tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14333862549780032332012-01-24T18:30:16.161-08:00Rants and raves from the edge of the geekosphere.Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.comBlogger861100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-87461929065378840342012-01-20T09:27:00.000-08:002012-01-20T09:41:43.261-08:00

So here's some of the news that's fit to print since my last blog post, in no particular order of importance.I've been sick for most of the last week and am finally on the road to recovery. Head cold that morphed into a chest cold. The usual winter thing. Hopefully the first and last time I'm sick this year. I've burned six days of PTO trying to get over it.In December, Zvents was acquired by

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-16067515757523850472011-07-20T07:58:00.000-07:002011-07-21T08:03:03.938-07:00

It's a very good upgrade, and well worth the measly $30. There are a few changes that will throw people for a loop. HitsThe most important changes in Lion are underneath the hood. The security model has been radically upgraded. FileVault 2 is a massive improvement over its predecessor. It provides for full disk encryption at the block level. When I upgraded my 11" MacBook Air to Lion, I enabled

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-40684169139649126152010-10-30T17:40:00.001-07:002010-10-30T18:26:43.507-07:00

I was up at four thirty and out the door by five. There were maybe three open parking places in the long term lot at SFO, and it took me about twenty minutes of cursing to find one. Lucky me. I was on the shuttle to the terminal when I suddenly remembered that my iPad was in the trunk of my car. For a split second I considered leaving it. I had a ton of books on my iPhone, after all. I could get

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-67183146519569175562010-10-29T06:10:00.001-07:002010-10-29T06:24:19.937-07:00

Tomorrow I start a week-long vacation to Washington D.C. and environs. I'm excited. It will be nice to get out of town and not worry about work for a little while (though I expect I'll be checking mail and making sure my co-workers don't blow themselves and the service up while I'm gone), but even more exciting will be the opportunity to see museums and monuments I've only read or heard about up

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-44078014320853239452010-04-19T06:59:00.000-07:002010-04-19T07:18:09.311-07:00

I just realized it's been months since my last blog post. MONTHS! Astounding.I've been busy, but not with writing, although I've managed to eke out three chapters in the rewrite of "The Book of the Talents." Most of my attention has been on learning iPhone and iPad programming.I've been wanting to learn to program the Mac since the early 90's. It used to be a lot more complicated. You had to

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-1818185158139653962010-01-27T20:53:00.000-08:002010-01-28T05:28:33.297-08:00

Steve Jobs introduced the Apple iPad today. I just got done watching the video of the keynote. Here are my impressions.The name: terrible. I mean, truly terrible. Tampon jokes were all the rage online and even in the office this afternoon. iPad. Seriously? I mean, yes, I get it, it's close to iPod-with-an-O, but really. It's as if Apple hired the supergenius at Microsoft who came up with such

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-4890593229254104502010-01-12T07:19:00.000-08:002010-01-13T07:33:05.065-08:00

I've been watching the frenzied speculation about Apple's forthcoming tablet computer with great amusement. Everyone is making learned pronouncements about why it will either blow away the competition or fail miserably in the total absence of concrete information. All we know for sure is that various hardware manufacturers and parts suppliers have received orders for something that's small and

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-42758401744819094292009-11-12T08:34:00.000-08:002009-11-12T10:09:23.529-08:00

Howdy folks,I'm writing a new book. (Or more accurately, I'm finishing one I half-wrote a few years ago.)The Prometheus OptionChapter OneBlackfriar Skyreach, London, August 17, 2029“Just relax,” said Aidan.Peter Struve glared across the elevator at him. “I’ll relax when it’s over. Not before.” He sighed heavily. “Did you know this is the thirty third time we've done this?”“I haven't been keeping

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-15841551587056712412009-11-02T21:03:00.000-08:002009-11-02T21:08:00.203-08:00

