Tech

Tech-focused ramblings. Computers, blogs, and whatever else fits.

On This Day: Dec 3

by

Since I hit 20 years of blogging this November, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 23 posts previously published on December 3rd

  • 2023
  • 2021
    • 📚 50/2021: Chains of Command by Bill McCay and Eloise Flood ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🖖🏻 ➡
  • 2020
    • 📚 forty-nine of 2020: Clash of the Titans by Alan Dean Foster ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Foster does his usual solidly enjoyable adaptation work. And I’m pretty sure that this movie was responsible for the majority of my knowledge of Greek mythology for much of my youth (and beyond…). ➡
    • Stop that nonsense at once, or you won’t be allowed to make any more planets. — Squire Trelane’s father, ST:TOS “The Squire of Gothos” 🖖 ➡
    • Just found out my trusty first-generation Retina 5K iMac (late 2014) is now on Apple’s ‘vintage products’ list. I’ll happily upgrade as soon as they announce an Apple Silicon replacement! But current rumors don’t have that until late ’21 or early ’22. :( Not soon enough! ➡
    • Nice to meet you, Elliot I'll happily spend a little time being mildly confused if it means that cultural progress is being made. ➡
    • On This Day: Dec 3 Recognizing 20 years of blogging, here are my past posts from December 3 ➡
  • 2019
    • RIP D.C. Fontana Sad news — D.C. Fontana, one of the pillars of Star Trek, has died. ➡
    • Hopepunk Go forth. Be angry. Be optimistic. Be hopepunk. Make this world a better place, whether it likes it or not. ➡
  • 2018
    • Book fifty-two of 2018: Dinosaur Summer, by Greg Bear. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ And that makes my goal of fifty-two books for the year, with almost a full month to go! ➡
  • 2016
    • Book fifty-three of 2016: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (338/366) ➡
  • 2015
    • Oh, @cardsagainsthumanity. Don’t ever change. Unless it’s for the better, of course. ➡
  • 2014
    • Now is the time @ShaunKing: 'LISTEN: If you ever wondered what you would do if you were alive in the Civil Rights Movement, NOW IS THE TIME to find out. NOW. RIGHT NOW' ➡
  • 2010
    • That 100 Book List (That’s Not Actually From the BBC) The list has nothing to do with the BBC -- the closest the BBC gets is The Big Read, a 2003 list of Britain's 100 most popular books as determined by BBC viewer nominations -- and actually appears to be taken from a 2007 article in _The Guardian_, reporting on the results of a poll of 2,000 people by the World Book Day website. ➡
  • 2005
    • LibraryThing Neat new web toy I just found: LibraryThing -- catalog and tag your book collection. I just spent some time putting in a few shelves worth of my library.... Neat! ➡
  • 2004
    • ecto 2 So ecto 2 is updated, and one of the nifty new features is Amazon integration. It's pretty slick…I do have one concern about the link format, though. ➡
  • 2002
    • Pros and cons of newsreaders So — as a personal favor to me — would all of you nice people who keep me informed about the world, thinking about current events, and considering new ideas on how to tweak my website, kindly pipe down for a day or two so I can get caught up? You should be able to start babbling as normal round about Thursday, I think. ➡
    • Recommended reading? This could be interesting — Mark Pilgrim has set up a Recommended Reading script that analyses your web page, and then suggests other sites that you might find worth reading. ➡
    • Everything old is new again So, over the past few weeks, it's been announced that Henry Kissinger is heading up the 9/11 inquiry, and John Poindexter is the new head of the Total Information Awareness office. And we're supposed to accept these announcements as good decisions? ➡
    • I’m not surprised I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the President. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation. ➡
  • 2001
    • Yay Pigface! Pigface is going to be in Seattle at the Experience Music Project as part of their Preaching to the Perverted tour! I am so there. ➡

On This Day: Dec 2

by

Since I hit 20 years of blogging this November, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 23 posts previously published on December 2nd

