A Perfect Storm of Laziness

Monday, January 25, 2021

In 2018, I biked 3,213 miles. About two thirds of that was on the longtail cargo bike, and much of THAT was hauling the kids as the three of us bumped up against the weight limit of the bike. I was in pretty fantastic shape for a guy who had just turned 40.

Enter 2019. March 8th, I tore my Achilles. It wouldn’t be until July 5th that I rode a bike again. In the meantime, the kids were growing and growing and I was really no longer able to haul both of them for any distance, even if they wanted me to, which they increasingly did not. Then 2020 came around and COVID took away most of my motivation to bike - who wants to ride somewhere when you can’t go inside?

My strategy to deal with all of this and keep my fitness level was to pretend it wasn’t happening, and this clearly isn’t working. I’ve tried nothing, and it isn’t working.

I’ve always been pretty good about keeping up with fitness so long as it didn’t take any real time out of my day. Now that I have to work at it, it’s not going so well.

Posted in: biking , fitness

The Bernie meme is over

Friday, January 22, 2021

This is the pinnacle of the Bernie sitting in the cold with his mittens meme. There can be nothing better than this.

Posted in: bernie

Maybe don't run five year old scripts without testing

Friday, January 15, 2021

So maybe in the future I should remind myself that mindlessly running a script you haven’t touched in 5+ years without bothering to back up your old blog is not exactly a smart decision. I think I’ve gotten things maybe 75% fixed, but it’s likely that the URLs aren’t the same as they used to be, so any old links from old blogs are probably dead. Good thing no one writes or reads blogs anymore.

Anyway, thinking of getting back into blogging again. I like to write. I’m not terrible at it, even if the bulk of the content on this blog suggests otherwise. It’s a great time to be blogging since no one cares about the medium anymore. Maybe I’ll have these auto-post to Instagram so the kids will see it and ignore it there instead of ignoring it here.

Posted in: idiot

I wonder if this will work

Thursday, January 14, 2021

It’s been years since I updated this blog and I don’t actually remember how to do it. Maybe it works automatically? I’m going to have to try to figure this out.

Posted in: testing

Did we learn nothing?

Wednesday, May 06, 2015

I have to admit that I watch very little TV these days. What I do watch is usually through our Roku, which I love. But I can’t help seeing these articles on putting Roku hardware into tvs, I can’t help thinking about TVs with built in VHS. Media players are always obsolete faster than TVs. Even the whole concept of a “smart TV” is kind of silly. I get it from a marketing perspective, but I really can’t understand what consumer would want this.

Posted in: technology

I'm in the New York Times!

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

I’m quoted in an article in the New York Times about family biking. Full disclosure - the author has kids at our kids' school, and we’ve talked before about bikes, so it’s not like someone randomly found me and realized I was awesome or anything like that.

And I was in the Washington Post earlier this year, though purely by chance, and not in the online edition. A photographer got a picture of me taking the girls home from school and it was used in an article about DC charter schools because I happened to be passing by one when he snapped the photo.

I’m trying to decide what paper would really complete the trifecta. The Boston Globe, to keep up the East Coast thing? The LA Times to really branch out? Maybe a Chicago paper? I’m pulling for LA because, really, how the heck would I get into an LA paper?

Also, a note on the article - the author is aware that there are only quotes from men. What she submitted had quotes from women, and they didn’t make the final. I can’t speak to why that is, and I’m honestly not sure whether it’s better that the NYT editor did it on purpose, or that they are just that clueless. Either way, it’s absurd to ingore the women who are embracing cargo bikes instead of minivans. Anecdotally, I know more women who do it than men.

Posted in: biking , bragging

Stuff is broken

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Having some problems with Mynt, the static site generator that I use to update this site. It stopped working at some point since I last posted forever ago. I’ve fixed most of the issues but you’ll notice you can’t get to older posts, and the previous and next links don’t work.

Should have it all fixed shortly.

Posted in: blogging

A Tumblr for "I'm totally going to start blogging again" posts

Friday, April 24, 2015

I’m going to try to start blogging again for the millionth time. I really do enjoy blogging, I just get distracted, and it’s tough to actually do it from work, which is where I tend to get the ideas for blog posts. This time you know I’m serious, though, because I set a reminder on my phone to start blogging agian.

Over/Under on posts before I forget about this again is three.

Posted in: blogging , meta

Oh, corporations, how I love thee

Saturday, February 15, 2014

ESPN - Goodell made $44.2 million in ‘12

Roger Goodell got paid $44 million dollars in 2012 to manage a non-profit with revenue of $10 billion. I won’t argue he’s not worth that, because I have no idea and don’t really care. But it shows how out of whack everything is.

It’s also a little annoying that everywhere you see this revenue number attached to “the NFL”, but it’s not clear whether they mean the NFL as in the non-profit corporation, or the for-profit (mostly) teams that make up the NFL. This is significant because that’s a huge amout of tax revenue that is or isn’t being paid.

Posted in: NFL , non-profit

Google Translate gets confused

Monday, February 10, 2014

I love Google Voice. I love that it transcribes my voicemails and doesn’t make me sign in to something to check them and make the notifications disappear. But sometimes a machine isn’t the best option for transcription.

Especially when the voicemail is from the kids' school, and the Google Transcription Bots are trying to write Spanish words as English. Not translate them, mind you. Just take the words spoken in Spanish and assume that the speaker just doesn’t enunciate well.

Here are some of my favorite examples.

  • This is a belly will message if it’s a mint okay babe. Bye.
  • It’s A. M on the buttercup. If you’d like to know your screen, or you can is gonna be included in it.
  • Maybe doing the ship but as soon as the net for the end of the video, and I will be buzz been restored. If you if he didn’t seem just with him.
  • If the M on the political modicum of the red Vista such Idaho 849 and again it is.
  • In that way. I’ll talk to you on and she’s up on the above. But I thought the dash.
  • Cenegenics for the Candidacy little bit of Sadat, my knee and not anything they did in May, enough it to know if I’m in the checks for the picking the D payment and have a Today, Cuevas think that in new I love this mail order.
  • At this moment I have. Anyway, this is a binding that customer him on the but I’ll be talking to ask him on the letter that the Santa point.
  • Give me a cliff mean development it.
  • I just had a most man with a step by step.
  • I thought 008 if you’ll send it.
  • Ohh. I don’t know the picking that you can make a deal. Cos the moment.
  • My nephew coming to someone that I have a good morning Linda with my family is a system is hitting way.
  • This is a bilingual message if I’m looking on the bottom ecosystem on that I stuff the shuttle point hey, My this is the victim active you on my team.
  • I’m calling to inform you that my number is closed today, Tuesday, December 10th due to the bad weather.
  • I mean. Just give a call back in to put it together see if you have a system in this is gonna going to go to the C. P. S.
  • In point, dot, com vicinity but I just got an estimate on my team I also want to remind you of our school policy to follow. D. C. P. S. Decisions regarding kosher or delay to to weather conditions which aggressive talked in town.
  • Thank you for your touch.
Posted in: manchine translation , spanish

This will end badly

Monday, February 10, 2014

Kurzweil AI - Wearable ‘neurocam’ records scenes when it detects user interest

I think this is a fascinating step forward in user interface design - the more we can connect thoughts to the external world, the closer we are to doing away with mice and keyboards and whatnot.

But I’m pretty sure no one wants to have a stockpile of videos of everything “interesting” they saw that day. I think that might reveal more about us than we want anyone to know (even ourselves).

Posted in: bad idea , tech , wearable

ReDigi is Ridiculous

Tuesday, February 04, 2014

I was reading an article about ReDigi, a company that wants to answer ridiculous interpretations of the First-sale Doctrine as it pertains to digital goods with marketing gobbledygook.

First, I commend companies who keep an eye on where they’re getting mentioned online and respond to people when appropriate. But this only works when you engage the fan or critic. When you just comment on blog posts to say how great you are without addressing any of the concerns, you’re not likely to win any fans.

I have a bunch of problems with ReDigi. I have a problem with the need for them to exist. Either I can resell any digital content I bought, through whatever channel I chose (eBay, Craigslist, a street corner, whatever), or I haven’t actually bought it, and instead I have purchased a revocable license to use the content in some limited manner. In either case, there is no need for ReDigi.

I have a problem with their claims that the patent they’re getting will let them ensure that the original file is deleted and that no copy is ever made. Technically, I don’t think there’s any way they can possibly do this unless the file only exists within ReDigi’s software. Even then it’s only a matter of time before someone figures out a way around whatever they’re doing. That may keep ReDigi on the right side of the law, but it doesn’t make it not ridiculous.

I have a problem with “used” digital content. It just doesn’t make any sense. If it costs the same as “original” digital content, then there’s no difference between the two. If it’s cheaper, that doesn’t make any sense, either, because it’s exactly the same collection of ones and zeroes. It’s not diminished because I read it or listened to it or watched it.

Lastly, you can’t grow a market by introducing inefficiencies. Creating this big framework to stay out of legal trouble is only sort of viable because the status quos is (and I’m overusing this word, but it just fits) ridiculous. Also, I was really, really tempted to title this post “ReDigi is ReDiculous” but I thought people would think I mispelled “Ridiculous”.

Posted in: ebooks , first sale , patents , ridiculous

Stop letting Disney control copyright

Tuesday, February 04, 2014

We’ve written plenty of times about the importance of the public domain around here, and one of the biggest beneficiaries of the public domain has been Disney, a company which has regularly mined the public domain for the stories it then recreates and copyrights. Of course, somewhat depressingly, Disney also has been one of the most extreme players in keeping anything new out of the public domain, as pointed out by Tom Bell’s excellent “mickey mouse curve” showing how Disney has sought to push out the term of copyrights every time Mickey Mouse gets near the public domain. (Techdirt)

I’ve talked about this before - click through to see “The Mickey Mouse Curve”, showing how Disney lobbies Congress to extend copyright every time Mickey Mouse is about to come into the public domain. It’s pretty despicable on a lot of levels, but what gets me the most is that it goes against everything copyright was meant to do. It was a deal between the public and content creators that gave the content creators a monopoly on their work for a limited time. In return, after that time, where it was assumed the creator could earn some money from the work, the work would be given to the public to adapt and build on. It makes absolutely no sense to retroactively alter the deal. Clearly the original deal was enough for the creator to create - there’s no need to alter the deal later.

Here’s an equivalent situation. You call Joe’s Lawn Service and ask them to cut your lawn. They tell you it’ll be $25, which you agree to, and Joe cuts your lawn. Then Joe comes back a year later and tells you that original deal wasn’t really enough to get him to cut your lawn, and he needs another $10. Another year later, Joe’s Lawn Service is bought out by Lawncorp. Lawncorp’s lawyers send you a nasty letter telling you that your deal with Joe wasn’t enough to get him to cut your lawn, and Lawncorp now needs another $10, plus legal fees.

But Joe has already cut your lawn. Clearly the $25 you paid Joe back then was sufficient motivation for Joe to cut your lawn. You know this because Joe cut your lawn.

Now, Disney may argue that Mickey Mouse and Disney are so entwined that losing their exclusive right to Mickey Mouse would irreparably harm their brand. It’s a convincing argument, but it’s completely irrelevant to discussions of copyright. There is no provision in copyright that guarantees corporate profits a century later. Trademark law is different - they can keep the trademark forever so long as they’re using it in commerce.

This is especially important now. When Mickey Mouse was created, there were fewer people creating content with any sort of meaningful audience. Now anyone with a computer or smartphone can have ten million views on YouTube or publish a best-seller on Amazon or any number of other things. Copyright used to be a deal between the content creators and the public. Now it’s a deal between the public and the public, because everyone is a creator. And still it’s only Disney’s interests being represented in the law.

Posted in: disney , mickey mouse , public domain

Maybe I was wrong about Brookland

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Not only is there a new bar from Meridian Pint coming to Brookland, but maybe a new coffee shop/bike shop from Filter and The Bike Rack. And the bike ride to school next year is primarily on the MBT, and Gremlin 1 could definitely bike it next fall. Maybe even Gremlin 2.

It’s definitely looking like a more appealing place to live every day.

Posted in: DC

Congressman Michael Grimm is an insane person

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Congressman Michael Grimm (R-NY/Staten Island) felt a little tense after the State of the Union. After giving a terses statement to an NY1 reporter, he was asked about the ongoing issue of his campaign finance. He declined to discuss the matter and stormed off, then returned a moment later, apparently unaware that the camera was still rolling, and threatened to “throw [the reporter] off this [expletive deleted] balcony.” Grimm followed this with “you’re not man enough, you’re not man enough. I’ll break you in half. Like a boy.”

Source

So, yeah, I’m glad that’s how elected officials speak to members of the press. To members of the human race, really.

It’s amazing that an elected official, in the course of doing his job, can threaten the life of a reporter, then make a non-apology, and people seem to be okay with that.

Mr. Grimm issued a statement late Tuesday evening: “I was extremely annoyed because I was doing NY1 a favor by rushing to do their interview first in lieu of several other requests. The reporter knew that I was in a hurry and was only there to comment on the State of the Union, but insisted on taking a disrespectful and cheap shot at the end of the interview, because I did not have time to speak off-topic. I verbally took the reporter to task and told him off, because I expect a certain level of professionalism and respect, especially when I go out of my way to do that reporter a favor. I doubt that I am the first member of Congress to tell off a reporter, and I am sure I won’t be the last.”

-Source

I expect a certain level of not threatening to throw people off of balconies from my elected officials. I don’t know, maybe I’m crazy.

Posted in: assault , politics

Freezing Saddles

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Since January 1st, I’ve been taking part in the Bike Arlington Freezing Saddles challenge. It’s a friendly contest that members of the Bike Arlington forum have organized (this is the second year of the challenge).

The rules are simple. Everyone is broken up into teams. You get 10 points for every day you ride at least a mile, and a point for every mile. Most team points wins. There are also a bunch of other prizes for random things to keep it interesting for those teams that don’t really have a shot at winning.

As I type this we have 11 riders with over 500 miles in January and two with over 1,000. I’m pretty happy with my total - I’ve ridden every day this month, a total of 253 miles. And yes, every day includes the -5 wind chill and every day of the snow.

It’s a cool competition. My team is doing well, but we’re not going to win. We’re currently pretty solidly in 5th place out of ten teams. But it’s a great excuse not only to get out and ride, but also to get to know some fellow forum members a bit better. And the competion finishes with the end of winter at a big happy hour where prizes are given and merriment is had.

It’s defintely good to have an understanding wife who stays with the kids while I go ride on the weekends. Not that she had it so bad today - when I got back she was dozing on the couch while the kids played. Today I rode around Brookland, one of the neighborhoods we’re considering when we finally buy a bigger place. I’m not sure I love it - it feels really suburban. Not unpleasant, but there’s defintely not as much you can walk to as there is here in Columbia Heights. Good hill workout, though, if you’re looking for that.

Posted in: bikeDC

Wearable fitness trackers have jumped the shark

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Sweet, a wearable fitness tracker for your pet. And as I write this it’s about to get funded.

I hope one of their cloud services is to text you when your pet is exercising and you aren’t. “Hey lazy the dog is going for a walk and you haven’t moved in an hour, maybe you should get off the couch and join her”.

Posted in: crowdfunding , tech , wearable

You suck, Comcast

Thursday, January 23, 2014

If you are in DC and online, you are likely paying a premium for the privilege.

The most recent figures from the WhiteFence Index, a monthly survey of utilities and home services in major cities, >reveals that DC residents pay the highest rate in the country when it comes to high speed internet.

Why is this? Could it be because Comcast had a monopoly over most of the city for years, with RCN covering a small portion, and Verizon Fios only coming to town after years of waiting and, more importantly, after Verizon has made it clear that it doesn’t much like providing Fios and could stop doing it at any time?

Posted in: broadband , competition , DC

My new favorite food

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

The kids got me into hot sauce. It started with Taco Night. The Wife and I wanted to do more family dinners, where we all sat down and ate the same thing at the same time, as a family. Those of you with small children know this is sometimes no easy task. So The Wife started Taco Night. Lots of beans, some cheese, a bit of protein, and the kids are happy. But the kids like bland. A little cumin, maybe some salt and a pinch of pepper, and they’re good. The Wife and I, not so much.

Enter Cholula Original Hot Sauce. With Cholula, the kids could have their bland tacos, and The Wife and I could have something with a little kick, but she didn’t have to cook a second meal. It was a hit.

But hot sauce is like heroin or tattoos. You don’t just do a little bit and then stop. You want more. Soon I was dreaming of hot sauce. I was buying chipotle potato chips. Drenching my eggs in sriracha. Asking for my chicken over rice extra spicy from the multitude of kabob food trucks that descended on L'Enfant Plaza every day at lunch until DCRA folded under pressure from the restaurants and invented all sorts of silly regulations. And then I started making my own.

It’s surprisingly easy to make hot sauce. I highly recommend Hot Sauce! by Jennifer Trainer Thompson if you’re looking to start making your own. And also Freund Container for the bottles you’ll inevitably need.

So I made some sauces. Some were better than others. I tried a Carribean hot sauce from the book and didn’t like it at first, but it really, really grew on me. Now I want to put it on everything. But I wanted to make something that was my own, not just a recipe from the book. Here is my latest creation. It needs a name.

  • Five habaneros
  • ½ cup of water
  • ½ cup of vinegar
  • a small onion
  • 20 ounce can of pineapple chunks, drained
  • turmeric, to taste
  • two cloves of garlic
  • a pinch of salt

Throw it all in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Then simmer, uncovered, for about ten minutes. This should make about a cup and a half of deliciousness. The sweet, Jennifer Thompson tells me, delays the burn from the habaneros. I just ate a sweet potato burger that The Wife made with a generous glob of this hot sauce on it, and it was glorious. With a little planning, I could see myself bottling this stuff and selling it. It’s that good. Hot enough so you know you’re alive, but not so hot you wish you weren’t.

Posted in: food , hot sauce

What the heck is a sneckdown?

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

“The snow is almost like nature’s tracing paper,” says Clarence Eckerson Jr, the director of StreetFilms, which documents pedestrian- and cycle-friendly streets across the globe. He says that snow can be helpful in pointing out traffic patterns and changing street composition for the better.

“When you dump some snow on this giant grid of streets, now you can see, visually, how people can better use the streets,” he says.

Source

I love this idea, and it’s especially relevant today, as we’ve had a sizeable snow and then a lot of cold, so nothing is melting. So, a “sneckdown” is a spot on the road that is still covered in snow after the plows have gone through and cars have been using the streets. It’s a ridiculous name, I know, but it’s a cool concept. If you go out in DC right now you’ll see a ton of them. They’re places that we’ve reserved for cars that cars don’t really need. They’re places that can be given back to pedestrians. We can take these spaces and make them sidewalks so it’s easier and safer to cross the street. Or we can make them into bike lanes, or parks, or anything else that people might need.

There is one caveat - especially when it’s cold, much of the non-car traffic just isn’t big enough and hot enough to melt the snow. We have a lot of bike lanes in the city that DDOT has ingored and cyclists can’t use, so they remain covered in snow. This isn’t because there’s no demand. I was out biking today and nearly every other cyclist I saw was doing what I had to do - taking the lane right next to the bike lane because the bike lane was covered in a treacherous mix of ice and slush. The presence of a sneckdown is not incontrovertible proof that the space isn’t needed for its intended purpose. It’s just a good indication that we’re not allocating space efficiently.

Posted in: bikedc , safety , urban planning

It's not the DRM, it's the inconvenience

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

There’s not one word about digital rights management that keeps readers from moving their purchases to another hardware platform. Why would people forego their main e-book vendor if they lose everything they bought when they switch? What does DBW think those “walls” are built out of, papier-mâché?

-Teleread: Surprise! Most consumers buy e-books from a single retailer

I don’t quite agree with this. It is unsuprising that most people who buy ebooks buy them from one retailer. I buy all my ebooks from Kobo. And while I think DRM is a bad idea for numerous reasons, for both the buyer and the seller, it’s not the whole story here.

I am technically competent enough to get DRM-free ebooks of whatever I want. I could either download them for free from any number of sites, or purchase them and strip the DRM. I choose not to, mostly because I want to support content creators, and I would rather forgo the content than take it for free.

The reason I buy all my books from Kobo is that I have a Kobo ebook reader, and they store all my purchases so I don’t have to think about it. Could I get better prices and a bigger selection at Amazon? Probably. But when it comes to digital content, I just don’t trust Amazon, and I’m willing to pay a small premium to avoid them.

But to the point above - it’s not exactly the DRM that builds these walls. If I buy a book from Kobo, it just shows up on my reader. If I buy a book from Amazon, I’m not even sure what I have to do. I probably have to download the book then transfer it the reader. I might need special software from Amazon that likely doesn’t work on my Linux laptop. It’s a big hassle. Now, you could make the argument that, in the absence of DRM, this process could be just as easy for books bought anywhere as it is for books bought from Kobo, but I really doubt it would work out that way. Music has been DRM free for the most part for a while now, and as far as I know you can’t do one-click buys from your music player from other vendors.

Posted in: drm , ebooks

Google Glass Disconnect

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Surely you’ve seen stuff written about “Glassholes”, early Google Glass users who don’t deal well with those who are upset by Glass and the feeling that they’re always being watched. I’m sure there are people being ridiculous on both sides - some Glass users who should be more sensitive to those around them, and some non-users who immediately jump to the worst possible conclusions.

What people have to understand is that, first, stuff like Google Glass isn’t going away, no matter how many coffee shops ban them with snarky notes. And, more importantly, none of us have any idea what is going to come out of projects like this. In some cases, it’s going to be saved lives.

Patrick Jordan isn’t just a Google Glass Explorer; he’s a firefighter and a developer based in North Carolina. That combination is making for an impressive idea: Jordan is working on a Glass app that could help him and fellow firefighters save more lives. The software would provide instant heads-up information such as floor plans, locations of nearby hydrants and vehicle data.

Yes, the always-on cameras can be dangerous to privacy, and people need to keep that in mind and remember that being polite and respecting others doesn’t depend on the technology one is or isn’t using. But we’re still in the earliest stages of this technology, and we’re already getting glimpses of what it can do for society. There will be growing pains, but you can’t think any sort of bans are going to do anything meaningful in the long run. We have to figure out how things like Google Glass are going to fit into society.

Posted in: the future

Snow Day

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

The kids are super excited for the snow today. They’re calling for 4-8 inches. These kids have really never had a good snow. They were either too young or not yet born for Snowmaggeddon and we’ve been setting records in the DC area over the last couple years for our lack of snow.

Unfortunately, The Wife and I both have work we have to do, even though OPM closed the federal government. And I have to get a bike ride in for Freezing Saddles.

Also, for the record, it is nearly 9AM and The Wife is still in bed. I’ve already been to the gym, made coffee, done some work, and fed the kids breakfast.

Posted in: kids , laziness , weather

Indian Cooking Classes in DC

Monday, January 20, 2014

I just backed a cool project on Kickstarter - Pansaari. The project is close to being funded, but is running out of time. It sounds pretty great.

A communal space offering food that is good for you. Sip chai, browse books, take a cooking class, buy spices, local produce, and more.

I’m especially interested in the cooking classes. As you may know, we’re mostly vegetarian here (though The Wife eats seafood and I eat pretty much anything, just not at home), and there are a ton of good vegetarian options in Indian cooking. Plus some spicy stuff. I’m on a big spicy kick these days.

Anyway, I hope they reach their goal.

Posted in: cooking , dc

Welcome Back to Me

Saturday, January 18, 2014

I finally moved the blog from an ancient version of Drupal to a nice new installation of Mynt. Still working on some things, but I hope to be back to regular blogging very soon. Like, this week.

Posted in: blogging

Maple Syrup Old Bay Biscuits

Thursday, December 20, 2012

So a little while back, The Wife made some Old Bay roasted potatoes to go along with pancakes. Delicious. And then I got a little potato in my maple syrup, and it was even better. I love the flavor contrast. Then I got this book, How to Cook Everything The Basics. It has a recipe for cheddar jalapeno biscuits that’s pretty awesome, though a bit too buttery. I made those biscuits, and got the idea to do maple syrup Old Bay biscuits. Maple Syrup Old Bay Biscuits After a good while, I finally found a basic biscuit recipe, subbed out some of the fat, and threw in some of my own ideas, and threw them in the oven. I love the result. Here’s the recipe.

Maple Syrup Old Bay Biscuits

  • 2 cups of all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon Old Bay
  • 2 tablespoons shortening
  • 8 tablespoons part skim ricotta cheese
  • ½ cup skim milk
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup Preheat the oven to 450. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and Old Bay in a big bowl. Mix in the shortening and ricotta with a fork until it looks like coarse crumbs. Add the maple syrup. Slowly pour in the milk while stirring, until it seems like dough. The recipe I followed says “until it pulls away from the bowl”, but what does that really mean? Roll it in flour a bit until it’s not sticky, then use a rolling pin to flatten it, about a half inch thick. Use a cookie cutter or something, then throw them on an ungreased pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until they brown a bit, and you have some awesome little biscuits.
Posted in: cooking

I am the greatest chef in the world

Friday, May 06, 2011

Date night ingredients: beets and horseradish for the wife, molasses and summer squash for me. I did well, I think, but the wife knocked it out of the park. She made salmon with a horseradish cream sauce over roasted potatoes and beets. I modified this recipe and made Roasted Brussels Sprouts over Molasses Vinegar Squash Puree.

YAY_1507 Ingredients:

  • Summer squash (I used two good-sized yellow squash)
  • Two tablespoons butter
  • Package of fresh Brussels sprouts
  • Rosemary
  • Thyme
  • 2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
  • 2 TBSP molasses
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Olive oil Directions: Chop the squash into one-inch-ish cubes. Melt the butter, mix in the rosemary, thyme, vinegar, and molasses. Put the squash in a bowl and cover it with the butter mixture. Chop the Brussels sprouts, lightly cover in olive oil and salt and pepper. On two separate cookie sheets, roast all the vegetables. I did them at 450 for about 20 minutes, mostly because that’s the temperature the wife wanted. Roasting vegetables is not an exact science, and there’s a broad range of “done” that you’ll be happy with, so make sure the vegetables aren’t too hard and don’t burn too much and you’ll be fine. Puree the squash and put it on a plate. Cover with Brussels sprouts and enjoy. I think this was a tiny bit too sweet - I think next time I’d put in a little more vinegar or a little less molasses. But it was quite delightful as it was.
Posted in: date night in

Contesting a DC parking ticket online

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Oh, what a glorious world we live in. I just contested a ridiculous parking ticket entirely online. I’m not sure how I got the ticket - I never actually saw a ticket on the car. I just got an email telling me that the fine was about to double. So I responded.

I never received the paper ticket - my first notification of this ticket was the email that the penalty was doubling. However, I did not commit the violation “STOP/STND IN AM RUSH”. Attached please find photos of the signs on both sides of the street. The ticket was issued on 3/29/2011, which you’ll note is a Tuesday. According to the signs, there are absolutely no rush hour restrictions on parking on the 1400 block of Harvard St NW on Tuesdays. So it is not possible that this ticket is valid.

I attached two pictures. North side parkingSouth side parking
I don’t know how I got the ticket. But I don’t think I’m paying it. I’ll let you know if the DMV agrees.

Posted in: dc , parking

Another date night, another success

Thursday, April 28, 2011

We had another date night tonight. The wife’s ingredients were rhubarb and garlic, so she cooked rhubarb salad with goat cheese. Except they didn’t have rhubarb at Whole Foods, so she subbed in apple. It worked. My ingredients were veggie chorizo sausage and phyllo dough (since we didn’t finish it from last time). I made Spicy Pigs in a Blanket with Lime Salsa. It was pretty good.

YAY_1430 Ingredients Pigs in a blanket

  • Phyllo dough
  • Veggie Chorizo
  • Granny Smith Apple
  • Tiny bit of olive oil
  • Cooking spray Salsa
  • 2 roma tomatoes
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 lime
  • ½ can great northern beans
  • Small handful of cilantro
  • Largish pinch of salt Directions Chop the sausage and the apple into pretty small pieces and mix together. Double over the phyllo dough, sealing with olive oil. Cut into strips a couple inches wide. Put a bit of the apple/sausage mixture onto the dough and roll it up. Technique isn’t important here. Cook at 375 for 12 minutes or until the dough starts to brown. Chop and seed the tomatoes. Chop the pepper. Rinse the beans. Toss all into a bowl. Chop and add the cilantro, add the salt. Add most of the zest from the lime, as well as all the juice. Toss. That’s it. I served it all together, but each one stands up on its own if you’re so inclined. So, I’m pretty much the best cook ever. And I say that with all appropriate modesty.
Posted in: date night in

Date Night In

Thursday, April 21, 2011

For all you couples with kids, you know what I mean when I say it’s tough to get out for a date night. A lot of you busy with other stuff know what I’m talking about, too. So the wife and I have started doing Date Night In, inspired by watching Chopped on Food Network. We each pick two ingredients, and the other person must make a dish using them. We usually pick a day or two in advance so we can go shopping. We don’t have 1) the experience of the chefs on Chopped or 2) the extensive pantry. And we alternate - one week I do a salad or appetizer while she does the main, and the next week we switch. This is our third one. It was my most successful, though we haven’t had a bad one yet. My ingredients were bananas and goat cheese, and I was doing the salad/appetizer. Getting a little inspiration from this recipe, and a little imagination, I cooked up Banana Goat Cheese Rolls. Ingredients

  • ½ white onion, chopped
  • ½ jalapeno, finely chopped
  • 1 banana
  • 2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
  • filo/phyllo dough
  • A bit of olive oil
  • Goat cheese
  • A large pinch of salt Directions Saute the onion and jalapeno for five minutes or so until the onion starts getting translucent. Mash the banana in a bowl and mix in the apple cider vinegar and salt. Add this to the onions and turn down the heat. Let it thicken, five or ten minutes. Lay out a sheet of filo dough and spread a bit of olive oil around the edge of half of it, then fold it over. Cut it into four strips - they should be three or four inches wide. Put a spoonful of the onion/banana mixture at one end of the strip, then top with a spoonful of goat cheese. Roll the dough, folding the sides a bit so nothing comes out. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and lay the rolls on the sheet. I used three sheets of dough, but it probably depends on how much you put in each. Put them in the oven at 375 until the dough starts to brown, probably 15-20 minutes. Let them cool a bit and enjoy! I’m pretty excited about how well they turned out. The banana was pretty strong, and the jalapeno a little weak, but the wife said she’d serve them to company. I think we’ll try that next time we have company. We might tweak the recipe a bit. I highly recommend watching Chopped if you want to be a better cook. Not that you’ll learn how to cook from watching, though you should pick up some tips, but that watching it makes me want to cook more, and makes me want to try new things that are a bit outside my comfort zone.
Posted in: date night in

Welcome to the world, Matilda

Monday, October 04, 2010

[JER_8270

](http://www.flickr.com/photos/thetejon/5021249127/)

At exactly 7:56AM Friday (9/24) morning, Matilda Sheehy Renaut was born at the DC Developing Families Center in Northeast.

I know I haven’t done much posting to this blog recently. Or, really, any. But I’ve been busy with other projects, and the now two kids, and all of that. I’d like to get back to blogging at some point, so I’m keeping this alive, but I make no promises.

Anyway, Matilda. Another great experience at the birth center. The wife’s labor was incredibly quick - first contraction was only about five hours before the baby was born.

I’m still getting used to the fact that I have two little girls. Matilda looks JUST like Adelina did at this age except for her chin. Adelina’s was a little more like mine. We’re curious if they’ll end up looking the same as they get older. My little brother and I could have been twins up to age one or so, and now look very different.

It’s very convenient to have another girl at the same time of year - she’ll be the same size as her sister in the same year/season, so we should be set for hand-me-down clothes.

I’m taking more time off work this time. I took all of last week and all of this week. I’ll go back after the Columbus Day holiday next Monday. It’s been cool to spend time with the family, and now we should be a little more settled in to the change before I have to go back to work and leave the wife alone at home.

And, in case you’re wondering, it’s still crazy, being a dad. And both of my girls are amazing.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , harvardstreet , life , parenting

Only in DC

Wednesday, November 04, 2009


Originally uploaded by thetejon

Saw this on our block of Harvard today. Fancy BMW 745, polished, heavy tint on the windows, Maryland tags, parked in front of a RPP Zone 1 Only sign. The sign, if you don’t click through to read, says, “POLICE - Official business”. I have no idea if this is a legitimate thing, or something the guy printed on his computer, but clearly parking enforcement decided to ticket him and let the DMV sort it out.

Posted in: columbiaheights , dc , harvardstreet , parking , police

You wish you had my energy?

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

I was out jogging with the kid in the stroller on 16th Street near Varnum NW - near the top of a pretty long, steady ascent - and I overtook a group of kids coming from school. A kid who looked 13 or 14, though I have no idea these days, looked at me. “I wish I had your energy, sir.” He said. “Pushing that baby all the way up the hill”.

Posted in: dc , exercise , harvardstreet , kids these days , running

Another reason to hate Adobe

Monday, September 14, 2009

Does anyone know what I did that installed this Adobe DLM into Firefox 3.5.3 on Windows XP? I’m about to disable it, but I’d really like to know how the loathsome weasels at Adobe managed to cram it into my Firefox Add-ons without me noticing. Is it something automatic when I updated Adobe Reader? Did I not unclick a box that I should have unclicked?

Posted in: adobe sucks , computer virus , unwanted software

Keeping me busy - ebooks and publishing

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

I’ve got a lot going on these days. Work, the kid, family, finding time to spend with the wife - probably a lot like your life. But over the last few months I’ve added one more thing, and it’s getting close to becoming a reality. You may know that I was blogging over here for a while. It started out as an experiment to see where it would go, or to see if I liked blogging with a more professional tone. But the more I wrote about the ebook industry, the more I hated it. It started to feel like everyone was getting it wrong. $10 ebooks? Really? So I decided I had to do something about it, and the idea for Manfred Macx publishing was born. I’m hoping to launch the site in November. In brief, it will be a place where authors can come and get some help in getting their work out there, and giving fans an opportunity to support them. I will still complain here about DC parking enforcement (Have you seen the VW at 14th and Harvard that’s been parked there for 3 weeks? Why haven’t they towed it?) and various other things that need complaining about. It’s just going to be a bit lower on my priority list. But do check out Manfred Macx. At the very least, it will partially excuse my neglect of this blog.

Posted in: business , life , publishing , start-up

Comcast still doesn't have a clue

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Fresh on the heels of my great experience with Verizon Wireless, Comcast provided a fantastic display of how bad they are at what they do. This is what happens when you have a localized monopoly. We’re supposed to get Verizon FIOS in three years, which is probably four plus years after we should have gotten it. I don’t know what sort of negotiations had to happen between DC and Verizon, but anything beyond, “Yes, Verizon, here’s your building permit” was probably not in the best interests of the DC residents. But that’s not the point here. The point here is that Comcast is terrible. Let’s look past the fact that they have to come out every 6-8 months and fix something because our signal strength has dropped to the point that our cable goes out. Never mind that they just keep inching the price up. No, my big complaint is the huckster who called me up this afternoon. He just caught me before I left to pick up the little gremlin from daycare. He starts off by telling me that Comcast has a great deal for me, only $10 more a month or something for Comcast Blast internet, which is super fast and awesome, and they’ll give me free Showtime, and boy are there some great shows coming out on Showtime, and if I sign up right now I can get some other fabulous prize, we can get you all upgraded within two business days, so can we set up an appointment right now? He didn’t take a breath or deviate from the script. By the halfway point, he could have offered me a couple of terabytes per second download speed for six cents a year and I would have turned him down. So, what did he do wrong that Verizon did right? He talked at me. I know, Verizon was lowering my bill, which is obviously much easier to sell, but that’s not really the point. The Comcast guy talked quickly, making sure he got everything out and asked me to sign up before I really had a chance to think about what his offer was. He didn’t really explain what the difference between what I have now and what he was offering. The Verizon guy actually had a conversation with me, clearly explaining what he was doing, how it would be different from what I had now (And he was looking at my account, so he knew what I was paying for), and why it would be better. When I told the Comcast guy I wasn’t interested, he tried to convince me. He asked why not. I stumbled for a minute, wanting to say, “Because you’re reading a script, and I hate being upsold”, but I didn’t really feel like getting into it. The Verizon guy knew my account, and knew how he could get me a better deal. The Comcast guy knew nothing about me beyond my name, and made me an offer that wasn’t terribly compelling. I hope Comcast is terrified of the arrival of Verizon FIOS. And I hope they deal with it by improving their service rather than lame attempts at upselling their customers. And Comcast? If you’re still reading and responding to unhappy blog posts about your service, make sure you read my post this time.

Posted in: cable , comcast , complaint , dc , harvardstreet

I still hate Sony

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Sony has a new (I think) website up to promote their new ebook readers - Words Move Me. They ask people to sign up and share words that move them. Perhaps a favorite quote from a novel, or something like that. So I shared mine. For context, see this NY Times article.

Posted in: complaint , DRM , marketing , obnoxious

Best customer service ever - Thanks, Verizon Wireless

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

I still can’t believe it. Our Verizon cell phone bill was $19 lower than last month. The guy who called me was actually telling the truth. Verizon actually called me and lowered my bill. Maybe other companies struggling through the economy these days could take a page out of Verizon’s book. Like Citigroup - instead of adding new fees, maybe try actually helping you customers. Credit cards, like cell phone companies, are largely interchangeable. It’s pretty simple for me to switch to AT&T; or to another credit card company. If Citi adds a fee to my card, I’ll close the card immediately. But now Verizon has actually given me a reason to stay with them. AT&T;, meanwhile, is forcing smart phone owners to buy a data plan in the name of better customer satisfaction. And I’ll probably spend more money with Verizon soon - when they have a phone with a data plan that meets my requirements, I’ll upgrade, and there’s another $30 a month or whatever it is. Anyway, thanks, Verizon. This is one of the coolest things a company has ever proactively done for me.

Posted in: Anti complaint , cell phones , customer service , surprising , verizon

Contesting a parking ticket - my car is diplomatic

Thursday, August 20, 2009

I got a parking ticket the other day. Around the corner from us on 15th Street is the back of the Mexican Embassy. There is some parking there reserved from 7-4 weekdays for “Diplomatic cars”. We came home after 4, couldn’t find parking, and so we parked there. I meant to move the car, but I forgot. I am, of course, contesting the ticket.

To whom it may concern: I am writing to contest a parking ticket, citation #[unimportant], which I received on August 7th, 2009, for “DISOBYNG OFFICL SIGN”. The sign reads, “Diplomatic cars only” between 7AM and 4PM. Princeton’s online WordNet defines diplomacy as “subtly skillful handling of a situation” (http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=diplomacy). It then follows that a diplomatic car would be one which displays or performs this skillful handling. As such, it is difficult to argue that my car, a 2006 Mazda 3, is not diplomatic. There are only two situations in which the car ever finds itself – parked or being driven. It takes no skill to remain parked, and therefore the definition easily applies to any car. And anyone who has ever driven a 2006 Mazda 3, especially the manual transmission, can attest that the car is very skillful. It handles very well, accelerates quickly, and gets good gas mileage. At no time does the parking sign mention the need for any sort of credentials identifying the car as diplomatic, nor does it require the owner of the car to possess credentials. Therefore, by the definition above, my car is in fact diplomatic, and not in violation of the parking restrictions. Thank you very much for your time. Me

The sign is vague. Who’s to say what “diplomatic” means? Unfortunately, in this case, it’s the soul-less, humor-less parking adjudicator who will decide. I can’t say I like my chances …

Posted in: complaint , dc , harvardstreet , parking

Early night at Room 11

Sunday, August 16, 2009

It was unofficial baby night at Room 11 last night. We took the kid and met up with some friends who have a son in her daycare class. We went at 5, right when they opened, and sat outside on the porch. By the time we left around 7pm (The kid was well on her way to turning into a pumpkin), there were no less than a half dozen children under 2 on the porch. Most of the patrons, save one couple in the corner, found the children delightful. Our little monkey, for example, was making friends by pushing her chair around the porch after she finished eating. and flirting with the guys at the next table. I like Room 11. I should have written down what I drank. I had a Chilean carmenere that was really good. I had never heard of that grape before I tried the Montes Cab/Carmenere blend (A fantastic bottle, btw), then my mom bought me a bottle of Root: 1 (Another great bottle). And now it’s one of my favorite grapes. I also had a malbec that was good. They sell wine by the glass, starting at $6. Most of the glasses are $8-9. They have a very Belgian beer selection, which is not really my thing, but I think the beers are good for the many of you who do like Belgians. They had two beers on tap, also. I forget what they were, but I remember approving. We ate a meat plate and a cheese plate, both good, and the wife and I split a cheese panini which was pleasant. The service was good. Our waiter was friendly and easy-going and pretty attentive. He made some good suggestions on the meats and cheeses, since I’d never heard of most of it, and couldn’t pronounce any of it. The porch had a very “neighborhood” feel to it. A self-selected, limited slice of the neighborhood, but still a neighborhood. The couple we were with brought their dog, and he waited outside the fence until we finished. At least three or four people stopped to pet him as they walked down Lamont Street. It’s a pleasantly busy intersection - enough traffic to be interesting to watch, but not enough to disturb the atmosphere. So, go check it out. We’ll definitely be back.

Posted in: columbiaheights , dc , harvardstreet , restaurant review , wine

I'm a guest at Vinotrip again

Friday, August 14, 2009

I have another guest post at Vinotrip that I almost forgot to mention. If you’re interesting in reading about our trip through Maryland wine country, click on through.

Posted in: wine

Restaurant review - The Uptowner

Friday, August 07, 2009

I’m always a little uncomfortable calling a place without any tables to speak of a “restaurant”, but that’s not the point, here. I got lunch from the Uptowner, the new sandwich place just north of Columbia Heights Metro. I got a club wrap and a bag of BBQ soy chips. It was kind of expensive - about $9 - but the food was good. They have some vegetarian options, which is rare, and the guy behind the counter was quite pleasant. The layout is a little funny - you order in one room, and go next door to pick it up. I didn’t immediately see next door, and was worried that the sandwiches were going to be pre-wrapped and shipped from somewhere, but they’re made fresh next door. Anyway, I’ll go back at some point. I apologize to Julia’s Empanadas, where I planned to go, but the construction makes it very difficult to actually get to Julia’s. Maybe next time.

Posted in: Anti complaint , columbiaheights , dc , harvardstreet , restaurant , review

Columbia Heights is nothing but hipsters?

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

This Washington Post article has been pissing off tons of locals. It basically says that everyone in Columbia Heights sucks, we spend all our time at Target, and we’re smug because we don’t live in Mount Pleasant. I’ve been wanting to post something about it, but no matter how many times I read the article, I just can’t seem to get that worked up over it. I mean, I do go to Target a lot. I like Target. It’s a great place to buy cheap clothes for the kid, kitty litter, veggie burgers, box wine … But I guess the article doesn’t quite hit that close to home. I have been accused of being smug about where I live, but that was in relation to Ballston. I’m glad I don’t live in Ballston - not that it’s a bad place to live, it’s just not what we were looking for. And Mount Pleasant? I like Mount Pleasant. When we outgrow our place, that’s probably the first place we’re going to look. And Wonderland references are lost on me - I’ve been maybe a half dozen times, it’s a cool bar, but it’s not my hangout. We’re much more likely to sit out on the porch at Commonwealth and drink Twisted Thistles and order a cheese plate. The article was a little annoying, I admit. It took a small group of Columbia Heights residents and made sweeping generalizations about everyone here. It didn’t really offer any insight, and I don’t think it got the generalizations right. But I just don’t care. If the article had been about the roads around Target, that would have been a different story - whoever thought the traffic patterns around DCUSA could hold up to the volume of cars and pedestrians there are now was totally insane.

Posted in: columbiaheights , complaint , dc , harvardstreet , hipsters , washingtonpost

So you wanna be my friend

Friday, July 31, 2009

Are you on Facebook? If not, none of this will make sense. Anyway, it really irks me when someone sends me a friend request and then never says anything to me. I mean, it’s not necessary to write 5000 words to tell me how you’re doing or ask about my life or whatever, but a little something to say I’m not just a notch on your friend count belt is appreciated. This is the sort of Facebook app we really need. No more stupid quizzes and games - I want a friend filter app. It only permits your updates to show on my wall if you and I have had a conversation using Facebook. It can be via status message comments, wall postings, private messages, whatever, but it has to occur before I see you in my news feed. Another option is a badge for your profile that shows what percentage of your friends you’ve had a conversation with in the last month. Then a filter by percentage - if you’re percentage is below, say, 50%, you get blocked from my news feed. So, if you’re a company out there looking to make a Facebook app to help build your brand, don’t try to make one that does whatever your website does, only Facebookier. It will suck. Make one that’s actually useful, and slap your logo on it.

Posted in: complaint , facebook , social networking

What on Earth is going on?

Monday, July 13, 2009

I’ve been sitting here trying to think how this could be a scam, and I don’t think it can be. Verizon Wireless just called me, offering a plan review. I was skeptical, but figured I might as well listen. He told me that they could drop 150 minutes from each phone on our plan, and save us $10 a month. We don’t use all our minutes, so that was fine. It doesn’t renew our contract, it doesn’t give us fewer text messages, it doesn’t change anything. Just fewer minutes, cheaper plan. And the guy was obviously from Verizon, because he knew what my plan was, could see my usage, and didn’t ask me for any information. Has this happened to anyone else? I think I’m still in shock. Unless I’m missing something, this was just fantastic, proactive customer service from Verizon. And our contract is up - we can jump to another carrier whenever we want. I assume that’s why they called. Maybe the competition is finally strong enough that it makes sense to go after current customers instead of just trying for new ones. Anyway, this sure makes me more inclined to stick with them while I wait for them to jump on the Google Android bandwagon.

Posted in: Anti complaint , cell phones , customer service , surprising , verizon

Get this stupid song out of my head

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Since I can’t get it out of my head after inexplicably hearing it coming out of a car window on 16th Street this morning, I’d like to get The Freshman by The Verve Pipe into your head, too. That link up there? It’s the first hit for ‘annoying song freshmen’, although Google thinks I meant “freshman”. I guess I sort of did, but isn’t the word plural in the chorus? Sing it to yourself, you’ll remember. And now you feel my pain.

Posted in: complaint , music

The boot doesn't work

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

The ridiculous practice of “booting” cars with too many tickets has to stop. Either tow them or let them be. Today is street cleaning day on the main parking side of our block of Harvard. That means that there is no parking at all from 7am to 630pm. This is because Harvard is a pretty busy commuting cut-through, and it’s really helpful to have two lanes. But there aren’t two lanes today, because someone decided to boot a van on the open side of the street. I truly don’t understand the logic behind this. You are now making traffic worse. Other times people get courtesy tows, an absurd waste of time and money, but we can’t tow the van to the impound lot? I’ve said before that booting is an explicit admission that parking restrictions in DC are purely for the city’s financial gain, not an attempt to keep traffic flowing. This is absolutely infuriating. And, to make matters worse, another car, as I walked by this morning, had decided that if the van was parked there, it must be okay. And the really funny thing is that this car is likely to get towed. Ahh, DC. How I love you.

Posted in: complaint , dc , harvardstreet , parking

What is going on with public transportation in this city?

Monday, June 29, 2009

What in the world is wrong with the buses these days? Are people afraid of the Metro after the crash? It’s been one awful commute after another for the last week and a half. This morning, two buses passed without picking up passengers. The one we finally got on didn’t pick anyone up until U Street, passing crowded stop after crowded stop. And on the way home, I don’t even know what happened. I Street was a parking lot, so the bus actually turned right on 15th instead of 16th. I saw this, started walking, and actually beat the bus to 16th and L. It turned left on K, right on 16th, and I was at 16th and L when it arrived, and while I walk briskly, I never ran. It looked like something was blocking traffic on 17th - I imagine I could figure out what with a little Googling, but it’s not that important to me. On most weeks, I would just give up and work from home all week. But I actually have to be in the office at least tomorrow, and probably Wednesday, as well. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Posted in: commuting , complaint , dc , harvardstreet , wmata

The Mayor's Conservation Corps and the DDOE are very responsive

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Below is a copy of the email I sent to the Mayor’s Conservation Corps. You may have seen their flyers - they put them up on railings and doorknobs on our street today.

While I applaud the mayor and the DDOE for their efforts towards conservation and a more sustainable city, littering our streets with paper advertisements hardly seems like the way to start. I live on the 1400 block of Harvard St NW, and I just picked up two of your flyers off the sidewalk during a three block walk. Perhaps your first project could be to collect and recycle all of the trash you left on our streets.

If you have suggestions for projects or questions about the program, they’d like you to email them at mayorsconservationcorps@dc.gov or call 202-535-2325. And, before I could even finish this post, I received a reply from DDOE.

Good evening. Thanks for your note. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. We will make certain the responsible youth go back to that area tomorrow and clean-up door hangers from the street. My apologies for the inconvenience. Should the problem not be resolved or if you have any questions, please contact me at [Phone number removed]. Thank you. Melissa McKnight Program Director, Mayor’s Conservation Corps DC Department of the Environment

Who says city bureaucracy doesn’t work? My faith in government temporarily restored, I urge everyone to think about projects that could help the city. You can look at the Green DC Agenda website for more information.

Posted in: angry letters , complaint , dc , harvardstreet

My family is okay, I hope yours is, too

Monday, June 22, 2009

I don’t think I know anyone who was on one of the DC Metro trains that crashed today - certainly the wife and kid and I were nowhere near it, and I’ve already spoken to the two people I know who might have been near that station. I hope your family and friends are all okay, too.

Posted in: accident , dc , harvardstreet , metro , wmata

A former coworker

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Quite some time ago, in trying to explain why I complain so much, I paraphrased a quote from a former coworker into this comma-laden mess.

A friend at work a few years ago, defending me to someone else, said that, while I complain a lot, it isn’t quite complaining. It’s really just making conversation.

I lost touch with her not long after we stopped working together. Last I saw her was a chance encounter at CVS in Arlington before I moved into DC. I got an email today from a former coworker of ours telling me that she died a few weeks ago from a brain tumor. I’m not sure exactly how old she was, but it wasn’t more than mid-thirties. We weren’t close at work, but friendly. I have her phone number stored in my cell phone, although I don’t think I ever called her. And I maybe had a bit of a crush on her for a while. It’s strange - I probably never would have seen her again anyway, save another chance meeting. So I won’t miss her, exactly, but I think I will miss knowing that there was that chance.

Now I can die happy

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Originally uploaded by thetejon

The concert was, and I don’t hesitate to use this word, amazing. The openers, Street Sweeper Social Club, featuring Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine, were cool. They put on a good show. If I still ever listened to music, I would think about buying their new album next week. We did not stay for Jane’s Addiction, so I can’t say anything about them. When we arrived, having bought presale tickets through NIN.com, we found that not only were we not on the grass, but we were actually on the floor, right in front of the stage. Now, my friend and I are not really the type (Or the age, I guess) to crowd up front, but I could have held a conversation with Trent at a more or less normal volume from the distance we were away. Not with the crowd there, sure, but that’s an idea of the how close we were. By the way, note to other bands - this is how to treat your fans. Presale tickets just required that you sign up at the website. When we arrived, there was a longish line to get in, and a short line to get presale tickets at will-call. I handed them my id, they gave me my tickets. They had my name printed on them. We went straight over to the presale entrance line, where they checked id again. So we couldn’t possibly have scalped them, even if we had wanted to, and we barely had to stand in line. Plus we got awesome seats. Do you notice how this makes you money, makes your fans happy, and works perfectly with or without the horrors of music piracy? And then Nine Inch Nails came on. This is a text I sent the wife:

This is [expletive deleted] awesome. I’m getting goosebumps every time they start a new song

They played a great variety of stuff. They played the song from The Crow soundtrack, which was surprising. They played “Gave Up”, one of my favorite not-as-well-known songs off 1992’s Broken. They closed with “Head Like A Hole” and encored with “Hurt”, much to the delight of the crowd. For most of the concert, I was just standing there, thinking, “I can’t believe I’m here listening to Nine Inch Nails live”. I’m looking forward to telling the kid someday how I left her with the wife to go see them. “Dad, you’re old”, she’ll probably say. But that’s okay.

Nine Inch Nails Setlist Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD, NIN|JA 2009

Edit this setlist | More Nine Inch Nails setlists

Posted in: anti-complaint , awesome , concert , music , nine inch nails

Our first sale, sort of

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Our honeymoon registry website recorded its first transaction today for a person we don’t know. The registry for our first customers has done well, but we know them. Well, I don’t, but the other guy who built most of the website knows them. Today was the first time someone we don’t know had something purchased from their registry. For the record, it was $100 towards “A visit to Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai’s most famous temple, located on a hill overlooking the city”. Chiang Mai, for those that don’t know (I had to Google it) is a city in northern Thailand. It’s pretty exciting. The website we built because it seemed like a cool idea is actually getting some use. Not a lot, yet, but some. So, remember, if you need a free custom honeymoon registry, you know where to go.

Posted in: aftertheidos , anti-complaint , success

The new buses suck

Thursday, June 04, 2009

You’ve probably seen the fancy new buses the city is using for some of the cooler routes - the new S9 express bus on 16th Street, for example. I was all excited to ride one. They look fancy and clean and new and quiet. I got my chance today. The regular S2 was a new bus this morning, so I gleefully hopped on. Wow, do the new buses suck. Not only is it clear that the person who designed the bus has never ridden a bus before, but I’m pretty sure they actually defy various laws of physics. I don’t think these buses are very different in length, width, or height from the older buses, but they’ve somehow managed to drastically reduce the amount of usable space. Both styles of bus are basically rectangular prisms - volume equals length times width times height. So if the length, width, and height are approximately the same, the volume is approximately the same. I’m not sure where the volume went on the new buses. Perhaps they’ve somehow raised it up - there seems to be enough head room for an entire basketball team, but they better be built like Kevin Garnett, not Lebron. And don’t get me started on the painted yellow floor by the back door. It actually tells you not to stand on it. Are they insane? I mean, sure, it would be nice if no one stood there - most bus crowding problems are due to inconsiderate and clueless people who stand by the door and block everyone else from moving to the back of the bus. But who is going to obey the painted floor? The bus driver will yell at you if you leave that much space open during crowded commuting time. The other people on the bus will yell at you because they’re packed in like sardines while you leave that space open. You do have to leave some space, though, because the idiotic back doors open in. I’m going to go email WMATA right now and complain. I suggest you do the same.

Posted in: buses , complaint , dc , harvardstreet , public transportation

What a kick in the teeth

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Just as he pronounced himself, “ready to pitch in the majors again”, the Braves released Tom Glavine. Now, I understand that this is their right, and the guy is 43 years old. But he won 20 games for the Braves five times. For the vast majority of baseball fans today, it doesn’t get much more “Braves” than Tom Glavine. I don’t know if there was a good reason for doing it this way - waiting until he worked his way back into shape doing rehab in the minors - but it sure comes across to the fans as a terrible way to treat a guy who has been really important to your franchise since 1987, save the few years he spent as a Met. I’d love to see him come to Baltimore. Or Washington - I’d definitely find a babysitter for an evening if I could go see Glavine pitch. As an aside, some awesomeness from the article:

Glavine described himself as “very surprised” in a text message to The Associated Press.

The idea of a 43 year old man texting the AP is almost surreal. I hope he used an emoticon or two.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , not cool

Thanks, Trent

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

I think I posted a while back that I’m going to see Nine Inch Nails next week. I’ve been a fan ever since I saw the video for Head Like a Hole on MTV a million years ago, but I’ve never been to a show. This is their last tour “for a while”, which maybe means forever, so I just bought tickets. I just found out today that Jane’s Addiction, the worst band in the history of the Universe, is actually going on after Nine Inch Nails. This is the best news ever. Now, I don’t know if there are Jane’s Addiction songs that don’t suck - the only ones I know are the few that got on the radio back when I was actually listening to the radio. But the ones I know are truly and amazingly awful. Sorry if you’re a fan, but that just means you have bad taste in music. It’s really your fault. In any event, I’m pretty excited.

Posted in: Anti complaint , awesome , music

At what point is it okay to cry?

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Crying is acceptable for men in certain situations. Certainly during Field of Dreams. Insulting a man for crying when Kevin Costner plays catch with his dad is actually a valid legal defense for murder in 29 states. But what about spilling a beer? I maintain that if that said beer is a Bell’s Two Hearted, and if it’s Sunday after 8pm so you can’t buy any more, crying is totally acceptable. The wife disagrees, but it wasn’t her beer. Fortunately, I didn’t spill it. I told her I almost did, and that I would have cried. She said she would have called me the “P” word. I’m not sure where to draw the line, though. If it were just a regular ale? What if it had spilled on my computer (Which it probably would have)? What if it were my work computer? Does the amount of beer (1/3 bottle, in this case) make a difference? How many left in the house (At that point just one more with my name on it)?

Posted in: beer , bellsbeer , crying , judging , manliness

Move over, Sean, we've got a new jouster

Sunday, May 31, 2009

This one happened across the pond, not in DC, but this story is nearly as good as our local hero who beat DC parking enforcement. They decided to change some parking rules in (near?) London. To do this, they paint double lines on the street right next to the curb. This is in stark contrast to the ridiculous signs they put up here in DC, or sometimes the total lack of markings, requiring you to just know that you can’t park within five feet of an alley. So this woman’s car was parked legally before the unpublicized change to the rules. After the change, she would be illegal. So what did they do? They lifted her car off the ground, painted the lines, and put the car back down. Parking enforcement then came by and towed her for parking illegally. The article linked above has an awesome picture. She eventually got her MP involved and was refunded the 2400 pound fine (I think the exchange rate is better now than it was last time I was over there, but that’s still nearly $4000). By the way, Express, feel free to quote me again, but try to get it right this time.

Posted in: anti-complaint , dc , harvardstreet , jousting , parking

Adam Dunn owes me big

Monday, May 25, 2009

I’ve been to three Nationals games this year. I went to the home opener against the Phillies, I went to see the Cardinals in my second failed attempt to watch Albert Pujols, and I went to the Orioles game because I’m actually a fan of the Orioles, despite Peter Angelos' attempts to the contrary. I just realized that Adam Dunn might wish I came around more often. Not only are the Nats 2-1 in those three games, but Dunn is hitting .455 with four home runs and 11 RBIs. His OPS is 2.175. Small sample size, sure, but I have yet to see him play a game in which he does not hit a home run, and he hit two against the Orioles, one a game-winning grand slam. If only I were a Nationals fan.

Posted in: baseball , dc , good luck charm

Doing a little gardening

Saturday, May 23, 2009


Originally uploaded by thetejon

Up until this afternoon, it could have been argued that I lived in a dentist’s office. The front yard, such as it is, was clearly designed by someone who didn’t want to offend anyone. Unfortunately for him, I was offended. What are those grass-bush-things? They’re ugly. Especially after they got a little brown over the winter, and then they started growing again this spring. They looked terrible. I’ve been saying I wanted to replace them with something else pretty much since we moved in over two years ago. Today, I put my sweat where my mouth is. The wife, the kid, and I went to Garden District and got plants and mulch and a little spade. They were quite helpful there.


Originally uploaded by thetejon

We picked out a rose bush, some blue flowers, another bush that should flower late in the summer, and some marigolds. I don’t remember all the details, but I know I had a marigold garden when I was about four years old. I’m sure I did most of the upkeep work. In my opinion, clearly unbiased, it looks amazing. We’ll have to wait and see if anyone else in the building acknowledges my genius. One already told me it looked good, but he ran into me while I was cleaning up, so he pretty much had to say nice things. It remains to be seen if anyone else will do it unprompted. Luckily for me, a much improved garden is its own reward.

Posted in: columbiaheights , dc , gardening , harvardstreet , homeimprovement

My kid is way cuter than that

Thursday, May 21, 2009

I found out today that Parents.com is having a contest to get your cute kid on the cover of their magazine. No offense to little Trevor, Cover Model 2008, but my little clownfish is a bazillion times cuter. We have no plans this weekend beyond her first baseball game (Orioles at Nationals on Sunday). So I’m planning to take some really cute pictures. What I need from you, readers (All of you who are still paying attention after the lack of updates these recent months), is suggestions on cutening up my daughter. She’s already off-the-charts cute, but I need more. I need photos of her that will literally make your eyeballs melt with cuteness. Like a puppy raised to the kitten power. I want to make Anne Geddes' babies look like little gargoyles. How do I do that? Any suggestions are welcome. She’s a very smiley baby, so that isn’t an issue. What makes a cute baby photo?

Posted in: exploitation , kids , parenting , ten grand

Has Columbia Heights turned a corner?

Saturday, May 09, 2009

The wife and kid and I went to D'Vines yesterday to get beer for the Celtics game (Probably should have gotten more considering the end result). Out in front of the Columbia Heights Metro were beggars from Greenpeace! While avoiding eye contact as much as possible, the wife and I were secretly thrilled that these organized panhandlers had branched out from the fancy spots like the P St Whole Foods to come to our neighborhood. Of course, now I’d like them to go away. I don’t like being accosted for my wallet every time I go near DCUSA.

Posted in: begging , columbiaheights , dc , harvardstreet

Do you need a free custom honeymoon registry?

Thursday, May 07, 2009

When I got married, we had a honeymoon registry. We had both been living on our own for a while, and then together for a bit, and so we had a lot of the things that people typically put on a wedding registry. It was fantastic for us - because so much of the honeymoon was paid for, we felt free to splurge a bit on things like a helicopter tour of the Twelve Apostles and mass quantities of wine in downtown Melbourne. A friend and his wife did the same thing for their wedding. It was easy for us because both of us are software guys, and know how to build a website. It may not be easy for you. That’s why he and I created After the I Dos. It’s a totally free (except for Paypal fees) honeymoon registry site. You can set up a registry and let your guests help finance your honeymoon. I mean, do you really need another set of towels? Wouldn’t you rather let your guests help pay for your skydiving adventure, wine tour, resort, or whatever you plan on doing for your honeymoon? All you need is a few minutes to set it up and a (free) Paypal account. You’ll get a website you can send out to your guests, and you can even show links to your other registry sites, or maybe your wedding site at The Knot or whatever. An added benefit is ease of thank-you notes. All you need to do is take a picture of you and your spouse doing whatever it is the person helped pay for, print a copy for 12 cents at Target, and write a quick note about how much fun you had. No more making excuses for why you haven’t used that expensive food processor that Aunt Greta bought you.

Posted in: awesome , honeymoon , registry , side project

Guest post - Baltimore sucks, too

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

I do a lot of complaining here about the DC government. Turns out Baltimore has its share of problems, too. Here for your reading pleasure is a guest post from Gary at Vinotrip. Baltimore has a lot of problems. What big city doesn’t? I’ve lived in or around the city for most of my life and, as most Baltimoreans do, I give the city a pass on the problems that it faces. Sure, some things are nuts and don’t make sense, but it’s a good town. Two weeks ago, City Councilman Edward L. Reisinger (who represents me and my district) sponsored a bill to raise off-leash fines for dog owners from $100 to $1000. To little fanfare, the bill passed. Along with the good men and women of the Baltimore Police Department, Animal Control swept down on Riverside Park and started handing out $1000 fines. Needless to say, everyone is bitter. Smart move, Ed. Pass a ten-fold increase in fines targeted at dog owners in your district, then hold a neighborhood meeting about it. I get that dogs have pretty much taken over Riverside Park and if you are afraid of dogs, God help you because you’re going to fear for your life in this neighborhood. There is a leash law in the park, and that leash law should be enforced along with the law about picking up after your dog. Got all that. But the problem is sending several police officers and Animal Control officials to the park for days at a time. In Baltimore City where we probably have more important things to do besides extort taxpayers in a park. Well, city officials, your free pass is over. My self imposed gag-order on bitching about Baltimore has been lifted. Early last week, on Tuesday April 28th, a water main ruptured underneath a major downtown street. Water poured out, shut down streets during morning rush hour, closed businesses, and pretty much ruined the day for lots of people. They still haven’t gotten it fixed. Finally today, an entire week after the main broke, the city got up a sign on the major freeway heading into downtown regarding the major crosstown street shut down. For a full week, people rolling into the city found out the hard way that Lombard Street was still closed. The city can’t fix it. The city can’t put up a sign about it. The city can only bitch and moan and pander for Federal stimulus dollars. The best part is the quote from Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon at a press conference

“This is an example of what happens when you having a very aging infrastructure system,” Dixon told reporters.

You. Are. The. MAYOR. Don’t tell me we have a problem. I know we have a problem. GO FIX THE PROBLEM. Were I Dixon’s speechwriter, her news bite would have sounded something more like

“This is an example of what happens when you having a very aging infrastructure system,” Dixon told reporters. “But things aren’t all bad. We have a per capita murder rate so bad that if we had New York City’s population, there would be over 4,000 murders per year. Property taxes are 2.2% but we still can’t get water mains to stop exploding underneath downtown. We couldn’t even describe what a fully funded school looks like. Half the homes in low-income neighborhoods are boarded up and vacant. We send out Traffic Officials to stand under the traffic lights and direct traffic like we’re in North Korea. As your mayor, I’m riding around in a hybrid taxi trying to smile while being indicted for fraud But don’t worry everyone, we have that Riverside Park dog problem handled. I am on top of the dog issue. I’m sending more units down there as we speak.

It’s enough to make you cry. For all the problems going on, we get $1000 tickets dished out for having a dog off-leash. Maybe they can put that money toward fencing off a dog park, or the schools, or more police, or the water mains, or the traffic light timing…

Posted in: baltimore , complaint , dogs , guest blogger

Pedestrians should know their place

Monday, April 27, 2009

Have you ever been driving down 17th Street NW, getting ready to turn right on E to head out to Virginia, when some guy in an ill-fitting suit talking on his cell phone jogs across the street against the light? Have you ever given him a look and thrown up your hands in frustration? Has he ever had the audacity to flip you off in return? This didn’t happen to me this afternoon just after five, in case you’re wondering. I pride myself on paying attention to pedestrians and right-of-way. I know, what do I want, a cookie? But really, many, many people in this city, especially Maryland drivers (You know who you are) pretend that pedestrians don’t exist, and crosswalks are merely warnings before stop signs or red lights to run. So when I’m treated like this by pedestrians who think they are much, much more important than they really are, it bothers me. When you have the right of way, I’ll gladly wait. But when I have the right of way, I expect you to be on the sidewalk where you belong.

Posted in: complaint , harvardstreet , pedestrians. dc , traffic

The Opposite of Community

Monday, April 27, 2009

Internet forums are often wonderful. They can take a group of people who are spread across the globe, joined only by a common interest, and bring them together to talk and make friends. Or they can be terrible. You can have something like the Columbia Heights Community Forum, which takes people with common interests who are already co-located in one DC neighborhood, and drives them apart. At least someone notices my struggles with the forum. It’s really an unbelievable amount of hate and rage and incoherent ranting. Some go around pushing buttons, and others simply wait to have their buttons pushed so they can scream about it. It’s really too bad that something that could be a positive force in the community is actually driving people apart. Although, like a train wreck, I just can’t look away. I can’t even stop posting there.

Posted in: complaint , dc , harvardstreet , hatred

eBay is Dangerous

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

The wife has been going a little crazy on eBay lately. If she was spending more than $5 at a time, I’d probably intervene, but she’s just buying clothes for our daughter, and she’s barely spending anything, so I figure it’s not a problem. I’ll be keeping an eye on her, though. Whenever someone mentions eBay, I invariably get an urge to buy something, because you can buy pretty much anything there. And every time I look at eBay, I end up searching for a nice Triumph TR6 in good condition for a reasonable price. I’m going to own one someday. I’m going to get some money together, buy one, get a one-way plane ticket to wherever it is, and drive it home. It will be glorious. I’ll do it when the weather’s nice so I don’t have to put the top up.

Posted in: Anti complaint , cars , dreams , the future

How I love the English language

Monday, March 30, 2009

I was reading this movie review, and had no idea who Harold Faltermeyer was. So, I did what any normal person would do, and Googled him. His wikipedia page offers up a serving of the English language that just made my day.

[The theme from Top Gun and the theme from Beverly Hills Cop are] both often imitated, highly influential instrumental hits that to some extent practically redefined action film scoring in the ‘80s

Read that fragment a few times and just bask in its glory.

Posted in: Anti complaint , language

Compare and Contrast

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Original

Had I known her husband was a giant among those of us who joust at the windmills of parking enforcement, I would have bought her a beer. (Source)

“Quoted”

Had I known her husband was a giant among us who jousts at the windmills of parking enforcement, I would have bought her a beer. (Source)

Correct me if I’m wrong, but when one quotes another source, one generally doesn’t edit the quote to change the meaning, right? I mean, I didn’t study journalism in school, so I might be crazy here, but I always thought you were supposed to write exactly what the other person wrote or said, unless you make it clear that you’ve changed the wording. And even then, you change the wording either to clarify the context or to fit in the allowed space. You don’t change the meaning of the quote. Also, the wife maintains that “tilt” is generally used instead of “joust” when making that particular reference. She also feels that the analogy is slightly flawed - parking enforcement is an actual enemy, so to speak, unlike the windmills. We had a nice discussion about it, and we decided that she should just let me handle the references to classical literature. At least, that’s what I came away with. And she doesn’t have a blog, so that makes me right.

Posted in: complaint , journalism , misquoting

This man is my hero

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Here is a story of a man who beat the DC parking enforcement machine.

“Even when there were shootings on my block last year, I wasn’t this disappointed in my city,” he wrote in one protest email. “D.C. effectively stole my automobile.”

After the city gave him a “courtesy tow” to an illegal parking spot, lost his ticket contestation documents, and booted and towed his car, he actually got them to return the car to a spot near his house. Then he had them do it again, because the first time they brought him the wrong car. I talk a lot about my small victories over DC parking enforcement, but this puts me to shame. I had lunch with his wife on Friday - she works with my wife, and a group was going out to watch some basketball, so I joined them. Had I known her husband was a giant among those of us who joust at the windmills of parking enforcement, I would have bought her a beer.

Posted in: anti-complaint , dc , harvardstreet , parking

Why don't I listen to many female artists?

Monday, March 09, 2009

Where Are The Women, Esquire?

Not good enough, Esquire. So what are you really saying with this list? Either, that women aren’t making much of anything you deem essential, or that men can’t handle music written and/or performed by women.

Sarah totally ripped off my Facebook comment for that sentence. This got me thinking. I don’t listen to a lot of female artists, and I’m not sure why. I like Garbage a lot, and any music collection should contain Version 2.0. The wife is a big fan of Alanis Morissette’s Under Rug Swept. I had only heard her one big hit record, and if that’s all you’ve heard, try this one, it’s like it’s by someone else. You know, someone talented. And there are some other female artists who are pretty good, but I just don’t listen to them. It’s partly because I feel like a traitor to my beliefs every time I think about giving money to a record company. I haven’t bought a cd outside of Nine Inch Nails in at least two years. I thought about buying a Jill Sobule cd because of how awesome what she did with her last cd was, but I’ve never knowingly heard a song by her, so I didn’t buy the cd. Anyway, if you know a female artist that I absolutely have to hear, let me know in the comments. Whichever sales pitch is best, I will buy that cd. Unless the wife owns it. Bonus points if I can legally obtain the music for free while paying money from something that I can’t copy instantly and perfectly. Update to add: I downloaded the four songs Jill Sobule is currently sharing and will listen to them tomorrow at work. Update again to add: Meh to Jill Sobule. I didn’t like the songs. I still think she’s cool for her business model, though.

Posted in: music

Street cleaning resumes March 23, 2009

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

For whatever reason, it’s never easy to find this information, so maybe I got lucky. I have no idea if this link will work beyond today, but the Washington DC DPW says street cleaning will resume on March 23, 2009. So get ready to start moving your car once a week again.

Posted in: dc , harvardstreet , parking

This is why I live close to work, Part 2

Monday, March 02, 2009

A friend once told me that, when considering two more or less equal candidates for a job opening, you should choose the one with a better commute. Wait, where was I? Oh, right. Today my commute involved tiptoeing past my daughter’s room, hoping not to wake her, and sitting down at the table to get to work. There’s, like, a blizzard, or something, going on out there. I have no meetings, and no one is really expecting me in the office, so I’m staying put. Daycare is opening three hours late, and since the snow is still coming down hard, they may not open at all. So I may have to watch her this afternoon anyway. If you’re going in to work today, or going out anywhere, be careful.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , harvardstreet , weather

The system is down. Er, was down.

Sunday, March 01, 2009

Usually reliable Dreamhost had a file server go down on them, knocking this site offline pretty much all day today. Good thing the only people reading here on Sunday are crazy Vector Security haters and people unhappy with their credit card.

Posted in: complaint

Isn't that what you're supposed to be fixing?

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Metro Use A Rarity For Half Of Board | WashingtonPost.com

[Ward One Councilman Jim] Graham said frequent night meetings make mass transit inconvenient.

Taking transit is not convenient for their jobs, [Metro board members who don’t actually use Metro] said.

So, what they’re saying here is, “We’re so grossly incompetent that we can’t even make Metro work for ourselves. Good luck to all you poor schlubs!” What kind of schedule do these people keep that Metro isn’t convenient? I don’t believe that they have Metro board meetings at 4AM on Sundays. Seriously, this is like the CEO of Bank of America keeping his life savings under his mattress because the branches are too inconvenient. Maybe the reason that Metro has a $29 million deficit is because it’s not serving the residents of the DC Metro area. And maybe the people responsible for fixing it could actually use it and see for themselves what the problems are. Instead, they’ll probably just raise fares again, making it less convenient for everyone. Next year we’ll have a $40 million deficit, and more people who don’t use it will make more bad decisions.

Posted in: complaint , dc , harvardstreet , metro , wmata

I can always tell when Wikimetro sends out a new batch of spam

Friday, February 20, 2009

Whenever I see the traffic to this page and this page quadruple, I know that Wikimetro has sent out another batch of spam to various bloggers, pitching their scam. If Wikimetro contacts you, ignore them. Or, better yet, file a complaint. I was thinking of complaining here, but never got around to it. I don’t think the FBI appreciates online scams very much.

Posted in: blogging , complaint , scam

It annoys the you-know-what out of me, too, Bud

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Bud Selig is a dirty, dirty liar.

“I don’t want to hear the commissioner turned a blind eye to this or he didn’t care about it,” Selig told Newsday in a Monday phone interview. “That annoys the you-know-what out of me. You bet I’m sensitive to the criticism. "The reason I’m so frustrated is, if you look at our whole body of work, I think we’ve come farther than anyone ever dreamed possible,” he said, adding, “I honestly don’t know how anyone could have done more than we’ve already done.”

“It’s like this morning,” he continued. “I pushed this old lady down some stairs. I suppose you’re going to blame me for that, too? How was I supposed to know about gravity?” It’s too bad that every statistic for every player between about 1990 and whenever they manage to institute a real drug policy will always have a cloud over it.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , steroids

Please stop bunching the 16th Street bus, WMATA

Friday, February 13, 2009

I just missed the bus this morning. As usual, I was waiting for the interminable light to cross 16th at Harvard NW when the bus went by. Then another, and another. Three buses, bumper to bumper, and all gone by the time the light changed. So I waited. Not too long, six or seven minutes, but then three more came. From Harvard to Euclid there were 12 people on my bus, then 11 until we got to M. After I got off at H, I think there might have been one person left. No one got on while I was riding. There was another bus right in front of us that picked up all the passengers. And I got on the bus at about 7:20AM, not peak rush hour, but plenty of people are on their way to work at that time. It’s frustrating that, had the buses been spaced out just a little bit, I would have gotten one of the first bunch that went through. And WMATA would have saved some cash. Eleven fares probably don’t even cover costs on the bus.

Posted in: complaint , dc , harvardstreet , public transportation , wmata

Finally someone on the home team to cheer for

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The Nationals signed Adam Dunn! I’m so excited that there will actually be a player on the home team that I want to see. Usually I go to games to see the visiting team, but this year will be different. I mean, I’m still mostly looking forward to finally seeing Albert Pujols and maybe getting tickets when the Orioles come to town. But watching Dunn will be pretty cool.

Posted in: baseball , dc , harvardstreet

Let me raise the level of discourse here

Monday, February 09, 2009

funny pictures of cats with captions
more animals

I don’t know about you, but LOLCats are one of my guilty pleasures. I don’t know why I still find them funny, but I do. I can stop any time, really. This one is particularly funny because of my irrational loathing for Wolf Blitzer. If you replaced Wolf with a cat, it might be the first time in recorded history that replacing anything with a cat resulted in a decrease in smug self-centered-ness.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Posted in: funny , lolcats , television , wolf blitzer

That's not the way to win fans, Comcast

Monday, February 09, 2009

I posted the other day about the funny exchange I had with Comcast’s online help. In the middle of last night, someone (or, more likely, some script) posted a comment.

Thanks for sharing this post and I apologize for the experience. I will make sure that this is passed on the appropriate department for evaluation. Most importantly, we would like to have our customers have a good experience. I am also sorry to learn that you are deciding to cancel your cable service. If you are interested, I can reach out to my contacts and see if we can offer a lower-rate package including both services for you. If you are interested, please send me the phone number listed on your account so that I can assist further. Thanks again for sharing this post. Best Regards, Mark Casem Comcast Corp. National Customer Operations We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com

First of all, it’s nice that Comcast is looking at what people say about them online. This makes good business sense. But that’s where the good decisions end. What mistakes did Comcast make? Let me list them for you. First, they clearly didn’t read the post. The comment responds to the general gist of the post, but not the details. That, coupled with the timestamp, suggests that this was not a person but an automated script. Engaging dissatisfied bloggers in conversation about how you can provide better service is great. Spamming blog comments with vague promises to fix things is not. If Mark Casem wants to personally sign the comment, then I want Mark Casem’s email address, not some generic help address. Sure, this means that Mark Casem is going to get a lot of junk mail, but there are always costs associated with doing business. Comcast’s IT department can get a better spam firewall. Second, they could have contacted me directly. Every blog has an “About” page. Mine is right here. It tells you how to contact me. Some people already have. A ten-second personal email would have been so much more effective than this. Third, if a package is available at a lower rate, why don’t you just give that to people? Sure, it costs you some money on people who would have never known about it. But don’t you think it might create some customer loyalty? When Verizon Fios comes to DC, if they’re offering a better deal, do you think people who have been overpaying Comcast are going to stick around? It is somewhat ironic that a complaint about how the customer service people are nearly indistinguishable from a well-designed IM bot gets a response from another customer service person who is indistinguishable from a computer program. Or maybe it’s not ironic but appropriate. In any event, it’s unhelpful. Too bad Comcast didn’t make a real effort to engage me. I would have happily spoken to a real person, and would have blogged about the good experience. I know I complain a lot, so I make an extra effort to also talk about the things that go right. But you missed your chance this time, Comcast. I’m not emailing your help desk. If a real person comes back here and talks to me about my problem, not about the problem that other customers who use the same keywords have, I’ll talk. Edit to add: As you can see in the comments, Mark Casem replied directly with his email address. I’ll be contacting him later today, and I’ll let everyone know how it goes.

Posted in: comcast , complaint , customer service , dc , harvardstreet

Two new (to me) spots for coffee

Sunday, February 08, 2009

We’re always looking for new places to stop for coffee during the kid’s morning nap - about two hours after she gets up in the morning, she’ll usually sleep for an hour and a half or two if you stick her in her stroller and walk her around for a while. This weekend, we tried two new places. Saturday morning we went to Locolat Cafe at 18th and Florida NW. I guess this is considered Adams Morgan, but I’m not entirely sure. We had brunch - the wife tried the savory waffles, which were great, and I had a turkey and cheese on croissant, which was also very good. The coffee was good, if expensive. And because they forgot to charge us for an item and had to run the credit card twice, they gave us a little chocolate-covered meringue. As an aside, it is almost always good business to give away something small when you’ve inconvenienced your customer. It was barely an inconvenience at all, but when the cashier (I believe she’s actually the manager and wife of the chef) says, in effect, “I messed up, let me make it up to you”, I will be back. Sunday, we went to Cafe 1612. We were planning to go to Love Cafe, but they don’t open until ten, and the kid needed her nap before that. 1612 was good, but it shares a building (but not any walls, apparently) with a gym. It’s a little strange to eat brunch while watching the girl fold towels at the counter. But the service was good, the food was good, and the coffee was not only good but reasonably priced. The music there was a little funny - it was an oldies station that didn’t really fit the decor of the place. We’ve now got quite a list of places to go and get coffee. Heller’s is probably my favorite because of their egg and cheese bagels, but it’s always nice to have variety.

Posted in: Anti complaint , coffee , dc , harvardstreet

OMG, Comcast, LOL

Saturday, February 07, 2009

I just got my HTPC today, and we’re thinking about canceling our cable. With over-the-air HD, Hulu, and Netflix, I’m not sure we really need cable. I wanted to see how much our internet would cost if we dropped the cable. I figured Comcast would charge us more if we had only internet. So I went to their live support chat. user Jonathan_ has entered room (4:16 PM) Me: What would my high speed internet cost if I cancelled my cable TV? analyst Ferdinand has entered room Ferdinand: Hello Jonathan_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Ferdinand.38369. Please give me one moment to review your information. Ferdinand: Hello! How may I help you today? Me: If I cancel my cable tv, how much would my internet connection cost? Ferdinand: I understand that you want to know the cost of your internet service if you will cancel your cable service. Is that correct? Me: Yes Ferdinand: Please be informed that you have reached the Comcast Internet Technical support. I would be happy to transfer your chat to the appropriate department. Is that okay? Me: Sure Ferdinand: Please wait, while the problem is escalated to another analyst analyst Ellise has entered room (4:18 PM) Ellise: Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Let me go ahead and work on this for you. analyst Ferdinand has left room Ellise: By the way, how are you doing today? Me: I’m great, how are you? Ellise: I am glad to know that. Ellise: I am doing quite fine today. Ellise: Thank you for asking. Ellise: It is kind of you, Mr. Renaut. Ellise: Please stay online. Ellise: I will just review the previous chat transcript. Me: ok Ellise: Mr. Renaut, will you please verify what package you currently have? Me: I have digital cable plus high def and high speed internet Ellise: Is this a triple or a double play package? Me: no Ellise: Thank you very much for that information. Ellise: For security purposes may I verify the last 4 digits of your social security number please? Thank you. Me: XXXX, although I’m not sure why you need that just to tell me what my bill would be Ellise: For the security of your account, Mr. Renaut. Ellise: Just a moment, please. Ellise: Mr. Renaut, if you will cancel your cable service, you will save $80.45. Ellise: You have the option to call the local office for confirmation. Ellise: Would you like me to give you the information of our nearest local office to you? Me: I’m not canceling yet, I was just curious Me: nope, just wanted the price Me: thanks very much Ellise: You are most welcome. Ellise: I am glad I was able to assist you today. Ellise: I would appreciate if you will take time answering the online survey right after this chat session. This will help us know how to improve our services. Ellise: Thank you for contacting Comcast! We appreciate your business with us. Ellise: If you need assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to contact us through live chat or e-mail (available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week). Comcast also offers excellent FAQ and help forums located at www.comcast.com to help you reach a resolution independently. Have a great day! Ellise: Analyst has closed chat and left the room (4:28 PM) Things to note:

  1. The whole thing took 12 minutes.
  2. I told Ferdinand my problem once before I arrived in the chat, once after, and then confirmed his restatement.
  3. I’m not convinced that either of the two CSRs could pass a Turing test.
  4. Who knew that everyday pleasantries would be so appreciated?
  5. There’s no chance Comcast doesn’t raise the price of our internet if we cancel the cable.
  6. The price difference she quoted me is digital cable plus the HDTV converter. According to Ellise, if we cancel our cable, we still pay 25 cents a month to rent our remote control.
  7. It is utterly absurd to charge 25 cents for the remote as a separate line item on my bill. Why not just build it into the price of the cable so I never see it?
  8. It was not me who chose which chat room I entered - I answered their questions to the best of my ability. If I’m in the wrong chat room, it is Comcast’s fault.
  9. The survey after the chat is worded in such a way that I can’t tell them how ridiculous they’re being without lying. I answered their questions honestly, and gave them the highest score on every question. But they never asked the really important questions. If your survey is constructed to get high scores, it’s not really helpful, is it?
  10. I really wish that, when she asked if it was a double or triple play, I had answered, “That’s what she said!”. In any event, I’m glad I contacted Comcast customer service. I haven’t laughed that hard since last night when we watched the episode of The Office that aired after the Super Bowl.