Just a quick note since I haven't posted anything here for many months:(1) Finished "The Storm Winds Rise".(2) Discovered that I need to completely rewrite "The Storm Winds Rise" as a standalone.(3) Attended the World Fantasy Convention in San Jose recently. Great fun.(4) Getting back into photography in a big way.(5) Thinking about moving to a cheaper apartment.(6) Decided to complete "The

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-66893122119223928572009-06-26T08:24:00.000-07:002009-06-26T08:38:38.410-07:00

I'll get this published as soon as I work out the idiotic way Blogger mangles my HTML tables.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-81450282503081972372009-06-22T21:19:00.001-07:002009-06-22T21:21:02.576-07:00

I just posted a note about the beta reader copies I just printed on my book blog.http://bookofthetalents.blogspot.com/

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-90574836129673388402009-06-13T07:50:00.000-07:002009-06-13T09:18:43.362-07:00

One day after completing the third draft a couple of weeks ago, I received a copy of an earlier draft that I had made into a soft-bound book using the Blurb publish-on-demand service. You'd think I'd be excited to see my story in book form at last.Well, I wasn't.Oh, the print quality and the binding were fine. Excellent, in fact. The typography, on the other hand, was laughable, and the "

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-78893433916797496182009-04-27T06:57:00.000-07:002009-04-27T07:21:43.204-07:00

Funny dream last night. I'm visiting Michael Caine's house for some reason. He's an exceptional host, urbane, funny, witty, generous with his time, you know, exactly what you'd expect Michael Caine to be. I'm there with several other visitors but I don't remember who they were. I'm wearing a white terrycloth bathrobe. Perhaps we've been swimming or hot-tubbing.At some point I have to go to the

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-36991162418514663412009-02-27T09:22:00.000-08:002009-02-27T09:31:40.445-08:00

Man, I hate getting colds. At least this one didn't move down into my lungs for a change. Still, it was two days of sinus dribbles and three of a headache that felt like my skull was being split down the middle with a logger's splitting maul. During which I was trying to think clearly enough to kickstart a bunch of Xen servers and setup seven virtual machines. Hooray, me.Anyway, I've taken enough

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-755942584437170222009-02-22T09:58:00.000-08:002009-02-22T10:01:47.706-08:00

The first draft of my book, "The Storm Winds Rise," is complete. 176,319 words in 637 manuscript pages. I finished the epilogue this morning. Time for ten minutes of celebration before I start the edits.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-11116042007003829602009-01-21T12:31:00.000-08:002009-01-21T12:39:42.436-08:00

When you get the flu and spend a lot of time in a prayerful position before the Porcelain Idol, a lot of things go through your mind:Will my soup stay down this time?I wonder if I can train my cat to use the toilet.No, probably not. I can't even train him not to drool on me while he's on my lap.I wish I could do something creative.Hell with that. I just wish I could get more than three hours of

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-72808624335230634742009-01-17T08:41:00.001-08:002009-01-17T08:42:44.994-08:00

So many I can't even begin to count them.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-26761005460324394282009-01-16T13:04:00.001-08:002009-01-16T13:05:21.473-08:00

If you don't belly laugh, you have no sense of humor.Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-38922106642921480252009-01-16T11:27:00.001-08:002009-01-16T11:36:17.376-08:00

I don't think I'll need to go again, even if they keep it going without Apple anchoring the show floor.I mean, sure, it's fun to get out of the office for a day and scope out the new computer toys and ogle the booth babes. But there weren't that many new toys, and the booth babes looked even more bored than usual. I couldn't blame them. Other than Apple's new version of iLife, which is quite

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-22497354999370973422009-01-12T16:28:00.000-08:002009-01-12T16:31:18.376-08:00

I complain about it a lot. Too much traffic, too much pollution, too much noise, too damned many people, and not enough glorious sunsets (at least where I live). But it was 74 today in Redwood City, and I walked around in my short-sleeves. I got to open the patio door and let Julius whine at his nemesis, the Black Stray Cat With One Eyebrow. And it's supposed to be like this all week.Sure, we

