| Your Linguistic Profile: |
| 60% General American English |
| 15% Upper Midwestern |
| 15% Yankee |
| 5% Dixie |
| 0% Midwestern |
Thursday, December 28, 2006
My Linguistic Profile
Tony has so many fun ideas for posts.... This one determines my linguistic profile - the derivation of my own particular English. Now given that I grew up in the midwest but I've also lived in Massachusetts and California before Washington state, the results are not that unexpected.
I am Mal
Tony did this web survey to see which character from Serenity (or Firefly) he was the most like and, being a sucker for such things, I took the same survey. I came back as Captain Mal Reynolds though I was very close to being Kaylee - just like Tony was.
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
You scored as Capt. Mal Reynolds. The Captain. You are the captain of the ship, so the crew are your responsibility. You just want to do the job, get paid and keep flying. Why is that always so hard?
Which Serenity character are you? created with QuizFarm.com |
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Back from Boarding in Whistler
We spent Christmas in Whistler this year. The snow was absolutely amazing - lots of new powder and when you're learning to snowboard, like I am, that is just perfect. We drove up on Thursday and took a day to just relax on Friday but on Saturday I went for a snowboard lesson.
I signed up for the Super Group lesson where you will have at most 3 people in your group and lucked into a effectively private lesson as there was no one else at the same level I was (I could turn in each direction but have little real practice doing much more than that). The lesson was one of the kookiest lessons I've had. We started with the standard "take a few runs and show me what you've got" bit. The instructor noticed that my board might not be set up right for me so we took a break and he repositioned the bindings and it was much better after that. A few more runs in, we went from Blackcomb to Whistler but rather than boarding into the village (which we did later), we took the bus over. While spent the bus ride practicing the turns by standing in the back and "riding" the bus. As it made hard turns, we were up on our toes or heels trying to get the same feel. Not the same feel, of course, but a good little drill along the way. After lunch, we headed to the top of a hill and did a bit of tai chi to shake off the post-lunch food coma. By the end of the day, I was turning and making it down the Olympic run pretty smoothly.
The snowboarders I know always tell me how crappy green runs are for snowboarders because they tend to the be the snowcat tracks. I thought it was just because they liked going faster but it turns out it is because it is really hard to both keep an edge and keep going straight on those narrow tracks. Particularly with all of the little grooves made by skiers. It is way too easy to catch the bad edge and go down as I learned by doing just that several times. I guess I'd better just get better soon and head for the blue runs instead.
The next day I did more of that in about 8 inches of new powder while Kate and Zach zipped down on skis and Leslie took her snowboard lesson. Man that was fun! As the soreness fades, I'm already itching to get back up there.
I signed up for the Super Group lesson where you will have at most 3 people in your group and lucked into a effectively private lesson as there was no one else at the same level I was (I could turn in each direction but have little real practice doing much more than that). The lesson was one of the kookiest lessons I've had. We started with the standard "take a few runs and show me what you've got" bit. The instructor noticed that my board might not be set up right for me so we took a break and he repositioned the bindings and it was much better after that. A few more runs in, we went from Blackcomb to Whistler but rather than boarding into the village (which we did later), we took the bus over. While spent the bus ride practicing the turns by standing in the back and "riding" the bus. As it made hard turns, we were up on our toes or heels trying to get the same feel. Not the same feel, of course, but a good little drill along the way. After lunch, we headed to the top of a hill and did a bit of tai chi to shake off the post-lunch food coma. By the end of the day, I was turning and making it down the Olympic run pretty smoothly.
The snowboarders I know always tell me how crappy green runs are for snowboarders because they tend to the be the snowcat tracks. I thought it was just because they liked going faster but it turns out it is because it is really hard to both keep an edge and keep going straight on those narrow tracks. Particularly with all of the little grooves made by skiers. It is way too easy to catch the bad edge and go down as I learned by doing just that several times. I guess I'd better just get better soon and head for the blue runs instead.
