Archive for December, 2009

Somewhat to my surprise I got through Holidailies, wherein bloggers vow to blog at least once daily for the month of December. I don't think I contributed much to the universe, but it was a fun way to force myself to be more regular. When you get older, that sort of thing becomes important.

So. How to continue it?

One thing I would like to try doing in 2010 is taking more photos. I'm not going to commit to one  a day – frankly, most days I don't go near much of anything interesting (when Adam Levermore was here for the @nasatweetup it dawned on me, as I was driving him around Daytona, that I was going the way I always go to avoid traffic and hassle  and was consequently showing him only the most boring and industrial parts of one of the most famous tourist towns in the world. Sorry, Adam). But this is Florida, after all, and I should be able to find something to point at.

I'm also going to keep trying the daily posts, and we'll see how that goes. Be warned.

And happy new year!

Posted at my 24/7 blog at GO386.com:

'So Fox decreed that they should be paid more for their programming based on the innovative business model "We Want More Money For The Same Product Because We're Pretty Sure We Can Make You Do It."And Time-Warner (and locally, their Bright House partner or affiliate or henchman or whatever the relationship is) is resisting, based on their own tried and true business model, "We Ain't Paying You Jack."

Meanwhile, millions of affected customers are fearfully watching the two monsters battle, crushing buildings in their wake, with only one terrified thought: "Am I going to miss the Sugar Bowl because of these idiots?"

In a nutshell, Fox wants money for its previously free programming. Time-Warner (and locally their partner Bright House) doesn't want to pay. Both mega-companies have been flooding the local airwaves, TV and newspapers with ads claiming the people are on their side and demand that the other party to back down.

Personally, I'm not too bothered by the Fox/Time Warner smackdown and wouldn't be affected if Fox disappeared from my TV. I'm not a football fan, most of their programming actively bothers me, and I can watch the last episodes of Dollhouse on Fox.com, Hulu.com, or get 'em from iTunes a day later. Worst case scenario, I have to wait til summer and buy the DVD set. That's about it for me and Fox-owned shows these days, although I have plenty of friends who would miss Glee and Fringe. (Note that FOX News would not be affected, dammit)

But hey, guys? The people are not on your side. Honest. We distrust both of you more or less equally. We know that you are not providing us with entertainment out of the goodness of your hearts, and that you need to stay profitable to do what you do. However you work that out is fine by us, but we know already that no matter what happens, our rates will go up. We are not your friends or your grassroots army. Please stop trying to rally us as a way to bully the other guy. Just work it out, let us know what the hike will be and let's move on with our lives.

Be sure to read the rest of my column, which suggests ways to make do without Fox. It's surprisingly easy, something both companies might want to think about.

I forgot my cellphone today.

It doesn't happen often, I'm pretty good (read: obsessive to an alarming degree) about keeping track of my phone and keys and iPod. But I'd plugged it in to charge and I left earlier today and, well. I was almost to work (45 minutes away) when I noticed.

So? No big deal. I'm a big boy, I can live without a phone for 9 hours.

Only a friend called and wanted to get together for dinner, and I needed to call home and coordinate it, and it's all long distance from my job, and then I was supposed to meet everybody at the restaurant and had no way of letting them know I would be on time or late or early or broken down somewhere on I-4…

It is truly amazing how quickly and totally I have become dependent on having immediate access to everyone I know. Years have gone by since I really sweated out having my car break down, since I can always call for help. I barely use the thing, really, rarely more than a call home every day to make sure nothing needs picking up. But it's there if I need it.

Little scary, really, as I have reservations about becoming dependent on any external device or system. But I also notice I rarely see anyone stuck on the side of the road anymore. Used to, fairly often, and I've given rides to more than a few, especially if people with kids were stranded. And the few times it does happen now, they're almost always standing there talking on a phone so I can drive by with a clear conscience.

Whatever else the last decade has brought us, instant and clear communication from almost everywhere is one of the best things ever.

Unless you forget your damn phone, that is.

Most of a Moon

Originally uploaded by CABridges

Beautifully clear night tonight, after several days of heavy cloud cover. Perfect for long hours of night time photography of black nights fading into violet over the trees, sparkling stars and a 3/4 moon presiding over it all. A sturdy tripod, some careful metering and timing and waiting for just the right moment, just as I've been wanting to do for days.

Instead I'm going to bed early. Getting chilly out there and a warm bed calls. But I did take a pic of the moon from the parking lot at work, leaning on the roof of my car for support. Have I mentioned I like my new camera?

I like my new camera.

"Thank you for calling Brighthouse Networks' help line. How may I help you?"

"Hi, I've been having problems connecting to certain web pages for four days now, and–"

"Have you rebooted your computer?"

"Yes, first thing. Also cleared my cache, deleted my cookies, reset my router, and flushed my DNS. None of it helped, but–"

"Please try rebooting your computer for me."

"But I did that."

"Not while I was on the phone with you, though."

"How is that different?"

"If I hear you do it, I can check it off my little script here."

"Even though it will have no useful outcome and will just waste both our times?"

"But it will have a useful outcome."

"What?"

"I'll be able to check it off my little script here."

Read the rest of this entry »

And by "here" I mean at "QMx."

Since they announced they had the Dr. Horrible license we've been waiting to see what evil product would emerge, and the first one is the Doctor himself.