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-82107961560277970612009-01-07T22:07:00.001-08:002009-01-07T22:08:00.515-08:00

I must have one. I mean, I can type 80-something words a minute, but the wheel seems so much nicer.Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-85833355909129238732008-12-27T20:59:00.000-08:002008-12-27T21:40:29.790-08:00

That's French for the more things change, the more they stay the same.Hamas attacked Israel with rockets for days before Israel retaliated with bombs. Naturally, international opinion harshly condemns Israel's "disproportionate use of force" in areas populated by civilians. Left-wing commentators decry the fact that Israel refuses to deal equitably with the "democratically elected" leadership of

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-66960478023584101052008-11-12T06:41:00.000-08:002008-11-12T06:51:45.318-08:00

Excellent news!HBO has ordered the pilot episode for the proposed mini-series based on George R. R. Martin's "A Game of Thrones". I am thrilled. I started reading this series years ago after having picked up the first book in its initial hardcover release at the now sadly defunct "Future Fantasy" book store in Palo Alto. I've enjoyed every volume since, although I am becoming a bit worried at the

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-72925544664698375942008-11-11T19:40:00.000-08:002008-11-11T19:42:19.361-08:00

Good think I got my shaman "Tektonyx" to level 70 last night. I can't login to Warcraft at all tonight. I guess the server maintenance window went a leeeetle bit long.On the other hand, I finished chapter eight in my book, so there's that. And the Sharks are playing a team they've massively dominated over the years. Go Sharks!

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-68527210785142193552008-10-24T15:55:00.000-07:002008-10-24T15:59:55.339-07:00

I got a horrific cold / flu / Andromeda Strain virus last weekend, and it's played hell with my writing schedule. I'm just now coming out of the illness-induced doldrums, and haven't done a single creative thing all week. But I did succumb to the temptation to sign back into World of Warcraft.Hello, I'm Jeff, and I'm a WoW Addict.(Hi Jeff.)In my defense, I have to say that I've been alternately

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-19804721061828807432008-10-14T07:15:00.000-07:002008-10-14T07:18:58.278-07:00

I've set up another blog my handful of readers might be interested in.I'm chronicling the writing of my book at The Book of the Talents. I'll probably be updating it more often than this blog for the foreseeable future.There will always be a link to the TBOTT blog at the top of the right rail on this page.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-7484364716195706512008-10-05T11:27:00.000-07:002008-10-05T11:45:56.117-07:00

Just a brief update. I guess I'm pretty serious about this book I'm writing, because I finally got up the gumption to cancel my World of Warcraft account. I hadn't been playing for a long time in any case, and with the Wrath of the Lich King expansion coming out next month, I actually feared that I'd get sucked back into the game and stop working on my book.I loved WoW at the beginning, and for

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-30823410315530735632008-09-11T22:26:00.001-07:002008-09-11T22:27:39.767-07:00

Sorry folks... I'm suspending blogging activity for a while. I'm completely wrapped up in writing a book and all of my creative efforts are going into it. I might post again if there's something especially noteworthy, but you shouldn't expect much if anything to show up here for the next several months. Later!

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-16075574956175718062008-08-07T06:43:00.000-07:002008-08-07T06:44:36.902-07:00

It's hard to know how many ways this lady's choo choo done jumped the tracks.See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-52865682258664290122008-08-03T09:24:00.000-07:002008-08-03T09:28:49.111-07:00

At boston.com is an amazing sequence of photos showing one of the largest, most important scientific projects of the century.Here's a sample:

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-71325678977592333462008-08-01T18:09:00.001-07:002008-08-01T18:16:29.039-07:00

Think Obama might get a little steamed about this ad? Watch it and find out.Can't wait to hear the outraged squeals. I'm no fan of McCain, but Obama does seem to have nominated himself for sainthood.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-59865075435686700392008-07-31T20:50:00.000-07:002008-07-31T20:52:15.556-07:00