The next day I did more of that in about 8 inches of new powder while Kate and Zach zipped down on skis and Leslie took her snowboard lesson. Man that was fun! As the soreness fades, I'm already itching to get back up there.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
That Was a Hell of a Thing
Last Thursday night we had one heck of a windstorm. Apparently, the winds hit nearly 100 MPH out on the coast though gusts here topped out around 60 MPH. That was more than enough to wreak havoc on the whole Puget Sound area. After a few brownouts early in the evening, we finally lost power around 8PM. Leslie and I went to the living room to look at some of the trees and they were swaying wildly. It wasn't long before we realized how stupid it was to be next to a window with all of this going on so we headed to bed. Around midnight the storm was really going full force and the big window in our bedroom was groaning during the big gusts.
In the morning, our power was still out and we headed out to see the damage. We were insanely lucky in that nothing was damaged at our house. No trees in our yard, no broken windows, just a very dark house. Others were not so lucky. The road towards town was closed when a tree fell across the road, bringing down power lines and a utility pole along with it. In fact, there were huge trees down all over the place making it very hard to get around.
This picture was taken about a mile from our house on one of the main roads with the giant tree being held up only by the power lines. Driving under that was a bit nerve wracking.
The Sahalee neighborhood near our house was particularly hard hit. Sahalee is a gated community but with the power out, they had to open the gates which let riff raff like us drive through. Truth be told, it was the only way we could get home with so many other roads closed due to fallen trees. As we drove through, we saw a house with a tree in its living room - not unusual at this time of season but given that it came in through the window and was over 100 feet tall this was no standard Christmas tree.
As you can imagine, there was debris all over the golf course, though in this shot, you can't see any of the trees down. Just some stumps where they used to be.
We finally got our power back late Sunday morning. Leslie and I were just arriving at the local bagel shop when Zach called to say the power was back on. We did a little "we got power!" dance and others in the store clapped for us. Some people are still without power nearly a week after the storm and may still be in the dark for some time to come. While most things are back to normal, we still don't have cable TV. Apparently the storm knocked out the cable company's receiving gear because our internet connection still works fine but we don't get any TV channels. Oh well - I'll take electricity over cable TV any day of the week.
One interesting side effect of the storm was that a lot of people were using their fireplaces for heat and so the air became very smoky and hard to breathe. It did make for some nice sunrises though.
In the morning, our power was still out and we headed out to see the damage. We were insanely lucky in that nothing was damaged at our house. No trees in our yard, no broken windows, just a very dark house. Others were not so lucky. The road towards town was closed when a tree fell across the road, bringing down power lines and a utility pole along with it. In fact, there were huge trees down all over the place making it very hard to get around.
This picture was taken about a mile from our house on one of the main roads with the giant tree being held up only by the power lines. Driving under that was a bit nerve wracking. The Sahalee neighborhood near our house was particularly hard hit. Sahalee is a gated community but with the power out, they had to open the gates which let riff raff like us drive through. Truth be told, it was the only way we could get home with so many other roads closed due to fallen trees. As we drove through, we saw a house with a tree in its living room - not unusual at this time of season but given that it came in through the window and was over 100 feet tall this was no standard Christmas tree.
As you can imagine, there was debris all over the golf course, though in this shot, you can't see any of the trees down. Just some stumps where they used to be.
We finally got our power back late Sunday morning. Leslie and I were just arriving at the local bagel shop when Zach called to say the power was back on. We did a little "we got power!" dance and others in the store clapped for us. Some people are still without power nearly a week after the storm and may still be in the dark for some time to come. While most things are back to normal, we still don't have cable TV. Apparently the storm knocked out the cable company's receiving gear because our internet connection still works fine but we don't get any TV channels. Oh well - I'll take electricity over cable TV any day of the week.
One interesting side effect of the storm was that a lot of people were using their fireplaces for heat and so the air became very smoky and hard to breathe. It did make for some nice sunrises though.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Blackout Lightsabers at the Ready
There's a big storm coming in tonight. We're expecting wind gusts of up to 65 MPH. When that happens, we always lose power so I checked to make sure our blackout lightsabers are ready.
You'd be amazed at how well these things light up a room when the power is out - and they have a cool sound!
You'd be amazed at how well these things light up a room when the power is out - and they have a cool sound!
Monday, November 20, 2006
Zune - First Look
I'm a gadget geek though that is a key part of what puts the geek in Duffergeek. I bought a Zune yesterday cuz I'm a sucker for a nice video screen that can do photos and music but also because there may be something to some of the key differences that Microsoft has against Apple's iPod.