  • 2023
    • Not a Spotify Wrap-up Streaming only accounts for maybe 10% of my listening, but here's what Apple Music thinks I've been listening to this year. ➡
    • Year 50 Day 214 We needed more books. But then, we _always_ need more books. ➡
  • 2020
  • 2019
    • Seattle QFC debuts first apple ever bred in Washington, despite the state being the highest grower: “The apple variety was developed by Washington State University. Washington growers, who paid for the research, will have the exclusive right to sell it for the first 10 years.” ➡
    • There are no humans in Star Wars. Watching the Original Trilogy, we assume that the ‘humans’ of the GFFA (Galaxy Far Far Away) are biologically and sociologically identical to Sol 3 humans. When obviously they’re not! ➡
  • 2017
    • Worst. Fudge. Evar! ➡
  • 2016
  • 2012
    • Christmas 2012 Wishlist Dad asked me to post my Christmas wish list, so here I go. As usual, what follows is links to four separate Amazon wish lists, as my occasional OCD tendencies mean I categorize my greed. Though I don't expect anyone other than my parents to get me anything...I've been surprised in the past, so feel free to indulge! ;) ➡
  • 2010
    • Close the Washington Monument ''Terrorism isn't a crime against people or property. It's a crime against our minds, using the death of innocents and destruction of property to make us fearful.... But when we refuse to be terrorized, when we're indomitable in the face of terror, the terrorists fail -- even if their attacks succeed.'' ➡
    • The Proverbial Sausage Factory This is a fascinating look at a trial from a juror's perspective: hearing the evidence, trying to balance all the factors and evidence in coming to a decision, and watching the legal system at work. Perhaps of particular interest to me as a Law and Justice student, but the kind of thing that I think would be interesting no matter what. ➡
  • 2009
  • 2008
  • 2004
    • Raise the roof! Ain't no party like an Amish party, 'cause an Amish party don't stop! ➡
    • E=1/2CV^2 (Hanscom’s Law) E=1/2CV^2: any given job will only require half of what you know, but will require proportionately more experience than you have. ➡
    • 100 percent Abstinence is the only 100% sure method of avoiding STDs and unwanted pregnancy. ➡
    • Abstinence courses wildly off base Our tax dollars at work: the abstinence programs that Bush is so heavily in favor of (as opposed to real sex education) are distributing wildly inaccurate information to teens. ➡
  • 2003
    • Dead Milkmen tour diaries How very, very cool. Dean Clean, drummer for the Dead Milkmen, is posting his tour diaries from the band's first days of touring back in 1985. ➡
    • Amazon linking techniques According to onfocus, Amazon has changed the way they link to wishlists, breaking current wishlist links in the process…later in the comments, an interesting tidbit of information was posted…and all this reminded me of an important note from Jason Kottke regarding linking to items on Amazon with your Amazon Associates ID. ➡
    • 2003 Weblog Awards Wizbang has opened up nominations for the 2003 Weblog Awards. In an uncharacteristic fit of self-aggrandizement, I went ahead and nominated this site for Best Looking Blog. ➡
  • 2002
    • God is good And God said, 'You have hot water, and can take a bath.' ➡
    • I’m back I had an absolutely wonderful and very relaxing Thanksgiving weekend with Prairie and her family. Details and pictures will be up later on, probably this evening. ➡

On This Day: Dec 1

by

Since I hit 20 years of blogging this November, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 28 posts previously published on December 1st

  • 2023
  • 2021
  • 2020
  • 2019
    • Gordon van Gelder, administrator of the Philip K. Dick Award, is conducting an online auction to raise funds for the award. Lots of books donated by authors and publishers, many (most? all?) signed by the authors. Check it out! 📚 ➡
    • Found on Facebook, original creator unknown, but it sure made me laugh. Welcome to the holiday season! ➡
    • 📚 fifty-seven of 2019: Way Station, by Clifford D. Simak. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1964 Hugo Best Novel Excellent book, mostly quiet and contemplative, as one man struggles with both his and humanity’s place in the galaxy. An introspective and ultimately hopeful piece. ➡