If you laugh at this, you are a font nerd.See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-6984830137576477892008-07-25T21:22:00.001-07:002008-07-25T21:23:58.639-07:00

...you get up at 4 AM, get home at 9 PM, put a bag of frozen broccoli in the microwave and come back twenty minutes later wondering why the bell never went off only to find that the broccoli is still frozen.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-71225149673782869142008-07-20T07:29:00.000-07:002008-07-20T18:14:20.701-07:00

I've just about had it with Apple.The new iPhone is cool, but man, the third-party software is buggggggggy. I haven't actually managed to crash my phone with any of Apple's iPhone applications, but I've lost count of the number of times I've seen the unexplained return to the Home page with programs from the App Store.I'm guessing that Apple doesn't do any QA on third party apps. Not surprising,

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-70528037095269749262008-07-13T07:27:00.000-07:002008-07-13T07:31:45.837-07:00

Lots of creative folks have been having fun with the latest Photoshop nuttiness from our friends in Iran.Click the picture for more such images.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-32540529181571312282008-07-12T08:08:00.000-07:002008-07-12T22:33:42.354-07:00

Getting an iPhone 2 yesterday turned out to be a non-starter.My company is involved in iPhone services so I plan to get one of the new models to be able to test our stuff with the new GPS-equipped model, but I confess I'd be getting one anyway in order to take advantage of the higher-speed 3G network services. I took Friday off in hopes that I might be able to get one, but the early reports of

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-50838915925260671222008-07-08T20:51:00.000-07:002008-07-08T22:52:38.341-07:00

I've known two murderers in my lifetime.The first one I knew even more poorly than the second. His name is Osman Charles Fero. He went by the name "Chick" Fero. He was the vice-principal of attendance and Dean of Students at Farmington High School (the one in New Mexico, not Illinois or Connecticut or Maine).My mom was an English teacher at FHS. She frequently referred to him as "Pharaoh" because

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-49923695584680782052008-06-28T17:38:00.000-07:002008-06-28T17:41:48.511-07:00

Scandalous. This is what happens when your parliamentarians aren't beholden to an electorate. Scandalous, but there's no chance that this behavior will change even though the MEPs are scurrying like cockroaches when the kitchen light is switched on.I'm particularly taken with the women who flees the cameramen into the elevator, keeping her face from view, whispering "Läßt mich allein, läßt mich

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-56896491949597117032008-06-26T08:05:00.000-07:002008-06-26T08:29:46.556-07:00

Today the Supreme Court ruled against Washington D.C.'s sweeping ban on handgun possession.It was a 5-4 split with the justices voting along their well-established party lines. In the minority dissent:In a dissent he summarized from the bench, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that the majority "would have us believe that over 200 years ago, the Framers made a choice to limit the tools available to

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-42477345212426181132008-06-16T20:43:00.001-07:002008-06-16T20:52:12.525-07:00

Then what about all of these jokers?Oh, that's right. The Democratic delusion is that George W. Bush made up all the "false intelligence" about Iraq. Did he start nearly three years before he was in office? Even more troubling than the bald-faced partisan liars who claim Bush started it all, is the fact that the United States' premier intelligence agencies were furnishing (apparently) inaccurate

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-50939693413959870212008-06-10T17:15:00.002-07:002008-06-10T17:16:16.271-07:00

I have no good reason to have one. But it's so cool. I must have one.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-4225024980130150082008-06-04T20:52:00.001-07:002008-06-04T20:53:21.242-07:00

If I had been on this plane, just before I got finished throwing up once the plane came to a stop, I would have tracked down the pilot and punched him square in the mouth.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-26973127893314830042008-05-31T12:53:00.000-07:002008-05-31T12:54:56.976-07:00

Omigod... this is sooooo stupid. But it's also hysterical. Not safe for work (crude humor and some language).