Last year, Microsoft made a video parody of their own tendency to put too much crap on their packaging. It actually did a good job of pointing out how much Microsoft often missed the boat on both simple and elegant. Zune is an obvious opportunity to show that Microsoft can be cool, stylish, hip and... well... elegant.
The moment I looked at the box, it was clear this was a bit different from previous Microsoft products. The box is not covered with feature comparisons, disclaimers and marketing speak. It is a rather simple affair with a product logo on the front and a nice picture of the product on the back. The bottom of the box has a little bit of text but it is well done. The cool thing is how the box opens. The top part slides up like a hat revealing an inner box that simply says "Welcome to the social." The front part flips up for access to the Zune itself while the top of the box has an almost secret compartment containing the install disc and simple carrying case. Overall, very sweet packaging and presentation.
Installing the Zune software under Parallels was, in the end, completely unsuccessful but since most of the problems were related to the Windows environment in Parallels to even get to see the device, I have to chalk that all up to shortcomings in Parallels. When I booted into a real Windows XP environment (the Vista version won't be available until around the time Vista is publicly available) everything worked flawlessly.
The Zune feels very nice in my hand. It is somewhat smaller than my video iPod with it's protective case and the plastic of the Zune case feels like it is safer than the video iPod (time will tell if I'm wrong there). The main control looks like a wheel but it is actually a 5-way switch. It works well for navigating through media a lot like the Windows Vista version of Media Center. I was able to set one of my own pictures as the background which is a great way of personalizing the device.
I signed up for my 14 day free trial of the Zune Marketplace giving me "all you can eat" access most of the music available. I also copied many of my MP3 albums into the folder that Zune is watching but with the subscription, it was almost easier to get the music from the service than from my own CDs. It is liberating to be able to browse for artists you like, or that you think you will like, and be able to download all of their music with just one click. Fantastic.
The syncing worked just fine though there are places where Windows Media Player pops through (mostly in the configuration dialogs) and each time it does the client app feels a little less elegant. Too much flexibility adds complexity to the dialogs and it is easy to get overwhelmed. Most people never really need to get to those settings, though, because so much of it just works.
I synced a bunch of photos to the device along with the music and then headed to work. Listening to it in my car, the Zune did not clip as much as the iPod does on my cassette adapter which was nice. The screen is gorgeous and while it is a bit icky to see the album art stretched to fill the top part of the screen, it is nice to have it there and the controls work very well. Once I was at work, I set the Zune to display a random slideshow of photos as it sat below my monitor. This was a great addtion to my workspace (except that after a few hours, it ate all of the battery life -- guess I need to get an extra A/C adapter).
For photos, there is one thing I would like to see which is a mode for viewing photos where they are never rotate in the screen since it is so easy for me to rotate the device itself. It is nice that it defaults to landscape mode to reduce the black bars for those shots but it would be great if it could do the same thing when the picture is in a portrait aspect ratio. This would need to be an option, though, since otherwise slideshows would get weird and at least they got the slideshows right for a first release. Simple but nice.
Tonight I am converting a DVD to WMV format so I can see what watching a movie is like on it. I've done that many times on my iPod video and I think the Zune will be much better given it's nicer screen. I am looking forward to trying sending a song to someone else, I just need to find someone else with a Zune. :)
There are certainly downsides beyond the complexity of the player showing through. First, the Zune Marketplace doesn't have any video content yet which is a shame given how nice this device is for video. The other big shortfall is that the hard drive is only 30GB. Mine is already 2/3 full and I still haven't put any movies on it but that is more of a reason for me to get a second one once Microsoft has an 80 Gig edition than it is a reason for me to not get one yet. Other folks may not have that flexibility...
So in summary - for a first release, the Zune shows a huge amount of promise. I really like the feel of the device, the UI on the device and the subscription model for getting music. It is a particularly good sign that Microsoft went from concept to this release in such a short period of time. Hopefully, their next release will maintain the elegance gains and fill the missing holes and not turn into a gargantuan feature-laden release of complexity. If you're looking to get a taste of the future, go grab a Zune.