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Posted in: complaint , customer service , dc , funny , harvard street

GM is monumentally stupid

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

An article at Deadspin points out that GM gave Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes a car, but didn’t publicize it like they have in previous years.

Fact: Santonio Holmes made more than $2 million this season. Fact: The federal government just bailed out General Motors to the tune of $9.4 billion. So, why is GM giving Holmes an $85,000 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid Platinum, which has been, in effect, purchased by the taxpayers?

A commentor mentions that this is even worse than not giving him the car. I had this thought, too. Seriously, I swear I thought of if before I saw the comment. I went and looked at the comment thread because I figured I wouldn’t be the only one. Surely in the past, GM figured that the relatively low cost of an Escalade compared with the promotional value of being on the field just after the Super Bowl was a worthwhile marketing effort. They were probably right. But now, they’ve still spent the money, but the only way that Escalade gets in the news is if Holmes gets arrested in it.

Posted in: complaint , stupid people , the bailout

Nice job, First USA

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

I got a call a few minutes ago from my credit card company, which at one time was First USA. I think it still is. Anyway, the CSR told me that someone had tried to make a charge on my card, and it looked like fraud. Sure enough, I didn’t recognize the charge. I finished with her without giving any information - never give out information, even your home address, to someone who calls you. You have no idea who they really are, even if your caller ID tells you it’s the person you think it is. I called the number on the back of my card, and sure enough, the first call was legitimate. I suspected it was - she knew about two real charges I made yesterday and one this morning - but I’m glad I checked. A few more minutes and the card is on hold and my new card is on the way. It’s a bit of a nuisance, but I’m really impressed with the service. It is mildly annoying that my online account access is disabled until the new card is activated, so I can’t check to make sure there weren’t other bad charges, and I can’t go back and make sure I remember any regular bills that get paid on the card, but in a few days I’ll have my new card and I’ll be able to get back in. It’s always nice to be pleasantly surprised by your credit card company. Too bad it doesn’t happen more often.

Posted in: Anti complaint , customer service , fraud

The WikiMetro scammers strike again!

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

The scammy scammers from WikiMetro, who take money to put ads on sites that don’t accept them, have contacted me again. See here and here for my previous contact with them.

Hi Drupalcon, Thanks for the email. Let’s schedule a time to talk on the telephone about this. Please go to http://list.wikimetro.org/contact.aspx Choose ‘Phone’ (it requires you to create a username) and choose a time for us to call you back. We’ve been a bit busy, but we can usually call you back in 10 minutes. Lisa Anderson Customer Service Wikimetro

They called me “Drupalcon” again. I know my custom site layout doesn’t follow conventions (I didn’t know this when I built it, and a redesign is in the works) so that automatic site parsers get confused. But starting a business relationship by scraping blogs for contact info is insane. I have never emailed them. And listing my blog on their site as “participating” is an outright lie, as well. Your blog may be listed on their site, too - you can check here to see. Do NOT pay them $25 to have ads appear on this site. If you really want to put ads here, I’m happy to talk, but I’m not sure my traffic is really worth your time. Anyway, I wasn’t sure when they first contacted me, but there is no doubt in my mind that Wikimetro is a scam, and you should have nothing to do with them.

Posted in: blogging , complaint , dc , harvardstreet , internet , scams , stupid people

First day of daycare

Monday, February 02, 2009

The kid is starting daycare today. We left her this morning a little after 8, and I’ll go get her around 2. It was hard, and we feel like awful parents. But we know it will get better. Plus, she’s easily the cutest baby in her class (And even an unbiased observer would have to admit that). So she’ll get lots of attention.

Posted in: complaint , parenting

Of all the days to get noticed

Friday, January 30, 2009

Wednesday’s post got into The Express. For those not familiar, The Express is a free paper that gets handed out all over the city, most importantly on Metro - I’d guess that anywhere from 1/3 to ½ of all Metro riders as least browse The Express a couple times a week. I won’t complain about being in the Express - I think it’s awesome. I’ve occasionally seen blogs I know in there, but never mine. Anyway, it figures that they’d notice me on a day when I’m being a bit of a jerk. I was in a bad mood because of my meeting later in the day (1:30 to 4! That’s too long for any meeting) and, as I am prone to do, I mouthed off about something that wasn’t really what was bothering me, but was sort of related and was handy at the time. So that’s my complaint. Noticing me on a bad day. Why couldn’t they have noticed on a better day? Like January 24th, 2007? My mom and I agree that this is one of my best posts. Or maybe on July 8th, 2008, when I got hit by a friggin' truck? In any event, they say there’s no such thing as bad publicity, and my hits were up yesterday. So, those of you who came to see that post, hang out and read a few more and realize that Wednesday was not an accurate reflection of me as a human being. I may be a complainer, but I’m not a jerk.

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Posted in: Anti complaint , being a jerk , blogging , complaint , dc , harvardstreet

This is why I live close to work

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

A friend once told me that, when considering two more or less equal candidates for a job opening, you should choose the one with a better commute. Is it really bad where you live? The hardest part of my commute was coming down my own front stairs, which we didn’t shovel at all, and are now covered in ice. Sure, it was a little slow walking to the bus. But the roads are fine. I got in pretty quickly. When I arrived, I found all sorts of people out of the office. One coworker had a meeting this afternoon postponed because 2/3 of the attendees didn’t make it in. Another coworker had a 10AM meeting cancelled (at 9:45) because the person he was meeting didn’t come in. I have a 1:30 meeting, and the two people who work in this building that I expected to attend are not here yet, leading me to believe that they won’t be here. This meeting is going to be really difficult to do over the phone since it’s supposed to be a presentation of various things. Maybe I’ll pretend I live out in West Virginia or something, too, and just call in. It annoys me when people shirk their job responsibilities due to the weather. Sure, I understand not wanting to come in. But when these people took these jobs, they pledged to get to the office when they were needed there. You can choose to live far away if you want, but don’t use it as an excuse. When I was in college, I never missed a class due to drinking the night before (except the day after my 21st birthday, when I made an exception, and still made my afternoon class) or weather, even when I lived off campus. I skipped class when I didn’t feel like going, but never because I had made a personal choice about where I lived or how much I drank. I’m not sure most people make that distinction, but I do, and so I can be smug about your failure to come to work today.

Posted in: complaint , dc , harvardstreet , weather

Did someone say, "A good experience with Dell Tech Support"?

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

I’ve been having a problem with the power supply on my work laptop, a Dell Precision M2300. Rather than charging my laptop, it will frequently beep at me. This makes it difficult to get much done - I’m a software engineer, and all the code and my dev environment is on this laptop. When the battery goes, there is very little constructive work I can do. So I contacted Dell Pro Support. I believe this is different from what most people get - since my company has a contract with Dell, we get the business-level tech support. And they’re pretty amazing. I told him what my problem was and he arranged to have a new one overnighted. Can’t ask for much more than that. And his English was perfect. I don’t care if companies want to outsource tech support to other countries, but the person who speaks with me needs to speak my language well enough to understand and fix my problem. Anyway, I just had to share. I mean, if I write “good experience with Dell Tech Support”, that pretty much guarantees a good Google ranking, right? There can’t be more than a dozen results for that … Edit to add: Of note - banging the power supply on the floor a bunch of times makes it work again.

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Posted in: amazing , anti-complaint , computers , tech support

I have ridden the 43, and it was good

Monday, January 26, 2009

A little while ago, I found out about the new 43 bus that goes underneath Dupont Circle instead of through. Today, I rode it for the first time. I almost didn’t - my usual S2 came by as I was waiting to cross I Street. I didn’t rush because I didn’t think I would make it, but then the light changed, and I still didn’t rush, and then three people made the driver open the door before the light turned green. So I would have made it with even the slightest bit of extra effort. But no matter. The 43 bus came by just a minute later. I’ve been wanting to try it, but unwilling to forgo the S2/S4. It was wonderful. But I fear it won’t last long. I got on at 3:30PM on a Monday, early rush hour, but already busy on the S2/S4. There were maybe 15 people on the bus between 15th and I and 16th and Columbia. Maybe this is normal for the route, but I can’t imagine WMATA is happy with those numbers. I did run into a problem with the stop request strings and buttons - none of them worked. I thought perhaps standing by the back door would work, or maybe that the requests were being relayed to the driver but not displayed on the big screen. But I was wrong. Luckily, a kid who wanted the stop after the one I wanted pulled on every string in the bus until one of them worked, and the bus stopped just one stop later than I wanted, and I didn’t even have to go up and ask the driver. I will definitely ride the 43 again. I won’t pass up an S2/S4, but if the 43 comes first, it’s a great alternative.

Posted in: anti-complaint , dc , harvardstreet , public transportation , wmata

A new project

Sunday, January 25, 2009

I’ve started up a new blog. It’s not meant to replace this one - I plan to continue posting to both. But it is a new direction. I’m trying something a little more professional rather than whatever you might categorize this blog as. The new blog is about ebooks and ebook readers, and my intention is to see if I like writing something that’s a little more journalistic and a little less whining about parking in DC. So, go check it out. Let me know what you think. Seriously, I’d love feedback. Is it mind-numbing? Do you want to punch me in the face? If you were in the market for an ebook reader, would you care what I had to say?

Posted in: blogging , gadgets

Coffee shop with fringe benefits

Sunday, January 18, 2009

The wife and I took the kid out for her morning walk this morning and decided to stop in at Pan Lourdes, the new-ish coffee shop/bakery on 14th Street just north of Columbia Heights Target. It was great - they have a big refrigerator that makes a lot of noise and even vibrates the floor just a little bit. The kid slept like a rock in her stroller. She stirred a little bit when it cut off, but then went back to sleep. The coffee is nothing to write home about, but the baked goods are pretty awesome. I think they all come from the big bakery on 11th Street near Wonderland, but I’m not sure. It’s funny - I imagine someone from Central America would recognize most of the baked goods, but I sure didn’t. I mean, if I go into a Dunkin Donuts or something, I recognize what most of the things are without needing a sign. Maybe I can’t tell the difference between raisins and blueberries from across the counter, but at least I’d be close. At Pan Lourdes, nothing looks familiar. And they have nothing labeled. I suppose I could have asked the guy behind the counter, but that’s not as adventurous. I had something with a stripe of red frosting, and the wife had something with lemon. Both were good. We’ll definitely go back, for the fridge if nothing else. Everything is really cheap, too - four dollars and change for two pastries and two coffees.

Posted in: anti-complaint , dc , harvardstreet , parenting , restaurant

I'm going to punch Mother Nature in the Face. And also WMATA.

Friday, January 16, 2009

In what I’m sure will be a recurring theme for the day for DC bloggers, I’d like to take a moment to complain about the cold. I don’t get cold easily. In fact, just last night the wife and I were discussing that it would be awesome if I could sell my excess body heat - I certainly don’t need all of it, and others (including the wife) would be happy to have it. In any event, I bailed on my usual walk to work after less than a block. Most days I enjoy the walk. It gives me time to think and prepare for the day at work. But not when it’s this cold. Weather.com tells me that it’s 11 degrees out, and it feels like -4. That would explain the frozen snot in my nose. So, I took the bus. Not usually a problem, except that I was on one of the really old models, and it broke down at V Street. The driver didn’t announce anything. We just sat for a minute, and then someone got off, then another person, and soon the whole bus had cleared. Luckily there was another bus right behind, so we didn’t have to wait. But tell me - have you ever been on a bus that broke down in pleasant weather? I’ll bet you haven’t. Then I find out that they’ve opened the roadblocks for Obama, and my normal bus stop is back in use. Except I was on an S1 instead of an S2/S4, thinking it didn’t matter due to the road closure. You got me again, WMATA. And then, just as I thought things were picking up, some woman tried to run me down on while I crossed H St. I didn’t have the light, but there were no cars except this woman, pulled over and letting someone out. So I crossed the street, at which point she started to drive. Now, H Street is four or five lanes at this point. I’m not that big a guy. She could quite easily have worked with me and let me cross (In the crosswalk, though against the light) without making me stop. Did she? I think you know the answer to that question. In any event, I’m at work now, and inside, thankful that my job doesn’t require me to do otherwise.

Posted in: complaint , dc , harvardstreet , weather , wmata

Go visit your elderly relatives

Monday, January 12, 2009

For Christmas, the wife and I promised to bring or cook dinner for my maternal grandmother on Monday nights (In the winter, there are no parking restrictions on our street on Tuesdays, so Monday is a good night to drive somewhere). She’s very hard to shop for because she doesn’t really want or need anything, but company is always welcome, and she has a hard time cooking for herself. Tonight was the first time we went, at least as a Christmas present. We’ve visited plenty of times before, especially since her great-granddaughter was born. It was really nice. Addie behaved herself pretty well, even sitting on my lap through dinner without fussing. Quite a lot to ask of a girl the day she turns four months old. But it made me think of my paternal grandmother. She passed away almost two years ago, and there’s a part of me that wishes I’d spent more time with her, especially at the end. When I was in college, I saw her pretty often, and we had a great relationship. After I moved to the DC area, it was harder to visit, and I didn’t do it as often as I might have. We still had a good relationship, but it wasn’t quite the same as it was before. In any event, I won’t regret the time I might have spent with my maternal grandmother when she’s gone. And all of you, especially if you have elderly relatives, should think about how busy you really are, and whether you could spend a little more time with them, and with the other people you care about. Time spent with people who are important to you is almost never wasted.

Posted in: Anti complaint , family

Beating a dead horse - DRM

Friday, January 09, 2009

Everyone’s favorite DRM-hater, Cory Doctorow, has pointed us to yet another “DRM server shut down so the content you ‘purchased’ goes away” story. Walmart, Yahoo, Microsoft, now Fictionwise … None of them seem to understand the problem with DRM. I’ve stopped buying infinitely copyable goods. i don’t believe in pirating software or music, but I refuse to pay for something that should be free. That’s part of the reason I’m using Linux, listening to music on Jamendo, and things like that. They recognize that you can give away the infinite goods and use them to increase the value of the related scarce goods. I will not purchase anything with any sort of DRM on it. And you shouldn’t either.

Posted in: complaint , failed business model , stupid people

My pants are wet for you, Barack

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

More “as a result of you”, but that’s not such a snappy headline. As many of you may know, they have closed off a bunch of streets downtown until the Inauguration. I hear it’s because Obama has moved into the area earlier than expected, so there wasn’t a spot for him on the White House grounds. I don’t know if this is the case, and don’t really care. My problem is that they’ve interrupted the S2/S4 bus route, and I had to get off at 16th and K NW this morning. In the rain. And now my pants are soaking wet from the walk. And WMATA is no help - it took me 20 minutes last night to find any information about the detour beyond “there is a detour”, and I still don’t know what the next stop after 16th and K is. It’s somewhere near 13th and H, I think, but I generally get off at the stop I know rather than hope that the next one is better. In any event, this is just one more reason that January 20th can’t come soon enough.

Posted in: complaint , dc , harvardstreet , politics , weather , wmata

It's our fault the economy sucks

Monday, January 05, 2009

Let’s look back ten years or so. Ford and GM were huge, successful corporations making millions of cars all over the world. Hyundai was a joke, a car that people bought because they couldn’t afford a nice car. Since then, Hyundai has focused on making affordable cars that people want to drive. Ford and GM have focused on making bigger and bigger SUVs and complaining about union wages. So where are we now? Ford and GM are financially insolvent, in need of giant government bailouts. Hyundai is leaving behind their joke reputation and making some pretty decent cars. But why is this our fault? It’s because we are so focused on the sound bytes. When the big three car execs went to Washington with their hands out, what did we report on and talk about? The fact that they flew their corporate jets. Yes, this is a good symbol of the misplaced priorities. But it is such an insignificant part of the problem. It’s not like leaving the corporate jet at home, or even selling it, would have suddenly made GM profitable. Those execs are absurdly rich. Get over it. I know we’re jealous. But even if we make them take pay cuts, we’re still going to be making the same money we do now. The real problem is that, due to mismanagement, failure to plan ahead, and a fundamental misunderstanding of the business they’re in, these execs have gotten into a position where it is better for the country as a whole if we give them millions of dollars. They can’t take all the blame for that - some of it is certainly on us. But to focus on the corporate jets as anything more than a symbol of their incompetence is to brush the real issues under the rug as soon as there’s something we can latch onto and get really fired up about. The issue at hand is that the American car companies don’t make compelling cars (In this country, anyway) and have lost the reputation for quality they used to have. They like to use the unions as an excuse, but the unions are rational human beings who depend on American car companies to make their living - you can negotiate with them and work something out. If you can’t, you’re probably not trying hard enough. If Hyundai can do it, so can you. No more excuses from the Big Three.

Posted in: complaint , economics , stupid people

OpenSUSE fails at mainstream

Friday, January 02, 2009

I still don’t seem to be getting this whole “partition for a multi-boot Linux system” thing. Or maybe I just need to install OpenSUSE before Ubuntu. Whatever the problem is, I have only one OS installed at the moment, OpenSUSE 11.1, but at least this time it recognized my wireless card without any issues. However, it can’t handle Flash on 64-bit Firefox. This is a big giant obstacle to OpenSUSE becoming an operating system that normal people can use. I’m enough of a geek that I’ll figure out how to get Flash working. But most people aren’t, and no matter how much I hate Adobe for forcing their horrible proprietary language on the world, and how mad I am at the world for letting them do it, you can’t be a mainstream operating system if your default browser doesn’t support Flash out of the box. You can do what Ubuntu does and give open source options to people who refuse to put anything proprietary on their machine, but you can’t make people go download tar.gz files from Adobe and then be told that their architecture isn’t supported. Like it or not, Flash is a part of the internet experience. You have to find a way to deal with that, and OpenSUSE hasn’t. Other than that, I kind of like it. The equivalent of the Windows Start Menu is interesting, and clearly the result of looking at Windows and trying to do one better. Once I get Gnome-Do installed, I may never use it again, but many people will, and it looks like they’ve done some cool things with it. The experiment continues. Edit to add: And here’s the script to install 64-bit Flash in Firefox on OpenSUSE 11.x, in case you wanted to know.

Posted in: complaint , computers , linux , proprietary software

Both better and worse than I thought

Friday, January 02, 2009

So, I got the partitioning right. And I cleaned out the old version of Ubuntu.&nbsp_place_holder; Except that I installed OpenSUSE on top of my new version of Ubuntu, and didn’t clean out the GRUB entries from my old install.&nbsp_place_holder; So now I can run OpenSUSE (Which doesn’t recognize my wireless card) and that’s it. It got late last night and I didn’t try installing again, but maybe tonight.&nbsp_place_holder; I have to look up how to clean out old entries from GRUB. I think maybe I can just delete the whole thing, and it will be remade when I reinstall Ubuntu, but I’m not totally sure. My initial impression of OpenSUSE is good, although I think I’m going to download 11.1. I got 11.0 back in June and never installed it, and now the next version is out.&nbsp_place_holder; It looks like the graphical installer got some major upgrades, so I think I will take advantage. That is something that Ubuntu needs to work on - I gave up on their graphical installer after three straight versions refused to play nice with my video card. Anyway, now I’m stuck at work and can’t do anything fun, but I hope to have both operating systems up and running by tomorrow. I’ll post a comparison eventually.

Posted in: Anti complaint , computers , gadgets , linux , Ubuntu

Linux geekery - Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex

Thursday, January 01, 2009

I just installed the latest version of Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex. I totally botched my partitioning - I meant to install to a 20 GB partition with another 20 GB partition available for installing other Linux distributions (I’m going to start with OpenSUSE) just for fun, and then use whatever’s leftover for shared files. I also want to clean out the old version of Ubuntu, since I won’t be using it again. It looks like I did neither of those, so I’m going to have to try again. However, on booting up Intrepid Ibex for the first time, I noticed the Bluetooth icon. The last version of Ubuntu didn’t recognize the Bluetooth adapter in my laptop. It took me less than 30 seconds to hook up my laptop to my cell phone, something that I spent an hour trying to do on Windows XP and never really got to work properly. The process on Ubuntu was flawless and simple. Nice job, Ubuntu. Anyway, I’m off to try again. Or maybe I’m off to bed and will try again in the morning.

Posted in: Anti complaint , gadgets , linux , Ubuntu

It takes four signs to explain the parking

Thursday, January 01, 2009


Originally uploaded by thetejon

I took this photo the other day while I was up on the roof with the heater repair guys. I couldn’t hear the bulk of the conversation, but I believe the woman in the brown coat, one of my neighbors, was complaining first to a parking enforcement officer, then to a police officer, and then to this woman, a parking enforcement supervisor, about tickets being written. During the winter, they suspend street cleaning. They don’t change the signs, they just assume you know that, from some arbitrary date in November to some equally arbitrary date in March, you are free to ignore the no parking signs for street cleaning. Try to find out what those dates are. I dare you. However, it seems you can only ignore some of the signs. Usually, the south side of the street is two hour parking for all out-of-zone cars. On street cleaning days, it changes to DC residential parking permit holders only. So the parking enforcement official ticketed all the Maryland and Virginia drivers on the south side. I’m guessing that my neighbor was arguing that these signs don’t apply when street cleaning is suspended. I don’t think she’s going to win this argument, but she did leave notes on all the ticketed cars. I don’t know what they said. I would have told them to contest the tickets by mail, which won’t do any good, but might make them feel better. Still, it is pretty absurd that it takes four signs to explain the parking. Doesn’t this suggest to someone that the parking restrictions might be overly complicated?

Posted in: complaint , dc , harvardstreet , parking

Coincidence? What now, University of Michigan?

Thursday, January 01, 2009

Last winter, I applied for the open University of Michigan football head coaching position. I was rejected. What happened next? “Coach Rich Rodriguez … guided the Michigan football team to its worst season in its 129-year history in his first year.” (Source). The wife claims my rejection and Michigan’s awful season aren’t related, but she’s just a girl and doesn’t know anything about football (except what I taught her). I’m putting all you big football schools on notice - next time I apply for your open head coaching position, you might want to hire me.

Posted in: complaint , football , sports , stupid people

And fire him they did

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

The Orioles finally let Daniel Cabrera go. I have posted at length about his ups and downs. And now he’s a National, so I can hop on the Metro go see him on occasion when we get a babysitter. He’ll probably pull a Schilling and turn into an All-Star. It’s funny how Schilling pitched 44 of his 569 career games as an Oriole, yet I still always considered him an Oriole who happened to pitch for someone else. It is more likely, however, that his control will continue to ruin his gobs of talent, and he’ll always be a 5.00 ERA guy who every once in while throws a two hit shutout and strikes out 10. I hope the Nationals enjoy him.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , dc , sports

The name of this blog is now "Tony Romo Sucks"

Monday, December 29, 2008

Wow. 44-6. Two fumbles and an interception. He went 1-3 in December, although the one win was a good one at home against the Giants. Check out his splits at NFL.com. His December stats are completely out of whack with other months, and this happens every year. He’s been in the league long enough that this is statistically significant. He just can’t play in December. It doesn’t look like he’s going to fix this. I’m feeling pretty good about the playoffs. There are only two teams in the playoffs that I loathe (The Giants, led by colossally-overrated-and-much-less-talented-than-his-brother Eli Manning, and the Panthers, picked every year by “experts” to win the Super Bowl despite the fact that they always suck and always will). Then there are the Dolphins and the Cardinals (Best potential Super Bowl matchup ever) to root for. And there’s the potential for a Ravens-Steelers AFC Championship game, which would be a great game. Should be a fun playoff. And I’m sure Tony Romo will enjoy watching from a comfortable recliner.

Posted in: Anti complaint , funny , nfl , sports

Ed Reed ate him alive

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Tony Romo still sucks in December. he threw two interceptions and lost another fumble in the Cowboys loss to the Ravens. The Cowboys can still make the playoffs, but they’ll probably need some help, and they’ve given Philadelphia a chance not only to play for their own playoff spot, but a chance to play the Cowboys out of the playoffs. Philly is playing well since their tie with Cincinnati, and I wouldn’t want to play them right now needing a win to advance. Romo’s actually had a better December this year than in previous years - he did lead the Cowboys to 17 fourth quarter points with two touchdown passes. But it’s just not enough, and it’s not what he does every year before December. I wonder if there are other players who are so good for part of the year and so bad for the rest? By the way, no one will believe me now, and I should have had the courage to predict it, but I said to myself when I saw the Cowboys schedule that Ed Reed would have a big game for the Ravens. Next time I won’t be such a coward.

Posted in: Anti complaint , funny , nfl

An interesting bit of timing

Friday, December 19, 2008

Frost/Nixon opens. Deep Throat dies. Coincidence? I think not. If I were handling the case, I would look long and hard at Ron Howard.

Posted in: intrigue , movies , murder

Did you read my novel?

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

I recently posted my Nanowrimo novel for any and all to read. I’m curious if anyone did. I know one friend did, and I know more people downloaded it. And it hasn’t been that long - if you had posted your Nanowrimo novel, I probably wouldn’t have read it yet, either. But I’m curious if anyone has read it, or at least started it, and has anything to say about it. Constructive criticism is preferred, although vitriolic rants on my incompetence as a writer are always welcome. The friend who read it asked if I had read it since November ended. I told him I hadn’t, and he said it would probably be a good idea if I did. It is a rough draft, after all. And as is my Nano usual, the story changed from my original plans as I wrote it, so some of the early stuff might not fit with the later stuff. I’m not sure if I want to keep working on it. I’d love to publish something one day, but I don’t really know if this is the one to try with or not.

Posted in: Anti complaint , nanowrimo , writing

Sign a petition for intelligence in agriculture

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Petition to “Get a Secretary of Real Food appointed” in Obama Administration BoingBoing points us to “a petition at fooddemocracynow.org that asks Obama’s transition team to consider six candidates - all experienced, viable names of people who are ready and willing to serve - for Secretary of Agriculture who could potentially mend our broken food system. Already, after only six days, 36,000 people have signed the petition, including Michael Pollan, Alice Waters, and Bill Niman, and the Obama transition team appears to be paying attention.” If you’ve ever looked at the ingredients on a loaf of bread, the portion sizes at a restaurant, or any number of other things, it becomes pretty obvious that the way we eat and the way we produce food is horribly broken. I am honestly scared of the things that my daughter will be expected to consume when she goes off to school, and she has the advantage of coming from a home where both parents eat well, lots of vegetables, not so much processed stuff, organic when available, etc. What about the millions who don’t know how or can’t afford to eat well? If the Obama transition team really is listening, this is a petition worth signing. I encourage you to sign it. I just did.

Posted in: activism , Anti complaint , food , politics

Tire vandals in Columbia Heights

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

The only reason we still have a car is my daughter’s car seat. It’s just not worth the hassle in the city. Sometime Sunday night, someone came down our street and slashed or deflated a bunch of car tires, including one of ours. I don’t see a visible puncture, but I find it pretty hard to believe that someone actually removed the cap, let the air out, and took the time to screw the cap back on. It could have been worse - we need new tires anyway - but it’s a huge hassle. I’m going to have to call AAA because the Mazda dealer managed to lose the wheel lock key last time I was in for an oil change, back when they were still doing them for free. So I can’t change the tire myself. I was thinking about this - if I were the vandal, I would actually take the time and let the air out and replace the cap. I think that’s way funnier, and it doesn’t cause any damage, so you don’t get in as much trouble if you get caught. Mindless vandalism lacks style. Do I need to file a police report? Half the street got a tire slashed, and I know at least a couple of my neighbors reported it. Our insurance deductible is more than the cost of a tire, so we probably won’t report it to them, either. Doesn’t seem like it’s worth the trouble.

Posted in: complaint , crime , dc , harvardstreet

Romo still sucks in December

Sunday, December 07, 2008

After last year’s NFL playoffs, I mentioned that Tony Romo is a miserable quarterback after December 1st. No one else seems to notice this. But today, he’s doing it again (Against a great defense, to be fair). At the end of the first half, he’s completed 11 of 21 for 91 yards, two interceptions, and a lost fumble. His rating is about 20. This looks remarkably like every other game he’s played in December, and should be terrifying to Dallas fans. Pittsburgh’s utter lack of offense today is keeping the Cowboys in the game, but Romo can’t give up the ball three times a half and expect to win games. Edit to add: Maybe I spoke too soon. He completed two of three, including a touchdown to Owens, on the first drive of the second half. Edit again to gleefully add: I had given up on this game, watching Encino Man instead, when a friend IMed me to let me know that Romo had thrown a pick-six with the game tied, his third interception and fourth turnover of the game. Nice game, Romo.

Posted in: Anti complaint , football , statistics

If I were a teen girl

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Have you seen the commercials for One a Day Teen Advantage vitamins? I keep seeing them because we’ve gotten hopelessly addicted to NCIS and House reruns on USA. It’s a disease. Anyway, if I were a teen girl, I would be pretty pissed off. The commercial says that there are vitamins designed for teen boys and for teen girls. That’s fine - teen boys and teen girls have different vitamin needs, so it only makes sense to have different vitamins for each of them. But the commercial and their website only mention that girls want healthy skin, and boys want healthy muscles.

Complete Multivitamins for Teen Boys & Girls to Support: * Healthy muscle function with Magnesium (for Him) * Healthy skin with Vitamins A and C, Copper, and Iron (for Her)

Now, as I said, I’m not a teen girl, nor was I ever a teen girl, or a girl of any kind. But I feel I can speak for them when I say that girls need muscles, too. You know, for exercising and playing sports and moving. Does One a Day Teen Advantage really think that the only thing girls might get (or want) from their vitamins is healthy skin? That sounds like a pretty worthless vitamin.

Posted in: advertising , complaint , stupid people

Banana Leaves - Yum

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Dinner was so good. I had the Grilled Honey Peanut Tofu with brown rice and the wife had the Malaysia Mee Goreng, and we each had a vegetarian spring roll. The website lets you choose a time for delivery. We chose 7:45, and the delivery guy arrived at 7:43. It’s funny, because the first time I heard of them, it was because I found the website, and I made fun of it for being really awful. And in some sense it still is really awful, but at least they spent their time (or, more likely, money) on an online ordering system rather than gobs of awful Flash. Well done, Banana Leaves. We will definitely be ordering again. Local blogging sensation Prince of Petworth mentioned Banana Leaves today, too. The commenters there aren’t all as positive about the place as I am, but what do they know?

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , harvardstreet , restaurant

Dancing bananas and surprising websites

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Have you ever been to Banana Leaves at Connecticut and Florida NW? I went once when they first opened, and was pleased with the food. The bench seats were freshly varnished and stuck to my jeans, though. They have a pretty goofy website with a little dancing banana gif straight out of 1996, but they also have a pretty neat little online ordering system. It apparently doesn’t work too well in Firefox 3 on OSX (The wife’s computer, not mine), but it was fine on my work laptop (Firefox 3, XP). I just ordered dinner. I’m waiting for confirmation. The interface is a little bit three years ago, lacking the polish that we’ve become accustomed to, but it seems to work well. This is fantastic for those of us who would really like to abolish phones. I try not to ever have to talk on the phone. I did have to call them to make sure they deliver to us, although I could have just ordered and waited for them to say no, but that would have taken too much time. We’re trying to time delivery with the little Fusspot’s eating schedule so that maybe the wife and I can both eat together without a screaming baby. She’s been pretty good today, so we’re hopeful. I’ll let you know how the food is.

Posted in: dc , harvardstreet , internet , restaurant , things to do

Monuments to Nothing - My 2008 Nanowrimo novel

Saturday, November 29, 2008

So here is my 2008 Nanowrimo novel, Monuments to Nothing. It is shared here under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. That means you can read it, share it with your friends, write a sequel to it, edit it, write fan fiction about my characters, or ignore it. If it is possible that you are my Christmas secret stocking person, you should not read it yet. You may not present it as your own, share it without giving me credit, share it or derivative works under a more restrictive license, or use it commercially. Unless you ask me and I say it’s okay. The story has a little bit of sex, violence, and profanity. Nothing really crazy, but I feel I should warn people. Enjoy.

Posted in: Anti complaint , nanowrimo , writing

Nanowrimo is over for me

Saturday, November 29, 2008


Originally uploaded by thetejon

I hit 50,000 words this afternoon. I kind of like the story. It’s not my favorite, but after the last two years of utter garbage, this one is fantastic by comparison. I plan to post it here eventually, but I kind of want to take a break from it, at least until tomorrow, so you’ll have to wait if you want to read it. As you see in the picture, I didn’t get out of all my parent duties this month. The wife went above and beyond in helping me make time for writing, although she complained a bit. I am indebted to her for a while now. I couldn’t have come close to 50,000 if she hadn’t helped, and I am very grateful, even though she doesn’t believe me when I tell her. I wrote a lot today with the kid in either the Moby wrap pictured, or in her Lascal M1 Carrier after we went for a walk when she wouldn’t take a nap this afternoon. I like the M1 better for carrying her for a while because it distributes the weight better, but it’s harder to sit down wearing it, so if I hope to come home from the walk and have her stay asleep, the Moby is better. I should get back to posting regularly now that I don’t have a novel to write.

Posted in: Anti complaint , nanowrimo , writing

Wikimetro says, "We're totally not a scam"

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

I got an email from Wikimetro last night telling me that they were not a scam. They did nothing to address my concerns, however.

Dear Complaint Hub (we dont know your real name, sorry), We just saw your comment on Complaint Hub and wanted to reply. Wikimetro is not a scam at all, but rather a marketplace that lets ad buyers and bloggers meet. If you are avail to talk, just email us a tel number and time to call, or give us a call using the contact us page on our site. Jeff B www.wikimetro.org

It was nice of them to actually read my blog this time rather than scraping a header tag for a name-like word, but this was never really my concern. It was more a clue that the email was auto-generated by a script. But telling me you’re a “marketplace” is one thing, and listing blogs as available to purchase ads on when these bloggers have never heard of you is quite another. I’m going to start my own “marketplace” here on Complaint Hub. For $500, Jeff B of Wikimetro will tattoo your name on his forehead. No, he doesn’t know it yet. But when you give me the money, I’ll approach him (Through the convenient contact us page on their site) and see if I can work something out. Or maybe I’ll just pocket the money and never even tell Jeff B he was part of the transaction.

Posted in: complaint , dc , harvardstreet , internet , scams

That's a weird place for an ad, Google

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Those of you who use Google Finance to track the implosion of your stock portfolio have probably noticed that they’ve moved the graph that tracks the Dow and the S&P; over to make room for a big box of ads. I’m curious why they did that. Not only does it look a little out of place, but do people really go to Google Finance looking to buy something? If they offered a cheap way to buy stock, I could understand that. But the ad it’s showing me now is “Free Grants for Finances”, whatever that means. It doesn’t seem to really fit in with their typical strategy of unobtrusive, targeted ads. I suppose it doesn’t cost them anything, and could bring in plenty of money, but it could also backfire by annoying long-time users like me by taking up a pretty large chunk of prime screen real estate. I hope they don’t make any money off the ads and decide to remove them.

Posted in: advertising , complaint

I hate the Cowboys

Monday, November 17, 2008

Originally uploaded by thetejon

What a disappointing game. Fantastic seats, though. The picture from my phone kind of sucks, but I didn’t feel like bringing the cool camera and I forgot to steal the wife’s point and shoot. Have you ever been to FedEx Field to watch the Redskins? It is the worst stadium I’ve ever been to in terms of getting home. There don’t seem to be signs to get back to the Metro (Probably because it’s a mile away) and getting out of the parking lot takes hours. I met my friend at New Carrollton because he was coming from Annapolis, and I rode with him to the parking lot. On the way out, he was going to drop me off at the Metro again, but I had to leave him and walk. When I got to the Morgan Boulevard station, he still hadn’t moved from his spot, and I caught the second to last train of the night. It’s too bad, because I like the stadium, but I’m not sure they could have made it less accessible.

Posted in: complaint , dc , football , harvardstreet

Is Wikimetro a scam?

Monday, November 10, 2008

Recently, I got an email from someone I’d never heard of from Wikimetro.org wanting to talk about advertising on my site here.

Drupalcon, Who is the contact for discussing advertising on your blog Complaint Hub? We have received 24 requests this week for advertising on Complaint Hub, and the page has been viewed 69 times. Our website, wikimetro.org, is the largest online BlogAd marketplace with more than 50,000 blogs in more than 2,300 US cities and towns. Here’s a link to your blog on wikimetro: http://list.wikimetro.org/market/info.aspx?blog=822 If you are agreeable to scheduling a time to talk on the phone about this, please tell me a good time by contacting me at this link (choose phone): http://list.wikimetro.org/contact.aspx I’ll cc my assistant to set up a time to talk, if there’s interest. Alex Rawlings Wash DC BlogAd Account Direct Email: alex.rawlings@wikimetro.org Website: www.wikimetro.org Motto: “Everything Local” Frequently Asked Questions: http://www.wikimetro.org/wikimetro_guide Tel. +1(202) 470-0961

It sounded a bit scammy to me, especially because by addressing me as “Drupalcon”, they clearly didn’t actually look at the site, but just scraped it with some script. A bit of Googling made it sound like Wikimetro was a scam, but nothing really concrete. So I looked at the local blogs they had listed as participants and emailed one I recognized to ask if Off Seventh was actually participating, or just being used to bait others. I got an email back, and it turns out Off Seventh was totally unaware of the deal Wikimetro claimed to have. So, the conclusion I draw from this is that Wikimetro is a scam. If they contact you, I suggest being very cautious. Edit to add: Follow-up from Wikimetro is here.

Posted in: complaint , dc , harvardstreet , internet , scams , stupid people

Shame on you, Columbia Heights

Monday, November 10, 2008

Over the weekend, I noticed that someone stole the Bell’s Beer sticker off the back window of our car. It may have happened over Halloween, I haven’t been paying that much attention to the car. I like to think that the person who did it felt that I was promoting drinking and driving, and stole the sticker as a protest. I wasn’t, for the record, promoting drinking and driving - one of the huge advantages about living somewhere like Columbia Heights is that there are tons of places you can go drink where you never ever ever have to drive home. Wonderland, Marx Cafe, Saint Ex, all fantastic bars that I can walk to easily, not to mention everything on U Street and Adams Morgan. Anyway, if the person felt I was making a statement like that, then I forgive you for your misguided attempt to make the world a better place. If not, however, I hope you got a paper cut from the sticker. It’s not a big deal in either case - those stickers only last a year or so, and I’ll be back in Kalamazoo next month, when I planned to get a new sticker anyway. If anyone who works for Bell’s is listening - how about some inside-window stickers so it’s safe from the elements and from would-be thieves?

Posted in: beer , complaint , crime , dc , harvardstreet

What a glorious world we live in

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

No, not the election yesterday, though that certainly was glorious. I don’t have time to do justice to the election, so I will just say that I have never seen people dancing in the streets over a President, and I’m looking forward to the coming years. The glorious thing I’m talking about is the search box in Firefox 3. I was making a dumb joke in my novel about Keira Knightley. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t know how to spell her name. So I went to the search box with its awesome autocomplete. By the time I had typed “kie”, which is not how you spell her name, the first result was her name, spelled correctly. Now, keep in mind, I didn’t actually perform the search, I just looked at the suggestions that Firefox gives for what I might want to search for. Actually, I did do the search, but just to verify that I had the correct spelling. I did. Can you imagine this sort of information so readily available even five years ago? Sure, it wouldn’t have been hard for me to find out how to spell her name. But the only way it would have been easier this time is if the Open Office standard dictionary was hooked up to some online dictionary that was constantly updated. So maybe someone should get on that.

Posted in: Anti complaint , nanowrimo , technology

Nanowrimo tonight

Friday, October 31, 2008

I don’t know about any of you, but I’m staying up past midnight tonight so I can get started on my novel. Currently the Nanowrimo website is inaccessible, typical for the few days before and after November 1st, but that’s not dampening my enthusiasm.

Posted in: Anti complaint , nanowrimo , writing

The hard streets of Columbia Heights

Thursday, October 30, 2008

I was out with the kid on a trip to DCUSA for a few pictures frames this evening. She got mad when I stopped to look at frames in Bed Bath and Beyond, so I thought I’d take the long way home and give her a chance to settle down. I was heading south down 13th NW, about to cross Harvard, when there was a bit of a commotion. It looked like someone driving north on 13th was trying to turn left onto Harvard, which is one way in the other direction. There was plenty of honking. “What an idiot,” I thought. “The signs and the honking aren’t tipping him off?” Then a man got out of the car, which was now stopped in the middle of the intersection. He was holding a shotgun. Now, at this point I was a little nervous. The kid was sleeping, which I suppose was good, but her big fuzzy winter outfit is not, in fact, bulletproof. Then I saw all the police cars. More arrived as I stood there. The man with the gun was DCPD. That was mildly comforting. More officers poured out of the cars, at least a dozen. They quickly went up the walk to the northwest corner of Harvard and 13th and banged on the door. At this point I decided I was going to take my daughter and get out of there. Before I left, the police had entered the building, and I could hear them yelling at someone to get down. I’ve never seen the police break down a door. And in truth, I didn’t actually see them open the door. But I don’t think anyone let them in. I’m going to watch the Columbia Heights forum to see if anyone knows what happened. Hopefully the police got whoever they were after and no one got hurt.

Posted in: complaint , crime , dc , Harvard Street , harvardstreet

Real authors doing Novel Writing Month

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

One of my favorite authors, Charles Stross, is going to do Novel Writing Month this year. Stross' Iron Sunrise is one of my favorite books, and those of you paying attention know that I’ve met him over delicious beers at the Brickskeller. I know Nanowrimo is not quite the same for someone who makes a living writing novels as it is for someone who just wishes he had the motivation and dedication to make a living writing novels (You’ll notice I don’t say I lack the skill - I have the skill until I prove otherwise). But it’s cool to be writing along with someone who writes really cool stuff, who is successful doing professionally something that I do now and then as an amateur. Now I just have to figure out how to get my daughter to sleep for a few hours in the evening so I can actually write my 50,000 words.

Posted in: Anti complaint , nanowrimo , writing

Experts Exchange sucks

Monday, October 27, 2008

If you’re a programmer, you’ve probably come across Experts Exchange while searching for help on some programming problem. Today I was wondering if sqlldr could generate a table for you, or if you had to make the table, then run sqlldr. It’s not important. Unless you know the answer. Anyway, the first result for whatever it was I searched for was from Experts Exchange. This sucks, because while they let you read the question, you have to pay (or start a free trial) for the answer. So they often come up on Google, but the question is never helpful. Yes, I could pay for the answer. I won’t, but I could. What I’d really like to do is never get results from their site when I search. Can you do that with Google? You should be able to.

Posted in: complaint , stupid people

Great moments is passive-aggressiveness

Monday, October 27, 2008


Originally uploaded by thetejon

I know this may seem slightly ridiculous coming from a guy who runs a blog called Complaint Hub, but doesn’t it make you laugh when someone goes to a whole lot of trouble to publicly complain about something they could (and should) just fix themselves?

THIS IS A FLOOR SHARED REFRIGERATOR
Please toss out old food
IT SMELLS!!!

NEED VOLUNTEERS TO CLEAN REFRIGERATOR AND FREEZER
SIGN UP SHEET?

I think it should be a law - if you put out a request for volunteers with a sign-up sheet, your name should be first on the list. The laziness here is really astounding. Well, not really, I’m never really surprised by how lazy people are, but it should be astounding. Not only has the sign-maker not actually done any cleaning, but he or she didn’t even put up a sign-up sheet.

Posted in: complaint , laziness , passive aggressive , work

Twitter will kill us all

Sunday, October 26, 2008

I thought this was idiotic when Gizmodo mentioned it, but now Slashdot says that this is actually the US Army. This is terrifying.

A chapter titled ‘Potential for Terrorist Use of Twitter’ notes that Twitter members reported the July Los Angeles earthquake faster than news outlets and activists at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis used it to provide information on police movements.

Do you know what else is both ubiquitous and super dangerous? AIR. It’s highly flammable, and it’s friggin' everywhere. I pray every day that no one tells the terrorists. And you know what else is really dangerous? WATER. It makes us drown. Think what could happen if Al Qaeda found that out. And the Earth is over seventy percent water. I hope Osama Bin Laden doesn’t read my blog. You know why education and health care in this country is always short on money? It’s because we pay people to conduct studies like this.

Posted in: complaint , stupid people , terrorism , the government , twitter

jrenaut - Kobe, ARod, Michael Phelps, and Tony Hawk(?) channeling Tom Cruise? Rock Band is pulling out all the stops with these

Sunday, October 26, 2008

jrenaut: Kobe, ARod, Michael Phelps, and Tony Hawk(?) channeling Tom Cruise? Rock Band is pulling out all the stops with these commercials.

jrenaut - It is unclear if the Redskins could look any worse this week.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

jrenaut: It is unclear if the Redskins could look any worse this week.

I'm drinking a can of beer from my own fridge for the first time since I don't know when.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

jrenaut: I’m drinking a can of beer from my own fridge for the first time since I don’t know when.

Not just for chicks, this thing is going to save me

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Despite the implication from the website that it’s for women only, our Moby Wrap is maybe going to save my November. This is my seventh National Novel Writing Month, and I’ve only failed to finish once. But I was afraid I was doomed to failure this year. It’s one thing for the wife to roll her eyes and go about her business while I write, but it’s quite another for me to say, “Sweetheart, will you take care of the kid for a little longer while I write my yearly novel?” They’re home together all day, and I know the wife looks forward to being able to move around on her own for a bit when I get back. But with the Moby, I can write AND watch my daughter. In fact, I’m doing it right now while the wife is out running an errand. I’m sitting here, typing away, while the kid is sleeping happily in her Moby. It has taken a little getting used to - it slightly hard to sit and type while wearing it. But it sure beats listening to the kid scream, or dumping all parenting responsibilities on the wife. And everyone says wearing your baby is great bonding, although I’m not sure how useful it is if she’s just asleep the whole time. Note to Moby Wrap - put a guy on your front page! It’s already hard enough to overcome parent/gender stereotypes without you pitching in to reinforce them. These things are great for fathers, too. And not just because women think that guys wearing their children are sexy (Trust me, I’ve walked through Dupont and Adams Morgan wearing her, and I’ve never gotten so much attention from women in my life). Wearing your children is great for you, too. It keeps your hands free AND puts the kid to sleep. That means you can drink a beer and watch the game and still be a good dad. And if your wife is like mine, the more you watch the kid, the more she cooks and cleans. Everyone wins!

Posted in: Anti complaint , kids , nanowrimo

I don't read partial RSS feeds

Friday, October 24, 2008

jrenaut: I don’t read partial RSS feeds

DC parking ticket adjudicator lacks sense of humor, soul

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

I finally contested a parking ticket and lost. That puts my record at 5-1, which is still pretty good. And technically this ticket was the wife’s, so I probably could still call myself undefeated. In any event, DC’s parking enforcement extortion officers got us for parking within five feet of an alley. This rule is especially absurd because DC stubbornly refuses to paint curbs red to indicate that parking is not allowed. This is, of course, because they want you to get a ticket. It’s certainly not because the city cares where you park. Look at the boot system. That is a system designed for maximum revenue and driver inconvenience, not for keeping our streets clear of illegally parked cars. If they really cared where you parked, they’d tow you for violations, not lock your car in place. Anyway, they didn’t buy my argument. And it was a weak argument, I admit. But it was civil and in complete sentences, so I thought maybe they’d give me the benefit of the doubt.

To Whom It May Concern: I am writing to contest a parking ticket, citation #[unimportant], that I received on Monday, July 21st, 2008, for parking less than five feet from an alley. In my haste to move the car because the ticket indicated that towing was requested, I did not notice that the ticket was for parking on the 1300 block of Harvard St NW. The car was on the 1400 block, just across the street from my house, where I’ve parked numerous times in the past. I realize that you can’t just take me at my word. I have lived on Harvard St for about a year and a half. In that time, I have parked on blocks besides the 1400 block fewer than a dozen times, and never on a Monday. Every Monday at 6:30PM, you can see all the residents of the block who don’t have off-street parking move their cars from the north side of the street to the south side. The south side is usually closed to parking during rush hour, but after 6:30 it’s open, and on Tuesdays, the north side is scheduled for street cleaning. So the minute the south side opens up to parking, those of us who live here move our cars. At 7:31PM, when the ticket was issued, the south side of the street had been open to parking for only an hour. That side of the street never fills up until much later in the evening, so there would never be a reason for me to park on the 1300 block of Harvard rather than my block (1400 block), as the ticket stated. I have to admit that I’m a little paranoid about my car being ticketed, and this causes me to pay a lot of attention to parking on our street and to ticketed cars. Every day, there is a car parked in the spot where I received the ticket. Some of these cars are within five feet of the alley, and some are not. But not once have I seen a car parked there with a ticket that wasn’t clearly violating some other parking rule. For example, during the day a residential parking permit is required, and frequently I’ve seen cars with VA or MD tags with tickets. I know that ignorance of the law is no excuse, but if this particular violation was enforced with any sort of regularity, I would have become aware of it. But it is hardly reasonable to expect me to assume that behavior I see go unpunished every day is anything but legal. Further, the ticket incorrectly cites me for parking on a block where my car was not parked. I live, work, and pay taxes in the District, and I endeavor at all times to park legally. For these reasons and those above, I would greatly appreciate it if you would forgive this parking ticket. I am also curious - the ticket itself states that I have 60 days to contest, which I am timely doing now. However, I subsequently received a letter indicating the ticket doubled because I did not answer in 30 days. If it is decided that I do in fact owe money for this ticket, I would appreciate that the cost of the ticket revert back to $20 since I have answered within the 60 day window. Thank you very much for your time. Sincerely, [A frustrated DC resident]

They also only give you five days from the postmark on your rejection letter to pay the ticket. I’m inclined to write a check just so I can write something unpleasant in the memo field, but I probably shouldn’t. They did, however, only charge $20, so I guess that’s some sort of partial victory.

Posted in: complaint , dc , harvardstreet , parking

I still don't know what to do with Twitter, but at least now I can tweet from my desktop with Gnome-Do

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

jrenaut: I still don’t know what to do with Twitter, but at least now I can tweet from my desktop with Gnome-Do

Are you Flickr friends with the Smithsonian?

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Originally uploaded by Smithsonian Institution

If you aren’t, you should be. The Smithsonian is one of the organizations, like the Library of Congress, that is using Flickr to share all sorts of images free from any kind of copyright or licensing restrictions. This makes the hippie socialist in me very happy. For $25 a year, they have unlimited storage of photos. I know the Library of Congress encourages people to tag their photos, so they’re crowdsourcing the categorization of whatever they post. That certainly saves them more than $25 a year. And this way everyone benefits because people can use the photos for whatever they want. And we all get to look at cool pictures like this one, a supernova photographed by the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Posted in: Anti complaint , awesome , DRM

Manny is the new Bonds

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

jrenaut: Manny is the new Bonds

It would have been a disappointing time

Tuesday, October 14, 2008


Originally uploaded by thetejon

Except that I haven’t run in months. My first 10K since my foot surgery was both my worst time ever and a great success. My official time was 57:48, a 9:18 pace, which is well off my personal best of 49:38, but that personal best was in April, and since then I’ve had foot surgery and run less than 20 miles total, I don’t think this was so bad. It was frustrating to be so slow, and to not have that extra bit at the end. But after more than five months of almost no running, I expected it. I like the course - it’s at West Potomac Park, just south of the Mall, and right on the water. It’s flat and wide and scenic. The Run Geek Run 8K is going to be at the same place in a few weeks, and I’m thinking about running it, but I know I won’t have much of a chance to run between now and then, so I won’t do much better than I did this weekend.

Posted in: dc , fitness , harvardstreet , health , running

Seriously, some needs to bailout my 401K

Friday, October 10, 2008

jrenaut: Seriously, some needs to bailout my 401K

WalMart caves on DRM

Friday, October 10, 2008

BoingBoing | WalMart now says they’ll keep the DRM servers on forever I wrote about this when WalMart first announced that they were revoking your ability to play the music you “bought” from them, but it looks like they’ve changed their mind, just like Yahoo. Well, not quite like Yahoo, but the same idea. They’re going to leave their DRM servers on for some undisclosed additional time. BoingBoing seems to think they’ll leave them up permanently, but the press release doesn’t actually say that. Regardless, WalMart is paying real money for their mistake, and it’s always nice to see that. Except in this economy where we need WalMart to keep the entire country from going bankrupt. Then it kind of sucks.

Posted in: DRM , failed business model , music

There goes my retirement.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

jrenaut: There goes my retirement.

I can't believe IT removed Firefox from my work machine.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

jrenaut: I can’t believe IT removed Firefox from my work machine.

Now I did sign up for Twitter

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

I did sign up for Twitter. You can see it to the right if you’re actually at the site and not reading the RSS. I also signed up at IMified so I could “tweet” through Google Talk. I still don’t really see the appeal, but I haven’t given it much of a chance. We’ll see what happens.

Posted in: the internet , twitter , web 2.0

My life hasn't really changed since Twitter. Everyone is a liar.

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

jrenaut: My life hasn’t really changed since Twitter. Everyone is a liar.

jrenaut - I'm ready for Twitter to change my life

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

jrenaut: I’m ready for Twitter to change my life

Nanowrimo is coming

Monday, October 06, 2008

It’s almost that time of year again. National Novel Writing Month is only a few weeks away. They’re celebrating their 10th year of Nano, while I’m celebrating my seventh. It’s hard to believe this is my seventh. It’s not hard to believe that I’ve never truly finished any of the “novels” I wrote during November. Maybe when the kid goes off to college. It will be very hard to hit 50,000 words this year. Having a 7-10 week old daughter in the house will no doubt cut into my novel writing time, and having a job that actually expects me to do something productive doesn’t help, either. Plus I’d kind of like to spend time with my wife now and then. I have two ideas I’m kicking around. One I’ve been thinking about for a couple years now, and one I just thought of recently. I’m leaning towards the more recent idea, because I’m afraid I won’t finish this year, and I don’t want to “waste” the more developed idea. But the newer idea still needs a second and third act, which makes things a little difficult. Just looking at the freshly updated Nano website and thinking about entering my first word count of 2008 gives me goosebumps. If you’ve never tried it, go read about what it is and how it works. In short, you will be writing a 50,000 word novel from November 1st to November 30th. Yes, this is hard. No, this is not impossible. Yes, it is incredibly rewarding (and addicting). Yes, most people you know will think you’re a little weird. But if I could only share with you the elation I felt when I first hit the word count button in my word processor back on November 27th, 2002, and it said, “50,000” for the first time, you would be totally sold. Feel free to leave me a comment or email me at jon at complaint hub dot com if you have questions about Nano, or contact me through the Nano site if you’re a participant.

Posted in: nanowrimo , writing

I almost signed up for Twitter

Thursday, October 02, 2008

I seriously considered signing up for Twitter just so I could easily liveblog the vice-presidential debate tonight. But then I’d have to find friends on Twitter or integrate it here or something, and that all sounded like work, so I didn’t do it. But, boy, am I looking forward to it. Listening to Sarah Palin try to answer questions, and listening to Joe Biden try not to beat her too senseless. He’s really in a tough spot - if he goes easy on her, it’s because he doesn’t respect her as a woman. If he’s hard on her, he obviously hates women. If he ignores her and focuses on the issues, he’s not taking her seriously because she’s a woman. There is absolutely nothing he can do that won’t get him into trouble. So I’m just hoping that she self-destructs all on her own. Which I think she’ll do. I mean, Saturday Night Live used her actual answers to questions because they couldn’t think of anything funnier. On one hand, you have things that Sarah Palin actually said as the candidate for the vice-presidency. On the other hand, you have every other thing that anyone has said or could say. And the things she said were funnier! That is true talent. A friend pointed out to me earlier today a survey that says that 60% of Americans don’t think she’s qualified. After tonight, anyone still in that other 40% is just lying to themselves.

Posted in: politics , unintentional comedy

Her favorite pastime

Wednesday, October 01, 2008


Originally uploaded by thetejon

I hate the “I’m sorry I haven’t updated my blog” posts, but I’d like to point out that I actually do have a really good excuse (Pictured at left).

Anyway, my excuse loves to look at herself in the mirror while she’s being changed. I’m not sure what she thinks she’s looking at, because I don’t think she really has that self-awareness. But any time she’s awake, not eating, and not screaming, I’m happy, so at this point I don’t care. People keep telling me that the six week mark is where it all turns around and gets easier. We’re almost at three weeks. I have to say that, while I love my daughter and still can’t believe she’s real, the first few weeks of parenting are hard. I wasn’t really prepared for this. It’s cool, though. At least I have a photo subject that doesn’t (can’t) run away.

Posted in: blogging , kids , parenting

If you buy anything with DRM, you are stupid

Saturday, September 27, 2008

And there’s another in the long list of music retailers who decided to turn off their DRM servers, effectively taking back the music you “bought”.

As the final stage of our transition to a full DRM-free MP3 download store, Walmart will be shutting down our digital rights management system that supports protected songs and albums purchased from our site.

WalMart is actually telling people to burn their DRMed music to cd so they don’t lose it. This is a pretty callous way of telling customers that WalMart doesn’t care about them. I don’t really understand how there can’t be a better solution. Is it really that hard for WalMart to leave a server running that just always says, “yes, you’re authorized”? It is increasingly clear to all those paying attention that any business model that depends on some sort of DRM is doomed to fail. And those who buy DRMed goods are doomed to lose them when the seller decides not to support it anymore. Let that be a lesson - DRM is anti-consumer. Always. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either mislead or lying.

Posted in: complaint , DRM , failed business model , music

Ooh, burned!

Friday, September 26, 2008

Messing with the Washington Wizards online saleschatter.

agravitz: Welcome to our real-time support chat. How can I help you today? Jon: When do single game tickets go on sale? agravitz: usually in early october have you ever thought about doing a ticket plan Jon: no, I don’t like the Wizards, I just want tickets to the Celtics game thanks though. agravitz: sure no problem

Posted in: basketball , saleschatters , sports

That's my daughter!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008


Originally uploaded by Nine Inch Nails
Official

No, not the picture. That’s clearly not my daughter. No, the wife was taking her to get her hearing tested and had some issues finding the place she had to go. The kid was fussing, so the wife turned on the radio, thinking she’d tune in a station that doesn’t exist, and maybe the white noise would calm the kid down.

Well, the last time I was in the car, I was listening to Nine Inch Nails, and that came on instead of the radio.

Sure enough, the kid stopped crying right away. I think she might have fallen asleep.

Posted in: Anti complaint , music , parenting

The first Google phone launches today

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Unless you live under a rock (or don’t pay as much attention to gadget websites as I do), you probably know that TMobile is launching the first cell phone running Google’s Android operating system today. This is what open-source techno-hippies like me wish the iPhone was. Instead of a closed, proprietary system controlled by one company that hates you, it’s a totally open system, designed to run anything on any hardware, “controlled” by a company that loves making money (And only wants to own all your personal information in return). You won’t see any exclusivity contracts from Google, so it’s likely that Android will arrive on carriers that don’t suck soon. It looks like work is not going to buy me a Blackberry (jerks), which may end up being good for me, as I’d rather have an Android phone. Suggestions for convincing the wife that I need one are welcome. You will, however, see things like the Amazon MP3 store pre-loaded.

Amazon.com said this morning that its MP3 music store will be pre-loaded on the T-Mobile G1, the first phone to be powered by Android.

Posted in: Anti complaint , gadgets , technology

I think I'm awake

Monday, September 22, 2008


Originally uploaded by thetejon

On the bright side, the kid met her great grandmother yesterday. She even behaved herself.

On the other hand, we are going to have to teach her that staying up until 2AM is moderately tolerable on the weekend, but highly frowned upon when Mommy has to take her to the doctor at 8AM the next day and Daddy has to go to work.

Posted in: kids , parenting , sleep deprivation

Like a poison dart frog, it's there to warn you away

Friday, September 19, 2008

The telltale signs will vary - a popped collar, big aviator glasses, whatever the well-dressed DC bar junkie with too much disposable income is using to woo unsuspecting (read: drunk) young women in Georgetown or Dupont - but it’s never too hard to pick out the douchebags. I know, that’s not a really nice word, but I can’t think of anything with a connotation that more closely matches the type of person I’m describing. Anyway, a few weeks back, a guy got on the 16th Street bus (At U St, big surprise) wearing jeans, an untucked button-down shirt, and aviator glasses. My first thought was, “Why do you wear those ridiculous glasses?”. I know it shouldn’t bother me, but it did - I was annoyed that he looked like an idiot. But then I thought a little more. This guy is actually doing me a favor. There is no chance I want to talk to the guy. They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but I judged this guy, and I know I was right. His glasses, though, are a big warning sign. If he looked like a normal guy who didn’t spend an hour getting ready to go out, I might not know he was a douchebag without talking to him. I might actually waste thirty seconds talking to a guy I would most certainly want to punch. The poison dart frogs use their bright colors to warn away predators, screaming, “I’m poisonous! Don’t eat me!”. This guy uses his glasses to yell, “I’m annoying! Ignore me!”. This is really an important milestone in the evolution of the human race. In fact, if we wait another few generations, we may all self-identify ourselves so accurately that I will never have to talk to another useless person again. It will be easier when we all have location-aware social networking mobile computer/phones and you can check the Facebook profile of the person next to you on the bus. So, next time I see one of these guys, I won’t be so annoyed. In fact, I might even thank him for warning me.

Posted in: dc , harvardstreet , nature , stupid people

Guest post at Vinotrip

Thursday, September 18, 2008

I have a guest post up at a friend’s blog while he’s “stepping out for a little bit”. Go check it out and make him jealous that my posts get more hits than his.

Posted in: guest blogger , wine

I might go into the office and take a nap

Thursday, September 18, 2008

I’m working from home today. In front of my house, they are jackhammering the street. Next door, they are cutting concrete. On the floor above me, the loudest cleaning lady in the Universe is still puttering along. It is truly amazing that the wife has managed to get the kid to sleep. Now if only I could actually get any work done.

Posted in: complaint , noise , work

If I don't admit I'm exhausted, maybe I won't be

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

I’m back at work for the first time since the kid. It’s not fun. She was up really late last night. The wife tried to get her down so I could sleep before work, but at 2AM she needed some help. The kid and I fell asleep on the couch sometime around 2:30, and here I am at work by 8:15. I have a two hour meeting at 9:30, and a shorter meeting at 1, and then I’m going home. So maybe five more hours. On the bright side, it’s a pretty amazing feeling to listen to her slow down from screaming to crying to sleeping while I’m bouncing her up and down and whispering in her ear. In the long run, I suspect that’s what I’ll remember, rather than the sleepless nights.

Posted in: parenting , sleep deprivation , work

As much as it sucks, we still have to pay the contracts they signed

Monday, September 15, 2008

When I first heard about the giant “golden parachutes” that were supposed to go to the CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - in the neighborhood of $10 million each - I was pretty mad. After the government stepped in to bail them out, we, the taxpayers, were on the hook for these ridiculous firing bonuses. These two men had been in charge of the two companies when it was decided that they couldn’t go on without a government bailout - even if they didn’t start the practices that led them here, they certainly must have been aware of what was going on. Now, after their mismanagement and incompetence, taxpayers were going to pay them more than most of us will make in a lifetime. But then a friend pointed out that we can’t pick and chose which employee payments get made when disaster happens. The government has just stepped in and said, “We’re renegotiating the employment contracts retroactively because it’s too much money”. Partly I’m torn. It is really infuriating that these guys will get so much money for utterly failing at their jobs. It’s infuriating that we’ll have to pay for it. But it’s not the government’s place to come in and change the game at this point. Yes, the government is paying some or all of the bills. But if we wanted that sort of control over what happened at Fannie and Freddie, we should have created the Department of Secondary Mortgages. Then the “CEOs” would be appointees and we could make political statements and fire them without resorting to just telling them that the legal contracts they signed are null and void just because we say so.

Posted in: complaint , disaster , economics , politics

Welcome to the world, Adelina

Sunday, September 14, 2008


Originally uploaded by thetejon

Well, that was certainly an experience. At exactly 9AM Friday morning, Adelina Sheehy Renaut was born at the DC Developing Families Center in Northeast. It was pretty quick, as these things go - the wife went into labor around 7:15 PM Thursday, and we were at the birth center at 7:30 Friday. I’m not sure it felt so quick to her, though. The baby was 8 pounds, 2 ounces, and 21 ½ inches long. I think she has my eyes. We got a lot of puzzled looks from people when we told them we were doing a natural birth at a birthing center, with midwives instead of doctors. Not that I have anything to compare it to, but our experience was fantastic. Our doula, Heather Wilson, was amazing. I’m not sure I would have made it through the experience without her. A doula, for those that don’t know and won’t read the Wikipedia page, is basically a birth coach/assistant. She came to the house before we went to the birth center, and she sat with us and helped and gave advice and did everything you could possibly think of to make the experience easier for us. Then she came with us to the birth center, and worked with the midwives as if they’d known each other for years. She’s also responsible for most of the photos taken just after Addy (Addie?) was born.


Originally uploaded by thetejon

The birth center is really more like a hotel than a hospital. One of the frequent complaints I’ve heard from dads is that there is no place for the at the hospital. The best they can hope for is an uncomfortable chair. The birth center had a bed big enough for two, and also a great couch that I easily could have slept on if that had been necessary. It was a private room, with a private bathroom. And the midwives never left us. It wasn’t like a hospital doctor, who might check in now and again. At least one of our midwives, Sierra and Lisa, was there every moment until they gave us some time alone after the baby was born. And even then, Sierra was just down the hall, available whenever we needed her. And they never took her out of the room. The first time Addy left the room where she was born was when she left with us to come home around 7:30PM (Much earlier than they would have let us leave if we were at the hospital). So, all that to say, if you’re having a baby, or planning to have one soon, and don’t think there are options besides the hospital, there are. Check out the birth center. Talk to a doula. It’s pretty crazy, being a dad. I look at her and still have a hard time believing she’s my daughter. But she’s pretty amazing.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , harvardstreet , life , parenting

Cross-platform file syncing and storage

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Via Lifehacker, DropBox just came out of beta. Installing it gives you a folder on your hard drive that’s synced to their server. Any file you drop in there is automatically synced to any other computer you have registered with the service. It’s cross-platform - I have my work computer (running Windows XP) and my home computer (Ubuntu) connected, and file syncing between them seems to be flawless. There are tons of other ways to do this, but DropBox gives you two free gigs or lets you pay for more, and the interface is pretty sweet. In addition to the desktop folder, you can access your files from a web browser anywhere. It’s really nice to see the level of Linux support they’re offering. They’re not supporting all distributions, but how rare is it to see a service come right out of beta and already have a Linux version?

Posted in: Anti complaint , computers , internet , linux

Fahey is back!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

The Orioles brought Brandon Fahey back up from Norfolk! He just tripled and scored in the third inning against Cleveland.

Posted in: Anti complaint , baseball

I never wanted to do business with Countrywide in the first place

Thursday, September 11, 2008

I’m among the many people who had their personal information sold by a Countrywide employee to some “third party”. I’ll share the first paragraph of the letter.

We are writing to inform you that we recently became aware that a Countrywide employee (now former) may have sold unauthorized personal information about you to a third party. Based on a joint investigation conducted by Countrywide and law enforcement authorities, it was determined that the customer information involved in this incident included your name, address, Social Security number, mortgage loan number, and various other loan and application information.

If this were happening to someone else, it would make me laugh on so many levels. First, the “employee (now former)”. It’s sad that they felt the need to specify that the employee is no longer employed. It’s sadder still that, had they neglected to mention it, many would have assumed that the employee was still there, undoubtedly selling more information to more third parties. Then, he/she “may” have sold. If you aren’t sure that my information was sold, how can you be sure what information was involved? And then to list all these things specifically and then add, “other loan and application information”. Have you ever applied for a home loan? It’s about a 7,000 page application. If this “third party” studies for a bit, he could email my mother and she’d think it was me. My favorite part is that I didn’t even set out to do business with Countrywide. Because of the ridiculous shell game that is the mortgage market in this country, I never went to Countrywide and asked for a loan. Sure, I signed papers allowing my lender to sell the loan or the servicing or whatever they did to Countrywide. But that doesn’t mean I wanted to do business with them. They end the letter with another apology.

We apologize again that this incident has occurred and for any inconvenience or worry it may have caused.

No, not “we apologize that we vet our employees like John McCain vets VP candidates (ZING!)”. Not “we’re really sorry we betrayed your trust and exposed you to identity theft”. Nope, they’re sorry it happened. They’re sorry you’re all freaked out and upset that someone has all sorts of personal financial information about you Apologizing for what happened without ever acknowledging that it was your fault is not an apology at all. Not once in the letter do they take any sort of responsibility. They “take [their] responsibility to safeguard your information very seriously”. Yes, they are very serious about offering two years of free credit protection once incidents like this happen. If that’s taking it seriously, I’d hate to see how they handle problems they don’t feel are very important.

Posted in: complaint , credit , money , stupid people

Running, cramping

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

I went running today for the first time since before my surgery. Things were going great for the first mile and a quarter. My toe didn’t really hurt, and I was feeling pretty good. Then I got a leg cramp. I’ve never had one before from running. I talked to my sister, and she thinks it’s because “the surgery changed the biomechanics of [my] running”. That sounds feasible. I was trying to run normally on the bad foot, but I’m sure I wasn’t. But it was a good start. I ended up, according to Map My Run, running about 1.4 miles then walking 1.6. Next time I expect to do better. I don’t have much time to get ready for my 10K.

Posted in: complaint , fitness , health , running

Baby Never Forget

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

No baby yet. I am becoming increasingly worried that we will have a baby born on September 11th. I mean, that wouldn’t be the end of the world, and it would attach a nice thing to that unfortunate date, but it really isn’t my first choice of birthdays for the kid. In any event, a friend told me yesterday that, if the baby is born tomorrow, we have to name it Never Forget. Or Rudy Bush. I was thinking, though, that if it was a girl we could probably get away with Neverina Forget. That has kind of a nice ring to it, huh? Or maybe Giuliana Bush. Edit to add: Another friend suggested FREEDOM GLORY. I like the all-caps. That means the baby will be forceful and confident. Feel free to add your own 9/11 baby name suggestions in the comments. If one of them makes me fall on the floor laughing, I promise to name the baby that. Thankfully, the wife will certainly veto this.

Posted in: complaint , Nine Eleven , parenting

Clean bill of health for me, but no baby yet

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Just got back from the podiatrist - I am completely medically cleared to run, jump, dance, and generally frolic about on my surgically repaired foot. If you are looking for a podiatrist in the DC area, I highly recommend Dr. Ian Beiser. Every aspect of my experience with him and his practice was excellent, and I will definitely go back next time I’m in need of podiatric (is that a word? Firefox doesn’t think so, but Firefox’s dictionary is often a bit lacking.) services. That means I can play flag football this weekend if I’m up to it, and I can slowly start getting ready for my 10K next month (Although with about 30 days to go, I can’t imagine I’m going to be all that prepared). But there’s no baby yet. The wife has an appointment today, and maybe they’ll have something insightful to tell us, but as far as I know we’re just waiting. We have until September 24th before they’ll induce her, and I think that will be plenty of time. I’ve been trying to tell the kid about how great it is out here, but it doesn’t seem convinced.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , doctor , harvardstreet , health , life

The baby is officially late

Monday, September 08, 2008

The official due date has come and gone, and the house is still baby-free. That’s okay, because it’s perfectly normal for first-time mothers to be late. However, it’s not okay, because the wife would really like to be done with this whole pregnancy thing. And I’d really like to meet our kid. We’re not quite at the “spicy food and pineapple” stage, or any of the other crazy techniques to entice the kid to come out. For all you parents out there - did you do anything to get the kid to come out? I’d especially like to hear things that 1) worked and 2) are fun for me. Like, if you went out to a really nice dinner, maybe? Or I really like the suggestion that pregnant women should clean the floor on their hands and knees because it’s a good position to relieve pain from carrying the baby.

Posted in: complaint , kids , life , parenting

Beer and Babies

Saturday, September 06, 2008


Originally uploaded by thetejon

The baby has not yet arrived. The official due date is tomorrow, so that’s not exactly a surprise, but believe me when I tell you that the wife is ready. I’m pretty ready, too. What has arrived, though, is a big package of onesies from the wife’s family. Pictured here is the creation of one of the baby’s uncles-to-be. Please excuse the trademark-infringement. It really is the sincerest form of flattery. And Bell’s doesn’t actually sell onesies, so he’s not taking away a sale. The Bell’s Octoberfest, by the way, is quite nice. I recommend you try it if it’s available in your area. And if you work for Bell’s and are reading this because it showed up on your traffic logs, why not offer onesies? I can’t speak for everyone, but we’d definitely buy some.

Posted in: Anti complaint , beer , parenting

The worst inning in the history of the Universe

Friday, September 05, 2008

Thankfully I didn’t actually watch this, because there would be a giant hole in my TV right now. The Orioles started the eighth inning down 3-2 to the Athletics. No big deal, right? The O’s hit like crazy. One run is nothing. According to ESPN’s play-by-play, it went a little downhill from there. We start the inning with a walk, then a hit batter. That won’t do, so Brian Burres comes on in relief. Stolen base, walk, walk, and it’s 4-2. Burress is gone. Some guy I’ve never heard of comes in to pitch. Walk, walk, strikeout, walk, and it’s 7-2. The next pitcher gets a fly out and they’re almost out of the inning … Except for the grand slam. That is eight runs, ONE HIT, and no errors. Six walks and a hit batter. This is actually worse than the Redskins' performance last night. This is, in fact, worse than any performance in the history of sport. And this on the same day that ESPN announces our worthless manager will be back next year. Does anyone know the record for walks allowed in a year? Are we going to break it this year? If not, I’m sure we’ll get it next year. That’s something to shoot for. If you’ll excuse me now, I think I’m going to go curl up in the corner and cry until I’m an Angels fan.

Posted in: baseball , complaint

A baby present for me

Friday, September 05, 2008


Originally uploaded by thetejon

I’ve been talking about this forever, and with birthday money from my grandmother burning a hole in my savings account an unexpected bonus from work, plus the imminent arrival of the new baby, I could no longer resist. To top it all off, it was on sale at Penn Camera through tomorrow. And the whole operation is wife-approved because she wants to steal the old camera. It doesn’t really get any better than that.

Posted in: Anti complaint , d300 , gadgets , nikon , photography

Nine points has never looked so bad

Friday, September 05, 2008

As promised, I have a few things to say about the Redskins' opening day loss to the Giants. In some sense I’m still in shock. You know how some teams have a great game plan, but just don’t have the personnel to pull it off? And some teams have all the talent in the world, and just keep banging their collective head into the wall? Last night, the Redskins displayed the worst of both worlds. They had neither the talent nor the plan, and the result was much worse than the score indicated. The two things that top my list of inexcusable faults are the tackling and the punting on fourth and short. The Redskins didn’t tackle. At all. Nearly every guy on the team managed at some point to get bowled over by Brandon Jacobs. Eli Manning made the linebacking crew look silly on his touchdown run. The punting was ridiculous. Not the performance of our rookie punter - he was fine. But the decisions to punt. I’m not a big fan of the punt in general. Sure, it has its place. But with less than three to go, I’d like to see coaches go for it more often than not. So what did Jim Zorn do? I lost track of how many times he punted on fourth and one or two. When the Redskins needed a change in momentum and they had the ball near midfield, did he challenge them to win the game? No, he gave it back to the Giants. Punting on fourth and one from your own 40 while down two scores in the fourth quarter is putting a big sign on your forehead that says, “I’m trying to keep this game close because I’ve given up on winning”. The only thing that saved this game from getting completely out of hand was Eli Manning’s lack of talent and Tom Coughlin’s stubborn refusal to run the ball. When your running back is averaging over five yards a carry and you have a lead, why would you even consider passing the ball? As a team, the Giants averaged 4.8 per carry, and that’s including Eli, credited with -1 yards on two rushes. If your average two rushes result in a first down, you never trail in the game, and you still call 35 passes, you’re a moron. The Redskins' lesser sins were in abundance, as well. I’m not sure why no one except me has ever noticed that Randle El is a terrible punt returner, but someone should really tell Zorn that. Watch every punt returned for a touchdown in the last 20 years. If more than one in ten involved as many changes in direction as the typical Randle El return, I’ll eat my hat. And it’s not like he doesn’t have a role model - Rock Cartwright is one of the most consistent kick returners I’ve ever seen because he gets the ball, finds a hole, and RUNS FORWARD. I don’t know why we didn’t cover Plaxico in the first half. A miserable throw from Eli when he was wide open probably cost him a touchdown in the first quarter. He consistently had no defenders anywhere near him as he caught pass after pass. I know Shawn Springs is out, and we lost Fred Smoot late in the game, but no one playing for an NFL team should get beaten that badly, every time. Now, the good news - the season has to go up from here! Also, we can look forward to the Giants returning to Earth after their Super Bowl win - if they had played a real team today, they would have lost. Badly. Jacobs will not continue to rush like that. And most offenses are not nearly that ineffective. So there’s still hope. And we still have the Tony Romo December meltdown to look forward to. The NFC East is still wide open.

Posted in: complaint , football , sports

The unintended consequences of blocking webmail

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

No matter how hard you try, you can’t effectively block anything on the internet. My favorite angry tech geeks just mentioned the great quote from John Gilmore, “the internet interprets censorship as damage and routes around it.” That’s not exactly what happened when they blocked webmail at work, but it might as well have been. There’s a free wifi signal in our building provided by the DC government. I have no idea why it’s there, or who it’s meant to serve, but it’s been great for me. However, it goes in and out a lot. You have to authenticate with an email address every time it drops you, and sometimes that would happen every few minutes. It could be really frustrating, especially when I really needed that connection. It was the only connection I had for the laptop where I do all my work, and when it wasn’t working, I couldn’t get to source control, I couldn’t do all sorts of necessary work tasks. So, when they blocked webmail on the official work network, the DC wifi took a beating. They started blocking on a Monday, and through Wednesday, the DC wifi was totally useless. Even when it would successfully authenticate me, it wouldn’t let me do anything. What happened next? Whoever runs that wifi network must have upgraded some equipment, because now that connection is better than it’s ever been. They must have gotten complaints from whoever is actually supposed to be using that network, and took steps to improve it. And now I have a pretty reliable connection. It hurts my argument that work needs to buy me a Blackberry, but I didn’t really need a Blackberry. In some sense, everyone wins here. People aren’t checking webmail on the official work network. As misguided a security policy as that is, it remains their right to block webmail. And I have a better uncensored connection that helps me be more productive at work. Clearly I’m not the only one using it, and the others undoubtedly benefit from the increased quality of the wifi service. More and more, we have to realize that everything is available on the internet. You can accept that, figure out how it affects your business, and move forward. Or you can waste resources fighting against it until you realize that no amount of censorship, lawsuits, or new laws will ever stop the flood of information.

Posted in: complaint , economics , stupid people , the internet , work

Happy hour at Target?

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

I was just at Target at DCUSA picking up some aluminum foil and some other stuff so we (read: the wife) can cook stuff to freeze for quick post-baby dining. And also so I could cook some soy-free seitan (Note: URL is not safe for work. At least, if your work doesn’t like profanity. It’s probably safe, but I just like to warn people just in case). Anyway, school is clearly back in session. The escalator into Target was mobbed, and there were literally thousands of kids running around buying up dorm supplies. Well, maybe not thousands. But a lot. And I love that the vast majority seemed to be coming up the escalators, meaning that they walked or took the Metro rather than driving. Maybe that’s more a function of not owning cars than green city living, but I’ll take what I can get.

Posted in: crazy kids , dc , Harvard Street , harvardstreet , things to do

The walk is unforgivable

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

I hate walks. I’d rather a pitcher give up a home run than a walk. If a batter hits a home run, he beat the pitcher. It happens. I understand that. But if a batter walks, the pitcher just blew it. There is no excuse for walking a batter. I knew the Orioles were playing above their heads for most of the season. They were expected to be bad, and they were in it for quite a while. But there was always something bothering me about the team. It turns out it’s the walks. They lead the American league with 582 walks allowed coming into this game, an average of 4.2 per game. 4.2! Some highlights from that:

  • “Closer” George Sherrill has 30 walks in 50 1/3 innings (5.4 walks per nine innings)
  • Fernando Cabrera - 16 in 27 innings (5.3 BB/9)
  • Jeremy Guthrie and Jamie Walker are the only players on the team who are below the league average of 3.3 BB/9
  • Dennis Sarfate has walked 60 in 74.3 innings - 7.3 BB/9! I mean, seriously. How is a team supposed to win like that? The offense has been pretty good. But none of the starters except Guthrie can make it through the fifth innings with any sort of regularity. As I type this, walk machine Radhames Liz (6 BB/9) has just exited the game in Boston after 3 and two thirds, the Orioles down 7-1. It’s pretty frustrating for the fans. Oh, look, home run by Dustin Pedroia and it’s 10-1, Sweet.
Posted in: baseball , complaint , sports

A little weekend getaway

Monday, September 01, 2008


Originally uploaded by thetejon

The wife had the brilliant idea of heading out on our 84th babymoon before this kid finally arrives. Not that it hasn’t traveled enough in utero - it’s been to San Fransisco, NYC, Paris, LA, Boston, Las Vegas, Nashville, three MLB stadiums, an NBA finals game … And now it’s been to a nice little bed and breakfast near Charles Town, WV. Our first stop was Harpers Ferry. We wandered around, had lunch, and took some pictures. We passed on the hiking, which is supposed to be nice, but since the wife is 39 weeks along, and my foot is still not totally recovered (The only shoes I can get on my foot at the moment are flip flops and my work shoes - my running shoes and hiking shoes both require more flexibility in my toe than I currently have), we didn’t walk too far. And there were a ton of people tubing on the river, which looked really nice. The B&B; is in a town called Berryville, which unfortunately closes down at 6pm. Since we arrived at about 4, we didn’t really get a good feel for the town. But we had a nice dinner in nearby Winchester. The B&B; itself was really nice. We’ve been encouraged to come back with the baby, as the proprietor is waiting to be a grandmother and has apparently tired of waited. However, it’s not a really large place, and the sound tends to carry a bit (I could hear Law and Order all the way down the hall, even with the door closed), so I’m not sure the rest of the guests would appreciate it. The next day, we were served a great breakfast and then we headed out. Our first stop was a consignment store in Charles Town. We passed it on the way in and it was closed, so we went back and bought some baby clothes and two books (One was a Harold and the purple crayon book, which perhaps only my mom will appreciate). Then we were off to the wineries! We stopped at three - Veramar, Bluemont, and Willowcroft. All three were very nice - much prettier than the average wineries. Bluemont, for example, is high up on a hill and offers a view of Tysons Corner thirty miles or so off in the distance. We stopped at the Leesburg outlets on the way back, which was probably a huge mistake given that it was Labor Day weekend, but we survived. And then back home. The cat didn’t even seem too irritated with us.