    • First human composting site to open in 2021: This is really neat, but wow, look at that ‘70s sci-fi cult design! Honestly, I think that’s a selling point for me. ➡
    • Are good readers more likely to give up on maths?: “None of this means that we should stop efforts to counter stereotypes about girls’ aptitude for maths and science versus reading. But it does suggest that much of the impact of these stereotypes occurs not at the point at which girls choose a career, but ... Read more ➡
  • 2016
    • Waiting for my dental appointment. Everyone’s favorite way to start the day. (336/366) ➡
  • 2014
    • Let’s hope America keeps producing nicer white people '…my kids are smart, educated, beautiful, polite children. There have been smart, educated, beautiful, polite black children for hundreds of years. The advantage that my children have is that my children are encountering the nicest white people that America has ever produced. Let’s hope America keeps producing nicer white people.' ➡
  • 2013
    • Sounds From the Lost Abbey 06 Back in February, I took up a challenge from one of my friends to create a mix based around songs that I'd have played at the Lost Abbey, during the mid- to late-1990s. Here's the sixth of quite a few to come! ➡
  • 2007
  • 2005
    • Snow! It's really coming down -- doesn't seem to be sticking yet, but the flakes are huge. Whee! ➡
    • Lost s02e09: What Kate Did Scribbled notes while watching last night's episode of Lost. Spoilers, obviously, so only read further if you want to... ➡
  • 2004
    • MSN Spaces reactions Robert Scoble is collecting reactions to MSN Spaces, including mine. ➡
    • Balloon Feather Boat Tomato Jason Webley has updated his site with information about his most recent show. He has links up to the photo galleries that Josh and I have posted (nifty!), plus a few other goodies. ➡
    • MSN Spaces launches Microsoft finally makes their long-rumored debut into the weblogging service arena with MSN Spaces. I got curious, and it's free, so I went ahead and signed up to try it out. ➡
    • Switch to VoIP? If I switched over to both OneLink and VoIP, my final cost would be about $6/month more than what I'm paying now, but the first three months would be cheaper, as you get a 'free three months' for signing up (some of which are offset by the setup costs, but that's expected). All in all, this sounds like a pretty damn good deal to me. ➡
    • World AIDS Day World AIDS Day, December 1, 2004 ➡
  • 2003
    • Well, hi there…Dick… According to Yahoo! News, this is a photo of Dick Gephardt's shadow… ➡
    • My G5 is an insomniac Issue 1: My G5 appears to be an insomniac. Issue 2: At some point, I lose the ability to choose some of the commands in the Apple menu: 'About This Mac', 'Force Quit...', 'Restart...', 'Shut Down...', and 'Log Out [username]...' are all non-responsive. ➡
    • Roy Disney resigns from Disney Roy Disney himself has left the Walt Disney company, and includes a call for Michael Eisner's resignation or retirement in his letter of resignation. ➡
    • Getting in Google's good graces I use a number of techniques on my weblog, both in the code and how I create entries, that help Google get the most useful information out of my pages. ➡
    • You're an ex-DJ? I don't think I've ever met an ex-DJ. They're always just 'between clubs' or something. ➡
  • 1993
    • [From Usenet: 12.1.93 0608] All I know is that the local Mucusland (Musicland) moved the date in their little book for his new album from October/November to January. Ergh...starting to get torqued at this! ➡
    • [From Usenet 12.1.93 0608] According to a DJ at the local college radio station, there was a sampler put out by Hollywood records a while back with a remix (not remake) of Queen's Stone Cold Crazy, remixed by Trent Reznor. ➡
    • [From Usenet 12.1.93 0542] Personally, I don't have a whole lot, but...Front by Front is good, best track (imho) being #10, Welcome to Paradise ('Hey poor! You don't have to be poor anymore! Jesus is here!') Good sampling. ➡
    • [From Usenet: 12.1.93 0534] Good stuff (imho). New album, while not produced by Reznor, definitely has some of his touch to it...probably picked up some hints while working on the remixes of BLBT(AJF). Nifty...I like it. ➡