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-80458857978319480662008-05-26T08:35:00.001-07:002008-05-26T08:37:30.234-07:00

The Mars Phoenix Lander has landed! The image behind these NASA dudes is of the frozen plain on which the spacecraft came to rest, and where it will look for the chemicals required for life.I'm guessing these guys will be smiling for a pretty long while.Click the image to see a larger version.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-53884262036003624442008-05-24T12:38:00.001-07:002008-05-24T13:27:31.058-07:00

Here's a glorious Hubble Telescope picture of two new red spots on Jupiter.And here's the accompanying Astronomy Picture of the Day article describing how the image was created.The red spots are storms. The enhanced storm activity could be correlated with warming on Jupiter. Now, Jupiter is not as quiescent as the other gas giant planets in the Solar System. It's bigger than all of the other

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-62462264086480487092008-05-18T10:12:00.001-07:002008-05-18T22:35:03.090-07:00

Wow, looks like science fiction is getting some major attention in the fall TV lineup. This trailer is for Joss Whedon's new show, "Dollhouse". You know. Joss Whedon. "Buffy." "Firefly." That Joss Whedon. Whoopee!

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-21021991387538886772008-05-18T10:06:00.000-07:002008-05-18T10:07:01.288-07:00

I'm programming my TiVo for this right now.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-10188846254265170232008-05-18T09:07:00.003-07:002008-05-18T09:08:31.043-07:00

John McCain on Saturday Night Live:

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-48918354644309847912008-05-11T18:39:00.000-07:002008-05-11T18:49:14.432-07:00

For the last few days I've been the recipient of a very cold shoulder.From the cold therapy machine I've been using after my arthroscopic surgery, that is. I'm in between vicodin pills right now, so I thought I'd dash off a quick note while I'm still lucid. (Don't think codeine and Tylenol can seriously f*** you up? Think again.)I had the same operation on my right shoulder a couple of years ago.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-63970455581871398122008-05-06T21:29:00.001-07:002008-05-06T21:32:51.236-07:00

I wonder if the owner was worried that no one would be able to figure out what his business is all about. I mean, the name is so damned cryptic!(Apologies for the over-sharpening, J. It was across the street and I only had my iPhone with me.)

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-37716496525383870192008-04-29T07:47:00.000-07:002008-04-29T08:19:26.413-07:00

I live near the shore of the San Francisco Bay, and there is a body of water near my apartment complex that plays host to a large number of geese. I didn't realize that this was breeding season. When opening the blinds over the patio sliding glass door so Julius could look for the Evil Foe Cat who occasionally taunts him from the safety of the outdoors, I saw a number of geese and some very young

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-60916762159221313802008-04-18T10:47:00.001-07:002008-04-18T10:51:22.115-07:00

While I write, Julius sleeps. It hardly seems fair. How he sleeps through the 80 WPM din I create on the mechanical key switches of my Matias Tactile Pro I will never know.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-63664439464156149772008-04-18T06:19:00.000-07:002008-04-18T06:46:53.238-07:00

My buddy J sent me a link to this: perhaps the greatest melange of musical styles and instruments that no one wants to hear, together at last in one funny yet terrifying song. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who holds the accordion, the bagpipes and the banjo in low esteem. And the repeated choruses of the gang of tots shilling for Wal-Mart nearly had me spewing coffee all over the

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-45039672887680978482008-04-16T11:07:00.000-07:002008-04-16T11:10:03.433-07:00

Here's a link to a demo of the new features in Google Earth 4.3. The ability to zoom down to the street level and enter the panoramic view from the ground is truly mind-boggling. Tourism will never be the same.And here's where you can download this productivity-destroying program.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-55735517056302435512008-04-10T16:38:00.001-07:002008-04-10T16:38:56.655-07:00

26

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-39828369447629245602008-04-08T16:47:00.000-07:002008-04-08T16:52:15.600-07:00

Saw this as I traipsed across the parking lot this morning (click for a larger image):And if you're wondering what the hell the title of this post refers to, read this.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-46145397620334681982008-04-02T08:06:00.001-07:002008-04-02T08:06:44.313-07:00