Posted in: things to do , travel

Would this business model work for writers?

Friday, August 29, 2008

I’ve spoken before about alternative business models for authors - some way to get paid for writing while at the same time embracing digital distribution and the economics of infinite goods. Techdirt talks about music artists getting fans to help pay for the creation of a new album - fans give money and the artist uses that money to produce the album. Then, the artist has some options for what to do with the music after it’s created, like selling cds or giving it away for free or whatever they want to do. This might work for writers, too. Not all writers, maybe. But let’s say you’re a talented writer without a book deal. You set up a blog and connect with people who love the type of books you want to write. Give away free short stories or excerpts from your novel-in-progress. Then take money to produce the book. People who donate maybe get a discount on a paper copy, or a signed paper copy, or whatever other non-scare goods you might be interested in producing. If you’re really good with your non-scare goods, you can give away the resulting ebook when you’re done writing. This builds more fans, and helps you get more money to produce the next book. I think it’s harder for authors to do this than musicians, because it’s harder for the author to come up with compelling non-scarce goods to sell. They have no equivalent of the live show (At least for the vast majority of authors). But at the same time, producing a book, especially an ebook, is vastly cheaper. In fact, with a little computer knowledge, it’s almost free. So what your fans are really paying for is your time more than the production of the book.

Posted in: failed business model , music , writing

Wolf Blitzer needs to go

Friday, August 29, 2008

I hate to bring this up again, but Wolf Blitzer was worse last night than he has been previously. They were talking about Obama’s acceptance speech, which I thought was excellent. The confetti and fireworks were over, and someone on stage started some sort of closing prayer. Now, I’m not a religious person. And I don’t like mixing religion and politics. But if people are praying, you should be respectful. And most of the CNN talking heads were - someone suggested that they all shut up for a minute. That lasted for all of two or three seconds before Wolf started talking again! And about nothing! He was sending everyone to CNN.com for more information. Wolf Blitzer needs to be reminded every single day that anyone with good enunciation can do his job. Just because he’s well known does not mean that he’s important. The day robots can read cue cards is the day that Wolf Blitzer is redundant.

Posted in: complaint , religion , television. politics

From the farmers market to your table at Poste

Friday, August 29, 2008

If you’re looking for a unique and interesting dinner in DC on a Thursday night, look no further. You have to make reservations in advance (Which requires a form. A form to fax in to get a dinner reservation. I feel so important.), and it books up (Although not last night), but the “To Market/To Market” dinner at Poste at Gallery Place is a fantastic way to spend a Thursday evening. We were supposed to go last week for our anniversary (My surprise for the wife, thanks to my coworker for the recommendation), but they were already booked. So we went tonight, and were the only ones doing the special dinner. The evening begins with greetings from the chef and your server. Then you’re whisked off to the farmers market across the street. We got a tour from the guy who runs it, and got to hear about all the different farmers who sell things there, and a little about what they sell. It’s a very warm and inviting atmosphere. And there’s a good chance you’ve eaten food from there even if you didn’t go yourself - many DC chefs show up there at opening with huge carts to take back to their respective restaurants. After the tour, we got a tour of the garden at Poste, which is inside their charming little courtyard, just past people drinking fruity martinis and glasses of wine. They grow all sorts of stuff to supplement what they buy. We got to taste their spinach leaves, which the chef picked while we were standing there. And then dinner. It’s a little pricey, and the organic wine pairing is also not cheap, but it’s a ton of food, and it’s delicious. We started with amuse-bouche. There was a salmon tartar with dijon mustard in a funny sweetish cone that was really good. My favorite was the yellowtail with fruit. They had fried squash blossom with cheese, and a very salty oyster. The second course was a gazpacho that I didn’t like very much. But the wife thought it was great, so I conclude that I just don’t like gazpacho. Next was a tomato salad, which was great. Different kinds of tomatoes, prepared different ways, with some fresh cheese from the market. And then fish with a mushroom sauce for me, and a pistou (Apparently French pesto - who knew?). Which brings me to another point - I mentioned when making the reservation that the wife eats seafood but no other meat, and that she can’t stand mushrooms, and they made sure not to serve her either one. That was followed by the “main course”. All the courses were small, but it ended up being plenty of food. I suppose that’s what happens when you have so many courses. Anyway, my main course was rabbit, which was delicious. I would never have ordered rabbit if I were choosing from a menu, but it was good. A little more meaty than chicken, I thought. The wife had ravioli with cheese and nettles from the garden, which was also delicious. That’s the hidden benefit of a partner who doesn’t eat meat - if your dinner has meat in it, you can taste hers and not share yours. Marry a vegetarian who can cook, kids - you won’t regret it. And finally the dessert course. There was a cheesecake with blackberries and sweet corn ice cream (Yes, I know that’s weird. Yes, it was good). There was a chocolate mousse, and olive oil cake with rosemary, dates, and creme fraiche ice cream. Just when we thought we were done, they brought out peaches, poached in paper, with a honey cheese sauce. They were fantastic, as well. And on the way out, they gave us little mason jars, one with pickled heirloom tomatoes, and one with apricot jam. If I did it again, I might skip the wine pairing. They were all good - I was especially surprised by the muscat that they served first, because I don’t generally like sweet wine, but it was very light and pleasant. But the wines were all white or rose. I would have liked a nice dry red. I suppose it doesn’t pair with summer vegetables, but they could make up an excuse and no one would call them on it. Except maybe super food snobs, and no one cares what they think, anyway. I wish I’d written down the wines we had (Well, I had, and the wife tried. It’s funny - the tables are high enough that you can’t really see that she’s pregnant), but I didn’t think to bring a notepad. The service was great. We got a lot of attention from a number of different people, and never had to wait long when we needed a server. The atmosphere in the restaurant was good, although the bathroom is quite a hike (Through the hotel lobby, around the corner, up the stairs, down the hall). The bar had a very Happy Hour crowd, although it wasn’t unpleasant. At the end of the night, we were quite happy with our evening. It was a lot of money, but it was also a lot of food, all of it delicious (Unless you don’t like gazpacho). If you love white wines and some sweetish light reds, go for the wine pairing, but if you’re more of a dry red person, you’re probably better off ordering your own wine. But we would definitely go back. And I think we’ll be visiting the farmers market sometimes, too - it’s nice to know about a market during the week, since so many are open only on a weekend day.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , harvardstreet , restaurant , things to do , Zip 20004

Go check out Mozilla Ubiquity

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Yesterday, Mozilla Labs introduced Ubiquity, “An experiment in connecting the web with language”. It’s a lot like Launchy or Gnome-Do, except different. Install Ubiquity into Firefox and then hit the shortcut keys to launch Ubiquity, and then start typing. You can search Google, post to Twitter, send an email - all through an intuitive command-line interface. It’s not for everyone - if you spend all your time pointing and clicking, you may not like using the keyboard this way. But for those of you who use the mouse only when you really need it, this may revolutionize the way you use your browser. Remember, the browser knows a lot about you. If you’re signed in to Gmail, for example, and you find a great webpage you want to share with your friend, you don’t have to know your friend’s email. Just type, “email ” and then your friend’s name - Gmail will find the address, and copy the url for the page into a new email to your friend. And this is just the beginning - there are already tons of user-created scripts available, and it’s pretty easy to create your own. There’s even a tutorial. And lest you think I forgot to get in a dig on Microsoft, ye of little faith, let me remind you that this is the sort of functionality that will be in Internet Explorer 17, due to be released around the time your great-great-grandchildren are colonizing Mars. If you’re in Firefox now, install Ubiquity now. If you aren’t, get Firefox first, then install Ubiquity. And if you find or write any really cool scripts for it, be sure to let me know.

Posted in: Anti complaint , cool , gadgets , internet , technology

What would happen if the airline industry failed?

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

I’ve often wondered if we wouldn’t be better off in the long run if a significant chunk of the airlines went out of business. It would suck for a while, but it would really open up the market for innovation and new ideas. Today, Techdirt wonders the same thing.

… people seem to take for granted what cheap and readily available air travel allows. It touches on so many different businesses that it’s hard to fathom how deep the eventual impact would be if air travel needs to be significantly curtailed in the future.

The whole flying experience is pretty unpleasant these days. And a lot of that is TSA’s fault, and I’m hoping that maybe a new President might come in and remind TSA that the enemy is actually people trying to hijack or blow up planes, not people with unfortunate names, liquids, and underwire bras. But a lot of it is the airlines' fault, too. The incessant nickel-and-dime charges are pretty annoying. Customer service is often lacking, like when I was told they would hold our connecting flight, even though I knew I would miss it, and we ended up staying at a hotel at the airport in Milwaukee instead of Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas for the night. Some new airline innovation would be really nice. But in order to get there, it may take a few years of transportation (and shipping) misery first. As an aside - could someone please comment on a post? Any post? The total number of comments for the site right now is 666, and that’s just bad karma.

Posted in: airlines , business , complaint , technology

Do you ever Google yourself?

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Have you ever typed your name into a search engine? I have a relatively unusual last name, at least outside of French-speaking countries, so most of the results for my name are actually me. That’s kind of nice. Then, earlier this evening, a friend told me, “you aren’t that hard to find on teh intrawebs”. That got me thinking - I wonder what else is out there? For the first time, I googled my usual screenname, thetejon, which I’ve used for most everything ever since I had my first AOL account. The results are pretty impressive. Some of the most interesting: Wedding Toasts for the Groom - a blog post that used a picture of me giving a toast at the wedding of one good friend to another. 2006 October PUNK Blogs & News @ PROPUNK.COM! - I suspect this site runs scripts to scrape content tagged with “punk” from wherever it can find it and hopes to generate ad revenue. The picture they got is actually of my cat. большое спасибо мите за лицензионный balance 005 - a LiveJournal entry linking to one of my photos from Costa Rica. The entry is not in a language I’m familiar with. Perhaps you are. So, there you go. Think about that next time you do something stupid on the internet. Google doesn’t forget.

Posted in: fame , internet , strange

Forget playing, this mouse is having Five Guys

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

The wife having dinner with a coworker down on U Street is a perfect reason to venture over to everyone’s favorite greasy bag of french fries, Five Guys. I’m not sure how Columbia Heights survived without them. Of course, Five Guys isn’t really helping my waistline. And the months of relative inactivity since I stopped running due to the bunion help even less. But soon that will be no more! I wore shoes yesterday, and today my flip-flops were nearly comfortable. I’ll give shoes another try tomorrow as I actually have to go into the office. And that means I can get back to running soon. I have a 10K in six weeks that I’m woefully unprepared for, so that should help a lot. It would certainly be embarrassing if it turned out that I’ve gained more weight than the wife in the last nine months.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , harvardstreet , restaurants

Is this even legal?

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

I don’t really know much about the law surrounding this, so I have assume that the LPGA is within its legal rights to require all members to speak English. I mean, they have lawyers, and I imagine the lawyers approved this. But it sure doesn’t sound that cool.

“The economy is bad, and we are losing sponsors,” [golfer Seon-Hwa Lee] said, according to the report. “Everybody understands.”

I can understand the LPGA’s motivation. They are in the business of selling women’s golf, and if their players can’t communicate in the target market, it makes their job more difficult. I get that. But surely there’s a way to increase the marketing appeal of the sport that’s a little more tolerant. It would be interesting to see a once-in-a-lifetime golfer come through who doesn’t speak English and refuses to learn. I bet the LPGA would back down before alienating a potential superstar.

Posted in: complaint , intolerance , sports

Experimental new stuff from Mozilla

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Remember when Internet Explorer was pretty much the only browser out there? Yeah, me neither. IE has always sucked, and IE7, touted as competing with the newer browsers, is really just playing catch-up. And not actually ever catching up. Over at the Mozilla Labs Blog, they have a little video about experimental browser changes for Firefox. The idea is to anticipate your actions in the browser and offer no-cost assistance. That is, when I open a new tab, if my browser could offer me options, like a search bar, instead of a blank page, there is no cost to me, and it may streamline my browsing experience. Anyway, it’s a cool video, and it demonstrates one more time how far Microsoft has fallen in terms of innovation.

Posted in: Anti complaint , cool , internet , technology

Get over yourself, CNN

Monday, August 25, 2008

Would someone please remind CNN again that they report the news, they are not news themselves. This convention is about Barack Obama and the future of our country, not Wolf Blitzer and additional information at CNN.com. Anyway. Kind of cool that they’ve been embedding the commercials inside the border showing the schedule and whatnot, so you can always see the dumb factoids that CNN thinks you should be aware of. We’ll be seeing more of this in the future.

Posted in: complaint , news , politics , television

Is everyone holding their breath for Obama?

Monday, August 25, 2008

What is going on with the news today? I don’t usually read mainstream news sources, figuring that if it’s important, either someone’s blog will mention it, the wife will mention it, or my office-mate will read about it in the Express. But today, my RSS feed was so devoid of anything interesting that I went to the Washington Post website to see if anything interesting had happened. Almost the entire front page is dedicated to whatever Obama is going to do tonight, and I just can’t get myself to care. I made up my mind long ago that I was voting for him. And at this point, he would pretty much have to tear off his face and reveal himself as a chupacabra or space alien or something to get me to change my mind.

Actually, I would vote for either of those ahead of McCain so long as they promised to try and undo some of the damage to the country that Bush and Co. have done. And listening to the news anchors talk about President Chupacabra would be fun, too. I think I also can’t get interested because I just can’t (or maybe won’t) imagine how McCain could possibly win. I may be naive. Considering the lukewarm response to his “I forget how many houses I own” remark, coming during the lowest point in the real estate market in my adult lifetime, it’s a strong possibility. Anyway, I suppose we’ll watch some of whatever is going on tonight. Maybe it will even be interesting. And maybe tomorrow the news will be back to normal.

Posted in: complaint , news , politics

Your job is more interesting than mine

Monday, August 25, 2008

I can’t be the only one who constantly finds that most other jobs seem more interesting than mine. It doesn’t help that I’m going through a frustrating time at work where we’re understaffed as we’re expanding, so I get to deal with a ton of customers who aren’t that happy with us because we’re pushing back deadlines. And I generally like my job. I’m paid very well relative to how hard I have to work, the company treats me like a person, and I like my coworkers. But there are so many other jobs that sound cooler. For example, I’ve recently rolled over an old 401K into a new IRA, which means I can do a little playing in the market. So I’ve been reading market articles here and there, and I read about a “planned coup” at Lehman Brothers, and a lowball offer for a competitor by Precision Drilling Trust. These things sound exciting! And then you have the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac disaster, and the general unrest in the financial industry, plus releasing earnings statements … All I have here are annual budget submissions. It pales in comparison. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to be a day trader or a fund manager or anything like that. That sounds distinctly like work. What I’d really like is for someone to pay me for offering uninformed insight on the market. That would be pretty cool.

Posted in: complaint , life , the grass is greener , work

You probably just helped her book sales

Monday, August 25, 2008

Unshelved points us to a story about a librarian getting fired for writing a book about library patrons. Since the book is easy to find on Amazon, I have to think that her sales are going to go up based on the loss of her job.

Posted in: angry people , overreaction

A hub of Central American culture

Monday, August 25, 2008

In the Post today, via my mom, there are improvements coming to the strip of 14th Street north of Park. For some of you, that may just be “the area around the Red Derby”. But keep an eye out for some new stuff.

[the Mid-14th Street Business Association], in conjunction with a District-based nonprofit organization, the Latino Economic Development Corp., has begun an effort to add fresh layers of paint and new signs to many of the businesses. The business association also plans to launch seminars catered to the shop owners starting in September. Rosemarie Salguero, executive director of the association, said one of the goals is to brand the area as a hub of Central American culture.

If I’m lucky, maybe a Costa Rican restaurant will open up and serve some nice casados and gallo pinto.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , harvardstreet

I'm wearing a left shoe!

Monday, August 25, 2008

It will be six weeks on Wednesday since I had my foot surgery, and today I wore two shoes to work. For many of you, that may not seem like a big deal. You probably wear two shoes to work every day. But try only wearing one for a while. Better yet, try only wearing one because your foot is so swollen that it won’t fit into the shoe. Then you’ll see. So the foot is a little uncomfortable in the shoe, but not terrible. And I brought the boot, just in case. But I’m hoping to make it through the day with my shoe on.

Posted in: Anti complaint , health , life

Buy my stuff!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Blue Complaint Hub Shirt

You may have noticed a new section in the right sidebar - Merchandise! Inspired by a friend, I have made Complaint Hub t-shirts! And you can buy them! And, just in case the sheer awesomeness of the shirt isn’t motivation enough to buy one, the first person I see wearing one who I don’t know in person at the time of seeing the shirt will be entitled to a beer at CommonWealth on me. Or, something of more or less equivalent value if you happen to not drink beer for whatever reason. So, current friends and family are not eligible for this offer. But all of you locals reading the site hoping I’ll go off on another rant about DC parking enforcement are! If you have ideas for how I could make the shirt better, feel free to share. A graphic designer I most certainly am not.

Posted in: Anti complaint , harvardstreet , self-promotion

Giant's okay, but the customers are crazy

Saturday, August 23, 2008

There’s been a big discussion over at the Columbia Heights Forum about the relative merits of Giant vs Harris Teeter, the two major grocery stores serving Columbia Heights. I would argue that the Whole Foods on P does, too, but whatever. The argument boils down the fact that Giant is union, but the service is awful. Harris Teeter is not unionized, but they have shorter lines and friendlier staff. I won’t really get into the argument, because I’ve had quite enough of it at the forum, but I thought I’d relate my experience at Giant this morning. I went out to get milk for coffee and a lemon for delicious lemon-cornmeal pancakes. I would have gone to Hi Market, except they often don’t have fat-free milk, and I didn’t have any cash. So I walked to Giant. It wasn’t terribly crowded, although another checkout lane might have been nice. Still, at 9AM Saturday, it was acceptable. And I moved through the line pretty quickly. The cashier was pleasant if not outgoing. The problem I had was with another customer. I passed her on my way to the milk, and she was talking to someone, and while I didn’t hear what they were saying, the dynamic of the conversation seemed strange. It appeared that the guy she was talking to didn’t really want to be talking to her, but was too polite to walk away. I didn’t think much of it. I grabbed the milk and turned around to pass her again. I was walking on the wrong side of the aisle, as that’s where the milk is, and she was coming towards me with her cart in the middle of the aisle. She actually jerked her cart abruptly to the side so she was coming straight for me! “Excuse me,” she said sweetly. Excuse you? You intentionally moved across the aisle to try and run me down with your cart! I have an injured foot! Well, it’s not all that injured any more, but I still can’t wear a regular shoe because my foot swells during the day. But it hampers my mobility. So, everyone employed by Giant was just fine this morning, but I could do without the crazy customers.

Posted in: complaint , crazy people , dc , Harvard Street , harvardstreet

Just because HDTVs are cheap now doesn't mean your child needs one

Friday, August 22, 2008

Have you ever ridden in an elevator with a little TV screen provided by The Captivate Network? There’s one in the elevator at my office. I like to watch because it makes me forget that I’m in an elevator (As faithful readers know, I hate elevators). It also occasionally has some interesting things, like little news tidbits and weather. Today, I was coming back from lunch, and the screen showed a “gadget review”. They mentioned a 32" Samsung HD TV. They mentioned that it was perfect for any dorm room. At the bottom was the price. $850. What college student could possibly need an $850 television in his/her dorm? Do you know how big the TV was in my college dorm? 13 inches. And I turned out just fine. Seriously, parents, if you buy your college student an $850 TV, you are a bad parent. College is about being poor and trying to hook up with as many people as possible. If you’re spending a lot of time in your room watching a huge TV, you’re doing it wrong.

Posted in: complaint , gadgets , money , parenting , stupid people

Clicking ads is not saying thank you

Friday, August 22, 2008

I like reading Seth Godin’s blog. It’s generally interesting, and he talks about marketing in a very general sense that applies to more than just “professional” marketers. It probably even applies to you. But today I think he is absolutely wrong. He says that you should click on ads to say thank you for good content. Let’s list the reasons why this is not what you should do. First, you’re tipping with someone else’s money. If you want to give the author 10 cents for a good blog post, great. I’m sure he or she will appreciate it. But when you click on an ad (And we’re assuming no interest in buying, if you’re actually looking to buy it’s different), you’re giving the author someone else’s 10 cents. Sure, that person left piles of dimes out, but they left them with the understanding that you’d take one and give it to the blogger only if you really wanted to look at what was being advertised. Second, you are actually putting the blog author’s account at risk - ad sellers take click fraud very seriously, and if tons of people click an ad then immediately leave the advertiser’s site, the ad seller is going to get suspicious. Third, you are under absolutely no obligation to support the business model chosen by the blogger. If the ad doesn’t speak to you, ignore it. If they can’t make a living without your ad click, then perhaps they need to rethink the business they’re in. There is a demand for quality content, and it is definitely possible to be compensated for creating it, even without advertising. If you see an ad for something that interests you, and you think you’d like to know more about the product or service, by all means click the ad. That’s what it’s there for. But if you have no intention of learning more about what’s being advertised, and you certainly aren’t going to buy anything, then just skip the ad. By the way, note that I did not say that clicking an ad with no intention to buy is stealing. It’s not. As I mentioned, the advertiser has put the pile of dimes out there for you to take and give to your favorite blogger. And yes, you have no obligation to support the business model of the advertiser any more than that of the blogger. But if we want to talk about honoring the writer, then we need to talk about honoring the advertiser, too. Edit to add: He’s posted again, clarifying his position, because apparently I’m not the only one who disagreed. I still don’t entirely agree, but the second post is much better than the first.

Posted in: complaint , internet

Record labels are stupid

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

For whatever reason, NIN.com has a really crazy archive system, so this link may not work for you, but apparently someone has released an old NIN album on vinyl without Trent’s knowledge or approval.

You may have heard there’s a new re-release of The Downward Spiral on vinyl. I heard that, too. I have no idea what it is or what’s on it because the band has had no involvement in it.

How typical of the music industry - a band finds new ways to make money without treating fans like criminals, and some label that has rights to older music decides that it’s going to support the artists by cutting them out of the loop. Way to go, record label! That’ll show everyone that you’re still relevant!

Posted in: complaint , music , stupid people

When friends show they care

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

None of you will get this at all, but I have to share. It really means a lot when a friend spends $10 just to make fun of you. Case in point - Sony Complain Thub. It all started with a thread on our super secret private forum where we complain about our wives talk about sports. The thread was about the Patriots, and it came up that I was rooting for them in the last Super Bowl. This is because I am a Redskins fan, and I would root against the Giants if they were playing absolutely anyone except the Cowboys, and in certain situations, even then. Anyway, this came as a surprise to some. I responded thusly:

I really don’t think there’s anything the Patriots could do that would make me root for the Giants or the Cowboys. Maybe if they went two tight ends with Winslow and Shockey, changed the team name to the Sony Complain Thub, and violated the GPL a couple hundred times. I mean, I still hate the Patriots, and it was like rooting to lose an eye vs lose both eyes, but a Pats win would still have been preferable to me.

Of course, that was a small bit of hyperbole, and a large bit of inside joke, but still, relevant to the link that you may or may not have clicked above.

Posted in: Anti complaint , friends , funny

Blackberry research and crazy Verizon saleschatters

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Since our webmail got blocked, I’ve been hoping that work would provide me an alternative internet connection. The best solution from my perspective would be if they would pay the difference between my cell phone plan now and a Blackberry that can be used as a modem for my laptop. So, I was doing some research at Verizon’s website, and a helpful salesperson popped up and offered to assist me. Here’s the transcript of the chat. My comments are in red.

Chat InformationPlease wait for a Verizon Wireless sales representative to assist you with your order. Thank you for your patience! Chat InformationA Verizon Wireless online pre-sales specialist has joined the chat. You are now chatting with Elisha Definitely picturing this Elisha Elisha: Hello. Thank you for visiting our chat service. May I help you with your order today? You: I have a couple questions You: first, is there a way to make this chat window pop up whenever I want? Elisha: How can I help you with your order? Elisha: Yes, by going to contact us. That is a dirty lie. I tried that. I wish you weren’t a liar, Elisha. You: is it only available certain hours of the day? Elisha: The sales chats are open 8 am to 11 pm. Elisha: How can I help you with your order? You: what’s the difference in the two data plans listed with the Blackberry Curve? Elisha: The $ 29.99 only give you unlimited access to the web and access to personal emails. Elisha: The $ 44.99 gives you unlimited access to the web and unlimited access to business/personal emails. Plus it comes with the tether feature where you can use the phone as a modem. Elisha: Which is best for you? You: so for 29.99 you can’t use it as a modem? What needs to be included in order for that to work? Elisha: Yes, that is correct. Elisha: You can hook the phone up to the laptop to use the phone as a modem. That doesn’t really answer my question, Elisha. Elisha: What key features in a cell phone are most important to you? I already told you I wanted the Curve (Although I really want the Bold, but it’s not out yet) You: I’m curious why I can’t use the phone as a modem on the 29.99 plan. You: it seems to me that bandwidth is bandwidth, and Verizon shouldn’t care what I do with it Elisha: You can’t , you are not paying for that feature with the $ 29.99. Elisha: I am sorry the feature alone is $ 15.00. Elisha: That is the way that the plan is set. Elisha: I am sorry. Elisha: Are you looking to order online today? You: well, I’m sure it’s not your fault You: no, I’m trying to get work to approve the upgrade Elisha: Yes, thanks for understanding. Elisha: Okay. Elisha: I understand, are you sure you don’t want to take advantage of our free shipping and instant online discounts today? You’re starting to sound like a used car salesman here, Elisha You: no, thanks. You: you’ve answered all my questions, thank very much Elisha: Thank you for visiting Verizon Wireless, I look forward to speaking with you again. Have a great day! Thanks for kicking me off the chat as soon as it became clear you weren’t getting a commission! Elisha: You are very welcome!

Anyway, I think it’s ridiculous that I can’t use the phone as a modem without paying the extra $15. If I pay for the bandwidth, why does it matter if I’m using the phone itself, or my laptop through the phone? I know, Verizon has a right to charge me whatever they want. I’m not arguing that they can’t charge me, I’m arguing that it makes them big fat jerks. And Elisha was pretty annoying. I went to her to find an answer to a question that I couldn’t find anywhere on the website. When I didn’t want to buy today, she blew me off. This is a bad salesperson. And I will probably buy through a Verizon brick and mortar store because of my experience. Take that, Verizon’s website!

Posted in: complaint , gadgets , internet

The (unborn) baby likes me!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The wife was sitting on the couch just now, so I thought it would be a good time to go have a little chat with our unborn child. I had been reading to it now and then. It is said that a story that the baby hears over and over before it’s born will have a calming effect on the baby once it comes out. But I’ve been slacking a little in my reading. So I offered to read the baby a story tonight. I offered again, asking it to move if it wanted a story. It kicked me in the nose! The baby clearly wants a story tonight. And a story it shall get!

Posted in: life , parenting

BMI is bunk

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

I’ve said many times before that we should stop computing BMI (Body Mass Index), we should stop basing any sort of judgments on it, and we should just stop even remembering that it exists. It’s a terrible measure of health, and it mistakenly classifies all sorts of people as healthy or unhealthy. Well, now I can say the same thing again. But this time with science! Chad Orzel, physicist and new father, says:

This will not come as a surprise to anyone who has ever put the stats for their favorite pro athlete into a BMI calculator (you want to tell Michael Strahan he’s obese?), but it’s nice to see it holds more widely.

He references a NYT article that I won’t bother to read because, frankly, the NYT gets on my nerves. But it says just what I said above - if you use BMI to judge a person’s health, you’re going to be wrong much of the time.

Posted in: fitness , health , stupid people

Two years ago today

Tuesday, August 19, 2008


Originally uploaded by thetejon
Photo by Terp and Associates

August 19th, 2006 seems like a very long time ago, and also no time ago at all.

Here’s to many, many more happy years of marriage.

Posted in: Anti complaint , life

Not a meaningful distinction

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The [Devil] Rays played the Angels last night. The Rays came into the game 75-48, tied with the Cubs for the second best record in the Majors. They were behind only the Angels at 76-46. This is a 1.5 game differential. So why on earth is the headline on the front page of ESPN.com for this article Rays top MLB-best Angels? If the Rays were their normal selves, sitting 25 games out, then sure, this is significant. But do you know what they call it when the second best team in the league beats the best team in the league? They call that baseball. Or normal. I probably wouldn’t have mentioned it, but I’m already annoyed with ESPN for their full page splash screen ads that have been popping up recently. Of course, now I’m possibly sending a little bit of traffic their way, so this is probably a pretty stupid response to my annoyance. But never mind.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , sports

Once again, I'm reminded why I hate Microsoft

Monday, August 18, 2008

I just spent about three hours this morning trying to debug something at work. It turns out the issue shows up in Excel 2003, which our customer is using, but not Excel 2007, which I have on my laptop. This just goes to show you how important it is to mimic the customer’s environment as closely as possible. Anyway, I figured that part out, so now I had to decipher the error message when I tried to open the file in Excel. XML Spreadsheet warning in Table Reason: Bad Value Okay, sounds simple enough. I just have to find the bad value, and fix it. Excel didn’t offer me any advice, so I figured I’d try MSDN, Microsoft’s developer reference. You’d think that, since I was using a Microsoft product on a Microsoft operating system, maybe Microsoft might have some idea what the error message meant. As an aside, can I tell you how frustrating it is to have Excel tell me that the error has been printed to a log file hidden deep inside some Windows hidden temporary directory? Not only does it fail to provide me with a link to the file, but because it’s hidden, I can’t navigate through Windows Explorer, and I have to actually type the file address in manually. I can’t even copy the text from the error window! It’s like someone intentionally made it as hard as possible to look at the log. Anyway, there were ZERO results on MSDN. Zero. I’m forced to conclude that I am the only person who has ever had this problem. There isn’t any other explanation. It’s inconceivable that Microsoft could possibly have just ignored this error message, never once mentioning it anywhere that their vaunted search engine was able to look. It turns out the error was reasonably simple - Excel 2003 only allows 30 values in a sum. It will handle more if you use the range (A1:A40), but you can’t list the cells individually (A1, A2, A3 …). Excel 2007 doesn’t have a problem. Interestingly, if you use plus signs instead of the sum function, the limit of 30 goes away. Which is probably how I’m going to work around this. But couldn’t that have been in the error message? “We’re sorry, you can only have 30 cells in a formula”. Look, that was really easy. So, I hope the next person who has trouble deciphering an Excel error message find this post and saves some time. And I hope the people responsible for the idiocy on which I wasted the last three hours are all hit by a bus. Well, not really. Not a real bus. A three hour bus of mental anguish. That sound perfect.

Posted in: complaint , computers , the devil

Infinite goods want to be DRM-free!

Monday, August 18, 2008

I’ve gotten into a little discussion on DRM and ebooks over at Feedbooks. If you’re interested in potential business models for authors in a world of infinite goods, hop on over there and join the discussion. Especially if you can contribute more than me (That is, if you can do more than parrot what you read on Techdirt).

Posted in: DRM , ebooks , failed business model

Would you like to know more?

Sunday, August 17, 2008

It’s not often you can bring up Starship Troopers (The movie more than the book in this case) while talking about television and the internet and how they interact (or don’t). I was reading Ethan Kaplan talking about the tv in his house goes beyond just displaying channels coming through his cable box or movies from his DVD player.

Like it or not, television has become an interactive experience, but not because the broadcasters did anything to curate that. If anything, broadcasters have been sitting on their hands in terms of the possibilities of the bandwidth and platforms they helped put in our homes!

He grabbed my intention by bashing Internet Explorer 6, a plague on web developers that refuses to die, but then he talks about how he watches tv with one eye on the internet. And that’s where Starship Troopers comes in. The movie handles background information by showing little news clips, as if you’re watching tv in the movie’s universe. At the end, the narrator asks, “Would you like to know more?”. I always took that to mean that viewers could somehow interact with the tv and direct it to provide more on whatever they were just watching. And that was 1997. The tv stations still haven’t figured this out. For example, when I watch sports, I usually have my laptop out. Not that I ever put my laptop away, but whatever. If I’m watching the Orioles, I usually have the box score open at ESPN.com on the autorefresh. That way I have instant access to the starter’s pitch count, what this batter did in his last at bat, and all sorts of other relevant stuff. I probably have a browser tab on Baseball Reference to look up more unusual stats, or maybe check something the announcer just mentioned. There’s no reason this has to be separate from my tv-watching. We have a big tv in the living room. It might annoy the wife, but there’s no reason I couldn’t have extra stat feeds running along with the baseball game, or or maybe something else of interest. The issue is probably one of money - the cable providers are afraid of new revenue streams.

Display advertising, temporal advertising (commercials), usage based charges and other economic systems aren’t in tune with nascent usage and thus we have not only an uncapitalized usage system, but also a rather anarchic one.

Not that they’re afraid of new ways of making money, but that they’re afraid of losing control. The old ways of making money with tv are broken. That’s why there have been so many efforts to keep DVRs from skipping commercials and things like that. You don’t have a captive audience anymore. If you bore people, they’re going to do something else. So you have to embrace what people want.

Posted in: internet. media , television

Finally made it to Commonwealth

Sunday, August 17, 2008


Originally uploaded by thetejon

A friend and I met our wives at Commonwealth last night. It had been girls night - they met up in Arlington and had dinner. So the guys went to the Nationals game to watch the Rockies pummel the Nationals, I still haven’t seen a Nationals win in the new stadium. Anyway, since the wife is 37 weeks pregnant now, she got to choose the location, and she chose one near us. It was a beautiful night, so we sat outside. This means I didn’t really get a feel for the inside, but maybe we can do that next time. They were serving from their pub menu since it was late. We got an order of fries, which I didn’t actually try, but the table consensus was positive. They are large chunks of potato, so if that’s the way you like your fries, you’re in luck. And we tried the Scotch eggs, which were very good. And the service was good. I think my only complaint was the lack of any sort of description on the menu. We thought at first it was just the pub menu that didn’t have descriptions, but they brought us what I assumed was the regular menu, as well, because it had the drinks, and it didn’t have descriptions, either. Since there is a ton of stuff on the menu that’s a bit out of the ordinary, at least for this side of the pond, it seems that maybe descriptions on the menu would be nice. But if that’s the biggest complaint from a self-proclaimed complainer, I think the trip was a resounding success. I’m sure we’ll be back - my father-in-law has already been informed that there is a bar with outdoor seating and bubble and squeak on the menu, so it would take the intervention of the health department or some equally powerful entity to keep us from revisiting Commonwealth next time he comes down to visit.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , harvardstreet , restaurant , things to do

The little brother is off to law school

Friday, August 15, 2008

My baby brother is leaving today for law school on the other side of the country. It’s a pretty mixed feeling for me. On one hand, I’m obviously happy and excited for him. Law school is a great opportunity, and it should be a great experience, and I’m glad he’s figuring out what he wants to do with his life. On the other hand, I’d kind of gotten used to him being close by, playing on the flag football team, and all that. Plus, he’ll be in Arizona when his first niece or nephew is born next month. Luckily, I’ll be at happy hour when his plane leaves today, so I can have a drink for him. I think he’ll appreciate that.

Posted in: Anti complaint , complaint , family , life

Where's the media love for this guy?

Thursday, August 14, 2008

I was just reminded of Brad Ziegler by a post at It Is About the Money, which is a Yankees blog but not obnoxiously so. Anyway, Ziegler still hasn’t ever given up a run in the major leagues. 29 games, 38 innings, zero runs. He broke a 100 year old record for scoreless innings to start a career 13 innings ago. But you barely hear anything about him. I haven’t seen him on the front page of ESPN at all. I know Oakland isn’t New York or Boston, but if this guy played for the Yankees or Red Sox, he would be on SportsCenter every 34 seconds. I wonder how many innings he has to pitch without giving up a run to get some attention? Maybe after the Olympics are over. Edit to add: It was less than three hours from the time this post went up until his streak ended. I feel like I jinxed it. That sucks.

Posted in: baseball , strange

Your government at work - 16th and U to get a makeover

Thursday, August 14, 2008

You may recall that I was nearly killed in a crosswalk not too long ago. No, not that time, this was another time when I was nearly killed in a crosswalk. Before my foot surgery (And again as soon as it’s healed enough, which should be soon), I walked to work with the wife every day. We had a few “incidents” at 16th and U, where cars like to turn onto New Hampshire without yielding to pedestrians. I understand that the traffic pattern is a little confusing, but it’s still a problem. So I emailed my councilmember, the often-helpful Jim Graham, and asked him to do something about it. I didn’t hear much for a while, until yesterday when I got an email from a member of his staff.

I apologize for the delay. I misfiled your email. I am forwarding this to the pedestrian safety coordinator so that he can evaluate options for increased enforcement here. Councilmember Graham reported a new law out of his committee that will increase fines to $250 for drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians. The bill also requires that signs be posted to warn motorists. This law will come before the Council for final vote on September 16. Obviously, increased enforcement is also necessary as part of this effort. Councilmember Graham has been working to get the Department of Transportation involved in issuing moving violations to improve pedestrian safety. Finally, in a few years, DDOT plans to redesign this intersection to make it much safer. I’ve attached an image of the proposed changes. Jonathon Kass Committee on Public Works and the Environment Office of Councilmember Jim Graham

So that’s pretty awesome. Below is the picture he sent me. I’ve never used Photobucket before, and it has a very “We built this site for AOLers in 1997 and just slapped a Web 2.0 facelift on it” feel to it, but theoretically if you click the picture you can see a bigger version.

Photobucket

And that’s your DC government at work. They may be slow sometimes, but they do listen when you voice your concerns. The plans look pretty decent to my untrained eye. It looks like they’re widening the sidewalk on the northwest corner, which is good. And the goofy traffic pattern on the northeast corner will be gone. Of course, it will be a few years before this happens. And I imagine that intersection will be a bit of a disaster during construction. But in the end, it’ll be safer and better. I hope.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , driving , government , harvardstreet , safety , traffic

Can the Sarfate-as-starter experiment please end?

Monday, August 11, 2008

I know the Orioles are looking for another starter after sending Brian Burres to wherever they sent him (Is he on the ML roster? I don’t even care). But it seems pretty clear that the starter they are looking for is not Dennis Sarfate. He has now started three games. I honestly can’t decide which is his worst performance. He hasn’t gotten through the fifth inning. His ERA is 11.45. His WHIP is 2.18. That’s 13 hits and 11 walks in 11 innings. And the 13 hits I can even forgive. You can give up a hit even when you make a perfect pitch. It happens. But walking a batter per inning is just inexcusable. As Satchel Paige (supposedly) said, “Throw strikes. Home plate don’t move”. I have no idea if he actually said that - it’s often attributed to him, but it’s never been entirely clear if he really said the things they say he said. But it’s good advice nonetheless. At least if you throw the ball over the plate, you have a chance to succeed. I’m not interested in seeing him pitch any more. He wasn’t a great reliever, and he’s a miserable starter. It’s really too bad Jeremy Guthrie can’t pitch every night.

Posted in: baseball , complaint

We need more science

Monday, August 11, 2008

So I’ve been watching the Olympics, as I gather most people are doing. I’m not a huge fan, although it’s hard not to get caught up in the excitement. I mean, the swimmers are breaking a world record every few hours, and there’s apparently a ton of drama in the women’s gymnastics (because, I think, all the athletes are 12 years old, and you know how girls are at that age). But I was reading this article and thinking that, not only does the media ignore some pretty easy science in the relative radioactivity of granite countertops, as mentioned there, but also that a few numbers could really make the Olympics more interesting to me. First, swimming. We keep breaking records. It would be nice to know how long a record stood, how much it was broken by, and things like that. We even had a swimmer break the split record and they not only didn’t mention his time, but they didn’t mention the time he had beaten. How hard is it to flash a number on the screen? Maybe instead of 37 shots of Michael Phelps screaming, we could have gotten some background on the numbers. And then the gymnastics. They’ve changed the scoring system so that you get a score based on difficulty, which they seem to know before anything happens, and then a score based on performance/accuracy/whatever. Why in the world can’t I know what the difficulty score is going to be while it’s happening? If it’s going to be a really tough routine, that would make it more interesting. Or I could at least compare something that’s rated 6.5 with something that’s 5.5 and see how much harder one appears to be than the other. They don’t even tell you what the score range is. I assume the accuracy score is out of 10, because most people were between 8.5 and 9.5. But I don’t really know. Is there some reason they can’t show these numbers? The commentators frequently ramble on about absolutely nothing. Maybe instead they could talk about the science behind why the swimmers break records every race this year. Apparently wider, deeper pools, combined with better suit technology and new stroke rules are all combining to make the swimmers faster. But I haven’t heard anyone on tv talk about that. The American public is not afraid of science and numbers. And some of us actually find that they enhance the experience. So can we maybe get some? It’s not that hard. On a sort-of-related note, congratulations to the blogger linked above - his wife just had their first baby last week.

Posted in: complaint , education , statistics , the media

Stupid IT department

Monday, August 11, 2008

First webmail, now Del.icio.us. Actually, Delicious went first. The webmail ban isn’t supposed to go in for another week. Why is this annoying? Because I bookmark work-related sites through Delicious. Sure, that’s not all I use it for. But a big chunk of my bookmarks there are reference for work. And now I can’t get to them. And I’m not saying they don’t have the right to block what they want, because it’s their network, and they can block all IP addresses divisible by 17 if they want. I’m just saying it’s stupid, it makes me less effective, and it annoys me to no end.

Posted in: complaint , computers , internet , work

From the mouth of Jobs himself

Monday, August 11, 2008

Steve Jobs has reiterated that you’re renting all $30 million worth of iPhone apps you’ve purchased. Engagdet says,

[he] confirmed the controversial iPhone application kill switch in the event that Apple inadvertently approves a malicious program for distribution. Jobs said, “hopefully we never have to pull that lever, but we would be irresponsible not to have a lever like that to pull.”

He went on to say, “We know you all love to buy anything with our name on it, though, so you should be happy to repurchase anything we decide we don’t want you to have anymore”.

Posted in: complaint , gadgets , iphone , technology

Of all the dumb things to say

Saturday, August 09, 2008

I’ve always been a fan of Mike Mussina. He broke into the league in 1991, and quickly became a star the next season. He was a big part of some exciting Orioles teams that kept losing to the Blue Jays. I’ve never been a fan of Murray Chass. He’s a favorite target of Fire Joe Morgan, and deservedly so. He recently started a blog, but refuses to call it a blog, refuses to allow comments … He pretty much took all that’s good about a blog and threw it away, while taking all that’s bad about journalism and put it on a pedestal. Anyway, today he’s writing about Mike Mussina. He has no idea what he’s talking about. So, because Mussina is having a good year at age 39, and people think he might finally break the 20-win mark for the first time, we’re starting to hear talk about the Hall of Fame. That seems pretty reasonable - five of the ten comparable pitchers listed at Baseball Reference are in the Hall, and at least one more (Curt Schilling) has a good shot. What does Murray Chass think about this? “Mussina has an impressive career won-lost record (265-151) but not much else.” His won-lost record is actually the least impressive thing about his career. Sure, he’s 39th all time in winning percentage for players with 100 decisions. That’s pretty good. But won-lost record is a pretty useless measure of a player’s actual ability. Let’s look, though, at the good measures of a player’s actual ability. Let’s look at WHIP, 1.19, 9th among active players. Let’s look at K/BB ratio, 3.56, 13th all time. Or how about strikeouts, 2759, 21st all time. All of those are much better measures of a pitcher’s ability, and in all of those Mussina compares well with Hall of Fame pitchers. What else does Chass have to say? He compares Mussina to some of his compatriots who are not in the Hall - Tommy John, Bert Blyleven and Jim Kaat. “All had career victory totals in the 280s. Except for winning percentage, all had better records than Mussina.” I’m not even sure I can address that. What does it even mean? Let’s start with Tommy John. 288-231 career record, a winning percentage of .555. That’s not nearly as good as Mussina. Neither is his 1.28 WHIP, 1.78 K/BB, or total strikeouts, 2245. Then look at Jim Kaat. 283-237 (.544), 1.26 WHIP, 2.27 K/BB, 2461 K. Not in the same league. Now, Blyleven is harder to bash, because he, like Mussina, deserves to be in the Hall. He’s become something of a sabermetrics poster boy. He excelled in the “new-fangled” stats like WHIP (1.20), K/BB (2.80), strikeouts (3701), 5th all time. But he played on crummy teams, and compiled a 287-250 record (.534), and it’s keeping him out of the Hall.

John and Kaat were each 20-game winners three times, Blyleven once. Mussina doesn’t come close to the number of complete games and shutouts any of the three had. The three had slightly lower totals of baserunners per nine innings. But why let facts get in the way of a partisan view?

I’m not sure how he’s measuring baserunners per nine innings, because all three are higher than Mussina. It’s true, Musinna’s complete games and shutouts are low. But no one (except Roy Halladay) finishes games anymore. Mussina is fourth in both categories among active pitchers, so he compares well to present-day pitchers. So, Murray Chass, I can only conclude that you are either a moron or a Red Sox fan. You certainly don’t seem to know a whole lot about baseball.

Posted in: baseball , statistics , stupid people

Investing for the l33t

Saturday, August 09, 2008

I was reading this article about the failure of some ETFs to really commit to their theme. He talks about some ETFs that claim to be based on wind power but have holdings like BP that really don’t depend on the success of wind power at all. The most interesting part of the article, though, wasn’t really his point. It was an ETF called PowerShares Global Wind Energy Portfolio. For some of you their ticker symbol, PWND, means nothing. For others, it has a rich and humorous meaning. In any event, I was looking at the Google Finance page for the fund, and saw the a discussion thread that caught my eye. I don’t know why these things make me laugh so much, but they do, and this did. I guess I’m just a sucker for dumb internet memes that won’t go away.

Posted in: funny , investing

A call for financial advice

Friday, August 08, 2008

I just finished rolling over my old 401K from a former employer into an IRA. So now I have a lot more control over what I can do with one chunk of my retirement savings. The question is, what to do? I’m looking for advice, and I’m looking for a good resource to get an overview of investing. I mean, a friend mentioned beaten-down financial sector ETFs. I had to Google “ETF”. I don’t want to invest in something that I have to Google until I learn a bit more about it. Anyone have advice on a good place to start?

Posted in: investing , retirement

A congestion tax alone is not enough

Friday, August 08, 2008

I’ve long thought that a large congestion tax on cars entering DC would be great. Charge $10 to enter the city. Take most of that cash and spend it on expanding Metro and putting giant parking garages out at the end of the Metro lines. Make those garages FREE. It would make public transportation a heck of a lot more attractive. They’ve tried it in London with mixed results:

At first, the new fees did seem to ease the traffic moving through the congestion zone. Now, studies are finding that the measure has actually managed to somehow slow down the pace of traffic through central London.

The problem here is the reason it hasn’t helped - construction and new pedestrian walkways have caused more traffic jams than before. It got rid of 100,000 cars each day, so it sounds like it made a huge difference. I don’t think it’s fair to blame London’s mismanagement of construction and pedestrians on the congestion tax.

Posted in: dc , driving , harvardstreet , traffic

I love to hate the iPhone

Thursday, August 07, 2008

I know my opinion on Apple and the iPhone differs from many of my readers, but this is worrisome if you’ve bought an iPhone and mistakenly think you’ve bought an app from the App Store. Engadget | iPhone hacker says the device ‘calls home’ to Apple, allows apps to be remotely disabled

the suggestion that a process of the OS would actively monitor, report on, and possibly deactivate your device’s software is unreasonable, and clearly presents an issue that the company will have to deal with sooner or later.

If you buy something, and the seller can take it back at any time for any reason and not give back your money, you are renting, not buying. Because of the closed and proprietary nature of Apple’s world, if you buy into it, you’re stuck with whatever they want to do to you. Updated to add: Engadget says that the iPhone probably isn’t calling home to disable your apps after all. I still don’t like Apple, and I still don’t trust them any more than I trust Microsoft. But it doesn’t seem like they’re doing anything objectionable here.

Posted in: complaint , gadgets , iphone , technology

Didn't mean to censor the TSA propaganda

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Someone (Or, more likely, some script) claiming to be Bob from TSA Blog left a comment on this post. It was a totally useless press release talking about the ineffective things TSA is planning to do about the lost (now found) laptop. Despite the fact that it fits my definition of spam (It wasn’t a response to the post, which “Bob” clearly didn’t read, it was a monologue on the same subject with a link to the author’s blog), I published it. But due to a little snafu with the back button and not paying attention, I accidentally deleted it. So, sorry to censor your spam, TSA Bob. If you post again, I’ll publish it again. But note well that spamming blogs that call out your stupidity and/or incompetence is not going to do a bit of good, and you might be better off finding something more useful to do with your time. Edit to add: Here is the text of the propaganda, stolen from the original Boing Boing post’s comments.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the loss of a Clear®- owned laptop computer on July 26 that contained unencrypted data of approximately 33,000 customers. TSA has verified that a laptop was discovered by Clear® officials yesterday at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). It was voluntarily surrendered to TSA officials for forensic examination. TSA’s regulatory role in this matter is as follows: Every commercial airport is required to have an approved airport security plan. So Register Traveler is part of that comprehensive plan at the airports where it operates. Under the airport security plan, the sponsoring entity, (SFO in this case) is required to assure its vendors have an approved information security program. Because the computer at SFO was not encrypted it is in violation of the airport’s security plan. TSA also has the ability to go directly to vendors when the plan is not being adhered to so TSA is conducting a broad review of all Registered Traveler providers’ information systems and data security processes to ensure compliance with security regulations. Clear® needs to meet the information security requirements that they agreed to as part of the Register Traveler program before their enrollment privileges will be reinstated. Encryption is the wider issue as opposed to one incident with one laptop. So for now, Clear® enrollments remain curtailed. Current customers will not experience any disruption when using Registered Traveler. Bob TSA EoS Blog Team

The worst part about this is that TSA’s response to this seems to be a stern wag of the finger at the contractor. I feel safer already.

Posted in: censorship , complaint , spam , stupid people , TSA

Let's blow this way out of proportion!

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Orioles rookie Chris Waters, so green he doesn’t even have a Baseball-Reference.com major league page yet, made his debut last night in the bigs, making the Angels look silly. He opened his career by striking out Chone Figgins on three pitches. Unfortunately, the wife and I only watched the first five innings - the game was in LA/Anaheim/Sacramento/whatever and didn’t start until 10 Eastern. But Waters didn’t need us - 8 innings, one hit, three walks, and a hit batter. No runs. That sure takes away the sting of Brandon Fahey’s demotion. Anyway, despite the fact that he’s making his debut just shy of his 28th birthday, and the small sample size, I’m going to go ahead and call him a first ballot Hall of Famer. I predict he’ll give up his first earned run sometime in 2011 (and it won’t be his fault), become the first pitcher in years to win 30 games in a season, and cure cancer with his curveball. ESPN wrap

Posted in: Anti complaint , baseball

Speaking of IT security and idiots

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

It seems a TSA contractor has misplaced an unencrypted laptop full of people’s personal information

The Transportation Security Administration suspended Verified Identity Pass Inc., the company that operates the registered traveler program under the brand name Clear, from enrolling new applicants due to the alleged theft of the unencrypted laptop.

Link from Boing Boing, but they kind of dropped the ball by not mentioning the unencrypted status of the missing laptop. Luckily one of the comments mentioned it. Keep in mind this is entirely against TSA regulations (I worked there for 9 months). TSA is colossally stupid sometimes, like when they made me take my unencrypted (before the regulation went into effect) laptop home on the Metro every day for a week rather than leaving it in the secure facility where I worked. But I’m almost inclined to not blame them for the actions of a contractor.

TSA officials said the suspension will protect consumers waiting to enroll in the Clear program and allow the company to bring its procedures into compliance.

How about making them give back all the money due to breach of contract? There’s no accountability in government contracting.

Posted in: complaint , stupid people , TSA

Tragedy in Baltimore!

Tuesday, August 05, 2008


Originally uploaded by thetejon

Okay, maybe “tragedy” is a bit of an exaggeration. But first poor Brandon Fahey, despite getting his slash stats up to .241/.267/.345, has been sent to Norfolk, the O’s AAA affiliate. And then George “Captain Overrated” Sherrill blew another save by loading the bases in the bottom of the ninth and walking in the winning run. The Orioles came back from 5-1 in the ninth and he walked in the winning run. It is unconscionable that he was not traded for prospects at the trading deadline. Were I the Orioles GM, I would have taken $30 and a ham sandwich for Sherrill. Actually, were I the Orioles GM, I probably would have had him taken out back and shot a month ago. In any event, the loss of Brandon Fahey pains me more. I was really starting to like the little guy. I don’t know why we sent him down. I mean, I do, but I don’t like it. It’s obvious that Alex Cintron and Juan Castro are not the future at shortstop. Why even bother with a 36-year-old infielder on a team that is clearly not going to make the playoffs this year? Good luck in Norfolk, Fahey. And come back soon (You could have Sherrill’s spot, or Sarfate’s, if it were up to me).

Posted in: baseball , complaint

Webmail isn't evil, IT departments are

Monday, August 04, 2008

The IT department at work has decided to block all webmail beginning August 18th. This is a big problem for me, because I’m a contractor and don’t really use the work email. It’s a pain, and I can’t get to it from home without jumping through hoops. My actual work email is my Gmail account. So this is going to cause me a ton of problems. And for what? I did a little Googling for the security risks associated with webmail.

“Any pop-up ad that appears in a webmail message could potentially contain a virus when it opens,“ she said. "An attachment that comes in from a webmail message could possibly bypass all the safeguards all the way to the user’s computer.” In addition, just opening a Web browser window to these commercial webmail sites can leave a computer open to outside attack. (Source)

This is a bit of a strawman argument. First, you can get popups or viruses or whatever from all sorts of sites. It’s not restricted to webmail. But if you use good, up-to-date software, this shouldn’t be an issue. There are some really good free, open-source tools to protect your computer. If your users are getting viruses and hacked computers, it’s not the fault of Gmail or Hotmail. It’s your users, and it’s the tools you’ve chosen to give them.

I’m an … advocate of the "block access” point of view. Personal webmail, if accessible, provides another vector for your data to fly out of the window but one that you have poor control over and little ability to monitor and audit. Neither can you comply with data storage and archiving regulations if the service is being used to legitimately send and receive business data to and from external addresses. (Source)

Archiving is a legitimate concern. Although I can’t imagine why the author thinks it’s not possible to comply with regulations - there is nothing stopping you from hooking up your webmail account to Outlook or Thunderbird and downloading it all. Then you can archive to your heart’s content. Actually, I think Yahoo and Hotmail make you pay for POP3 access, but that’s because they hate their customers.

If anything, what’s [sic] it’s partly demonstrating is the problems in the usability associated with security products. By making them too cumbersome, it’s natural for people to seek routes around them — making the security procedures a risk in their own way. (Source)

This I totally agree with. I use a ton of Google’s web tools for legitimate work purposes because they are easy and useful. If you block them, I’m going to try to get around the blocks, like the way you can use https instead of http to get around some filters that block Gmail. But I more or less know what I’m doing. I’ve heard of some ridiculous unsafe hacks to get around work-imposed security. Some of the workarounds are much more dangerous than the thing being blocked. But you know what’s more dangerous to security than all of this put together? Stupid people. And, to a perhaps greater extent, smart but ignorant people. People who think they know better, but don’t, are a huge source of problems. Much better to know you’re incompetent and stop trying. I remain entirely unconvinced that this will do any good. You can’t possibly block all possible routes for sensitive information to leak out of the office. By blocking webmail, you’re taking away one of the most convenient methods, but what you may end up doing is driving the leaks to more and better hidden channels. Maybe now one person is going to start Twittering all day, while another is going to use some other service. The information can still get out. And what about someone who goes to do a little online banking and accidentally hits a phishing site that steals their banking info and deposits a virus on their computer, giving a hacker total control of their PC? Are you going to ban bank sites, too? Why not just ban everything? Chain employees to the desk in rooms with white walls and no windows. Give them three breaks a day where they can use the bathroom and buy lunch from the company (Wouldn’t want them sharing company secrets at the local deli, would we?). Maybe we should just stop sharing secrets with employees altogether. Just keep it all with the executives, who can lock themselves in ivory towers, making angels in piles of FOUO and COMPANY PROPRIETARY documents. Maybe we shouldn’t even do any work. The dangers of compromised secrets are too great. We should all go back to a hunter-gatherer economy, where there were no documents in need of protection from the horrors of webmail. Better for the environment, too, as a majority of Americans would die of starvation within the year. Or we could save time and trouble by committing mass suicide in orderly rows. That would teach Google to make a great webmail service with an intuitive, helpful interface. Stupid jerks.

Posted in: complaint , stupid people , the internet , work

Maybe my SEO with Drupal is working

Monday, August 04, 2008

I posted a little while ago about my attempts to optimize my blog for search engines. I think it’s working. Take this example. This morning, I linked to an article on Prince of Petworth about a new restaurant opening in Columbia Heights, CommonWealth Gastropub. Now, PoP is a near-deity in the greater Columbia Heights/Petworth/Logan/Shaw area. It’s a good blog. I read it regularly. I, on the other hand, am a relative unknown who complains too much. PoP went to an early preview at CommonWealth and took pictures, then wrote an article about the experience. I linked to the article, and offered very limited commentary. Now, go do a little Google search for commonwealth dc gastropub. you will notice that item seven is my post. The first item from PoP is item 23, and it’s not even a link to the most recent article. So, on one hand, you have a good blog that did some real journalism. On the other, you have a blog, where half the readership was at the author’s wedding, that just linked to the real journalism. But I show up first on Google.

Posted in: Anti complaint , blogging , dc , Drupal , harvardstreet , seo , the internet

Oddly Enough, You're an Idiot

Monday, August 04, 2008

Have you ever posted to an internet forum or commented on a blog post and began with, “Oddly enough”? If the answer is yes, then I don’t like you very much. Has anyone ever followed “Oddly enough” with something really odd? Not in my experience. It’s pretty meaningless. If what you’re saying really is odd, we’ll know. Are you trying to forewarn us of the oddity so we don’t think you’re weird for saying something odd out of the blue without acknowledging it? That is, are you embarrassed to be thought strange by people you don’t know? I realize now that the likelihood of someone commenting on this post and beginning with “oddly enough” is now near 100%. Just remember that I have admin rights on all the comments.

Posted in: complaint , the internet

The CommonWealth Gastropub is almost open

Monday, August 04, 2008

PoP Exclusive: First Look Inside the New Restaurant CommonWealth Opening Aug. 6th

Even with all the craziness it had a very warm and open feel. I was excited to see checkers and chess tables, an open bar area and some very comfortable seats. I am super stoked to try the place.

I hate it when restaurants don’t update their website. But I guess I’ll forgive them if the place ends up being as cool as people say it will be. I haven’t been past it yet - with the bum foot and pregnant wife, I haven’t been doing as much walking around as I might otherwise. But PoP’s pictures of the place look great, and this thread at realbeer.com suggests the beer selection will be good. This is also a great option for me next time I work from home and the wife admonishes me, “No PotBelly or Five Guys for lunch today!”. Although I don’t suppose obeying the letter and ignoring the spirit will win me many brownie points.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , harvardstreet , restaurant , things to do

I'm a DC Blog

Sunday, August 03, 2008

I’ve been re-added to the DC Blogs Live Feed and Blog Directory. I suppose that means I have to write something about DC. If you’re interested in DC blogs, they have an extensive list, so you should go check them out. Or ask them to add yours, if you have one.

Posted in: blogging , dc , harvardstreet

When all else fails, check the system logs

Friday, August 01, 2008

As some of you know, I’ve been using Ubuntu Linux as my only operating system on my personal laptop for about a year now. About a month ago, the wireless stopped working. Our router is a couple years old, so at first I thought that might be the problem. But the wife didn’t have any trouble connecting, and two computers from work could connect, so that wasn’t it. Then I thought it might be the latest Ubuntu kernel update. A few threads on the Ubuntu Forums seemed to suggest that might be the case, but no one seemed to have quite my problem. And then the upstairs neighbor came home from vacation and turned his wireless network back on. I still have his password saved from once when I was borrowing his network while ours was out, and I could connect to that, no problem. So I was puzzled. I posted a few times to the Ubuntu Forums, which usually are very helpful, but got no response. I did a lot of Googling. Nothing. Finally I found something on Google Groups. Someone having an unrelated problem had found the answer in his system logs. System logs? Holy cow, I have system logs! I suppose I should have known about them, but it seems strange that I’ve never seen mention of them on the Ubuntu Forums, or anywhere else. Sure enough, the system logs told me that the stored info that allows the network handshake to happen was bonked. access point 'coatimundi' is encrypted, but NO valid key exists. New key needed. So I deleted the saved connection info for my network and tried to connect again. It asked me for my password, and POOF! Connection is successful. So now I have my laptop back. And all is right with the world. If you are having problems with anything in Ubuntu, or probably any other Linux distro, check your system logs. The answer may be right in front of your face.

Posted in: Anti complaint , computers , geek , linux , Ubuntu

What happened to the service industry?

Friday, August 01, 2008

Our condo building has a video entry system that allows people to ring the doorbell out front and get buzzed in by the unit they’re visiting. It’s a pretty cool system. Except that it stopped working a few days ago. We suspect it was during the big lightning storm. So I’ve been trying to get someone to come take care of it. First, I called the electrician who’s done some work here. He’s hard to get a hold of because his worthless Nextel phone tells me “The Nextel subscriber you are trying to reach is unavailable at this time” every time I try to call. After I hang up, I think it says, “If I had a soul, I’d send you to his voicemail. But because I’m a cold, unfeeling machine, I won’t help you at all. Ha ha ha ha ha!” When I finally got him, he said to call the company that put it in. He apparently works for them, but is willing to do freelance on the side, probably against their wishes. But whatever. So I called C&A; Electric. They said they’d call back to set up a time to come by. They did not. That was Tuesday. I was in NYC on Wednesday, so I called them Thursday. They were apologetic. They said they’d call to schedule an appointment. This time, they actually did, 8AM Friday. Then they called back to ask about the problem, and decided to send someone else, not the guy I talked to. I thought, “whatever, as long as someone shows up.” At 8:45AM Friday, no one had arrived. So I called. They were again apologetic. But they didn’t know when anyone would arrive. They promised to call back with an update. They actually did call, and pretty quickly, and told me that someone would be here at 10. They made good on that appointment, but didn’t fix the problem. The two guys looked at the unit, and complained about some stuff, and fixed nothing. They think one of the three modules that makes up the portion of the system that is outside has gone bad. Since they are unable to fix this, they suggested I contact the manufacturer. So I contacted Aiphone. I talked to a tech support guy via their little web chat interface. He was (shockingly) unhelpful. He wanted to know if I’d verified power to the unit. Now, I assume the electricians did that. I mean, wouldn’t you assume that would be the first thing they’d try? But I don’t actually know if they did or not. When he found that out, he pushed me off onto the dealer who sold us the unit. I have no idea who that is, so I tried to contact the developer. He’s not answering his cell phone. Not that he ever does. So, I have now spent the last three hours getting absolutely nothing accomplished. Hooray! Is it too much to ask for a company to actually stand behind the goods or services that they sell?

Posted in: complaint , customer service , dc , harvardstreet , home improvement

Worst Game Ever

Thursday, July 31, 2008


Originally uploaded by thetejon

Seriously. I finally made it to Yankee Stadium. And I was rewarded for my troubles (Well, the wife’s troubles. Thanks, wife!) with a horrible Orioles loss. Sarfate managed only 4 innings, walking three and allowing five runs, although only three earned. Burres and Cabrera were even worse. On the bright side, I did see a future Hall of Famer hit a home run in one of the most hallowed places in baseball. And we had a nice lunch with a friend and a nice dinner with a brother-in-law. I was impressed with the Yankees fans. They were much more pleasant on their home turf than they are in Baltimore. There were a few words exchanged between Yankee and Oriole fans, but nothing nasty. And the Orioles fans actually came out in pretty good numbers. The guy next to me was part of a group of about 400 O’s fans from Pennsylvania who came up for the game. The new Yankee stadium across the street is UGLY. I mean, hideous. I didn’t get a good look at it, and the inside is probably nicer, but the outside looks like a giant bank. Next on my list of stadiums to visit is Wrigley Field. Probably not this year, though.

Posted in: baseball , New York City , Yankee Stadium

Glad I just use the Nationals for their convenient stadium

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

It’s been a rough week for the Nationals. Since a 15-6 win over Atlanta on July 20th, they’ve lost six straight. Three of their last four games were shutouts, and tonight’s game was a shutout until the 8th. They’re still losing, 2-1, as I write this. They have the worst record in baseball. They’ve scored the fewest runs in all of baseball (Nearly 100 fewer than the next worst team in their division, and the only team in the majors with under 400 scored). But they sure have a nice park, huh?

Posted in: baseball , dc , futility , harvardstreet

Way to go, Yahoo

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Techdirt | Yahoo Offers Refunds Or DRM-Free Music In Exchange For Shutting Down DRM Servers Looks like Yahoo is going to make things right for customers who bought DRM'ed music at their old store. They’ll either replace the music with DRM-free editions, or give refunds. Unlike Microsoft’s band-aid (Keeping the DRM servers up for a few more years), this is an actual solution, righting the wrong that Yahoo did to its customers by “selling” them music that could be taken back at any time.

Posted in: Anti complaint , DRM , failed business model , music

MASN is the worst network ever

Monday, July 28, 2008

The MASN HD feed on Comcast in DC is simply the worst quality HD signal I’ve ever seen. I actually turned on the non-HD feed, hoping it would be better. It wasn’t. I know no one cares about the Orioles, but they’re playing the Yankees. You’d think someone in their organization would make sure the DC-area Yankee fans could watch the game in peace, and then I could benefit indirectly. At least the Orioles are winning. At least Adam Jones just hit his first career grand slam to put the O’s up, 11-0, in the sixth.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , dc , harvardstreet , tv

The iPhone and the PETA Effect

Monday, July 28, 2008

Gizmodo reports that Defective by Design, an anti-DRM group, is going to clog up the Apple Genius Bar this weekend with people complaining about the restrictive nature of the iPhone. This is an idea (DRM sucks) that I totally support, but a terrible way to protest it. I mean, when I see idiots from PETA dressing up like animals or throwing blood around, it just makes me want to go on the Atkins diet. When I see Truth.com’s super-obnoxious anti-smoking commercials, I want to buy cigarettes for minors. I support treating animals humanely. I support keeping kids from smoking (And encouraging adults to stop). And I support telling Apple and the rest that they’re a bunch of jerks with their insistence on DRM. But this isn’t the way to do it. The response to bad behavior is not more bad behavior. Apple’s anti-customer policies are not justification to make this much of a nuisance of yourself. Remember, when someone buys an iPhone, they’ve made a decision, based on their knowledge of the product, that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. For you, they may not. They don’t for me. And really, we all know the only thing that would make me buy an Apple product (Except as gifts for my wife, because she’s great) is if all of you stopped liking them. And yes, DRM is bad for everyone, and everyone who buys DRM-infected content or devices is making it tougher on the rest of us. But this is a free country, and that includes the freedom to make decisions based on your own relative needs and desires. Anyway, not that anyone listens to me, but I urge you to ignore Defective by Design’s request to mess with the Apple Genius Bar. It’s not the right way to protest DRM. I mean, really, does anyone think Apple cares?

Posted in: Apple , complaint , DRM , gadgets , iphone , PETA

A healthy debate on the internet?

Sunday, July 27, 2008

My friend with the marketing background has a new blog, and he’s weighed in with his side of the full- or partial-text RSS feed discussion.

Posted in: blogging , internet , marketing

Setting up the baby's room

Sunday, July 27, 2008


Originally uploaded by thetejon

We just finished round one of setting up the baby’s room. Pictures are here. We had “Before” pictures, as well, but we’re having memory card problems. Hopefully we’ll recover them eventually. The wife did a ton of work on this. I did some work, but, as usual, she did the bulk of it. The dresser is mine, which we recently replaced. It came with bunk beds my grandmother bought for me when I was 10 years old or so. We painted it with leftover paint from the rest of the house, and it looks pretty awesome (Even better in person). The room is pretty awesome. It’s loud and vibrant, and gender-neutral without being pastel green and yellow. We’ve moved the futon out into the sun room. I’m not sure how we’ll like it there. So far the cat seems okay with it, so there’s that. And I’m not sure how houseguests will like it. We’ve had tons of people stay with us since we moved in, and now we don’t have a guest room anymore. Only six weeks or so, and the baby will be here. And now it has a place to sleep.

Posted in: baby , home decor , parenting

Terrifying acts of god

Sunday, July 27, 2008

The wife and I were just sitting in the living room, watching the Orioles game and taking a break from Sunday chores, when the chimney of the building across the street got hit by lightning. I have a perfect view of the chimney from my spot on the couch, and I actually saw the flash when it got hit. The wife and I both swear we could feel it when the lightning hit. There was a loud crack of thunder and a big flash, and now a few of the bricks on the corner of the chimney look like they could come down in a heavy wind. I think we’re going to stay inside until the storm passes.

Posted in: dc , Harvard Street , harvardstreet , weather

Yahoo isn't as bad as Microsoft

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Yahoo! Music Store Will Compensate Customers For DRM-ed Music Looks like maybe Yahoo will make it right for people who thought they were actually buying songs, rather than renting. Good for Yahoo. I hope the “compensation” details are actually consumer-friendly.

Posted in: Anti complaint , DRM , failed business model , music

Possible site outages tomorrow

Saturday, July 26, 2008

It is possible that I will upgrade to Drupal 6 tomorrow. If so, there may be some changes and some downtime for the site. Or maybe I won’t get around to it, and there will be nothing. But I thought I’d warn everyone paying attention, just in case. Edit to add: No upgrade today. Didn’t get a chance. Maybe next weekend.

Posted in: blogging

Marketing your content

Friday, July 25, 2008

I have a friend with a background in marketing. He’s the one who sent me the Comcast complaining article. We’ve been talking about marketing and the internet. The two of us come from completely different perspectives on how we consume content online. I’ve just introduced him to Google Reader and the concept of subscribing to an RSS feed. He seems to be enjoying it, and even shared an article with other people on his GTalk buddy list. I complained to him that he shared a link to a NYTimes article that didn’t have the full text in the RSS feed. This is a pet peeve of mine - I read almost no websites that don’t offer full-text RSS feeds. Techdirt talks about how full-text feeds are better. Feedburner does, too. But NYTimes.com doesn’t do it. Are they stupid? I don’t know. A little Googling suggests that there’s a lot of disagreement on whether or not a partial-text feed drives more traffic to the site. That is, if you have a feed that doesn’t show the full article, do more people actually click through and come to your site, where you probably have ads? Or do most people (Like me) just skip it? Techdirt makes the point that the real bulk of your traffic comes not from your regular feed subscribers, but from them sharing it with their friends or on their blogs. Things get passed around on the popular sites - when something hits the front page of Digg, it’s probably going to show up on a lot of other popular sites. That can generate way more traffic than you’d ever get from your subscribers themselves, even if they clickthrough on every RSS item. My friend says that NYTimes is not dumb, and they’ve probably researched where they make their money, and decided that partial feeds are the way to go. I’m less inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I realize that the way I consume content is not the way everyone does, and I’m probably in the minority. We may be a growing minority, but NYTimes doesn’t make its money on what people will be doing in 10 years. I will always provide a full-text feed. But I don’t make my living with this blog, so I have the luxury of doing what I want rather than what might drive more clicks. I can’t bring him around to my way of thinking, though. But I’m still working on it.

Posted in: blogging , internet , marketing

Where's my love from Comcast?

Friday, July 25, 2008

NYTimes.com | Griping Online? Comcast Hears and Talks Back

From a sparse desk dominated by two computer screens in the new Comcast Center here, Mr. Eliason uses readily available online tools to monitor public comments on blogs, message boards and social networks for any mention of Comcast, the nation’s largest cable company. When he sees a complaint like Mr. Dilbeck’s, he contacts the source to try to defuse the problem.

A friend pointed out this article, which describes a blogger complaining about Comcast, and getting contacted by a “digital care manager” from Comcast, who helped him with his problem. I bitch about Comcast ALL THE TIME. Where’s my digital care manager? This is a load of crap. I’m angry with Comcast pretty much every time I turn on my tv, and especially when I get my monthly bill. Or when our tv and internet was out for three weeks, and the techs kept either being unable to fix the problem or leaving their equipment in our living room. But I get nothing. Thanks a lot, Comcast. As an aside, the fact that the NYTimes mentions the guy’s blog by name but doesn’t bother to link to it is complete and utter horsecrap. It’s incredibly rude. Not that it’s hard to find Brandon Notices via Google, but I shouldn’t have to do that.

Posted in: complaint

Where Microsoft went, Yahoo will follow

Friday, July 25, 2008

Boing Boing | Yahoo Music shutting down its DRM server, customers lose all their paid-for music the next time they crash or upgrade

“All those years the music industry spent insisting that the only way they’d sell music is with crippling DRM attached managed to totally discredit the idea of buying music at all.”

Techdirt | Did Yahoo Not Pay Attention To What Happened When Microsoft Pulled The Plug On Its DRM Server?

could [Yahoo] seriously not have noticed the massive backlash that Microsoft received for telling people that it was turning off its DRM servers, effectively locking all the songs people had “bought” to their current computers.

I thought I’d written about it a little while back when Microsoft decided that the servers that check to see if the music you’ve “purchased” from Microsoft’s music store is legal or not were no longer necessary. That meant that all the music you thought you “bought” from Microsoft was really just being rented, and now they’d decided to terminate your lease because they didn’t feel like complying with the deal they made with you anymore. And now Yahoo is doing the same thing. All the music you “bought” from Yahoo won’t work anymore if you move it to a different computer. I’ve said this numerous times, and I’m not alone - if you pay for ANYTHING that has DRM attached, you are NOT buying. You are RENTING at the discretion of whoever is taking your money. Some people may be okay with that. I’m not.

Posted in: complaint , DRM , failed business model , music

Dinner at The Heights on a lovely Thursday night

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Birthing class got out early tonight, and we don’t have any food in the house. It’s a combination of my bum foot and the wife’s almost-full-term baby that leads to us not going to the grocery store. So we went to The Heights for dinner around 8pm. Thursday night is generally a nice night out, and tonight is some of the nicest weather we’ve had in a while. The Heights was full but not overcrowded. Most of the seats were taken, indoors and out. It was a diverse crowd - a pregnant couple with a friend on one side of us, a gay couple on the other. A woman and two young boys were being seated as we left. A couple walked in just in front of us, apparently having walked from somewhere nearby (I choose to believe that they walked from home rather than parking in the neighborhood). The food and the service were good. The wife says she’s not sure that we’ve ever had a bad server there, and I certainly can’t think of anything to contradict her. And I was impressed by their mixed greens salad that comes with all the entrees. It was plain lettuce, but it had cherry tomatoes, jicama, and beets, which is pretty exotic and healthful for your average restaurant. The buffalo shrimp appetizer was delicious, although a little light on shrimp. I recommend saving some bread to mop up the extra sauce rather than eating it with a fork, as someone at my table for two did this evening. Their rotating beer taps were not entirely exciting this time - Brooklyn Lager and a Sam Adams seasonal - but the idea of rotating taps is cool. The table next to us was raving about the bread pudding sundae, which we didn’t order because we were both full. And we found that Merkado, a restaurant in Logan Circle owned by the same people, is closing at the end of August. In its place will be “a neighborhood place” called Commissary, hoping to emulate Busboys and Poets and Tryst. They hope to grab all the trendy kids who will move into the new building across from Whole Foods and take all their money. I’m a little sad that Merkado is closing - the wife and I had a lovely dinner there for my 29th birthday - but this sounds like an interesting replacement, although calling it “Commissary” is a little too hipster for my tastes.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , food , harvardstreet , things to do

Blackberries are the devil

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Sonda lik wrong file FRM svn Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

That’s an email I got from my boss this afternoon. I probably didn’t have to put that second line there - you knew it was from a Blackberry as soon as you read the first line. Now, I’m not bashing my boss. He’s a good guy, and I actually do know what he means by that. His spelling isn’t that great even when he’s got a full size keyboard. And it actually did answer the question I asked. I know everyone bashes the Blackberry. I do, too, although I also really want one. And they can be used for good - I borrowed a friend’s at a bar once to make sure I didn’t have a job interview the next day. That was before I got my current job. Anyway, the problem is that people are lazy. I’ve always found it, not amusing, but interesting that my mom uses complete sentences, proper capitalization, and proper punctuation in ALL instant messages. No one does that. Well, maybe your mom does, I don’t know. I don’t have her on my buddy list. But Blackberries are like the opposite of my mom. Because you’re “on the go”, you can’t spend thirty seconds actually typing out a sentence. It doesn’t take that long. So, next time you send an email, Blackberry or otherwise, take a moment to think. Are you responding to the email, or just making a written record of having received it? If you’re not responding, then don’t bother.

Posted in: complaint , gadgets , technology , the devil

And then it rained

Thursday, July 24, 2008


Originally uploaded by thetejon

Went to the DC United game last night. We didn’t stick around for the three hour rain delay. This was the third time they tried to play this game (Although the first time I had tickets). We had pretty awesome seats thanks to a friend, and access to free food and drinks thanks to VW (through the same friend through another friend), and I managed to get home without getting my foot wet, per doctor’s orders. I’ve been to a couple of DC United games this season, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that the team doesn’t much like to play defense. They just don’t seem to have their hearts in it. Which is too bad, because the team doesn’t seem half bad, and the defensive problems really look like they’re due to a lack of effort more than a lack of skill. I won’t claim to be a soccer expert - I played rec league and high school, but never higher than JV, so take my opinions here with a grain of salt. There were delays on the Green Line getting home, too. Everything seemed cool at first, since most of the stadium was still sticking around, waiting to see if they would resume the game, when we left. So the train from RFK wasn’t full, and usually once we transfer to Green it’s smooth sailing. But it took us a half hour to get from Shaw to Columbia Heights. If my foot wasn’t busted up, we could have walked it in that time. Anyway, more pictures here.

Posted in: complaint , dc , DC United , harvardstreet , rain , soccer , sports

Comcast did something right

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

I complain a lot about Comcast Cable in DC. Any of you in the area waiting for Verizon Fios to come to DC and at least make Comcast pretend to compete know what I’m talking about. But they’re actually doing something cool right now - they’re doing a free preview of their MLB Extra Innings package. Unfortunately, it ends tomorrow, and I just found out about it today. And most of it isn’t in HD. But it means I get to watch the first game of the big Mets-Phillies series, and watch the big rivalry that no one (but my wife’s coworkers) cares about, David Wright vs Ryan Howard. So far Wright is winning. Both are one for three, but Wright has a double, run, and RBI, while Howard just has a single. Good thing I’m not making rash statements based on small sample sizes. I’m a little tempted to pay $129 for Extra Innings for the rest of the season. But I watch too much tv as it is, and I don’t REALLY need to watch out of market baseball games. Maybe when I retire.

Posted in: Anti complaint , baseball , dc , harvardstreet

Getting back to running

Monday, July 21, 2008

I just saw the doctor this morning about my foot. He says it’s healing nicely, and I got a less bulky bandage that makes it a little easier to walk. He also told me that I should be able to start running again in about six weeks. So, to celebrate my return, I’m going to do the Boo! Run for Life on October 12th, a 10K to benefit the Dean R. O'Neill Renal Cell Cancer Research Fund. It should be fun. West Potomac Park is a nice, easy 10K course. It’s flat and there’s plenty of room. And it will be good motivation to get me running again.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , harvardstreet , health , running

Damn it, Tor

Monday, July 21, 2008

Until Sunday, July 27, you can download all the novels and wallpapers that were given away in our recent “Watch the Skies” program–for free. Don’t delay!

Now they’re gleefully boasting that the carrot they held out to encourage people to sign up early is available to everyone. I know, I could have been reading all those stories I downloaded before everyone else, and it’s not Tor’s fault that there are no good ebook readers. But I really can’t figure out why they wanted people to sign up early. And now that all the free stuff is available to everyone, I can’t even gloat about how I got it first. What a bunch of jerks.

Posted in: complaint , science fiction

After all that, Scalzi had to tell me?

Sunday, July 20, 2008

The new Tor.com beta has launched. Despite signing up with them months ago, when they promised free goodies for getting on the mailing list, they seem to have forgotten to notify me of the opening. They did come through with the free goodies - I have a few dozen free ebooks to read as soon as someone makes a stinkin' ebook reader that doesn’t suck. And now they have new short stories from John Scalzi and Charles Stross, which is cool. But I didn’t hear about the launch from Tor, I heard about it from John Scalzi’s blog. What’s the point of signing up for the early mailing list if you aren’t informed when the new site goes live? And why did they do it on a Sunday when no one is paying attention? And why didn’t I already have a username and password? I don’t remember if I signed up for one when I got on the mailing list, but I should have, and they should remember it. I haven’t poked around on the site yet, so I can’t speak to what it’s like, but after all this buildup, the launch itself has been pretty disappointing. Hopefully they’ll iron out the wrinkles and end up with a nice site. I suspect that they will. So now I’m off to check out the site.

Posted in: complaint , science fiction

Nice night for a baseball game

Saturday, July 19, 2008

I was thinking this afternoon that I might watch the Orioles game, since I’m still more or less stuck on the couch. The foot is better, but it’s tough to move around. Dinner intervened (The wife has been fantastic about taking care of me while I’m immobile), and we didn’t see the beginning of the game. I checked ESPN to find the Orioles down, 6-2, after only one inning. That wasn’t encouraging. Daniel Cabrera was walking batters and giving up bombs. It took a minute to find the game - at first I thought MASN was only showing the Nats game (Seriously, who’s watching that?), but then we found the Orioles. It was 7-2 by that time. And then the O’s came back. Let me take a quick break from writing - as I was typing that last sentence, Luke Scott hit a monstrous home run to win it in the bottom of the 10th after a bad call at the plate to end the Detroit half of the inning. Anyway, a big back and forth game, a huge home run from Ramon Hernandez to blow a save for Joel Zumaya, 17 hits for the Orioles. Crazy. But this post is tagged complaint. It was one thing when the Red Sox and Yankees were in Baltimore and the crowd was cheering the visiting team. Not that I think that’s okay, but it’s expected. But in the top of the tenth, the Tigers cheers were loud. The Tigers! That’s the team from Detroit. Who cares about the Tigers? Okay, so the wife likes the Tigers. She’s from Michigan, so it’s okay. But I don’t expect to hear Tigers chants at Camden Yards. Peter Angelos needs to go. Camden Yards is going to be the fastest stadium to 50,000,000 fans in the history of baseball (Although I have to think that the new Yankees stadium will eventually beat that). But if you look at the average attendance each year, you see a big dropoff. It was 45,000 a year for the first seven years, then it dropped under 40,000, and then under 30,000. The Orioles have not shown a commitment to winning in a decade. Their payroll isn’t the problem - they don’t spend Red Sox/Yankees money, but they aren’t the Marlins, either. But Angelos has been too busy complaining about the Nationals to bother putting a good team on the field. This year has been a surprise - the offseason looked like they were rebuilding, and then all of a sudden we have the best team we’ve had in Baltimore in a while. Anyway, it was a fun game to watch. I hope Angelos was busy doing something else and didn’t get to enjoy it, too.