On This Day: Nov 30

by

Since I hit 20 years of blogging this November, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 29 posts previously published on November 30th

  • 2024
    • Asylum by Una McCormack 📚: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Trek at its best when it’s looking at modern issues through an SF lens. ➡
  • 2023
  • 2021
    • 📚 49/2021: The World of Science Fiction 1926-1976: The History of a Subculture by Lester del Rey ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ➡
    • Blog This Shortcut for iOS or macOS A cross-platform iOS/macOS shortcut for blogging with MarsEdit or Ulysses ➡
  • 2020
    • This year’s series of Microblogvember posts is done! Once again, lots of SF/F microfiction. Find all of them — plus, if you scroll back far enough, all of last year’s — on the microblogvember tag page, and (hopefully) enjoy! ➡
    • She closed her eyes, reciting line after line of every poem, song, and book she could remember, desperately trying to reinforce her mental defenses against the earworm’s attack. Unfortunately, humanity had yet to find a working defense against “It’s A Small World, After All.” ➡
    • Washington state has enabled COVID-19 exposure notifications for iPhone and Android users. More information and installation instructions are available at WANotify.org. You should enable this! Also, stay at home when you can, mask and social distance when you can’t. ➡
    • On This Day: Nov 30 Recognizing 20 years of blogging, here are my past posts from November 30 ➡
    • 📚 forty-eight of 2020: Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome by Joan D. Vinge ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Better than I expected for a novelization of an ‘80s action flick. Makes me want to re-watch the film again to see if it’s better than I remember, or if Vinge just did a particularly good job. ➡
  • 2019
    • Thirty days, thirty posts: I successfully completed Microblogvember! All my posts are tagged with ‘Microblogvember’ on my blog. All fiction (as far as I know, at least), all in the general SF/fantasy/horror spaces. This was a fun project! ➡
    • “I told you I had to integrate the all the systems before we could start!” “Yes, I know—I just didn’t realize you meant…all the systems,” they replied, looking in horror at the wires and tubes running from the console and snaking under their skin. Microblogvember: integrate ➡
    • 📚 fifty-six of 2019: Taking Wing, by Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Captain Riker’s first assignment post-Nemesis. Also, quite coincidentally, in many ways a sequel to the last Trek novel I read, with several direct ties, and by the same authors. 🖖 ➡
  • 2017
    • Day one! #cardsagainsthumanity #cah ➡
  • 2016
    • Lit by the Christmas tree lights. (335/366) ➡
  • 2013
    • Sounds From the Lost Abbey 05 Back in February, I took up a challenge from one of my friends to create a mix based around songs that I'd have played at the Lost Abbey, during the mid- to late-1990s. Here's the fifth of quite a few to come! ➡
  • 2009
  • 2005
    • Wishlist time! Seeing how it's less than a month before Christmas and we've run full-bore into the shopping season, I figured I'd put up my wishlist. Of course, the one thing standing in the way is that for the most part, I really don't _have_ a wishlist...at least, not a serious one. ➡
    • Tweaking the ads I've done a bit of tweaking on the ads served up on the pages of my site. While I certainly have no intentions of becoming an adfarm, I finally decided that I didn't mind at least _slightly_ increasing the possibilities of having a few pennies slide my way from time to time. ➡
  • 2004
    • ADD, Hyperactivity, and Ritalin I have serious issues with the current obsession with ADD and the associated pharmaceutical treatments. My personal belief is that it's an incredibly overblown and overmedicated issue. ➡
    • iTMS: Kevin Spacey ‘Beyond the Sea’ Last night while bouncing randomly around the iTMS, I noticed an album by Kevin Spacey. Since I know Kevin as an actor, and not a singer, I was a little curious, and did some investigating. Turns out that there's an upcoming biopic of Bobby Darin called Beyond the Sea with Kevin in the lead role, and he actually does all of his own singing for the film. ➡
    • Oddly Enough News Article | Reuters.com An Australian phone company is offering customers the chance to blacklist numbers before heading out for a night on the town so they can reduce the risk of making any embarrassing, incoherent late-night calls. ➡
    • A Seattle-centric blonde joke A blonde was feeling so depressed that she decided to end her life by throwing herself into Puget Sound. She went down to the docks and was about to leap into the frigid water when a handsome young sailor saw her teetering on the edge of the pier crying. ➡
    • Blast from the Past Something I never realized before — apparently, the person in this iconic ad for Maxell audiocassettes…is none other than then-Bauhaus frontman Peter Murphy. Nifty! ➡
    • LotR:TYEBEE (Lord of the Rings: Till Your Eyes Bleed Extended Edition) 7am: friends arrive, pancake breakfast. / 8am: Fellowship of the Ring (~4+ hrs) / 12:30pm: Lunch / 2:00pm: The Two Towers (~3 1/2 hrs) / 5:30pm: Dinner / 7:00pm: Return of the King (~ 4 1/2 hrs) / 11:30pm: Eyes ooze out of our sockets, bedsores open on our asses. ➡
    • Adoption Lately, I've been really enjoying reading The Sticking Point as Tommy and his wife travel to Seoul to finalize the adoption of a baby boy. Being able to experience the adoption through Tommy's eyes has been rather touching for me, as some time ago I was somewhat involved in an adoption from the other side of the process. ➡
  • 2003
    • First LotR:TRotK review…almost The Return of the King is ... sorry about this, but we're not allowed to tell you what we think of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King until next Tuesday. ➡
    • Bombardier Embrio The Embryo is a single-wheeled vehicle, balanced using internal gyroscopes and powered with a hydrogen fuel cell, emitting only water as its exhaust. ➡
    • The fitty-cen' project Of course, the real question is whether gangsta rappers are going to chip in… ➡
  • 2001
    • Upcoming reading material In the course of a LotR discussion quite a few books and series were mentioned, and I thought I'd jot some of them down so I can pull from this list next time I need to find a book to dive into. ➡

On This Day: Nov 29

by

Since I hit 20 years of blogging this November, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 25 posts previously published on November 29th