Cast in professional-grade resin and painted by hand, Dr. Horrible is pictured in his moment of triumph, holding his Freeze Ray aloft in one hand and shaking his fist at the world. As with all QMx animated maquettes, Dr. Horrible comes with many screen-accurate details, such as his goggles, the medical symbol on his smock and, of course, the aforementioned deanimation gun. He stands over six inches tall – nine, if you include his weapon. Freeze Ray. Tell your friends.

Only 1,000 will be made, the first of the Dr. Horrible maquette series. $69.95, shipping in February 2010.

This year's haul was an odd one, for several reasons.

Absolutely nothing required assembly or sneaking around, so for the first time in nearly three decades I didn't have to stay up late on Christmas Eve (although I did anyway).

Most everyone in the family knew what they were getting, with a few surprises.

There weren't quite enough surprises, as the Bon Jovi-related merchandise I got for Teres from her list of stuff still to get turned out to be the same stuff she had in fact already ordered for herself. Fortunately I also found her one of the "Have a Nice Day" smirk necklaces. The hard case we got for James turned out to be too small for his bass despite our careful measuring. Still, everyone seemed pleased.

I received:

- A safety razor, holder, blades, beaver hair brush and soap dish (all of which I had asked for, as I plan to start wet shaving with a safety razor to save money and, one hopes, get a better shave).
- "Vanilla Ride" by Joe R. Lansdale (the latest in his Hap and Leonard series, from my housemate, marking the 1st time in many years someone has managed to surprise me with a book I didn't know existed but would immediately have bought myself if I had).
- A carved walking stick (from Teres, so I'd have something unexpected, which it was).
The Incredible Hulk TV series Ultimate Collection (from my son James, who decided my DVD shelf wasn't cheesy enough).- A signed autograph of Walter Cronkite (from my son Tony, because he knew I didn't have one and the likelihood of me getting one seemed bleak).
- Money (from mom, who knows what I like) (Also she gave me fudge)
- The Regular Expressions Cookbook (an unexpected gift from my friend Shmuel, who has answered several panicky instant-messaged regular expressions questions from me in the past and apparently decided to head the next one off) (not pictured; it's at my work desk already).

And some of the money that would have gone into prezzies for me instead was diverted towards the Guilt Camera Teresa bought me (not pictured, cuz it was busy picturing).

All in all, a good haul and a great Christmas. My son Tony was here with his girlfriend Laura, my bro-in-law Rodger came over, and we opened prezzies, went to see "Sherlock Holmes" (quick review: not a great movie or a real cinematic gamechanger, but an awful lot of fun to watch if you can get past the idea of Holmes having any sort of romance) and came back to play "ImagineIf" for hours with lots of uproarious laughing and good natured personal abuse.

Hope yours went as well. Happy holidays, folks.

Tony and Laura

Originally uploaded by CABridges

I know Florida is supposed to be a warmer climate, but shouldn't we have at least a little chilliness?

We drove over to Ormond-By-The-Sea today to spend Christmas Eve with my mom, and went up to the beach approach at the top of the street. Pleasant day, low 70s, nice breeze… this is Christmas?

Nice day, though.

Here we see my son Tony and his girlfriend Laura, discussing the relative merits of Bosonic string theory vs. superstring theory .
More photos of, basically, us messing around on the beach, can be seen here.

 

N-J Kitty Memorial

Originally uploaded by CABridges

The black cat that has hung around the Daytona Beach News-Journal's building for the last 16 years died last Friday. As our company is in the final steps of being sold, I'm trying really, really hard not to see that as being in any way ironic.

The cat, known as Miss Kitty (and sometimes Mr. Kitty, gender being somewhat indeterminate, an odd omission for usually detail-oriented reporters), could often be seen wandering the parking lot, prowling around the security booth and generally owning the place. Footprints on cars was not uncommon.

One day I left work to find him (her?) sitting regally on my roof. I explained my need to leave and the probable effects of wind shear on cats (yes, I talk to cats out loud. Don't you?) and after a moment of consideration he rose, padded gracefully down my windshield, stared me in the eye while he peed on my hood, and leaped away. I've rarely received such a direct message before.

Anyway. We had a small memorial service today consisting of some of us standing around talking about the cat. One coworker noted that there were quite a few human employees who wouldn't receive such a sendoff.

He — or possibly she — will be missed.

I like obvious names, I do. Why should I have to figure out your name in order to understand your product/service/intentions?

Along those lines, I'd like to see more businesses understand how their customers are likely to call them, and name themselves accordingly.

Example: there are three small Chinese restaurants within a few blocks of my dayjob: Great China, China Star, and China Village Restaurant. I have no idea which is which, and frankly I don't care. I prefer the one on the corner of Mason and Nova, and I'll bet most of their customers call them just that. So why not plan for it?

I'd like to see a chain of Chinese restaurants called "The Chinese Place," with names specific to the location. "The Chinese Place on 3rd." "The Chinese Place by the Airport." "The Chinese Place Over by the Italian Place." With variations as needed: "The Thai Place Over on Beachside," "The Hungarian Place by the Police Station, Over on District." Someone could even get cute with it and call their restaurant "The Chinese Place You Like So Much."

People would love the advertising and T-shirts. It would make the restaurant more a part of the community by anchoring it solidly to its surroundings. And there'd be no more need to remember which one is the Jade Garden (that you love) and which one is the Jade Palace (that had that bad fish that one time).

Same principle as the naming conventions for episodes of "Friends," which made perfect sense to me (i.e. "The One About Ross' Colonoscopy). It just makes things easier.

And now I want Chinese food.