Posted in: baseball , complaint

Am I immune to codeine?

Friday, July 18, 2008

The busted foot is not feeling too great today. I’ve been icing it, and moving my ankle around to keep the blood flowing, but it’s still bothering me. So, I figured I’d try out the Tylenol 3 that they prescribed for me. I finished the work I really needed to get done this week, had some lunch, and took two of them. Well, that was disappointing. Friends had assured me that Tylenol 3 was pretty good stuff - it would definitely take care of my foot. Unfortunately, they were lying. I think it made me a little drowsy, but it sure didn’t help my foot much. The only thing that really seems to help is icing it, and that’s only for twenty minutes at a time. So, I’m left here to complain about it. Fortunately I have lots of practice.

Posted in: complaint , health

What is Billy Beane doing?

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Just after shipping Rich Harden to the Cubs, Billy Beane trades Joe Blanton to the Phillies? I mean, these seem like fine deals if your team sucks and you’re looking to rebuild for the future, but the Athletics are 51-44, only six games out of first. Seems like the time you want to be adding that one critical part, not dealing away the critical part to National League teams. I read Moneyball, and like anyone else who blogs about baseball, I think Billy Beane can leap tall buildings and travel through time and trade overpaid pitchers for prospects just before their arms go out, but a baseball team can’t compete without a starting rotation. Should be an interesting second half for anyone following the Athletics.

Posted in: baseball , strange

Fleecing the poor

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Via ShysterBall - In the Fray - WSJ.com

Sports economists have long argued that publicly financed stadiums are a waste of taxpayer money. And they have the data to prove it.

Not only are the Nats not paying rent on their beautiful new (empty) stadium, it’s not giving much back to the DC residents who paid to build it. Sure, some new jobs were created. And sure, construction is happening around the stadium. But the new Department of Transportation building right next door probably has a lot more to do with that than the Nats' stadium does. They got a huge taxpayer contribution to build the stadium. Taxpayers pay again for tickets, overpriced food and merchandise, maybe parking. But how many taxpayers are really benefitting? Never mind the state of the Nationals as a baseball team, which is pretty sad. We were lead to believe that paying for a stadium would pay us back in new growth and tax revenue, and I don’t think there’s much evidence of that. The stadium did hit at a bad time in the economy, and that’s certainly slowed the potential growth, but if the economy (and especially the real estate market) had stayed booming like it was a few years ago, we wouldn’t need the stadium promote growth in the area. Supply and demand would have taken care of it.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , dc , harvardstreet

You'd think it would be great

Thursday, July 17, 2008

You’d think being ordered to sit around the house and do nothing would be great, but it sure sucks. The bright side of the surgery is that I haven’t had any pain to speak of, at least not yet. It’s uncomfortable, but not really painful. Haven’t touched the drugs yet. The downside is that, despite having work to do, I’m already bored out of my mind. I’ve made progress with the report I’m working on for my real job, but it’s not interesting work, and it’s hard to stay focused.

Posted in: complaint , health

Foot surgery is awesome

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

I had my bunion removed this morning. Right now, I’m sitting on the couch with my foot up, wondering how much it’s going to hurt as the anesthetic wears off. They told me it would be six to eight hours, and the surgery was eight hours ago. Right now I mostly just feel pressure. They wrapped it pretty tight. If it hurts, I have some great drugs, so I should be fine. But I’d rather not have to use them. I guess we’ll see. If you are looking to have surgery, I highly recommend the Center for Ambulatory Surgery at 19th and L NW. From beginning to end, everyone was friendly, helpful, and professional. I can’t speak to the results yet, but so far so good. Too bad it’s the All Star break - this would be a great time to watch some baseball.

Posted in: dc , harvardstreet , health , surgery

The exception to the rule

Monday, July 14, 2008

Ripken Originally uploaded by thetejon

There are some unwritten rules about baseball, both for the players and the fans. You don’t talk to the pitcher during a no-hitter. You don’t walk to or from your seat during an at-bat (Although the clowns in our section at the Nats game the other night didn’t follow this one, not even when the Nats had runners on. I missed a Nats run being scored because an entire family decided they had to get up just then). And you don’t wear a jersey to a game that’s for a team that isn’t involved in the game. Unless it’s a Cal Ripken jersey, as shown in the picture above. You can wear a Cal Ripken jersey to any game, any time, and it is considered perfectly acceptable to punch anyone who makes a disparaging comment. Go ahead and try it - all real baseball fans will have your back. Why, you may ask? That’s a good question. Cal Ripken redefined the position of shortstop. He was 6'4" and 225 pounds when he played the game. That’s about five inches and 50 pounds more than a shortstop was “supposed” to be. But that’s not why he’s the exception. He made the All Star game 19 straight years. That’s longer than most people play. But that’s not why. He played for his dad, right next to his brother. Wikipedia tells us “His 1991 season is the fourth-greatest in baseball history (second among non-pitchers) as measured by WARP3 at 17.0 wins, bested only by Walter Johnson’s 1913 (18.1 wins), Babe Ruth’s 1932 (18 wins), and Amos Rusie’s 1894 season (17.6 wins).” But that’s not why either. No, Cal Ripken is the exception to any rule you might think of (Like the “don’t elect a guy to an All Star game based on reputation alone) because Cal Ripken saved baseball. Back in 1994, baseball went on strike. It was a horrible time to be a fan. I had just gotten into the game a few years before, following the 1988 Athletics through their crushing World Series defeat before latching onto the Orioles' glorious 1989 season and never looking back. And then the strike, and no one knew what to do. We all wanted to go back to being fans, but we were sad and angry and didn’t know what to do. Then came 1995. They restarted the season, although a little late. Then, on September sixth, Cal broke the streak. He played in his 2131st game, surpassing Lou Gehrig’s record, one of those "never be broken” records that every sport has. It’s the most memorable sporting event in my life. I got home from work and turned on the game, still wearing my Subway uniform and smelling of mayonnaise and onions. I watched his victory lap, and I listened to one of the longest ovations in sports history (Thanks, Wikipedia, for the recap). All of a sudden, baseball was cool again. Instead of overpaid, uncaring superstars, we had a guy who just went out there, day after day, and played ball. There are always exceptions to the rule - some pitchers will talk about their no-hitter in the sixth. But Cal can always be the exception. In fact, you may not know this, but a genuine Cal Ripken jersey is even considered acceptable attire, even at a black-tie affair. Try this out, too. Remember, anyone who questions your dedication to Cal can be legally punched in the face. Every baseball fan in the room will be right behind you.

Posted in: Anti complaint , baseball

Astak, you suck

Friday, July 11, 2008

The jerks at Astak have pushed back the release date of their entry-level ebook reader. Again. Why can’t someone release a reasonably-priced ebook reader that doesn’t suck? The instant someone does it, I will buy one. Please, someone. Please. Not you, Sony. I wouldn’t buy a fire extinguisher from you if my head was on fire. But anyone else.

Posted in: complaint , ebooks , reading

Howard Vs Wright - it's no contest

Friday, July 11, 2008

Some of the wife’s coworkers were having a little argument about the NL All Star selection. On one side we had two Phillies fans, and on the other a Red Sox fan. The Phillies fans thought that Ryan Howard deserved to go the All Star Game. The Sox fan thought David Wright deserved it. Far be it from me to ever agree with a Sox fan, but this time I think I have to. Let’s forget everyone else who might be more qualified. That’s too complicated a question to get into right now. Let’s just compare David Wright and Ryan Howard. First off, I’ll throw out some of the points they made, such as assigning credit towards this year’s voting for past performance. I don’t believe in that. Please ignore all the seasons that Cal Ripken was an All Star on reputation alone - Cal Ripken saved baseball after the strike, and is above reproach. Nothing you can say or do will ever change this fact. I don’t care that Howard led the league in home runs in 2006. He was an All Star that year, and deservedly so. I don’t care that Wright was unfairly blamed for the Mets' catastrophic nosedive at the end of last season. He hit .352 in September and October, and it’s his fault they choked? Please. What matters is this season. And this season, Wright is clearly better than Howard. First, look at fielding. Wright is a good fielder. He won a Gold Glove last year. I know I’m not giving credit for last year, but fielding stats are impossible, and I haven’t seen either of them play enough to judge fielding prowess. It’s enough for me that Wright beats Howard in Gold Gloves (1-0) and Wright plays a real position, third base, while Howard plays the position where you stick your big immobile slugger (Hello, Prince Fielder). If someone can show me that Howard is more valuable in the field this year than Wright, I’ll listen, but I’m going with my gut on this one. Then we’ll look at hitting. Howard leads Wright in home runs, RBI, intentional walks, and double plays. Wright leads in every other offensive category. Let’s look at what Howard leads in. Leading the league in home runs is very nice. It’s valuable to your team, and a good reflection of your worth as a hitter. Point to Howard. Leading the league in RBIs is largely a function of getting up with runners on base. It’s not a consistently good measure of a batter’s ability. Intentional walks are fine, but largely a function of runners on base and the guy hitting behind you. And while hitting into double plays is something the player has some control over, Howard’s small lead (7-11) is not really statistically significant. Wright leads in everything else. Howard is hitting .234. There is no scale on which that is good. But, you may say, what about clutch hitting? Well, first, it’s a myth. But second, Howard is having an absurd year in the clutch, while Wright is pretty miserable. Wright has a .247 batting average and a .737 OPS with runners in scoring position. Howard is at .330/1.079. That’s a pretty big difference. But let’s examine a little more closely. For those not familiar, BABIP, Batting Average on Balls In Play, is a good measure of a batter’s luck. .290 is about average. Anyone significantly higher is probably lucky, and anyone significantly lower is unlucky. Much lower means your line drives are going right to a fielder, while much higher means you’re hitting ‘em where they ain’t at lot more than average. It’s true that a consistently high BABIP would indicate a guy with great bat control, but there are precious few examples of that in the history of the game. Wright’s BABIP with runners in scoring position is .250. For the season, it’s .302, not far from average. Howard, on the other hand, is at a ridiculous .403 with runners in scoring position, against a pedestrian .272 overall. What does that mean? It means that Howard has been absurdly lucky in the clutch this year, while Wright has had a rough stretch. Howard seems to be a monster in the clutch, but it’s entirely unsustainable, and if you watch, he’ll taper off in the second half. Ryan Howard is a great player who should have a very successful career. Everything I’ve heard says he’s a good-natured guy, positive in the clubhouse, and a guy you want on your team. I like Ryan Howard. But David Wright is simply having a better season, and is more deserving of the All Star selection. If Howard has a problem, he should take it up with vastly overrated Matt Holliday, a strictly average hitter when he’s not in Denver.

Posted in: baseball , statistics

Over before it began

Friday, July 11, 2008

The wife got me a big stack of baby books for Father’s Day. It was a great gift, as I’m already looking forward to reading to the kid when it’s born. In fact, we’ve already started reading to it a little bit before bed. Apparently babies are often calmed by hearing books that they first heard before they were born. One of these books is Where Is Baby’s Belly Button? by Karent Katz. The editorial on Amazon is glowing - “Karen Katz’s adorable babies play peekaboo in this delightful interactive book. The sturdy format and easy-to-lift flaps are perfect for parents and children to share.” Sounds great! Until you look at the cover. Ms. Katz has begun her suspenseful mystery story with one unanswered question - where is Baby’s belly button? But on the FRONT COVER of the book, we clearly see Baby with her shirt pulled up, exposing the missing belly button! Never mind the horrible lessons we’re teaching young girls about lifting their shirts in public. I’ve solved the mystery before I even open the book! Ms. Katz tries to pretend that we’re all stupid, and waits until page six to once again reveal the location of the belly button. At the mere halfway point in the book, we’ve twice revealed the culprit. What if the cover of The Sixth Sense was a picture of Bruce Willis, dead? And then an hour into the movie, we watch him die? That is the sort of nonsense that Ms. Katz thinks we’re looking for in a baby book. She tries to arouse our curiosity with other mysteries - where are baby’s feet? Where are baby’s hands? But I have to admit that I found these questions empty. Once the belly button had made its premature appearance, the rest of the story couldn’t hold my attention, and I quickly put it down.

Posted in: baby , book review , complaint

The Nats aren't paying rent

Friday, July 11, 2008

ShysterBall: Are the Nats Deadbeats?

Here’s my special argument: it doesn’t matter if the stadium is unfinished. Given how bad the Nats are, they aren’t using half the seats, most of the light bulbs on the scoreboard, and the visitor’s bullpen has been virtually untouched, so what’s the problem if the place isn’t done yet?

Indeed, one assumes that the city of DC, when it made the deal to help the Nats build a stadium, thought they were getting a real Major League team to fill it.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , dc , harvartdstreet

Crosswalk misadventures

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

I got hit by a truck today. Seriously. I’m fine, although a little bruised. I went to the post office after work to send a cd of wedding photos to the father of the bride and a Book Mooch book. I was meeting the wife at Whole Foods, but I was early, wanting to catch the post office before 5. So I decided to walk to Whole Foods. It’s not a bad walk, although it was pretty hot and disgusting out today. I was waiting to cross 16th St NW at P when the light changed and I got the walk signal. I began to walk. A Ford F-250 coming the opposite direction tried to make a left before the crossing traffic started to move, and I guess he didn’t see me. I didn’t have time to get out of the way. The truck’s bumper hit my left leg, just below the knee. I also have a bruise on my knee and a bruise on my left wrist. I kind of bounced off the truck. Luckily, someone’s Lexus (I think it was a Lexus - it came up on me kind of quick) was parked where I could bump into it and not fall on my face in the middle of 16th Street. That would have been totally embarrassing. I can’t recount the exact conversation I had with the driver. He got out, and was suitably freaked out and apologetic. I think after the initial shock, I was mostly sort of amused that I had actually just been hit by a truck. Have you ever seen an F-250? It’s a big truck. And here’s where I’m non-confrontational to a fault. I’ve gone over this in my head dozens of times since this afternoon, and I still don’t regret walking away. With this guy right in front of me, apologizing profusely and clearly concerned with my well-being, I just wasn’t mad. There were numerous witnesses, and I think some of them called the police. I just wanted to keep walking. Which I did. I got most of the way down the block before the guy caught up with me. There were two DC government employees at the scene, possibly Metro, but I’m not really sure. Apparently they told the guy that he had to get something in writing from me saying that it was cool or they’d have to report it. I didn’t have any extra paper, so I had to wait while the guy called one of the passengers in the truck to bring paper and a pen. That was kind of weird. We both stood there, looking across the street, pretending we were somewhere else. I mean, what are you supposed to do in that situation? “So, you hit me with your truck. Where were you going?” I signed a note saying that I was okay and this was over with, and that was that. The guy thanked me, shook my hand, and sort of hugged me. It was not quite as awkward as it probably sounds, but close. I did ask him what kind of truck it was. I had thought it was an F-250, but I wanted to make sure I got my story straight. I mean, I wouldn’t want to claim to have taken a hit from a bigger truck than actually hit me. I’m no liar. Most of the witnesses were more upset than I was, I think. Two of them came up to talk to me, and one gave me the license plate number of the truck. I appreciate that. I guess maybe I’ll keep it, although I can’t imagine I’d ever need it. My leg is sore, but I’ve been hit harder playing flag football. I imagine other people would have reacted differently. I was in the crosswalk. I did have the right of way, and even if I hadn’t been there, he was still breaking some traffic laws. If he had reacted differently, I probably would have, too. If he had blamed me, I would have been angry. But I’m okay with my reaction. I realize that I take a lot more than I have to without getting angry, or even demanding what I deserve. I’ve always been like that (You can ask my mom). And now I can truthfully tell people that I was hit by a truck and didn’t even fall down. How many people can say that?

Posted in: complaint , dc , harvardstreet , traffic , Zip 20005

I think Brandon Fahey reads my blog

Sunday, July 06, 2008

Ever since I posted about him, Brandon Fahey is hitting up a storm. Including that game, he’s .294/.294/.529 with a triple and three doubles. He’s hit into two double plays, but maybe they weren’t his fault. I mean, if there weren’t other jerks on first, clogging up the basepaths, he’d just be grounding out.

Posted in: Anti complaint , baseball

Maybe that's why everyone loves Wall-E

Friday, July 04, 2008

WALL-E: Cute robot or liberal propaganda? - ParentDish

“From the first moment of the film,” wrote Shannen Coffin, former general counsel to Vice President Cheney, “my kids were bombarded with leftist propaganda about the evils of mankind.”

So, Wall-E has been described as “a 90-minute lecture on the dangers of over consumption, big corporations, and the destruction of the environment.” The cynic in me is wondering if the blogs I read, predominantly pretty liberal, pick up on that, and overstate how good the movie is because it speaks to some of the issues they believe in. That is, it’s getting “good movie” points for “good message”. It’s only natural to come away with a more positive perception of anything - a movie, a person, a work of art, whatever - if that thing supports views you already hold. I certainly don’t mean to imply that the reviewers of Wall-E are being dishonest, even unconsciously. But it’s something to think about. Especially if the conservative reviewers consistently have lower opinions of the movie. I guess I’d have to check out some of them to be sure.

Posted in: interesting , movies , politics

Five Guys is a delicous disaster

Thursday, July 03, 2008

I’m working from home today, which gave me a chance to check out our new Five Guys for lunch. It was busy, but I got through the line quickly. And then I waited. They seemed to be getting orders out pretty fast, but I was number 88, and they served 79 right as I paid. So I waited. When I finally got my lunch, I checked the bag to find two burgers instead of one. Since no one else would eat a second burger (I’m home alone, the wife wouldn’t eat the meat anyway, and the cat probably wouldn’t care), I took the bag back to the counter. As they were trying to figure out what happened, a woman missing a burger from her bag came up beside me. It wasn’t difficult to figure out what happened, and they quickly fixed it. So I came home and ate my delicious pile of fried calories. And now I have to get back to work.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , food , harvardstreet

Women give funny looks

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Let me paint you a picture. You are at work in a large office. You don’t know nearly everyone who you see every day, but you recognize most of the faces. You pass by a woman in the hall. She looks at you and makes a face. This face is not a smile. It is as if she has started to smile, but her lips are stuck together, and she forgot that smiles usually convey happiness. This look simply acknowledges your presence. You can make this face, too. Start to smile, but stop yourself before the corners of your mouth turn up, and think of something you don’t care about very much. I believe that this is the female version of The Nod, a universal greeting between males who recognize each other but have never spoken. This Nod can speak 1,000 words. It is a conditioned automatic response. With The Nod, you can say, “We have made eye contact. I do not know who you are, but I have seen you enough times to know that we must have something in common, even if that thing is only that we work in the same building. However, this commonality brings with it a small amount of respect. Since we occupy the same space so often, in order to uphold my self-image, I must assume that your presence here is for some lofty purpose or goal. To deny you this respect is to threaten the foundation of my own self-respect. This I can not do.” I don’t know what the female-equivalent look means. I could guess, but I’d be wrong. If you are a woman, or if you understand women (Read: you are a liar), feel free to leave an explanation in the comments.

The MVNO road is not the one you want

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Blogging Stocks | Google’s one chance for Android - become a wireless carrier

The competitive landscape is so tightly controlled that Google’s mantra of “open access” just won’t sit well with wireless carriers used to telling customers what they can and cannot do with their phones.

This is very true. Time and again, the major US wireless carriers have rejected anything they can’t control. But there are a ton of things wrong with this article. First, Verizon announced last year that it’s opening up its network. I’m sure it won’t be as open as it could be, because Verizon is a bunch of jerks, but it’s still a step in the right direction. Second, I think Google’s name will drive some openness. You know how all the carriers want a piece of the iPhone? Look for that to happen again when a few sexy reviews of Google’s phone operating system start cropping up. Like Apple, Google has a sometimes irrational following. People will assume it’s good just because it’s Google. The article continues to state, “the MVNO model has largely failed in the U.S.”. That’s very true. Amp’d? Helio? Bye-bye. It doesn’t seem to be a sustainable business. Google isn’t really into failing, and they’re not stupid. But the dumbest thing the article says is the final line. Google should buy its own space on someone’s network and “give them anything they want. Like, mobile search results with ads next to them.” This is just a fundamental misunderstanding of some or all of the words in that sentence. I think he means “location-based search”, not “mobile”. I want my phone to do a Google Maps search, and I want the default location to be right where I am, right now. Simply making search “mobile” just means making my computer small enough to carry with me all the time. The real “synergy” of phone and search is that the phone already knows where you are. Now it just has to tell your search engine. It’s nice that Google Maps remembers my default location, but with a location-aware wireless device, there’s so much more it can do. Even worse is the idea that people want ads next to their search results. Search customers don’t want ads. We put up with them because they’re unobtrusive, they’re likely to be relevant to what we’re looking for, and they’re a small price to pay for an otherwise free service. If the ads went away and the search stayed the same otherwise, you would get no complaints from anyone not making money on the ads. I’d like to see Google completely skip the US market. Just go to Europe where the networks are open. Verizon and AT&T; and Sprint will come around pretty quickly when everyone who comes in to buy a phone wonders why they can’t have a Google phone. Well, everyone who isn’t there to buy an iPhone, anyway. Or maybe Sprint’s Samsung Instinct, which is apparently doing really well. Certainly Google has the cash to throw at their own chunk of network. But they didn’t get this successful by throwing money at dumb business ideas. I can’t imagine they’re going to start now.

Posted in: failed business model , Google , wireless

That's TWO doubles this year

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Brandon Fahey Originally uploaded by dnkbdotcom

Brandon Fahey got another extra base hit! That gives him two this year, and brings his slugging percentage to a torrid .241. The Orioles almost blew another one to the miserable Royals, allowing two runs in the 9th before closing it out. They’re still outperforming their Pythagorean win expectation, although not nearly to the extent that Toronto is missing theirs. But at least they’re competitive, which is more than I can say for the Nationals, and more than I expected out of the Orioles this year.

Posted in: baseball , sports

Unexpected consequences of killing the gun ban

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Techdirt | Supreme Court Decision On Guns May Cut Promoting Progress Out Of The Constitution

Again, so whether or not you’re happy with the way the court decided the Heller case, the fact that it has no problem deciding that a clause in the Constitution can be ignored as “preamble” could have very bad consequences for those of us pointing out that dangerous innovation-hindering intellectual property systems are against the Constitution.

A lot has been said about the Supreme Court’s decision that the DC gun ban is unconstitutional, but this is the first time I’ve heard mention of the effects that this precedent might have on other legislation. I don’t much like guns in the house. I don’t want them in my house. I don’t think you should have them in your house, either, but I think you should have a right to have them if you want to. And I don’t think the repeal of the gun ban is going to have a significant effect on the number of guns in the city. My feeling on the constitutionality of the law is that it probably wasn’t. As written, I think you can make a strong argument that the amendment doesn’t say that everyone should be allowed to have a gun. However, it has been interpreted for years to say that it does. Unless we amend the amendment, I think we have to allow people to posses guns. I think we should amend it - not necessarily to ban guns, but to remove the controversy. It should be very clear what the amendment does and doesn’t allow. We’ve been arguing over it long enough. I’m not sure I’d be happy with what the present political climate in the federal government would come up with, though, so maybe we should wait until things are a little more sane. In any event, I hope this doesn’t open the floodgates to picking and choosing which parts of the Constitution are relevant and which aren’t. Awful intellectual property laws are bad, but there are a lot of other parts of the Constitution that we’d all be even sorrier to be without.

Posted in: complaint , dc , harvardstreet , politics

Delicious frozen custard

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

We waited too long to try out the “new” Rita’s Water Ice in Columbia Heights. Their frozen custard is awesome. It’s like ice cream, but creamier. If that doesn’t sound awesome to you, you must be either crazy or lactose-intolerant. Or vegan. But probably crazy. As we were walking, the wife and were talking about how nice it is to see so many people out and about. The intersection of 14th and Irving is full of people, all the time. Even a year and a half ago when we moved here there weren’t half as many people around. Of course, that was before Target and everything opened. And it doesn’t hurt that this is the nicest evening we’ve had in a while - it’s cool and breezy and we’ve already opened the window in the bedroom in anticipation of sleeping without the air conditioning.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , food , harvardstreet

Maybe Wall-E really is good

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Seth’s Blog: Bravery and Wall-e

Pixar, recently purchased by Disney, could crank out multi-billion dollar confections… And yet, instead, they make a great movie. A movie for the ages. A film, not 90 minutes of commerce.

blackrimglasses.com - Wall-E

See this movie, as it is film history in the making.

I don’t know what the deal is with this movie. I know people love everything Pixar does. But with a few exceptions (people, not movies), I figured it was just that people like to watch stupid garbage like American Idol and I Survived a Japanese Game Show. But the reaction to Wall-E is ridiculous. Everything I’ve read about this movie has been superlative.

I guess the wife and I will have to go see it. We haven’t been to the movies in a while.

Posted in: Anti complaint , movies

Drupal and the Blog API

Saturday, June 28, 2008

I wish someone had told me you had to enable the Blog API module before you could use all the cool blogging tools like Flickr’s “Blog This” or Firefox plugin ScribeFire. I tried setting up both, and kept getting unhelpful errors. It looked like my username and password were wrong. This was frustrating, because I was sure my username and password were correct. After significant Googling, I finally found a helpful explanation. And now it works perfectly. You can see the previous post, which I sent straight from Flickr. So, hopefully now this page will be one more Google hit explaining that, if you want an external site or application to access your xmlrpc.php file, you’d better turn on the Blog API module.

Posted in: blogging , Drupal , internet

Hillary and Barack

Friday, June 27, 2008

DSC_2028, Originally uploaded by Barack Obama

It’s nice to see Hillary finally putting the party and her country before herself.

I’m just kidding. I’m finding it difficult to be annoyed with her at this point - she lost, and now she’s helping Obama, because that’s what you do when you finish second in a really close and strongly contested race. She’s very capable, and she’s very smart, and I think she can be a great asset to the Obama campaign. I’m just glad she’s not going to be President.

By the way, if you’re not friends with Obama on Flickr, you’re a total loser.

Posted in: Anti complaint , politics

Is Brandon Fahey the worst hitter ever?

Friday, June 27, 2008

Just watching a bit of the Orioles-Nationals game. It seems so far that we have Evil Daniel Cabrera rather than Unhittable Daniel Cabrera. He didn’t walk a batter in the two run first inning, but just about every ball he threw was hit hard, and only some good anticipation by Brian Roberts to get a double play got them out of the inning only down 2-0. But Brandon Fahey. Do you understand what it means to have a career OPS+ of 50? This guy must have photos of the O’s GM doing something really, really awful. I know it was time to get rid of Miguel Tejada, but I think I speak for most Orioles fans when I say that we expected you to replace him with a real major league player. Now the bases are loaded for the Nats with two outs in the bottom of the first. I need to go find a bottle of tequila.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , sports

Why do you think I'm stupid, Microsoft?

Thursday, June 26, 2008

If you read any of the blogs that I do, you’ve probably already seen Bill Gates' 2003 complaint about Windows Update. Windows Update is a piece of junk. It’s always been a piece of junk. It probably always will be a piece of junk. What’s really disappointing is that it doesn’t have to be. Take a look at the package manager in Ubuntu Linux. It’s probably the same in many other flavors of Linux, but I don’t have experience with them. Anyway, package manager is simple. When there are new versions of software or new patches to the operating system, it puts a little notification in my taskbar. When I click the notification, it tells me what is available for update. It even separates them into recommended vs optional, and tells me a little bit about each update. I can choose some, all, or none of the updates to apply. When it’s finished updating, sometimes I have to restart. It puts another notification in the taskbar, and then that’s it. I can restart when I’m ready. Windows, on the other hand, is much more obnoxious. By default, it doesn’t want to tell me what it’s doing. When it finishes, it pops up a window that tells me to restart now or later. If I say later, it pops up again in a couple of minutes. And again. And again. Look, Microsoft, sometimes I’m at work and don’t have the time to restart. Sometimes I’m in the middle of something and just don’t feel like restarting. Why can’t I have that option? Why can’t you just show me a little “You need to restart at some point” notification and leave it at that? And we’re not even talking about Vista here. This is XP on my work computer. And the only reason Windows is on the computer at all is because it’s a work computer. I’ve restarted now, and everything seems to be fine. I don’t know what update it did, but everything still works, so it can’t have been too big a deal. Nice to see Microsoft still patching XP - I guess they realize that Vista sucks, and most people who don’t have to upgrade haven’t (and won’t).

Posted in: complaint , computers , Ubuntu

Another ebook reader set to fail

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Teleread | Astak E Ink readers: Five- and six-inchers due in July; 9.7 inch flexi screen and Walmart and Costco e-stores in ‘08?

Models with five- and six-inch screens are tentatively scheduled to be offered for sale at the Astak Web site around July 28. That’s next month, yes, not this one as Astak originally wanted, but it is still an acceptable delay, given all the technical and business variables. Astak hoped to sell the five incher for less than $200 but now plans to start out at $229-$249 in order to allow pricing flexibility for the big chains, which Bob hopes will start selling Astak products around October.

The word on this ebook reader just a month ago was that there were three sizes, with the smallest starting at about $150. That was awesome. The $300+ ebook readers out there now are just too expensive to change the market. Sony and Amazon, as well as some lesser known players, already have expensive e-paper devices. To beat them, you have to either change the experience of reading a book, or blow the doors off them on price. This latest news suggests that Astak is doing neither. I see wifi and bluetooth and touchscreen and I cringe. I can get a cell phone with all these things. None of these are going to change the market for reading books. Having Walmart and Costco on board is good for mass adoption, but convincing shoppers to pay $250 to be allowed to read a small subset (for now) of all available books that aren’t even cheaper than their much-more-expensive-to-produce paper brethren is something that even the gifted marketers at Apple would have a hard time accomplishing. So it looks like I’m back to waiting for something that may not come for a while. I thought I could hold out until the end of July, but I thought I was getting change back from $200. As priced (Assuming the linked info is accurate), this one is a pass just like Amazon’s Kindle.

Posted in: complaint , gadgets , reading

I could have been killed

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Have you ever walked south on 16th Street on the right hand side across U Street? You have a light there, but then you have to cross New Hampshire with a crosswalk and no light.
View Larger Map The wife and I do it just about every day on the way to work. It’s not a problem to cross U Street, but crossing New Hampshire is a little dicey. Almost every day, someone assumes that, because they aren’t turning at a 90 degree angle, they don’t have to yield to pedestrians. Twice in the last month or so, we’ve had a car actually slow down or pull over to yell at us for getting in the way. This is all while walking in a crosswalk, by the way. The wife, being more confrontational than I, has exchanged words with some of these drivers. I emailed Jim Graham yesterday, and he has tasked a staff member with looking into it. I want them to put up a sign reminding people that they have to yield. I know it’s a funny intersection, but it’s an area with a lot of foot traffic, and it’s dangerous. It doesn’t help that many pedestrians will yield their right of way to cars. I understand the reasoning there - if you get hit by a car, your broken bones and whatnot don’t really care about the stand you were making for pedestrian’s rights. However, when you give up your right of way, you are also taking mine, because now the drivers think they’re right. So stand up for your right of way. And if you’ve ever had this trouble at this intersection, or any other, write to your councilmember. I don’t actually know who’s in charge of that area - Ward 1 and Jim Graham’s turf ends just north of there at Florida Avenue. But your councilmember would no doubt be aware of who needs to be notified. I’ll keep you posted on what he intends to do about it.

Posted in: complaint , dc , harvardstreet , safety , traffic

A little anniversary

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

I don’t remember exactly when I started this blog, but tomorrow is the second anniversary of the earliest post still in existence. That’s a long time. I wrote a lot more about stuff in the news when I started. Maybe I should go back to that. I had more time at work to find things to write about then. Now I actually have to do work when I’m at work. It’s really tough to find time for my hobbies during the day. So, here’s to another two years. Or more.

Posted in: Anti complaint , blogging , self-referential

Nats beat the rain, not the Angels.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

imgp1165Another game, another loss. Lackey was highly effective if not impressive to watch. Jay Bergmann, a nice example of why record is a crummy indicator of pitching success, matched him most of the game. Unfortunately for the Nats, Willie Harris provided the entirety of their offense, and the defense deserted them in the top of the eighth. Our new seats were okay. I don’t really like having to walk indoors through the air conditioning to get to our seats. It just seems wrong. And there was a really obnoxious guy sitting just behind us. He appears to have season tickets, since my boss recognized my description of the guy. But they’re comfortable (Padded seats! At a baseball game!) and it’s a good view. So I guess I can’t complain. And they played the game this time. Two straight rainouts would have been tough to take.

Posted in: Anti complaint , baseball , harvardstreet

The weather around here is whack

Monday, June 23, 2008

Two hours ago it was sunny. Half an hour ago, it was raining hard enough to fill up the entryway to DCUSA (With people trying to escape the rain, I mean). Now the sun is coming back out. Normally, I wouldn’t care too much, but we got my company’s Nationals tickets tonight, and they’re the newly upgraded seats with access to the Stars and Stripes Club, whatever that is. Last time we tried to go to a game, we got rained out. And tonight the game is delayed an hour and a half, but is scheduled to start at 8:30. So we’re cooking dinner (read: I sautéed some vegetables and now the wife is putting them on a pizza) and getting ready to give the game a shot. I find it a little ridiculous that I’ve had tickets to two games this month, and both have been affected by rain. Although while the first game was one that I chose months ago, these tickets were handed to me this afternoon because no one else wanted to go. Perhaps the weather report had something to do with that. In any event, John Lackey is scheduled to pitch for the Angels tonight, and he’s having a fantastic season (When he’s not on the DL) - his 0.92 WHIP means he’s pretty much not allowing any baserunners. And while Vlad Guerrero is having an off-year by his standards (.289/.348/.506), he’s in the middle of a 13 game hitting streak. There are probably going to be some Nationals players involved in the game, too.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , harvardstreet , weather

Pregnant wife bonus

Sunday, June 22, 2008

One of the nice things about having a pregnant wife is that, when a recipe calls for white wine, she can’t help you finish the bottle. Just kidding. We have a bottle of white wine, a 2006 Primaterra pinot grigio. So, now we can calculate the Complaint Hub Wine Score.

  1. Alcohol Review gives it 3.25 stars. We’ll convert that to a 100 point scale, multiplying by 20 to get 65. They say it costs $7, and it was on sale at Whole Foods, so we’ll give it a PPD of 9.29. That’s a pretty decent score.
  2. It’s Italian, so no California Penalty.
  3. Again, no Australia or New Zealand Bonus.
  4. It’s got a pretty solid label. It’s a cheap wine, so I don’t expect much, and the label is different, but it’s not doofy. Plus 10.
  5. Multiply by Planck’s Constant.
  6. Planck’s Constant is really small. No one wants a wine score in scientific notation. So let’s open up Open Office Spreadsheet and do some formula magic. First, let’s take the arc cotangent, which gives us 1.57. You can quibble about significant digits in the comments.
  7. That’s still not a good number. So we divide one by the natural log of that, which gives us 2.21.
  8. I’m not a huge fan of white wine, so let’s multiply by 50 and subtract a 25 point White Wine Penalty. Then we round down, because the digits after the decimal were never really significant anyway. And we’re left with 63. So you see, this is clearly a good wine rating system, since it’s right in line with the score from another website! The wine tastes fine. Not too sweet, not too dry. It pairs well with a seitan picatta from Veggie Times. It probably has some flavor notes of something. Maybe fruit? White’s usually have fruit notes, right? In conclusion, it’s a nice value at $7.
Posted in: Anti complaint , food , health , parenting , wine

Out of curiosity

Sunday, June 22, 2008

For those of you who read the site via the actual front page, rather than the RSS feed (Which, if Google Analytics and Feedburner are accurate and I’m reading the numbers correctly, is about 1/3 of you), do you ever look at “What I’m reading” on the right side of the page? These are things I’ve come across on my RSS feed that I find interesting, but don’t really have anything to say about. I’m going to keep sharing things there regardless of who’s reading, because I know at the very least, Mike looks at them on his Google Reader, and sharing them takes virtually no effort on my part. But I was curious if anyone looks at them, or has maybe found a site they didn’t otherwise know about through them.

Posted in: blogging

Looking for a present for me?

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Gizmodo | Knight Rider GPS With KITT’s Voice!

Apparently, you will recognize his familiar voice as soon as you fire it up and hear “Hello Michael, where do you want to go today?”

The wife doesn’t think this is awesome, which would be grounds for divorce if she wasn’t so cool otherwise. But this is a GPS that gives you directions with KITT’s voice. There are two things that would be cooler. One, if you could get it to say your own name instead of “Michael”. Although it would be cool if it asked where Michael was now and then. And two, the whole turbo-boost, auto-drive, and bullet-proof-ness of KITT would be pretty awesome. But I guess that’s a little much to ask from a $300 device.

Posted in: awesome , gadgets , my childhood

Hey, people like Drupal and SEO

Saturday, June 21, 2008

A bunch of hits on the last post, especially for a Friday night. It looks like people are watching stuff tagged with “Drupal” or “SEO” or something like that. Anyway, at the advice of the commenters, I’ve replaced trackback with pingback, which requires less (no) effort and still accomplishes that two-way link between me and anyone who happens to link to me. I also tweaked my robots.txt file. So, we’ll see what happens. Now I just have to keep writing things that people find interesting. Or, you know, start.

Posted in: blogging , Drupal , seo

Drupal, SEO, and you

Friday, June 20, 2008

I’ve been getting annoyed by a few things about this blog. First, in the last sixty days, exactly 28% of the pageviews on the site are one page - the community bitch page about Vector Security. The percentage is even higher if you include some other random pages that come up on a Google search for “vector security” and related terms. Which brings me to the second point - Drupal’s default “Clean URLs” are crap for search engine indexing. If none of this makes sense to you, stop reading now. Go read something else, like Bad Astronomy Blog or Whatever or any of the other millions of blogs out there. Some of them are certainly talking about something that interests you. But if you’re interested in what I’m doing to help people find me, read on. I want people to find me based on stuff I write about a lot - complaining, sports, probably some politics when we get closer to November. I appreciate the people who come here looking for Vector Security, but that’s not really my focus here. So I took some steps to become more search-engine-friendly. SEO, if you will. First, I installed multiping. By default, Drupal isn’t that good at pinging Technorati and whatnot. I think you can set it up with cron, but I don’t understand cron, and don’t feel like learning. Multiping takes the cron out of pinging. Now, Technorati gets updates whenever I post, and they can share my posts with the world. Then I added trackbacks. Trackbacks are one of those things, like the Metric system, that sound like a really good idea, but depend on widespread adoption to really succeed. But I figure it can’t hurt to be trackback-enabled. And I added pathauto. Now, the link for this post (As opposed to the link to the front page) is complainthub.com/blog/drupal-seo-and-you instead of complainthub.com/node/943. This is much more informative, and I think it’s much better for search engine indexing. So we’ll see how it goes. Either it will be awesome, and my traffic will go through the roof, or it will be exactly the same. Or somewhere in between. I’m betting on somewhere in between.

Posted in: blogging , Drupal , internet , seo

So we meet again

Friday, June 20, 2008

ShysterBall | Cito Gaston’s Second Coming

Gibbons is out in Toronto. Cito is back!

I hate Cito Gaston. Ever since the 1993 All Star Game, when he picked half the Blue Jays team and didn’t put hometown hero (Well, before he jumped ship to the Yankees) Mike Mussina into the game, I’ve hoped that bad things would happen to him. Not bad like losing a limb or a child or anything like that, but bad like losing an inordinate amount of socks in the dryer, or living next door to a really bad teenage garage band. And now he’s back as the manager of the Blue Jays. He was reasonably successful ten to fifteen years ago, but that’s a long time ago. Anyway, I wish him the worst possible luck in his continued management career. But, you know, nothing really bad.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , sports

Email Etiquette

Friday, June 20, 2008

We have a user email list at work that people can send mail to and have it distributed based on some permission algorithm that I don’t understand. It’s convenient for system status updates and whatnot. Today, someone with a higher admin level than I would have expected him to have sent an email FROM that email address to about 60 people. Within thirty seconds, I had fourteen autoreply emails from people on the list who were out of the office. Within ten minutes, the number had jumped to 29. First of all, why in the world are 50% of the people in that organization (The State Department) who use our tool out of the office? Second of all, who sends an email FROM a group address? It just means that any replies go to all, even if the replier doesn’t hit “reply all”. Third of all, it’s 3pm on Friday. I should totally not be thinking about work anymore.

Posted in: complaint , email , work

More spam poetry

Friday, June 20, 2008

A 21-YEAR-OLD man has gone missing after a night out in a city centre. Police are searching for Jonathan Jenkins who was last seen in Wind Street in the centre of Swansea last Sunday evening. Mr Jenkins, of Townhill, Swansea, was reported missing some time after he left a city centre pub to have a cigarette. A spokesman for Swansea Police said, ?He was in So Bar, in Wind Street, when he went for a cigarette outside at about 9.30pm, and he has not been seen since.¦ There is safe variant to have cigarettes from here:

This is the text of a spam comment I got on one of my older posts. It also included some links to buy cheap cigarettes online, which I won’t include here. It’s interesting that the spammers are starting to tell little stories about what they’re trying to sell you. This one is topical (More and more states, counties, and countries are banning smoking inside), pertinent (It talks about cigarettes, and then tries to sell them to me!), and slightly incoherent. I’ve never understood why they don’t edit these things. If they had posted this with no grammatical mistakes and only one link, it probably would have gotten through my spam filter. Anyway, just thought I’d share the comment before I deleted it. Here’s another.

Wednesday, 9am - A discarded cigarette caused a car to catch fire in Great Ponton, near Grantham, last night. The owner of the BMW Z3 extinguished the fire with a powder extinguisher by the time firefighters from Grantham arrived on the scene at around 6.15pm. The engine compartment was damaged in the fire. Be careful while smoking! Follow the smoking instruction here:

Posted in: art , poetry , spam

My scale goes to 10,000

Friday, June 20, 2008

Vinotrip | The Search For A Wine Rating System That Makes Sense

No longer must two wines be tied at 90, leaving intrepid point chasers scratching their heads while they decide which wine will impress their friends more. The tie can be broken, with one wine receiving a 904.5 and the other falling short at 901.9. Finally, the question can be answered: which wine is better?

I like my wine to be scored. That way, I can make an entirely mathematical decision on my purchase.

  1. Calculate the Points Per Dollar value (PPD): If the score is 92 and the wine costs $12.99, the DPP is 7.08.
  2. Subtract the California Penalty: My first introduction to California wines was Beringer and the like, and I’ve never quite forgiven the state, even though it does produce some great wines
  3. Add the Australia Bonus and the lesser New Zealand bonus : We went to Australia and New Zealand on our honeymoon and took a wine tour in Australia’s Barossa Valley, so I’m always partial to their wine. As an aside, “Zealand” is not in Firefox’s default dictionary. Weird.
  4. Add the label adjustment: The label should be interesting, but not too cutesy. If you have a cool label, you get a bonus. If you made a label you want me to think is cool, or if you phoned it in, you get demerits.
  5. Multiply by Planck’s Constant.
  6. Realize the wife, who can’t drink the wine until the baby is born, is getting antsy.
  7. Buy the bottle of Rosemount Shiraz on sale for $8.99. Actually, I should probably just keep heading over to Vinotrip for scores.
Posted in: wine

Hooray for placenta migration!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Just got back from our final sonogram appointment. The wife’s placenta, which was too close to the cervix at the last appointment, has migrated into a perfectly normal spot. Had it not moved, we would have had to schedule a C-section, which we really didn’t want. I mean, sure, if it’s the choice between C-section and serious danger to mother or child, we’ll take the C-section. Anyway, we’re both quite pleased. Her more than me, I imagine, since she’s the one who would have had her stomach cut open.

Posted in: Anti complaint , baby , health , parenting

Wow.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

I thought the Celtics were going to win Game 6. I didn’t think the Lakers had any chance of sweeping two in Boston. But I have to admit that I did not anticipate watching the Celtics absolutely blow the Lakers off the floor. That was incredible. The second half was like watching a #1 seed crush the winner of the play-in game. I hope this settles the argument once and for all - Kobe Bryant is not Michael Jordan. Aside from the first four minutes of this game, when he was spectacular, he might as well have been on the bench. My two major complaints: 1) ABC didn’t manage to get the HD feed working until the second quarter. Nice job, ABC. 2) The NBA took their really great “Where [whatever] happens” ad campaign and turned it into a really cheesy championship merchandise ad. Way to blow it at the last minute, NBA. Other than that, what a friggin' night.

Posted in: Anti complaint , basketball , sports

Go download Firefox 3 RIGHT NOW.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Today is the day! It’s Firefox Download Day! Their servers seem to have recovered from the earlier rush, so now is your chance to get Firefox 3. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to close other applications before starting Setup.

Posted in: Anti complaint , internet , nerd

Bring on Game 4

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

The Lakers won Game 3 at home last night, to the surprise of pretty much no one. However, if you’re a Lakers fan, you can’t possibly be happy with that game. Paul Pierce was in foul trouble the whole game, and wasn’t hitting his shots when he was in the game. Garnett didn’t shoot well. And it still took 20 points from Sasha Vujacic to beat Boston. I’m going to go ahead and go out on a limb and say that he doesn’t repeat that performance in this series. In any event, I feel good about the series. Pierce (2 for 14) and Garnett (6 for 21) will play better tomorrow. Kobe got to the line plenty of times and still didn’t dominate the game like the announcers keep saying he will. By the way, I am pretty tired of hearing about him the entire game. He is being contained. 36 points is nice, but nothing special for him, and he had one assist. If Odom and Gasol don’t step it up, this is going to be a tough run for the Lakers when Vujacic, Pierce, and Garnett go back to normal.

Posted in: basketball , complaint , sports

Back from Boston

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

imgp1119 So we’re back from Boston. The trip home sucked - I was tired and hungover after being out until 3, and our train was late, dumping us at Union Station just after midnight. Other than that, the trip was fantastic. The Game, if you didn’t watch it or read about it, was a good one for a Boston fan, so long as you ignore that little 31-9 run by the Lakers in the fourth. The company was fantastic as usual. I finally made it to Beer Works. And the experience of watching a Finals game at the Garden was incredible. The video I posted to Flickr doesn’t do it justice - my crappy little point-and-shoot didn’t pick up most of the crowd noise. But I think you get the idea. We left the game hoarse from yelling, and the wife has a little bruise on her wrist where her bracelet kept hitting when she clapped. There were some L.A. fans at the game, but not too many. It was funny listening to Celtics fans give them a hard time. It was mostly pretty good-natured. One kid walking behind us as we headed towards our seats was yelling at any Lakers fans he saw, until two big guys passed by. He shut up pretty quickly then. I turned around and laughed at him, and he sort of shrugged. I guess he hadn’t yet drank away his survival instinct. And now it’s almost time for Game 3.

Posted in: Anti complaint , basketball , sports

Just let me do my job

Friday, June 06, 2008

LifeHacker | IM Can Reduce Workplace Interruptions, Study Shows It has always driven me crazy that so many workplace IT departments block various web pages deemed as harmful to productivity. My philosophy is:

  • If I’m using too much bandwidth, reprimand me
  • If I’m not doing my job, reprimand me Otherwise, trust me to be an adult and do my job. Who are you to say what web sites I might need to do my job? At my previous job, we used GTalk all the time for legitimate work purposes (In addition to non-work purposes) before they blocked it. Dozens of times I’ve been researching a work problem and come up against a blocked website. I spend A LOT of time on the computer. Too much, some might say. And some of it is time spent at work on non-work things. I freely admit this. But I get my job done. Sometimes, GTalk helps me do that. Sometimes some sketchy-looking forum helps me do that. Sometimes Google Documents helps me do that. And sometimes I just want to putz around on eBay for fifteen minutes to clear my head. I think if employers started worrying more about actual employee productivity than micromanaging internet access, we’d all be a lot better off.
Posted in: complaint , internet , stupid people , work

I can't handle The Truth

Thursday, June 05, 2008

My wife, six months pregnant with our first child, on a yoga mat doing pregnancy exercises, just looked up at me and said, “I wouldn’t leave you for Paul Pierce, but I would think about it.”

Posted in: basketball , complaint , sports

More music from Nine Inch Nails

Thursday, June 05, 2008

More free music from Nine Inch Nails. Well, sort of. Free download of DRM-free MP3s of one Nine Inch Nails song from the most recent album, The Slip, and four songs from bands touring with Nine Inch Nails. Just downloaded and haven’t listened yet because the Celtics are on, but I recommend that everyone download this stuff. If you like it, consider buying a cd or going to a show or something.

Posted in: Anti complaint , music , nine inch nails

More and more annoyed

Thursday, June 05, 2008

The more I think about it, the more I’m annoyed that I missed the Nationals game today. How often do you see a guy like Albert Pujols walk on to the field as a pinch hitter and hit his 297th career home run? This guy is twenty-eight. His career batting average is .333, OBP .423, SLG .621. If you aren’t a baseball fan, you may not understand those numbers. That’s okay. They’re absurd. If he plays at more or less this level for the next five to ten years, which is what’s going to happen unless he gets hurt, he is a first ballot Hall of Famer, the kind of guy you don’t even debate. It’s just a given. So I’m pretty disappointed that I didn’t get to see him. And the Cardinals aren’t coming back to DC this season. I’ll see him one of these days, though. Next year I get an earlier shot at the company season tickets, so I should be able to pick up a Cardinals game. Now back to the basketball game.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , sports

Rainout

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Running for coverThe Nationals game was rained out last night, so I didn’t get to see Albert Pujols. It was fun anyway - we wandered around the stadium, stopped at Ben’s Chili Bowl, and then came home. I actually saw someone wearing a McGwire shirt. I’m kind of surprised - I thought he was pretty much disgraced and forgotten. I mean, he was my favorite player growing up, and I wouldn’t wear a McGwire shirt. There was also a tiny girl in an Eckstein jersey, probably about the size of Eckstein himself. I’d guess she weighed about 95 pounds. I almost took a picture of her to send to Fire Joe Morgan, but then I thought she might not appreciate it. Edit to add: They’re making up the game today at 1, which doesn’t really work for my schedule, but Pujols isn’t playing. I don’t really mind missing a game between the awful Nationals and the Pujols-free Cardinals. Edit again to add: Pujols pinch hit in the 7th and hit one out in a 4-1 Cardinals win. Now I’m annoyed. I should have gone to the game.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , dc , harvardstreet , sports

My wife is the good kind of crazy

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

So it looks like I’m going to Boston this weekend. The wife has orchestrated a huge family-and-friends get-together at Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday. All the details aren’t yet in, but it looks like my father-in-law and at least two brothers-in-law will be there, plus some other friends. We’re taking the train up on Sunday, in part because we have a wedding in Annapolis on Saturday. Then back home on the train on Monday to go back to work Tuesday, since we’re missing the following Monday for our Vegas trip. I thought Paris was our babymoon, but I guess I was wrong. Games at the Garden when the wife was living in Connecticut have achieved legendary status, so I’m looking forward to this. I’ve never been to a pro sports playoff game. I guess Celtics-Lakers is a good way to start. Of course, we’re busy at work right now. So I’m going to be working on the train, which should be interesting. But at least I have that option.

Posted in: Anti complaint , basketball , sports , travel

The future of paper

Monday, June 02, 2008

Seth’s Blog: Do you own trees?

Many businesses act as if they have a stake in their suppliers and other vendors. Instead of scaling the part of their business that can move quickly and well, they defend the part they don’t even own.

Many in the music industry are figuring out that there are new ways to make money. As Techdirt says, every aspect of the music business is growing rapidly except the sale of plastic discs with music on them. And Godin says, “there are more people reading more news every day than ever before”. He doesn’t substantiate his claim, but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. And then he talks about the book industry.

I worry about my esteemed friends in the book publishing industry as well. The amazing thing about the Times story today was the report that the mood at BEA was ‘unease’ about ebooks. The fastest-growing, lowest cost segment of the business, the one that offers the most promise, the best possible outcome and has the best results… is causing unease!

This is what hits closest to home for me. I like to maintain that I have a book or two in me somewhere that will come out eventually. But I look at the industry of selling pieces of paper with words on them and I think it’s in trouble. It hasn’t happened yet because no one has made the book equivalent of the iPod (No, you didn’t do it, Amazon. The Kindle is kind of cool, but not there yet), but ebooks WILL be better than books. It’s inevitable. We’ll all miss the feel of paper in our hands, but we’ll get over it because of all the things you’ll be able to do with electronic words that you couldn’t with paper ones. And since the marginal cost of producing an additional copy of an ebook is nothing, the price of ebooks must go to zero in an efficient market. Sure, the book industry can go down the same route as the music industry did and put artificial barriers in place to drive up prices. But that kind of an industry can’t last for long. It’s economically inefficient, and it’s insulting to the customer who just wants not to be treated like a criminal. So, how do we get authors to write more books? Sure, JK Rowling can make money without selling paper books. The top authors in the world, and some who hit small but dedicated niches, and some other authors in special situations will all make money. But what is the equivalent of concert tickets in the book industry? Speaking engagements? That might work for a few, but not for most. I don’t know the answer. I don’t know how we can replace the paper book industry with the ebook industry. I wish I did, because I’d be in good position to make a lot of money.

Posted in: books , failed business model , Wind kissing

Best Buy electronics recycling comes to Columbia Heights!

Monday, June 02, 2008

Via Gizmodo, our new local Best Buy in Columbia Heights is part of the free electronics recycling test.

Starting June 1, 117 stores in the Baltimore, San Francisco, and Minnesota markets are inviting customers to bring in no more than two (2) units per day, per household, for recycling at no charge. Customers can bring items such as televisions and monitors up to 32”, computers, phones, cameras, and other electronics devices and peripherals in for recycling.

This is really great for DC residents, because while the dump does take electronics to be recycled, my one experience there ended with a never-ending line that I soon abandoned. And now the old and busted computer sitting in the trunk of my car can finally have a new home!

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , Harvard Street , harvardstreet , recycling , Wind kissing

Bill Simmons is fired

Saturday, May 31, 2008

I read Bill Simmons for a long time. He’s written some funny articles, and his nomination of Bo Jackson as the greatest video game athlete of all time is absolutely right. And he was cool, years ago, when the Celtics, Red Sox, and Patriots all sucked. He’d talk about his beloved local teams now and then, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t ignore. But when they started doing well, it became quite clear that he would be better off writing for the Boston Globe and not something national. Well, maybe he wouldn’t be better off, but we would. He couldn’t go a paragraph without mentioning his teams. And I actually used to like the Pats and the Sox - my grandmother spends a lot of time in New England, so she got to root for both teams a bit, and since they were both terrible for a long time, I was happy to root for them when they weren’t playing the Orioles or Redskins. And then they got good. You, Red Sox fans, are some of the most annoying in all of sports. Some of you, the real die hards, are okay. But most of you have been waiting years, not for your team to be as good as the Yankees, but for you to have the excuse to be as annoying as Yankees fans. It only took one World Series victory to turn you from lovable underdogs into Yankees fans who wear red. But back to Simmons. He had an internship contest that my brother entered. He went to great lengths to explain how he was going to choose the winner, and then ignored all his rules and chose someone who simply aped his style. I stopped reading him completely a few years ago. I just got tired of him talking about his favorite teams all the time. I’d stop reading an article as soon as he started to gush about a Boston team, and pretty soon there wasn’t much for me to read. Many of you may have read this article, which I did not, but apparently it’s not flattering to the Celtics. The wife directs me to this response from Celtics Blog.

From here on out: Stop It. Just Stop. We no longer want you talking about our team publicly. You’ve lost all credibility with Celtics fans. All of it. Don’t bother with some lame and dumb reverse jinx excuse to explain your writing. And really, spare us the joyous article after we do win the title. None of us want to hear about it from Showtime Simmons. Enjoy rooting for Kobe, we hope you’ll be happier sitting next to Diane Cannon, just don’t tell us about it.

I hope he takes it to heart. He has to decide if he’s really a fan, in which case he should write for a Boston area publication and love his teams no matter what, or he can be a national columnist and pretend he cares about other teams in the league (Aside from, apparently, the Lakers). And speaking of the Celtics (The one team from Boston I still like, because the wife loves them and I never had a basketball team I cared about), I actually agree with Mike Wilbon for the first time in a while - the offensive foul on Paul Pierce that they called on his late three point attempt was absolutely awful. I’m glad it didn’t end up affecting the outcome, because it was just terrible. Tayshaun Prince jumped in the air and landed on Pierce while he was shooting and somehow it’s an offensive foul? Crazy. Anyway, I’m looking forward to game 1 on Thursday. Unlike Simmons, I actually want the Celtics to win, and think they can do it. It’ll be tough - LA is a great team. But it can be done, and it can be done by the Celtics. Edit to add: An LA fan thinks that Simmons sucks, too.

Posted in: basektball , funny , sports

Security Theater is getting literal

Friday, May 30, 2008

BoingBoing | European airlines test spycams in every seat that “detect terrorism” in your facial expressions

The European Union’s Security of Aircraft in the Future European Environment (SAFEE) project uses a camera in every passenger’s seat, with six wide-angle cameras to survey the aisles. Software then analyses the footage to detect developing terrorist activity or “air-rage” incidents, by tracking passengers' facial expressions…

This is SUCH a good idea. I can’t wait until they implement this and they start diverting flights because stoned idiots on the way to Amsterdam are making faces at the camera, or maybe someone who’s agoraphobic is sweating and tense. This will be even better than detaining infants who have names on the terrorist watch list.

At least it isn’t the United States this time. I’m comforted to see that we don’t have a monopoly on totally absurd security theater.

There was discussion at the birthing class of bringing breast milk in your carry-on, and how TSA had initially banned it with their ridiculous no-liquids rule. I think they first amended the rule to allow breast milk if you had the baby with you, and then again to allow it without a baby. That way, women on trips away from the baby who were faithfully pumping and storing the milk for their return would be able to do so.

First, I think it’s good that they allow this - it’s much more of a big deal than I realized before the wife got pregnant. But second, if breast milk is safe on the plane, then SO ARE OTHER LIQUIDS. It is utterly insane to think that six ounces of shampoo will cause a plane to crash into the White House, but a long weekend worth of breast milk is totally safe.

Anyway, I wish the terrorists who hate our freedom would try a plot involving things I don’t like. Maybe they could hatch a plot to put bombs in wheelie bags and drag them around the city! That would be great! Then maybe we could ban those stupid things from getting in my way when I’m walking to work. And I wish these terrorists would have a little concern for MY feelings and MY needs. Selfish jerks.

Posted in: airlines , complaint , stupid people , travel

Birthing Class

Thursday, May 29, 2008

We went to our second birthing class today. I continue to feel ridiculous carrying a pillow down Columbia Road. Last week, someone wanted to buy the pillows from us. This week someone asked us if we were on our way to a pillow fight. He did congratulate us when I told him why we were carrying them, so there’s that, but still. Class today was about nutrition. It was a lot of stuff we already knew, and the wife is already doing most of the things that the instructor recommended, but it’s nice to get the reinforcement. The solo husbands from last week both brought wives this time. I imagine the class is more interesting with a partner.

Posted in: baby , parenting

Help Firefox set a world record

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Download Day 2008 is coming. We’re just not sure when. They’re trying to set a world record for software downloads in a day. Since you should be using Firefox 3 as soon as it comes out, this is a great opportunity. In case you haven’t tried Firefox, it is light years ahead of Internet Explorer. Even IE7, which Microsoft put out to implement a bunch of functionality that’s been in Firefox and other browsers for quite some time, is a steaming pile of crap compared to Firefox. Anyway, join in. It’ll be fun to watch the Mozilla Foundation’s servers melt with the download traffic.

Posted in: computers , geek , internet

My happy hour was a success

Thursday, May 29, 2008

A couple weeks ago, I started planning a happy hour for the Columbia Heights Forum because people were starting to argue a bit too much, as people tend to do on forums. I figured it would be more friendly if people met each other in person. So the happy hour was last night at Wonderland, and it was pretty cool. I met a few people I “know” from the forum, and we had some local blog coverage (The Heights Life has a picture of our group at that link). There was a bit of discussion about making these meetups a little more regular, so we’ll see what happens. There are still a few forum regulars I’m dying to meet in person. Edit to add: In the comments to the Heights Life post, there is a discussion EXACTLY like the discussions that prompted me to plan the happy hour in the first place. People get angrier discussing things on the internet because you can’t see a person’s face, you can’t hear the tone of their voice, you can’t get the non-verbal cues that tell you what the person is really saying. And it’s anonymous - it’s much easier to hate someone you don’t actually know. So I think it’s kind of amusing that the post about the happy hour generated exactly the sort of discussion that the happy hour was supposed to prevent.

Posted in: Anti complaint , beer , dc , Harvard Street , harvardstreet

Maybe Metallica finally gets it

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Ethan Kaplan, the VP of technology at Warner Bros. Records, just announced a new website for Metallica that makes it look like they’ve finally decided that music plus internet is not necessarily bad. The site looks like it’s trying to build a community of fans by giving them some free stuff, deals on merchandise, and promoting the new album. It’s too bad I’m not still fourteen and eager to buy anything Metallica produced. It’s funny that the crotchety old guys who wanted to kill the entire internet when people first realized they could download music illegally are now near the front of the pack of major (Okay, it’s questionable if Metallica counts as “major” these days, but bear with me) bands embracing a “I can make more money by giving away non-scarce goods to promote the scarce ones” business model.

Posted in: Anti complaint , failed business model , music

A trip to Camden Yards

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Camden YardsThe Orioles climbed out last place yesterday with a win over the Yankees. The wife and I went with two other couples. I had almost forgotten how much I like the stadium in Baltimore. The new Nationals Park is nice, but it’s no Camden Yards. I suppose that may be because the Orioles are my team, and I’d love their park no matter what. Anyway, it’s kind of depressing to go to a game there these days. Thanks to Peter Angelos and his commitment to pretending to want to win, attendance at Camden Yards is pretty sad. There were more Yankees fans than Orioles fans (Although most of the Yankees fans left after the Orioles went up 6-0 in the seventh). I’ve never been to a sporting event where the visiting fans were so overpowering. There were Yankees chants that Orioles fans mostly ignored. I guess it’s hard to yell back when you’re outnumbered. The win was nice. Garrett Olson was pretty dominant in seven shutout innings. Nick Markakis had three hits, two runs, and two RBIs. And aside from Matsui and his three hits, the Yankees were pretty pathetic on offense. And we saw a drunk woman in a Jeter shirt get escorted out by security. We saw an Orioles fan propose to his girlfriend (She said yes). And the weather was beautiful. Now all we need to do is a few more wins to put some distance between us and the bottom of the division.

Posted in: Anti complaint , baseball , sports

Mars Landing

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Bad Astronomy Blog and countless others are all over this, but it took seeing pictures to really get me excited. We just landed something on Mars that is going to try and find out if there is or was or could be life on the planet. That’s pretty friggin' cool. The potential for life on Mars doesn’t really excite me that much - it’s not like we’re going to meet E.T. or anything. The life we’re hoping to find is either long dead or just a couple of cells. Scientifically fascinating and important if it’s there, but not that big a deal for the average person. But Mars. It’s incredible that we can actually put a little machine on the planet, and then have it do stuff and send back information. Kinda makes you wonder why there are still places you can’t get decent cell phone reception.

Posted in: Anti complaint , cool , science , space

Getting rid of some books

Monday, May 26, 2008

Last night I joined BookMooch to get rid of some of the extra books I have lying around that no one will ever read again. They range from old paperbacks I bought for plane trips to pretty new hardbacks that I read but didn’t love. I mean, I’m not giving away my tattered paperback Catch-22 that I’ve read a dozen times, or my signed copy of Halting State. But I have plenty of books that I don’t need. BookMooch works by giving you points for giving away books. 1/10 of a point for listing a book you’re willing to give. One point for actually sending it, and 3 for sending it overseas. For each point, you can request a book from someone else. The sender always pays shipping. So I listed eleven books last night that I’m willing to part with. Within an hour, I already had four requests, and by this morning it was up to six. So it looks like I’m making a trip to the post office tomorrow. And I have some space on our bookshelves for some new (Or new to me) books. I think the wife is a little skeptical about the whole thing - we’re trying to get rid of stuff to make room for the incoming baby, not get random people to send us books. But I think she’ll be fine as long as I keep a good ratio of sent-to-received books.

Posted in: Anti complaint , books , internet , reading

Saturday Night at Nationals Park

Sunday, May 25, 2008

DSC_9672We went to our first game using my company’s season tickets. The seats are great, just past first base. The results of the game weren’t too great - a 5-2 loss to the Brewers. Luckily, I’m an Orioles fan, and I don’t really care too much if the Nats lose. Not many others seem to care, either - 30,029 was the announced attendance, just shy of ¾ full. For a beautiful Saturday night over Memorial Day weekend, I expected a full house. There were a ton of kids there - the lines for ice cream were crazy, but it was easy to get a beer. The rest of the pictures are here. They’re probably only really interesting to me, but you’re welcome to look at them, too. DSC_9707I’m looking forward to our next game - the Cardinals are in town, and we’ll get a good look at Albert Pujols at first. Always nice to see a future first ballot Hall of Famer in the prime of his career. And we saw Charlie Manning’s major league debut. He gave up a hit and struck out two, so I imagine he’s pleased with that. Finally, we made a return trip to Ben’s Chili Bowl, fantastic as usual. For $7, the veggie chili cheese fries are a deal by ballpark standards. Going to the stadium and skipping Ben’s is just crazy.

Posted in: Anti complaint , baseball , dc

An internet company with customer service?

Friday, May 23, 2008

This story has popped up on at least a half dozen sites I read more or less regularly over the last few days, and it’s pretty interesting. Zappos, who are as far as I know the ONLY place to buy shoes online (I mean, the only place it’s worth your time to buy shoes), hire new employees, train them for four weeks, then offer them $1000 to quit. This means that they only get employees who actually want to be there. I’ve said over and over how Dell was so much cooler when they still cared about customer service, but it’s a little more surprising to see this coming from an industry where there’s a lot more room to play with the prices. I would expect Zappos to be able to better compete on price because there’s so much markup on shoes (One of the few things I learned about the money side of the business while working at Boater’s World in high school - the store makes tons more profit on shoes and clothes than on electronics). Dell, meanwhile, has a much smaller profit margin on their computers, so it seems logical that they’d have to compete with HP and the others on something else. I’ve never bought from Zappos, in part because I have weird feet and it’s often hard for me to find comfortable shoes. But if their customer service is as great as people make it out to be, maybe I should try.

Posted in: Anti complaint , customer service , internet

Jim "One Inning" Johnson and the Orioles

Thursday, May 22, 2008

The other day I wrote about how Orioles reliever Jim Johnson picked up a nice hold, then gave up a run before getting lifted. Well, he did it again. The first inning he closed out wasn’t dramatic - he got Jeter to line out with a runner on to end the inning in a tie game in the bottom of the eighth. But his second inning was sure dramatic. Single, strikeout, strikeout, walk, and then Robinson Cano singles to win the game. It seems pretty clear from these two games (which is too small a sample size but I don’t care) that Johnson should not be allowed to pitch a second inning. Looking at his gamelogs on Baseball Reference, this isn’t true. It’s just the two games that I’ve noticed where he closed out an inning nicely, then pitched badly when he came out to start the following inning. Anyway, tough loss. Wastes a nice start by Brian Burres. But we’re still third, and they’re still last. So that’s cool.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , sports

Birthing classes and onesies

Thursday, May 22, 2008

We’ve gone through two pretty big baby milestones in the last few days. The most recent was our Bradley Method class that we just got back from. It was kind of long (Two hours, and she ran over about 15 minutes Two hours and fifteen minutes), but it sounds like it will be good stuff to know. There are 8 other couples in the class. Two of the mothers didn’t make it to the first class, which seems pretty weird, but I’m sure they had their reasons. But birthing class doesn’t really make this seem real to me. I mean, obviously it’s real - the wife is showing, and I’ve felt the baby kicking, I’ve seen it hopping around on the sonogram. But it still seems like something that’s forever in the future. But the other milestone really brings home the reality of the baby. The wife has started buying some baby clothes (She’s getting a little addicted to Ebay and Freecycle, I think), and seeing these little onesies make the baby seem much more real to me than anything else. So, if you’re a dad-to-be, and you’re having a hard time getting your head around this, I recommend getting some baby clothes and just imagine putting them on your own kid. It’s definitely working for me.

Posted in: kids , parenting

No wine snobbery here

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Some may not know the 2005 Selbach Riesling Dry, but this guy does.

Riesling is one of the noblest of all grapes, capable of creating wines of the highest quality and in the widest range of styles.

I’d have to agree. I’ve always found them to be quite noble.

The 2005 Selbach Riesling is a straightforward, virtually dry version with bright and fresh fruit flavors reminiscent of apples and melons.

I’m not sure why, in a 300 word review, he only dedicates two sentences to the wine he’s making his Pick of the Week. But whatever. Then we have this guy, who says of the 2004 vintage:

This pale, straw yellow wine is wonderfully refreshing, crisp, and clean. Aromas of apple and citrus are mellow, but the tart flavors of green, Granny Smith-type apples and lemon, explode in your mouth.

And some say the wine is “weak and violently acidic”. Saying it in comic strip form gives it that je ne sais quoi so often lacking in snarky wine reviews. But what happens, you might ask, when you crack a bottle of the 2005 Selbach Riesling Dry, drink a little bit, and then leave it in the fridge, the cork shoved back in, for an entire month? I’m here to answer that question. I have to say that it holds up all right. I’m not a really knowledgeable wine guy. I love my 2004 Gibson Wilfreda, and if I see a Rosemount Shiraz for under $10 at the grocery store, I’m all over it. But I don’t drink a lot of white wine. This month-old Riesling is still quite pleasant, though. I think it might not be as crisp as it once was, but it pairs well with Mexican veggie burgers and Law and Order reruns. So, if you’re like me, and you have an old bottle of this, half open in the fridge, and it’s just bugging you every time you open the fridge, don’t pour it out. Have a glass. You won’t regret it.

Posted in: Anti complaint , wine

THAT'S how you pitch

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Orioles thump Yankees, 12-2 What is going on with Daniel Cabrera? Seven innings, 86 pitches (52 for strikes), no walks, and the only runs he allowed were on a two run home run by the guy who’s going to break Bonds' record. His season WHIP is 1.23, down from over 1.5 for his career. It sounds like he’s actually listening to me when I say, “Hey, Cabrera, you have a hell of an arm - THROW STRIKES”. Apparently there was a little bit of an uproar after LaTroy Hawkins retaliated for Cabrera hitting Jeter in the hand by throwing one behind Luke Scott. As is my usual disclaimer, I didn’t see the game. But if Daniel Cabrera hits your guy in the hand, you can pretty much assume it was accidental. Yes, he’s been throwing more strikes recently. But he still has a 7 walk game this year. He walked 9 in his first 10 innings pitched. The guy has control issues. I mean, if Greg Maddux hits your guy, then absolutely retaliate. It was totally on purpose. But Cabrera? Give him a break. The best part about this is it keeps the Orioles three games back, keeps the Yankees in last place, and was a rare “good hitting performance and good pitching performance in the same game” for the Orioles.

Posted in: Anti complaint , baseball

Thanks, Mount Pleasant Mainstreet

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

The banner is gone! Apparently the contractors fixed their mistake, and our street is no longer mistakenly identified as Mount Pleasant. Nice turnaround time on the fix, too. Isn’t it nice when everything goes your way?

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , Harvard Street , harvardstreet

Study to be taken with a grain of salt

Monday, May 19, 2008

Via Gizmodo, a new study suggests that cellphone use while pregnant will cause behavioral problems in children. I don’t buy this. Partly it’s because the article is pretty light on facts. But it doesn’t even address the possibility that maybe mothers who spend their lives glued to the cellphone are not giving their kids enough attention, which leads to the behavioral problems. Cellphone use may be the symptom of the cause, but not the cause itself. Maybe the study addresses this point and refutes it, but the article doesn’t get into that. And I’m inclined not to believe any of the “OMG excessive use of X leads to horrible result Y!” studies that always focus on some technology that’s become common in the last five to ten years and seem to explain away some horrible plague upon our society. Every generation has new technologies, and every generation has new problems. There isn’t necessarily a cause and effect relationship here. Anyway, maybe the study gets into all that, but we’ll never know. Unless you’re one of those weird people who actually research this sort of thing instead of just bitching about it.

Posted in: kids , parenting , science

What's wrong with New Orleans basketball fans?

Monday, May 19, 2008

Is there some reason I’m not aware of for New Orleans fans booing the Spurs every time they touch the ball? I mean, I’m all for supporting your team. And I’m fine with some booing here and there. When an opposing player insults your town or your team, boo him. That’s part of being a fan. But when you boo the Spurs every time they touch the ball, when you boo Tim friggin' Duncan, who helps opponents up off the floor, you are bad fans. I had been on the fence on this series because I frankly don’t care about either team, but Chris Paul is pretty amazing, and Duncan has been very good for a good while. But now I’m rooting for the Spurs. I know New Orleans has been through a lot as a city in the last few years, and I have no idea what that’s like, but it’s no excuse for being just awful fans. I’ve never heard so much booing.

Posted in: basketball , complaint , sports

Mount Pleasant misplaced a banner

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Many of you in the DC area have probably seen the street light banners advertising various neighborhoods around the city. I think it’s a cool idea. It can help you identify a neighborhood, and I think they try to contain a little bit of the unique elements of each neighborhood. But Mount Pleasant, an otherwise lovely neighborhood, is infringing on our turf. The eastern edge of Mount Pleasant is 16th Street. This makes it a little surprising to see one of their banners proudly displayed on the 1400 block of Harvard Street. I’m not sure if I should really be so annoyed about this. The wife tells me that, back when Columbia Heights was getting its Metro stop, they wanted to call it Columbia Heights/Mount Pleasant. At the time, Mount Pleasant was a much nicer neighborhood, and wanted nothing to do with Columbia Heights. Now that Columbia Heights has a new infusion of shopping and restaurants, apparently we’re not so distasteful anymore. I emailed Mount Pleasant Mainstreet, the organization that sponsors the banners, to see what the big idea was. I’ll let you know what they tell me. Edit to add: I got a reply from them already.

If that’s true then it’s a huge mistake from the contractor. Thanks for pointing that out. I’ll bike over and take a look and have them correct this. We’re missing several on Mt Pleasant St. Thanks, [Mount Pleasant Mainstreet guy]

Posted in: complaint , dc , Harvard Street , harvardstreet

Preakness!

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Beautiful day for Preakness yesterday. We had a huge group this year. It’s a family tradition for my wife, ever since her dad started going years ago. This is my fourth year going. We sit in the stands with the civilized people, rather than in the infield with the drunken idiots. We arrived yesterday just before the 6th race of the day. I like to do a little betting, probably two $2 bets per race, more or less. Usually a little more on the actual Preakness race. This year, we brought a friend, Heather, whose father is a pretty serious horse race enthusiast. He sent her some tips on the races. On his advice, I bet a $2 exacta on the sixth race, on #3 Roshani and #4 Lady Digby. Imagine my surprise as they came around to finish in just that order, just ahead of #1 Valbenny, the pre-race favorite. I won $21.40 on that bet, which was a pretty nice way to start the day. We didn’t have any tips for race 7, so I had to make my own decisions. I liked #1, Roman Emperor, one of the favorites, and the wife liked #5, Da' Tara. I was even more surprised to win that exacta, too, paying off $12. The word on the 8th race was #8, True to Tradition. I put down a $2 bet for a friend on him to place, and one for myself. I made my (so far) only mistake on the betting machine and accidentally bet him to show, but figured I’d keep the ticket anyway. When he finished second, both tickets paid, $5.20 and $4.20. I didn’t win anything else on the night, but I did get to see an impressive win in the Preakness by Big Brown. It sure looks like he has a good shot at the Triple Crown. Last time we had one of those was the year I was born. I didn’t see the race. And I ended the day up $10 (Well, not including what I spent on things other than betting). Any day of betting where you end up with more than you came with is a good day of betting. After the race, we went to Chiapparelli’s in Little Italy in Baltimore for dinner. It was good. They did a nice job serving our huge party, although they were a little late seating us. When you arrive 15 minutes early for a reservation, and get seated 10 minutes late, that’s kind of annoying. But it didn’t spoil our evening.

Posted in: Anti complaint , things to do

Damn you, loose bricks!

Friday, May 16, 2008

The wife and I took the bus today (Stupid rain on Bike to Work Day), thinking that would keep us dry. We slept with the window open, and it was raining pretty steadily when we woke up. When we walked out of the house, it really wasn’t raining much. We could have walked, but then we would have had to go back inside so I could change. So we continued on to the bus. Three of them came right away, so we managed to get a seat together, and were off. Then it started to drip. Inside the bus. Luckily, we were wearing our handy matching raincoats, so that wasn’t too big a deal. Then we got off the bus and went our separate directions. I turned onto 15th, and just before I crossed New York Avenue, I stepped on a loose brick in the sidewalk. It splashed a substantial amount of dirty rainwater onto my right pant leg and shoe. The moral of the story is that rain sucks and we should have just walked.

Posted in: complaint , dc , harvardstreet , work

I have powers you can't even imagine

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

It’s been about three and a half hours since I complained about the lack of 64 bit Flash for Linux. Just a minute ago, I was checking out the latest on my RSS feed, and there was a Flash video on BoingBoing. Firefox popped up the little message, asking if I wanted to install the plugin. I figured it wouldn’t work, but I did it anyway. The package manager installed flashplugin-nonfree, and it worked! I can watch YouTube videos! I can use Google Analytics! Even MLB GameDay works! It’s amazing! So, I apologize, Ubuntu. You’ve been so good to me, and I nearly kicked you to the curb just because Fedora put out a new distro. But I’m back now. I’m right back on the Ubuntu bandwagon. On a side note, I’m available for freelance complaining. This is not the first time I’ve complained about something that was magically fixed soon afterwards. For a very reasonable hourly rate, I’ll complain about something that you’d like fixed. Results not guaranteed. Nor even expected.

Posted in: Anti complaint , computer , geek , linux , Ubuntu

Oh, Ubuntu, you make me laugh

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

I tried out Fedora for a few minutes. The Gnome desktop looks just like Ubuntu. I’m going to do some research and see what the real differences are. When I rebooted into Ubuntu, I had some upgrades to install, which I did. One of them popped up this message:

A security certificate which was automatically created for your local system needs to be replaced due to a flaw which renders it insecure. This will be done automatically. If you don’t know anything about this, you can safely ignore this message.

That’s pretty awesome.

Posted in: Anti complaint , computers , funny , geek , linux , Ubuntu

Is anyone else annoyed by Ubuntu 8.04?

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

I’ve been pretty underwhelmed by Ubuntu 8.04 - Hardy Heron. I upgraded from 7.10, which I was pretty happy with, and I’d kind of like to go back. I haven’t been getting crashes or freezes or anything like that, but it’s not more polished and stable than 7.10. Also, Firefox 3 Beta is annoying. A couple of the plugins I really like for Firefox 2 don’t work yet, and the new features aren’t cool enough to make it worth the upgrade for me. I also suspect some of my dissatisfaction is not 8.04’s fault - the lack of 64 bit Linux support in Adobe’s Flash is a huge pain. There are some websites that just don’t work without Flash (Some of them, like Google Analytics, are actually useful). And I can’t get Flash to work anymore. But it wasn’t working in 7.10, either. Anyway, I just downloaded and burned a live cd for Fedora 9, and I think I’m going to try it out. I don’t know if I’ll replace Ubuntu, but it’s worth a try. I can still be a smug Linux convert with Fedora. Maybe even smugger because Ubuntu is more mainstream than Fedora.

Posted in: complaint , computers , geek , Ubuntu

Awful website, great restaurant

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The wife and I had dinner at Rumba Cafe in Adams Morgan last night. It was a 1000 point reservation at Open Table, which puts us almost to a $50 gift certificate to any restaurant that deals with Open Table, which is awesome. The Rumba Cafe website seems to be under maintenance this morning (I think it should be euthanized, personally (And did you know that “euthanized” isn’t in the default Firefox dictionary? Weird)), but no matter. We sat outside, since it was so nice last night. The service was very good, the beer mediocre, and the food was excellent. I had the steak with a fried egg on top, served with rice and black beans and a fried plantain. Reminded me of Costa Rican “casados”, which I love. The wife had some kind of fish, I forget what, but it was good, too. I highly recommend Adams Morgan when it’s not overrun with kids (By kids I mean 23-year-olds). 8PM on a Tuesday it’s alive with people (Plenty of kickballers and others just out for dinner or a drink) but doesn’t have that “everyone around you is wasted” vibe that it gets on the weekend. It was just a nice spring evening.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , food , harvard street , restaurant , things to do

Orioles beat Beckett and the Sox

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The Orioles came back from an early 3-0 deficit last night to beat Josh Beckett and the Red Sox. I’m sorry I missed the game, but I was having dinner with the wife (Post to come) and then watching basketball. The game puts the Sox a half game back from first place Tampa Bay (Never thought I’d write those four words) and keeps the O’s in third, 3 back. Not a bad place to be for a team expected to win 65 games this year. Now, I’ve complained about the hold before. It’s a stupid stat that rarely measures anything of real value to a baseball team. But there was an interesting hold credited last night to an Orioles pitcher. So, top of the seventh, Boston leads off with two singles, so we have guys on first and second with no outs. It’s 5-3, Baltimore. Jamie Walker relieves Jeremy Guthrie and promptly throws a wild pitch and walks Ortiz to load the bases for Manny. Pretty much anyone who has ever heard of baseball knows that no outs, bases loaded, and Manny Ramirez at the plate is bad times for the defense. This could be very ugly, very soon. Jim Johnson relieves Walker and Manny grounds into a double play, then Mike Lowell pops out to end the inning. THIS IS A HOLD. Bases loaded, no outs in the seventh, two run lead, and the 4-5-6 hitters coming up - allowing no runs here is a really nice pitching performance. I have no problem giving the guy credit for a hold here. But I do have a problem with the next inning, where with one out, Johnson walks two and gives up an RBI single before getting lifted for the closer. So, we have to try and get to the root of the hold. Is it given for getting out of a jam, regardless of the next inning? That is, let’s say he had given up a two-run home run before getting lifted, making the score 6-5 Sox. Does he still get the hold for the previous inning? Maybe my real problem here is my reaction to pitchers issuing walks. I think it’s because I feel like, if the pitcher allows a hit, then the batter beat him. It sucks, but it happens. But if the pitcher allows a walk, then he beat himself. I mean, sure, some guys are better at drawing walks than others, but in the end, the pitcher still has to throw four pitches that don’t go through the strike zone and don’t provoke a swing. Maybe my initial reaction to Johnson’s night would have been better if he’d just given up two hits and the run instead of the two walks. Anyway, I still hate the hold stat. But at least Johnson earned it this time.

