unit landed safely and is ready for action.
negothick @ 10:46 am: Light snow showers
I've been re-reading Pratchett's Wintersmith, and that may have been a mistake, as the Reign of Winter continues.
herooftheage @ 09:21 am: Time for Plan B
There are things I'd drive two hours to go do today, but it turns out gambling is not one of them.
January 1st, 2010negothick @ 08:34 pm:
A great new song in the best folk tradition, Tom Callinana filking "A-Roving": "Here is a link to Tom's latest song, "Jasper Schuringa, The Flying Dutchman", about the Northwest/Delta flight on Christmas Day when a terrorist was thwarted by a passenger. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9mB7r8waOEPlease feel free to pass this on! Best,AnnAKA Cecil B. Shapiro"
elektra_h @ 02:59 pm: It's my name, dammit! ~or~ The ongoing saga of my attempt to get a Delaware driver's license.
 I have now been to DMV three times, and I still don't have a new license. I'm starting to think it's a good thing that I renewed my New York State license just before I moved . . . . I really thought I'd get my license this last time. We even managed to prove residence this time--not the easiest thing to do when all your mail comes to a PO Box (they don't deliver the mail in Odessa, instead they give you a free box at the PO). It was easier for Mike, he had a paystub to show them. The stumbling block is my first initial. For the last 20+ years, I've used a first initial on all my ID. Truthfully, if I'd known what a pain it would be, I might not have done it that way, but I did and it's a little late to change now. The Delaware DMV computer system isn't set up to handle first initials, so the clerk started questioning how I got an initial and what did it stand for. I explained I changed it when I got married and that was the form of my name I had chosen to use. Supervisors were asked and phone calls to Dover were made, and the end result was--no license. They've decided my name change was somehow illegal. They won't tell me what they think my name really is, either. I left with the phone number of the head of DMV and instructions to call him. If he approves my name, I'll be issued a license. I gave the name to my Delaware attorney--the same fellow who handled my intellectual property case a few months ago. He did say he hadn't handled a case like this before, but I'm not sure anyone has. There's been at least one phone call back and forth, and I'm no closer to getting a license here than I was before. My attorney tells me there is some possibility I may need to go to court and get a legal name change. My concern is that I can't prove that I'm anyone else--how do I change my name when I have a wallet full of ID that all says the same name? I just want a new license that matches my passport and my checking account and my credit cards, etc. I'm taking suggestions, if anyone has any. Current Mood:  frustrated , lawyer
elektra_h @ 01:14 pm: Starting the New Year and Ending the Old [long]
 It's been a busy year. This got to be kind of a long post, so to be polite, I've put it behind a ( cut )Current Mood:  accomplished , cat show, cats, copyediting, dieting, house selling, moving, proofreading
bostonbabydolls @ 09:00 am: [Tweets] The Big Book of Twitter
This is the daily feed of our tweets. If you want to read them as they actually happen, you can follow us at www.twitter.com/bostonbabydolls
December 31st, 2009alexx_kay @ 10:59 am: Decade thoughts
 10 years ago today, I was still recovering from my breakup with Erin. One of the contributing factors to the breakup was my reluctance to help her cope with her disabilities; I swore to myself that my next girlfriend would be a perfect physical specimen. One of the downsides to living in a communal house is that exes don't necessarily move out -- I now had *two* ex-girlfriends living in the same house as me. Anyways, work was draining so much of my energy that I had no time for new romantic entanglements. A few months earlier, the household had taken in a homeless blind orphan. She was intelligent and attractive, but rather standoffish, and I hadn't really gotten to know her yet. It wasn't until months later that I first noticed her 'that way'. A few months later, I started courting her, in such a tentative fashion that I didn't even admit it to myself for some time. Early in 2000 (after Erin had finally moved out, reducing the embarrassment factor somewhat), I propositioned her. She turned me down, gently, but very absolutely. A month later, she changed her mind :-) In October 2001, we were married. I LOVE YOU, kestrell!!! Tags: diary, love
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