Last year, Microsoft made a video parody of their own tendency to put too much crap on their packaging. It actually did a good job of pointing out how much Microsoft often missed the boat on both simple and elegant. Zune is an obvious opportunity to show that Microsoft can be cool, stylish, hip and... well... elegant.
The moment I looked at the box, it was clear this was a bit different from previous Microsoft products. The box is not covered with feature comparisons, disclaimers and marketing speak. It is a rather simple affair with a product logo on the front and a nice picture of the product on the back. The bottom of the box has a little bit of text but it is well done. The cool thing is how the box opens. The top part slides up like a hat revealing an inner box that simply says "Welcome to the social." The front part flips up for access to the Zune itself while the top of the box has an almost secret compartment containing the install disc and simple carrying case. Overall, very sweet packaging and presentation.
Installing the Zune software under Parallels was, in the end, completely unsuccessful but since most of the problems were related to the Windows environment in Parallels to even get to see the device, I have to chalk that all up to shortcomings in Parallels. When I booted into a real Windows XP environment (the Vista version won't be available until around the time Vista is publicly available) everything worked flawlessly.
The Zune feels very nice in my hand. It is somewhat smaller than my video iPod with it's protective case and the plastic of the Zune case feels like it is safer than the video iPod (time will tell if I'm wrong there). The main control looks like a wheel but it is actually a 5-way switch. It works well for navigating through media a lot like the Windows Vista version of Media Center. I was able to set one of my own pictures as the background which is a great way of personalizing the device.
I signed up for my 14 day free trial of the Zune Marketplace giving me "all you can eat" access most of the music available. I also copied many of my MP3 albums into the folder that Zune is watching but with the subscription, it was almost easier to get the music from the service than from my own CDs. It is liberating to be able to browse for artists you like, or that you think you will like, and be able to download all of their music with just one click. Fantastic.
The syncing worked just fine though there are places where Windows Media Player pops through (mostly in the configuration dialogs) and each time it does the client app feels a little less elegant. Too much flexibility adds complexity to the dialogs and it is easy to get overwhelmed. Most people never really need to get to those settings, though, because so much of it just works.
I synced a bunch of photos to the device along with the music and then headed to work. Listening to it in my car, the Zune did not clip as much as the iPod does on my cassette adapter which was nice. The screen is gorgeous and while it is a bit icky to see the album art stretched to fill the top part of the screen, it is nice to have it there and the controls work very well. Once I was at work, I set the Zune to display a random slideshow of photos as it sat below my monitor. This was a great addtion to my workspace (except that after a few hours, it ate all of the battery life -- guess I need to get an extra A/C adapter).
For photos, there is one thing I would like to see which is a mode for viewing photos where they are never rotate in the screen since it is so easy for me to rotate the device itself. It is nice that it defaults to landscape mode to reduce the black bars for those shots but it would be great if it could do the same thing when the picture is in a portrait aspect ratio. This would need to be an option, though, since otherwise slideshows would get weird and at least they got the slideshows right for a first release. Simple but nice.
Tonight I am converting a DVD to WMV format so I can see what watching a movie is like on it. I've done that many times on my iPod video and I think the Zune will be much better given it's nicer screen. I am looking forward to trying sending a song to someone else, I just need to find someone else with a Zune. :)
There are certainly downsides beyond the complexity of the player showing through. First, the Zune Marketplace doesn't have any video content yet which is a shame given how nice this device is for video. The other big shortfall is that the hard drive is only 30GB. Mine is already 2/3 full and I still haven't put any movies on it but that is more of a reason for me to get a second one once Microsoft has an 80 Gig edition than it is a reason for me to not get one yet. Other folks may not have that flexibility...
So in summary - for a first release, the Zune shows a huge amount of promise. I really like the feel of the device, the UI on the device and the subscription model for getting music. It is a particularly good sign that Microsoft went from concept to this release in such a short period of time. Hopefully, their next release will maintain the elegance gains and fill the missing holes and not turn into a gargantuan feature-laden release of complexity. If you're looking to get a taste of the future, go grab a Zune.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Deconstructing Bellevue
Kate and I were having dinner in Bellevue the other night. As we left, there were lots of police cars and fire trucks blocking the street back to the highway so we were detoured another block south. As we neared 108th, the buildings to our left had their fire alarms going off and people were being evacuated but we didn't see any fire. We didn't see anything except a lot of people looking at the buildings with their cell phone cameras held aloft and the news media reporting live.