Posted in: anti-complaint , baseball , sports , statistics

DDOT is a pain

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

The parking saga continues. A response today from DDOT, and the email I sent back are here. The wife wrote the email that I sent back. I may be the complainer in the household, but she’s better at snippy. We make a good team.

Posted in: complaint , dc , Harvard Street , harvardstreet , parking

DDOT doesn't answer my question

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

An unacceptable response from DDOT:

There are 5 “Emergency No Parking” signs posted in 1400 block of Harvard Street, NW. The developers Eagle Bank have a valid permit that is valid until May 20, 2008. They will be taking up 5-feet on the north and south side of Harvard Street.

And another email in the chain, ostensibly from me but composed by the wife:

Thank you for getting back to me, but your reply is not responsive to my initial request. My concern was whether there is any oversight in doling out the “Emergency No Parking” signs. The signs were initially posted on May 6 (when I emailed originally), with an effective date of May 6. There should be a 72-hour notice period for residents, which means the signs should not have been effective until at least May 9. (I understand that they’re effective now, but that is because it took you a week to tell me that there were no parking signs on my street). That was my concern - not whether they contractors will have five-feet of space reserved on both the north and south side of Harvard, which incidentally is not what they have “reserved”. They have secured at least four car lengths on both sides of the street - which unless you’re driving a really small car far exceeds five feet. Your “response” therefore begs a further question - in addition to who is overseeing the proper posting of the “Emergency No Parking” signs, does anyone actually oversee whether those with a valid permit are using their permit validly? Forgive me if this sounds a little snippy - but we have been dealing with restricted parking on our street for over a year now with dumpsters and other “Emergency No Parking” signs and it is frustrating that no one seems to give a thought to those of us who live and park on that street. Just to be clear on what my request is - could you please let me know about any oversight that is in place and with whom I can raise any future issues regarding timely “Emergency No Parking” notifications or other concerns over similar parking restrictions on my street?

Guess who's getting foot surgery

Monday, May 12, 2008

If you guessed this guy, you win! Your prize is that you get to come by and ice my foot for 48 hours after I have a bunion removed from the joint of my left big toe. No, my foot doesn’t look like the one on the Wikipedia page. Mine isn’t nearly that bad. The joint is just a little red and sticks out a little more than it should. I’ve been having some pain in my foot for a while. I thought it was related to running, but it turns out that running was just making it uncomfortable, not causing it. Bunions, it turns out, are hereditary. My sister had one removed maybe last year, and says the surgery wasn’t too bad. I’ll be off my feet for two days, then I get to wear some special shoe/sandal thing for 4-6 weeks, and then I’m fine. It doesn’t sound too terrible. And in the meantime, I’m free to do what I want on it - I can run and jump and dance and all that. Not that I do much dancing. But the only restrictions on what I can do before I have it removed are my own level of comfort, which is nice.

Posted in: complaint , health

Wet socks

Monday, May 12, 2008

Sad in the rainAt the wife’s request, I did not take the bus this morning. She might not have made the request if she had, as I did, gone outside to take out the trash. If she had taken out the trash, she probably would have decided that it was raining too hard, and that we should take the bus. But she didn’t take out the trash, so we walked. For those of you not in or near DC, it’s been raining for a while now, and things are starting to flood. Not serious floods, but minor property damage and hydroplaning cars kind of floods. So, we bundled work clothes and lunch and whatnot into bags, put on our raincoats, and set off. It wasn’t as bad as I had feared. There weren’t that many people walking, so there weren’t too many umbrellas to avoid. Umbrellas and puddles are the scourge of the city rain walker. Especially those giant golf umbrellas that take up the entire sidewalk. So I arrived at work, slightly damp but okay otherwise. I changed my clothes, and realized that my backpack is not entirely waterproof. The two things that got wet - my laptop power supply (Although not badly - I wiped it off and it’s fine) and my brown socks. So now I’m wearing brown slacks, brown shoes, a brown belt, and little white athletic socks. Oops. Perhaps the brown socks will dry, or perhaps I will just wear these all day. Only time will tell.

Posted in: complaint , dc , Harvard Street , harvardstreet , weather

This is what happens when you throw strikes, Cabrera

Friday, May 09, 2008

I didn’t see the game, but it’s quite clear from the box score that Daniel Cabrera is a tremendously effective pitcher when he’s throwing strikes. He threw 76 of them versus only 40 balls. The result? A 4-1 complete game victory over the (hapless, I know) Kansas City Royals. He struck out seven, allowing only three hits and a walk. Lucky for the Orioles that Nick Markakis had a good game, hitting three run homer and scoring on a wild pitch to account for all four of the Orioles runs. Losing a complete game shutout 1-0 is kind of a kick in the teeth. The game also pulled the Orioles a half-game ahead of Toronto into fourth place in the AL East.

Posted in: Anti complaint , baseball , sports

Man, Trent's going crazy

Friday, May 09, 2008

It’s only been two months since Trent Reznor released his last album, and now he’s got another one. This one, The Slip is a totally free download. I was listening to it for the first time this morning, and I was wondering if there was a mainstream single on it. He’s releasing one track as a single so far, Discipline, and I have no idea if it will be a hit. I like it, but I like just about every Nine Inch Nails song ever, so I’m hardly a good judge of what others might like. I was talking to a friend and fellow NIN fan about the lack of a single, and he said, “That’s what Trent said about The Downward Spiral, and then ‘I want to **** you like an animal’ became our high school anthem'”. So I guess we’ll just wait and see.

Posted in: Anti complaint , music , nine inch nails

And there we are

Thursday, May 08, 2008

And the Orioles have lost their fifth in a row to fall into last place. I think everyone saw this coming, but some of us held out hope it would come a little later in the season. It’s pretty clear what the problem is - they’ve now scored fewer runs than anyone in the AL except Kansas City. Their runs allowed are tolerable, they just can’t score. Still, they’re nearly a third of the way to their predicted win total, and we’re not even a quarter done with the season. So that’s encouraging.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , sports

Bests

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Thanks. I am with this email having DDOT check to see whether this “emergency” was properly authorized. We will be back to you. If not, they should be taken down. Bests

Parking a car in DC sucks

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Posted a new Angry Letter today. I’m tempted to tear down a bunch of “Emergency No Parking” signs. But I probably won’t.

Posted in: complaint , dc , Harvard Street , harvardstreet , parking

Excessive parking restrictions on my block

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Councilmember Graham - I’m writing to bring to your attention the need for some sort of oversight on emergency “no parking” signs. The construction crew at 1462 Harvard St NW has now claimed a good quarter of our block with these signs, totally ignoring the 72-hour notice period required by the DCPD. At approximately 6PM this evening, they put up signs on both sides of the street to accompany the signs on the south side that went up recently. I can’t say for sure, but I don’t believe the first signs were up 72 hours in advance, either. Our block has already had to park around the dumpster at 1463 Harvard for months now. I understand that construction crews need space to work, but taking fifteen or twenty spots from our street for the next two weeks is utterly unreasonable. I would appreciate your attention to this matter. I don’t think the construction crew should be entitled to so much restricted parking, and I’m certain that neither I nor my neighbors should be subject to ticketing or towing until the 72 hour notice has been satisfied. Thank you very much Complaint Hub

People aren't dumb, just bad at judging actual cost

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

High gas prices driving small car sales

The trend proves again what we already knew - that people respond to events that hit their wallet, not their conscience.

High gas prices driving small car sales Shocker - with gas getting more and more expensive, people are buying more small cars. While I agree with the above-quoted statement, I think what it really gets at is that people are inherently rational. We just aren’t always good at judging value. It goes well beyond over-valuing brand new Lincoln Navigators with 22" chrome wheels and heated massage chairs while under-valuing small, efficient, reliable cars. Now, I know that I tend to over-value that feeling of smug self-satisfaction when I walk to work or take the bus home, laughing at the schmucks who drive two hours into Nowhereville, VA. But I also know that a lot of them over-value the sixth bedroom and second acre their house is on as they give up twenty hours a week commuting. Anyway, I hope GM an Ford can figure things out before the European and Japanese and Korean car manufacturers swoop in and totally wipe out the American manufacturers, who seem to have mortgaged their future on the mistaken idea that people would continue to buy high-profit SUVs forever. I hope that GM and Ford can quickly change with the gas prices, and perhaps bring some of the cars they make for overseas markets to the States as the demand changes. But I have to say I’m not that optimistic.

Posted in: driving , economics , Wind kissing

That was money well-spent

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

A little while back I sponsored two pages at Baseball Reference. It was mostly for fun, and because it’s one of my favorite sites on the whole internet, and it’s cool to give something back. So I thought I’d give a report on how that sponsorship is going in terms of referrals. My sponsorship of Mark Knudson has resulted in TWO new visits to the site. Since I’m surprised that two people have even looked at Mark Knudson’s career stats since April 7th, that seems like a good result. And my sponsorship of Chad Bradford has resulted in FOUR new visits to the site. Bradford’s status as an active player having a good year (Small sample size, but he’s got a 1.03 WHIP and a 297 ERA+ in 12 innings, can’t complain about that) means that he’s probably getting more traffic, so it makes sense that he’d drive more people here. To put the traffic in perspective, though, over the same time period, I’ve had 504 total visits (It’s been a slow posting time, so my traffic is down). 27 of those hits are from people Googling “vector security”. Five are from “mccain nude”. Six are from outside.in and twenty are from Facebook. Anyway, I’m certainly not going to quit my day job anytime soon and make a living here. Of course, since I don’t sell ads here, paying for traffic is kind of silly, but that wasn’t really the point of my sponsorship.

Posted in: baseball , internet , sports

Man, who thought this was a good idea?

Monday, May 05, 2008

ESPN - Papa John’s to offer Cleveland residents 23-cent pizzas

Papa John’s Pizza issued an apology to Cleveland and the Cavaliers for making T-shirts with LeBron James' number and the word “crybaby” under it.

Who’s the marketing person in Washington who decided this would be a good idea? I suppose I could probably find him or her by doing a resume search on Careerbuilder for marketing resumes added in the last two days. Since I’ve watched more basketball this year than any other year in my lifetime because of the Celtics-fan wife, I have a better idea of what a hard foul is than I used to. And the little montage ESPN put together of the Wizards pounding on LeBron was pretty ridiculous. So I don’t blame him for complaining a bit. And I doubt he’s crying now, as he’s headed to Boston on Tuesday while Brendan Heywood is headed to play golf.

Posted in: basketball , funny , sports , stupid people

What to do when your team isn't local

Sunday, May 04, 2008

So my little brother is heading to Arizona State for law school in the fall. I’m both happy for him and this opportunity, and a little sad that he’ll be across the country. But I’ll get used to it - the wife deals with siblings on both coasts and in between, so I can manage. But in his list of things to do, he mentions “Become an Arizona Cardinals fan”. This is where it’s clear that he needs some guidance from his older and wiser brother. I’m in a sort of similar situation. My football team is local (Well, sort of - they’d be local if the Washington Redskins actually played in Washington, but whatever), but my baseball team is not. The Orioles are far enough away that I can’t get to an evening game without leaving work early. But we have the Nationals. There are two important things about the Nationals that I think are nearly mirrored by the Cardinals. One, they’re terrible. They’ve pretty much been at the bottom of the standings since they were the Expos. And two, they have a beautiful stadium. What does this mean? Empty seats and a great place to watch the visiting team. The wife and I went to RFK before the Nats moved to watch the Nats play the Oakland A’s (As a baseball fan, I’ve of course read Moneyball, so of course I have a soft spot for the A’s. Plus they were my team in ‘88 before McGwire was a cheater and when Eck and Stewart and Rickey were awesome). We saw Barry Zito before his arm fell off. A friend and I went to a game at RFK and watched Tom Glavine pitch for the Mets. Now, the Cardinals don’t really play anyone cool at home next year - they play the Redskins in Washington, they play in New England - with one exception. On October 12th, the Dallas Cowboys come to Tempe. This is a perfect opportunity. By attending the game as a Cowboys hater, you in effect become a Cardinals fan without disgracing your DC Metro Area roots by actually becoming a Cardinals fan. You’re free to root for the Cardinals, exchange high-fives with Cardinals fans, and generally have a good time rooting for the home team. But you get to keep your football soul. Everyone wins. Except the Cardinals. They never win.

Posted in: family , football , sports

Watching a little basketball, playing with some computers

Friday, May 02, 2008

So how’s this for a great Friday evening: I’m sitting on the couch. To my left, the windows are open because it’s a gorgeous spring evening. Right next to me on the couch, the wife is napping, waiting for the Celtics game. I have a kitchen full of beer and wine left over from my birthday party last week. We have the ingredients ready for dinner, pasta with tomatoes and asparagus, plus some cauliflower poppers. In front of me is my brand new work computer, on which I’ve just installed Launchy, which everyone should install on their Windows machine. It’s similar to Gnome-Do for Linux and Quicksilver for Mac - I’ve been using Gnome-Do for a while and I love it, and wanted something like it for my Windows work machine. And speaking of Linux, my personal laptop is currently downloading and upgrading to the latest version of Ubuntu, Hardy Heron. So, I have sports, food and drink, computer geekishness, and my fabulous wife. I have no idea what more I could possibly want.

Posted in: anti-complaint , basketball , life , nerd , sports , Ubuntu

Getting back to my life

Thursday, May 01, 2008

So I’m back at work after my birthday trip to Paris. There are a ton of pictures here. I haven’t finished uploading them as of right now, but there are about 200 posted, so that should keep you busy. And speaking of busy, I’ve been very busy lately, which is why I haven’t been posting anything. I know it’s the fifth law of the internet or something that anyone who runs a blog non-professionally must periodically go through a slow phase and not post, then apologize and say they were busy. The good blogs don’t do this very often. Anyway, hopefully things are slowing down a little and I can get back to complaining about things. There are certainly things to complain about.

Posted in: life

I guess it serves me right for buying a soda

Friday, April 18, 2008

I got a Cherry Coke out of the machine down the hall to drink with my lunch. I don’t drink nearly as much soda as I used to, but every now and then I can’t help it. This time, I should have been more careful in my selection. It wasn’t actually a Cherry Coke - it was a Cherry Coke Zero. That means they’ve taken out all the delicious high fructose corn syrup and replaced it with carcinogens that fool your tongue into thinking you’re consuming something sweet. I know my view on this is a little extreme, but I’d like to see Coke and anyone else who wants to use aspartame and sucralose and all those other non-food products have to put a big disclaimer on the package, like a cigarette warning.

WARNING - this product contains a chemical substance posing as food that is not, in fact, digestible by humans. It tricks your taste buds into thinking it’s sweet, but it is all a lie. Also, there is non-trivial evidence suggesting it causes cancer. If you still think it’s better than high-fructose corn syrup, go ahead and enjoy.

Posted in: complaint , health

I should be more observant

Thursday, April 17, 2008

POPE!A friend pointed out that I not only got a picture of the Pope, but the gentleman (And I use that term loosely) accompanying him is none other than our fearless leader, President Bush. Laura Bush is just a few steps behind. You can see the large size here. So that’s pretty cool.

Posted in: cool , dc , harvardstreet , interesting , politics , religion

Hey, all you Catholics

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

DSC_8698So the Pope is in town. Since I work almost right next door to the White House, which is where he was hanging out this morning, some coworkers and I went up to the roof of the building to watch as he hopped into the PopeMobile and drove off down Pennsylvania Avenue and past the adoring throngs. Anyway, there are more pictures here. The view from the roof is pretty good. And there are electrical outlets and benches up there. With the weather getting nice, I might just have to take a laptop up there now and then.

Posted in: Anti complaint , cool , famous people , religion

Dell again

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Wow. Another email from Dell. The best part are these consecutive passages:

… I will provide you the information.

As a Customer Care I am unable to provide you the information …

Please don’t think that my anger here is because Dell has outsourced their customer service. I truly don’t care if the CSR is in the United States or India or the moon or anywhere else. I don’t care what his or her first language is. The only thing that’s important to me in a CSR is being able to fix my problem, preferably in a minimal amount of time. That’s it. Hence the anger. None of the people who emailed me could fix my problem. What’s even more exasperating is that each of them has chastised me for asking my question to the wrong person. It’s a little frustrating to be directed to talk to a person who tells me that he or she is not the person who can help me. Anyway, I’ll get a computer eventually. And I still hate Dell.

Posted in: complaint , customer service

Dell is fired

Monday, April 14, 2008

I’m trying to purchase a computer from Dell. Well, that’s not exactly true. My new employer (Started the new job today, went very well) buys from Dell. The process is that each employee builds a computer at Dell.com, then emails the boss with the specs, and he buys the computer through the corporate account. Sounds simple, right? Well, first of all, Dell doesn’t let you just email specs. I can’t imagine why not - surely they’d be happy to let kids email specs to their parents, or perhaps they’d even be prescient enough to foresee my situation. But no. They let you save, and they even let you tag to del.icio.us and all sorts of other social sites, but apparently that’s just to the initial start page for the computer, not the customized version. So, I thought I’d just get one of their online chat CSRs to help me. Again I failed. Or, rather, Dell failed. They had no chat representatives available. Do they let me get in line and wait for the next one? No, they force me to resubmit my request. I tried about five times and gave up. So I was directed to email them. This steaming pile of crap is what I got in return. Their response was much longer, but that’s the only part that wasn’t boilerplate gobbledygook. Next I tried calling. I hate calling companies. If I’m calling you on the phone, it’s because your website failed. Anyway, I was greeted by loud music and an unhelpful robot voice that refused to give me a person. I tried a different customer service number, because I think I might have gotten the wrong one the first time (I don’t remember why I thought that, but it made sense at the time). This time I got another unhelpful robot, but this one gave me a person. Hooray! Until I asked her my question. Turns out she was tech support. I have no idea how the robot got me to tech support when all I wanted was customer support, but that’s neither here nor there. She transferred me to the correct CSR, who said a great many things, none of them helpful. So I gave up. I’m going to ask someone at work tomorrow. And I’m going to continue to tell everyone I speak to about computers to avoid Dell.

Posted in: complaint , customer service

Dell 1, Me 0

Monday, April 14, 2008

Dell Says:

Dear Valueless Customer, Because you selected “Pre-Sales/Sales Question” as your Issue Category when you submitted your inquiry, Dell’s automated response system is sending you the following information on how to obtain product specific information. Dell does not currently offer e-mail support for pre-sales questions. However, there is a lot of information available on our web site and other contact alternatives. This document provides information on the subjects listed below in the table of contents.

My reply:

This is one of the least helpful emails I’ve ever received. It’s really a shame that a company that built itself on fantastic customer support has stooped to automated messages such as this. If you don’t offer email support for pre-sales questions, why in the world would your website direct me to email you? I hope you appreciate the absurdity of your position here. I don’t need anyone to respond to me on this issue. I have resolved it myself. The only reason I’m at your site at all is because my employer uses Dell products, so my work computer will be a Dell. I have owned two Dell computers, but will never purchase another one for my own personal use due to your woefully inadequate customer service.

And Dell again:

Thank you for contacting Dell. I apologize for the inconvenience caused to you and I understand that you wish to place an orderunder the existed account. I will provide you the information. As a Customer Care I am unable to provide you the information and I request you to contact our Sales department at 800-284-3355 and place an order. I once again apologize that I could not assist you. The case number for this interaction is [unimportant]. Please email me for any additional support and I would be happy to assist you further. Thank you for choosing Dell.

Posted in: complaint

Another race, my personal best

Monday, April 14, 2008

DSC_8606The fifth annual Race to Stop the Silence took place yesterday. I ran it last year, too, finishing in 55:04. This year, I reached my personal goal of a sub-50-minute finish, coming in at 49:38. There are more pictures here, thanks to the wife. She and the mother-in-law and Phil came to watch on a brisk early morning, and I was glad to put on a good show. The course was moved from West Potomac Park to Anacostia this year, and I wasn’t expecting much. But the course wasn’t bad. It was a 5K course, two laps, which wasn’t ideal. And I was afraid it would get crowded. But with only 428 runners (I finished 166th overall), it didn’t get too bad. I don’t have any more races scheduled for this year. I’d like to get a pace time under eight minutes (This one was 8:01) as my next goal. Maybe I’ll find another one before it gets too hot.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , harvardstreet , health , race

Freecycle rules

Wednesday, April 09, 2008
  • 11:39 AM - Joined Freecycle.
    • 11:45 AM - Approved by moderator.
    • 11:51 AM - Posted offer of old computer monitor.
    • 12:08 PM - Post approved by moderator.
    • 12:15 PM - Offer accepted.
    • 12:51 PM - Monitor picked up.
    • 12:56 PM - Notified wife of new space in closet. Wife happy.
Posted in: Anti complaint , harvardstreet , recycling , Wind kissing

I CAN PREDICT THE FUTURE!

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Just announced today, Flickr now does video. I don’t really care at the moment, because I don’t ever make videos of anything (Maybe that will change when the baby comes, but I doubt it). But just yesterday I was writing in my novel-in-progress, which takes place in the not terribly distant future, about Flickr and video. I had been thinking about what Flickr (Or whatever takes its place) might be like in, say, 30 years. Once you start thinking about that, you have to go back and try and define what Flickr is now. On the surface, it’s a photo sharing site with a community surrounding it. But the ways people use it mean that it really goes well beyond just sharing photos. Some people use it as a cheap and reliable image hosting service for their blog. Some people use it to track changes over time in something. You see this a lot with babies and pregnancy. Some people use it almost instead of a blog or public journal - “See what I did yesterday, here’s a picture”. The Library of Congress is using it to crowdsource the categorization of their photo library. Barack Obama is using it to connect with supporters and advertise himself. So I was thinking, as technology advances, will we still take photos? In thirty years, you could be wearing contact lenses that can record hours of HD video. Maybe you’ll even have a hard drive installed in your head that can store video recorded by your eyes. Do we only take lots of photos now because that’s the convenient technology? There may always be a demand for still images as art, but we may get away from using them to say, “Hey, look at my cat!”. Or maybe not. Anyway, just thought it was cool that Flickr is doing what I thought they’d do, thirty years early.

Posted in: Anti complaint , awesome , the future

Now I'll get some good search hits

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

I was just looking through my Gmail spam folder, which I do from time to time to see if it caught anything it shouldn’t have. I’m mostly curious - anything that gets caught in there is probably not worth reading anyway. But one email jumped out at me - someone named Zane Gay (Not the author, that’s Grey) sent me an email entitled, “Fondle all her internal nerve endings”. Maybe this guy should be an author, because he’s got a way with the English language, I’ll tell you. Maybe he should be a poet, instead. The rigid constraints of prose could never hold Zane Gay back. I hope someone out there was sitting on his couch, thinking to himself, “Gosh, Jane sure is a great girl. I really want to fondle all her internal nerve endings, but HOW?”. And then he happens to look in his inbox and see this gift from Zane Gay. That’s the way the world should work.

Posted in: funny , inappropriate , spam

Contract the Nationals!

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Leave the stadium, though. It’s pretty nice. The wife and I went to the game last night. On the positive side, you have the stadium, Ben’s Chili Bowl, an organized and efficient Metro ride, my love of baseball, and an enjoyable evening with the wife. On the negative side, you have the weather, the game itself (And the six unearned runs the Nationals allowed), and the announced crowd of 20,400. First, the positives. The scoreboard is amazing The stadium is gorgeous. We sat in the first row of one of the 400 sections. It was roomy, with a pretty good view. The giant scoreboard in right center is amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it. It wasn’t working for the first half inning, but they’ll probably work that out as the season goes on. But the picture is incredible. When they’re showing replays, it looks like you’re actually seeing the players, not a video. Interestingly, there is no clock visible from where we sat. Maybe no clock in the whole stadium. Ben’s Chili Bowl was awesome, as expected. The line was long, but it moved quickly. My veggie chili cheese fries were cold before I finished them, but that was hardly their fault. They were still good. Metro took us 20 minutes to get in from Columbia Heights, and barely longer to get out. Might have been worse if there was actually a capacity crowd, but I can only judge my experience. There were a ton of Metro employees directing people. They’ve made a lane from the Metro directly to the stadium (Please, Nationals fans, DO NOT experience Southeast UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES until we can put on a fresh coat of paint). It actually reminded me a little bit of walking in to Fenway Park, although DC will need to do some work to build up the collection of businesses that surround Fenway. DSC_8476 Of course you know I’m a big baseball fan, as it’s all I’ve posted about since the season started. Don’t worry, I’ll get back to politics soon, and I’m sure I’ll have some new complaints once I start working again next week. Plus we have a vacation coming up that should be interesting. And of course I enjoyed my wife’s company, as usual. She was somewhat annoyed that she couldn’t have a beer at the ballpark due to that pesky baby she’s carrying, but $7.50 Bud Lights go a long way towards discouraging her. That, and the health of our unborn child. Although, as she said (joked?), you can probably drink a couple of Bud Lights before the baby even notices. Then there are the negatives. I won’t blame the team for the weather. They couldn’t help that it was cold. Allowing six unearned runs and three home runs (one of them to a backup shortstop I’ve never heard of. Robert Andino? He has 86 career at bats. Although he does have two bombs in 5 at bats this year off the bench, that’s pretty nice for him) isn’t cool, though. Stranding 11 runners is not a good technique for winning games. But you can’t win all 162, so I guess I can forgive them. Empty seats in the sixth inning What’s really bad, though, is that the second game in the history of the stadium drew 20,400 fans. I don’t know what capacity is, but it’s somewhere in the neighborhood of 40,000. I know it was a cold Monday night when the NCAA basketball finals were on (Although we made it home for overtime), but the stadium was empty. Even the clowns right behind home plate, the ones with the $100+ tickets, didn’t bother showing up. And the fans that were there seemed pretty disinterested. Maybe they were into it and I just couldn’t hear them. But I’m used to going to sellouts at Camden Yards (Before Orioles fans were so beaten down by The Angelos Years that they stopped caring), and this was a far cry from a sellout. I don’t know what the city can do about this. Maybe it’s too early to worry and things will be fine when the weather warms up, but if I had a big financial stake in this team, I don’t think I would have slept last night. Anyway, I’ll definitely be back for more games. The upper deck is a fine place to watch the game, and for $10, that’s worth it for me. And I’m curious to see what businesses and attractions pop up around the stadium. They had ads up that we didn’t stop to look at, but there are clearly big plans for the area. Should be interesting.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , dc , harvardstreet , sports

O's win again

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Where’s your hold now, O'Flaherty? The Orioles are an amazing 5-1. Can anyone say, “1989”? Too early in the season?

Posted in: Anti complaint , baseball , sports

The wife will think I'm crazy

Monday, April 07, 2008

She’ll think I’m crazy, but that’s just because she’s not as big of a nerd as I am. Anyway, you may notice that, when I talk about a baseball player, I usually link to his career stats at Baseball Reference. It’s a great site for the stat nerd. And they support themselves through sponsorships. Yesterday, I decided to sponsor two pages in the name of Complaint Hub. The first is Chad Bradford, one of the stars of Moneyball and now an Oriole. As you can see from his stat page, Billy Beane and the A’s got four years out of him for about what the Orioles are paying him this year. But that’s okay. The second is Mark Knudson. When I was little, I had a little handheld baseball game, Tomy Pocket Baseball. You pulled the lever and a ball dropped, and then you released the lever to swing the bat and try to hit the ball into one of the holes for a hit. It was awesome. I had my own league. I used real players, their names painstakingly copied from baseball cards. Mark Knudson was the all-time leader in wins. He retired with a record of 48-5 and a 0.59 ARPI. I used Average Runs Per Inning because my games tended to be higher scoring than real baseball games, and not multiplying by the number of innings in a game made a good ARPI look more like a good ERA. These were four inning games, so his ERA would have been 2.37, which would have been fine. But he was the greatest of all-time, and the average pitcher would have had a much higher ERA. Anyway, I have no idea if these sponsorships will drive any traffic here. But I get a lot of enjoyment from Baseball Reference, and now I’ve given something back.

Posted in: baseball , nerd , sports , statistics

Officially on vacation

Monday, April 07, 2008

This is posted in category “work”, but it really should be posted in “the utter lack of anything resembling work”, because I am totally free this week. Friday was my last day at my old job, and I don’t start the new one until a week from today. So here I am, wide awake at 7:53AM. Some vacation, you say. Well, it is. I’m up now by choice. First, I rarely sleep in anymore, so if I lay in bed until what most would consider a reasonable hour, it would throw off my whole day. Second, I have things to do. I have a novel burning a hole in my head that needs to come out. I’ve planned this one more than anything else I’ve ever written (Although still way less than anyone who writes for a living would have), and I want to get started. Novel Writing Month isn’t getting me any closer to having a novel fit for sending off in search of a publisher, so I’m trying a different technique. So I’m going to start writing as soon as wife gets off to work and out of my hair. Then, later, I have to take the cat to the vet. Then we’re going to check out some day care centers this afternoon, and we have tickets to the Nationals game tonight (Assuming it’s actually done raining). Anyway, big day. And I see my coffee is finished brewing, and the wife is heading out the door, so I’m going to get started on my vacation. Sorry to all of you who have to work today.

Posted in: Anti complaint , life , work

Now the wife loves FireJoeMorgan.com

Sunday, April 06, 2008

After watching a batter and a half of the Tigers and White Sox game, the wife now knows why Fire Joe Morgan exists (She’s a Tigers fan, as a Michigan native). I can’t reproduce the quote verbatim, but I can give you the gist. Morgan is talking about Miguel Cabrera, and how the guy is a total failure because he only has two hits, one a home run, in his first 14 at bats of the season. I mean, plainly the guy is done. We should probably take him out back and shoot him. No 25-year-old with 139 career home runs and a 143 OPS+ should be allowed to exist if he only gets two hits in his first 14 at bats of the year. So Morgan is telling us how terrible Cabrera is. He says some ridiculous things that don’t mean anything, and then he says:

[Cabrera] is confused on the count, he thinks it’s 3-1 instead of 3-2. Since it was 2-2, he had to [do something that one would do on 2-2 and not 3-1. I don’t even know.]

Seriously. He barely took a breath in between “it’s 3-2” and “it’s 2-2”. This is not something that one might need to think hard about. The number of balls and strikes is displayed prominently all over the stadium. There is no doubt that there is a screen in front of Morgan’s face that tells him the count. I feel like this is my repayment to the wife - she’s gotten me into Celtics basketball, and I’ve gotten her to appreciate the wonders of Joe Morgan. This is her reaction after literally FOUR batters of Morgan’s commentary.

I don’t even listen to him anymore. I can’t. I don’t understand what he’s saying.

Posted in: baseball , funny , sports

Orioles win again, and the hold is even stupider than the save

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Holy cow, the Orioles won again! That puts them at 4-1, in first place. I know it doesn’t mean much at this point, but I bet that most analysts wouldn’t have expected them to be three games over .500 at any point in the season, so this is encouraging. And they did this one with a two out, ninth inning rally to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win. Here’s where the stats get ridiculous. ESPN reports a stat called a hold. It’s basically given to a pitcher who enters the game in a save situation and leaves without relinquishing the lead. It’s utterly absurd, and this game is a perfect example. Eric O'Flaherty entered the game to pitch for the Mariners in the bottom of the ninth, when they led, 2-0. He allows a double to the first batter, who then advanced to third on a groundout and scores on another groundout. A single then ends O'Flaherty’s night. He gets a hold because it was a save situation, and he left with his team still winning, 2-1. Mark Lowe comes in and gives up a single and a walk to load the bases. A wild pitch and a single later, and the game is over, a 3-2 Orioles win. O'Flaherty is charged with 2 runs in 2/3 of an inning, but because the tying run didn’t score until he left the game, even though it was charged to him, he gets the hold. Lowe gets the loss because it was his baserunner who eventually scored the winning run. Too bad for Mariners' starter Felix Hernandez, who pitched a fantastic eight innings of shutout ball. He, of course, gets nothing for his trouble.

Posted in: Anti complaint , baseball , sports , statistics

Hey, look, this isn't about baseball

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Neil Gaiman - my life in green and purple

Because it seems to me that giving away an e-Book with a hardback is an excellent way to grow the e-book world, and something that a publisher could do at little or no cost.

The Orioles won last night, BTW. Anyway, this seems like a pretty awesome idea. A new guy at Harper Collins is considering giving away a free e-book and audiobook copy of a book which you have just purchased. As Neil says, “of course buying the book would give you the audio and the text, not just the object”. This is something of a radical idea compared to what most people are used to, but it could really grow the market for non-paper books. Growing the market for non-paper books is a good thing for authors and publishers (And the manufacturers of e-book readers and MP3 players and a whole mess of other industries who might be prescient enough to hop on the bandwagon) and, most certainly, book readers (or listeners). As I’ve mentioned (And as Techdirt has mentioned roughly 8 billion times), the marginal cost of producing another copy of an e-book or audiobook in digital format is nothing. Therefore, the cost of these goods should go to zero, as well. This makes them terrible things to try to sell, but wonderful things to use as promotional goods or just as “Hey, we (unlike you, recording industry) really do like our customers” rewards. I have some ulterior motives here - I’m hoping that the e-book market grows until someone puts out a cool e-book reader for a reasonable cost. I currently have 26 free and legal e-books saved on my computer. I’ve only read one of them, because reading a book on a computer screen really sucks. But I’d like to read the rest of them.

Posted in: Anti complaint , failed business model , writing

Barry Bonds - collusion or just not worth it?

Friday, April 04, 2008

I know, this is becoming a baseball blog, but no one is complaining, and I don’t have anything else I feel like writing about. Many sportswriters are up in arms over Barry Bonds not being on anyone’s roster. Many people argue that he had a very productive offensive season last year, and would surely help someone this year, especially an AL team in need of a designated hitter. Many go on to accuse baseball of colluding to not sign Bonds. Oh, they say. It’s not possible that no one could overlook the off-field problems and sign him. I think this is absurd. If you only evaluate the cost/benefit of Bonds' bat in your lineup, then certainly he is valuable to many teams. This would suggest that teams are colluding, although it certainly wouldn’t prove it. But what about the rest of it? What if he goes to jail? How will the fans react? I would rather the Orioles not win another game this year than sign Bonds. You can’t measure his impact on the team by only looking at his bat. And most of the other things he brings to the table are really, really bad. He does seem to boost attendance, which saddens me. I’ve never seen him play, and I’m glad. I realize that my opinions here are influenced by the fact that I hate Barry Bonds and the impact he’s had on baseball. I know he takes probably more than his fair share of the heat for the steroid problem, but he’s brought a lot of it on himself with his attitude. I don’t want him to set foot on a baseball field ever again. I don’t want to read articles about him. I don’t want him in the Hall of Fame. If it does turn out that the owners are colluding to keep him out of the game, fine. Punish them appropriately. But to ignore the mountains of negative baggage he brings with him when imagining why a team might not sign him is irresponsible.

Posted in: baseball , sports

I'll take that

Friday, April 04, 2008

The Orioles were rained out last night. Any night on which they do not lose, I will take as a victory. I suggest you, fellow Orioles fan, do the same.

Posted in: Anti complaint , baseball , sports

THIS HAS TO STOP

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Someone found my site searching for “jason varitek nude”. Now, I don’t know how Google decided that I’d be a good result for that. This is the first time I’ve ever used those three words in the same post. I guess I shouldn’t complain, since the person who found me that way was a first time visitor. But he or she didn’t stay long, so I don’t expect I’ve gained a new reader. Since there are not, nor will there ever be, nude photos of Jason Varitek (Or any member of the McCain family) here, perhaps this is not the right destination for people searching Google for those things. I mean, seriously. My mother and my mother-in-law read this. There are not going to be nude photos of ANYONE at Complaint Hub. Ever. Do you hear me, Google?

Posted in: complaint

I complained too soon

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Box Score The Orioles came back to win last night! Despite Cabrera allowing two runs and then leaving the bases loaded with no outs in the fifth, my new hero Randor Bierd got them out of the jam. He allowed an inherited runner to score on a double play ball, and then got out of the inning. Then Aubrey Huff came through with a home run in the sixth and a go-ahead two run double in the bottom of the eighth for a 9-6 Orioles win! Wow! I might have watched the game, but the Celtics were on TV (Winning their 60th game), and I wouldn’t think of denying the wife her Celtics. Meanwhile, if the season were only two games long, I would be totally wrong on Brian Roberts having an off year. You can’t ask for much more than a .600 batting average and 1.950 OPS (I know, small sample size, I don’t care). Anyway, nice to see the Orioles get a win. In other baseball news, if you read Fire Joe Morgan, you have probably heard their views on David Eckstein. If you don’t, you can read them here. I hope to see an article from them today about how Eckstein managed to score using nothing but grittiness and his monstrous, monstrous heart. Eckstein has nine at bats this season. In eight of them, using his bat, he has managed to get zero hits, one strikeout, and hit into two double plays. But in his first at bat last night, he used his “intangibles” and made Jason Giambi commit an error, allowing Eckstein to reach first base! I didn’t watch the game, and the ESPN box score doesn’t specify, but I suspect that Giambi was mesmerized by the dirt on Eckstein’s uniform, despite the fact that he was the first batter of the game. He was so mesmerized that, when Eck weakly hit the ball towards him, Giambi just didn’t pick it up. Now safely on first, Eck really began to shine. It doesn’t show up in any “numbers” or “sabermetrics”, but it was really Eckstein’s heart that allowed him to advance to second base on Shannon Stewart’s single, and his keen baseball sense that sent him around to score on Alex Rios' single. The other two batters had little to do with it. Edited to add: They posted about Eck, but not about his gritty grittiness grittying a run.

Posted in: Anti complaint , baseball , sports

Fire Daniel Cabrera

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

There is NO EXCUSE for five walks in four innings. Looking at Daniel Cabrera’s career stats is an exercise in frustration. In 2006, for example, he struck out 157 in 148 innings. But he led the league in walks allowed and wild pitches. In 2007, he repeated as the league leader in walks. He capped it off by also leading the league in runs allowed and losses. A friend of mine who plays baseball (amateur, but competitive) says Cabrera has the best stuff he’s ever seen. If you pick through his individual outings, you’ll find some games where he was absolutely unhittable (here, here, here) and some games where no one had to hit him, they could just wait for the walk (here, here, and shudder here). He is obviously an immensely talented pitcher, but at nearly 27, he’s probably not going to suddenly learn control. Unfortunately for the Orioles, the rest of the league knows that, too.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , sports

Nike fails the internet

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Gizmodo points out that Nike is offering their little running companion device without the iPod starting April 10th. This is good news to me - I’ve been wanting something like that, and didn’t want to spend $200 on a wrist-mounted GPS. $60 is a more reasonable investment. Gizmodo didn’t include a link to Nike’s site, but just copied the press release or whatever it is. I didn’t really read it. So I went to Google and looked up “nike+”. The first hit is the right one, but it’s very, very wrong. Look, Nike, I understand that you’re all about selling your image, not just shoes that I can’t wear because of the high arches and workout clothes that aren’t any better than generic knockoffs from Target. But I’m pretty sure you’re still in the business of taking money in exchanged for goods. I can’t be positive of this fact, because at no time did your website ever suggest that you have products that may be purchased. It hints that there are methods for possessing Nike products, and that you may (nay, should) already possess Nike products. Seriously, Nike, for the amount of money you pay Tiger Woods for six seconds of looking at a camera, you could have a credible online store where customers could give you money and you could mail them products. I will bet you a bazillion dollars that Amazon would make one for you in exchange for some sort of exclusivity deal. I will bet you two bazillion dollars (that’s bazillion with a b!) that a twenty minute search of Craigslist could find you dozens of web developers who would do it for a dozen pairs of shoes. And they would do it without the hideously awful navigation that you currently have on your site, too. If your site contained a “Preorder now!” link which would take my credit card number and my address and send me your product on April 10th, when you release it, there is a good chance I would have given you $60 today. I’ll probably still give you $60 later. But now I’m going to be annoyed about it.

Posted in: complaint , internet , stupid people

Oh, great, another infielder who can't hit

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

This article caught my eye because Alex Cintron was my shortstop in MLB 2005 for the Gamecube after I dumped Tejada - the game decided his skills were declining, and he cost too much money. And now the real Orioles have signed him. Well, great. At age 24, this kid looked like an up-and-coming star. He hit .317 with a 112 OPS+, which are pretty nice numbers for a middle infielder. Unfortunately, he’ll be 30 this year, and his numbers haven’t even approached average since that season. I suppose he’s only expected to back up one of the two kids (Fahey and Hernandez, neither of whom can hit, either), but it seems to me that Cintron doesn’t have the ability to be a good backup, or the experience to be a good mentor.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , sports

Dinner and Drinks with Charlie Stross

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Charles Stross @ BrickskellerI got to meet Charles Stross! And drink good beer! I dragged the wife down to The Brickskeller last night to meet the author and his wife, and an eclectic group of local fans. It was a little tough for the wife, since they now have a bunch of Bell’s Beer on hand. But it was less tough than it could have been, because they were out of most of it, including the Hopslam they claimed to have on tap. But it was fun. He signed my copy of Halting State. I wasn’t sure which book to bring. I could have done what one person did, and brought everything Charlie had ever published. But really, the marginal utility of each subsequent signature is pretty insignificant. I thought about bringing Singularity Sky, which I really enjoyed. Or Accelerando, the first of his that I read. But I have both of those in paperback. And my favorite of his, Iron Sunrise, I apparently don’t own at all. I guess I must have gotten it from the library. Anyway, I finally settled on a nice hardcover, and I’m happy with my decision. Plus I got this great picture of him. Didn’t get to talk to him much, but that’s okay. Not sure what I would have said. The conversation mostly centered around Charlie, talking about writing and politics. He says he’s not writing any more in the Iron Sunrise post-Singularity universe, which is too bad because I really like those stories. He related some stats on the death penalty that suggest we shouldn’t be killing people. The wife and I talked to his wife about beer - she was looking for weird American stuff they can’t get back home in Scotland, which is exactly my attitude when traveling. I will never understand those who travel abroad and want hamburgers and Budweiser. It was a good night. We got a little wet walking home, but since this was the warmest day we’ve had since last summer, and it didn’t rain too hard, it wasn’t too unpleasant.

Posted in: Anti complaint , beer , dc , geek , harvardstreet , science fiction

Small site problems

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

When I switched from Wordpress to Drupal for this site, I went to great lengths to try and keep all the old links working. I clearly didn’t do as good a job as I would have liked. Every day, people follow internal links that Drupal doesn’t recognize. If you click a link here at Complaint Hub (other than the Home link at the top) that takes you to the front page of the site, it’s probably a broken link. Feel free to leave a comment on the page that had the link and let me know, and I’ll fix it.

Posted in: complaint

Trying to write about something other than baseball

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

So, I’m trying to think of something I want to write about rather than rehash yesterday’s Orioles game. No one wants to hear about it - O’s fans will just get depressed, and the Rays don’t have any fans. Maybe the players' mothers. Anyway. So I thought I might write about Quacker of the House Nancy Pelosi advising the President to boycott the Olympic opening ceremonies to protest China’s all-around unpleasantness, but then I was reading the article and my eyes started to glaze over. No one cares what advice Nancy Pelosi has for President Bush. She’d be more likely to get a reaction out of a large rock. Then I thought I should say something about IBM’s temporary suspension from getting federal contracts for some horrendous thing they did to EPA that no one will explain. This is huge news, but until we get some more details, it isn’t all that interesting. Or maybe it’s not interesting because my mind is refusing to grasp the massive incompetence or malice necessary to actually be disciplined by the government at all. But really, the most exciting thing about today is that I plan to go meet Charles Stross at the Brickskeller tonight. He’s one of my favorite authors, and he’s in town for something or other. He claims he’s trying to fend off jet-lag, but anyone going to a place with a beer list like this is merely fending off sobriety.

Posted in: anti-complaint , baseball , complaint , ducks , nerd , politics , sports

Orioles in HD!

Monday, March 31, 2008

I know that many of you are sick of hearing about baseball, but you’re going to have to deal with a bit more. We have the Orioles in HD! Last year, the Comcast feed from MASN was not in HD, and it was absolutely terrible. It was poor even for a non-HD channel. But today, I came home from work a bit early to watch the Orioles opening day, and we have MASN HD. Now all we need is an Orioles win.

Posted in: anti-complaint , baseball , sports

Ok, back to baseball. And politics.

Monday, March 31, 2008

Nats 3, Braves 2 What a heck of a way to break in the new stadium. I don’t think anyone could have scripted a better first game at Nationals Park. Cristian Guzman singled on the first pitch a Nationals player saw in the new park. The Nats scored two runs in their first inning. And then Nats golden boy Ryan Zimmerman hit a walk-off home run to win it in the bottom of the ninth. Never mind that the home run was just about the only ball any National hit hard all night, it was still a great win. And, perhaps more surprising, George W. Bush hung out in the announcer’s booth for a few innings after throwing out the first pitch, and actually sounded like a human being. He didn’t talk about terrorism, even when they brought up 9/11. He joked with the announcers, and just generally talked like a baseball fan. I wonder what would have happened (Bear with me here, I know this is a stretch) if he had become MLB Commissioner instead of the President of the US. First, it would save us from Bud Selig, who, despite his recent minor victories in the steroid battle, is still a schmuck and not good for the game. Second, I think many of Bush’s qualities that I hate in a President, I would love in a commissioner. I’d be fine with a preemptive strike into Florida (Or Baltimore) to bring about regime change before another Marlins fire sale. I’d be fine with tax cuts for the richest teams - I think these revenue sharing deals are dumb. if the Yankees and the Red Sox want to have payrolls that are twenty times that of anyone else, let them. The A’s and sometimes the Marlins have proven you don’t need to spend that much to compete, so poor teams shouldn’t be getting handouts. I’d be fine with the commissioner acting as if he were endowed by god with infallibility. The commissioner is supposed to be the final word, and while there are issues on which I disagree with god on how to run a country, I’m pretty sure I’m cool with the way god would run baseball (I’ll bet he’d raise the mound a little bit and abolish Coors Field, for example). As baseball commissioner, Bush wouldn’t be in control of the military, so there would be no waterboarding of Jose Canseco, as much as many people might like to see it. We would still have to deal with the pro-Texas bias, but I think that’s a small price to pay. Too bad no one thought of this about ten years ago.

Posted in: baseball , politics , sports

Homemade Seitan

Monday, March 31, 2008

Homemade Seitan recipe If you’re in the same boat as I am, where you don’t really eat a lot of meat at home, but when you cook something like a stir-fry, you like to have meat-like lumps of protein. But you also don’t like to buy heavily processed meat substitutes. Well, you’ll like this recipe. It’s really easy to make. The vital wheat gluten flour and nutritional yeast flakes can be tough to find. I got mine from iHerb.com, and you can get them from Amazon, too. And you must bear in mind that this stuff looks kind of disgusting as it’s cooking - you’re basically putting a doughy blob into water and simmering it for an hour. It looks like something you’d put out at an elementary school Halloween party, telling kids it’s brains. The recipe makes a lot. It instructs you to cut the dough into three pieces before you simmer it, and each one ends up being a pretty good-sized hunk of meat substitute. I made stir-fry with one chunk, and we ate it last night, and both have lunch for today. The other two thirds are still in the fridge. And it’s quite good. I’d heard that some vegetarians/vegans won’t eat seitan because it’s too much like meat. I did not have that reaction to it. It’s probably a little more meat-like than typical store-bought extra-firm tofu (I think I have more hyphenated compound words in this post than anything I’ve ever written), but you aren’t going to sneak this in to a dish and fool meat-eaters into thinking it’s steak. According to the comments on the recipe, it sounds like you can do a lot of tweaking the recipe for different dishes. Since the seitan soaks up a lot of the broth in which it simmers, I imagine that you could play around with the flavor a lot. And I’m sure we’ll try.

Posted in: cooking , health

More Orioles crap

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Marred with a possible drug suspension, Orioles release Gibbons

Gibbons is owed $5.7 million this year from the Orioles and $6.2 million for 2009.

That must be kind of depressing for Jay Gibbons. The Orioles have told him they’d rather just throw away $11 million than have him on their team. I’m not terribly sad to see him go. Even though his picture in MLB 2005 for the Gamecube looks just like my brother’s friend Jay, he’s only managed 500 at bats in a season once. His OPS+ last year was 62. Since 100 is average, it follows that 62 is bad. He’s 30, so his durability is unlikely to improve. Still, he was a career Oriole - all his major league at bats are for Baltimore. And you hate to see the guy just dumped so unceremoniously. Oh, well. I’ll write about something non-baseball related tomorrow.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , sports

Please, just get this over with

Friday, March 28, 2008

The Official Site of The Baltimore Orioles: News: Roberts seeks closure on trade front

“I don’t know what the resolution is – I haven’t heard anything except what somebody told me,” Roberts said Thursday. “[Andy and I] talked for two minutes here yesterday. ‘Highly unlikely’ doesn’t seem like a resolution to me.”

I still think this trade is going to happen. And quotes from Roberts, obviously unhappy that it’s not resolved, reinforce my point that he’s not going to be on top of his game. No one wants to be strung along, not knowing what city he’s going to be in next week. At this point, it’s ridiculous not to trade him. Just make the deal already. I think it sucks if he leaves this way, but I don’t see how you can salvage much of anything at this point. The whole situation is soured.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , sports

Now that they've said that . . .

Thursday, March 27, 2008

The Official Site of Major League Baseball: News: Roberts deal appears unlikely

Baltimore manager Dave Trembley has consistently said that he can’t imagine his batting order without Roberts, a switch-hitting fixture at the top of the lineup. However, he’s also said that he’ll do whatever he needs to do.

Now that they’ve said that Baltimore is unlikely to trade Brian Roberts, I expect a trade to come through in the next day or two. I mean, why wouldn’t the Orioles get rid of a switch-hitting second baseman who stole 50 bases last year with a 112 OPS+ and happens to be one of the biggest fan favorites on the team? I mean, everyone in the league gets 42 doubles out of their second baseman, right? I know, it makes sense to deal him if you’re rebuilding. And if the Orioles aren’t rebuilding, then they’re completely insane. I just don’t see his value going up as the season progresses. The team is a mess, so I don’t expect a career year out of him. The Orioles should probably take whatever the best offer is right now and call it a day.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , sports

You want to see something scary?

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Go to Google and type in “mccain nude” without the quotes. You’ll see that, as of today, this is the very first hit. You may ask how I know this. No, I was not searching for nude pictures of John McCain, or of anyone else. But someone else may have been, because someone found my site with that Google search. I’m only sixth when you search for “mccain hates bears” without the quotes, but first if you include them. I’m first for “nude mccain hates bears”. Anyway, none of this is really that important, but it’s amusing.

Posted in: google rankings , politics , scary

I'm so glad baseball is back.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Even if it’s just Oakland playing the f'ing Red Sox in Japan, I’m so happy that the baseball season has started again. Just looking at box scores, seeing that Daric Barton walked twice more, bringing his OBP to .444 despite not getting a hit yet, and seeing Rich Harden make the Sox look silly, striking out nine in six innings, it just brings a smile to my face. Never mind that the Orioles aren’t expected to win even 70 games this year. I’m not going to worry about that right now. Instead, I’ll point and laugh at Jason Varitek, 0-8 with six Ks so far. And who knows - maybe the Orioles will flash back to 1989 and unexpectedly make the playoffs. I can’t imagine Jeff Ballard is too busy these days … Edit: Article here mentioning Barton as an AL Rookie of the Year candidate.

Barton has never hit up to corner-infielder standards – though he’s still young enough to develop the power – but he has never not hit, topping .300 everywhere he has been. He is a remarkably disciplined hitter at a young age – his Minor League totals show 303 walks versus 255 strikeouts.

I like this kid more and more. He’d probably be the poster boy for Moneyball II - What Can Billy Beane Get for Huston Street?

Posted in: Anti complaint , baseball , sports

I know, I know, I'll get to it

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

I really need to get “Your Complaints” working again. We have a new complaint, incorrectly left as a comment on another post. For all of you who left complaints at the old site, they aren’t lost. I was working on getting that set up again at the new site, but then I got distracted. I’ll get to it, though.

Posted in: Your complaints

Complaint about merchandise that has never been sent

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

I have come down to the place of complaining about the Astorclub.com. I purchased a fire place insert from this company back in January. They were paid. The money has been taken from my account. I have never received the merchendise. I have tried to call them. Each time they are closed, or will not be open until Monday. They are never open. I have emailed them and they never return their email. I want to warn people to never shop with the AstorClub for anything. They will take your money and you will not receive what you have ordered. Thank you for listening. I just want to keep someone else from loosing money to this company. Thanks, Wayneb

I am literally floored by this stunning news flash

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

In Obama’s New Message, Some Foes See Old Liberalism - washingtonpost.com

But as Obama heads into the final presidential primaries, Sen. John McCain and other Republicans have already started to brand him a standard-order left-winger, “a down-the-line liberal,” as McCain strategist Charles R. Black Jr. put it, in a long line of Democratic White House hopefuls.

OMG, I am totally in shock. The Washington Post is breaking the staggering, unforeseen, and totally unbelievable news that Barack Obama is a liberal! Tomorrow, they plan to announce that water is wet, the sky is blue, and George W. Bush is a miserable excuse for a President. Does this come as news to anyone? Really? And then the Clinton camp is jumping on the bandwagon and saying he’s too liberal. That’s like the Yankees complaining that the Red Sox spend too much money on player salaries. I can’t speak for all of the Obama supporters, but I can speak for me. I am not supporting Obama because of where he falls on the liberal/conservative spectrum. I often don’t agree with him on policy, especially fiscal policy, because I think he’s too liberal. I support Obama because I like where he is on the reasonable/unreasonable spectrum. I like where he is on the trustworthy/untrustworthy spectrum. I like where he is on the “I can see this person as the leader of my country”/George W. Bush spectrum. I think Obama understands that his policy isn’t always what’s right for America, and that sometimes, you have to listen to the other side and make some major concessions. I think if you can’t concede that there are times when liberal view is the right one, and times when the conservative view is the right one, then you aren’t being honest with yourself. More than either of the other candidates, I think Obama understands this, too. When Obama is President, I believe he will push for policy that I think is a bad idea. He will probably implement some policy that I think is a bad idea. But that’s okay. I think he will be a good President, and I certainly think he will be a better President than Clinton or McCain.

Posted in: election 2008 , politics , stupid people

Why the save is a stupid stat

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

So, Oakland and Boston opened the baseball season with a game in Japan at what is, in the US, a ridiculous hour. The ten inning game just finished around 930AM Eastern. It gave us a good look at why the save is a ridiculous stat that tells nothing about the usefulness of a pitcher. Sure, good closers get a lot of saves. But that doesn’t make it a good measure of the quality of the closer. Take Jonathan Papelbon’s performance this morning. Now, I won’t argue that he’s not a good closer, because in his three seasons, he’s been utterly absurd. But this particular save he “earned” is absolutely in no way a reflection of a good outing. He came on to start the tenth, Boston leading by two. He began the inning by walking Daric Barton, who must have read Moneyball dozens of times. He then struck out Jack Cust (Who was 0-4 with 4 strikeouts. What a wonderful way to start the season). Then he allowed a double, scoring Barton. The hitter, Emil Brown, was thrown out at third trying for his 11th career triple in his 620th career game. Good job, clown. The next two batters singled, meaning that the game would have been tied if Brown had just held up at second. I didn’t see the game, so maybe he made the right call to try for third and it just didn’t work out, but I think that’s unlikely. Finally, Papelbon got out of the inning. Three hits, a walk, and only a baserunning mistake away from an eleventh inning or a loss. But he gets the save! Way to accurately measure the quality of a pitcher’s outing, save. Really. Nice job.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , sports , statistics

Why do I hate roller bags at work?

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

I am annoyed (probably irrationally, I know) by people who use the little roller bags instead of a briefcase or something at work. I’m not quite sure why I’m annoyed, but I hate them. Every time I see one, I think to myself, “That person thinks he/she is more important than he/she is”. I’m okay with roller bags when traveling, although I don’t really like to use them myself - they make too much noise and they bug me. But I see the utility, and occasionally even use them. Maybe if they had rubber wheels … Anyway, part of my irritation was the gentleman using the restroom on my floor who had left his roller bag in a particularly inconvenient spot. But it goes beyond that, and I’m at a loss to explain why. Part of it may be that people tend to be less maneuverable with these bags. They expand their personal space, sometimes infringing on mine in the elevator (And we all know I don’t like elevators). But I don’t think that fully explains it, because I don’t even like to see people far away from me with these bags. Any ideas? Do YOU like roller bags at work?

Posted in: complaint , Elevators , work

Family tree building

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Main Page - GRAMPS

GRAMPS is a Free Software Project for Genealogy, offering a professional genealogy program, and a wiki open to all. It is a community project, created, developed and governed by genealogists.

I’ve been trying to collect some family names in preparation for the baby. The wife and I wouldn’t mind using a family name for the baby if we can find one we like, so we’re trying to find one we like. A cousin of my grandmother gave her a copy of the Wolman family tree (My maternal grandmother’s maiden name is Wolman). And I spent most of yesterday evening entering it into GRAMPS, the above-linked genealogy program. It’s really just a graphical front end for some sort of custom database, it seems, but it’s a pretty cool product for creating a family tree. There are websites that let you do it, but they seem to want money. But since this program was developed for Linux (and is included in the Ubuntu packages, for those using Ubuntu), it’s free. I think the final count when I finished last night was 388 people in the tree. Some of them are unnamed, and there were a few guesses where the writing got cut off when it was photocopied. But it’s a pretty extensive picture of that part of the family. My next goal is to get something similar on my dad’s side, and then work on the wife’s family. And I’d like to get the important dates in - almost no one in the tree has a birth or a death date, and many of non-Wolmans don’t have last names. This is especially common for women who married in and stopped using their maiden names, and I imagine many genealogists have this problem. But it’s kind of fun to find out all this stuff. Even if we don’t find a name for the kid, I’d be happy with just having a big family tree to pass along.

Posted in: baby , family , genealogy , linux , parenting

South Park shares all the episodes

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

New South Park site debuts, with full episode streaming - Boing Boing

Eventually every episode and clip will be available everywhere in the world. There is a tangle of contracts that Comedy Central has with different cable companies and territories that are preventing us from that right now. But hopefully it won’t be long.

This brings me back to the glory days Chuckles. Chuckles was the name of the forgotten machine on the work network that the IT team didn’t realize was unused. It had every episode of South Park through season 8, gigs of MP3s, movies, and tv shows. Whenever I was bored at work, I could just watch something. And now the creators of South Park are doing the same thing. Shocking that the show that has never been afraid of pushing the envelope (BTW, did you know that “pushing the envelope” actually refers to the flight envelope, which is “the capabilities of [an airplane] design in terms of speed and altitude”?) is also not afraid of experimenting with new business models.

Posted in: Anti complaint , cool , tv

So what's in it for us?

Monday, March 24, 2008

Shysterball | Can We Build It? Ev-en-tu-ally!

Know what? Something tells me slogans like “you gotta wait 10 years for this to work out” weren’t part of Evans' pitch back when he and his colleagues were voting to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars from impoverished D.C. residents to wealthy baseball owners.

I’ve always thought that the public shouldn’t be on the hook for any part of the construction of a sports stadium unless the public is realizing profits above and beyond tax revenue. I may be totally making this up, but I’m pretty sure I’ve read that most studies indicate that the city doesn’t really benefit much from a new stadium. The team owners really benefit from a new stadium. As such, it seems reasonable that the city should get something back. If DC gives $100 million towards the new Nationals Park, it seems reasonable to me that the city get, say, $5 million a year in profit sharing. Certainly with $100 million, any marginally competent financial adviser could turn a 5% profit. So it seems fair that the Nationals should kick that back to the city. I don’t know the actual numbers here, I’m just making these up, but I think the argument holds. Still, I’m looking forward to checking out the new stadium. I drove by yesterday on the way to visit my family, and it looks pretty impressive.

Posted in: baseball , dc , harvardstreet , sports

Peanuts and Cracker Jack

Friday, March 21, 2008

ESPN | Humble Jones gives Orioles a face for the future

His name is Adam Jones, and the Orioles spent the better part of two months this offseason prying him loose from Seattle… If the camp buzz means anything, the effort was worth it.

Too bad “camp buzz” doesn’t win championships. Jones better be humble - he struck out once every four at bats at AAA last year, and he gets thrown out on 35% of steal attempts. And that’s by minor league catchers. I mean, he’s young. He’s going to get better. But what we gave up to get him was only one of the best pitchers in the league (I think Bedard led the league in strikeouts per batter faced last year, picking up 221 in only 182 innings). I’m all for going young - if the Orioles want to totally rebuild, and realize that they have to let Bedard go to pick up the prospects to make us competitive in three years, fine. Rebuild. But then why is Melvin Mora still on the team? You can’t go half way on rebuilding. Ditch everyone over 25. Orioles fans really will stick with you if you’re making a real commitment to winning. We’re just getting tired of this pretending. The team hung on to Mora too long. They hung on to Tejada too long. They seem to be stringing Brian Roberts along over a trade to the Cubs. I do like Jones' attitude, though.

“I hate it when people say, ‘Look at all the stuff you’ve done,’” Jones said. “Well, I did it in Triple-A. When I got an opportunity in the big leagues last year, I hit .246. I didn’t do everything I could with the opportunity I had.

That’s exactly what you want to hear from your new 22-year-old outfielder. He’s not coming in cocky, crowing over his .968 OPS last year. He’s putting it on himself to perform and prove he deserves to be there. The season starts pretty soon, and I’m getting into the baseball mood (At least I will be as soon as I’m mathematically eliminated from my NCAA tournament pool). I’m curious to see how Bedard does in Seattle. Part of me is hoping he strikes out 350 with a WHIP of under 1 and wins the Cy Young. That way I can say, "I told you so”.

Posted in: baseball , sports

Alternative means of transportation

Thursday, March 20, 2008

As some of you may know, I drive out to Falls Church for work every day. As I go down 14th Street NW in the morning, I look fondly at the bike path, trying to ignore the frequently double-parked cars, right turners, and other obstacles, and imagine biking to work. How smug I would be, getting some exercise, some fresh air, shrinking my carbon footprint. I mean, in terms of yuppie street cred, commutes go something like this, in increasing order of smugness:

  1. Drive
  2. Carpool
  3. Metro
  4. Long bus ride
  5. Metro from a “sketchy” stop like Brookland or Navy Yard
  6. Telework
  7. Full time grad student (Only if you’re at least 4 years older than most of your classmates)
  8. Short bus ride
  9. Walk
  10. Bike I was thinking, though, how much longer it would take to bike than drive. And then I passed a guy on a bike. I passed him around P St, or maybe T. I thought to myself how it must take him forever to get to work. I wondered if I had that kind of dedication. And then, I got stuck at the light at N St. And he passed me. The light changed, and I nearly caught him, but then he was off as I waited at the light at the circle. I lost track of him after that.
Posted in: dc , driving , Harvard Street , harvardstreet , Wind kissing

Unfortunate name, interesting product

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Tobias Buckell Online | Blews

I’m quite intrigued, as I’m always trying tools that will blunt any attempt by myself to surround myself and read only people who think exactly like I do. I think of all the outraged liberals in ‘04 who thought there was no possible way Bush could win because they didn’t know of anyone who was going to vote for him. Or conservative friends who still think Bush has been the greatest president evar!

I keep hearing about this Microsoft Blews thing, and, as Buckell says, this could be the coolest thing Microsoft has ever done. I’d add “since Windows 3.1” to his statement, but whatever. I have mentioned before that I’d like a nice unbiased news source that leans in the direction of exactly none of the political parties. I’ve tried foreign publications, since they probably lean towards parties I’ve never heard of, and I figure that’s better than ones I have heard of. But foreign news always seems to have this undercurrent of, “Oh, jeez, look what the Americans did now”. Maybe that’s just me - I do have a not-entirely-irrational fear that the entire world laughs at us all the time. Anyway, the one thing that I don’t see anywhere is whether it’s a website or a desktop application. If this is going after Google Reader or some other web-based news aggregator (My Firefox dictionary doesn’t have “aggregator”?), then I think it could be very successful. However, if this is some desktop application (Windows only == fail), then I’m getting interested for nothing. Desktop applications are best suited for things that are too resource-intensive to be done in your browser. Consuming news articles through a desktop application is only a half-step above (shudder) reading a newspaper.

Posted in: interesting , politics , technology

Yay, Nashville!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

I wrote about this a little while ago, and now Boing Boing says, Copyfighters beat down Tennessee bill. Well done, Tennessee. People in the comments point out that this is not a total victory - it still requires universities to police their students, which is a dumb idea. But at least it’s no longer a horrible, despicable idea.

Posted in: anti-complaint , copyright , failed business model , politics

My first speeding ticket since high school

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

First, let me say it is truly a joy to pay a ticket at the DC DMV website. Of all the things the DC government does, extorting collecting money through the DMV website is something it actually gets right. I got a speed camera ticket on Michigan Avenue near Catholic University a few weeks ago. There were all of two cars on the road, and I was doing 37 in a 25. It’s pretty annoying, because I really don’t speed much these days. It’s a $50 fine and no points, so I guess it isn’t too terrible in the grand scheme of things. It just bugs me because I’m mostly a law-abiding (though aggressive) driver. Every day, I see people doing things in a car that are unsafe and illegal with no consequences, and I get a ticket for speeding on an empty road. What about the cabbie who zipped around me to run the red light at 15th and Mass NW yesterday? Or the four cars that turned right on H from the middle lane of 18th because they didn’t feel like waiting in line? Anyway, I hope you enjoy my $50, DC. I hope it makes you very happy.

Posted in: complaint , dc , driving , Harvard Street , harvard street

Top Three Reasons my Wife is Awesome

Monday, March 17, 2008

There is no question that my wife is awesome. You may think I’m biased, but I assure you that my bias pales in comparison to her awesomeness. Reason #1 that my wife is awesome: She refuses to rest on her laurels. The reasons she is great right now are not necessarily the same as the reasons she was great last year, or will be great next year. For example, earlier in our relationship, she had the opportunity to meet a bunch of my friends from way back all at once. They can be a little intimidating - it’s a big group of people who have known each other a long time, and they’re full of inside jokes and whatnot. Anyway, instead of being intimidated, she jumped right in and made friends. But that’s not on the list now. Reason #2 that my wife is awesome: She’s taking me to Paris for my 30th birthday. She just told me today (Through a little treasure hunt). I can’t wait. She’s wanted to take me for a while. She lived in France for a year or so and speaks fluent French. I’ve never been to France, and can say, “I don’t speak French” in French. But I’m very excited. We’re renting a little efficiency for six nights in late April. It’s right in the middle of everything, and we’re going to see the Rodin museum and the Champs Elysees and we’ll eat baguettes and cheese. Reason #3 that my wife is awesome: She’s pregnant. Yup, about fifteen weeks in. This is our first, and I’m more excited than I’m even going to get close to expressing. I got to see an ultrasound two weeks ago, and just watching my little son or daughter hopping around in there was surreal. Anyway, more to come, but I think I’m going to get off the computer and go hang out with my awesome wife.

Posted in: awesome , family , life

I hate facts. And physics.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Forbes | Blues for Greens I was at the doctor’s yesterday for a routine checkup (Everything is fine, thanks - doctor says I’m healthy) and I saw this article in Forbes magazine. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything in a reputable publication that was so divorced from reality. Well, maybe Fox News. Which is reputable for some value of reputable.

Solving the energy problem is easy if you pay no attention to the laws of physics. That’s the wonder of the U.S. Congress. To pass is easy; to achieve is something else. This is where I break your green heart. Americans know that Congress passed a law ordering all cars and trucks to average 35 miles to the gallon by 2020. It won’t happen.

Writing snarky opinion articles for Forbes is easy if you pay no attention to facts.

But there’s just no way anyone subject to the laws of physics and automobile engineering can get a 5,000-pound pickup, or any mass-produced, reasonably priced sport utility near that weight, up to 35mpg.

Is anyone suggesting that should happen? Let us hop on over to the NHTSA and see what CAFE standards REALLY mean.

Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) is the sales weighted average fuel economy, expressed in miles per gallon (mpg), of a manufacturer’s fleet of passenger cars or light trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 8,500 lbs. or less, manufactured for sale in the United States, for any given model year.

So, that means that if I’m Car Company A, and I want to sell some gigantic SUVs that get 6 MPG and not pay CAFE fines, I can just sell a bunch of little fuel-efficient cars and balance out my fleet average. Wow! That was easy. By the way, I have no idea which particular laws of physics he’s referring to. I think perhaps it might be Archimedes' Third Law of Big Honkin' Trucks, which states: SUVs get bad mileage. It might also be something discovered by Georg Ohm, better known for his work with electricity and resitance and whatnot: As the size of the truck approaches 5,000 pounds, the fuel economy (in miles per gallon) approaches some arbitrary number that is most definitely less than 35. It’s probably, like, 12. Maybe 13. There might be other laws being violated, too, but I’m not a physicist, and can’t possibly be bothered to look anything up before I share my opinions with the world.

The best way to increase fuel economy (and reduce greenhouse gases, too) is to reduce the weight and engine size of the vehicles. Congress could pass a law ordering that no car weigh more than 1,750 pounds (a Toyota (nyse: TM - news - people ) Camry is in the 3,200-pound range), no truck weigh more than 2,500 pounds and no engine run more than 75 horsepower. Most Americans couldn’t fit in such cars, but they would average 35mpg.

Okay, I don’t honestly know what the best way to increase fuel economy is, but there is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY that this is it.

The U.S. could also lower the speed limit to 40 miles per hour nationally. That would do it, too, since engines would shrink, and air resistance is a lot lower at 40 than at 60.

Air resistance? AIR RESISTANCE? Is this man honestly telling me that he thinks that air resistance is the primary cause of bad fuel economy? Maybe we should ban air. He says some more stupid things about biofuels that I’m not going to get into. I actually agree with him that mandating more production of corn-based ethanol is a bad idea. However, I’m pretty sure this agreement is just coincidence - I don’t want to mandate more corn-based ethanol because we’re already starting to see problems stemming from this practice, and because corn is a stupid thing to make ethanol from. He doesn’t want to mandate it because OMG PHYSICS!!!! What makes this article even more ridiculous is that there are arguments to be made against setting CAFE standards. One could argue that these regulations hurt the automobile industry by interfering with the natural supply and demand. One could argue that it’s not the responsibility of the auto industry to force people into smaller, more efficient cars. One could argue that this unfairly targets American auto manufacturers, who focus more on the big, heavy, inefficient vehicles, and therefore helps the Japanese and Korean manufacturers, who tend to make smaller cars. One could argue many more things, and I would say, “Yes, you have a point”. Then I would proceed to talk to you about changing habits (Driving less, living closer to work, promoting walking and public transportation). I would talk to you about changes in technology (Do you really have such little regard for American ingenuity that you can’t imagine a breakthrough technology?). But this guy didn’t make any of these points. He just made up some “facts” and then complained about the big bad government pandering to the whining of California hippies.

Posted in: cars , physics , science , stupid people , Wind kissing

New science fiction site coming soon

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Making Light | Phase one: collect underpants via Whatever Tor Books, a big (the biggest?) name in science fiction publishing, is opening a new website. It is supposed to be “a place and a context for the lively, ongoing, wide-ranging, and profoundly self-organizing discussions that have characterized the science fiction subculture since its earliest days”. That sounds pretty cool to me. I signed up for their advanced membership or whatever it is to get some free ebook downloads. I haven’t read any of them, because I don’t have an ebook reader (Please, won’t someone make a good, affordable ebook reader?). But I have them, and I plan to read some or all of them, and I suspect that I will end up buying something from some or all of the authors that I read. I hate announcements of far away website launches - I don’t really care until your site is live. Actually, I don’t really care until it’s live and finished being Dugg and Slashdotted, which I’m sure it will be. But I am looking forward to this. I was really disappointed with Gawker’s crappy science fiction blog, and I have high hopes for this one.

Posted in: anti-complaint , reading , science fiction , writing

Spitzer hates our hookers

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Spitzer Linked To Prostitution Ring by Wiretap - washingtonpost.com

New York Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer’s political future was thrown in doubt yesterday after he was identified as an anonymous client heard on a federal wiretap arranging to pay money and buy train tickets for a high-priced New York prostitute to meet him at a downtown Washington hotel.

Dear Eliot Spitzer: You’re a jerk. You got busted because OUR PROSTITUTES WEREN’T GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU. I hope you’re happy. Love, Washington DC

Posted in: complaint , dc , harvardstreet , politics , stupid people

To honor, you have to understand

Monday, March 10, 2008

Uni Watch | Los Gringos Massivos

Am I the only one who thinks this approach reeks of American ignorance? It’s like getting drunk on Tequila in Mexico City and then asking, “Where-o is el bathroom-o?” And it’s not like the words Spurs and Suns don’t have Spanish translations — Espuelas and Sols, respectively. Would that have been so hard? Just tossing “Los” on there is a lazy cop-out, especially since NBA jerseys don’t use definite articles to begin with (well, except for this one). And seriously, does the mere addition of “Los” really strike a chord in any Hispanic fan’s heart? If we’ve got any Latinos out there, I’d love to hear your reaction.

Before I start here, make sure to check out this photo and tell me that you wouldn’t wear a Milwaukee Cerveceros jersey. Anyway, Uni Watch is absolutely right - to honor someone, you must have at least a vague notion of who those people are. In this case, I’m pretty sure “the Hispanic community” is not “a bunch of crazies who use Spanish articles when speaking in English”. Maybe there’s some other “Hispanic community” that I’m not aware of, but I don’t think so. Seriously, it would have taken all of five minutes to look up the Spanish translations of “Spurs” and “Suns”. It would have taken a bit more time and a bit more money to do the extra customization of the jerseys, perhaps, but I can’t imagine they couldn’t make up at least some of the difference by selling Spanish versions of the jerseys. San Antonio and Phoenix, not to mention many other places in the US, have large Spanish-speaking populations that are growing pretty rapidly. If ten thousand New York girls will wear pink Jeter jerseys, is it so hard to imagine that a Spanish-speaking basketball fan might wear an “Espuelas” jersey? I know I can’t speak for the “Hispanic community”, but I suspect that it would have been better for the NBA to just continue to ignore them rather than making this less-than-half-hearted attempt to “honor” them. Edit: Uni Watch has some additional reaction today, from an actual Latino.

All of this just illustrates the point that “Latino” encompasses so many nationalities that it is very hard to get something like this right. But we have been all thrown in the same group, whether we like it or not.

So, this was probably a tough task for the NBA to get right, but I still think they could have at least TRIED.

Posted in: complaint , sports , stupid people

Race results updated

Monday, March 10, 2008

A summary of the race is up at Washington Running Report. The two high school kids who ran in shorts and no shirts passed me about a mile in - I was pretty sure they were insane then, and I remain convinced of it now. The results have been updated - 41:07 was my clock time, but 40:38 was my actual chip time. That is, from the time they said, “Go” until the time I crossed the finish was 41:07. But the from the time I crossed the starting line until the time I crossed the finish was 40:38. Crap. Now I have to run another one and get under 40 minutes.

Posted in: dc , harvardstreet , health , life , race , running

John McCain hates bears

Monday, March 10, 2008

McCain Sees Pork Where Scientists See Success - washingtonpost.com

“Approach a bear: ‘That bear cub over there claims you are his father, and we need to take your DNA.’ Approach another bear: ‘Two hikers had their food stolen by a bear, and we think it is you. We have to get the DNA.’ The DNA doesn’t fit, you got to acquit, if I might.”

The title of the article on the Post RSS feed is better - “McCain Criticizes Bear Study”. Of course he does! None of the bears even had degrees! Anyway, I think he’s upset that we spent the equivalent of the budget for 48 seconds of the Iraq war on something that didn’t involve shooting at or otherwise endangering Muslims. Was that a cheap shot? Oops. Honestly, I do not understand the planet that John McCain lives on. I don’t know how rational human beings can listen to him and think, “Yeah, okay, President McCain, that would be cool”.

Posted in: complaint , election 2008 , politics

Give Maryland its wine in the mail already

Monday, March 10, 2008

Maryland HB-1260 Killed

The opposition is in the form of big, big money from the liquor distributors. Make no mistake about it, they spend millions to keep consenting adults from getting wine shipped to them.

So, Maryland is one of those crazy states that feels that having wine delivered in the mail is going to somehow be a terrible thing. The primary opposition to the shipping of wine to Maryland is not Maryland wineries, worried about what it might do to their business. The primary opposition is liquor distributors who do not understand the business they are in. If you all would allow me a Techdirt moment here: The business of shipping alcohol in the mail is not a zero sum game. Every case of wine shipped to a customer in Maryland does NOT mean one fewer case of liquor shipped to a customer in Maryland. In fact, I would be willing to bet that people who get wine shipped to their house are much more likely to get liquor shipped to their house, as well. We’re not talking about the market for wine vs. the market for liquor. We’re talking about the market for alcoholic beverages in the mail. If the liquor distributors would stop being jerks, maybe they could get together with the wine distributors and grow the entire market space. But no, they’d rather keep stupid laws on the books and fight with each other. Nice job, guys.

Posted in: complaint , economics , stupid people

Well done, Toyota

Sunday, March 09, 2008

ESPN - Kyle Busch needed more than his immense talent to nab Toyota’s first win - Nascar

Toyota general manager Lee White stood just inside the iron fence that surrounds Victory Lane at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday and watched Kyle Busch celebrate the first Sprint Cup win for the foreign manufacturer.

Frankly, most of this article is about whining and accusing others of cheating (Which seems to be an all too familiar refrain in all of sports these days), but what caught my eye is that Toyota has its first NASCAR Sprint cup win. I was a NASCAR fan for a couple of years - Dale Earnhardt’s first win at Daytona was the first race I ever watched, and the second race I saw was live at Daytona, the Pepsi 400 in 1998. By the way, I find it amusing that the Pepsi 400 is now known as the Coke Zero 400. Nice job, Coke. It’s interesting to see Toyota coming in. Never mind that Toyota doesn’t have a single car with a V-8 engine. NASCAR doesn’t seem to care that the cars on the track bear basically no resemblance to the production cars they’re named for. And it’s weird to see the 18 car not be Bobby Labonte’s green Interstate Batteries car. Anyway, I haven’t really paid any attention to NASCAR since 2004 or so, but I would have liked to have been there for Toyota’s first win. I wonder if the 300 pound guy in overalls and no shirt with a #3 shaved in his back that I saw at Daytona one year was watching. I’ll bet he was, and I’ll bet he said something disparaging about Toyota at some point in the race.

Posted in: complaint , sports

Saint Patrick's Day 8K

Sunday, March 09, 2008

DSC_8371 I ran my third race this morning, the Saint Patrick’s Day 8K, right down Pennsylvania Avenue. Mayor Fenty gave us a brief pep talk before the race, and then ran with us. I didn’t actually see him, but he finished well ahead of me, I believe. I’ll let you know when they post the results later this afternoon. I’m pretty happy with my race. I don’t know my exact time, but the race clock was about 41 minutes. Since I didn’t start at the front, my actual time is probably 20 seconds or so less than that. Regardless, my average mile time was under nine minutes for the whole five mile race, which was my goal. Edit: 41:07 was my time. That’s 136/386 in my age group, 25-29. Average mile time of 8:17. And I was 738/4045 total, 565/1834 males. Mayor Fenty ran it in 32:20. The wife took some great pictures, one of which you can see here. The rest of the good ones are all up at Flickr. She is, as they say, a real trooper. Race time temperature was barely above freezing, and the wind chill made it feel like it was about 20 F. I have another race coming up in April, the Race to Stop the Silence. This will be my second time running it. It was my first race ever, last year, although they’ve changed the location. It was downtown on Ohio Drive by the water. Now it’s still on the water, but over in Anacostia. Big downgrade, as far as I can tell. But I think the Cherry Blossoms are the same weekend, so that’s probably why they moved it.

Posted in: dc , harvardstreet , health , life , race

Took too long to get this set up

Saturday, March 08, 2008

But it was worth it!

Posted in: Life

This is a test of the complaint submission system

Saturday, March 08, 2008

If this had been a real complaint, the piercing screech you would have heard if your speakers were on would have been followed by a long rant, possibly containing screaming.

Posted in: Life

My Complaint

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Can I complain about complainthub?

Posted in: Politics

Shirlington Parking

Saturday, March 08, 2008

They tore down the parking lot.

Posted in: Politics

Citibank Premiere Pass

Saturday, March 08, 2008

So, I’m sick of Credit Card companies promising one thing and delivering something else! I mean, these new Citibank Premiere Pass credit card commercials are awesome. They are funny, and the product sounds incredible.&nbsp_place_holder; I mean, I get miles on purchases and for the miles I fly… Plus I still get my airline miles as well from the airline. Can’t beat that!

But, alas, it’s a sham! You don’t actually get those miles that you earned flying until you’ve spent that much money on the card. So if you fly to Hong Kong for $1,000 bucks on the card, you get 1000 points for the purchase and like 10,000 for the flight… but you can only use 1,000 of those flight miles. Until you spend another $9,000 (!!!) dollars on the card, those points can’t be used. What a farce! And yet, they really don’t explain that in their commercials…

Oh, by the way, the card also has a $75 dollar annual fee. I mean, is that really necessary since the program pretty much sucks anyways?

Please, someone tell the new Democrats to do something about this. If a company makes a claim, they should have to meet it… REGARDLESS of what their disclosure says! Don’t give me disclosures, give me truthful advertising!

Thanks for allowing me to submit this. I feel better now.

Posted in: Life

Time Moves to Fast

Saturday, March 08, 2008

I know this is a silly complaint, but lately I’ve been angry about how fast time seems to move. SO, if I could submit a complaint here… I’d like to call out “time” – yes, the fourth dimension – for its screwy behavior lately.

Thanks.&nbsp_place_holder;

Posted in: Life

getting old

Saturday, March 08, 2008

i swear i never got very sore after flag football games until this season.&nbsp_place_holder; there have always been bruises, abrasions, the occasional ruptured achilles tendon & what have you, but generally little (if any) muscle soreness.&nbsp_place_holder; i know i’m not going as hard as i used to when i block…that’s fine…that explains the decrease in bumps and bruises. but i essentially do the same general ‘staying fit’ workouts as i did during past seasons. i would think there shouldn’t be a marked increase in muscle-soreness.&nbsp_place_holder; the only explanation i can think of is i’m getting old.&nbsp_place_holder; and it sucks.&nbsp_place_holder; well worth testing the complaint submission form.&nbsp_place_holder;

Posted in: Life

stupid metro riders

Saturday, March 08, 2008

so, in the morning on metro, many people read the express, a free publication that’s distributed at the metro entrances.&nbsp_place_holder; it’s a perfect way to pass the time if you’re interested.&nbsp_place_holder; there’s a little headline news, world news, local stuff, sports highlights, some pop culture articles, comics, sudoku and a crossword.&nbsp_place_holder; plenty of things to keep people busy.&nbsp_place_holder; and, again, it’s free.&nbsp_place_holder; can’t beat that.&nbsp_place_holder; what on earth could i be complaining about, you may wonder.&nbsp_place_holder; well, people - after taking advantage of this free reading material - can’t manage to find the recycle bin at the metro exit to deposit the express.&nbsp_place_holder; let me help out these readers: IT’S RIGHT NEXT TO THE TRASH BIN YOU’RE USING TO THROW AWAY THE EXPRESS!&nbsp_place_holder; the bins are SIDE BY SIDE.&nbsp_place_holder; and one is clearly labeled “newspaper”.&nbsp_place_holder; i know you can read, you took a copy of the express!&nbsp_place_holder; the only explanation i can come up with is that the garbage bin is easier to use.&nbsp_place_holder; it has a huge round hole on the top to accept deposits.&nbsp_place_holder; the recycling bin has a wide slit on the side and no open top.&nbsp_place_holder; that means, commuters would have to slow down ever so slightly to have better aim and put it in the recylcing bin.&nbsp_place_holder; and i honestly think it’s the additional 2 seconds it might take them that deters these people.&nbsp_place_holder; i have two responses to that - you’re only going to work. is it really that important that you get there NOW?!&nbsp_place_holder; and second, if you walked up the escalator rather than ride it to the top, you’d save more than two seconds.&nbsp_place_holder; just an idea.