  • 2023
    • ABBYY FineReader Amazement and Disappointment ABBYY FineReader PDF is a really impressive tool for converting scanned image-only PDFs into searchable, accessible PDFs. Unless you’re on a Mac, where one of the most powerful parts of the program is missing. ➡
    • Year 50 Day 211 Almost, but not quite, done with Thanksgiving leftovers. ➡
  • 2022
    • 📚 Sundiver by David Brin A fun SF concept that turns into an Agatha Christie-ish mystery, all against a wider background seemingly based off the silly “ancient anstronauts” idea. ➡
  • 2021
    • Updated my iOS “Blog This” shortcut (for sending selected text from Safari to Ulysses in Markdown format) to add two fixes: slightly adjusting the output if no text is selected, and expanding relative URLs (my thanks to Memory Alpha for inspiring this fix). ➡
    • I really wish they had done this in First Contact. ➡
  • 2020
    • Difficult Listening Hour 2020.11.28: Thank(s)/giv(e/ing) Every track has 'thank', 'give', or 'giving' in the title. ➡
    • When he was younger, the future was a bright, shiny goal that he couldn’t wait to get to. Now that he was here, though it all seemed so sadly pedestrian and banal. Even personal transporters and alien coworkers lost their fascination after a few years of everyday encounters. ➡
    • On This Day: Nov 29 Recognizing 20 years of blogging, here are my past posts from November 29 ➡
  • 2019
    • “A real ray gun? That’s fantastic!” Excited, he tossed the box aside and examined the weapon. “No,” his father disagreed, “it’s science fictional. That’s fantastic,” he said, and pointed out the window at the hippogriff seated in their front yard. Microblogvember: fantastic ➡
    • 📚 fifty-five of 2019: The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1963 Hugo Best Novel Fascinating partly for the primary alt history, but also for other alternatives and the ruminations on those, an author’s intent, and the characters’ realizations. ➡
    • Amazon Alternatives: “Welcome to the most lovingly curated selection of Amazon and Prime alternatives anywhere. We aim to make giving up Amazon easy and to encourage more people to spend their money with businesses that have higher ethical standards.” ➡
  • 2018
  • 2016
    • Fighting Authoritarianism Important lessons from history to keep in mind over the upcoming years. ➡
    • I do enjoy it when my fumbling ends up looking like some indie album cover. (334/366) ➡
    • Not my official photo of the day. Just saying hello to my Instagram followers. Some of you I know; some I don’t. If you want to take a peek at my world beyond Instagram, here’s where to look! ➡
    • Giving Tuesday For Giving Tuesday, I’m adding two more organizations to my monthly donations. ➡
  • 2015
    • One of my graduation presents for getting through grad school: the #Lego Creator Detective’s Office (10246). Three stories, with a pool hall and barbershop at street level, detective’s office and restroom on the second floor, and kitchenette and rooftop water tower on the third floor. Plus lots of fun little hidden “clues” and secret areas. ... Read more ➡
  • 2014
    • Apparently Popular Mechanics idea of what women wear to damp-proof their basement was inspired by Lara Croft. Seems legit. ➡
  • 2013
    • Sounds From the Lost Abbey 04 Back in February, I took up a challenge from one of my friends to create a mix based around songs that I'd have played at the Lost Abbey, during the mid- to late-1990s. Here's the fourth of quite a few to come! ➡
    • Sounds From the Lost Abbey 03 Back in February, I took up a challenge from one of my friends to create a mix based around songs that I'd have played at the Lost Abbey, during the mid- to late-1990s. Here's the third of quite a few to come! ➡
  • 2007
    • Wishlistr Flying full-bore into the Season of Greed, I'm playing around with Wishlistr, a clean and simple site for tracking all those little (and, me being me, not-so-little) 'I want' bits that pop up. ➡
  • 2006
    • Gaiman, Webley, and Toasty Tuckuses Nifty randomness of the day: seeing Neil Gaiman quote and promote Jason Webley (by way of someone posting the video to Eleven Saints). ➡
    • Snowy Days The local news is a hoot, from the perspective of an ex-Alaskan -- the first twenty minutes of each broadcast can be boiled down to, 'stay home, it's slippery and you don't know how to drive.' Then, maybe, if there isn't a new front moving in, they might fill us in on some of what's going on in the rest of the world. ➡
  • 2005
  • 2001
    • Home again, home again, jiggety jig Just got done talking with dad...we don't have the final details yet, but it looks like I'll be taking a cab straight from work to the airport on the 21st, be in Anchorage until Christmas day, and fly out of Anchorage to come back on the 25th. ➡

On This Day: Nov 28

by

Since I hit 20 years of blogging this November, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 22 posts previously published on November 28th

  • 2023
  • 2021
    • Thoughts on The Hobbit Trilogy After re-watching The Hobbit trilogy (extended) for the first time in a good few years, I’m solidly of the opinion that, while good, there are some definite tonal issues throughout. ➡
  • 2020
    • The ball had progressed beautifully. As each reveler grew tired and departed, whether alone or with one or more partners for more private entertainments, they drew a mask from the bin by the door, placed it over their face, and returned to the safety of everyday life once more. ➡
    • 📚 forty-seven of 2020: Exiles by Howard Weinstein ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #startrek #tng 🖖 The best of the early TNG novels so far. The characters felt right, and there was a good mix of serious plot and humor throughout. An obvious final solution, but that’s forgivable. ➡
    • On This Day: Nov 28 Recognizing 20 years of blogging, here are my past posts from November 28 ➡
  • 2019
    • A surprise inheritance was strange enough, but that it included lakeside property had stunned her when she got the notice. Not as stunned, of course, as when she discovered it was actually a cemetery whose residents weren’t as quiet as she expected. Microblogvember: property ➡
  • 2017
    • Book forty-seven of 2017: The Dead Seekers, by Barb & J.C. Hendee. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ➡
  • 2016
    • Wishlists For holiday considerations: my Amazon wish lists, or a few organizations that I think are worth donating to. ➡
    • Post-Thanksgiving Status A brief note on this year’s Thanksgiving break activities, and minor updates to this blog. ➡
    • The break is over, back to work we go! (333/366) ➡
  • 2015
    • This may not have been the best choice of display method for your holiday stuffies, Fred Meyer. #tw #triggerwarning #inappropriatehumor ➡
    • Getting started on putting Christmas up (after Thanksgiving, as is appropriate). ➡
  • 2014
  • 2013
    • Sounds From the Lost Abbey 02 Back in February, I took up a challenge from one of my friends to create a mix based around songs that I'd have played at the Lost Abbey, during the mid- to late-1990s. Here's the second of quite a few to come! ➡
  • 2007
    • Badass Bible Verses Cracked has a list of the top nine 'badass' bible verses. Just for fun, I'll list the verse citations here. Any guesses at what stories they're referring to (before looking at the linked article, of course)? ➡
  • 2006
    • No Snow Day for Us Grrrrr. It's not _just_ that I want my snow day -- and sure, I do -- but it's _dangerous_ out there. Demanding that students and teachers fight their way through this crud to get to school is stupid and irresponsible. ➡
  • 2004
  • 2003
  • 2001
    • Enterprise: Cold Front In original Trek, time travel was shown as a somewhat simple, if not trivial, concept. Now, however, we're being told that the Vulcans have 'studied time travel extensively' and determined that it's an impossibility. ➡
    • Privacy, shmivacy 'Magic Lantern,' a government developed 'trojan horse' style virus that appears as an e-mail attachment. Once on your machine, it can record keystrokes and transmit them back to the FBI for analasys. ➡
    • Aaaah! I wanna see it! I wanna see it now! Reviews of the first Lord of the Rings film, Fellowship of the Ring, are starting to hit the net...here's what I've found so far. ➡