Kate and I were sitting just 2 blocks away when it happened but we were totally unaware until Friday morning when saw on the news that one of the many giant cranes erected in Bellevue had fallen over, severely damaging three buildings and killing one person as it crashed into his apartment (man... would that suck!). The crane operator was still in it at the time of the fall and he "rode it down" 200 ft before being stuck 30 feet off the ground in the control cab.
More info on the incident here.
Kate and I were sitting just 2 blocks away when it happened but we were totally unaware until Friday morning when saw on the news that one of the many giant cranes erected in Bellevue had fallen over, severely damaging three buildings and killing one person as it crashed into his apartment (man... would that suck!). The crane operator was still in it at the time of the fall and he "rode it down" 200 ft before being stuck 30 feet off the ground in the control cab.
More info on the incident here.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
The Who
In 1980, I happened to set my VCR to record The Kids are Alright, a film by Jeff Stein about The Who covering their history from the earliest mod days through the end of the Keith Moon era. I don't know why I set it to record, I wasn't a big Who fan at the time but in the end, that event changed nearly everything that came after. I watched the movie over and over and over again. Watching Pete Townshend play those black numbered Les Pauls in Baba O'Reilly and Won't Get Fooled Again, seeing John Entwistle walk through his house with guitars and basses covering every inch of wall space, and of course the incredible energy of the music totally hooked me. I had to play guitar and be in a band.
So I bought a guitar (within a few weeks I would have 3 - crappy things from flea markets with brand names like Morse and Silvertone) started taking lessons and started a band with some friends. Over the years, my guitar playing got better, as did the bands. When I was in high school, I was hanging around with the music crowd. In college I helped run a recording studio where we produced and engineered our own songs as well as numerous local bands. One of those recording sessions ended up getting me a job doing recording and eventually running my own business which eventually led me to writing software. Most importantly, I met my wife because I was playing guitar in the dorm freshman year - one of her favorite songs as coincidence would have it - and she had to find out who was playing it. So in a butterfly effect kind of way, it is pretty safe to say that my life would likely be extraordinarily different had I not chosen to record The Kids are Alright.
Last night The Who played at Key Arena in Seattle and Leslie and I went to the show and it was an absolutely amazing experience. First, the show was fantastic - even in their early 60s Pete and Roger still put on a great show and exude all of the same energy that they did back in the 70s save for smashing guitars and knee slides across the stage. The fact that they brought along Pino Palladino on bass (one of my favorite bass players in the world -- simply amazing) and Zak Starkey on drums (Ringo's son who was able to play Keith Moon parts brilliantly) and you have the best group capable of matching the original intensity of the Who from the Kids are Alright era of the band.
They were there not as a "remember us?" band like so many 60s, 70s and 80s era bands today -- they had something to say. They have a new album called Endless Wire (which includes a new mini rock opera) coming out in just a few weeks and much of that album was played during the show. The songs were fresh, yet clearly Who songs and a great part of the show.
It was when they started to play Baba O'Reilly that it all hit me. I was looking at the guy playing the guitar (a Stratocaster this time) and playing the song that completely changed my life and it was happening right there - right down on that stage - right in front of me and I got emotional realizing how connected that moment was to everything that has happened since 1980. Then it smacked me again during Won't Get Fooled Again, Amazing Journey, Sparks and finally -- like a bat upside the head -- in Listening to You.
Listening to you I get the music.
Gazing at you I get the heat.
Following you I climb the mountain.
I get excitement at your feet.
Best concert ever.
So I bought a guitar (within a few weeks I would have 3 - crappy things from flea markets with brand names like Morse and Silvertone) started taking lessons and started a band with some friends. Over the years, my guitar playing got better, as did the bands. When I was in high school, I was hanging around with the music crowd. In college I helped run a recording studio where we produced and engineered our own songs as well as numerous local bands. One of those recording sessions ended up getting me a job doing recording and eventually running my own business which eventually led me to writing software. Most importantly, I met my wife because I was playing guitar in the dorm freshman year - one of her favorite songs as coincidence would have it - and she had to find out who was playing it. So in a butterfly effect kind of way, it is pretty safe to say that my life would likely be extraordinarily different had I not chosen to record The Kids are Alright.