Posted in: Life

Political allegiance

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Politicians, in general, show more allegiance to their party than to the country’s needs.

Posted in: Politics

You call this winter weather?

Saturday, March 08, 2008

How am I supposed to get in the holiday spirit when it is mid-December and still 50 degrees during the day?

Dear Fatty McMiddleseat

Saturday, March 08, 2008

You chose the middle seat next to me&nbsp_place_holder; I know that you chose it because it was the exit row.&nbsp_place_holder; I saw your 300 pounds of balding business traveler body eyeing that tight 17 inch-wide, 34 inches of seat pitch torture chamber right from the moment you waddled down the aisle.

I was in the window seat.&nbsp_place_holder; And yes I chose the exit row too.&nbsp_place_holder; But I chose it because it is the one place on commerical airliners where taller men and women seek refuge from the evil little old ladies who insist on fully reclining their seats directly into our knees.&nbsp_place_holder; But you, Fatty McMiddleseat, were not tall.&nbsp_place_holder; 5' 9" tops.&nbsp_place_holder; You were wide.&nbsp_place_holder; Aisle seats work well for people of your stature, not the exit row.&nbsp_place_holder;

However, judging by the relatively full flight, you may not have had the chance to get a coveted aisle seat.&nbsp_place_holder; Fine, I understand.&nbsp_place_holder; But that does not excuse your behavior for the rest of the 2 ½ hours spent in a cramped, pressurized aluminum tube.&nbsp_place_holder; No, no, Fatty McMiddleseat, you had grander visions for your seatmate.&nbsp_place_holder;

As you suished in between my companion in 12D and me in 12F, I detected the unmistakable odor of vodka wafting from your pores.&nbsp_place_holder; Was that Popov or Five O'Clock?&nbsp_place_holder; It was&nbsp_place_holder;5:30 am and not exactly the preferred aroma of someone who should have just showered.&nbsp_place_holder;

So we settle in, get our obligatory exit row “are able and willing to operate the window in the event of an emergency” interrogatory from the flight attendant, and push back from the gate.&nbsp_place_holder; Take off was uneventful except for your inadvertent seat reclining right as the engines spool up at the runway threshold.&nbsp_place_holder; Was it your thigh pushing the button accidentally?

Upon passing FL 100 and our ability to operate electronic devices of imperceptibly small wattage is restored, I try to catch some sleep and listen to some soothing “happy place” music.&nbsp_place_holder; But that peace is disturbed by the most noxious waft of assgas this side of the Mississippi.&nbsp_place_holder; Oh my god, Fatty McMiddleseat.&nbsp_place_holder; What did you have for dinner?&nbsp_place_holder; I think it involved some sort of nuts.&nbsp_place_holder; Your fart had a distinctly peanut aroma.&nbsp_place_holder; Either that or it got filtered through your peanut dust-infused seat cushion.&nbsp_place_holder;&nbsp_place_holder; Yeah, every 4 or 5 minutes it happened.&nbsp_place_holder; “ppuuffffffffff….”

The greatest insult, though, happened somewhere over Pennsylvania.&nbsp_place_holder; You fell asleep.&nbsp_place_holder; Snore. Check. Snort. Check.&nbsp_place_holder; Then you proceeded to lean over onto my shoulder and place your head a 90 degree angle on top of my shoulder.&nbsp_place_holder; I nudged you and your head snapped back up. Then a minute later, you did it again. A half hour of this.&nbsp_place_holder; You even muttered a half-hearted “sorry” and then did it again.&nbsp_place_holder; Oh, and some more nut farts helped me to make the moment more special.

Thoroughly traumatized, we finally decended.&nbsp_place_holder; Right after the pilot greased it right on the numbers (way to go dude, best landing ever!), then it happened.&nbsp_place_holder; Sometime in the flight you managed to unbuckle your seatbelt.&nbsp_place_holder; The reverse thruster buckets kick out and brakes applied…then you, Fatty McMiddleseat, get tossed forward into the seat in front of you, almost off your seat.&nbsp_place_holder;If it wasn’t so wide to begin with, I swear you would have become your own underseat carry on. &nbsp_place_holder;Damn that was funny to see you sheepishly relatch the stretched-to-its-limit belt.&nbsp_place_holder;

So, thank you, Fatty McMiddleseat, for being a close companion and cuddlebuddy.&nbsp_place_holder; I will miss you.

Posted in: Life

ladies bathroom

Saturday, March 08, 2008

this scenario occurs all too often.&nbsp_place_holder; you are female, wishing to use the bathroom at a bar.&nbsp_place_holder; the bathroom has two stalls.&nbsp_place_holder; by the end of the evening, one stall has a door that will not lock & generally won’t even close.&nbsp_place_holder; the other may have a functioning door/lock, but will inevitably house a commode hopelessly clogged with toilet paper and other more unpleasant things.&nbsp_place_holder; and the line of women intending to use such inadequate facilities will be out the door.&nbsp_place_holder;

Posted in: Life

Living in a furnace

Saturday, March 08, 2008

I live in Northern California, so the weather is pretty nice year round.&nbsp_place_holder; My thermostat only has heaters in the living area; the bathroom and bedroom have separate baseboard heaters.&nbsp_place_holder; I usually leave those doors closed to save energy (and I don’t really even turn on those heaters as it doesn’t get that cold).&nbsp_place_holder; I have the living area temperature set to 62 or so (inaccurate gauge, mind you; it’s closer to 68).&nbsp_place_holder; This morning, I open the bedroom door to enter my living room to a heat blast.&nbsp_place_holder; It must be 75 or more in here.&nbsp_place_holder; I even turned the gauge down to “LOW” (which is below 50), but there is still hot air coming out of the vents.&nbsp_place_holder; I have to get a programmable format, but of course my thermostat is run off of line voltage, which is trickier and more expensive.&nbsp_place_holder; This all presumes that I don’t pass out from sweating out all the water in my system.

Posted in: Other

drive right, pass left

Saturday, March 08, 2008

i am thoroughly enjoying the complaint submission feature.&nbsp_place_holder; that said,

as per code of virginia, title 46.2 regarding motor vehicles:

whenever any roadway has been divided into clearly marked lanes for traffic [say, THE GW PARKWAY], drivers of vehicles shall obey the following:

any vehicle proceeding at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions existing, shall be driven in the lane nearest the right edge or right curb of the highway when such lane is available for travel except when overtaking and passing another vehicle or in preparation for a left turn or where right lanes are reserved for slow-moving traffic as permitted in this section.

&nbsp_place_holder;people, why is this so hard to understand?!?!?!?!

Posted in: Driving

Mass Email List

Saturday, March 08, 2008

People need to check their email distrubution list.&nbsp_place_holder; Lisa M Donais is sending out mass emails about company expense reports to people who are not employeed by her company.&nbsp_place_holder; Check and see who your actually sending your email too and that it makes sense for them to receive it.

limited categories

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Don’t you hate it when you can’t choice multiple categories to file your complaint under

Posted in: Monkeys

cookies

Saturday, March 08, 2008

I swear I wouldn’t eat any junk food if my wife didn’t buy it becuase it was “buy one, get one” or “on sale”.&nbsp_place_holder; Damnit woman, don’t buy that stuff! I feel oddly compelled to eat it once it crosses the threshold of our house.

Posted in: Family

spelling

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Firefox can’t correct my spelling and grammer in the complaint submition box.&nbsp_place_holder; It works in other textareas

Posted in: Monkeys

Smart traffic lights

Saturday, March 08, 2008

There is a traffic light about 100 yards from my apartment complex.&nbsp_place_holder; Heading to work (east), the traffic light is “smart.” I define “smart” as follows:&nbsp_place_holder; if there are no cars intending to turn left coming from the opposite direction (i.e. west), then our light turns green.&nbsp_place_holder; However, on the way home (heading west), the light becomes “f*ing stupid.”&nbsp_place_holder; The light turns green for the left turn lane heading east (despite the fact that there are no cars intending to turn left).&nbsp_place_holder; I sit there idly wondering why both directions can’t be “smart.”&nbsp_place_holder; I guess that would defy the laws of traffic intelligence (which is a similar oxymoron as military intelligence).

Posted in: Driving

Left turn on red

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Here in Iowa, it is legal to make a left turn on red ONLY if you are in the left-most lane of a one-way street, turning into the left-most lane of another one-way street. Turning left on red is never legal when you are in the right-most lane of a two-way street. So you dumbasses at Sixth and High, and the MLK exit off 235 - Cut it out!

Posted in: Driving

this is test complaint

Saturday, March 08, 2008

this is just a test.

Posted in: Other

Infinology Is The Devil AND Sucks

Saturday, March 08, 2008

The Piker Press has used Infinology as webhost for a couple of years now. There were occasional service glitches, but for the most part, it did what was needed.

Suddely this week, the Piker Press site went blank. Stuff is still out there on the server, but nothing is showing up on the website. E-mails and phone calls to Infinology have gone unanswered.

A little research (Googling “Infinology sucks” and “Infinology scam”) showed that many, many others are experiencing similar problems with their sites going dead. Most report get no answers to their complaints. The rare few who have had their phone calls answered report that the person they spoke to had very limited English fluency.

Fortunately, the Press has an assortment of geeks who are figuring out how to back up our data and hunting for a new host. And fortunately, we are not a business, so we are not losing any money to speak of by being down for a few days.

But honest to Pete, this sort of business practice is, at the best, rude, and at the worst, sleazy. Considering some people have had trouble cancelling their accounts because they can’t get their e-mails to go through, it may even be criminal.

Stay away from Infinology. Tell your friends to stay away from Infinology. If you are using Infinology and are not having problems yet, thank your lucky stars and start looking for a more ethical webhost while you still can.

And for heaven’s sake, back up your data.

Posted in: Other

emove, usplastics, comcast - why is nothing easy?

Saturday, March 08, 2008

emove - so, we used emove when we moved from virginia to d.c.&nbsp_place_holder; we paid for 2 guys to load the truck in virginia and 2 guys to unload the truck in virginia.&nbsp_place_holder; three charges appeared on my credit card rather than 2.&nbsp_place_holder; i emailed and said, hey, i think two of these confirmation numbers are for the same job.&nbsp_place_holder; after a week of no response from emove, i emailed again today.&nbsp_place_holder; the response: two of the charges are accurate b/c we hired in both d.c. and virginia.&nbsp_place_holder; thanks for that.&nbsp_place_holder; i agree with that proposition.&nbsp_place_holder; it’s the THIRD charge i have a problem with.&nbsp_place_holder; still trying.&nbsp_place_holder; i hate when customer service people don’t actually READ your email.&nbsp_place_holder;&nbsp_place_holder;

usplastics - right after emove completely ignores my request, i place an order for 96 gallon bins and recylcing containers.&nbsp_place_holder; then customer service calls me (again, right on the heels of my emove email) to give me an estimate on the freight charges.&nbsp_place_holder; about $100.&nbsp_place_holder; a bit steep, but, ok.&nbsp_place_holder; i ask about delivery date.&nbsp_place_holder; she doesn’t really know and tells me that i have to pay $15 to be called in advance of delivery.&nbsp_place_holder; WHAT?&nbsp_place_holder; it’s not like you can just leave four huge bins on our landing - there’s not enough room and i’d like to arrange for someone to be home.&nbsp_place_holder; now, don’t get me wrong, $15 is not a lot and it would come out of our condo fees.&nbsp_place_holder; but - WTF?&nbsp_place_holder; i have to pay to have you tell me when to expect delivery.&nbsp_place_holder; no way.&nbsp_place_holder; not now.&nbsp_place_holder; not ever.&nbsp_place_holder; sufficed to say, i’m receiving notification and not paying anything for it.

comcast - we cannot get these clowns to come to our building to do installation.&nbsp_place_holder; the computer still lists our unit as single-family residence rather than individual units and so they can’t arrange for a guy to come out.&nbsp_place_holder; the problem wtih this explanation: A COMCAST GUY CAME OUT ON SATURDAY AND DID INSTALLATION FOR THE UNIT ABOVE OURS.

i go back to my opening question: why is nothing easy????

Posted in: Life

priorities

Saturday, March 08, 2008

i work as a surgery tech in a facility where research is conducted using animal models.&nbsp_place_holder; i play a fairly important role in any surgical procedure we do.&nbsp_place_holder; during such procedures, there is generally a surgeon/vet, sterile assistant, anesthetist and sometimes a circulator (someone in a nonsterile roll who helps facilitate the procedure).&nbsp_place_holder; oftentimes, i will be assuming one of these rolls, but also covering for someone who, in theory, is perfoming one of the other roles.&nbsp_place_holder; yesterday, i was preparing a pig for surgery.&nbsp_place_holder; in the OR were four people, me, another tech (20+ years experience) and two lab animal veterinarians (one of whom is our lab chief).&nbsp_place_holder; not only did i have to lift a 70-pound anesthetized pig onto the OR bed by myself, but the pig started to wake up.&nbsp_place_holder; none of the things that should have been ready were, so i had to struggle with the waking pig while administering intravenous drugs and attaching multiple items of monitoring equipment. &nbsp_place_holder; all this time, the other tech and vets were freaking out over the screen of the anesthesia machine.&nbsp_place_holder; not the anesthesia machine my pig was attached to, no.&nbsp_place_holder; there was another machine in the room (literally two feet away from the one i was using) that we have used once, yes ONCE in the two years we have been using the room.&nbsp_place_holder; apparently someone had sprayed cleaning solution on the screen and not wiped it off afterward, so it streaked.&nbsp_place_holder; the tech and vets were asking, in a quite panicked manner, “WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS SCREEN?”&nbsp_place_holder; all the while, i was wrestling with a distressed pig.&nbsp_place_holder; they were literally oblivious.&nbsp_place_holder; i explained that someone sprayed cleaning solution on it and then didn’t wipe it off, but that didn’t really seem to sink in.&nbsp_place_holder; actually, the tech said, “whoever did that shouldn’t be using that type of solution on this touch screen.”&nbsp_place_holder; still wrestling the pig (while they are still, honest to god, oblivious) i say (in an irritated voice), “it’s not a touch screen, and it’s perfectly fine for whoever cleaned it to use XYZ solution. they should have, however, wiped it down afterward.”&nbsp_place_holder; under my breath i said, “so the tech of 20+ years and two laboratory animal veternarians would not be so distraught and confused and completely distracted from the fact that i alone am dealing with an ANIMAL’S LIFE-THREATENING EMERGENCY.&nbsp_place_holder; by myself, i was able to get the pig appropriately anesthetized and hooked up to all the necessary monitoring equipment.&nbsp_place_holder; immediately thereafter, i grabbed a paper towel and sprayed a little windex on it.&nbsp_place_holder; i wiped the anesthesia screen clean and clear and said to the tech and vets, "does this make you happy?”&nbsp_place_holder; response (and i am NOT kidding), “oh great.&nbsp_place_holder; is the dog on the table yet?”&nbsp_place_holder; priorities. &nbsp_place_holder;

post flag football soreness

Saturday, March 08, 2008

every muscle in my body hurts.&nbsp_place_holder; it hurts to blink.

Posted in: Monkeys

no new postings!

Saturday, March 08, 2008

i hereby file a complaint against complainthub for failure to post anything new in nearly the past 100 days.&nbsp_place_holder;&nbsp_place_holder;

Posted in: Other

viruses

Saturday, March 08, 2008

i concur with wife on the lack of complaints!&nbsp_place_holder; i’ve had many complaints to share, but felt sorta weird complaining more than the host. :)&nbsp_place_holder; but that won’t stop me now!!&nbsp_place_holder; i have some weird virus that has taken me out hardcore for the past five days and to a lesser extent, the five days before that.&nbsp_place_holder; i can’t run….it’s not that i don’t want to…i just think i’d pass out.&nbsp_place_holder; the primary symptom has been a headcrushing headache that sort of comes and goes.&nbsp_place_holder; everytime i think i might be on the mend, it sets back in.&nbsp_place_holder; i don’t like being down.&nbsp_place_holder; the doc said 10-14 days.&nbsp_place_holder; i’m not used to being down hard more than 3 or 4.&nbsp_place_holder; and now i wonder if i am still sick or just losing motivation to do anything.&nbsp_place_holder; but i’m complaining. so i guess that’s a good start.

Posted in: Life

Imus

Saturday, March 08, 2008

I can’t believe how much attention this stupidity is getting.&nbsp_place_holder; Is Imus an idiot for calling the Rutger’s basketball team a bunch of “nappy-headed ho’s?”&nbsp_place_holder; Definitely.&nbsp_place_holder; Do I think it is important to rake this guy through the coals and allow both Al Sharpton’s coalition and the conservatives to dwell on the importance of this idiocy and expand it to a matter of national import?&nbsp_place_holder; No.&nbsp_place_holder; Imus deserves to be punished by whatever means his company decides (and not by what anyone else says).&nbsp_place_holder; After that, let it go.&nbsp_place_holder; Focus on something of real value.&nbsp_place_holder; Choose Darfur, climate change, the income tax system, or anything that has value.&nbsp_place_holder; Ignore the comments of a has-been radio host who was trying to drum up ratings and aim higher.

Posted in: Politics

Dumbass Major League Baseball

Saturday, March 08, 2008

So I just had to cancel my subscription to MLB.TV… I was paying $15 bucks a month to watch really shotty quality streaming baseball games on my computer. But then I realize that you can’t watch any of the games for teams that you actually live close to, even when they are playing 3,000 miles away!!

Give me a freaking break!… why anyone even signs up for this is beyond me. I guess they think people will pay and just forget to cancel it. Or maybe it’s for all the ass Yankees and Sox Bandwagoners who don’t live within 500 miles of either city. Fucking Fascists! (Can I cuss on here?) (Admin edit: It appears you just did.)

By the way, the MLB.TV product doesn’t really compete with TV. If you have the game on TV, you watch that. There is no reason to freaking block a game because it’s on ESPN. IDIOTS!

Posted in: Economy

cell phone etiquette

Saturday, March 08, 2008

if you’re on a crowded bus during rush hour, please do not use that time to test every single one of your cell phone rings to determine which will be the coolest one to use.&nbsp_place_holder;&nbsp_place_holder;

and i think the same can be said if you’re on an uncrowded bus.&nbsp_place_holder; or metro - crowded or uncrowded.&nbsp_place_holder; in fact, in any public space.&nbsp_place_holder; and at any time, not just rush hour.&nbsp_place_holder;&nbsp_place_holder;

Posted in: Life

complaint about test complaints

Saturday, March 08, 2008

If you don’t have a complaint to make, why do you care if it works or not?

Posted in: Other

Inconsiderate Metro Riders

Saturday, March 08, 2008

So, the wife is into her third trimester now and is clearly visibly pregnant. She rides the metro from Vienna to Farragut West everyday and then of course back in the afternoon. In the morning she always gets a seat because it’s the first stop on the Orange line. In the afternoon of course she has to cram in with a bazillion other people. In the 26 weeks she’s been pregnant there have been less than 5 people who have offered to let her take their seat and all of them have been women. Not a single man has offered her their seat! Are guys today really that inconsiderate that they can’t offer a pregnant woman or elderly person their seat? I find this unbelievable but sadly expected I guess.

Posted in: Life

Bose in-ear headphones - The review

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Awesome sound, especially for only $99 bucks… BUT the effing earbuds keep falling off! No, not out of your ear. When the things aren’t in your ear, the earpiece falls off… continuously. And there’s no way to get new ones. So, once you lose the ones it came with (which is really easy to do unless you only handle your headphones in sealed glass room), you are effed.

This is what I would call a failure of monsterous proportions from Bose. I mean, there is no way that Bose didn’t know that&nbsp_place_holder;their product&nbsp_place_holder;does this. It’s impossible. They knew it, and they released them to the market anyway. Goodbye good brand name, hello newest WalMart brand!!

Oh, and this board is still freaking ugly… fix it you lazy bastard.

Posted in: Other

rolling backpacks

Saturday, March 08, 2008

is your 16" x 12" x 9" backpack really so burdensome that you have to roll it behind you instead of carry it on your back?

Posted in: Other

no more ubuntu posts

Saturday, March 08, 2008

there are far too many already.&nbsp_place_holder; is your readership really interested in ubuntu or wubi?&nbsp_place_holder; i’d rather read about wookiees than wubies.

Posted in: Other

not enough talk of wookies

Saturday, March 08, 2008

I don’t mind the posts about Ubuntu, but I think that there is an alarming shortage of posts about Wookies.&nbsp_place_holder; Shouldn’t we enact some sort of equal air time act for Ubuntu and Wookies?

Posted in: Other

2 driving violations

Saturday, March 08, 2008

On my way to work, I travel about 10 miles on a strech of highway.&nbsp_place_holder; From 5 am - 9 am and again from 3 pm - 7 pm, the outside lane is designated as a carpool lane.&nbsp_place_holder; Allowed vehicles:&nbsp_place_holder; hybrids, motorcycles, and cars with more than one occupant.&nbsp_place_holder; I’m fine with the first two and would only modify that the 3rd condition to allow for cars with 2 licensed drivers (sorry soccer moms).&nbsp_place_holder;

  1. &nbsp_place_holder; On my way to work (around 11 am), I was travelling along in the outer lane.&nbsp_place_holder; Outside of the commuter hours listed above, this lane should then be assumed to be the fast lane.&nbsp_place_holder; If you are driving slowly, move over to the middle lane or the far right lane.&nbsp_place_holder; You are driving slowly if someone is tailgating you and/or your speed is anywhere near 65 mph.&nbsp_place_holder; I come upon an OLD VW BEETLE putzing along at 60 mph in this outside lane.&nbsp_place_holder; Seriously, folks, buy a clue.

2.&nbsp_place_holder; On my way home (around 6:15 pm), a yellow Lotus passed me in that outer lane during the commuter time.&nbsp_place_holder; There was no way there was a passenger.&nbsp_place_holder; I say fine him $1000 / (fuel economy in mpg).&nbsp_place_holder; This makes violators with gas guzzlers pay more for flaunting the law.

&nbsp_place_holder;

Posted in: Driving

stupid woman at improv

Saturday, March 08, 2008

without going into specifics… i feel the need to vent about a particular individual who tried to ruin the night at the improv.&nbsp_place_holder; my advice to anyone out there who’s attending any stand up routine or other live performance, please resist the desire to talk through the entire show.&nbsp_place_holder; i think i speak for the majority when i say, we’re not interested in your running commentary or even less interested in whether you think something the comedian said is “so true!” or “so funny!”.&nbsp_place_holder; we’ll all figure out that you think it’s funny when we hear you laughing. &nbsp_place_holder;

Posted in: Life

i says

Saturday, March 08, 2008

how can my mother, a stickler for grammar who constantly corrects everyone, possibly think that the past tense of “say” is “says”?&nbsp_place_holder; SAID!!!!!&nbsp_place_holder; I SAID!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted in: Family

College football

Saturday, March 08, 2008

&nbsp_place_holder;West Virginia symbolizes everything that is wrong with college football.&nbsp_place_holder; They are playing flag football and winning against legitimate football programs.&nbsp_place_holder; The worst thing that could happen for the BCS would be if West Virginia played any Mike Leach coached team in a bowl game.

&nbsp_place_holder;I will literally cry if WVU wins a national championship, and subsequently earns Pat White a Heisman.&nbsp_place_holder; I’ve never been a bigger Pitt Panthers fan in my life.

And…the Big East is a joke.&nbsp_place_holder; Their automatic bid to the BCS should be stripped for lack of quality teams.&nbsp_place_holder;

Posted in: Other

Bite me, Microsoft

Friday, March 07, 2008

The company I work for recently upgraded Outlook Web Access from “borderline intolerable” to “still pretty bad”. It’s still a piece of junk, light years behind Gmail, but it’s an improvement. Until I tried to save an attachment in Firefox. A coworker sent me this PowerPoint about the mortgage crisis. OWA gives you the option to “View as Web Page”. Cool, I thought. I don’t have to save this file to disk and open it. So I did that. It was too slow. The PowerPoint is 45 pages or something, and the page transition time was getting annoying. So I decided to download it after all. I mean, it’s not like hard drive space is at a premium these days. There’s a little hyperlink that says, “MortgageCrisis.pps(2MB)”. So I clicked it. Firefox will generally handle things like that well - if you click a link to a file type it can’t open itself, it gives you the option to open it with a program you have installed, or save it to disk. That’s fine. Not with the new OWA. It just gives me an error message that this type of attachment has to be saved to disk. This is annoying, but not unexpected. Microsoft has never played well with others. So I right-clicked the file to “Save Link As”. None of this should be shocking to anyone who spends a lot of time online. This is where Microsoft punched me in the face. “Save Link As” attempts to save “attachment.ashx” instead of the PowerPoint. For those who don’t know, .ashx files are idiotic proprietary Microsoft script files for handling HTTP requests. It doesn’t matter if that’s Greek to you. The point here is that, once again, Microsoft has decided that the way everyone transmits data on the internet is wrong, and the way to really serve the needs of internet users is rewrite the rules so that nothing else is compatible. There are agreed-upon standards for transmitting data on the internet. Microsoft repeatedly defies them in order to make competing technologies incompatible with Microsoft products. It’s absolutely unconscionable, and one of the primary reasons I switched to Ubuntu Linux as my home operating system. BTW, “unconscionable” is a totally awesome word. It may be Microsoft’s only redeeming quality that they create so many opportunities for me to use it. Well, only redeeming quality other than Bill Gates' newfound philanthropy. That’s pretty cool, too.

Posted in: complaint , technology , the devil

Target is cool, but . . .

Friday, March 07, 2008

I walked past Columbia Heights' new Target last night on my way to Wonderland. I’ve never seen so many white kids in the neighborhood. It’s like a big magnet. It’s good to see people coming to the new stores, but I’m afraid that people are glossing over the problems that still remain. There has apparently been a big spike in crime this past week - muggings at gunpoint in broad daylight and on the Metro, and Target has serious theft problems. I imagine things will calm down a bit, but spring is coming, and with it the yearly crime spike when it gets nice outside. I hope Target and the rest of DCUSA are prepared.

Posted in: dc , Harvard Street , harvardstreet

Florida and Michigan made their beds

Friday, March 07, 2008

It is absolutely absurd that Michigan and Florida are even considering spending $25 million and $10 million, respectively, of taxpayer money to hold new elections. It is unfortunate that Democrats in these two states will not get to contribute to the selection of the nominee this year. But we can’t punish the Democratic party leaders of each state by throwing them in the briar patch at taxpayer expense. The whole reason they knowingly violated the rules was to give their states a louder voice in the election process. They were told they couldn’t move up the primaries, and that they would be punished if they did. They ignored the warnings, and they were punished. If we now let them revote, we’re giving them exactly what they wanted. I’m not sure why the media doesn’t seem to find this absurd. I think Florida and Michigan should send delegates bound by the proportion of delegates already pledged. That is, if Obama has 53% of the delegates from the other states, then he gets 53% of Florida’s and 53% of Michigan’s. That should get someone to the magic number (I think - I haven’t actually looked at the numbers) without giving Florida and Michigan any real influence on the election.

Posted in: absurd , complaint , election 2008 , politics

Et Tu, Ohio

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

I expect this sort of thing from Texas. I mean, what does “Texas Democrat” even mean? I think it’s like dark matter - something we think might exist, and we’ve seen evidence that it might exist, but no on has really ever seen it. But I expected better out of Ohio. I always figured Ohio was a sensible state. I mean, Cleveland just screams “sensible”. Let me tell you this, Ohio - Hillary doesn’t love you. She used you, like she used New York to get her into this race. She used you to take away some of Obama’s momentum. And now that she’s done it, she’s going to be insufferable for the next few weeks. But no matter. Obama will be our next President, and things will get better.

Posted in: complaint , election 2008 , politics

Changes in Columbia Heights

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

The Washington Post | A Rapid Renaissance in Columbia Heights

Even within the rush of construction that has swept across the District, Columbia Heights' renaissance is singular, not only because of its scope but because of its locale, a residential neighborhood that is among the region’s most economically and racially diverse.

Sweet. We’re singular. I think they chose that because the connotations of “unique” are too universally positive. “Singular” implies that you could be the only one, but still not that exciting.

Community leaders, said D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), envisioned a neighborhood that would serve all residents' dining and retail needs, and include a kaleidoscope-like civic plaza for the working-class families and professionals who make up the neighborhood’s population, as well as the shoppers streaming in from across the area.

Columbia Heights' rebirth is not only about the arrival of bricks and mortar at a crossroads that long struggled to recover from the looting and arson that followed Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. It’s about the blending of cultures and classes.

Nicely done, way to get the MLK Jr. reference in there. It shows the author cares about poor black people.

The new luxury apartments along 14th Street join the neighborhood’s existing stock of subsidized housing, much of it preserved and rehabilitated by officials who feared that the poor would be forced out.

Never mind that other cities have had great success with spreading subsidized housing out all over the place so you don’t create these little clusters surrounded by new condos. If everything is spread out, you have this glaring reminder every day that people in those buildings are poor and people in these buildings are rich. That’s not how you build a diverse, integrated community.

Black residents made up just over half the neighborhood’s population in the 2000 Census, although their share had declined since the previous count while the numbers of Hispanic and white people grew. From 2000 to 2005, home buyers' median income rose from $76,000 to $103,000, according to the Urban Institute .

I’m not sure why you cherry pick home buyers' median income, unless you’re afraid to mention that the overall median income is less than half that.

“Columbia Heights potentially is the manifestation of Dr. King’s vision,” said William Jordan, a resident of more than 20 years. “You have the potential not just for token integration but for a critical mass of old and young, low-income and affluent.” But Jordan questioned whether that spectrum can withstand economic pressures. “Can this last longer than half a generation?” he asked.

No. Not unless you do something about the schools so that the young middle class doesn’t move to the suburbs as soon as they have school-age children.

A few blocks south, in a concrete-paved park at 14th and Girard streets, talk of the neighborhood’s changes can be heard at tables where men play whist and checkers. The park is across from a new condominium building and down the street from where two homicides occurred last year. Graham has secured city funds to renovate the park, a plan that includes installing a fence that would block access at night. Although Graham said a broad spectrum of residents support the design, including park regulars, some say they feel insulted by the District’s attempt to impose control over a spot they consider a second living room, and they see a connection between the fence and all the new development.

This park has a really bad reputation that I don’t think is deserved at all. It happens to be at an intersection where a lot of crime happens, but most of the people who use the park are older, longtime residents. They’re not committing the crimes. But almost every building visible from the park is subsidized housing. Fencing in the park and closing it at night is just going to move the problem down a block or two, and insult the people who’ve been hanging out in that park for years. I love to see positive changes in the neighborhood, but flowery articles that focus on the new money coming in and gloss over the problems under the surface aren’t really helping anyone.

Posted in: dc , economics , Harvard Street , harvardstreet , revitalization

Tequila - the solution to all of life's problems

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Worried the sun is going to explode? Think the terrorists might actually win? Afraid that, by the time we actually get a real President, we might have lost ALL of our civil rights? Worry not. The answer is tequila.

Posted in: funny , life

Amazon recognizes that Linux users like music, too

Monday, March 03, 2008

Linux Downloader for Amazon MP3 Store

Amazon’s launched a Linux-based downloader for its DRM-free MP3 music store – fantastic news! Now if they’d only change the terms-of-service for the store to something sensible like “Don’t do anything illegal with this music.”

Well, this is pretty cool. Now I might actually USE the service. Up to now, you could buy single MP3s on whatever computer you wanted, but to get an album discount, you had to use Windows or Mac. A lot of good news from the music industry lately. I might actually give buying music a try again. I haven’t bought or downloaded any music since I bought the last (disappointing) Cake cd a year or two ago.

Posted in: DRM , linux , music

The co-founder of Netscape on Barack Obama

Monday, March 03, 2008

blog.pmarca.com | An hour and a half with Barack Obama

If you were asking me to write a capsule description of what I would look for in the next President of the United States, that would be it. Having met him and then having watched him for the last 12 months run one of the best-executed and cleanest major presidential campaigns in recent memory, I have no doubt that Senator Obama has the judgment, bearing, intellect, and high ethnical standards to be an outstanding president – completely aside from the movement that has formed around him, and in complete contradition to the silly assertions by both the Clinton and McCain campaigns that he’s somehow not ready.

If you’re an Obama supporter and you’ve ever talked politics with someone who isn’t, you’ve probably heard that he doesn’t have the experience to be President. Marc Andreessen makes the point that running the excellent campaign that Obama has run is a great demonstration of his leadership ability. Obama has a bunch of smart people working for him, getting his message out without stooping to the personal attacks that Clinton and McCain seem to enjoy so much. People talk about how he doesn’t know anything about foreign policy. The guy lived in Indonesia for a couple years as a kid. George Bush probably can’t even spell Indonesia. Oh, wait, was that an immature personal attack? Forget I said that. I think there’s a strange misperception that people from other countries are completely and totally different from people living in the United States, and dealing with Americans will in no way prepare you to talk to anyone from any other country. This is utterly absurd. Sure, cultures are different, and one should be aware of these differences. But it’s not like they’re from a different planet. Find out a bit about a culture, and treat them with respect, and they’re going to respond positively to you. Anyway, I didn’t need convincing that Obama is the best candidate for the job. But others do, and maybe this article will help.

Posted in: election 2008 , politics

Trent Reznor and alternative business models

Monday, March 03, 2008

NIN - Ghosts

Nine Inch Nails presents Ghosts I - IV, a brand new 36 track instrumental collection available right now. Almost two hours of new music composed and recorded over an intense ten week period last fall, Ghosts I - IV sprawls Nine Inch Nails across a variety of new terrain.

New Nine Inch Nails album announced today. I’m a little annoyed that I didn’t get an email, since I am signed up for the mailing list. Luckily, Gizmodo and Techdirt let me know. This is pretty cool. He’s releasing the first nine tracks as free downloads. $5 gets you all 36 downloads, DRM-free. $10 gets you the downloads now, and the cds when they’re released April 1. There are two other options at $75 and $300 that I’m probably not interested in. I’m sure the recording industry is watching this carefully. If this works for Nine Inch Nails, others will try similar things. Radiohead’s “pay what you want” experiment worked well, I think. It reinforces the idea that people are not opposed to paying for music from bands they like. We just don’t like to be treated as criminals just for listening to music. Anyway, I encourage you to download the free tracks. If you don’t like them, no loss. If you do, buy the rest. Think of it as listening to a few tracks at a friend’s house to see if you like the band, and then getting the cd when you find out that the band is awesome. Except in this case, your “friend” is Trent Reznor, and his “house” is NIN.com.

Posted in: DRM , economics , music , nine inch nails

GAAAH! Unwanted mental image!

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Swimming Naked When The Tide Goes Out « Jon Taplin’s Blog

What Buffet didn’t say, but I will, is that the Bush-McCain Republican economic policies can qualify as “financial folly” and they are are going to be naked, clinging to each other as the tide rolls out this summer.

Since I’m going to spend the rest of the day with the image of George Bush and John McCain, nude and hugging each other at the beach, seared into my brain, I wanted to make sure that you all are, too. I don’t really know enough about the economy to really speak intelligently about the state of the nation (I know, ignorance has never stopped me before). But I do know that Columbia Heights is feeling the housing market difficulties. There are two large buildings of new condos that have been converted to apartments. One of them, Allegro, converted after taking deposits from many buyers, and is now refunding them. And there have been complaints on the Columbia Heights community forum about home tax assessments going down. A few years ago, it would have been unheard of for a home in the DC metro area to actually lose value. Usually, they say, the DC area is insulated against recession because so much of the money around here comes from the federal government, which isn’t going anywhere. There will always be people here, and there will always be jobs here, even if the economy is terrible. Columbia Heights is probably less insulated because it’s currently “transitional”, and so there is a lot of upheaval and a lot of young people moving in. These young people often have huge mortgages, and probably aren’t tied to their home as much as someone older might be. Without kids and whatnot, it’s much easier for them to pack up and move somewhere cheaper if it gets tough here. And that’s not even looking at the low income residents of Columbia Heights. The median household income here is below $40,000, I believe. Well more than half of the neighborhood isn’t even mentioned when you talk about home sale prices because they don’t make nearly enough money to even consider buying. The wife and I are lucky in that we have some room to cut back if things get much worse. We have some savings, and we’re living within our means (Even though she complains about my credit card bill). Plus we have families to fall back on if we ever got into trouble. But many people aren’t in that situation, and are getting into real trouble. All this to say that, while I would love to see the Bush administration get what it deserves (A 0% approval rating and universal recognition that the last seven-plus years have been an unmitigated disaster), I would rather see the economy improve and people stop losing their homes.

Posted in: dc , economics , Harvard Street , harvardstreet , housing , politics

Giving stuff away

Saturday, March 01, 2008

The nature of free

As I tried to explain in the Guardian interview, the problem isn’t that books are given away or that people read books they haven’t paid for. The problem is that the majority of people don’t read for pleasure.

Here is yet another author talking about how giving away books for free is a good thing, and tends to increase sales of other books. John Scalzi talks about this often. So does Charles Stross, and Cory Doctorow. And Techdirt talks about the value of giving away infinite goods to generate interest in scarce ones. I first read Scalzi’s Agent to the Stars shared free online, and then bought some of his other stuff. I first read Stross' Accelerando shared free online, and now preorder his novels before they even come out. And I first read Gaiman when I got Anansi Boys from the library. My long-winded point here is that I have frequently purchased books because I read something the author had shared for free and I liked it. So I sought out more from that author. When someone finally makes a reasonably priced, non-DRMed ebook reader, I’ll do this even more. I have a bunch of free books saved on my hard drive that I haven’t read because I don’t want to sit at the computer to read a novel. Give me a good way to get that book over into the big fluffy chair in the sunroom, and I’ll be thrilled. However, I quoted Gaiman up above for a reason. It is interesting that he says that most people don’t read for pleasure. I don’t know how true that is in general, but I know many of my friends don’t read much or at all. I’ve gotten shocked reactions from people when I tell them that I get books out of the library (Although not so much lately now that I’m driving to work and don’t have an hour on the Metro to read every day). It’s too bad that people don’t read more. I have fond memories of reading while growing up. It was great to not even hear my mom calling me because I was so wrapped up in the book. See, kids, that’s a great excuse for ignoring your mom. Try it sometime. Edit: I should have checked Techdirt before I posted this. They have an article on this very subject up right now. And now Cory Doctorow mentions the very same Gaiman post up on Boing Boing. If I link to a post that links to a post that I already linked to, maybe we can create an infinite loop that creates an vortex in the internet which will spit out the Ghost of Christmas Past to visit the CEO’s of Sony, Time Warner, Random House, Apple, Adobe, and all the other DRM-mongers and show them the error of their ways. Then we’ll all wake up Christmas morning with open source ebook readers under the tree and thousands of free ebooks waiting at Amazon. Do you read for pleasure? Fiction? Non-fiction?

Posted in: economics , free , writing

Battery standardization - probably not going to happen

Friday, February 29, 2008

Green Cell Eco-Concept: One Battery For All

Green Cell is a concept with a single simple idea: use safe, standardized rechargeable batteries in all portable gadgets.

I’ve argued this before - it’s ridiculous that every single portable device uses it’s own battery and charger. Even within the same company they often aren’t compatible. Nokia used to do it with their 5000 series cell phones, but I think they’ve gotten away from it. Anyway, this would be really cool if it happened. I don’t think it will, but it would be cool.

Posted in: gadgets , technology , Wind kissing

Oops, I broke IE

Friday, February 29, 2008

Oops. I was playing around with CSS last night and never bothered to check the site in Internet Explorer 6. So if you’re using that contemptible piece of junk to view the site, you’re going to see the right sidebar in the wrong place. Unless you’re at work, or somewhere else where you can’t change your browser, you really, really should go get a real browser. I am a huge advocate of Firefox. It is a better browser than IE in almost every way, and it’s free. You should try it. Anyway, I’ll fix the CSS at some point, but it will probably be over the weekend. For now, you’re out of luck.

Posted in: ie sucks , internet , the devil

You WILL like tofu and brussels sprouts

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Caramelized Tofu Recipe - 101 Cookbooks

Here’s how it came together: a quick survey of my kitchen revealed tofu and a cluster of brussels sprouts. There was also a vibrant bouquet of cilantro tucked into the refrigerator door begging to be used. I scanned the cupboards and pulled down a small bag of (already toasted!) pecans and the remnants of a once full bag of my favorite sugar. Garlic? Check.

I know that a lot of people have a very strong reaction to brussels sprouts and tofu. Kind of like my reaction to Hillary Clinton. But the wife LOVES brussels sprouts, and so when I saw this recipe, I tried it out. It’s really excellent. If you don’t enjoy caramelized tofu with pecans, you’re crazy. Or allergic. And not only is it delicious, but it’s also made in only one pan (Two if you cook rice with it, which I recommend) so it’s pretty easy to clean up. Anyway, you should try it. I didn’t bother toasting the pecans this time (I did the first time I made it), and I didn’t notice a difference.

Posted in: cooking , food , health , recipe , vegetarian

I hope my friends in Nashville are involved here

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Nashville copyright craziness – success! Rematch on Mar 5 - Boing Boing

Yesterday’s rally in Nashville to stop a new copyright bill that would put the expense of policing the movie industry’s business model onto universities was a success – the bill has been stalled and won’t be reconsidered for ten days.

I have two friends down in Nashville (Well, just outside of Nashville, but close enough). One of them probably knows about this already. In fact, I was sort of expecting a post on the subject. I won’t elaborate on all the reasons why laws like this are absurd - BoingBoing does it pretty regularly, and I don’t really have anything to add. But if you’re in or around Nashville, especially if you are or soon will be a student at a Tennessee college, this matters to you. Don’t let them raise your tuition to support the lazy recording industry that stubbornly refuses to embrace the new business available to them through the internet.

Posted in: complaint , copyright , failed business model , politics

Site Design

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

I want to give credit where it’s due for the help I’ve gotten on webdesign and whatnot here. The nice rounded border for the sidebar sections is from Spiffy Corners. More to come - I have to go back and find the tutorials that really helped me get the site up.

Eat Well DC hires new chef - Washington Business Journal -

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Eat Well DC hires new chef | Washington Business Journal

Eat Well DC Restaurant Group has hired a new chef to oversee the company’s four D.C. restaurants. Branden Levine, who was formerly chef and owner of The Tavern Restaurant in Heathsville, Va., replaces Sal Del Rosario, who was with the company for 18 months.

This is interesting news. I’ve been to Merkado once, and to The Heights numerous times (How smug are we about being there opening night?). I have no idea what’s going to change with a new chef. The food there is good, although I liked what I had at Merkado better than most of what I’ve had at The Heights. There’s something about the food at The Heights that knocks it down a notch. It’s not that the food is bad, because it isn’t. It just feels like they could tweak some recipes just a little bit and be much better. So, we’ll see what happens.

Posted in: dc , food , Harvard Street , harvardstreet , things to do

Getting back into music

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

I finally tried out Pandora. If you don’t know, it’s kind of like customized internet radio. You tell them artists you like, and it plays them, plus other stuff it thinks you’ll like. I’m still tweaking the station - at the moment it’s playing nothing but Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson. Now, I like both of them, but I’m trying to find some new music, not just listen to stuff I already like. Crap, now it’s playing Ministry. I’m not sure what I’ve done wrong - it seems to think that I’m really angry now. Quick, what’s a happy band that doesn’t suck?

Posted in: music

The dumbest thing I've read today

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Like ‘O7’s No. 1, Ryan has a lot of questions to answer

Brilliant thought, Andrew. Really smart. I agree totally. Entering the combine, Rice was in the late-second-round realm, and I think he moved up some because he ran a 4.44 40-yard dash, which was about a tenth of a second faster than scouts thought he’d run. The criticism of him was that he wasn’t fast enough to run past corners, but I think he addressed that at the combine.

I don’t know why I read Peter King - I disagree with him on nearly everything. But I was reading this, and wow, am I glad I did. First, King goes on to say that Matt Ryan will be a good quarterback. I saw him play a few times, and I’ll tell you he’s a mediocre quarterback who played for an overrated BC team in a conference where nearly all the traditionally good teams had off years. I expect he’ll be a tolerable NFL quarterback if he gets on a team with a decent line. Anyway, what’s really ridiculous is how King thinks that Rutgers’ Ray Rice has silenced all critics by running the 40 a tenth of a second faster than everyone thought he would. Does he really think that an extra tenth of a second of speed is going to make that much difference? What’s the margin of error on the timekeeping at the combine? I didn’t see Rice play, although people have told me he’s absurd. Successful college running backs are not nearly as hit-or-miss as quarterbacks, and I expect Rice will do well in the NFL. Of course, that’s all ignoring the strategy that I’d take in the NFL draft, which is to trade away my first round (And maybe second round) pick unless I could get a game-changing player, pick up a dozen offensive and defensive linemen in the third round, and go from there.

Posted in: football , sports , stupid

Where are the nicknames of yesteryear?

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Bartolo is Worth a Flyer

Final note: a look at Colon’s B-R.com page reveals that he is yet another modern day star without a nickname. How is this possible? The guy is an orca-fat Dominican fireballer who, by all accounts, has a pretty good sense of humor. If he was around in the 50s he would have been given a nickname so early in his career that we all would have forgotten that his name was Bartolo by now.

I think we’ve, sadly, gotten away from good sports figure nicknames. I mean, how many great nicknames can you think of off the top of your head? The best one I can think of is “The Truth”, Paul Pierce, and the only reason I know that is because the wife is a huge Celtics fan. Is it because sportswriters and sports announcers are hired for being loud and “funny” (Hello, Monday Night Football crew) instead of being good at making the fans feel like they are part of the game? As an aside, my post title is a reference to Catch-22, my favorite book. I’ve heard that phrase used before, and I always wondered if Heller created the expression, or if he was making a play on someone else’s words. Turns out he was. So, kudos to you, Francois Villon. Sorry to the wife for failing to include the squiggle under the ‘c’ in ‘Francois’. Okay, back to nicknames. Maybe I just don’t watch enough sports on TV. Or maybe it’s that sports are so national now that it’s hard to use a nickname because no one will understand it. If you’re a local announcer, you know you get a lot of the same fans, over and over, and they know the local team really well. So you can use a nickname and you won’t confuse too many people. But if you’re a football announcer who knows that the audience for this week’s 4PM game has only seen this team once in the past two years, if that, you probably can’t call their defensive tackle by his truly inspired nickname without stopping to explain who it is and where the nickname came from. No one wants that. All this to say that it’s probably ESPN’s fault.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , sports

Test complaint

Monday, February 25, 2008

This is a test complaint

And my next car will be . . .

Monday, February 25, 2008

Volkswagen to Introduce 70 mpg Diesel-Electric Hybrid Golf

Channel 4 writes: “The technology will be used in a number of Volkswagen Group models, including the Jetta saloon [sedan] - which sells in greater numbers in the US than the ‘Rabbit’ - and the Audi A3.”

Okay, I don’t care about the Jetta and the Rabbit, but a 70 MPG Audi A3 is really, really hot. I’ve loved the A3 ever since I first saw one, walking from the train station in London to the house where my sister-in-law and her family were living. We passed an Audi dealer, and every time we went by, there were a couple of A3s sitting out front (Sexy right-hand-drive models, of course). I was thrilled when they decided to bring them over to the States, and now am even more thrilled at the prospect of 70 MPG. Especially if we can get some nice biodiesel stations in the area (I know, fat chance, but I’m dreaming here). Now I just have to convince the wife that 1) We need a new car 2) We can afford an Audi and 3) We can’t afford NOT to get a biodiesel hybrid Audi. Any suggestions?

Posted in: cars , driving , Wind kissing

My first spam!

Monday, February 25, 2008

The new site just got its first spam comments! That’s so exciting. Akismet faithfully caught them, which makes it even better. The post that received the comments is an old one, and the spambot found it through the old URL, so that means that redirection is completely successful.

Posted in: blogging , spam

Redirect is working

Monday, February 25, 2008

You all don’t care, probably, but I got the redirect working. It took a ton of time, but after my 395th tutorial, I finally found something that worked. So if you have an old link to a Complaint Hub blog post, the link should continue to work.

Posted in: blogging , Drupal

Some things good, some things bad

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Well, I can’t figure out the stupid redirect. I’m trying to redirect the old links (http://www.blog.complainthub.com/?p=XXX where XXX is a number) to the new links (http://www.complainthub.com/?q=?p=XXX). I think there are too many .htaccess redirects going on, and I don’t really understand it all. Otherwise, things are good. The friend who said the old layout “made his eyes bleed” has already expressed his approval. Since he picked the colors, he’d better approve. Next on the list is a different project, but then I’ll get back to reimplementing “Your Complaints” so you can complain about stuff, too.

Posted in: blogging , Drupal , Your complaints

Sorry for the "read more"

Friday, February 22, 2008

I will definitely fix the way that Drupal is cutting off the post and making you click “Read More”. I hate that when I’m reading someone’s blog, and I won’t tolerate it here. I just don’t know how to fix it. But I will. Edit: Fixed. Whew. Thought I was going to have to go back to WordPress for a minute.

Posted in: blogging , complaint , Drupal

Things are a little bit rough so far

Friday, February 22, 2008

So I’m converting to Drupal. I have most of the basics working. I’m not sure my .htaccess redirect from the old site is working. It might just take the server some time to figure it out, I don’t know. I know the RSS feed is updated. If you’ve been reading the feed, it should be basically a transparent change. It’s pretty cool so far. Of course, everything gets messed up when I upgrade to Drupal 6, but they aren’t quite ready for the full release yet (Contrary to what it say on their site). Anyway, it’s late, so I’m probably just about done for now, but keep watching. More cool stuff is coming.

Posted in: Anti complaint , blogging , Drupal

Please let this mean that there are no more Flash websites

Friday, February 22, 2008

Adobe cripples Flash video with DRM - Boing Boing

Amazingly, Adobe seems to have entirely missed the fact that the reason that the Flash video format has taken off is that it’s so fluid, versatile and remixable – not because they sucked up to some Hollysaurs and crippled their technology.

I know there are good uses for Flash (Homestarrunner, Google Analytics, YouTube).  But for every good usage, there are probably 100 bad uses.  If you’ve ever been to a site that takes forever to load, and then when it does, it’s impossible to navigate, it was probably made with Flash.  It’s not that the technology itself is necessarily bad, it’s just that the potential for abuse is so great.

Now, with the introduction of DRM and the inevitable flood of DMCA takedown notices, perhaps we will see the end of Flash.  Not that I think the absence of Flash will prevent bad websites, but maybe it will help.

Posted in: complaint , dmca , Internet

Icepocalypse!

Friday, February 22, 2008

Sometime last night, the DC area was hit by the lesser-known Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse, freezing rain. I imagine the city has shut down. I didn’t bother to go outside, although we’re supposed to celebrate my dad’s birthday tonight in Annapolis, so I might later. Last time there was “inclement weather”, on Wednesday, I went to pick up the wife and visit my grandmother in Arlington. It was some of the worst traffic I’ve ever seen in the city. Things went okay down 14th Street until a block before the circle. Then we stopped. And waited. I forget which circle that is, but it’s just south of 14th and N NW. Traffic in the circle wasn’t moving. About half the cars waiting with me on that final block turned around before we started moving. I got most of the way through the circle before I decided to bail out onto Vermont, which I’ve never done before, but it goes in more or less the same direction. That was a mistake. I ended up turning right on K instead of I St. If you live in the city, you’ve probably driven on K. It’s prety much a disaster all the time. I was almost killed there on the way to my rehearsal dinner, following the then-fiancee and making a right off K without using the stupid access road (Who knew you couldn’t go right from the main road?). The problem I ran into was that you can’t make a left from K during rush hour at all. And I needed to be on I St. I ended up going right on 18th, going around the block and coming back down Connecticut. I probably should have gone right on 20th and came down 19th, but I wasn’t sure I could do that, and I like to do my experimenting with new streets when it’s not 6pm and I’m already late. Looking at Google Maps now, it looks like it would have been fine. Anyway, going left on 19th from I St was a mess, too. Luckily I told my grandmother we’d be later than I originally thought, so we were still on time. All of this is basically to explain that I didn’t go into work today and am planning to do some work from here. I don’t expect anyone will even notice (Except one of our team leads, who reads the blog. Hi, Andy!). Edit: Just noticed that DCist used the same “icepocalypse” in their title as I did. I’m gonna sue. Jerks. I mean, it’s not possible that they came up with the same thing I did. I’m just too clever for that. They must have stolen it.

Posted in: dc , Weather

Mmmm, delicious Consecrator Dopplebock

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Bell’s Brewery: Brands

I stopped in Whole Foods to pick up some dinner (Salmon and asparagus, at the wife’s request), and saw they had a Bell’s brand I’d never seen - the Consecrator Dopplebock.  It’s still getting cold in the fridge, so I can’t give a review yet, but Bell’s crappy new website calls it “a well balanced, full bodied beer”.  It turns out it’s only available in February, and not even the whole month.

I feel sorry for my West Coast brothers-in-law, both lovers of Bell’s, who can’t get it locally.

I have to say, it’s more fun to drink a beer with a cool name.  I mean, Consecrator Dopplebock?  That’s awesome.  It’s up there with Rogue Dead Guy Ale (A great beer) and Dogfish Head Raison D'Etre (Another great beer).

Posted in: Anti complaint , Beer

Response from VA Delegate Scott

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Thanks very much for your message about needed transportation improvements. The main reason we in No.Va. suffer from inadequate transportation solutions is that we have not increased revenues in 20 years. Again this year, many of us in NoVA tried to obtain support for new sources of funding, but we had little support from House members from other parts of the state. In response to your specific inquiry, I am copying my legislative aide on this email with my request that she contact VDOT about the specific problem you have described—and let you know what she finds out about possible steps that can be taken.

Jim Scott

Posted in: Uncategorized

Response from VA Senator Saslaw

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Senator Saslaw has read your email and forwarded it on to VDOT for comment.

Janet Muldoon

Legislative Aide

Office of Senator Richard Saslaw

Posted in: Uncategorized

Response from Senator Allen

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Thank you for your email regarding Leesburg Pike. I appreciate your concerns and value your input on this important matter.

While safety on our roads is one of my highest transportation priorities and I support initiatives aimed at protecting all highway users, this is an issue that falls under the jurisdiction of State and local government. In fact, I feel that this is a matter in which federal involvement would not be appropriate.

As a common-sense Jeffersonian conservative, I strongly believe that the reach of the federal government ought to be limited in nature. States and localities understand the needs of their people better than a remote federal government.

Please be assured that as a citizen of the Commonwealth, I will closely monitor this issue. However, while my staff and I are more than happy to assist you with matters involving federal legislation or agencies, this particular issue should be dealt with at the State level. I encourage you to contact your State and local officials, should you need further assistance in this matter. These officials may be identified through the citizen services page of the Commonwealth of Virginia website.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me. If you would like to receive an e-mail newsletter about my initiatives to improve America, please sign up on my website (allen.senate.gov). It is an honor to serve you in the United States Senate, and I look forward to working with you to make Virginia and America a better place to live, learn, work and raise a family.

With warm regards, I remain

Sincerely,

Senator George Allen

Posted in: Uncategorized

The Atrocity at Seven Corners

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Dear Congressman Moran

I am writing to request that something be done about the Seven Corners intersection Leesburg Pike, Route 50, and various other roads. I’m sure you’re familiar with the intersection, although I’m not sure it’s technically in your district.

I drive through the intersection nearly every weekday after dropping my wife at East Falls Church Metro on my way to my office in Bailey’s Crossroads. And nearly every weekday, someone turns into a lane which I am currently occupying, and to which I have a legal right, and they do not. I have consulted with the Department of Motor Vehicles, and in this particular case, I am entitled to the lane while they are not.

I understand that reworking the entire intersection would be quite costly and would cause impossible traffic delays while work was being done. And while I think that the intersection is an embarrassment to the state of Virginia, a monument to unchecked growth and poor planning, I would be satisfied if there were simply signs clearly identifying which lane a driver should be in to end up in a certain spot.

I am a more observant driver than most people. And if I can’t figure out the proper flow of the intersection after six months of driving through it and a request for clarification from the DMV, then I find it hard to fault other drivers for not knowing which lane to be in.

I truly believe that the only reason there are not daily accidents at the intersection is that there is too much traffic for anyone to build up any speed.

Thank you very much for your time, and I look forward to your response.

Posted in: Uncategorized

Im with you on everything but the Mac part

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Conceptual Trends and Current Topics

You could remove many electronic boxes from our home and we would not miss them. But if you took our kitchen computer away, it would hurt. In fact two weeks ago the Mac had to go in for repairs, and we kept turing to its vacant spot for help, only to groan. It felt a little like some feel without their cell phone.

I’ve been wanting to do this for a while.  I think a small form factor box (Like a Mac Mini, since you all know what that is, but not a Mac, because Macs and I have a mutually antagonistic relationship) with a small touchscreen would be perfect to mount underneath a cabinet in the kitchen.  You could use it for recipes (We constantly bring a laptop into the kitchen for this, but I don’t like my laptop on the counter.).  You could use it, as mentioned in the linked article, for watching movies and YouTube and whatnot while cooking.

The kitchen has always been the most sociable place in the house for me, and probably for lots of others.  I would love someday to build a house centered on the kitchen, where the layout of the house encouraged everyone to congregate in a huge kitchen designed both for cooking and for relaxing.

Now I just have to convince the wife that this is a great idea.

Posted in: Home

Drupal coming along nicely

Thursday, February 21, 2008

I tweaked my strategy to import this blog into Drupal, and it’s working quite well on my local machine.  I had wanted to go with the brand new Drupal 6.0, but it’s not quite finished, and many of the modules that I might want to use haven’t been updated yet.  So I think I’ll go with 5.7, and then upgrade down the road a little when 6.0 is more mature.

My big problem is the permalinks.  I don’t want to have to write individual .htaccess entries for 700-some posts - I can’t imagine that’s a good idea.  So I need a redirect rule, and I don’t know much about writing them.  I think I can figure it out, though.  I think I’m going to have to map http://www.blog.complainthub.com/?p=123 to http://www.complainthub.com/node/123 or something like that.  I don’t think that will be hard, but you never know.  Luckily my webhost uses nice, sensible Apache servers, instead of some hideous abomination.

Anyway, my next challenge will be scraping together a new theme.  I have some ideas, but I need to execute them.  And I need to pick a color scheme.  You can leave suggestions in the comments, which I’ll probably ignore.  But you can leave them.

Posted in: blogging , Drupal , Technology

Saving money through credit cards

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

When I finally got fed up with hearing, “I’m sorry, sir, we don’t accept Discover”, and went looking for a new credit card, I started off at Fatwallet, looking for a good deal.  I looked through their list of rewards cards for something with a 2% return on something that I would actually use.  The one that jumped out at me was a Chase/Countrywide card (Even though I hate Chase).  If you, like me, have a mortgage through Countrywide (Which I do, on our rental condo in Falls Church), this card will pay $50 towards that mortgage for every $2500 you spend on the card.

They just applied the first payment to my mortgage, and I was wondering what my long term savings were.  I have 27 years, 8 months left on the loan.  The wife and I intend to continue to rent out the condo as long as we can afford it (And that should get easier from year to year, as rents inevitably go up while the mortgage stays basically the same).  Now, it’s likely that we’ll refinance at some point, although the rate is 5.375%, so it probably won’t be until we can get a 10 or 15 year fixed mortgage instead of the 30 year.

Anyway, I found a mortgage calculator that would tell me my savings based on a one-time extra payment.  I don’t know how accurate it is, but it tells me that my one-time payment of $50 in the 27th month of the loan will save me $177 over the full remainder of the loan.  So my 2% reward turns into a 9% reward (I know, adjust for inflation, present day value vs future value, blah blah blah I dropped my econ major, remember?  It’s not a perfect calculation.).

So that’s pretty awesome.  And it shows how much a small early prepayment can help in a long-term loan.  So, while Chase’s customer service is, in my experience, unbelievably bad, this credit card is a great deal if you have a Countrywide mortgage.  I have no idea whether Bank of America will mess with this or not, but I hope not.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Money

Columbia Heights lost a theater

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

DCist: Rorschach Gets A New Home (For Now)

The scrappy theater troupe has been hunting for months for a temporary home to finish out its 2008 season, after being bumped from its former spot at the Sanctuary Theater in Columbia Heights, a converted church space.

That sucks.  I hadn’t been paying a ton of attention to what’s going on at our local theater because the last few times I looked at their website, they had no announced dates for new shows.  And now I find out they’re no longer our local theater.  We went to one show a while back and really enjoyed it, and just hadn’t gotten around to going again.

I hope this works out for them, but it sucks for Columbia Heights.

Posted in: dc , Theater

Someone stole my cherries!

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

I had some frozen cherries in the freezer at work to eat with my oatmeal in the morning, and someone stole them.  I was looking forward to oatmeal with cherries today.  But they’re gone.  Now I have to eat plain oatmeal.

A coworker tells me they sent out a notice a long time ago that they were going to clean the fridge, but I never saw it.  So I suspect that those jerks threw out a half a package of organic frozen cherries just because there might have been a little bit of cherry juice on the bottom of the freezer.   I hope they’re happy with themselves.

Posted in: complaint , Food

Wow, that was easy

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

I did a test import of Complaint Hub into Drupal on my laptop.  It worked nearly flawlessly.  It’s going to be a little tough to keep up the permalinks so that any links to the current site redirect to the new site.  I want to move everything back to complainthub.com (You’ll notice the URL here is blog.complainthub.com), which makes it harder.  And then there are still the posts from my old From Harvard Street blog that are all forwarding from harvardstreet.complainthub.com to blog.complainthub.com.  I suppose I could probably just fix that to go directly to complainthub.com.

The import module for Drupal also does not import multiple Wordpress categories for a single post.  It only imports multiple tags.  Unfortunately for me, I use categories almost exclusively.  There is a way to convert categories to tags, but there’s a big disclaimer about backing up your database first.  I guess I could just do that.

Otherwise, it was pretty awesome.  I still need a nice new theme, but otherwise you may be seeing the changes sooner rather than later.

Posted in: blogging , Technology

The future of Complaint Hub

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

I’m thinking about migrating the site from WordPress to Drupal. For many of you, that sentence may make absolutely no sense. If you don’t keep reading, I won’t blame you. If you do stop reading, you should make it up to me by going and buying John Scalzi’s special edition book that he’s auctioning off for charity. Get him to inscribe it to me, with some really inscrutable saying. Bid quickly, as it’s already over $2000.

Anyway, if you’re still reading, I got a little infatuated with Drupal while doing some work for a project that never panned out. It doesn’t do blogging as well as WordPress (At least not right out of the box), but it does a lot of other stuff much better. And I think it would be perfect for a project I’ve been thinking about.

Some of you may know that I’m MUCH better at thinking about projects than actually doing them, and I have a bunch of stuff still in the thinking stage. I have a money-making venture with a friend. I have an online economics course to take with another friend. I have the science fiction novel I’ve been plotting out. I have an 8K in March and a 10K in April. I have my real job. I also have a wife, and a family, and some friends, all of whom require and deserve some of my time.

In any event, the project could be really cool, and a nice side effect is that I’d probably bring back the complaint submission page that people have been missing. And I’ll update the theme of the site - at least one friend insists that his eyes bleed when he reads it.

So that’s in the future.  I don’t know how long it will take to happen, but be prepared.  If you subscribe via RSS, the feed might change, although hopefully FeedBurner will take care of that transparently (To you, at least).  But I’ll keep you posted.

Posted in: blogging , Technology

Back from California

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

The wife and I got back yesterday from a super-quick trip to California.  The main purpose of the trip was a baby shower (My first, and I have to say it wasn’t bad - males were forced to go upstairs and drink beer and watch tv while the women played all those ridiculous shower games) in Pasadena.  After driving from LAX to their house, I don’t think I could live out there.  LA is just so enormous and car-centric.  And the Pontiac G6 we rented is a prime example of why Michigan and the American car industry is having such a hard time - it was uncomfortable and unmaneuverable (I’d expect a turning radius like that from an 18-wheeler, not a mid-size sedan).  Although the wife liked having the trip counter and stuff in the middle of the dash, so she could reset it at each turn as we followed Google Maps directions.

Before the baby shower, however, we landed in San Jose and spent the night with a brother-in-law before taking the train up to San Fransisco to stay with another brother-in-law and his girlfriend.  Pictures will be up on Flickr later, but this trip especially has reminded me that I need to take another photography class - I’m less happy with each successive batch of travel photos I take, I think.

We also went to see a show at the SF Museum of Modern Art.  Wow.  It was certainly interesting.  The show was Weimar New York, and it was not quite what I was expecting.  The show is mostly drag, not surprising for the area.  But as the night went on, it was increasingly risque.  After three hours, when we decided to call it quits (It was 1AM at this point, and the wife and I were still more or less on East Coast time), they had arrived at full male and female nudity.  It was an interesting show, although I’m not sure I’d recommend it.  We were talking afterwards, and a brother-in-law remarked that he was unaccustomed to being in the top 5% of the conservative end of the room.  I felt the same way - I think I’m pretty liberal socially, but the crowd in there made me feel like Mike Huckabee.  It was liberal even for San Fransisco.

Anyway, it was a good trip, although much too short.

Posted in: Travel

Email from Flickr

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Hi thetejon, Yay! Barack Obama has marked you as a contact too. Here’s a link to Barack Obama’s profile : http://www.flickr.com/people/barackobamadotcom/ And photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/barackobamadotcom/ See ya!

Awesome.

Posted in: Politics

Say no to artificial sweetener

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

‘Diet’ foods weight gain puzzle

 Scientists from Purdue University in the US now believe that a sweet taste followed by no calories may make the body crave extra food.

So, instead of being better for you, artificial sweeteners give you cancer, metabolic syndrome, and make you fatter.   Artificial sweeteners are not actually food.  They are chemicals that trick you into tasting “sweet”.  Every study I’ve ever seen says they’re bad for you.

So, stop eating them.  Just eat less sweets.  You don’t need that diet soda.  You don’t need the little blue and pink packets of powdered crap in your coffee.

I’ve found, as I’ve cut down on drinking soda, that I don’t enjoy it as much as I used to.  I used to LOVE Coke.  Given a choice, I would almost always drink that.  Then I found beer, and that took away the top spot, but Coke was always my top non-alcoholic drink.

I still drink it sometimes - I don’t believe in cutting things that I enjoy out of my life completely just because they aren’t good for me.  If I generally eat healthfully, then one bacon cheeseburger with fries and a large Coke every once in a while isn’t going to kill me.

In any event, you should stop consuming artificial sweeteners.

Posted in: health , Life

It sucks outside

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

I just took some trash out to the bin outside, and our driveway is covered in ice.  If you don’t have a compelling reason to be outside, I suggest you stay where you are tonight.  Get your voting done and get home safely.

Posted in: Weather

Voted!

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Took five minutes this time. They had run out of Democrat paper ballots and the little blue cards that count how many people have voted for each party or whatever they do. But I voted.

It always seems a little anti-climactic after I vote - such a large event that actually takes just a few presses of a touch-screen. Whatever. I look forward to the results coming in at 8 or so.

The guy who took my little card told me that they had broken the record for most votes in this area already, and the polls are still open for more than three hours.

Posted in: dc , Politics

ITS A REPUBLICAN CONSPIRACY!!!

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

They didn’t open my polling place on time! They know that DC is mostly Democrats, and they’re trying to steal the election again!

I’m just kidding. The polling place at 14th and Columbia NW was just slow to open the doors this morning, and the wife and I decided to come back later. It’s not like they knew this date was coming. I can understand how they might forget that there was an election this year and not get the polling place set up in time. As they say, never attribute to malice that which can adequately be explained by stupidity. Or, in this case, ill-preparedness.

Someone actually came out at 7:10 to put a sign on the door identifying the building as a polling place, and as of the time we left, the doors were still locked - you had to get someone inside to let you in. Not a problem when the polls are late to open and the line is bunching up around the door to escape the cold, but it could be a pain later.

There was one lonely guy outside with a “Demand the Vote” sign. As I’ve said, while I would like a congressional representative or two, I feel that I can’t complain too much about DC’s lack of representation - I knew full well what I was getting into when I moved here.

Update - a neighbor reports on the Columbia Heights neighborhood forum that my polling place was running smoothly at 8:15. So I should have no trouble voting when I get home.

Posted in: complaint , dc , Pretend Conspiracy

Still nothing all that cool in alternative energy for transportation

Monday, February 11, 2008

The Reality of Greener Transportation « Earth2Tech

Chanaron writes that the growth in hybrids across US car manufacturers, “is based more on customer perception triggered by very clever marketing and communication campaigns than on pure rationale scientific arguments.”

One of my problems with all the new more efficient cars and trucks on the road now is that we haven’t had anything truly revolutionary. The Prius deserves some credit for being the first real success in the industry, but the thing still gets under 50 mpg. If I’m going to drive an automatic-only vehicle that looks as ridiculous as the Prius, it better be getting some really ground-breaking mileage.

That’s a big reason why my technique of using less gas is to walk and take public transportation. Our Mazda 3 gets 23-28 mpg on average, depending on what kind of driving we’re doing.  And it’s still fun to drive.  We try and make up for the difference in fuel efficiency by only using it when we really have to.  My first choice is almost always to take the Metro or bus.  And I expect it to stay that way until there’s a real solution to personal transportation, which doesn’t sound like it’s imminent.

Posted in: Wind kissing

I should have taken a picture

Monday, February 11, 2008

As you know if you were in the DC Metro area last night, it was really, really windy.  So windy, in fact, that the plywood sidewalk cover across the street from the house, erected by the construction company to protect pedestrians, blew over into the street.  Luckily, there’s a fire hydrant there, and it’s the side of the street where you can’t park during rush hour, so only one car was hit with debris.  Well, lucky if that wasn’t your car, I guess.  I mean it was lucky that there weren’t more cars parked there.

The police came, and spent an hour or so driving past, and then backing up (the wrong way down our one-way street), and generally making a nuisance of themselves.  Then they put up some crime scene tape and tore off down the street.

As of 7AM this morning, the car with a huge pile of plywood on top of it is due a parking ticket.  It may be hard to place the ticket on the car, as the front end is entirely covered.  But I fully expect DC’s parking enforcement to try anyway.

Posted in: dc , parking , Weather

I cant believe they said that

Monday, February 11, 2008

Techdirt: Yahoo Now Thinks AOL Will Be A Savior?

Then, late Sunday a new rumor arose: Yahoo! might try to keep Microsoft away by merging with AOL. That seems sort of like trying to keep a wild animal from eating you by covering yourself with feces. It might make awful sense for about a second, but it’s just a bad, bad idea. First, it’s unlikely to work – and, second, it’s just pathetic.

I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much at an article on Techdirt.  Comparing a merger with AOL to covering yourself in feces?  Do they have a new intern writing articles?  Wow.

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a great analogy, and really funny, but totally not what I expect from Techdirt.

I don’t really care what happens to Yahoo.  My only request is that they make sure that someone with a soul gets control of Flickr.  That is the only part of Yahoo that I care at all about.  When Yahoo bought them, I was afraid that Flickr would be ruined, but Yahoo has pretty much left the site alone.  There is a really good community there (Slightly obsessed with half-naked women, but isn’t that why most people pick up a camera anyway?), and it’s one of the only things online where I actually pay for the “pro” version.

Anyway, I hope Yahoo finds a buyer and everything works out.  I doubt they’ll ever catch Google, but they can at least keep nipping at Google’s heels, keep them from getting soft (And putting out a product like Windows Vista).

Posted in: Internet

Obama is down with Creative Commons

Sunday, February 10, 2008

I was poking around on one of my favorite websites, Flickr, and found that my favorite presidential candidate not only has an account, but shares all his photos with a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike license.

For all of you internet communist Techdirt-fanatic geeks (like me) who believe that non-scarce resources (like photos and MP3s) should be free (And there is extensive economic theory that reinforces this), this is awesome.

Not that I needed another reason to vote for the guy - he’s the only one running who I trust with my country, even if I don’t agree with him on a lot of the issues.  But if I were looking for more reasons, this would be one of them.

Now I just have to figure out a non-commercial use for one of his photos so I can take advantage of the license.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Politics

Diet soda - not just for cancer anymore

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Symptoms: Metabolic Syndrome Is Tied to Diet Soda - New York Times via Serious Eats

Researchers have found a correlation between drinking diet soda and metabolic syndrome — the collection of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes that include abdominal obesity, high cholesterol and blood glucose levels — and elevated blood pressure.

I hate diet soda. Not only does it taste terrible, but it’s really bad for you. I’ve cut out most of the soda from my diet. And the less I drink, the less I enjoy it. So I guess that’s good. But I always drink the regular stuff. I’d rather high-fructose corn syrup than some carcinogenic artificial sweetener.

Posted in: Complaint , complaint , health

I dont know what SalesGenie is thinking

Thursday, February 07, 2008

An Ad With Talking Pandas, Maybe, but Not With Chinese Accents - New York Times via Consumerist shared in Google Reader by Mike

Still, “if I offended anybody,” Mr. Gupta said, “believe me, I apologize.”

That is NOT an apology. You DID offend people, and by not acknowledging that you did, you are not apologizing.

Even more ridiculous?

Mr. Gupta said he planned to keep running the other Salesgenie commercial, featuring an animated salesman named Ramesh who speaks with an Indian or other South Asian accent.

The reason, Mr. Gupta said, was that “more people seem upset about the pandas than Ramesh.”

So, let’s summarize. These clowns made two commercials based on caricatures of ethnic groups. But people only really complained about one. So, they issued a fake apology and kept running the one that people didn’t really seem to mind.

I’m not sure what this says about American feelings towards people who are “Indian or … South Asian”. Are we still mad about outsourcing and blame anyone with that kind of accent? That’s kind of sad. In some sense I’m surprised we aren’t more mad at the Chinese, since the ‘toys with lead’ incident is more recent than the explosion of outsourcing. But I guess some people are still serving “freedom fries”, so who knows what grudges the American public will hold on to.

My real problem here is SalesGenie’s response. Anyone can say or do something offensive - it could be accidental, or poor judgment, or whatever. It happens. The real judge of character is what you do to fix it. The very first thing you do is you stop whatever you did which was offensive. They did half of that. The next thing you do is make a sincere apology. They didn’t do that. Finally, you take steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I don’t know if they’ve done this or not, and I’m not really inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Posted in: Advertising , complaint

BP may be getting less green

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

BP’s Profits Lag Behind its Oil Peers « Earth2Tech

And while BP has made suggestions that it’s been moving away from the company’s renewable energy division, weaker profits could mean an even paler shade of green for BP.

Well, that sucks. I go to BP whenever possible because of their reputation on environmental issues. Pretty disappointing to see that their competitors, who seem to care very little about the environment, are making record profits again.

Note: I changed the title of this post from “BP maybe …” to “BP may be”. I’m not sure that the first choice was actually incorrect, but I do think that this way is better. Your views may differ, and feel free to correct me if you want. I may or may not listen to you.

Posted in: complaint , Wind kissing

Welcome to five years ago

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

McSweeney’s Internet Tendency - finally with RSS! While they offer a title-only feed, which I’m not sure I’ve ever even seen, at least they’re making progress.

I guess they want you to come to the site and see the ads for their various books and subscriptions and such, but it still seems very odd not to at least offer a teaser in addition to the title.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Internet

A nice bit of bipartisanship

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Many of the blogs I read regularly posted something yesterday, encouraging those who live in states that voted yesterday to get out and vote.  And not one said, “vote for my candidate”.  Many of them previously had mentioned who they were supporting, but the message yesterday was simply to vote.

It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to see so many saying that it is not important that you vote the way I do, but it is very important that you vote.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Politics

I HATE ELEVATORS

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

I just spent the last 15 minutes stuck in an elevator. This is the second time I’ve been stuck in an elevator in this stupid building.

I went down to G2, where Target is, so I could pick up a few things.  I took them back down (via the stairs) to G3 and put them in the trunk.  Then I got on the elevator to go back up to my floor, and nothing happened.  So I used the emergency call box, and some nice woman on the other end asked me to press some buttons, which did nothing.  So she called the building maintenance people, and they came pretty quickly and opened the door.  I suspect I could have done it myself - I pried the door open a little bit without too much difficulty.  But I’ve seen Resident Evil.  I’m not messing with an elevator unless I don’t think someone is going to come get me.

This wouldn’t be a problem if you could use the stairs.  You can walk freely on the stairs between G3 and G1.  You can enter the stairwell from any floor, but you can only exit the stairs on one side at the lobby, and on the other through G1-3.  You can’t go from G1 to the lobby.  It’s ridiculous.  I would walk most of the time if I could, and I do, when I’m going down.  But going up you can’t walk.

I hate this building.  And all elevators.

Posted in: complaint , Elevators

Almost forgot the good news

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

DC has decided to allow me to vote in the primary! I got my voter registration card last week. So while we don’t get to vote today on Super Happy Fun Awesome Tuesday, we do plan to watch the results come in over tacos at Tonic.

If you live in a state that votes today, you should be voting. I know you may not like any of the candidates. That’s okay. Vote anyway. People died so you could vote. If you don’t vote, you CAN NOT complain about the government. And if you can’t complain, you’re not really living, are you?

As I’ve mentioned, I’m supporting Obama. The more I hear about him, the more I like him. I don’t necessarily agree with everything he wants to do - some of his fiscal policies are a little too liberal for me, and I don’t totally agree with some of the things he’s said about Iraq (I don’t care what you think about whether we should have gone in there, the fact is that we did, we’ve left a huge mess, and I don’t think we can get out now, before we help them get their country back together).

But in a broader sense, I love what he stands for. He wants change, to get away from the Clinton-Bush dynasty and reintroduce some bipartisan cooperation to do what’s right for the country, not the party.

People knock him for his lack of experience. I’ve thought a lot about why that doesn’t bother me, and I think it’s because we all know he won’t be alone. It’s not like he’d take office, and the entire rest of the executive branch will step back and watch him flounder with foreign policy. They aren’t going to just stick him on a plane to Iran and say, “Hey, good luck, come back when you’ve brokered peace!”. The guy will have advisers.  Some of them will have extensive experience in the areas in which Obama has little.  This is not unusual.  It just doesn’t make a good sound bite.

Perhaps my biggest problem with Bush has been that he is amazingly stubborn. It is always his way or nothing, and he has always maintained that he is always right, and we should always do what he says.  This sense of personal infallibility, more than any one choice or action, is why he’s made such a mess of things.  He has always stubbornly refused to admit he is wrong, or that anyone else could be right.  This is not a politician.  This is a dictator.

So, go out and vote.  Totally ignore everything else I’ve said if you want, but please vote.

Posted in: dc , Politics

I should just quit

Monday, February 04, 2008

Nothing ever happens in sports the way I think it will, or think it should.  I didn’t really want the Patriots to win, but I would only root for the Giants if they were playing the Cowboys, and even then it’s not a guarantee.

And giving the MVP award to Eli was just stupid.  He had a bad game, then a good fourth quarter, assisted in large part by an absolutely spectacular catch by David Tyree.  But the difference in this game was the Giants D-Line, and I would have given the MVP to Justin Tuck, with his five tackles, two sacks, and a forced fumble.

The Patriots offensive line, great all season, looked terrible yesterday.  And thus it follows that Tom Brady looked terrible, which as usual will remind no one how dependent a quarterback is on his offensive line.

Anyway, I can’t wait for the next few months of Eli Manning talk.  That’s going to be awesome.  At least Shockey was hurt.  That’s the one bright spot here - the Giants went on their playoff run without that clown.

Posted in: complaint , sports

Two wrongs dont make a right

Friday, February 01, 2008

Microsoft Bids $44.6 Billion for Yahoo - washingtonpost.com

Microsoft Corp. has offered to buy struggling Internet search provider Yahoo for $44.6 billion, a merger that would combine two of the technology world’s most well-known names into a potentially potent competitor for Google in the lucrative Web search and advertising market.

I’m not sure I see the point here.  Sure, Microsoft (or anyone else, really) would love Yahoo’s traffic.  But unless they’ve got some great idea for the next step, that’s a pretty steep price for a bunch of pageviews that could go away at any moment.

Neither Microsoft nor Yahoo have shown they can compete with Google, and since it’s so easy to switch from one to the other, simply combining users isn’t going to do it, either.  Do they think that, by joining forces, two companies that don’t know how to compete in the space are going to suddenly find themselves swamped with good ideas?  Good luck with that.

Maybe Microsoft should go back to building operating systems.  If Vista is the best they could do, they don’t seem to be putting enough resources into that department.

Posted in: Technology

Proof of divine intervention

Friday, February 01, 2008

Writing: Hone Your Craft with Free Online Writing Courses

Web learning site Education Portal points to 10 universities (and semi-universities) that offer free online writing courses.

I was just reading How to Use Reading to Become a Better Writer this morning and thinking about writing. As I’ve mentioned before, I often get inspired to write when I read something that I really like.  And that desire to write is intense, although apparently not intense enough to get me to do much of anything about it.

So I was thinking about how I should make more of an effort to write, and wondering how I can get over this hump where I can start but I can’t seem to finish, and then I came across the Lifehacker link above.  I know the old expression about everything looking like a nail when all you have is a hammer, but to be thinking about how to become a better writer and then to see “free online writing courses” seems to go beyond coincidence.

And it may not be divine intervention.  Maybe it’s my paternal grandmother, who passed away last year.  She always encouraged me to write more, ever since she read the story I wrote when I was very little about Indians (Yes, Native Americans, I know, but I’m about 1/32 Wampanoag, so it’s okay).  She loved that I kept using the word “lurking”.  I’m trying to think how old I was when I wrote it.  I’m pretty sure it must have been before my brother was born, because I think the story was about a boy and his little sister, and I suspect there would have been a baby in the story if my brother had been born yet.  So that would have made me about four.  That seems awfully young.  Maybe my mom will comment and clarify my age.

Anyway, I think Granny might be out there somewhere, gently leading me towards writing.  She always believed in reincarnation, though, so maybe not.  Maybe she left a note on her way out of the Reincarnation Processing Center in the sky for someone to give me a little push.

I’m going to go look at those online courses today.  I still have to get started on the microeconomics course from MIT that a friend and I are doing, and I have about 12 other things I’ve been meaning to do, but hopefully now that I’ve mentioned this here, it will motivate me to get going.

Posted in: Writing

Bye, loser

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Edwards quits!

 He lost Iowa’s caucuses, came third in New Hampshire, admitted getting his “butt kicked” in Nevada and came third in his native South Carolina.