On This Day: Nov 27

by

Since I hit 20 years of blogging this November, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 24 posts previously published on November 27th

  • 2023
    • Year 50 Day 209 The joys of remote work: on the one hand, on the other hand, and on the gripping hand. ➡
  • 2021
    • Vinegar: YouTube5 was a Safari extension back when Flash was still a thing and hated by everyone. It replaced the YouTube player (written in Flash) with an HTML <video> tag. And now the YouTube player situation has gotten bad enough that we need another extension to fix it. That’s where Vinegar comes in. Vinegar also ... Read more ➡
    • Figured out how to create an iOS shortcut that grabs a webpage URL, title, and any selected text from Safari, formats it into a Markdown link and block quote, and then sends it to Ulysses as a new post to be published to my blog. Pretty happy with the result! ➡
    • With No Time To Die, or even wash his hands, James Bond’s travel hygiene fails: From his questionable sexual behavior to his unsafe eating habits to his risk-taking with regard to insect- and animal-borne diseases, it’s remarkable that the famous fictional secret agent has repeatedly lived another day. In a new paper, published in the ... Read more ➡
  • 2020
    • Once the initial breakthrough was made, time-travel was actually fairly simple…as long as you were going backwards. After all, that had all already happened. But going forwards was a much larger dilemma due to the difficulty in targeting any one of the infinite possible futures. ➡
    • On This Day: Nov 27 Recognizing 20 years of blogging, here are my past posts from November 27 ➡
  • 2019
    • Merely being rich wasn’t enough. Even being the richest person wasn’t enough. But finally, he had amassed all the wealth there was; all else was poverty. And as Bezos looked over the wastelands from atop the Amazon citadel, he still yearned for more. Microblogvember: rich ➡
    • Amazon’s Ring Considering Facial Recognition While the basic home security idea isn't bad, the implementation, especially when combined with the (existing or just discussed) partnerships with law enforcement, giving them unfettered access to the video captured by the cameras, is really, really disturbing. ➡
    • No Love for White Gloves, or: the Cotton Menace: “Rare books, unlike many museum objects, are still used today in the same way that they would have been when they were new centuries ago – they’re held and opened, and their pages are turned. It would make sense that these historical objects should be handled ... Read more ➡
  • 2016
    • Book fifty-two of 2016: Battlestations!, by Diane Carey. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (332/366) ➡
  • 2007
    • Zoom Cosmic View, Cosmic Zoom, Powers of Ten, and the Simpsons. ➡
    • Schedule? What Schedule? Two more days without posting. It's official -- trying to enforce a daily posting routine just didn't work for me this year. ➡
  • 2006
    • Rainier and the Flood Looks like the scenery is going to be a little bit different next time Prairie and I are able to head down to Mt. Rainier for a weekend getaway. The heavy rains and flooding of the past weeks have hit Rainier National Park _hard_, including quite a few of the areas that we went through this summer. ➡
    • Best Bad Review of the Zune The Zune is a complete, humiliating failure...it almost becomes _important_ that you encourage people not to buy one. ➡
    • Snowy Evening A small selection of photos from an evening walk last night, after Seattle got an unusually heavy snowfall. ➡
  • 2005
  • 2003
  • 2002
  • 2001
    • Paying bills is such fun So that was about it...home by 10:30 or so, in bed about midnight. Not the most exciting stuff in the world, I suppose, but that's the way my life goes. ➡
  • 2000
    • Vacation time Vacation time! Off to Florida, Indiana, and Seattle -- back to Anchorage on Dec. 14th. ➡

On This Day: Nov 26

by

Since I hit 20 years of blogging yesterday, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 27 posts previously published on November 26th