Last night The Who played at Key Arena in Seattle and Leslie and I went to the show and it was an absolutely amazing experience. First, the show was fantastic - even in their early 60s Pete and Roger still put on a great show and exude all of the same energy that they did back in the 70s save for smashing guitars and knee slides across the stage. The fact that they brought along Pino Palladino on bass (one of my favorite bass players in the world -- simply amazing) and Zak Starkey on drums (Ringo's son who was able to play Keith Moon parts brilliantly) and you have the best group capable of matching the original intensity of the Who from the Kids are Alright era of the band.
They were there not as a "remember us?" band like so many 60s, 70s and 80s era bands today -- they had something to say. They have a new album called Endless Wire (which includes a new mini rock opera) coming out in just a few weeks and much of that album was played during the show. The songs were fresh, yet clearly Who songs and a great part of the show.
It was when they started to play Baba O'Reilly that it all hit me. I was looking at the guy playing the guitar (a Stratocaster this time) and playing the song that completely changed my life and it was happening right there - right down on that stage - right in front of me and I got emotional realizing how connected that moment was to everything that has happened since 1980. Then it smacked me again during Won't Get Fooled Again, Amazing Journey, Sparks and finally -- like a bat upside the head -- in Listening to You.
Listening to you I get the music.
Gazing at you I get the heat.
Following you I climb the mountain.
I get excitement at your feet.
Best concert ever.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Onward to Paris!
After Photokina, I met Leslie, Kate and Zach in Paris for the weekend (how decadent!). This was Kate and Zach's first trip to France (or Europe for that matter) and while it was pretty quick, we all had a great time zipping around Paris for a couple of days.
It was pretty gray for most of the time we were there but on Sunday afternoon, the overcast broke to show blue sky with gorgeous puffy clouds just as we were heading back up towards the palance at Versailles. Perfect for pictures!
The palace at Versailles from the gardens.
The fountains were awesome when the sun finally came out.
It was pretty gray for most of the time we were there but on Sunday afternoon, the overcast broke to show blue sky with gorgeous puffy clouds just as we were heading back up towards the palance at Versailles. Perfect for pictures!
The palace at Versailles from the gardens.
The fountains were awesome when the sun finally came out.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Another Trip to Köln
A couple of years ago, I went to Cologne (Köln) Germany for Photokina, the world's largest photography trade show which only happens every 2 years. Guess what - it happened again! The details of the trip are over at Imaging Society but I'm posting some of the pictures here.
In an interesting repeat of the last trip, I apparently still look German. Once again, a number of people would walk up to me in a group of Americans and start speaking German to me. When I got on a plane from Paris to Amsterdam, the flight attendant was greeting each person in their apparent native tongue. She did a pretty good job of detecting French, American, Dutch and Japanese passengers (ok, that last one is easier...) but when I got on she said "Guten Morgen" to me. This one was more remarkable given that we were in France. Nutty!
Anyway, on to the pictures...
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The centerpiece of the Cologne skyline is the Cathedral (Dom) which took over 600 years to complete. It is particularly nice in the evening.
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This is the Cologne Dom from the top of a nearby building. The panoramic views were really nice though getting the shot through the glass windows was tough with all of the glare from nearby lights.
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Nice sunset over Cologne, again from the top of the building across the river.
In an interesting repeat of the last trip, I apparently still look German. Once again, a number of people would walk up to me in a group of Americans and start speaking German to me. When I got on a plane from Paris to Amsterdam, the flight attendant was greeting each person in their apparent native tongue. She did a pretty good job of detecting French, American, Dutch and Japanese passengers (ok, that last one is easier...) but when I got on she said "Guten Morgen" to me. This one was more remarkable given that we were in France. Nutty!
Anyway, on to the pictures...
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The centerpiece of the Cologne skyline is the Cathedral (Dom) which took over 600 years to complete. It is particularly nice in the evening.
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The rail bridge heading across the Rhein is nearly as interesting as the Dom itself.
This is the Cologne Dom from the top of a nearby building. The panoramic views were really nice though getting the shot through the glass windows was tough with all of the glare from nearby lights.
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Nice sunset over Cologne, again from the top of the building across the river.
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