I suppose nothing should surprise me after all these years in the computer industry. Yet, somehow, I am surprised by the bugginess of Microsoft Word 2008 for Mac OS X.As I sit here in front of the iMac this morning, quaffing Caffe Verona by the cupful and fending off the attempts by Julius to jump up into my lap, Word is attempting to start up in the background. I say "attempting" because the

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-81319246175541068882008-03-31T16:56:00.000-07:002008-03-31T16:57:23.848-07:00

The most amazing performance art... ever. I'd have loved to have seen this in person.Thanks to Archie for forwarding this to me.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-61273041119115381532008-03-26T17:26:00.001-07:002008-03-26T17:30:13.965-07:00

Check it out.http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/03/colbert-and-kam.htmlIgnore the Stephen Colbert part. Dean Kamen and his geniuses at DEKA Research have invented a hyper-efficient Sterling-engine-powered water purifier that can produce up to 1000 liters of pure distilled water a day from any source of dirty water, no matter how polluted. Sewer effluent. Sea water. You name it. If they can

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-16745016460635567482008-03-24T07:40:00.000-07:002008-03-24T07:49:40.124-07:00

Apple has demonstrated that it is the most heinous company in computerdom today. How? By offering Safari 3.1 in the Apple Software Updater for Windows.Even (gasp) if the user doesn't already have an earlier version of Safari installed!I am standing beside myself in fury! How could Apple do such an underhanded thing! How? How??? Doesn't Apple know that users are absolutely as dumb as a block of

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-37934166562585729992008-03-23T21:04:00.000-07:002008-03-23T21:19:44.760-07:00

It would look like this. Click it for a larger, nastier looking version.This is a cutting from a sword palm. I'm not sure what the botanical name of this version of the palm tree is. I suspect it's something like Diabolicus killerplantensis. I spent about six hours this Saturday pulling and cutting dead and dying fronds from Stephanie's two backyard sword palms. At the base of the trunkmost

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-17236110811976653142008-03-18T17:05:00.000-07:002008-03-18T17:16:46.558-07:00

Thanks for "2001", "Childhood's End," and "Rendezvous With Rama". Thanks for the short story "The Nine Billion Names of God". Thanks for communications satellites.I don't know if Clarke's books were more influential on me as a young SF reader than Frank Herbert's "Dune", Samuel R. Delaney's "Nova", or Larry Niven's "Ringworld", but I still get a chill when I think of the monolith on the moon, and

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-42068070330872790722008-03-18T08:03:00.000-07:002008-03-18T08:43:02.911-07:00

Safari has always lagged behind Internet Explorer (on the PC) and Mozilla (and damned near every other browser) in terms of page rendering speed.I'm not sure that Safari 3.1 is really faster than any of these other browsers, but it's so much faster than 3.0 that it's no longer actively painful to use. If you have a Mac, you need to get Safari 3.1.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-37614711127562015792008-03-18T07:54:00.001-07:002008-03-18T07:59:32.467-07:00

I'd do the face plant too, to save a Mac Book Air.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-5748784789170938342008-03-12T16:28:00.000-07:002008-03-12T16:33:43.267-07:00

::: shaking my head :::"Marketing people are supposed to be able to sell, what do they say, 'ketchup to an Eskimo' or something like that?"Ben Drawbaugh, Engadget HD Podcast, 3/5/08Maybe if the Eskimo has a hot dog, Ben.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-46581756006884656962008-03-11T07:07:00.000-07:002008-03-12T11:41:39.707-07:00

I'd planned to install Boot Camp on my Intel-based iMac some time ago. Boot Camp lets you install Windows on a disk partition, and you can then boot the Mac into OS X or Windows, no emulation required. Sounds great, right? Especially if you want to play PC games that aren't available for the Mac, for whatever reason. (That's the only reason I need Windows, for sure... I can't imagine trying to

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-22427560650139078292008-03-06T07:20:00.000-08:002008-03-06T07:23:29.121-08:00