  • 2023
  • 2022
  • 2021
    • The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ First re-watch in a few years. Some sequences really could have been dropped (the mountain giants add nothing except a few minutes of running time), others are just tonally weird (the goblin city sticks out as being goofy in the midst of serious sequences). But that said, it’s still ... Read more ➡
  • 2020
    • 🖖 Discovery S03E07: After last week’s action, really liked having a week of talky-thinky Trek that expanded both the season arc and the overall world building of the new era. Vulcans! Romulans! TNG throwbacks! Plus a nice tribute to NuTrek’s Chekov, the late Anton Yelchin. ➡
    • While spell development was superficially similar to most any other sort of creative process, the fine-tuning was killer. There were just so many variables to know what to adjust — ingredients, gestures, words, tone of voice — that those final touches could be quite dangerous. ➡
    • On This Day: Nov 26 Recognizing 20 years of blogging, here are my past posts from November 26 ➡
  • 2019
    • Baby Yoda Has Conquered the World: “‘I had a day with one of the weirdest moments I’ve ever had directing,’ [Director Deborah Chow] told Vanity Fair. ‘I was directing Werner with the puppet, and Werner had just fallen in love with the baby. Werner, I think, had forgotten it wasn’t actually a live creature, and ... Read more ➡
    • He watched the floor in satisfaction from the DJ booth as the crowd moved to the sounds of the music. Those recordings of readings from ancient texts he’d layered into the mix had definitely helped. Now nobody could stop dancing until he decided it was time. Microblogvember: mix ➡
    • Bruce Wayne warns wealth tax on billionaires could result in fewer crimes foiled via jet-powered cars: “When asked whether a wealth tax could help curb costumed murders by investing in public schools, job retraining, and community mental health initiatives, Wayne responded, ‘Sure, but do any of those programs involve a 7000 pound car that can ... Read more ➡
  • 2016
    • Book fifty-one of 2016: Dreadnought!, by Diane Carey. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ➡
    • Book fifty of 2016: Ishmael, by Barbara Hambly. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (330/366) ➡
  • 2015
    • Mmmm…that’s a good looking Thanksgiving spread! ➡
    • A little classic gaming with friends on Thanksgiving. ➡
  • 2014
    • Tear Gas: Banned in War, Used on the Streets The use of tear gas by the US police (and in other countries) is something I find seriously troubling. How can we justify using a chemical agent banned from use in warfare on our own citizens? ➡
    • Debate links regarding Ferguson and Darren Wilson Just found this excellent Tumblr post laying out the most common arguments defending Darren Wilson or condemning the Ferguson protests, and linking to a wealth of stories and resources addressing those points. ➡
    • Mike Brown’s shooting and Jim Crow lynchings have too much in common About twice a week, or every three or four days, an African American has been killed by a white police officer in the seven years ending in 2012, according to studies of the latest data compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. That number is incomplete and likely an undercount, as only a fraction of local police jurisdictions even report such deaths – and those reported are the ones deemed somehow 'justifiable'. ➡
  • 2006
    • So Long, Space Needle The Space Needle will once again become this city's tallest building in April 2009, when NASA launches the tower into Earth orbit. The rotating restaurant will provide simulated Earth gravity, not to mention fresh salmon and Dungeness crab from Washington and Alaska waters. ➡
  • 2003
    • The trickiest zen on the menu I wanted to take a moment to point out Pops' domain, 2 Hour Lunch. I discovered his site at some point during the TypePad beta testing process, and he's become one of my favorite reads. ➡
    • Bad Santa I first heard about Bad Santa thanks to Pops about a week ago, and it immediately sounded like something that would be right up my alley. Roger Ebert's review has just solidified that. ➡
    • Digital elocution So what do you do if you're trying to put together campaign commercials for a President who can't seem to string together more two multi-syllabic words without stumbling? Simple! ➡
    • Capt. Yee charged with…being a shmuck Two counts of failing to obey a lawful general order, adultery, conduct unbecoming an officer, making a false official statement and failure to obey an order or regulation (the latter two charges stem from allegations that Yee viewed and stored pornography on a government computer). ➡
    • Troy Another film I'm really looking forward to seeing — Troy. ➡
    • Just what I always wanted! Amuse your conservative friends and annoy your liberal neighbors with the brand new Ann Coulter Talking Action Figure. ➡
  • 2000
    • Colophon djwudi.com gets a Colophon, with details on the construction and maintenance of the site. All sorts of nifty geek goodies in there. ➡

Twenty Years of Blogging

by

Twenty years ago today, I became a blogger.

Admittedly, the date could be argued a bit, as I’d had my own website since 1996, and even back then had been in the habit of making short, dated updates that were usually site-related, but sometimes just personal ramblings. And I didn’t come across the term ‘blog’ until a few months later in February of 2001.

But on November 25, 2000, I moved from hand-coding updates into a static HTML page to using a script called NewsPro to manage and automate posting updates. So that’s what I’ve been using as my “official” blogging start date.