Hooray!  John Edwards finally woke up to the fact that America doesn’t want him to be President!  He should have done it a while ago, and he definitely should have done it when he failed to win his home state, but whatever.  He’s out now, and we can concentrate on the two people who actually do have a chance of winning.

Here’s hoping he follows Ted Kennedy and endorses Obama.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Politics

Vector Security summary

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Something like 25% of my traffic here from Google searches is people looking up Vector Security.  This post is the first Google result you get when searching for them that is not vectorysecurity.com.  And I’m getting more and more comments on that post about people with Vector experiences.  So I figured I’d stick my posts about them in a category, and summarize my experience. First, I have had NO problems with them.  Everything they said they’d do, they’ve done.  No one has tried to break into the house since we installed the system, we’ve had no false alarms, and no billing problems.  We don’t have a CO2 detector, so I can’t offer an opinion there. For those of you who’ve had problems with them, I will say it again - if they don’t fix the problem, threaten to contact the Better Business Bureau.  If they still won’t fix the problem, actually contact the BBB.  That’s what it’s there for, and it actually does work. Now, I don’t mean that you should do this every time there’s a little problem.  But if you have a serious issue that they (Or any company, really) won’t resolve after you’ve spoken politely to them about your problem, then it’s very likely that the BBB will help you out. Anyway, I hope I don’t have to disable comments on this post.  I am NOT here blogging in order to give anyone who wants it a soapbox to yell about bad customer service experiences.  But I don’t like to moderate non-spam comments (And haven’t had to, knock on wood), so please be reasonable so I don’t have to start.

Posted in: Vector Security

Lots of rumors, and theyre all bad

Monday, January 28, 2008

My two favorite sports teams, the Washington Redskins and the Baltimore Orioles, are both looking to shoot themselves in the foot.

First we have the Washington coaching search.  There are rumors they want USC’s Pete Carroll, a doubly-confirmed NFL failure.  Don’t people realize that coaching in the NFL is different from coaching in college?  Didn’t Snyder learn anything from Steve Spurrier?  Carroll is a very good college coach.  He was a very bad NFL coach.  He would be a disaster in Washington, although that would go right along with Dan Snyder’s past history.  But Snyder has fired the coordinators, probably pissed off the team, and will likely end up with another flashy failure at head coach.

And the Orioles.  I get that they’re rebuilding.  It’s come at least five years too late, but I get it, and I’m thankful for it.  But why would you trade Bedard?  He’s 28.  He could be the ace of the staff for 5-7 years, maybe more.  He is the ONLY player on the team that you absolutely must keep, as far as I’m concerned.  And they want to make a deal with the Mariners that centers around a young outfielder with moderate power (His home runs were up in 2007 in the minors, but his doubles were down, and he doesn’t get on base much)?

I’ll grant you that George Sherrill, the reliever said to be part of the deal, had a disgusting season last year (0.99 WHIP, park-adjusted ERA+ of 183, K to BB of over 3).  But Bedard is, by far, the best player on the Orioles.  Why would you give him up?  Do you WANT Seattle to win their division this year?  Is that your goal?  Is Angelos getting a cut of their playoff revenues?

I think Angelos and Snyder want me to move to Boston.  That’s the only logical explanation.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , Stupid people

Can we keep doing this, please?

Friday, January 25, 2008

Deal Spotlights Rarity Of Bipartisan Action - washingtonpost.com

The agreement on a stimulus package represented the first time since divided government returned to Washington a year ago that the two ends of Pennsylvania Avenue sheathed their swords and came together on a major initiative without any bloodletting first.

Is it just me, or did you think this was how it was supposed to work, all the time?  It shouldn’t take the worst economic crisis in years to get politicians to do what we elected them to do.

This is one of the reasons I won’t affiliate with a party anymore.  Politics is not supposed to be about advancing your cause and the cause of your party.  It’s supposed to be about serving the people.  I think someone wrote that down somewhere a long time ago.  And that’s why I’m supporting Obama - he’s the only one running who I’ve ever even heard of saying something remotely related to bipartisanship.

And I think this is good for the country.  Even if the rebates don’t fix the economy (And I don’t think they will), I think it will help confidence a little bit to see the government come together and get something done quickly.  If the Senate blocks this, which the Post suggests they might, we should fire all of them.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Unexpected Bipartisanship

Dear Dan Snyder

Thursday, January 24, 2008

ESPN - Zorn top candidate as O coordinator but no Fassel deal yet - NFL

Snyder may take a few days to consider his options. If he decides not to wait until after the Super Bowl to expand his list of candidates, the job could very well go to Fassel, who compiled a 60-56-1 record in seven seasons as the Giants' head coach (1997-2003), and who led the club to a Super Bowl XXXV appearance. Fassel, who most recently served as the Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator before being dismissed from that job midway through the 2006 season, was also a head coach candidate in Washington in 2004 before Snyder coaxed Gibbs out of retirement.

Please don’t hire Jim Fassel to coach the Redskins.  I’ve gone on record time and again as saying that I don’t want failed head coach Gregg Williams to be our head coach, but he would be infinitely preferable to Fassel.  Williams actually seems to be getting the hang of this whole “defensive playcalling” thing lately.  He hasn’t been big-blitzing on third down and getting burned so much.  The Redskins don’t miss tackles like they did a few years ago.  It’s taken him a while, but the defense has actually looked pretty good lately.  Which would be a dumb time to change coordinators.

However, I would greatly prefer him to a guy who may have taken the Giants to a Super Bowl (In which they were blown out), but barely compiled a record above .500, and apparently totally lost control of his team in the season before the Giants fired him.

Why would you want that guy to coach your team?  If he had a long and illustrious career, and one really bad season that led to his firing, I’d say go ahead and give him another chance.  But that is clearly not the case with Fassel.  Let some other team give him his second shot.  He’ll fail there, and Snyder will save a few million dollars.

I don’t understand why NFL teams keep going back to coaches who fail.  If a guy is merely average at his job, and then does such a bad job one year that everyone around him hates him, why in the world would you hire him to do the same thing for you?  The Ravens had the right idea when they hired him at a lower level (Offensive coordinator), but then they fired him, too, because he wasn’t very good at that, either.  At this point, I would consider hiring him to fetch coffee for the real head coach, but that’s about it.

Now, I know that it’s really hard to be a Ravens offensive coordinator - they’ve never had a quarterback in the history of the franchise.  But when your entire job is to make the offense better, and you can’t do it, you should not be getting promoted.

Anyway, I hope we get someone else.  Someone who doesn’t have such a track record of failure would be great.  And I don’t much care for bringing in anyone from the Seahawks to coach our offense.  Although I suppose that anyone who can get a winning offense out of Hasslesuck probably knows a little bit about football.

Posted in: complaint , sports

The Duck and the Dunderhead

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Rebate checks floated as way to boost economy - CNN.com

“We’ve got mayors from both political parties here. We didn’t have a political discussion. We had a discussion on what’s best for America, particularly given the economic uncertainty we face,” Bush said. “I talked to them about my desire to work with the Congress to get a stimulus package passed, one that’s going to be robust enough to affect the economy, simple enough for people to understand and efficient enough to have an impact.”

Pelosi on Tuesday also said Congress and the president agree that movement on the plan is “urgent” and must be approached “in a bipartisan way,” but the particulars of the plan are not yet settled.

When you have duck-like Nancy Pelosi and our fearless leader both agreeing that we need a quick solution to benefit the country rather than their respective parties, it might be time to start trading in all your liquid assets for something more likely to hold its value. Like a couple of barrels of crude oil. Frankly, I don’t think that tax rebates are really the answer. Consumer confidence is way down, and a couple hundred extra dollars aren’t going to bring that back. I’m too young to know what it was like in the ‘70s and '80s when the economy was really bad, so I can’t compare it. But this is the most worried about the economy I’ve ever been, and I think I’m pretty financially secure. I don’t even want to see my next 401K statement. But I realize that I’m better off than a huge number of people out there, and some of them are really going to struggle if things get as bad as a lot of smart people are predicting. Anyway, I hope that Congress and the President follow up on their quick fixes with some real long-term ideas. Otherwise, it could be a long couple of years.

Posted in: Politics

You suck, Microsoft

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Featured Windows Download: Make Documents Readable Anywhere with Docx2Rtf

The latest editions of Microsoft Office might have made some welcome interface and functionality improvements, but the newer .docx file formats can leave your co-workers (and your other computers) struggling to open its files.

I guess my stubborn refusal to run Vista longer than it took to download and burn the Ubuntu 7.1 cd meant that I missed Microsoft’s new file format, .docx.  The above article on Lifehacker about how to deal with it was the first I’d heard of this wonderful, wonderful, super-awesome, customer-focused idea.  I mean, the people who use Office have been just clamoring for a new file format to meet their needs.  Now that most MS Office alternatives can deal pretty well with .doc files, of course we need a new format to once again throw interoperability out the window.

And of course, since so many people use Windows and MS Office, it will become the new standard.  And then the open source community will toil away and update all the software to deal with .docx.  And then Microsoft will undoubtedly come out with some other format, and we’ll start all over again.  I don’t know how this benefits anyone but Microsoft.  It certainly doesn’t help consumers.

Posted in: complaint , The Devil

Ill take 8 of these, too.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Dutch firm launches phone with fold-away screen | Tech&Sci | Technology | Reuters.com via Gizmodo.

“You get the large display of e-reading, the super battery life of e-reading, and the high-end connectivity … and the form factor and weight of a mobile phone,” said Karl McGoldrick, chief executive of the venture capital-funded firm, in which Philips still has a 25 percent stake.

In what hopefully will be an unpleasant development for Amazon’s locked up Kindle, a company spun off of Phillips is planning to bring a phone to market in 2008 that uses fold out e-paper.  This is pretty awesome.  If they release it in the States around the time that Verizon opens up their network, this could change the whole marketplace for mobile devices.

Or it could be another expensive toy that the wife tells me not to buy.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Gadgets

Ill take 8, thanks

Friday, January 18, 2008

PCs: Ripple-Mini PC Packs an Awful Lot of Computing into $132

The device, which will retail for a shockingly low €90 ($132), will pack in an Intel Celeron M215 (1.33GHz), 1GB RAM, SiS 662 North Bridge and SiS 964L South Bridge, all in a dinky 20x300x220mm, Mac mini-esque case.

Why can’t we have these over here?  I’d gladly pay $132 for this thing.  In fact, I’d put one in every room of the house.  I’d add a little 7" touchscreen and mount one under the cabinets in the kitchen and use it for recipes.  I’d put one in the bathroom just to annoy the wife.  I’d even buy one for the cat.

I can’t wait until computers like this hit that magical price point where it’s not longer a big purchase that you think about for a while, but a “Hey, can you pick up another computer on your way home from work today?” kind of purchase.

Posted in: Gadgets

I love statistics

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Analysis: Romney takes Michigan gold as S.C. fight heats up - CNN.com

Not surprisingly, the economy was by far the most important issue to Michigan voters. For Romney’s chief competitor in the Michigan primary, John McCain, that was bad news. Only three in 10 voters who cited economic concerns as their top priority gave their votes to McCain; almost four in 10 went for Romney.

In other words, thirty-some percent who thought the economy was the most important thing voted for Romney, which was great.  And thirty-some percent who thought the economy was the most important thing voted for McCain, which was a disaster.  Good use of vague numbers, CNN.

It’s interesting that Rudy has skipped all of these states and just hung out in Florida.  Is this a common tactic that I just haven’t heard about?  Each Presidential election, I pay more attention than the last, and this is the first time I’ve really followed the primaries, so maybe this is all normal and I just haven’t noticed.

I keep hearing the same thing about McCain from Democrats - while he’s the least offensive of the Republican candidates in the eyes of most Democrats, he’s also seen as the most likely to beat whatever Democrat nominee he would face.  So it’s tough to know who to root for.

At least it’s an interesting race.  Hillary and Obama are sniping at each other over some ridiculous, trivial crap.  There hasn’t been a clear frontrunner on either side (I refuse to admit that Hillary is the clear frontrunner).  Lots of people who should have dropped out are sticking around (I’m looking at you, Edwards.  You’d better get 60% of South Carolina.  Actually, don’t, because I want you to be Obama’s VP.).

Anyway, exciting times.  And the city of DC still can’t seem to work out my voter registration.  Here I was, thinking I was registered through the DMV, and apparently that was all a lie.

Posted in: Statistics

Dear Gentleman crossing H St NW

Monday, January 14, 2008

Dear Sir,

I was in the maroon hatchback, waiting to turn right on H from 18th this evening as you walked through the crosswalk, with the light, as pedestrians are permitted to do.  Some jackass behind me honked, and you thought it was me.  It was not.  I know you waved at me as if to say, “Hey, jerk, I have the right of way."  And it’s true that you did, and I was respecting it.  Had I honked at you, you would have had every right to give me a rude gesture or a nasty look, as I would have deserved it.

But it wasn’t me who honked.  I think it was the RAV4 behind me, although I’m not sure what he was complaining about.

In any event, I apologize.  The guy behind me was a jerk.

Sincerely, Complaint Hub

I seriously feel a little bad.  I guess I shouldn’t.  I didn’t do anything wrong.  The guy I don’t know and will never see again, who’s probably already forgotten this happened, just thought I did.  But I do try to be courteous to pedestrians, beyond simply yielding when they have the right of way.  Except jaywalkers.  Jaywalkers are on their own.  I’m not saying don’t do it, because I certainly do.  I’m just saying that you’re on your own.

Posted in: Cars , complaint , dc

Dear Dallas Fans

Monday, January 14, 2008

Look, you have it all wrong. The problem with Tony Romo isn’t Jessica Simpson. It’s December.

In two seasons, Romo has a completion percentage of 64% and a rating of 95. For reference, Joe Montana’s career numbers are 63% and 92. So, Romo’s off to a good start. He’s thrown 57 touchdowns to only 33 interception. His career record is 20-10 (All numbers include his two playoff games).

But then look at him in December. He’s 4-7. 11 touchdowns vs 14 interceptions. His completion percentage is 59% and his rating is 74. He has 31 fumbles in his career, 13 in 11 December games.  The numbers look even worse if you take out two games against Detroit, not exactly the shining model of a good football team.

The numbers are even more disparate if you remove December from his totals (Shocking, I know, that basic mathematics still apply to the quarterback of the Cowboys.  Someone tell Jerry Jones).  67% completion percentage outside of December, 46 touchdowns to 19 interceptions, a 16-3 record, and a 108 rating.  Those are Hall of Fame numbers (Assuming they continue, of course).    But ask Dan Marino how people react when you can’t win in the playoffs.  Or ask Peyton Manning two years ago.

Romo seems like a nice guy, and he’s certainly had some early-season success.  But he needs to learn how to play in December.

If you want to hate Jessica Simpson because she’s pretty, famous, and really dumb, then go ahead and hate her if it makes you feel better. But blame Romo’s playoff misery on something else, because it’s not her fault.

Again, for reference, you want to know someone with a career passer rating of 74?  Gus Frerotte.  Jon Kitna’s career rating is 79.  Charlie Batch’s is 78.

Do you hear me, John Madden?  Romo may go on to have a long and brilliant career, but before you anoint him the heir to your man-crush on Brett Favre, let’s see him win a meaningful game in December.

Posted in: Statistics

Whats wrong here?

Friday, January 11, 2008

Techdirt: Mitch Kapor Finally Pulls The Plug On Chandler

Every once in a while there would be an update, but many other projects seemed to make a lot more progress than Chandler ever did. So it’s not much of a surprise to hear that Mitch Kapor has finally bailed on Chandler, and that the foundation behind it is going to scale back its efforts.

BoingBoing: Chandler: Free, open calendar with awesome sharing

It’s still very early beta, and there’s a lot of polish missing from the current builds, but in the short time I’ve been using it, I’ve seen it make massive improvements. I’m really looking forward to future releases – give it a whirl, send ‘em some feedback, or hack some code.

These two articles were posted about five hours apart.  While they aren’t quite totally mutually exclusive, it’s funny to see BoingBoing singing the praises of this project just as Techdirt announces that the founder is bailing.

Posted in: Funny

This makes me want to be a scientist

Friday, January 11, 2008

Hubble finds double Einstein ring via Uncertain Principles

More than just a novelty, a very rare phenomenon found with the Hubble Space Telescope can offer insight into dark matter, dark energy, the nature of distant galaxies, and even the curvature of the Universe.

I read stuff like this, and it makes me want to go back to school and research stuff.  Not that I know anything at all about dark matter and the nature of the Universe.  But this is just cool.  I don’t get nearly enough of that at work.

It makes me feel very small, though, thinking about distant galaxies.  It reminds us that the Universe is kinda big, and we’re relatively pretty friggin' tiny.

Posted in: Space

Youre missing the point

Friday, January 11, 2008

Ron Paul 90s newsletters rant against blacks, gays - CNN.com

A series of newsletters in the name of GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul contain several racist remarks – including one that says order was restored to Los Angeles after the 1992 riots when blacks went “to pick up their welfare checks.”

I read enough of the article to see that Paul denies writing this stuff.  I’m not sure I believe him, but whatever.  This doesn’t change his chances of winning - he never had a chance of winning.  But this really hurts everyone.  We need a legitimate third party candidate to remind everyone that it doesn’t have to be a choice between a Democrat and a Republican, that not everyone falls neatly into one of these two parties.

I’m really disappointed that Paul is turning out to be even crazier than everyone thought.  He’d done a great job of generating buzz and support as a guy who isn’t really a Republican, regardless of where he’s running.  But now he’s a racist, anti-semitic homophobe, and he’s probably undone a lot of the good he did.

I wasn’t going to vote for him.  But I was pulling for him to have a good showing to pave the way for others down the road.  This could have been a fantastic election - the first African-American candidate with a chance, the first woman with a chance, and the first non-Democrat/Republican in some years to get a non-trivial amount of votes.  And we still have the first two.  Even if Obama and Hillary both lose, it will be easier for the next candidate who isn’t a white male, and that’s good for the country.

As I told a friend, we had Perot, and then Paul.  We’ve had some others who aren’t even as viable as those two clown.  Maybe by 2025 or so, we can get a third party candidate who is actually electable.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

The media didnt predict for a week that Lazarus would return

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

A Dramatic Second Act for the Senator From Arizona - washingtonpost.com

Now even his supporters are wondering whether he can take his adrenaline-fueled campaign national, a transformation he could not make eight years ago.

Did someone very important in the world of mainstream news decree that everyone must use dumb words to describe McCain?  During the New Hampshire primaries, he was called “the Republican Obama”, “Lazarus”, “the Eschaton” (Although I think that one was tongue-in-cheek"), and probably a bunch of other stuff I didn’t notice because his followers were too busy chanting “Mac is back!”, which I 1)  found annoying and 2) kept hearing as “Yankees suck”.

And now the article linked above called him an “insurgent”.  Now, I don’t know about the rest of you, but for me the word “insurgent” calls up images of IEDs and 12-year-old Iraqis with rocket launchers.  Is this a jibe at McCain from the Post?

And there can only be one “Comeback Kid” per election, and you can’t start calling yourself that after only two states have officially voiced an opinion.  Hillary and McCain need to sit down and negotiate an agreement.  One of them can be the Comeback Kid.  Since Bill Clinton already had that nickname, I guess Hillary probably has the upper hand there, but the 71-year-old McCain can maybe play the irony card.

So, I’m disappointed that Hillary won.  I’m encouraged that Obama made another strong showing.  I’m encouraged that Huckabee was back in his rightful place with the second-tier candidates.  I think it’s awesome that, for a long time, Gravel’s vote count was below 100.  That would be cool if you were one of the dinks in New Hampshire who voted for him, where you could really see your vote mattering, right there on the CNN ticker.

Posted in: Politics

Inhabitat is fired

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

I don’t know how many of you read inhabitat.com. I’d been reading for a while now, and have just removed them from my RSS reader. You’re probably familiar with the One Laptop Per Child initiative, which aims to provide laptops for children in developing countries. You can argue about whether or not this will do any good, or about the motivations of the founders, or whatever. But you can’t call it the “$100 laptop”, which is what they were originally calling it. It doesn’t cost $100. It’s at least twice that, and a website calling it the $100 laptop is irresponsible and misleading.

So, when Inhabitat did that for the umpteenth time, I left a comment expressing my displeasure. It was strongly worded, but no profanity. It was, I thought, an entirely reasonable criticism. Well, whoever moderates the comments there apparently believes in censorship rather than actually defending a position.

I have never deleted a comment here based on the content.  All I’ve ever deleted was spam.  Not to say I wouldn’t delete a comment if it were sufficiently offensive, but if I were going to delete comments of everyone who disagreed with me, I might as well just stop allowing comments.  Or stop blogging altogether.

So, does anyone know any good wind-kissing hippie blogs?  I stopped reading Treehugger because they just aren’t very good.  So I’m left with almost nothing.  I can only deal with a pretty small amount of Al Gore worship in my hippie blogs, so keep that in mind.

Posted in: complaint , Wind kissing

And now for something totally important

Saturday, January 05, 2008

Spears hospitalized; loses right to see kids - CNN.com

A court commissioner Friday gave sole physical and legal custody of the former couple’s two little boys to Federline and suspended the troubled pop star’s visitation rights.

So the court decided that the genius who is now romantically linked to Paris Hilton is the more qualified parent.  Actually, romantically linked is probably too strong.  They probably got drunk and hooked up.

Anyway, somewhere along the line, someone should have sat Britney down and gave her a little talking-to.  She could have been Madonna’s little protege, making obscene amounts of money and doing pretty much whatever she wanted.  Instead, she’s a joke who lost custody of her kids.  How often does a judge give custody to the father?  I have no idea what the number is, but it’s small.

At the same time, I hope whatever she’s been hospitalized for is something they can treat and fix.  Just because she’s retarded doesn’t mean she should be in the hospital.

Posted in: Stupid people

Iowa is a bunch of jerks

Saturday, January 05, 2008

CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Clinton out of it, Edwards suggests « - Blogs from CNN.com

“Iowa does not have best track record in determining who the parties nominate, everybody knows that,” [Third place Hillary Clinton] said at an event in Manchester. “You know, New Hampshire is famously independent, it is a place where people want to make up their own minds — they’re not interested in what anybody else has decided.”

I’m sure CNN is cherry-picking the most controversial quotes, and I’m cherry-picking the best of what CNN has, but wow, that is totally awesome. Even cooler than Edwards calling Obama a “corporate sellout”.

I hope all you readers are ready for some politics, because the race is finally interesting again. People are dropping like flies. Pretty soon we’ll only have the legitimate candidates left.

Anyway, as people who know me are already aware, I don’t much like Hillary. It has been suggested that this is because I don’t like strong, smart women. To that I say, “Have you met my wife?”. Still, I can’t really explain why I don’t like Hillary. It’s probably her cabal of witches.

If I were an Iowan, I’d be salty. The only two Iowans I know are both sensible, intelligent, and didn’t vote for Huckabee. Hillary basically said, “Hey, you didn’t vote for me, but New Hampshirians are much smarter and less easily influenced, and surely they’ll vote for me.”

So, Hillary is a big jerk.

Posted in: Politics

Iowa could have been worse

Friday, January 04, 2008

Richardson out

Meanwhile, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who will finish a distant fourth in Iowa, with roughly 2 percent of the vote is staying in the race. “We are on the way to New Hampshire tonight. We plan to make this a referendum on the Iraq war. This is far from over,” Press Secretary Tom Reynolds tells CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux.

As Biden and Dodd step gracefully away, Bill Richardson decides to make this campaign his personal soapbox. Good job, Bill. If you’re lucky, history will remember you as a large-jowled buffoon and not the guy who cost the Democrats the White House. Face it - you aren’t a serious contender, and your time would be better spent supporting someone who is.

I just overheard my project manager and another employee discussing the results. The employee is happy that Hillary didn’t win, although he would have preferred Edwards. His reasoning? She’s cold, and she’s assembled a cabal of women around her who shield her from advisors and the people a President has to listen to. Seriously, he used the word “cabal”.

Now, there are some good reasons and some bad reasons to vote against Hillary. But if this is your reasoning, you might as well start talking about how she’s a space alien who wants to sell us all into slavery. You thought I was uninformed about politics? Wow.

I’m glad Obama won. I count myself a reluctant Obama supporter. Of all the candidates, he’s the only one I can really see as the President.

Huckabee, meanwhile, really scares me. Religion can certainly be a positive influence on people. There is much to learn from many religious documents, including the Bible. But I can’t fathom the thought process that leads one to vote for a man who believes in the literal truth of the Bible.

His recent potshots at Bush are a little childish, too. I haven’t heard what he’s said, just that he’s been ticking off Republicans by insulting our fearless leader. If he wants to distance himself from the President, fine. He probably should. But there has to be a better way. If I was in Huckabee, I’d distance myself by proposing that Bush and Cheney be tried for treason, but some might call that “overreacting” or maybe “lunacy”. To those people I say, “History will redeem me.”

It worries me that Obama gets a lot of his support from young voters.

Obama also apparently had a better showing among young voters. Fifty-seven percent of poll respondents age 17 to 29 said they supported Obama. Clinton handily beat Obama among voters 65 years or older. (link.)

People in that age group typically don’t vote in huge numbers. And wow, I just realized that, by the time November rolls around, I won’t be in that demographic anymore. Anyway.

Still, a somewhat encouraging night. People thought a Clinton victory in Iowa would pretty much seal it for her, and that didn’t happen. I would have liked to have seen something different on the Republican side. For example, anyone but Huckabee. But at least it could have been worse.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

Well, thats kind of scary

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Sentient Developments: Odds of Mars getting plastered by an asteroid lifted to 1 in 25

Asteroid 2007 WD5 was only discovered 2 months ago. Had it been heading towards Earth, we would have been utterly helpless to respond.

On January 30th, there is a 3.9% chance that a 160-foot-diameter asteroid will smash into Mars, possibly creating a crater about a kilometer wide.  While this is incredibly cool for scientists, and on some level for the rest of us, it’s also a little terrifying.  If something like that were headed for, say, Washington, DC, things would be a little more interesting to the average American.

I don’t know how big an area we’d have to evacuate if one was heading for us.

The uncertainty region during the Mars encounter now extends over 400,000 km along a very narrow ellipsoid that is only 600 km wide.

Since 400,000 km is much more than the diameter of Mars, that region must extend well into space.  So I don’t really know how big a spot on Mars is actually in danger of being hit, or how far away one would have to be to avoid it (Assuming one could survive on Mars otherwise).

In any event, I hope we have something taking video of Mars when it happens.  That would be pretty sweet.

Posted in: Space

Is this legal?

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

alli –weight loss program for healthy weight loss

Take a look at the link above.  I keep seeing this commercial while the wife watches various Law and Order marathons while she pretends she’s doing work.

The first thing I thought when I saw the logo was “Google”.  I imagine that was intentional, and I imagine their lawyers have determined that they haven’t crossed any lines, but it seems like they must have come pretty close.

Not only that, but their red-blue-yellow-green letters mirror eBay’s, too.

Now, eBay doesn’t have much of a sense of humor, so I imagine if they determine they don’t have a case, they’ll let it go, just mutter to each other at the corporate office.

Google, however, ought to send a nice little note to GlaxoSmithKline, makers of Alli, and tell them in no uncertain terms that they’re a bunch of dicks.  They probably won’t, but it would be cool.

Where do you draw the line between a similar logo and an attempt to piggyback on the good name of another company?  Alli is really, really close to that line if they haven’t actually crossed it.  They aren’t competing with eBay or Google, but that’s not really the issue.

Posted in: Advertising

Happy New Year!

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

So, it’s 2008. The wife and I are enjoying the day off. Well, I am, at least - she has work to do. I think I’m going to bake some bread (Still trying to get a loaf of whole wheat to turn out as nicely as the white loaf did).  And I’ll probably play around on the computer.  Maybe even do something constructive. I don’t have any big resolutions. I’m trying to be more organized and motivated, get more done, and that sort of thing.

The tv is on, and there was just a commercial for a toilet cleaner that kills 99.9% of germs deep down into your toilet.  The commercial ends with a mom walking out after cleaning the toilet, patting her young son on the head as he goes to use it.

I have a better idea when it comes to protecting your kids from germs in the toilet - tell them not to stick their hands in it.  I mean, come on.  Cleaning is great, but toilets are dirty.  You know what we put in there, right?

Anyway, I resolve to be less annoyed by stupid things like that.  I’ll probably still write about them sometimes, though.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Life

Kill Microsoft with Ubuntu, not BitTorrent

Monday, December 31, 2007

Techdirt: How Pursuing Software Piracy Hurts Proprietary Software Firms

After all, as Microsoft and others have long admitted, you’re much better off if someone is using an unauthorized version of your software, than if they’re using the competition (especially if that competition is free). If they’re using an unauthorized version of your software, then at least there’s a chance that they’ll either buy it at a later date or convince others to buy it. However, by putting such a big effort into cracking down on software piracy, all the industry has done is highlight why people are better off going with free alternatives.

This is a big reason why I’m using Ubuntu as my only operating system.  I dislike Microsoft, and have no interest in Vista.  But I’m not going to pirate it.  I dislike stealing, as well.  I won’t say that I’ve never pirated software or music or movies.  But when there is a free, open-source equivalent that fits my needs and I can live with the drawbacks (Ubuntu is obviously rougher than Windows.  But nothing deal-breaking for me.  YMMV.), I’m going to go with that, even though I know I could get a cracked copy of Vista or Photoshop or whatever expensive software I wanted.

Of course, I kind of shot myself in the foot with my last computer - I paid for the computer with Vista because I couldn’t get it without, and then overwrote it with Ubuntu.  But I remain hopeful that my next computer won’t have the “Microsoft Tax” on it.  I’d love to see Dell or someone start shipping all their computers with full hardware warranties and then some stripped down version of Linux.  When you boot up, it tells you, “This operating system is not supported by us.  It’s up to you to put whatever OS you want on there.  We promise the hardware will work, and we’ll replace it if it doesn’t.  Otherwise, you’re on your own."  Or something to that effect.

Anyway, it’s great to see that the use of open source is expanding.  Maybe soon we’ll also be able to convince people that jumping to Apple because you hate Microsoft is like running from the hyena and getting eaten by the tiger.  Sure, the tiger is prettier and impresses your friends, but you’re still dead.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Ubuntu

Someone complains about Vector Security

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Complaint Hub » Blog Archive » Vector Security - still cool This is a comment left on the above post (I get about 30% of my Google search traffic from people looking for Vector Security and finding that post).

Vicky Says: December 29th, 2007 at 12:40 pm eDon’t be fooled. Vector Security in North Carolina is renewing our contract WITHOUT NOTICE OF ANY KIND FOR A THREE YEAR PERIOD. In order to cancel, we are required to buy out the contract for the entire remaining period plus pay a penalty of 80% of that amount. This, after we experienced a false alarm, and could not get the system checked for six weeks. Buyer beware. An additional note: my mother’s Vector carbon monoxide detector malfunctioned. It alarms every five minutes, a shrill, piercing alarm, 24 hours a day. She called the Saturday before Christmas, and was told nothing could be done until the Wednesday after Christmas. The Saturday after Christmas NO ONE HAD CALLED HER TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM, DESPITE REPEATED CALLS FOR SERVICE. It is still alarming every five minutes.

As I’ve mentioned, I can’t speak to how Vector responds to problems because we haven’t had any. Nor do I think that one incident is enough to condemn a company. And certainly this time of year is tough for everyone. However, ignoring “repeated calls for service” is not a good way to endear yourself to your customers. I hope Vector fixes this problem quickly so I can continue to recommend them to people.

Posted in: complaint , Vector Security

Please, stop the quarterback worship

Friday, December 28, 2007

Tony Romo. Brett Favre. Tom Brady. Matt Ryan. Anyone starting for USC. It never ends. I just listened to ESPN’s announcers for the Michigan State - Boston College - Champs Sports Bowl heap praises on Matt Ryan, BC’s quarterback, for completing a touchdown pass where the wide receiver clearly pushed off, blatant offensive pass interference that wasn’t called. The announcers acknowledged that this was an illegal play, but STILL talked about how great Matt Ryan is.

Now, here we are, BC is running out the clock. And by running out the clock, I mean not running at all. And Matt Ryan drops back, gets sacked, fumbles, and it’s the offensive lineman’s fault. “Matt Ryan was expecting the block!” So because BC is up 11 in the fourth, but still throwing because their running game is totally nonexistent, and Michigan State is all over the pass, it’s the offensive line’s fault.

The Michigan State QB just made one of the best throws I’ve seen all year. Touchdown, Michigan State, and they are almost covering the spread. If you weren’t watching that, you missed an absolutely fantastic touchdown pass. And now they got the conversion and it’s 24-21.

Matt Ryan can go jump in a lake. He wishes he could make that play. Sure, he’ll go in the first round of the draft, and Michigan State’s Brian Hoyer will definitely not. But that was a sweet play.

However, Hoyer also has three picks. That’s not going to cut it.

Anyway, I don’t want to heap too much praise on Hoyer - that would be a little hypocritical. But this has been a fun fourth quarter. If you aren’t watching, you should be.

As an aside, if you punt on 4th and 1 while losing in the fourth quarter, you deserve to lose. Do you hear me, Michigan State? You DESERVE to lose.

Edited to add: Ryan just fumbled. Clown. Way to be a winner on 3rd and 1 with 2:45 to go.

Edited again to add: Hoyer throws a pick on the first play. Nice job. Both of these quarterbacks seem to want to lose.

Posted in: complaint , sports

Merry Christmas, jerk! Love, U of Michigan

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Dear me:

Thank you for your application for the HEAD FOOTBALL COACH position in the department of Athletics, requisition number 13431. This position was posted 11/26/2007 through 12/19/2007. The department has completed their activity on this position, and it has been filled.

You are encouraged to continue your career search by using the University’s automated employment system at http://www.umjobs.org. If you have questions about this email or your application(s) for positions, please call the HR/Payroll Service Center at [].

Sincerely,

The University of Michigan

Please do not reply to this automated email. Direct responses and inquiries to the HR/Payroll Service Center at []

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Jerks.  They email me Christmas Eve to tell me that they hired someone else.  They crushed my hopes and dreams.  I thought maybe that guy from WVU would fall through at the last moment.  But it wasn’t meant to be.

Posted in: complaint , Work

Totally unacceptable workplace environment

Friday, December 21, 2007

I had a bit of a scary moment this morning - I walked into the office, and suddenly the unmistakable smell of cat urine hit me like a ton of bricks.  At first I thought maybe it was me.  I mean, I do have an occasionally salty cat who quite possibly might decide to urinate on some of my clothes.  Although she’s never done it.  She usually likes to express her displeasure by just barely missing the litter box.

But no, it’s not me.  It’s the office.  My office smells like cat urine.

How this happens is beyond me.  I don’t work in a place that should ever contain a cat.  I don’t think a cat could pass the security clearance.

Posted in: complaint , World

This was cool until I read that

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Striking writers in talks to launch Web start-ups - Los Angeles Times

“It’s in development and rapidly incubating,” said Aaron Mendelsohn, a guild board member and co-creator of the “Air Bud” movies.

Shoot, you had me until “Air Bud”.

Seriously, I think this is very cool.  If the writers can’t get what they want from Hollywood, they should remind Hollywood that their monopoly on the distribution of video entertainment is taking a big hit from the internet.

It will be very interesting when some of these writers start making real money.  It will not only strengthen their position by making them more independent, but also by demonstrating the power of the internet as a revenue stream.  If the writers can go to the studio and say, “Look at all the money our work made online.  Now do you see why we want you to pay us when we do it for you?”.

In the meantime, I eagerly await “Air Bud Online!”

Posted in: Anti complaint , TV

Not sure what this is supposed to accomplish

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

FCC OK’s cross-ownership of papers, TV - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

The Federal Communications Commission voted Tuesday to let one owner control a newspaper and a television station in Denver and other large markets, a change long sought by The Denver Post’s principal owner, William Dean Singleton.

So, now, if you are not one of the top four television stations in the market, you can own a local newspaper.  Let us count the things wrong with this.

First, what if I’m number five, I buy a newspaper, and then I pass number four?  Do I have to sell the newspaper?  Do I get grandfathered in?  I can’t imagine a scenario that isn’t either ridiculous, or defeats the purpose of the rule.

Second:

The cross-ownership ban was adopted in 1975 with “the twin goals of diversity of viewpoints and economic competition,” the FCC said at the time.

In the age of blogs and the internet and instant access to all sorts of viewpoints, the issue of “diversity of viewpoints” is a little misleading.  An increasingly smaller number of people get their news only from newspapers and television.  I know the older generation still does to a large extent, but most people my age don’t read newspapers because they’re outdated by the time they get to your door.  And then you have to recycle them, and it’s just a huge hassle.

Third:

“You take the high cost of news gathering and spread it across multiple platforms and you get multiple revenue streams,” Singleton [publisher of The Denver Post and head of MediaNews Group] said in a 2006 interview.

THIS is what competition is about.  Innovating, saving money, providing a better product at a cheaper rate.  When you stick these stupid restrictions on who can own what, you make it relatively more expensive to provide news.  Who does this help?  Certainly not a new company with a great idea about how to get news to people.

When the barriers to enter a market are low, diversity is nearly guaranteed.  If I see the market and say, ‘Hey, that one company is the only one providing the service, and they aren’t reaching half the customers", then I have a great opportunity in that market.

It’s things like this where I tend to clash with the Democratic party.  I want the government to stop sticking its fingers in where it isn’t needed, based on what the world was like in 1975.

Anyway, this new law is a step in the right direction, but it’s not far enough, and I doubt it will change anything.

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

Orioles move on, I hope

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Apology accepted, O’s say – baltimoresun.com

“I wish I could sit here and say, ‘Wow, this was a great day as I got this off my chest.’ But I would be lying. I don’t really have any hopes of what other people will do. I asked for forgiveness and I hope people are willing to do that.”

Sorry, commenter Zac Boyd.  Looks like Brian Roberts did take steroids.  But, he did it before it was officially banned by baseball (Nice job, Bud Selig.  You are truly an asset to the game of baseball). And he only did it once.  And now he’s apologized.

I know I came out and said that everyone on the list should be released, but I’m taking that back.  Everyone who takes responsibility and seems to honestly be sorry can stay.  We’ll just wag our fingers at them.

I’m inclined to believe Roberts, in part because I like him and I want to believe him.  And he hasn’t done anything to make him untrustworthy.  He hasn’t been in the news getting in trouble, he has a reputation as a nice guy.

Roger Clemens, on the other hand, is a big jerk.

Posted in: baseball , Baseball

The DMV has betrayed me

Monday, December 17, 2007

Or am I misremembering?  I could have sworn that they asked me if I wanted to register to vote in DC when I got my DC license.  Now, I know me, and I would have said, “Yes, I would like to register to vote while I get my DC license”.  I’ve known me a long time, and I feel qualified to speculate on what I might have said in that situation.

It turns out that either they didn’t ask, or they didn’t act on my request, because I’m not registered to vote in DC.  With primaries coming up, and a whole gaggle of clowns on both sides of the ballot, this is just not acceptable.  Now, I still have to figure out who to vote for - there’s no one I really like, and every time I try to eliminate the people I absolutely can’t bring myself to vote for, I’m left with a write-in for either Abraham Lincoln or Donald Duck.

In any event, downloaded and printed the PDF, filled it out, and I’ll mail it on my way to work tomorrow.  It’s actually quite easy for DC residents to determine if they’re registered to vote.  If you aren’t, you should be, and you should vote.  If you don’t vote, you can’t complain, and if you can’t complain, I’m not really sure what else you’re doing, but it’s probably un-American.

Posted in: dc , dmv , Politics

How could you do this, Brian Roberts?

Friday, December 14, 2007

So the Mitchell Report is out, as I’m sure you all know.  The only current Oriole on there, I think, is Brian Roberts.  I’ve always liked Brain Roberts.  He’s a little tiny second baseman who gets on base a lot.

I suppose we should have seen this coming - his yearly OPS numbers are .625, .605, .704, .720, .902, .757, .809.  Does one of those numbers look, perhaps, way higher than the rest of them?

The year his bat exploded, 2005, is also the year he started wearing the Nike MaxSight contact lenses, which could explain it.  The Mitchell Report simply states that former Oriole Larry Bigbie said that Roberts told him that he took steroids “once or twice” in 2003.

It figures:  after I call for releasing all the Orioles on the list, one of my favorite players is the only guy who would get released.  At least it wasn’t Bedard.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , Stupid people

Preparing for the Mitchell Report

Thursday, December 13, 2007

I’m kind of terrified of this thing.  I love baseball, and this is going to hurt.  It’s a necessary hurt, like tearing off the old bandage, but it’s still going to suck.  There are already leaks that Roger Clemens is on the naughty list, and the promise of other big names.

I hate Clemens, but he’s the best pitcher of my generation, and I don’t want to see his name tainted like that.  Maybe it will knock him down a peg and remind him that he’s not actually bigger than baseball and teams will stop letting him get away with this “I’ll pitch when I’m good and ready and we’re playing at home” garbage.

And I’m afraid that other big names are really going to hurt.  I hope the Orioles release everyone on the list.  Immediate, unconditional release for anyone breaking the rules.  I would rather watch the Orioles have the worst season in the modern era, or promote our entire AA team, than watch them employ cheaters.

My great hope for all of this is that maybe now the Steroid Era can end.  No more.  I want it to be over so we can go back to thinking about baseball, not asterisks.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , Stupid people

Who eats better than we do?

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Salad: The Wife’s Signature Salad, spinach with candied pecans, dried cranberries, blue cheese, apple and a delicious honey vinaigrette.

Dinner: Scallops over lemon orzo.

Accompanied by: Bell’s Sparkling Ale, a November-only 9% alcohol American Triple.

In the oven: 100% whole wheat bread, rising and almost ready to bake (NB - I used all 100% whole wheat flour instead of the other two types).

Most of the ingredients are organic. It’s very low fat, low sodium, and totally delicious. You thought I was smug about living in the city and taking public transportation to work? You haven’t seen us eat dinner.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Smug

You suck, Citicards

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

So, I have good credit.  I don’t carry a credit card balance.  I pay my bills on time.  I have a Citi World Dividend Mastercard or whatever the heck it is that I’ve had for maybe four years.  Actually, it was a different card up until a month or so ago, but they changed it, not me, so it’s been one continuous account as far as I’m concerned.  Anyway, I’ve NEVER missed a payment on it.

So I forgot to pay my November bill.  Just forgot to go to their website and schedule a payment.  Those jerks charged me interest, a $39 late fee, and raised my APR.  For ONE missed payment in four years.  They didn’t even contact me to say I was late.  My Discover card emails me and tells me if I haven’t scheduled a payment and my due date is approaching.  But Citi didn’t do that.

The first level CSR didn’t even think they should.  “Oh, we have so many cardholders, I don’t know how we could call them.  It would have to be on the computer."  Well, of course, moron, I don’t want you to call me.  Why do you think I do as much business with you as I can on your website, and long ago stopped getting paper statements?  I don’t want to talk to you on the phone, or get any regular mail from you.

Anyway, the second level CSR that I got when I asked to cancel waived the fees, gave me some extra cash back bonus temporarily, and dropped my APR to 1.9% for 9 months, then it goes back to the rate I had before I missed the payment.

I’m planning to cancel the card anyway, but they don’t have to know that.

The message here is, when your credit card company does something stupid, call them and complain.  They’ll probably help you out.

Posted in: complaint , Credit

Take that, DC Parking Enforcement!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Complaint Hub » Blog Archive » I win! I’m a big winner!

We’re still waiting on a response for the big ticket, the $100 ticket. The wife wrote that letter. She’s a lawyer, so she should be better at convincing them, but we had a much stronger case on the one that I contested. So we’ll see.

Yes, I just quoted myself. Shut up. A couple of days ago, we finally got the letter saying that they forgave the big ticket, too. We weren’t sure what was going to happen - the car still had the old Virginia tags then. I’m sure if they tried they could get my SSN or VIN or something from Virginia and track down my DC registration that way, but that involves WORK, and I just wasn’t sure they were actually going to do that. But I didn’t want to contact the DMV after it was taking them forever to get back to us on this ticket, because that would absolve them of doing any work to connect me to the old ticket. Anyway, it’s moot now, because they finally succumbed to my wife’s crushing grip of reason and tore up the ticket. That brings our record on contesting tickets to 4-0, I think.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , Harvard Street , parking

Why do I write?

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

The Zombie Robert Heinlein Rises From the Grave Yet Again to Annoy the Politically Correct

People start writing literary fiction as they tumble through writing programs at Sarah Lawrence or Bennington or Iowa because that’s what they’re expected to write and they want to impress their professors and fellow students; people start writing science fiction, on the other hand, roughly ten seconds after they set down The Star Beast or Ender’s Game or Snow Crash because they get done with the book and think, holy crap, I want to do that.

This comes from science fiction writer and blogger John Scalzi. I’ve had similar experiences with reading something and being compelled to write almost immediately. The first time I remember it happening was reading Faulkner. I struggled and struggled through the first eighty or so pages of Absalom, Absalom before I put down the book and said to myself, “I have no idea what I just read, but the act of not writing (well, trying to write) that myself right now is causing me physical pain”. I don’t know if Scalzi’s quote directly applies to me, though. It’s not just science fiction that does this to me, although Charles Stross has definitely had that effect. I think, for me, I get that feeling of “I must do this” when I get lost in the book. This can be lost in a science fiction world like Stross', or lost in the amazing things that Faulkner could do with the English language. Of course, I never finish any of the projects that these books inspire, but that’s a different issue.

Posted in: Writing

This thing is going to look funny

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Inhabitat » TRANSPORTATION TUESDAY: The Smart Car

The Smart car is a tiny subcompact vehicle, only about 9 feet long and 5 feet wide. The three cylinder engine has fantastic fuel consumption, getting 42 miles per gallon, and has a top speed of 90mph.

So, those of you not in the United States, or who have traveled to some of those other countries who realize that not everyone needs a gigantic car may have seen the Smart car, about the size of two defensive linemen.  Seeing them parked on the street looks a little ridiculous even when the cars around them are smaller than your typical American behemoth, so imagine this car parked between a Yukon Denali and chromed-out H2.

I ’m a little disappointed that it will both cost $11,000+ and get only 42 miles to the gallon, but the bigger picture is that Daimler thinks this thing will sell here.  That means that we’re starting to see people thinking differently about transportation and conservation and things like that.  Hopefully seeing these tiny things driving around will make more people reconsider buying an 8-passenger SUV to drive to work alone.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Wind kissing

He/She/It Listened!

Monday, December 10, 2007

Our football game was canceled.  So now we start the playoffs this Saturday.  They should wrap up sometime next year, I guess.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Weather

Maybe the supreme being is listening

Friday, December 07, 2007

Weather.com is guessing that we might get rain tonight and tomorrow, so perhaps the supreme being whose existence I proved may actually be listening.  We’ve recruited a bunch of people for our flag football team, but I would still prefer our regular squad out there (And I’d kind of like to play, as well).

Posted in: Anti complaint , Weather

Im one of those DC snow car people now

Thursday, December 06, 2007

When I first moved to the DC Metro area back in 2001, I was living in Fairfax, VA, and working on Wisconsin Ave NW.  I used to park on a little un-zoned residential street.  One winter, either 2001 or 2002, I forget, we had a big snow that was on the ground for a couple of weeks.  We got 4-6 inches, and then it just stayed cold.  Most of the cars in the neighborhood just didn’t move.  For weeks, they just sat, covered in snow.

Now, today we got our first snow since we moved to the city, and my car is still covered.  I expect it will be covered tomorrow.  I mean, it’s supposed to get up close to 40 degrees tomorrow, so there’s not much point in clearing the car.  In fact, since street cleaning has been suspended for the winter, I don’t expect to touch the car during the week until March or so.

Well, tomorrow we have errands to run in Virginia.  But other than that.

It’s funny how quickly my attitude about driving has changed now that, for the most part, I don’t have to do it.  Going a day without driving used to be really strange, and now it’s the norm.

Anyway, the snow’s kind of nice.  My commute is only outdoors for three blocks to Metro, and then a minute where the Yellow Line train goes over the Potomac into Virginia.  So the snow isn’t really a concern.  I do have to take some trash out tonight, though.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , parking , Weather

Bread is delicious

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

So, the bread I made last night was fantastic. It’s the kind of stuff you can just sit and eat. We haven’t even tried toasting it or putting butter or anything else on it. I’m all ready to go out and find a good recipe for some fancier bread. Some 100% whole wheat, maybe some grains and other bits of goodness. Maybe some raisin bread, although the wife doesn’t love raisin bread.

I would recommend that anyone who is disappointed by the quality of bread in the grocery store (Or the omnipresence of everyone’s favorite, high-fructose corn syrup) try baking his or her own. Yes, it helps a lot to have a Kitchen Aid mixer, and I know these are not cheap, but you don’t HAVE to have one, and it’ll probably save you money in the long run if you actually bake your own bread regularly.

The instructions for baking, incidentally, are very detailed and easy to follow.  We had to look up how to prepare the yeast, which wasn’t explained, but that wasn’t too hard.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Food

Doing a little baking

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

The Simple Dollar » Homemade Bread: Cheap, Delicious, Healthy, and Easier Than You Think

It does take time, but once you get used to it, most food preparation doesn’t take much more time than going to the store, buying it, taking it home, popping it out of the package, and following the directions.

Bread!So I’m baking bread tonight. I found the above link somewhere, Lifehacker I think, a while back. And it seemed like a good idea. So here it is. It smells delicious. We have to wait until it cools to slice it, apparently.

I’ll tell you all how it tastes tomorrow.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Food

Snow? Really?

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

So, I drive to work less than once a month.  I take the Metro almost all the time, but our corporate office is out in Manassas, and so on the infrequent days I have to go out there, I drive.  Today is the first time since I started at this position in March that I drove to the office where I actually work because I’m going to Manassas a little later today.

Coincidentally, today is the first day of the winter that we’re getting snow.  Now, it’s just flurries, and shouldn’t affect anything, but seriously.  The ONE DAY I drive to work, we get snow.  That’s just absurd.  That, I think, is the most convincing evidence of a supreme being that I’ve ever heard - there must be a god because he/she/it has a sense of humor.

Well, Supreme Being, if it’s not too much trouble, can I get some rain on Saturday so our flag football game gets cancelled?  We’re really short on players this week (including myself), and it’s the first week of playoffs, and I’d really like a rescheduling.

Posted in: complaint , Weather

A Tribute to Sean

Monday, December 03, 2007

We will miss you, SeanThe pregame tribute to Sean Taylor was really pretty moving.  Watching the entire stadium waving the #21 towels that they gave out on the way in while they showed a slide show on the scoreboard was pretty intense.

There was a pretty huge ovation, too, when they ran the first defensive play with only ten players.

It’s too bad the team couldn’t come away with a win, but that was hardly the defense’s fault.  Since the margin of victory was less than the safety allowed when the offensive line decided to just ignore everyone while Campbell dropped back in the end zone, and we managed almost no offense against the 31st ranked defense in the NFL.

Posted in: sports

Sean Taylor tribute

Saturday, December 01, 2007

So, I haven’t heard all the details.  But it looks like Taylor wasn’t doing anything wrong, which is both better and worse.  If he really had turned his life around, it’s an even bigger tragedy that he died so young.

Anyway, a ticket to tomorrow’s game just fell into my lap, so I’ll get to see the tribute and pick up a #21 towel that they’re giving out to everyone.

I’m excited to go, although that’s mostly because I haven’t been to a game in years.  An old college roommate has season tickets, and when we lived together, I used to go to some of the games with him. But we kind of lost touch after I graduated, and I’m not on his invite list anymore.

So, it should be cool.  It’s definitely a winnable game against Buffalo, although we haven’t played too well against that division this year.  Two overtime wins against the miserable Jets and Dolphins, and that utter embarrassment against the Patriots.

I’m going to Metro there, which I’ve never done before.  Apparently there’s a relatively new Blue Line stop that’s less than a mile away.  That should be a disaster after the game, but that’s fine.  Getting out of FedEx is always an ordeal.

But it will all be worth it to spend the day yelling and drinking beer.

Posted in: Anti complaint , sports

Nano is done

Thursday, November 29, 2007

At 7:21PM Eastern, I saved my 2007 Nano novel for the last time.  50,262 words, according to the word counting robots at the website.  I’m happier with it than I was before, but the plot is still kind of strange, and I think my characters are motivated more by wanting to advance the story than by any sort of realistically human motivations.  But that’s okay.

Now I can go back to my normal routine.  There are a bunch of things I thought of doing in November that I’ve had to put off.  Now I can not think of them again until next November, when I’ll remember that I said I would do them in December or January.

Anyway, it feels good to finish again.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Writing

New job?

Thursday, November 29, 2007

It’s a long shot, and I don’t know if I’m really qualified, but I just applied for a job as the head football coach at the University of Michigan.  Should be pretty sweet if I get it. 

Posted in: Anti complaint , Work

2481 to go

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

410 words on the Metro this morning, and I’m almost at the end.  The 28th, today, is the latest I’ve ever hit 50,000.  And I don’t think I’ll make it today.  But I’m sure I will tomorrow. 

I’m a little disappointed that no one seems to notice me writing on the Metro.  Or maybe they do and just don’t say anything.  I guess people don’t talk much during rush hour.  But isn’t it weird?  Have you ever seen somone writing in a little notebook on the Metro?  I think that’s weird.  Of course, if I saw me writing on the Metro, I would look at me and think, ‘Hey, that guy’s kind of weird’.  Then I’d go back to reading or whatever I was doing.

Posted in: Writing

Almost finished

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Nanowrimo is quickly approaching its end.  And so is my novel.  The story is done, really.  I’m currently writing a completely gratuitous bar scene, where a nerdy-but-recently-famous blogger is being hit on by a beautiful-but-gold-digging girl.  It has nothing to do with advancing the plot, but it’s doing nicely to advance the word count.  I have about 2,800 words to go, and I expect to finish Thursday.  Tomorrow I’m going out, so I don’t think I can get that many words in.  But Thursday I have no plans.  Except probably watch “The Office”.  But I can do 2,800 words.

I’m debating whether to share the story when I’m done.  I was thinking of putting up a Creative Commons licensed text file and letting people do what they want.  I don’t think I’ll ever do anything more with the story. But maybe I should let the wife read it first, and make sure it’s okay to share.  I don’t think it’s very good.  It’s maybe a better story than last year’s, but not as good as 2002, 2003, or 2005.  And my 2005 story was about talking ducks and, squirrel concubines, and evil foxes.  So that may put this one in perspective.

I probably need to rethink my approach for Nano 2008.  My stories are getting worse.  I don’t think that’s really the intention.

Posted in: Writing

I thought wed lose him to jail

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

ESPN - Redskins' Taylor dies from injury in shooting - NFL

“I just take this job very seriously,” Taylor said in a rare group interview during training camp. “It’s almost like, you play a kid’s game for a king’s ransom. And if you don’t take it serious enough, eventually one day you’re going to say, ‘Oh, I could have done this, I could have done that.’”

I really do feel bad for his family and friends.  Who ever knows if everyone is just saying good things about him because he’s gone, but all the quotes from his teammates say he really was growing up now that he had a little girl.  All the personal fouls, the spitting on other players, the guns and DUIs, that was supposedly behind him.  I’d like to believe that. 

I’m afraid, though, that we’re going to find out that the guy came not to rob him, but intended the whole time to shoot him, and it was because of something that Taylor did.  The reports of burglary are too vague and don’t really sound plausible.  But I don’t know. 

I hope his 18-month-old daughter doesn’t remember this when she grows up. 

Posted in: Sad

Officially back on track

Thursday, November 22, 2007

For the first time since November 7th, I am back on the Nanowrimo pace.  I just hit the 35,000 word mark, and things seem to be going well.  It’s been my experience, as a four-time Nano winner, that 40,000 is the magic number where the writing just comes out.  I want to say it all goes downhill, but I mean that in the sense of a river flowing, not the quality.  Once you hit 40,000 and your ‘words to go’ number is only four digits, it gets easier.  You can see the finish line, and it’s not that far away.  It just gets easier from there.

So I only need 5,000 more words to hit that mark, and then I might as well be done.  That’s encouraging.  The story is going sort of okay, I guess.  There are a lot of things I wanted to get into that I haven’t.  There’s one character who wasn’t important, and then she was, and now I have no idea what to do with her.  She’s stuck at her sister’s house, an invalid on the couch with a broken leg, and I haven’t the slightest clue how to get her involved in the story again.  My female main character is doing okay.  I feel that I’ve written a passable female character, believable but not very interesting.  I don’t think she’s a bad character, and I don’t think she’s a bad female character, but she isn’t very interesting.

Anyway, it feels good to be back on the pace.   Just in time to get behind again because of the holiday.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Writing

You know what, Kindle? No. Not buying you.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

I really hope the Kindle is the iPod of books.  It could revolutionize the industry and open up all sorts of new business models.  But I’m not going to buy one.  My biggest problem is the restrictions put on free content.  I have a few books in PDF on my Ubuntu laptop.  I obtained these books legally, all downloaded with permission from the author.  Because the Kindle doesn’t work with Ubuntu and doesn’t read PDF, I don’t even know how I would get these books onto the Kindle.  And since reading free books I get online on something other than a computer screen is one of the primary reasons that I want an ebook reader, this is kind of a big deal.

I know the wife will be happy with this decision, because she thought I was crazy for wanting one in the first place.

I really hope that Amazon’s push in the industry brings about more competition.  Sony, as much as I loathe them, got things started with the first electronic ink ebook, and things have started to move more quickly since then.  Now that there’s another big player in the market, it seems reasonable that we’ll see big changes in the very near future.

Posted in: Gadgets

So I hit 30,000 words

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Finally.  Well, only a day late.  But I was 3,500 words behind on November 17th, which is the furthest back I’ve ever been.  This year has been tough.  I’m not sure exactly why.  The story is going slowly at the moment.  I don’t like this most recent chapter, and I may be writing myself into a corner.  But, then again, that’s what Nanowrimo is all about.

I’m currently just about a day behind.  That’s not a huge deal.  I can hopefully make that up by tomorrow or Wednesday.

Posted in: Writing

The Kindle hates Ubuntu

Monday, November 19, 2007

USB support only works for Windows 2000 or higher or OSX 10.2+.  What a load of crap.

Posted in: complaint , Gadgets

The Kindle is here

Monday, November 19, 2007

So I’ve spent most of my morning reading everything I can find about the Kindle.  I mean, I’ve spent most of my morning working dilligently.  Yeah.

So, Amazon is going to charge for the books, charge for newspaper subscriptions, and charge for full-text blog feeds.  But they aren’t charging any extra for the network connection.

This is pretty cool.  There are some drawbacks.  It’s not as sexy as an iPhone, but that’s really not that big a deal for me.  It doesn’t seem to support PDF, which people had been saying it would, but it supports some ebook formats, plus Microsoft Word and HTML.  Some of the details are fuzzy.  I’m hearing that you can't transfer your own content through the USB port, but not from anyone reliable.  I suppose you could always do it via SD card.

I think I’m going to have to buy one.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Gadgets

Eagerly awaiting the Kindle

Monday, November 19, 2007

Amazon is releasing the Kindle, their new ebook reader, today, according to just about everyone.  It sounds really cool.  The idea from Jeff Bezos, the guy in charge at Amazon, is that people should have access to every book ever written, all the time.  So this thing has some internet connection provided by Sprint, and you’re supposed to be able to buy a book from Amazon without using a computer in a few minutes.

Of course, the $9.99 lease payment for a new book is both a little high for something you don’t own and can’t resell, and a little low for Amazon to make any money, so I expect the pricing model to change at some point.  Artificially inflating the price of a non-scarce good doesn’t lend itself to an efficient market, but the people at Amazon have done pretty well selling things so far, so I expect they’ll figure something out.

First on my list would be real ownership of content.  If I buy an ebook, I should own it.  It should be mine.  I should be able to resell it or trade it or give it away.  I would also like to see libraries.

There are some major details missing from the news about this thing so far, such as integration with the computer.  I know you don’t need to use a computer to buy new books, but what about free ebooks released by their authors?  Can I just transfer those or download them directly to the Kindle?  A nice little library program on the computer would be cool, so I could organize my books onto SD cards or whatever this thing is using for removable storage.

Anyway, I’m very excited.  I’d love to see this thing revolutionize the book industry like the the iPod did for the music industry.  If I were a book publisher, I would be very nervous right now.  They may find themselves increasingly less relevant, just like the big music labels, if they can’t figure out how to adapt to new business models.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Gadgets

They couldnt have done it when he hit 754?

Friday, November 16, 2007

The Official Site of Major League Baseball: News: Major League Baseball News

“I have yet to see the details of this indictment and while everyone in America is considered innocent until proven guilty, I take this indictment very seriously and will follow its progress closely,” Selig said. “It is important that the facts regarding steroid use in baseball be known, which is why I asked Senator Mitchell to investigate the issue. I look forward to receiving his report and findings so that we can openly address any issue associated with past steroid use.”

Selig, you’re a tool. This is the same statement he gives every time they advance the case against Barry.

“I haven’t seen him inject drugs with my own eyes, but I take those allegations very seriously.” Barry’ll go to jail and Selig will say, “I haven’t seen him actually sitting in jail, but I take the word of the California Penal System very seriously.”

Anyway, it couldn’t have happened to a bigger (headed) jerk. I haven’t seen anyone mention it, but I’m wondering if he’s gotten himself eligible for a Pete Rose. That would be kind of funny in a sad sort of way if the all time hits and home run leaders were both barred from the Hall of Fame for their off-field actions.

I’m a little sad for the game of baseball, but at the same time, this can’t come as a surprise to much of anyone.  Which means that most of the damage has already been done.  I hope.

I bet ARod is mad that his smallish contract is getting overshadowed by Barry.  Jake Peavy and his Cy Young award, too.  I am a little surprised that ARod signed for only $27.5 million a year.  I mean, that’s barely more than he’s been making, and significantly lower than the $35 they had been talking about.

Posted in: baseball , sports

No more being nice

Thursday, November 15, 2007

So, I’m a nice guy.  Ask anyone.  Today, I went down to get a key copied at a mall kiosk.  This may have been a bad idea, but whatever.  The woman there spent 10 minutes looking through key blanks before she told me they didn’t have the right on.  Five of those minutes were spent comparing my key to a blank that was plainly wrong.  She showed it to me.  I told her it was the wrong blank.  She showed it to the guy at the kiosk next door.  He told her it was the wrong blank.  She compared them again.  Somehow, they were still totally different keys.

Did I get angry with her?  No.  I was polite.  I left.  I am positive that other customers are not so pleasant.

So, I get back to my building.  I went through the doors to the elevators on the bottom floor.  The elevators only go up from there, and there is nowhere else to go, so anyone going through those doors is going up in the elevator.

Anyway, exiting the door as I was entering was a guy on crutches.  I stopped to hold the door for him, because that seemed like the right thing to do.  Some guy was already in the elevator lobby waiting to go up.  As I was holding the door, he got in an elevator and left.  After I held the door, I saw him through the closing elevator doors.  I didn’t have a chance to make eye contact.

Is that a total jerk move?  Would you have held the elevator for fifteen seconds so I could get in, too?  Or am I being ridiculous?  I’m inclined to think I’m not.

Posted in: complaint , Elevators

My Country Tis of Corn

Thursday, November 15, 2007

So, the large, scary government agency that indirectly pays my salary is celebrating America Recycles Day today. That’s a good thing. Raising recycling awareness is nearly always a positive thing. It’s probably always positive, but I’m just being cautious here.

Anyway, to celebrate this, they “will be handing out biobased corn products and informational brochures”.

I won’t discuss the grammar of the sentence beyond being glad that I don’t work for the public school system. Wait, I will. Do you think the informational brochures are biobased? I think they are. But do you think they are also corn products? The sentence construction leaves it open to interpretation. I love interpretation! It lets me berate you for disagreeing with me even if we’re both right.

What I will discuss, however, is the use of corn. We eat corn. We eat corn in almost everything. Next time you’re at the grocery store. Check the ingredients on everything you’ve purchased. You will likely be shocked at how many of the items contain corn in some form or another. A disturbingly high percentage will contain high fructose corn syrup. Most loaves of bread do (Not the good bread at Whole Foods and, to a lesser extent, Harris Teeter. And probably other stores, too, but those are the ones I usually go to. Anyway.).

We should just replace the stars on the flag with corn kernels. We could replace the stripes with ears. The ‘Ol Corn and Corn, we could say. The Yellow, Yellow, and Yellow. It would be great.

In fact, let’s replace everything with corn. Stop raising cattle and chickens! They just eat all our corn! We can grind corn into a pulp, add artificial flavors and colors, and voila! We have steak! Stop buying imported products! We can make everything we need out of corn! It’s BIOBASED! That must be good because it has “bio” in the name!

Posted in: complaint , health , Wind kissing

Thanks, Akismet

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

So, some time this afternoon, Akismet stopped the 10,000th spam comment here at Complaint Hub.  I think we should all take a moment and applaud Akismet’s efforts.  Way to go, Akismet!

levitra, from IP Address 202.105.182.15, decided to ask, “How add your to reds?”.  That was the comment.  The link to “levitra’s” blog or website was some Ukrainian top level domain name.  I’m sure the site is wonderful and informative.  I imagine they sell cheap pharmaceuticals.

I often wonder why they think that someone will take a comment like that seriously and click on “levitra’s” website to find out more.  And then, once there, do they really expect that people will think, “Oh, while I’m here, I should buy prescription medicine from a foreign country without the advice of my doctor!”

Seriously.  At least I didn’t have to censor the comment for language.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Spam

I dont hold grudges. Sometimes.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Complaint Hub » Blog Archive » Miro needs your help to not suck

I really do hope the Miro project succeeds and gives us another model for distributing quality video content. But I’m not giving them money when they beg. Provide me with a service that I want, that works the way it should, and I’ll pay for it. But try to get me to donate money to a bloated piece of software that I’m not entirely sure fulfills the needs of anyone, and I’m just not interested.

Just to show that I’m not holding a grudge, I just installed Miro 1.0 on my laptop.  I’m going to wait until I at least hit 1,667 words for the day before I play with it, but I’m going to try it out.  I’ll post my thoughts when I get a chance to see how it works.

Posted in: TV

Letters are easier, anyway

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Due process too much hassle for DC dept. of motor vehicles - Boing Boing

Washington DC’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will no longer allow citizens to protest parking tickets in person, reports Thenewspaper.com. Instead, they’ll offer mail-in and e-mail adjudication.

What kind of crazy person would go to the DMV to protest a ticket in person, anyway?  As many of you have found via Google, I have a bit of experience protesting tickets via the mail.  It actually works.  They really do look at your letter, and they really do respond.  It sometimes takes a letter to your councilmember to get it all worked out, but the statement in the article to which Boing Boing has linked:

Under the DMV’s plan, motorists will only be able to object to a ticket by email or letter where city employees can ignore or reject letters in bulk without affected motorists having any realistic recourse.

Just isn’t true.  Does DC give out too many ridiculous parking tickets?  Probably.  Is the city too financially dependent on this revenue source?  I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me.  Should it be easier to contest an erroneous ticket?  Sure, but we have to weigh the cost/benefit analysis here.  The reason you can’t contest a ticket in person anymore is probably NOT so the DMV can deny you due process (Does the DMV even owe you due process?  I’m not sure.  Maybe some lawyer can answer.).  It is probably to save the DMV some money.  If they don’t have to employ someone to sit and listen to how you know it said no parking, but you only had to run in for a minute, and it’s not your fault that your manicurist had a line and you had to wait and the kids were running around and it’s really not fair and you normally park in a regular spot and take the other car that you can usually park but this time you had the big car and gosh don’t you have kids then you understand, right?  Then maybe they could put some of that saved money to use for education or increased police patrols or any of the million other things the city could be spending its money on.

Anyway, I know I only link to BoingBoing when they piss me off, so I want to state here that I read and enjoy the site every day.  And I really don’t just read it waiting for them to say something that bugs me.  I really recommend the site.  They usually have smart, interesting things to say.  Sometimes they say ridiculous things, but don’t we all?

Posted in: Cars , complaint , dc , dmv , parking

Nano Update - Day 13

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

I’m getting myself all caught up.  I wrote a new record 620 words on the Metro this morning, bringing my total to 19,566.  That leaves me needing 2,105 words tonight to catch up to the pace.  I think I can do at least a good chunk of that.

I think I’m getting over the dreaded Week Two Slump.  It was particularly bad this year, but the story is starting to pick up, and some characters are really stepping up and asserting themselves.

It’s amazing what a 3,700 word day will do for you.  This time on Sunday, I was almost ready to throw in the towel, not just on this year, but on Nanowrimo altogether.  But now I’m plunging ahead into the heart of the novel and wondering what I’m going to do with all of these sub-plots.

Posted in: Writing

Nano Update - Day 12

Monday, November 12, 2007

Whew, am I behind.  I got a little behind on Thursday because we had a friend come into town.  Then I got a little more behind on Friday.  Then on Saturday I woke up at 4:30AM puking, I have no idea why, and didn’t stop until around noon.  After that, it was all I could do to just stay awake, much less write.  Then the wife of the friend joined him (she’s a friend, too, but it’s easier to say it this way), and we hung out on Sunday, so as of this morning, I was nearly 5,000 words behind the pace.  I’ve never been that far behind, unless you count 2004 when I only wrote 448 words on day one.

On the bright side, I’ve written 3,058 words today, and am only about to break for dinner.  The Monday Night Football game is going to be disgracefully bad, so I should be able to write through that.  And I’m only 1,741 words behind schedule now.  I can make that up this week.

Posted in: complaint , Writing

Nano Update - Day 9

Friday, November 09, 2007

I’m getting a little behind.  All the writing I did yesterday was on the Metro.  I got 309 words on the way home, and then 345 this morning.  That means I need 2546 more words today to keep on the 1667-a-day pace.

However, I’m rapidly approaching some action scenes, so that should be good.  And I think soon I will introduce a couple of chatty homeless guys that should help the word count along.  I’m just a little behind.  I can catch up this weekend.

Posted in: Writing

This is why were killing the planet

Friday, November 09, 2007

I work on computers all day.  So do my coworkers.  This morning, I came into work and found someone had left some papers on my chair, which seems to be universal for “You should look at these”.  I, naturally, assumed it was something reasonably important.  Perhaps some security form I needed to fill out.

It turns out it was a printout of a sixteen page SQL stored procedure which my coworker printed just so he could highlight the 8th and 9th lines of the first page and write a little note informing me of something I did not ask to know, need to know, or want to know.

He had a bunch of options here.  The first one, and my preference, would have been to just not tell me at all.  The world would have continued to turn.

Second, he could have emailed me the stored procedure with a note in the email.  That would have been fine.  He could have come by my desk this morning and said, “Hey, open up that stored procedure.  See this line?  I changed it.  It works better now."  I would have even been sort of okay if he’d printed out the first page only and made his notes there.  An unnecessary use of paper, but not egregious.

Anyway, now I have to recycle this stack of papers.  All so he could notify me of something I never needed to know.

Posted in: complaint , Work

Nano Update - Day 8

Thursday, November 08, 2007

438 on the ride in this morning.  I had a seat the whole time.  I don’t know if that helped my word count or not.

Unfortunately, with the idiotic waste of time meeting I had to go to before I left work and then the aforementioned trivia, I only got about 1,100 words yesterday.  So this morning’s word count is just getting me back to about on track.

It’s okay, though.  The wife is going out of town for a day or two, and I can spend the entire time writing.  Wives can be really distracting.  I mean, they’re great and all, and mine is particularly great.  But they tend to not like it if you ignore them all the time and don’t help with cooking or cleaning or anything.

Which reminds me, I won a little bet with the wife last night at trivia.  Had I lost, I would have had to cook dinner three nights in a row.  Unfortunately, I never thought of what she would have to do if I won.  It was one of the trivia questions.  It said that Columbia Heights, our wonderful transitional neighborhood, was named for Columbia College.  Columbia College has a new name.  What is it?

Well, the wife was sure it was Howard, because Howard is more or less in Columbia Heights (Or Shaw, whatever, they’re right next door).  While that is certainly a reasonable guess, I was pretty sure it was GW.  Turns out I was right.

Posted in: Writing

OMG TomKat!

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Flickr has let me down - apparently no one who was outside the Uptown Theater last night taking pictures of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes has posted their stuff yet.  But here is a little gallery that I won’t hotlink, although maybe I could.

Anyway, I post this not because I’m obsessed with two crazy, rich Hollywood people, but because I totally saw them.  We went to trivia night at a bar just down the street from the Uptown, and as I was walking down Connecticut Avenue from the bus stop, there was a huge crowd in front of the theater.  I looked in the center of the crowd, and there was a short man with a really bad haircut (Come on, Tom, now that you’re married, you’re letting yourself go?) and his wife towering over him. 

It was kind of cool.  I didn’t get a picture, because pulling out my camera phone would have just pissed me off because it takes such awful pictures.  I had thought they had the baby with them, because I couldn’t see either of them (especially Tom) below the shoulders.  Tom’s body language suggested he was holding a baby.  Or maybe that was my imagination.  Anyway, the kid doesn’t seem to be in the pictures that I’ve seen of the event, so I guess I was wrong. 

Posted in: Movies

Nano Update - Day 7

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

434 words this morning.  Total so far is 10,590.  Nothing really exciting to report.

Posted in: Writing

Why yes, I am wearing bamboo underwear

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

The bamboo boxer shorts that the wife bought me finally made their way into the wash yesterday, and onto my person this morning.  They’re 70% bamboo, 30% organic cotton.  And they’re quite comfortable.  I recommend picking up a pair or two.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Wind kissing

Nano Update - Day 6 (Or, the worst paragraph Ive ever written)

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

I wrote 353 words this morning.  That’s good for the wordcount, but today’s opening paragraph is one of the worst I’ve written since I started doing Nano.

Kathy woke up feeling cold.  Her leg hurt, and she was cold.  As she regained her bearings, she realized that it was very noisy.  People screaming and running everywhere.

WTF was that?  I looked at it as I was counting words after I got to work, and I cringed.  I’m going to claim that I was still asleep when I wrote that, because that’s the only reasonable excuse.  I know Nano is supposed to create more quantity than quality, but there IS a bottom, below which one should take up another hobby.  That paragraph was below the bottom.  But the section picked up as it went on, and I have high hopes for this afternoon’s ride home.

I think I’m going to use that paragraph as my excerpt at the Nano site.

Posted in: Writing

I cant show you what we did this weekend

Monday, November 05, 2007

Stupid Comcast. They fixed part of our cable and internet problems. They’re claiming we have a weak signal. But our HD channels are coming in just fine. But we don’t get Comedy Central and the stations that rerun Law and Order: SVU all day, which makes the wife a little salty. And our internet doesn’t work at all. Which means I can’t post the pictures of our progress this weekend to Flickr. So, let me just say that our hallway/art gallery is looking fantastic. And it only took four drill bits and countless trips to Home Depot. We melted a titanium drill bit. I don’t know the chemical properties physical properties (Thanks, non-blogging-scientist-brother-in-law) of titanium, but you get the impression that it’s pretty tough, right? And you figure that melting it would be hard? Turns out it’s not as hard as you might think.

But it’s all finished now. The wife was putting a final coat of paint on this morning, and we’ll hang pictures tonight. Comcast is due back between 5-8PM to give it one more shot, so maybe I’ll even be able to upload pictures. If I do, you’ll get a sneak preview of the color we’re going to paint our bedroom next time we get a weekend with a little free time. I really like the color.

Posted in: complaint , The Devil

Nano Update - Day 5

Monday, November 05, 2007

Four hundred and sixty words on the Metro this morning.  Did you see how I wrote out “four hundred and sixty”, instead of simply writing “460”?  That is what is called “maximizing your word count for National Novel Writing Month”.  There, I did it again.  I could have abbreviated National Novel Writing Month.  Or used apostrophes.  But I did not.

Anyway, that brings my total up to 7,190.  That’s a pretty good total for four days plus a commute to work.  And I’m just hitting the first big event in the story.  I don’t know the literary term for it.  It’s the big event early in the story that enables the rest of the story to happen.  I think it’s going well.

Posted in: Writing

Joo-dish-oo-what?

Friday, November 02, 2007

Is this a DC thing?  Every time I hear someone on a Metro loudspeaker mention the Judiciary Square Metro stop, they pronounce it “joo-DISH-oo-wary”.

I don’t often take the Red Line out that way, so I don’t hear it very often.  But today something was going on there, and they made an announcement at Pentagon City while I was waiting for my train.

I’m home early, by the way, because Satan’s Cable Company, Comcast, is supposed to come out again to fix our tv and internet.  I was told the other day that they had to do some work outside, and no one needed to be home.  Apparently that was a lie.

I really hate Comcast.  The service is bad.  I hear they’re much better in Maryland, but in DC the service is not good.  The guy who came to look at our connections the other day was very pleasant, but he couldn’t fix the problem.

Anyway, if there was any real competition in the cable and internet market here, I would switch.  But there currently isn’t.  A neighbor is trying out the DirecTV and Verizon DSL route.  I’m going to have to see how he likes it.  I’ve had bad experiences with satellite tv, and I’m sure Verizon is going to complain if I ask for DSL without a Verizon phone line (Although I think they have to provide it).

So, I’m at home, using my wireless internet card from work.  It’s AT&T, and it works occasionally.  Actually, the card says Cingular on it, but Cingular doesn’t exist anymore.

And now I’m just rambling, which usually means I should just stop and hit “Publish”.  So I think I’ll do that.

Posted in: complaint , dc , metro , The Devil

Nano update - Day 2

Friday, November 02, 2007

1817 words yesterday.  428 on the Metro this morning.  If I can knock out nearly half my daily word goal during my commute, that would be awesome.

The story is going well so far.  I love how characters kind of pop up out of nowhere.  I mean, sometimes I have a character in my head before I start, and I’m more or less waiting for the right moment for him or her to make an appearance.  But sometimes I’m writing, and someone pops up, and turns out to be important.  The campaign manager hoping her guy gets elected so she can get a better book deal is one of those.  The surly, hungover police officer might be another.  I’m not sure if he’s going to end up with a big role in the story.

Anyway, I’m happy so far.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Writing

Not a lot of words

Thursday, November 01, 2007

I wrote 205 words this morning on the Metro.  That’s not too many.  Although, it’s more words than I’ve ever written before during my work commute, so that’s cool.  It’s tough to stand and write, especially since I had my normal bag plus my work laptop this morning.  But I don’t usually bring my laptop home, and if it really gets to be a problem, I can probably get a seat most of the time.  I tend to not sit on the Metro that often because I don’t really like sharing a seat with strangers, and anyone who gets on the train probably needs the seat at least as much as I do.

But if I’m going to be writing, and it becomes too difficult to do standing, then I’ll sit more.  Let those elderly and disabled people stand for a change.  They shouldn’t be riding Metro at rush hour anyway.

Posted in: Writing

No one can stay away

Thursday, November 01, 2007

I went back to Starbucks this morning, despite my claims to the contrary.  I had gone the other day just to break a $20 and found that the grande coffee was back below $2.00.  This morning, I just couldn’t bear the thought of the awful office coffee (black, because the only thing worse than bad coffee is powdered creamer).  And they weren’t busy, so I asked the guy who served me about the price change.

He very nicely explained what happened, and it’s actually an interesting explanation.  Starbucks did, in fact, raise prices back in July.  That pushed the price over $2.  But then Virginia changed the tax laws.  They stopped taxing plain coffee.  They still tax the coffee-like milkshakes, and they tax the food that Starbucks serves.  According to the guy, they will even tax your coffee if you get it with a pastry or something.  I think the distinction is between “coffee” and “food”, and coffee is considered to be part of the “food” category if you drink it with something to eat.

Anyway, very interesting.

Posted in: Anti complaint , coffee , Money

Athletes DO graduate from college

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Race, Class, and Graduation Rates

These two together make a valuable point that’s often missed in the operatic hand-wringing about the failures and abuses of college athletics: when you’re talking about graduation rates, it’s important to compare apples to apples.

Interesting article.  Everyone has heard about the abysmal graduation rate of college athletes, especially at the top sports schools.  But the point here is that comparing the graduation rates of athletes to the overall graduation rates isn’t fair.  If you look at the graduation rates separated by race, it becomes clear that the problem is not that too few athletes graduate, but that too few minorities graduate. 

This is not to say that this isn’t a problem.  But the potential solutions to the problem are very different.  It reminds us that it’s very important to actually identify the problem before trying to solve it.  This should be obvious, but too often it isn’t.

Back in college, as a math major, I remember hearing over and over how important it was to first understand the question.  At times, I thought, “Leave me alone, of course I understand the question, and if I didn’t, it’s your fault for the way you wrote it."  But then you get to the real world, and it becomes less and clear what the questions are.  I guess my professors were right. 

Anyway, the article suggests that athletes' graduation rates would take care of themselves if we helped out minority students.  Which seems like a good idea to me. 

Posted in: numbers , Statistics

Its almost time.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Just over fifteen hours until Nano starts. I’m ready to go. I’ve got the beginning of the story rattling around in my head. I’m a little afraid that the beginning is ALL I have in my head, and the whole middle and end thing is going to be a struggle. But now is not the time for doubts.

I didn’t sleep well last night, and I’m not sure why, but it’s going to make it even harder to stay up until midnight tonight and start before I go to bed. I do that most years. It feels like a nice head start.

Anyway, I’m excited about the story.  I have a name for my main character.  Well, I have a first name.  She needs a last name.  I notice that none of you slackers responded to my request for character names.  That’s fine.  When I’m a rich and famous novelist, I’ll just forget all of you.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Writing

Net neutrality is not net neutrality

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Obama pledges Net neutrality laws if elected president | Webware : Cool Web apps for everyone via Boing Boing

Net neutrality, of course, is the idea that broadband operators shouldn’t be allowed to block or degrade Internet content and services–or charge content providers an extra fee for speedier delivery or more favorable placement.

Actually, net neutrality is a problem that would just go away if we had real broadband competition in the United States. Techdirt repeats this ad nauseum. Broadband operator_ should_ be able to offer different levels of service for different prices. In fact, they do now. No one seems to think that Verizon offering a cheap DSL connection, then a more expensive fiber optic connection, is a horrific affront to the fundamentals of the internet. And broadband operators should be able to prioritize content.

If people really had choices in the broadband market, this would cease to be an issue. Provider A could degrade whatever they wanted, and Provider B would step in and take all their customers. Look what’s happened in Japan, when they forced sharing of infrastructure. OMG, fast cheap internet! And competition! Without net neutrality laws!

I won’t blame Obama for this - I imagine he has good intentions, but isn’t getting the whole story. The rest of the Democrats are right in line with him on this, too, so it’s not just his mistake. It’s just funny how people want to promote the freedom of the internet by adding regulation to it.  And, frankly, I think the Republicans are mostly against it as a knee-jerk “no regulation is good regulation” sort of thing.  I doubt they actually took any more time to understand the issue than the Democrats did.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

Well, its not quite under $300

Monday, October 29, 2007

A little while back, I said if the Bookean Cybook Gen3 ebook reader was less than $300, I would buy it.  So it was released today, and it’s $350, or $450 with some extra accessories.

I still want one.  I’d love to be able to play with it first, but I may not be able to resist.  I mean, why did I go to college if it wasn’t to get a job so I could afford to spend $350 on totally awesome gadgets now and then?