If you're a World of Warcraft fan or just a generic MMORPG player, "The Guild" is a pretty funny (and very well produced) video show available on the web. I found out about this on the current episode of "The Instance", a WoW podcast. Also quite well done.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-71682707334454022742008-02-26T15:52:00.001-08:002008-02-26T15:57:57.475-08:00

The caffeine monkey on my back was too much for me. I stopped by the grocery store on the way home yesterday and bought a bag of regular Caffe Verona beans. But I mixed them half-and-half with decaf beans before I put them in the coffee grinder, so I'm definitely cutting down. This morning I had my first delicious cup of somewhat caffeinated coffee. Yum! Then I had a second cup. Even more yum!

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-1002095675742157672008-02-25T07:38:00.000-08:002008-02-25T07:45:44.447-08:00

I scored 10 out of 24. Many of which were silly wild-assed guesses. But I'll take 'em!Not bad, but I blew it particularly badly with some of the technical awards. I'm pleased but surprised that The Bourne Ultimatum managed to nail sound editing, mixing, and editing. I love Paul Greengrass and would go see anything he directs, but that was kind of a shocker. Maybe the Academy just really loathes

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-11669148237662233172008-02-24T08:31:00.001-08:002008-02-24T08:39:52.177-08:00

I followed through with the pledge to switch to decaf. That night I stopped at Snob Hill and picked up two bags of decaf Caffe Verona. Still tastes good even if it doesn't pack any punch.The next morning I got up at my usual ridiculously early hour, made the "coffee", sat and drank it while wasting another hour or two playing WoW, and went to work. No traffic incidents, no craziness. And I was

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-36623320630200247302008-02-20T09:20:00.000-08:002008-02-20T10:04:47.469-08:00

This morning, I awoke around 5:00 (my usual starting time these days, I guess). The first thing I did other than throw on my robe was to stumble out into the kitchen and turn on the coffee pot.Following my long-established morning ritual, I sat down and waited for the coffee to brew, and for Julius to stop yowling at me so he could curl up on the top of my computer hutch (not coincidentally close

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-33954189549758712662008-02-18T09:20:00.000-08:002008-02-20T10:05:42.260-08:00

Behold, 10.5.2! The First OS X Server Upgrade That Doesn't Suck!I've posted ad nauseam here and here and here about the problems I had with upgrading my office's two Mac OS X Server machines to Leopard. This Sunday, I went into the office fully expecting to spend another full day of my weekend trying to de-lobotomize my servers after upgrading to 10.5.2. How surprised I was to be able to run the

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-48290419623498212922008-02-15T17:06:00.000-08:002008-02-20T10:06:06.446-08:00

I do this every year. Sometimes I'm pretty close to the mark. Sometimes I'm right on the mark. Let's see how well I do this time! Here's my list, days in advance of the Oscars.I haven't seen most of these movies, as usual, but I listen to Filmspotting (a great podcast) and I've heard the reviews, and I think I have my finger on the pulse of Hollywood. We'll see if I'm right or blowing hot air, as

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-7465566824909304452008-02-13T07:17:00.001-08:002008-02-20T10:06:33.844-08:00

And then he went and got the religion of "Intelligent Design."And then he made a movie about how those poor, poor cdesign proponentists (sic) are being kicked out of mainstream science curricula all over the country. I can't believe those ideological Big Science Darwinists don't welcome mythology into their purposely secular textbooks. They even managed to coerce a conservative judge into

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-80426756962741365442008-02-12T05:54:00.000-08:002008-02-20T10:06:57.413-08:00

Julius is my cat.  He is a very nice cat. To humans, that is. To other cats, he is Josef Adolph Benito Hitlerstalinmussolini. You wouldn't know it to look at him. Try it for yourself! Here he is. Look at him.Seems innocuous enough, right? But he was the constant terror of Stinky and Maia, the cats with whom he was recently sharing living quarters. Now that he's on his own, and he's had a few days