In the past 20 years, my posting frequency has waxed and waned (waning more often than waxing, admittedly) but has never disappeared altogether. I’ve moved platforms from self-hosted (first NewsPro, then MovableType) to hosted (TypePad) back to self-hosted (WordPress). Sometimes self-hosted meant on a server in my apartment; these days I use DreamHost as my hosting provider, but I still use a manual installation of WordPress rather than using the WordPress.com hosted service. I don’t tinker as much as I used to, but it’s still nice to get into the nuts and bolts from time to time.

Most of the time I’ve been doing this, I’ve just been another one of the many random voices on the ‘net, never one of the Big Names. The closest I ever came to breaking out of that…well, you can look back if you want, but I’m just glad that it’s in my past. Maybe I’ll have more to say in another three years on that twentieth anniversary, maybe not. Generally, I’m fine with just tossing my occasional thoughts on Apple, Star Trek, politics, and whatever else pops into my mind into the electronic void to see if anyone picks up on it.

If you’ve been stopping by and checking out my ramblings from time to time over the years — thanks! If you’re a new visitor, thanks to you too, especially if you’ve made it this far through this post. You might want to check out this somewhat random collection of notable posts, or just see what was posted on this day in the past (which will work for whatever day you read this).

And, of course, there’s my alter-ego DJ Wüdi side project to be promoted: A weekly (except when it isn’t) Twitch broadcast where I play an eclectic mix of music (mostly focused on alternative dance genres like goth, industrial, EBM, and various flavors of electronica, but with a fair amount of other stuff tossed in as I feel like it). Tune in to Difficult Listening Hour on Saturdays at 1 p.m. Pacific time, or cue up my past archives (plus more mix sessions) on my MixCloud page.

Twenty years down — and hopefully, twenty (and more) yet to come!

On This Day: Nov 25

by

Since I hit 20 years of blogging today, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 25 posts previously published on November 25th

  • 2024
  • 2023
  • 2022
  • 2021
    • 📚 48/2021: The Forever War by Joe Haldeman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1976 Hugo Best Novel ➡
  • 2020
    • Space, as we all know, is silent. Sound can’t travel through a vacuum, it’s simple science. But then the great bird of the galaxy appeared at the outer rim of the system, opened its vast beak, and uttered a call that used the very fabric of spacetime as a medium for its cry. ➡
    • Email a dumpster fire. Literally Email dumpsterfire@hey.com whatever you want to torch. Use plain text or an image attachment. PG-13 rules apply. Watch on the live feed as your message is created, conveyed, and then dropped into the rolling flames. Experience catharsis. ➡
    • Twenty Years of Blogging If you've been stopping by and checking out my ramblings from time to time over the years — thanks! ➡
    • On This Day: Nov 25 Recognizing 20 years of blogging, here are my past posts from November 25 ➡
  • 2019
    • It’s one thing to know the regulation that everything has to be in secure storage before the jump to light speed. But the point is really driven home when you see the size of the hole that inertia and a loose pencil can punch through the hull. Microblogvember: secure ➡
    • That Uplifting Tweet You Just Shared? A Russian Troll Sent It: “Professional trolls…are the tip of the spear in the new digital, ideological battleground. To combat the threat they pose, we must first understand them — and take them seriously.” ➡
  • 2016
    • Second day off, with two yet to go. Why aren’t four day weekends more common? (330/366) ➡
  • 2014
    • Post-Ferguson Decision Links All originally posted to my Facebook account, but I need to post here more regularly (jeez, it's been over a _year_ now), and I feel strongly enough about the discussions I'm seeing in the aftermath of the Ferguson decision that this seemed a good way to get some movement here. ➡
  • 2010
  • 2009
    • Facebook ‘Dislike’ Button Suspicion I just got an invite to a Facebook group titled 'DISLIKE BUTTON is here - ADD it now!'. After looking this group over, I have _very_ strong suspicious about it, and my first impulse is to recommend that everyone ignore it. ➡
  • 2008
  • 2006
    • Black Friday Recap Ick. There were people lined up outside the store, waiting for us to open the gate at 6am. ➡
  • 2002
    • Now there’s an image for ya. You think you were surprised — I'm envisioning the world's most alarmed spider as you pull thread out of its ass as fast as it can produce it. Now there's an image for ya. ➡
    • Dreams are odd I had a dream last night that I was DJ'ing at a dance somewhere, with a lot of high-school age kids asking me for lots of bad rap. Unfortunately, all I had with me was bad techno, because I'd accidentally packed one of my music cases with boxes of cereal, instead of CD's. ➡
  • 2001
    • What a weekend Oh, and just to confirm any suspicions that may have arisen -- yes, it does appear that I'm no longer single. Candice and I talked about it Friday night, and after roughly three years of being (technically) single, I've re-entered the dating scene. ➡
  • 2000
    • Parallax1 Parallax1, then a 3-week vacation. ➡
    • NewsPro up and running NewsPro's first post. From here on out, all posts will be saved and archived for future reference. Uh-huh. Yup. ➡