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-37881798384368627642008-02-02T18:50:00.000-08:002008-02-02T19:05:21.710-08:00

There are some topics that don't need to be blogged about. My break-up with Stephanie is one of them. I won't go into the details in public. It's not that I'm indifferent. It's that I consider it a private matter. But I couldn't be true to the spirit of this weblog if I didn't acknowledge it at all. It is, after all, the biggest thing to happen to me in decades.It has gone about as well as the

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-23953011779953325562008-02-01T07:02:00.000-08:002008-02-01T07:08:11.272-08:00

There's nothing like a disassembled computer to make me happy that I don't have to do hardware repairs on a regular basis. Case in point: This is what a MacBook Air looks like on the inside.  I'd take it apart and promptly lose every single tiny screw, and wind up having to reassemble it with Duct Tape. Now that's a lovely image.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-60466477969629495892008-01-29T18:33:00.000-08:002008-01-29T21:37:48.449-08:00

The rear tank of a gasoline tanker overturned on southbound US 101 just south of my office today. I got a great view of the results from my eighth-floor window. (Photos courtesy of my iPhone, Photoshop and Illustrator to add those keen arrowheads.)

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-70025008446220031212008-01-29T17:58:00.000-08:002008-01-29T21:38:28.926-08:00

And it is quite interesting, considering that Tufte is a master of the art of quantitative visualization.Read the critique here.Watch the video here.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-31946686628359735722008-01-25T17:55:00.000-08:002008-01-25T17:57:41.540-08:00

Nerdly? Yes. Incredibly cool? You bet. The illusion is so compelling that you could swear you were REALLY seeing a 3D virtual-reality image, even in this video. Amazing stuff.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-10552167367871917622008-01-24T12:36:00.000-08:002008-01-25T17:06:07.361-08:00

"Mmmmm, spaceship." (Homeresque drooling sounds) Read the BBC article.Addendum (1/25/08): See the demo video. My only question is, how the hell do they get back into those recliners?!

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-42702521213123099062008-01-22T09:13:00.000-08:002008-01-22T09:24:12.833-08:00

Last week at MacWorld I blew $40 on this nice ruby-red plastic MacBook Pro case. It looks great! And it provides nice scratch protection for the aluminum shell of my MacBook.So why is this such a bad idea? Think about it. What happens when you put a hard plastic case on something that goes into a nylon Brenthaven computer bag?Yep. You got it. The same thing that happen when you rub a balloon on

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-24692820652177346692008-01-21T05:55:00.000-08:002008-01-21T07:18:36.043-08:00

Cloverfield takes its title from the code-name assigned to the location in US Area 447, formerly known as Central Park, where the camera used to film the attack of a monster on New York City was found.It's pretty obvious from the get-go that not many of the people in this film survive, so it's not a spoiler to tell you that up front. Since the movie is filmed as if by one of the participants, it

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-78360931006791710452008-01-20T07:52:00.000-08:002008-01-20T07:54:32.006-08:00

Unboxing a MacBook Air.

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-80569333248326287332008-01-18T08:24:00.000-08:002008-01-18T12:30:14.768-08:00

Yesterday Archie and I went up to MacWorld Expo in San Francisco. It was a pretty sedate affair, but we did get a chance to play around with the MacBook Air. My opinion on this machine has changed several times (at first I liked it, then I decided it was unsupportable from an IT manager's perspective.) After getting my hands on the machine, and after finding out about ProToGo from Micromat, the

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433386254978003233.post-45096606908807375842008-01-16T16:12:00.000-08:002008-01-16T17:02:02.607-08:00

I've decided to move my blog to Blogspot.My old blog is hosted on a machine at Hurricane Electric, which is a good network provider. Unfortunately, when I started my blog back in September, 2004, Blogspot either didn't exist or I didn't know about it. And it has a lot of very cool features, and it's free, and it looks pretty damned good. And it's free. Did I mention that it's free?Free is

Jeff Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10532615181678220115noreply@blogger.com3