Posted in: Gadgets

Go see a play

Monday, October 29, 2007

On Thursday, the wife and I took my mother-in-law to The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.  NB that I am not linking to the official website of the play because it has a stupid Flash intro.  You can Google it if you’re interested, and the Wikipedia entry probably has a link, too.

Anyway, it was very funny.  There’s one sad song that lasts way too long near the end that doesn’t seem to fit the play at all, but otherwise it’s all very good.  The whole play is, as the title suggests, a spelling bee.  They invite a few members of the audience up to spell along with the cast members.  It’s quite obvious that the audience is supposed to set up a few one-liners, and then go back to their seats.  One of the audience members actually spelled some word I had never heard of correctly, and they had to give him another really hard one to get him to go sit down.

I think my favorite part was when they defined “Mexicans” as “An American slang word for people from Guatemala, El Salvador …"  I think there was more, but I couldn’t hear over the laughter.

Anyway, I recommend the play to anyone with the opportunity to go.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Theater

Whats with the spam?

Thursday, October 25, 2007

My Akismet spam filter on the comments here at Complaint Hub has been letting me down lately. In general, it has been fantastic. It’s caught about 8,000 spam comments since I started the site, and only caught maybe three or four real posts. But lately it has been holding more and more spam comments in moderation, emailing me and making me tell it that the comment is spam.

Some of what it’s been letting through are quite obviously spam. The latest was a brief message and then forty links to hardcore porn.

I hope this means that Akismet is just nearing the next step in their release cycle, and the spammers are getting better at fooling the filter, but all will be back to normal soon. I hate captchas, and don’t ever want to use one here, so a filter like Akismet is a necessity.

If Dante were writing The Inferno today, what circle of Hell do you think he’d put the spammers into? I’d throw them into the Eighth circle with the panderers (a person who serves or caters to the vulgar passions or plans of others (especially in order to make money [source]). There they would walk in a line, being whipped by demons. That seems appropriate.

Posted in: blogging , complaint , Spam

Curse you, rain

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Well, not really.  We need the rain.  But it’s messing up my weekend.  We have flag football on Saturday morning, and my mother-in-law will be in town from far away, and wanted to see the game.  My mom was going to come from less far away, and everyone was going to watch.  But since it’s been raining for two days now, and isn’t expected to stop until Saturday afternoon, it’s looking increasingly unlikely that we’ll be able to play.

This probably also doesn’t help the wife’s plans to take her mom around the city tomorrow.

On the bright side, it’s been so long since I’ve actually seen rain that it was really kind of nice.  It wasn’t raining that hard when I was outside, and it’s still warm enough to be pleasant.  As I was waiting to cross 16th Street yesterday, I watched the rain run down the windshield of a Ford Explorer that was blocking the crosswalk as the light was changing.

As I stood there watching, I wondered if anyone had ever uttered the phrase, “The warm rain running down the windshield of your 1993 Ford Explorer is hauntingly beautiful.”

Then I wondered if I had accidentally ingested some drugs without knowing it.

But then I decided that it’s just my subconscious getting ready for Nanowrimo.

Anyway, we need the rain.  But it sure would be nice if the fields were dry enough to play on this Saturday morning.

Posted in: complaint , Weather

Date Night - Half-Birthday Edition

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

On Monday, the wife took me to Perrys in Adams Morgan to celebrate my half-birthday.  Yes, neither Perrys nor Adams Morgan has an apostrophe, according to the web site.

Half-birthdays are a wonderful tradition that my mom did for us.  We got a little present and maybe a cupcake.  We being my brother and sister and I.  Anyway, because the wife is so great, she has continued this tradition for me.  In addition to dinner, she got me a t-shirt from Design by Humans and some bamboo boxer shorts from Shirts of Bamboo.

Anyway, Perrys.  We ate on the open-air roof overlooking the top of 18th Street.  It was great.  The weather was perfect for it.  And the food was great.  We started with some edamame, which had too much salt on it, but was otherwise good, and a bottle of French grenache-syrah, which was also good.  It was a screw cap bottle, which I’ve almost never seen outside of New Zealand wine.  But the screw caps are getting more popular, and I’ve heard from at least two people who should know that even a lot of wine snobs are okay with the screw caps.

Then we had assorted sushi, which was quite good.  The spicy tuna roll was great, and the fatty tuna nigiri just falls apart in your mouth.

Overall, it was a great restaurant experience, and I would definitely recommend it.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , Restaurant Review

Meat and potatoes for dinner

Monday, October 22, 2007

Tomorrow, my seafood-and-vegetables-only-eating wife is going out to dinner with a friend.  I think I’m going to take this opportunity to cook some french fries and a large slab of red meat for myself.  Not that she opposes me eating red meat and I have to do it while she’s not home, but it seems silly to cook two dinners.

Anyway, I’m not sure how to prepare it.  I think we have some four-year-old steak seasoning in the cupboard.  But that’s not really exciting.  What’s an interesting and not too complicated way to prepare a steak?  My cooking skill level is a bit above average, I think.  I can follow a recipe, and I can do a little experimentation outside of a recipe, but I’m never going to be on tv for my cooking skills.

Posted in: Food

OMG it worked!

Monday, October 22, 2007

PicturesWe finally got some pictures hung.  It was a huge pain in the neck.  Have you ever used a hammer drill?  If not, don’t.  It taps as it spins the drill bit, and it makes the most awful noise.  It makes a nice hole in the cement, though, so that was good.  We picked up a roll of aluminum flashing, which they use for something or other.  Then we got a cheap piece of molding, painted it, and screwed them both into the wall.  I even made an attempt to countersink the screws, and it almost worked.

Anyway, it looks pretty hot.  And now that we know we can do it, we’ll go back and get some more wood and hang some more pictures.

By the way, the photo on the left was taken by the wife on the honeymoon in Melbourne, and the one on the right I took in photography class in college.

Posted in: photo

Gutsy first impressions

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Overall, I’m really happy with Gutsy.  I find myself spinning the desktop cube just because I can.  But I haven’t done much yet.  Today I think I’m going to create a separate partition for my /home directory, and I’m going to pull the pictures I took yesterday off my camera and see about uploading them to Flickr.

I have some small issues.  First, the gnash free flash plugin doesn’t really work for Firefox on a 64 bit system.  The proprietary flash plugin is fine.

My panel icons are displaying at the center of the panel, not all the way on the right like they’re supposed to.  I haven’t really searched for a solution to this yet.

Other than that, this is a pretty slick OS.  Wireless has been perfect - the only setup I did was selecting my network and providing my WPA password once.  The frequent disconnects I got on Feisty have not happened at all.

Gutsy supports my Nvidia video card much better than Feisty.  I just had to choose a different driver in a drop down menu and then reset the screen resolution.

Anyway, if you’ve been thinking about trying out Ubuntu, now is the time.

Posted in: Anti complaint , linux , Ubuntu

Liveblogging the Gutsy install

Friday, October 19, 2007

I have the alternate cd now. This is going to work. I can feel it. Even better, the wife is cooking some weird cake for dessert. I’m sure it will be delicious.

So, the keyboard layout detection wizard is kind of fun. I don’t have most of those keys, though. I feel a little left out.

It can’t configure the network. That’s probably not a big deal. I’ll do that later. Now we’re setting the computer name to “calvin”, as in “and Hobbes”. And now I’m formatting partitions. Since I don’t want any remnant of Windows Vista, and I’ve backed up all the files I need, I chose to reformat the entire drive. Some may not want to do that. But really, who wants to dual boot Vista and Ubuntu? On one hand, you have an OS that pretty much everyone has acknowledged is a giant mess. On the other hand, you have the first real alternative to Windows and Mac OS that is getting some real traction and publicity. So, goodbye, Vista.

I know my brothers-in-law, and some of my other readers are probably aghast at my dismissal of OSX. But Macs hate me, and Windows hates everyone, so I don’t feel bad.

The alternate installer is pretty easy to use. Sure, it looks like something from 1989. But that’s okay. Just so long as it works. It’s installing software now. That’s probably a good thing.

And the wife is beating something in the KitchenAid. Probably eggs. Actually, it’s butter and sugar. I know because I just checked. And the software installation is stuck on 6%. Hopefully that’s not a problem.

There it goes. It jumped up to 18%, and now 22%. Things are going swimmingly.

Ooh, now it’s installing the GRUB boot loader. “You’re a grub boot loader”, the wife would say.

Now I’m restarting. This is exciting.

Okay, I’m all booted up. Unfortunately, it’s at 800X600 resolution. Let’s see if we can fix that.

It looks like I’m missing the latest Nvidia driver. Clicking the little icon between the network icon and the volume icon doesn’t seem to get me anywhere. Wireless works, though.

So, let’s run some updates. sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade sudo apt-get dist-upgrade sudo reboot

Don’t know if this is working at all. Going without a guide is a little harder than following in someone else’s footsteps.

I just tried to change the video driver to “nv”, the open source Nvidia driver, in Administration->“Screens and Graphics”. I chose the driver, hit the “Test” button, and now have a blank screen. Sweet. “

alt-ctrl-delete

I feel like I’m running Windows.

I went to System->Administration->Restricted Drivers Manager and enabled the NVIDIA driver. Now it’s downloading. This reminds me that there is no way my dad or my sister, who have both expressed interest in Ubuntu, are going to be able to install this. I think they’d like it if someone else installed it, but this requires more comfort with a computer than either of them has. I hate to bash the install process, but it’s just not going to work for people who aren’t computer geeks.

It’s asking for a restart now, so I’m obliging. I’m hoping for some sweet graphics to be enabled now. That would rule.

Well, that didn’t really work. But you know what does? ”

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

Go through the wizard, reboot, and then go to System->Preferences->Screen Resolution, and you can choose 1280X800. I think I can actually get a better resolution out of the video card, but this will do for now.

So, things seem to be working. Wireless was painless. In fact, I’ve never had an easier time of connecting to a wireless network. This is groundbreaking.

Gutsy is definitely an improvement - this install took me much less time than Feisty did. I’ll have to update you all when I get a chance to play with things, but I’m currently pretty happy. I haven’t tested anything, like hibernate, or the sound, or any of the software. But I’m just going to assume that everything is awesome. I think the wife is feeling a little neglected, so I’m going to go wake her up and tell her that she’s more important than the computer. With any luck, she’ll believe me.

Posted in: linux , Ubuntu

Seriously, Ubuntu

Friday, October 19, 2007

I’m sort of live-blogging my Ubuntu install.  The following would probably be more interesting if it actually, you know, worked. 

So, we just finished some delicious Saag Aloo, and now I’m going to install Gutsy while the wife watches Law and Order: SVU.

I’ve got a black screen so far. That’s not good. BTW, I’m writing here on my old laptop while I install on the new one. Just FYI.

I just got a warning, telling me that Ubuntu is running in low graphics mode. That’s not cool. I chose 1440X900 from the “generic” monitor resolution list. Now it’s running local boot scripts. This doesn’t seem good. I was kind of hoping it would just boot up without my input. I’m staying postive, though.

I just ctrl-alt-deleted. It wasn’t doing anything.

I tried the default 800X600 resolution this time. Now it’s running local boot scripts again. I’m not optimistic.

This Live CD stuff just isn’t working. I’m downloading the alternate install cd now. I’ll be back in an hour or so.

Posted in: complaint , linux , Ubuntu

Gutsy or Bust

Friday, October 19, 2007

So, I’m going to install Ubuntu 7.10, Gutsy Gibbon. It’s going to be awesome. You may have already seen my guide to getting 7.04 onto a Lenovo Thinkpad T61. Well, this time I’m doing things a little differently. First, I’m going to try the Live CD install rather than the alternate install, because I just have faith that it’s going to work. Then, I’m completely blowing away Windows. Vista is stupid, and I haven’t missed it since I got the Thinkpad. Which is good, because I broke it installing 7.04.

Anyway, I’m going to install a second partition for my /home folder, which lots of people say you should do. And everything is going to be awesome. I just know it.

First of all, though, let me complain about downloading the stupid ISO. I tried it yesterday, release day. After two hours, I was at 2%. I killed it, and tried again later. No dice. I even tried wget from the command line, thinking that maybe without whatever overhead Firefox introduces to the process, it might be better. No dice. So I tried again today. My ever-helpful brother-in-law (I should probably write down the euphemisms I use for my various brothers-in-law so I can keep them straight, but whatever) suggested that I might have better luck with BitTorrent. That seemed like a good idea, since a huge number of users slows a download but speeds up a torrent.

No dice again. Why? Because Satan’s ISP (Comcast) has decided that P2P=BAD for all values of P2P. Never mind that what I’m doing is downloading totally free software and saving them bandwidth at the same time. I mean, I won’t get into illegal downloading and all that. But what I’m trying to do is TOTALLY LEGAL and encouraged by the creator of the intellectual property or whatever we call software these days. But Comcast can’t allow it, because some people use P2P for illegal things. Up yours, Comcast. If it wasn’t for your dirty monopoly on cable internet here, I would have cancelled your service today.

Anyway, my laptop is currently sitting two feet from the router, plugged in by wire, because my wireless is being finicky and I don’t have any long ethernet cables anymore. It’s maybe 1/3 done with the download.

If all goes well from here on out, I’ll have this working tonight. If all goes as expected, I’ll polish off this bottle of scotch trying to get it to work.

Posted in: complaint , linux , Ubuntu

Ill make you famous

Friday, October 19, 2007

Okay, probably not that famous. But I’m looking for some names for my Nanowrimo novel, and I’m terrible at thinking of good names. I used names from my Gmail spam folder last year, but last year’s novel was a little more fanciful than this one, which is going to be serious literature. Written in 30 days.  I mean it.

Anyway, I have a couple of characters already named. I still need names for:

  • A thinly veiled Barack Obama.
  • An equally thinly veiled Mitt Romney.
  • The hero. Actually, I think it will be a heroine, because I’ve always had trouble writing women (It’s hard to write what you don’t understand), and that seems like a good challenge. She’s the partner of a cop who dies early in the story. I’m not sure yet if she’s the partner in the cop sense, or partner in the romantic sense.
  • Random characters. These characters aren’t planned yet, but will undoubtedly pop up. That’s all for now.  If I use a name you suggest, you’ll get credit in whatever form this is published in, which could be Lulu, a real publishing house, or just the \Writing folder on my hard drive.  The\Writing folder is a really strong bet.

Since context may help, a little background on the story.  It will contain political intrigue and violence, but also a homeless guy named Shake and Bake.  Think Christopher Buckley meets John Woo, then they go smoke pot behind a dumpster.

Suggestions welcome in the comments.

Posted in: Writing

This is beautiful

Friday, October 19, 2007

Inhabitat » SOLAR DECATHLON 2007: Technische Universität Darmstadt

Combining the manufacturing expertise of Volkswagen with a stunningly modern design sensibility, the Technische Universität Darmstadt’s wowed the crowds this week at the 2007 Solar Decathlon with their gorgeously innovative Solar Decathlon home.

I’m not exactly sure why I haven’t gone down the the Solar Decathlon.  They’re announcing the winner today.  Maybe we can stop by on the way to flag football tomorrow.

Anyway, the house I linked above is beautiful.  It looks like a little beach house.  And it’s totally solar powered.  Imagine dozens of these set just off a nice clean beach, accessible by foot or bike, and maybe a hybrid bus, but no driveways or street parking.  Maybe there’s a few Sunfish pulled up on the sand, and a lost flip flop next to a path paved in crushed shells.

If that doesn’t make you nostalgic for your childhood, then I have to ask what the heck you did growing up.

Posted in: Wind kissing

Still no 7.10

Friday, October 19, 2007

I probably should have guessed that I wouldn’t be the only one downloading Ubuntu 7.10 the day it came out.  Maybe it will actually work tonight.

And next weekend, I’m going to put Ubuntu on my dad’s old Windows 98 box.  That should be interesting.  I’m thinking about trying Xubuntu, the lightweight version that requires almost nothing in terms of processor and RAM.  Wouldn’t it be nice if Microsoft and Apple had an OS that ran on 128 megs of RAM and 1.5 gigs of hard drive space?

I guess that would keep you from upgrading, though, wouldn’t it?

Posted in: linux , Ubuntu

Should have started earlier

Thursday, October 18, 2007

I started to download the ISO for Ubuntu 7.10 at around 4:45PM.  Then I ran three miles, fed the cat, and took a shower.  Here it is, two hours later, and I’ve downloaded 2%.  Nearly 23 hours remain, according to Firefox.

Oh, well.  I guess I’ll install tomorrow.

Posted in: complaint , Ubuntu

Id be installing this now if it wasnt for work

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Review: Ubuntu’s New ‘Gutsy Gibbon’ Brings Linux Out of the Jungle

If you’ve been considering making the switch from Windows or Mac, Ubuntu makes the process painless. It’s ability to seamlessly import your settings, music and data from a Windows partition erases one of the most pressing barriers for new users. And once you’re in, the learning curve is minimal. In fact, besides requiring a little futzing to get multimedia playback set up, Gutsy Gibbon is about as easy as Linux gets.

Ubuntu 7.10 is out today. As soon as I get home, I plan to upgrade. Well, a clean install, probably, because I haven’t been running 7.04 long enough to really need to keep stuff. Also I want to redo my partitions and clear out all remnants of Vista.

I hear the wireless is better in 7.10, which would be great, because I lose my connection every day when I get home in the evening.  It works great most of the time, but for some reason, it refuses to stay connected from 4pm to 6pm.  It’s very strange.

Anyway, if you haven’t tried Ubuntu, you should.  You can use the installation cd to run the operating system without installing anything.  It’s a little slow that way, but you can test it out without losing any of your files and whatnot.

Posted in: Ubuntu

Prius good, bottled water bad

Monday, October 15, 2007

I walked over to the grocery store to get a sandwich for lunch a little while ago, and because the person who designed the parking lots around here forgot that some people actually walk places, I had to maneuver my way through parked cars to get to the store.

I passed a Toyota Prius and thought, “Hey, look, an environmentally responsible mode of transportation!"  Seriously.  I thought that.

Then I noticed the cup holder.  Bottled water!  Bottled water is bad.  I forget the exact numbers, but I think it takes 300,000 gallons of water to make one 20-ounce bottled water.  It might be 400,000, or maybe a billion.

Anyway, the point is that bottled water should be your last resort, when you’re away from home and really thirsty and pass by a 7-11.  Otherwise, go buy a water filter and a thermos and carry it with you.

Really, you should try it.  You get to look at people drinking bottled water and be all smug.  It’s fun.  I mean, what’s the point of saving the world if you can’t be smug about it to the enviro-heathens?  But don’t be a jerk about it.  Smugness is best kept to yourself.

Posted in: Wind kissing

Paper-free reading

Monday, October 15, 2007

I was reading Charles Stross' review of the latest in Sony’s line of e-book readers.  He gives a brief disclaimer about Sony’s status as Evil, and then goes on to talk about the device.  As much as I want one, I absolutely refuse to buy a Sony product.  But then he mentions the upcoming Bookeen Cybook 3, which should be coming out this month.  It sounds cool, as long as the price isn’t astronomical (The other competitor he mentions is $700, which is absurd.  People wouldn’t even buy an e-book reader from Apple at that price).

I’d really like to have a nice e-book reader.  It would be great on the Metro.  I would even pay for a few e-books if the reading experience was good.  Unfortunately, no one I’m willing to do business with has brought anything reasonable to market.

This is especially appropriate today.  Paper should soon be obsolete.  There will be those who still cling to their real newspapers and real books (And at least with books, I’ll be among them).  But once we have an affordable electronic alternative to paper, we need to just stop printing words on paper completely.  Forget recycling paper, we need to just stop making it.  We will all be better off if paper stays in living tree form.

It will ease the transition if e-book readers can include a nice search, both within the text, and a Google search for context and word definitions.  Every time I read the paper on the Metro, I find myself annoyed that I can’t click a link for further detail, or look up a word for the meaning or the context.  And I can’t get through a book without wishing I could do a quick search for the last time a character was mentioned to refresh my memory on something or other.

Anyway, if this thing comes out this month at less than $300, I will buy it.  Barring some unforeseen deal-breaker like no Ubuntu compatibility or something like that, I’ll buy it.

Posted in: Wind kissing

One-Hundredd!

Monday, October 15, 2007

Most people won’t get the reference in the post title, but I don’t care.

“Blog Action Day” is the 100th category that I’ve used here at the Hub.  Not that the number of categories means anything at all, but I’ve been stuck on 99 for a while now.

Posted in: Uncategorized

Today is Blog Action Day

Monday, October 15, 2007

Blog Action Day

On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future.

So. The environment. It sure is important, huh?

You know, I don’t quite remember what it was that actually got me thinking about the environment. It’s the kind of thing that tends to start slow. At first maybe you just make a better effort to recycle, and maybe buy a few compact flourescent bulbs. But eventually, you start to actually change the way you think about things, and it stops being about incremental improvements in your lifestyle, and you actually fundamentally change the way you live your life.

You start to wonder if the food you’re eating is organic, or humanely raised and slaughtered. Maybe you don’t eat meat. You wonder if the cotton for your t-shirt was grown sustainably. You start using public transportation whenever possible, or maybe carpooling to work if you can’t take the train.

More importantly, you start spreading these changes to your friends, little by little. For example, the wife and I are at that age when everyone we know is having a baby. So we’ve been sending out a lot of sustainably grown bamboo baby clothes.

Anyway, what I’d like you to do, reader, is take a moment today and think about your impact on the environment, and what you can do to minimize it. You don’t have to sell your car immediately and start growing your own hemp for clothing, but once you get started, you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to make some small changes. And try searching Technorati for “Blog Action Day” and see what other blogs are saying today.

Posted in: Wind kissing

Longtime reader is fired

Friday, October 12, 2007

You may have seen comments from GayleForceWinds here before, or you may actually know her. I’m now announcing that she’s fired. From what, you may ask. From nothing. Just fired.

As you may also know, Gmail has a built in chat program that can be set to display the music you’re currently listening to.

About ten minutes ago, Gayle was listening to “Heaven is a Place on Earth” by Belinda Carlisle, and now that infernal song is stuck in my head.  I didn’t even hear it, and it’s in my head.

I can’t adequately explain how much I hated that song back in the late ‘80s. I didn’t hate it as much as Debbie Gibson’s “Shake Your Love”, but I hated it a little more than Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now”.

And I’m not really sure why.  Sure, they were perky pop stars who seemed way too happy all the time (Well, not so much Tiffany, which is probably why I didn’t hate her song as much), but why that would evoke such a reaction is beyond me.

Anyway, thanks a lot, GayleForceWinds.  I won’t forget this.

Posted in: complaint , Music

You probably wont get this

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

xkcd - Exploits of a Mom - By Randall Munroe

If you’re a computer geek, you may LOL at this database humor. If not, sorry. Just trust me that it’s really funny.

Posted in: nerd

You were not meant to live that way

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

As I do once every month or two, I drove out to our corporate office today. This involves 20 miles on 66 West through Fairfax. I go against traffic, which is nice.

For those of you going East, though, I can’t imagine it’s worth it. It was backed up from the Beltway all the way out past Fair Oaks, and I doubt that’s unusual. Keep in mind this was before 8AM, so we haven’t even quite hit peak rush hour.

How do people justify this sort of commute? I did it for about a year, but it was my first job out of college, and I didn’t really know any better.

This will be the downfall of our society. Someday we will all commute from the Moon, and it will take us a week, but we’ll justify it by saying that real estate on Earth is just too expensive. Why, out here on the Moon, you can get a fifteen square foot survival pod for only $36,000,000 (That’s $450,000 in today’s dollars, or about 13 British pounds.)!

It’s just bad for people to spend time in the car like that. It’s stressful. It’s bad for the environment. It takes you away from people and sticks you in your own climate-controlled little box where you can choose to be entertained by repetitive garbage pop songs, inane morning show drivel, or depressing public radio.

As an aside, the radio is just awful.  I turned on 94.7, as recommended by a friend.  I don’t want to give up on the station because of just one song, but Jack Johnson sure blows.  I don’t know what the song was, but it sounded like the Chili Peppers will sound when they’re in their 80’s.  Maybe I’ll try it again on the way home.

Every time I drive to work, I want to go home and set fire to the car.  And then set fire to everyone else’s car.  Oh, wait, that’s not really environmentally responsible.  Okay, I want to recycle all the cars into affordable modular housing so we can all live in car-free cities and walk everywhere and lose weight and clean up the air (Yes, I know that cars aren’t the bulk of the air pollution, but they sure don’t help).  It will be awesome.

Anyway, stop commuting.  Telework, or get a new job closer to home.  You really didn’t need that fourth bedroom that you keep made up nicely for the guests who don’t come visit because you live an hour from civilization.  You probably didn’t even need that third bedroom where you keep all the crap your mom made you take with you when you moved out.

Posted in: complaint , Wind kissing

Date night

Monday, October 08, 2007

Last night, we did the second of our new monthly date nights. We went to a restaurant that I run past fairly regularly, and for some reason it’s always seemed intriguing.

We went to Napoleon Bistro on Columbia Road (Warning: Their website is a horrific flash piece of crap). We were thinking about eating outside, but it was a little muggy. And, it turns out we made the right choice, as a group who went outside to eat just after we arrived came back in shortly after, complaining of bugs.

Anyway, inside the restaurant is nice. They have a rather large bar area, which suggests they get a bar crowd that wasn’t there on a Sunday evening.

The food was good. I had flank steak with a shallot demi glace, whatever that means, and french fries. The wife had a crepe filled with something green and a salad. Crepes, apparently, are their specialty. We split a nice cabernet that I’d never heard of.

Dessert was great, too.  We had the “Femme Fatale”, which was a crepe filled with caramelized bananas and topped with ice cream.  It tasted a little pumpkiny and delicious.

We would definitely go back. In fact, we might even go back later this week when we have a friend in town who would love the food there.

Back to the website, though. I find that, more often than not, a restaurant website is awful. They usually use a lot of Flash, which is rarely a good idea. When I go to a restaurant website, I’d just like to see a menu, maybe a phone number. I don’t need to experience the ambiance of the place through some crappy Flash interface. I’m also surprised at how often I Google a restaurant and they don’t seem to have a website at all. I know I spend more time online than most people do, but it seems that the benefits of even just an HTML version of the menu and phone number being online would outweigh all the maintenance and hosting costs.

Anyway, I would recommend Napoleon Bistro. Just not their website.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , Restaurant Review

This is ridiculous

Sunday, October 07, 2007

An Iron Chef commercial on USA just told me that “Iron Chef” is “America’s most coveted title”. Listing any of the countless titles that are much more coveted would be insulting to all of those titles.

Posted in: Stupid people

Stupid Cleveland

Friday, October 05, 2007

Oh, well.  Cleveland pounded that Yankees last night.  The Yankees will now win the next three games.

I think one could probably do well by asking me what team I want to win any game in any sport, and betting on the other one.

Disclaimer:  Don’t take any betting advice from me.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , sports

Heres your chance to root for the Yankees

Thursday, October 04, 2007

If you’re like me (That is, a rational human being not raised in New York), you hate the New York Yankees. You’re probably jealous of the cretins who actually root for them because they’ve averaged a World Series win every 4 years or so since 1900. It’s nice to root for a winner.

Anyway, tonight, you can safely root for the Yankees. Since 2000, which is as far as I’ve gone back, the Yankees are 0-3 in three game playoff series when they win the first game, and 4-0 when they lose.

In contrast, in all other three game playoff series, the team that wins game one is 16-5 in winning the series.

So, for you Phillies, Angels, and Cubs fans - you’ve got a tough road ahead of you.  But for you Indians fans, volunteer to pitch tonight to ensure a Yankees series loss.  The rest of the country will thank you for it.

Posted in: baseball , sports

Seriously, Im an addict

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

I just made my first visit of the year to the Nanowrimo forums.  The minute I read about people planning their novel and outlining a plot and creating characters, I just can’t help myself.

There are certainly worse things to be addicted to.  Crack.  Sex.  World of Warcraft.  I just have Nano.  And complaining.  Always complaining.

I need to start my planning.  When I plan more, my novels turn out better.  I think.  I have the first two or three chapters vaguely in my head, but I need a lot more than that.  And I need some names.  And that’s where you, dear readers, come in.  I know it’s hard to name people you know nothing about, so as I do more planning, I’ll try and bring you some character descriptions, and you can suggest names.  I hate naming characters, and I’m generally not all that happy with the names I end up with (Although Polly the Duck from Nano 2005 was nice).

So, stay tuned for your chance to name my characters.

Posted in: Writing

AbeBooks rules

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

I found AbeBooks a few months ago.  I don’t remember how, but I’m glad I did.  They’re a book search service for new and used books at small booksellers all over the country.  I just bought Charles Stross‘ latest, Halting State, for less than Amazon (Well, barely less, but still less), and I feel smug because I’m supporting some local bookstore in Georgia rather than a gigantic corporation like Amazon.

Used books are even better - I’ve bought a couple books for $1 + $3 shipping.  If it costs less than five dollars, it might as well be free.  Sort of.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to the book.

I’m currently reading Terrorist, by John Updike.  I read one of his early books, Rabbit, Run, written in 1960.  This one is from 2006.  So far I like it, although I’m only 80 pages in or so.  I wonder if I’m on some sort of watch list because I’m reading a book called “Terrorist” on the Metro right past the Pentagon.  I hope so.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Book Review

AT&T wants to censor your complaints

Monday, October 01, 2007

AT&T Legal Policy Via Boing Boing, Gizmodo, and others.

So, AT&T has decided that they can terminate your service if your conduct “ tends to damage the name or reputation of AT&T, or its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries.” I’m not exactly sure what “tends to damage” means, but it sounds ominous.

That being said, I do not use AT&T as a web host or ISP. If you have any grievances against AT&T, or its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries, feel free to contact me. I will happily provide a soapbox for you to stand on and voice your complaints.

You can do it here, or, if you have something particularly poignant, well-written, and not slanderous or libelous, I would probably be willing to allow a guest post to the main site. Email Jon at complaint hub dot com.  I will be your voice, because AT&T has no power over me, and I believe in every human being’s right to complain.

Posted in: complaint , Your complaints

I said I wasnt going to do this

Monday, October 01, 2007

But Nanowrimo sign-ups start tonight. For those who don’t know and are too lazy to click the link, Nano is National Novel Writing Month, which happens every November. It started in maybe 2001 with about 20 people in San Fransisco deciding to each write a 50,000 word novel (For reference, this is approximately the length of Brave New World, among others, but shorter than the average novel) in 30 days. Last year, something like 75,000 people all over the world did it.

If I do it this year, it will be my sixth attempt. I finished in 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2006. After last year, I had decided to quit because it wasn’t that much fun. But that may be because my 2006 story was stupid. This year I have a better idea, so I’m thinking it will be better. Also, I now have a portable laptop (As opposed to the giant brick I had before), so I can go to writing meetings at local coffee shops and whatnot, something I pledge to do every year and never do.

This also begins my yearly quixotic recruitment drive.  I’ve managed to get a few people over the years to commit to trying, but none have ever finished.  A friend did it last year, and she finished, but she was planning to do it before she knew I was a veteran, so I can only take credit for a few encouraging words here and there.

Anyway, you should do it.  It’s fun.  It’s a huge rush when you finish.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Writing

Not to pile on Microsoft . . .

Friday, September 28, 2007

Actually, yes, I am piling on Microsoft. Microsoft deserves it.

Work just upgraded Outlook web mail last night, and the new and improved version only works in IE 6 or “greater” (their words, not mine). What this means is that Microsoft decided (Again) not to play along with all the web standards to which everyone is supposed to adhere. Instead, they’ll introduce some proprietary garbage that only works properly with their own ideas of what people should be doing with their computers.

I imagine they get around monopolistic anti-trust violations by continuing to support the old version for other browsers, but exploiting legal loopholes is hardly what I would call being a responsible company.

Anyway, those of you who come to this site in Internet Explorer, you’ve probably noticed the site doesn’t render properly. Some of you may make the argument that it doesn’t really render properly in any browser, and I would tell you that I’ll redesign when I’m good and f'ing ready. But I won’t make sure it works in IE. If you read at work, and don’t have a choice in your browser, I apologize. But if you’re using IE by choice, then I have no sympathy. IE is not only an inferior way to view a web page, it is also actively making the internet worse.

And please don’t tell me to buy a Mac.  They’re just as bad as Microsoft (In some ways worse), they just have prettier cases and better marketing.

Posted in: complaint , Work

Visual Studio is killing me inside

Friday, September 28, 2007

In March, I moved from a web development project in Java to one in ASP.NET. It was a good opportunity to get some more experience and more responsibility, and I had been on the old project two years.

So here I am, programming in Microsoft Visual Studio 2005. And let me tell you, it’s a piece of crap. It continues in the long Microsoft tradition of assuming that users are stupid. Go search for solutions to problems in .NET. Almost every single tutorial relies heavily on the Visual Studio GUI.

A good analogy here, for those of you who aren’t coders: Remember back in school when you were learning math? You probably learned how to do long division on paper, and you probably hated it. If you’re like me, you no doubt complained about it. Later, you got to use a calculator, and then things were more or less okay.

Imagine, however, that you had never been taught long division. More than that, you were never even told that long division even existed. Instead, you were handed a calculator and told that division means hitting one number, then the division button, then another number. Not that doing that would tell you the answer, but that doing that was what division was. It wasn’t a shortcut, a convenience. It was division.

Sure, you’d have the answer. You’d be able to divide any number by any other number. But you wouldn’t understand division.

This is what Visual Studio does.  It assumes that, if you end up with a working web page, then the fact that you have no idea how you got there is not important.

Now, I don’t mean to say that Visual Studio doesn’t have a lot of nice features that save you time.  I use the code completion features all the time.  But seriously, Microsoft.  Stop treating me like an idiot.

Posted in: complaint , Work

Bum bum bum bum BUM BUM DC U-ni-ted!

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Short-handed United Holds Off Chivas’s Rush - washingtonpost.com

Despite playing a man down for the second half, United held off an unrelenting Chivas attack to emerge with a 2-1 advantage in front of a split crowd of 21,022.

Yeah, that last two in the crowd was the wife and me. One of her new coworkers has season tickets, and couldn’t make the game last night, and we were the lucky beneficiaries. Fantastic seats in the VIP section, just at midfield.

There’s a good atmosphere to DC United games. The fans are into it, they’re loud, and mostly pretty friendly. I did overhear a DC United fan make a rude comment to a Chivas fan while we were in line buying popcorn. The rude comment and the response were in Spanish, so I might have misunderstood, but one of the words that the Chivas supporter used in his response was definitely not friendly. It’s one of those words that doesn’t really have a direct translation into English, but I’ve always thought of it as the Spanish equivalent to a popular compound English curse word.

Anyway, the game was good - DC scored first, lost a man to a red card, then both sides scored second half goals. We should go to more games. It’s not expensive, compared to baseball or football.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , Things to do

Waiting for the blinds guy

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

No, not the blind guy. Someone from Next Day Blinds is coming out to measure the windows in the bedroom so we can replace the temporary blinds with real ones.

I have to say, while some may think that a DC resident going out to Virginia for window blinds is ridiculous, or even blasphemous, I have good reason.

First, I bought from Next Day Blinds in Bailey’s Crossroads when I was living in Falls Church and working less than a mile from the store. It was convenient then.

Second, and probably more importantly, Clinton, the manager at NDB Bailey’s Crossroads, is fantastic. He’s efficient and friendly. He sold us blinds without trying to talk us up to something more expensive or feed us a lot of marketing junk. When we were in on Saturday, they didn’t have an open slot to come measure this week, so he scheduled one for next week, but told us he’d call the install people Monday and see what he could do, and call us back.

Sure enough, on Monday he called and told us that he had a slot for us on Wednesday.

I’m not really hard to please when it comes to customer service. Don’t treat me like an idiot or an ATM, do what you say you’re going to do, and I should be fine.

Anyway, looking forward to getting our blinds installed next week. The temporary paper ones from Home Depot certainly do keep the construction workers next door from having a clear view into our bedroom, and even look pretty good for $10 folded paper. But they aren’t a permanent solution.

Edit:  Blinds guy came.  He was very pleasant, as well.  Took him all of five minutes.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Home Improvement

Im part of the Seibei Nation

Monday, September 24, 2007

Use coupon code COMPLAINTHUB for 10% OFF!

I’ll make a more permanent place for a link to them when I get home, but if you love kittens, then you’ll probably like the rest of their shirts.

Posted in: Anti complaint , tshirts

Wanna use your blog for good?

Friday, September 21, 2007

Blog Action Day

On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future.

I know, many people use their blog to further good causes every day while I complain about the awful horrors of living and parking in Washington, DC. But I think many people who do fight for these causes forget that most people not only aren’t fighting, they’re not even aware.

The wife has complained about Metro riders who don’t recycle the Express newspaper. This morning, there were two down escalators at Columbia Heights. I went down the one that the girl with the large suitcase didn’t choose. At the bottom of her escalator, I saw a copy of Express that someone had dropped. As I was heading to the bottom, planning to pick it up, a woman on that escalator picked it up. “Wow,” I thought. “I never see people pick up trash in the Metro station”.

And then she turned left to throw the paper in the trash, rather than right to recycle it. It got me thinking. I know that my first thought if I have paper trash is to recycle it. In fact, I’ve been reading Express this week because I haven’t been to the library. They’re doing elevator work at Pentagon City, and the recycle bins are blocked. So I’ve been putting the Express in my bag and recycling it at home, or at Columbia Heights in the evening.

But lots of people don’t even think to recycle. I’m sure this woman didn’t consciously choose not to recycle - the thought probably never crossed her mind.

That’s why it’s important to tell people about the little things you can do to help the environment. It’s no harder to recycle Express than it is to throw it away, so you can’t say it’s hard to recycle (At least in this instance). Compact fluorescent bulbs are cheaper in the long run. Cutting down on energy use at home will save you money. There are plenty of things that you can do that are easy, that don’t require huge lifestyle changes or lots of money, and that really do make a difference. But people have to know about these things.

Once you get people started thinking about how their actions can help the environment, the effect can snowball. If that woman thought about recycling Express, she might wonder why she doesn’t recycle more at home.

Anyway, join me and tons of others on October 15th for Blog Action Day.

Posted in: blogging , dc , Wind kissing

Be a part of local history might be a bit much

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Columbia Heights News - Washington, DC - Columbia Heights Day - October 6

The First Annual Columbia Heights Day Festival is scheduled for Saturday, October 6th from 11 AM to 6 PM.

But hey, at least we’re having a Columbia Heights Day.  Not much detail at CH News, or at the CH Day website.  But there’s supposed to be a meeting of local business owners tonight, so maybe after that they’ll have a better idea of what’s happening.  They’re not giving themselves a whole lot of time.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , Harvard Street

Why am I not mad?

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

I just can’t seem to get worked up over the DC voting rights push.  Sure, it bugs me that I don’t have a representative.  But when I see the “Taxation without Representation” license plates (which aren’t the choice I thought they were - they’re standard issue DC tags) and I read about the “injustice” that this is, my immediate reaction is, “Stop whining”.

It may be that I moved from Virginia into the District knowing full well that we had no representatives, so I feel a little silly complaining about it now.

I really do want to have someone speaking for me at the national level.  I think it’s the right thing to do.  And I’m even okay with this little deal with Utah to placate Republicans who see giving DC a vote as a Democratic ploy to gain a seat.

Maybe there’s some argument that would strike a nerve and get me worked up over this that I just haven’t heard yet.  Anyone know what that argument might be?

Posted in: complaint , dc , Politics

And with them goes the stench of failure

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

AOL Moving Executives, Headquarters To New York - washingtonpost.com

The company said that while senior executives would depart for Manhattan, most of the 4,000 employees at the Dulles campus would remain. The shift is the latest step in the company’s transformation from a provider of dial-up Internet access to one focused on online advertising.

While I’m disappointed that the Dulles area may lose a bunch of jobs, I can’t say that I’m sorry to see AOL start to pull out of our area.  I say, “good riddance, you miserable failures”.  This is a company that for a while was synonymous with “the internet”.  Your average American didn’t “go online”, they “went on AOL”.  Never mind that the day AOL merged with Time Warner is generally considered the day the internet boom died.  These guys were so entrenched as number 1 that it’s amazing how clueless they turned out to be.

I would warn Google and the other companies that AOL’s entrance into the online advertising world probably means that the business is going to be changing significantly very soon, but I’m pretty sure they already know.  And don’t think I mean that AOL will drive the change.  I mean that AOL throwing their hat in the ring probably means it’s time to move to the bigger and better ring you’ve been building down the street.

Anyway, I don’t want to lose area jobs.  But I would like to see the Dulles area get a flagship company that doesn’t symbolize everything that’s wrong with the internet.

Posted in: Anti complaint , complaint , Technology

Go high or go home

Monday, September 17, 2007

We were at Science Club on 19th Street Saturday night.  I’ll try not to pass judgment on the crowd, because I was kind of tired and not really up for a crowded bar.  I went because some good friends were going and we didn’t want to call it a night.  I had a good time, but it was definitely the company, not the bar.

Anyway, if you’re going to go with a themed bar, you have to GO with the theme.  This place threw a few things up on the wall and left it at that.  We were down in the basement, and they have a periodic table on the wall, a picture of Einstein, and a microscope on a shelf.

How hard would it have been to look up geeky science stuff on Wikipedia?  Or give some GW student a free happy hour in exchange for covering the walls with differential equations?  Shame on you, Science Club.   You  get bonus points for having organic beer on tap, though.

Posted in: Beer , complaint , dc

F*** you, recording industry

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Q & A with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails | Herald Sun Via Boing Boing

And I just said “That’s the most insulting thing I’ve heard. I’ve garnered a core audience that you feel it’s OK to rip off? F— you'. That’s also why you don’t see any label people here, ‘cos I said 'F— you people. Stay out of my f—ing show. If you wanna come, pay the ticket like anyone else. F— you guys”. They’re thieves. I don’t blame people for stealing music if this is the kind of s— that they pull off.

Great interview with Trent Reznor, who has the fanbase and the morals to tell the record companies that he’d really just like to make his music available to his fans at a reasonable price. If I hadn’t already bought his latest cd, I’d go buy it right now.

Perhaps the coolest part is that he’s planning to ditch conventional recording as soon as his contract is up. The more people who follow him, the fewer people who are going to get turned into criminals for trying to use an iPod on a Linux box, or maybe copy a cd they’ve purchased for their own personal use.

I still remember the first time I saw the video for “Head Like a Hole” on MTV.  I’ve bought every full release he’s put out since then, and most of the remix albums and whatnot.  I’ll pre-order the next one whether or not I’ve heard anything off it.

Anyway, I’m really glad he’s trying to balance making money with trying to get his music to his fans.

As an aside, you may notice that I’ve linked to another post from Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing.  Despite my post the other day, he does write some interesting stuff, and he’s generally on the right side of things.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Music

Pepco still sucks, but Im not quite so mad

Friday, September 14, 2007

Pepco came out and read the meter after all.  I just got off the phone with the first Pepco CSR who didn’t make me want to break things.  He said the meter was read yesterday, and we’ve used 4344 kilowatt hours since we moved in.  Our latest bill was for 7942 kilowatt hours, or 183% of our actual electricity usage.  Based on what they charged us on our latest bill, I think that’s about $450 that we’ve paid them that we don’t owe them.

Actually, I haven’t technically paid the latest bill.  I scheduled it, but it hasn’t gone through yet.  But apparently they can’t cancel the payment once I have a confirmation number, which is crap, but whatever.  We aren’t going to pay another bill for a few months.

I’m not sure why I had to be home yesterday.  They read the meter after I left for work, despite their claims that someone had to be at the house.

Posted in: complaint , dc , Harvard Street

Miro needs your help to not suck

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Miro needs your donations to build the future of Internet video - Boing Boing

Miro needs your donations – the project is trying to raise $50,000 to pay programmers and designers to make its player even better

I’m all about a nice, free video player that tries to get us to the next step in how we consume television and movies and whatnot.  I hate that I have to pay for hundreds of stupid channels just so I can get “The Office” and Redskins games in HD.  It’s terrible.  Why should I subsidize some niche channels that no one would pay for on their own?

But the Miro player is a piece of crap.  I’ve tried it twice, and it broke a Windows XP laptop and an Ubuntu 6.04 desktop.

And Cory Doctorow begging for money for the project is just a little bit hypocritical.  He seems to think that everything on the internet should be free, except the stuff he cares about, which should be fully financed by anyone with some spare cash.  If this project really needs $50,000 to be viable, then maybe it’s not such a friggin' good idea, Mr. “_I am a board member for the Participatory Culture Foundation, the 501©3 charitable nonprofit that oversees production of Miro_”.

I really do hope the Miro project succeeds and gives us another model for distributing quality video content.  But I’m not giving them money when they beg.  Provide me with a service that I want, that works the way it should, and I’ll pay for it.  But try to get me to donate money to a bloated piece of software that I’m not entirely sure fulfills the needs of anyone, and I’m just not interested.

Posted in: complaint , TV

I wish I could fire Pepco

Thursday, September 13, 2007

I just got off the phone with Pepco customer service.  They told me they don’t guarantee they’ll actually arrive in the four hour window.  They have lots of meters to read, and sometimes they don’t arrive on time.  I finally hung up on the CSR I was talking to because I was so furious.  I have no idea what I can do.  I can’t take my business elsewhere.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Posted in: complaint , dc , Harvard Street

The Nikon D300 is coming

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Nikon D300 Hands-On Preview: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review

51-point autofocus? Are they kidding me? My D100 has 5. This thing even has the live preview that digital point-and-shoots have had all along, but DSLRs haven’t because of that pesky mirror thing. And 8 frames per second when you use the battery pack or A/C adapter.

Now, I have absolutely no need for a new camera. But this thing is pretty hot.

We knew Nikon couldn’t wait too long before implementing some kind of automatic sensor cleaning system, and so the D300 becomes the first Nikon with such a feature. It works in the same manner as other implementations, piezoelectric elements vibrate a cover filter which should in theory remove any light dust particles attached to it.

That may be the best part about it. My one and only complaint about the D100 is the difficulty in getting dust off the chip. I think it’s a manufacturing problem they had with the D100s that allows dust on there in the first place, but I’ve had mine cleaned a few times, and I keep getting dust.

Anyway, I want one. The wife wants to steal the D100, so maybe we can come to some sort of agreement…

Posted in: Anti complaint , photo

Waiting for Pepco

Thursday, September 13, 2007

I’m working from home this morning, waiting for Pepco to come and read our meter.  I’m not sure why I have to be here, since the meter is outside, but I do.  They promise to be here between 8am and noon.

Why am I waiting for Pepco, you might ask?  Isn’t it their job to read my meter and charge me for electricity used?

Well, sort of.  You see, apparently Pepco can estimate my meter readings.  Based on what I don’t know, because this condo has only existed as a condo since some time last year, and has only been inhabited since February.  I suppose they’re basing the estimates on similar places in the area.

Or maybe they’re pulling numbers out of the air.  As of last week, when we got our latest bill, it looked to me like we’d used about 4200 kilowatt hours since moving in.  Our bill claims we’ve used 7900.  That means they’ve overcharged us by something in the neighborhood of $300.

I’m sure they’ll adjust the bill once they read the meter, and we won’t pay anything for a few months, but it’s absolutely infuriating that I have to make a special request and work from home for half a day (Okay, I’m not really complaining about that) just to get Pepco to charge us for the power we actually used.

Is it possible to have competition in power companies?  I know that, at least to some extent, it’s probably not possible to share the infrastructure necessary to deliver power to my house.  It might not be possible at all.  I guess we’re just going to have to put windmills and solar panels on the roof and go off the grid.

Posted in: complaint , dc , Harvard Street

Justifiable homicide

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

You know that sound they play in every Western ever made, when the bad guy is staring down the good guy?  I can’t describe the noise, but you know what I’m talking about.

Anyway, some clown down the hall from me at work has that as his cell phone ringtone.

I’m not going to do it, but let’s just say, hypothetically, that the phone rang for a third time in the last half hour, and I hypothetically removed one or both of his arms and beat him with it/them.  Hypothetically.

Do you think I would do any jail time?

Posted in: complaint , Work

Define knee-jerk

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Browns trade Frye to Seahawks

Savage insisted that dealing Frye and shuffling the quarterback deck was not a knee-jerk reaction.“We really haven’t changed our plans. We’ve adjusted,” he said. “We had two tracks. One track had Charlie and Derek over here, and one track had Brady over here. We’ve still got one quarterback on that track.

"We’ve got a guy (Anderson) who has started some games, whose got a big arm and who has shown some potential. We’ve got a future franchise quarterback (Quinn). We’ve got the veteran mentor (Dorsey) and we’ve got a sixth-round pick for another guy. I think we’ve maximized what we had on board here at that position.”

He went on to say, “Trading him at halftime, now that would have been knee-jerk”.

Okay, I understand that the Browns have quarterback problems.  That should come as news to no one.  But in what universe is announcing a starter, letting him play for less than two quarters, and then trading him, NOT knee-jerk?  The article mentions that this is the first time since the league merger in 1970 (And probably before that, but it doesn’t actually say) that a quarterback has started week 1 and been traded before week 2.

I would fire the guy who named Frye the starter.  If he was so wrong about Frye as the starter, maybe football is not his game.  Romeo Crennel, have you updated your resume?

Posted in: sports

Dear Lightning Car Company - please export.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Welcome to Lightning Car Company - The UK’s Premier Electric Sports Car via Inhabitat

A fully electric right-hand drive convertible that does 0-60 in four seconds? I’m drooling right now.

So they’re asking for a deposit that comes out to over $100,000 based on the horrific weakness of the dollar against the pound. It looks like an old Jaguar, from back when they knew how to make a pretty car.

They do plan to send them over to the US.  Can someone loan me some cash?

Posted in: Anti complaint , Wind kissing

My Discover card sucks

Monday, September 10, 2007

Here’s another thing to add to the list of reasons I won’t get another Discover card.  At least, not until I exhaust all the credit card companies and have to start over.  My problems with Chase are well-documented here, and I’m not too fond of Citicards these days, either.

Anyway, Discover.  It’s not enough that they charge sellers such a high percentage, causing many places to not accept them.  But recently, they changed my card number.  They did it under the auspices of rolling out a new card, but what they’ve really done is change the card design, and probably renegotiated my terms of service. 

It’s not a huge deal - I just have to tell a few places that I have a new card number for my monthly debits and whatnot. But what really bugs me is that they’ve revoked my access to my old billing statements.  They’re treating this as a new card, and they’ve transferred the balance I had on my old card last month onto the new card.  And I don’t mean a revolving balance - I don’t ever revolve a balance anymore.  I mean just last month’s charges.  Now I have a bill that just says, you owe $X.  It doesn’t give me a breakdown of the charges.  I’ve requested a paper bill, but I really shouldn’t have to.  What if I want to go back and check a charge from two months ago?  I have to call and get another paper bill shipped.  I stopped getting paper bills a while ago because they’re dumb.  I have enough paper in my life already.

Anyway, this is very annoying. As soon as I spend my accumulated miles, this card is getting canceled.

Edit to add - Comments have been disabled. Perhaps instead of complaining about your Discover card on a three year old blog post, you all should work towards getting yourselves out of debt.

Edit again to add - Comments are back on because I’ve moved blogging platforms and don’t currently have a way to disable them. If it becomes a problem, I’ll make a way to turn them off.

Posted in: complaint , Customer Service

Coppis on U Street

Friday, September 07, 2007

The wife and I had a little date night last night, having dinner at Coppi’s on U Street and then drinks at Saint Ex on 14th.

Coppi’s was courtesy of my occasionally blogging brother-in-law (As opposed to the others who don’t blog at all) and his girlfriend, who stayed with us a little while back, and were overly generous in expressing their gratitude.

In any event, Coppi’s was great. I beat the wife there by a bit, which meant I sat at the bar, chatted with a woman who was probably the manager, and drank an organic beer.

Then the wife arrived. We each had a salad and an entree, all delicious, and then shared a dessert. My salad was the Bietole al Forno, which was very good. For dinner I had a really nice lasagne. It was a bit more cream sauce than red sauce, which would not have been my first choice, but was very good anyway.

And then we shared the dessert. It’s not on their online menu, but it was recommended by the waiter. It was peaches with a wine and brown sugar sauce topped with ice cream, and it was quite good.

As for the restaurant itself, it was a great experience. The service was excellent, the place crowded but not uncomfortably so, and the music was eclectic and interesting.  I would highly recommend them for dinner.  Reservations are probably a good idea.

I’ve been to Saint Ex before.  It’s one of the wife’s favorite bars.  And it was, again, a nice place to hang out.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , Restaurant Review

Columbia Heights associations meeting

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Last night, the wife and I went to the joint meeting of three Columbia Heights community associations. Muriel Bowser (councilmember from Ward 4) and numerous high-ranking members of the police force were there.

The biggest topic of conversation was a letter that went out to many residents that, among other things, called the park at 14th and Girard NW a “hellhole”.

As you can imagine, many people who spend time in that park took offense. Much of this anger, I think, is because they feel this is an attack by the rich white people moving into the neighborhood on the poor black people who have lived there for years. And they probably have a point.

As one of the white people who has recently moved into the neighborhood, I try to be sensitive to this kind of thing. I don’t want to remake Columbia Heights in the image of Fairfax County. I don’t want to drive out the long-time residents. I LIKE Columbia Heights. Sure, there’s some crime, and I want to help get rid of it.

I think there is a communication problem. For example, I frequent the Columbia Heights Community Forum.  There are people there who want to close the park.  They think the shootings recently on the 1400 block of Girard originated at the park, and I think they are totally wrong.  But I didn’t see them at the meeting.  They communicate online.  And frankly, that’s my preferred way of communicating.  But it has to go beyond that.  The people at the meeting last night don’t read the forum.  I think many people on the forum would think differently about the park if they listened to the people who spend time there.  I was also disappointed that there was no representative from the Latino community at the meeting.  Columbia Heights has a large Spanish-speaking population, and I didn’t see it represented.  I don’t know whether this is from the meeting organizers not reaching out, or the Spanish-speakers not responding, but it needs to change either way.

I wish I knew what to do about it.  I want to stay in Columbia Heights.  I want to raise children here, and I want to be able to send them to public schools and know that they’re safe, and that they’re getting a good education.

But I don’t really know what to do.  I think we’ll keep going to the meetings.  The police attendance at this one was not the usual, and this meeting felt rushed, so maybe normal meetings are different.

NB:  I changed the name of the post from “Columbia Heights associations' meeting” to “Columbia Heights associations meeting”, because the second version is correct.  HOWEVER - I wasn’t as dumb as you think the first time.  I really did mean to use the plural posessive.  However, I don’t think the plural posessive is appropriate here.  Arguments welcome in the comments. 

Posted in: crime , dc , Politics

Is traffic that bad right now?

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

I keep seeing articles about how this week is supposed to be really bad for traffic because everyone is back to work after various summer vacations.  Yesterday (Tuesday) was supposed to be the worst.

But I’m not seeing it.  In fact, today was one of the least crowded days on the Metro that I’ve seen in a while.  I actually had a seat to myself from Mount Vernon Square all the way to Pentagon City on the Yellow line, which almost never happens.

I don’t know if car traffic is worse - I haven’t driven anywhere since Sunday, and I don’t think that counts.  For those of you poor saps who drive to work in the DC Metro area - has it been bad this week?

Posted in: dc , Harvard Street

Cats are not very bright

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Based on advice from my friend, the cat whisperer, my cat doesn’t get any food in her dish between the time I go to work and 6pm.  I started doing this months ago when it was either adjust the cat’s behavior or mail her to Abu Dhabi.

It’s now just after 5:30, so she’s getting food very shortly.  Do you know what she’s doing now?

She’s licking the crumbs out of the bottom of the bowl.  I’ve never seen her do that before.  Maybe it’s because the construction next door started back up after the long weekend.

In any event, I’m not exactly sure what her problem is, but I guess I should feed her soon.

Posted in: Pets

A magazine about Ubuntu

Friday, August 31, 2007

Full Circle Magazine » Issue 4

Full Circle - the Ubuntu Community Magazine are proud to announce our fourth issue.

I know, I’m going to get more user submitted complaints about rambling on about Ubuntu, but I’m more and more excited about Linux as a real alternative to Windows.  I’ve been thinking about trying to install it on my parents' computers because I can log in remotely and fix things for them.

I mean, my dad is running Windows 98 on his desktop.  As a computer dork, this is roughly the same as a dentist allowing his father to lose all his teeth due to cavities.

Anyway, Full Circle Magazine is accessible for the non-geek, although some of it will seem like a foreign language.  But I mention it more as a symbol of things to come - there was an article in the previous issue (That I actually haven’t read, but the new issue mentions it) about someone installing Ubuntu on his grandmother’s computer, and how happy she’s been with it.  When people who didn’t use a computer until well into adulthood start using and being happy with Linux, it’s good for everyone.

Imagine you could go buy a computer, and they’d ask you, “Which operating system would you like?”, and you could choose whatever you wanted.  There would be real choice, and real competition.  Right now, for the vast majority of people, you either buy a Mac or you run Windows.  But Ubuntu isn’t far off.  And if Ubuntu succeeds at bringing Linux to the masses (And their deal with Dell is a huge step forward), then other distributions will follow.

Anyway, it’s exciting.  At least, I’m excited.

Posted in: Anti complaint , linux , nerd

N Exactly IMBY

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Welcome to MissionDCFacts.Com - A Fact-Blog based on FACTS!

Central Union Men’s Shelter is seeking to move from the current location they own and maintain at 14th and R Streets, NW. The current location houses an approximately 30,000 square foot men’s shelter containing 84 beds. The Mission is seeking the new facility on Georgia Avenue to be built at a whopping size 70,000-80,000 square feet and 200-250 beds - more than doubling their current size.

I’ve been meaning to look up this website ever since I ran past a few signs on 11th Street advertising it. It seems that, because 14th and R is such a sought-after location, they want to build condos there. And since Georgia Ave is still a little rough, they’ll put a giant homeless shelter there.

I have no idea how I feel about this. It does feel a little like the rich developer taking advantage of the poor residents of less gentrified area. On the other hand, the guy is probably just making a good business decision - take the prime real estate for condos, and move the homeless shelter to a cheaper neighborhood.

But it’s not exactly my neighborhood. The proposed site is not somewhere I pass by very often, if at all, even if it isn’t all that far from my house.

I think it’s kind of funny how the website I linked goes to great lengths to describe the fancy development in Alexandria where the head of the Mission lives.  Although I do agree - I’m always somewhat annoyed when someone who lives in expensive Virginia suburbs tries to make rules for DC.

Anyway, I’m not sure where I stand on this.  But I finally remembered to look at the website, so I thought I should mention it.

Posted in: dc , Real Estate

I win again!

Thursday, August 30, 2007

That’s two more parking tickets adjudicated. I guess that means forgiven. I leave looking that up as an exercise for you, the reader. DDOT got back to me, and said that the Zone 1 parking restrictions were not supposed to be enforced until August 27th, so both of my tickets will be forgiven. So, if you live on the 1400 block of Harvard Street, NW, and you received a ticket for failure to display a Residential Parking Permit for Zone 1 before August 27th, 2007, you still have time to contest it. Contact the DMV, or contact Councilmember Graham’s office if that doesn’t work. Just don’t pay that ticket.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , dmv , Harvard Street , harvardstreet , parking

Response from DDOT

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Jonathon  - Michael Miller of my staff delivered letters to the residents of the 1400 block of Harvard Street, N.W. at the end of July, informing them that the beginning of the enforcement date for the new RPP block would begin on August 13, 2007. Residents of new RPP blocks have always been informed by letter, since the beginning of the RRP program in 1976, that their block has been approved for the installation of RPP Zone signs. DPW parking enforcement was always informed not to enforce the new regulations until the enforcement date on the letter, even though the signs are usually installed before the enforcement date. This policy has worked for the most part, over the past 30 years, except for occasional slip ups by either parking specialists, parking enforcement or sign installers from the shop.

In the case of the 1400 block of Harvard Street, N.W., I received e-mail complaints that enforcement of the RPP restrictions on this block had begun before the enforcement date of August 13, 2007. The citizen’s complaint on the e-mail message was that he was going to purchase his RPP permit the next day. I figured other residents of this block would need additional time to buy their permits, so I asked DPW enforcement on August 9, 2007 to suspend enforcement of the RPP restrictions on this block until August 27, 2007.

George Carr- See message below. [Me] received a ticket on August 15th and on Aug 16, 2007 for violation of the RPP restrictions in the 1400 block of Harvard Street, N.W. Since parking enforcement was supposed to be suspended on this block until August 27, 2007, would you please work with [Me], resident of [1400 block of] Harvard Street, N.W. PHONE # (202)555-1234. to adjudicate his two parking tickets. Thank you George, I have always been able to count on you in the past.

[Charles Whalen, DDOT]

Posted in: Uncategorized

Ubuntu is working like a charm

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Everything is working.  My screen resolution is a lovely 1280X800, everything works, and I’m pretty friggin' happy.  Vista is still broken, but I haven’t tried to fix it.

As promised, I have written up my HowTo.  Here I explain how I got Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) running on a Lenovo Thinkpad T61.  It wasn’t easy, but hopefully I can help make it a little easier for everyone else.

So, click here to find out how I installed Ubuntu.

Posted in: linux , Ubuntu

Howto - Install Ubuntu Feisty on a Lenovo Thinkpad T61

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

So, you have a new Thinkpad. I have a T61 with the Nvidia 140M graphics card. Ubuntu Fiesty doesn’t seem to like that card, and it’s been a pain in the neck to get it working. But it’s working now, and here’s how I did it. Before we go any further: This tutorial is just what worked for me. I make no promises, guarantees, or anything else. This may turn your brand new computer into a really pricey paperweight. Use of this tutorial is ENTIRELY at your own risk. I am willing to give advice if you get stuck, but I’m a Linux noob. The Ubuntu forums are likely to be more helpful. Anyway, I make no promises, I just want to share what worked for me. First, the regular installer doesn’t work because you don’t get any sort of GUI. So, go to the Ubuntu downloads and get Ubuntu 7.04 Desktop edition. You want the version for 64 Bit AMD and Intel computers. Below the green download button, you want to check the box where it says, “Check here if you need the alternate desktop CD. This CD does not include the Live CD, instead it uses a text-based installer.” Then click download. You know how Windows probably asks you to open it with whatever your cd burning software is before you even download the file? Well, don’t do that. I tried, and it didn’t work. If you are not familiar with MD5 checksums and burning ISO images, check this tutorial. It should tell you all you need to know. Once you have your cd, put it in your cd drive and install using the text-based installer. The only issue I had with the installer was partitioning the drive. I have a 120GB drive. I read somewhere that Vista requires 30GB (As an aside, good grief, Microsoft, no wonder old Windows machines run really slowly. Do all your operating systems have such ridiculous requirements?), so I set my partition to 90GB. Well, Vista took that to mean something really, really bad happened, and now wants me to recover Windows. It refuses to boot. Some may see this as a blessing, and I’m not going to argue, but I had hoped to keep a working Vista install for those rare cases when it’s just more convenient to use Windows. Anyway, getting Vista to work is a project for another day. That’s why this tutorial is provided with no guarantees. Once you have Ubuntu installed, you have to boot into the recovery (that is, text-only) mode. Log in using the user you created during installation. Then the real fun begins. Install development tools sudo apt-get install build-essential Setup ethernet connection sudo vi /etc/network/interfaces Add the following to the file: auto eth0 iface eth0 inet dhcp Save the file and close. If you don’t know how to use VI, Google is your friend. Restart networking sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart Test to see if it works ping www.google.com Stop pinging. Someone can probably tell me how to ping like Windows, where it tried a few times and then stops, but I didn’t bother to look it up. ctrl-c If you get this error - sudo: timestamp too far in the future: Try rebooting with Ctrl-Alt-Delete Remove old Nvidia file sudo rm /etc/init.d/nvidia-kernel Disable the installed Nvidia driver sudo vi /etc/default/linux-restricted-modules-common Add this line DISABLED_MODULES="nv nvidia_new" Save and exit. install nvidia drivers sudo apt-get install nvidia-glx sudo nvidia-xconfig --add-argb-glx-visuals --composite Restart sudo reboot Update Ubuntu (This might have been a good idea earlier in the game. But this is where I did it.) sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade sudo apt-get dist-upgrade Restart sudo reboot Get the new Nvidia driver installer Create a temp directory in your home folder cd sudo mkdir nvidia_temp cd nvidia_temp Download the driver installer Make sure to check this url - it’s current as of 8/28/07 sudo wget http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/100.14.11/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-100.14.11-pkg2.run sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-100.14.11-pkg2.run It will ask you about runlevels. Ubuntu apparently doesn’t do runlevels. Continue with the installation. Mine had errors, which I ignored. Reboot, this time start up in regular mode. You should have a functional graphics card. Unfortunately, it’s only partially functional. Mine only supported 1024X768, which is totally unacceptable. Reconfigure X From the menu at the top of the screen, select “Applications”, then “Accessories”, then “Terminal” to open a terminal window. At the prompt: sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg This will open a little wizard. You can leave all the defaults for the most part. However, it is important to select “nvidia” instead of “nv” from the big list of drivers. Select “1280X800” from the list of resolutions. When it asks to specify “simple”, “medium”, or “advanced”, just pick simple and choose “Up to 14 inches”. That is, assuming you have the 14" screen like I do. Now, you can click the red icon at the top right of the screen, reboot, and your screen resolution should be set to 1280X800. Update: I finally got around to checking the sound, and it turned out I had none. However, if you go to this Ubuntu forum thread and follow the instructions from forum user fmhoyt, sound should work fine. From here, you’re on your own. The Ubuntu Forums are great. Lifehacker loves to talk about Ubuntu. Del.icio.us is also a really good resource for cool stuff to do with Ubuntu. There are lots of cool apps and tricks and whatnot. So, have fun. Resources:

Posted in: Ubuntu , Uncategorized

All you need to know about DC parking tickets

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

To the person who found me by searching for “can you get a parking ticket in dc for having va tag where there are no sign”:

Yes.  If it involves a non-moving car, you can get a ticket for it in DC.

If you remember that rule, you may save yourself a few parking tickets.  I won’t say that you will save yourself from getting any parking tickets, because that’s impossible.  But you can perhaps minimize them by assuming that you will always be ticketed.  You will usually be right.

Anyway, I suggest you contest any ticket you might receive.  It makes you feel better, and you can do it by mail, so it hardly costs anything.

Posted in: complaint , dc , Harvard Street , harvardstreet , parking

And then there was one

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

I have one functional OS. At least, mostly functional. I’m running Ubuntu now. Still no Windows, but I haven’t tried to fix it.

My graphics card is not 100% (I don’t have resolution higher than 1024, which kind of sucks). And the Gnome settings manager, which I haven’t tried to fix. But wireless worked right out of the box, and here I am, posting away on the new machine.

It’s pretty exciting. Still a little way to go, but my confidence is renewed.

Posted in: Anti complaint , linux , Ubuntu

Fully functional operating sysmtems - zero

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

My brand new laptop is currently non-functional.  Vista boots up into the recovery manager, which I suspect wants to “fix” my Ubuntu install.  I didn’t mess with it for very long, but it didn’t want to start up Windows.

Ubuntu will come up in text-only mode, but not in normal mode.  I suspect that I need a driver or something for my video card - I think others have had this problem with Ubuntu and a Thinkpad.  So I’ll try that today after work.

I think I’m going to try and write up a HowTo for installing Ubuntu on the Thinkpad.  There are a bunch out there, but my mommy says I’m good at explaining technical things to non-technical people.  I think there could be a bunch of people who are like me - fed up with Windows treating me like an idiot, technically savvy but not an expert, and willing to do a little extra work to get a computer that makes us happy.

Posted in: linux , Ubuntu

First impression of Vista, heading for Ubuntu

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Ugh. It’s pretty unappealing visually. It’s like they took all the things that were good about any other operating system, ever, and threw them away. To be fair, I was expecting to hate Vista, and I suspect it is not possible that I could have liked it at this point. But still.

So, I’m downloading the Ubuntu Feisty alternate install disk image. That was my plan all along when I got the new computer, a Thinkpad T61. It’s almost done, so I’m going to go burn it and try the install. Should be loads of fun.

Update:  I’m on the old computer now, as Ubuntu is “Installing the base system”.  Not sure how long this is going to take.  I should probably get to bed soon.  The wife isn’t feeling well, and she’s already in bed.  We rarely go to bed separately, and on her way to bed, she said something to the effect of, “Don’t stay up too late playing with Ubuntu”.  She’s probably asleep now, so she won’t know how late I stay up.  But she’ll probably read this tomorrow, so, whatever.

It’s selecting and installing software now.

FYI - trying to install Ubuntu on a Thinkpad T61 requires the alternate, text-based install.  For whatever reason, the gui-based install just doesn’t work at all.

Posted in: complaint , linux , Ubuntu

Bailouts are bad

Monday, August 27, 2007

Beware Bailouts: Financial Page: The New Yorker

Nine years later, it’s been another terrible August on Wall Street. The meltdown of the market in subprime loans, which over the past six months has led to the shuttering of many home lenders and mortgage brokers, has spilled over into the broader credit market.

The wife linked to this article in the comments of my earlier post, and I thought it was a good article.  In fact, it’s the article I would have written if it weren’t much easier to just type up an uninformed rant because you don’t really know all the details.

The Fed’s decision to flood the system with cheap money will create a textbook case of what’s usually called moral hazard: insulating fund managers from the consequences of their errors will encourage similarly risky bets in the future.

All of these mortgage lenders SHOULD be going under.  They took on too much risk, and it came back to bite them.  That’s how risk works.  If you balance it, you make money.  If you take on too much, you go broke.

The article goes on to talk about how the subprime mortgage implosion may or may not hurt the broader economy.  I would be more inclined to see government intervention to mitigate the adverse effects on the broader economy - we are innocent, and having the government help out because someone else screwed up the economy is much more palatable to economic conservatives such as myself.

Anyway, it’s an interesting article.  Thanks to the wife for pointing it out.

Posted in: Real Estate

No one gets the internet like the porn industry

Friday, August 24, 2007

My new laptop just shipped, and I’m very excited, and compulsively checking the UPS tracking every four seconds.  You know how you can plug a tracking number from UPS, FedEx, USPS, whatever, into Google, and it will take you to the tracking info?  This is hugely helpful, and is one of the things I love about Google.

Anyway, I plugged in the tracking number, and the first result was a link to UPS, as expected.

The second link was to a porn site.  This is absolutely brilliant, and I almost want to go give the porn site some money just to express my admiration.  I’m not going to, though. 

But if you’re reading this, penisdance.com, you all are pretty much the best search engine optimizers ever.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Sex

Worst street in Columbia Heights?

Friday, August 24, 2007

Two more shot on Girard Street last night.  One died, one in the hospital.  I park on that street occasionally when our block is full, and it really doesn’t seem that bad.  And there are frequently police cars around.

It kind of puts parking tickets in perspective, I guess.  I get pretty worked up over the city’s campaign to make me sell my car, but at the same time, there are a lot more important things going on.

Posted in: complaint , crime , dc , Harvard Street , harvardstreet

A first response

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Thank you for writing Councilmember Graham.  The Councilmember is in El Salvador at the invitation of the Mayor of San Salvador for meetings of mutual interest.  On Aug. 1, he was presented the key to the city by the Council and the Mayor.  He has participated in many meetings, as well as two parades.

In his absence, I am forwarding your message to Jonathan Kass, on his staff.

Sincerely,

Jason Yuckenberg Public Information Officer Office of Councilmember Jim Graham

Posted in: Uncategorized

Should the government bail out the mortgage industry?

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Over at Express, they have a poll asking if the mortgage industry deserves a federal bailout. Actually, they don’t word it like that - the industry clearly does NOT deserve any help. They’ve brought this on themselves by extending too many loans to risky borrowers, banking on a strong market to counteract the risks. Having worked at Fannie Mae, I can promise you that some very smart economists told management that this was a bad, bad idea.

But should we bail out the industry for the sake of the rest of the country? I don’t think we should. However, it’s easy for me to say that, as the wife and I make enough money to support ourselves comfortably, and aren’t really feeling the effects of the economic downturn. I would probably feel differently if I were one of the tens of thousands in the mortgage industry who have lost their jobs (While former Fannie CEO Frank Raines rolls around in his golden parachute - I bet a good chunk of this is his fault).

The problem is that the mortgage market must be a huge factor in the economy.  For how many people is the home the most money they have ever or will ever spend on anything?  It follows that the mortgage market must be important to a lot of people.  So what do we do with that?  Do we allow it to move up and down with minimal oversight?  Or do we regulate it strictly to make sure that the people at the bottom don’t lose their homes?

I know the issue isn’t so black and white.  There’s a huge gray area.  But I think things are better when we’re at the less regulatory end of the spectrum, and I’d like to see us stay there.  I know this means that people are going to lose their homes when the market is bad.  But you really can’t save everyone.

In any event, I’ve totally lost my train of thought.  So far, 87% of Express readers agree with me.  I expect 75% of those are no more than the minimally informed that I am.  But that’s the nature of online polls.

Posted in: uninformed ramblings

Lets get the Councilmember involved

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

I wrote to Jim Graham today.  I’m looking for a little help on my parking ticket problems.  I figure that taking up Graham’s time is more efficient than taking up the time of a clerk in the DC traffic courts - Graham’s time is billed at a much higher rate, and it will take less time to reach the $60 they’re trying to take from me.

When I hear back, I’ll let you all know.  And then I’ll contest my tickets.

Posted in: complaint , dc , dmv , harvardstreet , parking , Personal

Appeal to Councilmember Graham

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Councilmember Graham -

Is the city of DC required to give notice of changes to parking restrictions beyond simply changing the signs?  In particular, is there a process for notifying residents that an un-zoned street is becoming zoned?

I ask because I received two tickets that I do not think I deserved, and I would like to know the law before I contest them.

I moved to the 1400 block of Harvard Street in February.  This block was not zoned when I registered my car.  Sometime in the last few weeks, our block became Zone 1.  I received no notification.  I do not make a habit of checking the parking signs every time I park on my block to make sure they have not changed.

The first notification I received about the change was a parking ticket last Wednesday the 15th of August.  I looked at the signs, and sure enough, they had been changed.  The DMV was already closed for the day, so there was no way to fix this situation, and I do not have off-street parking.

I left a note on the car for the parking enforcement officials, explaining the situation.  I told them that I was a resident of the block, that I had just discovered the change in zoning, and that I was going to the DMV that day.  Then I thanked them for their understanding.

When I returned home after work to apply my new zone 1 parking permit, less than 24 hours after the first ticket, I had another, sitting just above the note I had left.

I know the DMV has a helpful online form for requesting a new parking permit.  Had I known even a few weeks in advance of the change, I would have paid for my new permit online, saving my time, and saving the District’s time.  But because I wasn’t given the courtesy of any notice, I had to take two hours out of my day to go to the DMV.  And I have to take some of your time, and some of the court’s time as I contest these tickets.  From various sources at DDOT and the DMV, I have heard varying measures for zoning a street - anywhere from 15 signatures to 90% of the residents on the street.  My downstairs neighbor was approached about having our street zoned, but no one asked me.  No one informed me it was in progress.

I have been driving for thirteen years.  In that time, I have received six parking tickets.  Five of those have been in the District in the last year and a half.  Four have been in the last four months while my car was parked within fifty feet of my front door.  I understand that we have parking restrictions for a reason, and parking tickets are the way these restrictions are enforced.  But these restrictions were not put in place to persecute District residents.

I appreciate your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Me

Posted in: Uncategorized

Oh, the poor, misguided anti-complainers

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

How to Stop Complaining via Lifehacker

It’s been said that the mind is like a hyperactive monkey. The more you fight with the monkey, the more hyper it becomes. So instead just relax and observe the monkey until it wears itself out.

It’s so cute that this guy thinks he can stop people from complaining by wrestling monkeys.  I just want to pat him on his head and say, “There, there”.

I ’m mostly kidding.  But the article might as well be about how to reverse rotation of the Earth.  I could no sooner stop complaining than stop breathing.  In fact, I’m pretty sure I will stop doing both of those things at exactly the same time, although I’m not certain which will be the cause of the other.

Still, perhaps his article will be of some use to those of you who don’t entirely embrace the art of incessant complaining.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Anti-complaint

Automatic weapons with Legos

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories - Book Review (and build!): Forbidden Lego

Forbidden Lego written by a pair of Lego master builders, who used to work in designing advanced Lego sets (e.g., Mindstorms). While they obviously got to work on lots of cool things while they were there, there were certain projects that just turned not to be suitable to be made into kits released by the Lego company. They wrote the book to give some kind of a tantalizing hint at the kinds of things that go on behind the scenes at Lego, and the kinds of neat things that might get released in a world without product liability suits.

If you don’t want to read the article (Which you should, but I know you’re lazy), just watch the YouTube video linked within.  It’s pretty much the best YouTube video ever.  Well, maybe not.  But it won’t get stuck in your head like Chocolate Rain.

The book includes instructions on how to make automatic weapons with Legos.  What could possibly be cooler than that?  Anyone not intrigued by a self-loading Lego catapult is no friend of mine.

Posted in: Anti complaint , nerd

Spying on ourselves is bad

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Boing Boing: Police camera spying on the rise in California

Backed by millions in Homeland Security dollars, California law enforcement authorities are quickly expanding video surveillance camera spying in public rights of way, a move the American Civil Liberties Union says is stripping away privacy rights while failing to dent the intended purpose: crime.

We were just talking about this last night, in the context of the hit-and-run accident early Sunday morning. The wife and I saw the victim lying in the middle of 16th Street, face down. The driver has not been caught.

We were talking about the trade-offs: privacy vs. safety. Would you be okay with more cameras in public spaces? When something like this happens, and we want to catch the driver, and more cameras would certainly help.

But, on the other hand, do you really want to be on camera all the time?  It’s not that I want to be able to break the law and not get caught.  It’s just that I don’t want to be watched all the time.  I don’t mind if there’s a camera at the ATM, or if I walk past a monument and I’m in some tourist’s vacation photo.  What I have a problem with is being watched all the time.  While cameras on 16th Street probably could have gotten the license plate of the speeding white SUV that hit this guy, they’d also catch all sorts of other things.  I know you don’t have any reasonable expectation of privacy in the middle of the city, but you have a reasonable expectation of not being filmed every moment you’re out of your house.

So, what’s the proper balance between safety and privacy?  Well, the current administration hasn’t found it yet, although by all indications they aren’t actually looking for balance.  Ideally, there would be a camera on everyone committing a serious crime, and no cameras anywhere else.  I don’t suppose that’s really feasible, though.

And, as you can see above, the ACLU doesn’t think that it’s helping to stop crime.  I don’t know what the ACLU knows about crime rates.  They certainly know a lot about protecting civil liberties, like the freedom to not be on camera all the time.

Posted in: complaint , crime , dc , harvardstreet , Politics

Some nice fruits and vegetables

Monday, August 20, 2007

We finally made it down to the U St. farmers market on Saturday.  It happens every Saturday, 9am-1pm, at 14th and U St NW.  I was quite pleased with the visit.  We got some really nice vegetables that the wife turned into brunch shortly thereafter, and I got some great apples.  I don’t remember what type they are - nothing I’d ever heard of.  But they’re very good.  I just ate one this morning.

I’d like to do more shopping at markets like that.  I don’t know how local the actual farmers are, but certainly more local than almost all the produce you find in the grocery store.  There’s a big debate among hippies as to whether to buy organic or local.  Obviously both is best, but if you have to choose one, it’s not clear which is the better choice.  I tend to think that local produce is better, since it uses fewer resources in transit.  But I’m open to other arguments.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , harvardstreet , Wind kissing

Happy Anniversary to me!

Sunday, August 19, 2007

And, I guess, to my wife, too.  She had something to do with it.

One year ago today, we got married.  I can’t believe it’s been a year already.  It’s been great year, though.

Anyway, I have to go make coffee.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Me

On a lighter note

Thursday, August 16, 2007

It appears that, not only did someone find my site by searching for “where to place a complaint against a teen wilderness program”, but they did it twice, checking out three different pages on the second visit.

Perhaps I’ve gained a reader.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Anti-complaint , blogging

Those heartless, inflexible bastards

Thursday, August 16, 2007

I got another ticket today.  Right on top of the note I left explaining the situation.  I understand that the parking enforcement people are doing their job.  But if I can get a ticket for failure to register my car because they’ve noticed it parked there for a while with non-DC tags, why can’t they also notice that it’s been registered for a few months, they’ve suddenly changed the rules for parking without telling anyone, and cut me a break?

Apparently paying attention from day to day only works when you’re trying to bleed the taxpayers.  This is now six tickets in DC, including one before I moved here that was my fault (I misread a sign that was pretty clear, I’m not really sure what my problem was).  Do you know how many parking tickets I’ve gotten in the entire rest of the planet?  One.  I went to Blacksburg to pick up my brother from Virginia Tech and got a ticket on campus.  I parked illegally, figuring I wouldn’t be there long.

So, on one hand, we have twelve-plus years of driving and parking in Maryland and Virginia.  One ticket.  In less than two years of parking in DC, I have six.  It is abundantly clear who is at fault here.

I don’t park illegally.  I don’t double park, I don’t block hydrants, I don’t park in front of driveways.  But six tickets.  It’s mind-boggling.

I’m going to ask the wife to help me contest these two tickets, and I’m going to send a copy to our councilmember.  He’s all about the ineffectual but flashy solutions to problems.  Maybe he’ll give me a “get out of parking tickets free” card or something without addressing the underlying problem that this city needs to figure out a new way to combat parking and revenue issues.

Posted in: complaint , dc , dmv , Harvard Street , harvardstreet , parking

Well, were Zone 1 now

Thursday, August 16, 2007

I just got back from the DMV.  Once again, I have nothing but good things to say about the DMV at 95 M St. SW.  Polite, quick, effective - it’s one of the nicest DMVs I’ve used, and I’ve used them in Maryland, Virginia, and DC.

Anyway, we are Zone 1.  According to one of my upstairs neighbors, they did it earlier this month, because she just got a new car and they gave her a Zone 1 sticker.  Apparently this same thing happened to the woman who helped me at the DMV, although it was before she worked there, and she couldn’t get out of the ticket.  I’m still going to give it a shot.  And I’ll give it a shot on the ticket I’ll probably get today before I get home with my new sticker.

I have no idea why we weren’t notified.  I mean, who checks the parking signs on the street where they live?  I checked when we moved in, and now I know what they all say, and I don’t check any more.

I’m still pretty mad.  But I should probably do some work or something.  I think they’re paying me.

Posted in: complaint , dc , Harvard Street , parking

Parking update

Thursday, August 16, 2007

The DMV tells me that it only takes 15 signatures to get a street zoned, so maybe it actually happened.  You’d think maybe they’d notify the residents.  But, the woman I spoke with couldn’t tell me whether our street had actually been zoned, or if the signs were just wrong.  She transferred me to someone who could, but no one answered.  I have the number, though, so I’m going to call back.

Posted in: complaint , dc , dmv , Harvard Street , harvardstreet , parking

Cant I just park in front of my house?

Thursday, August 16, 2007

I spoke too soon. In late July, I sent this letter to contest a parking ticket. I thought I had achieved victory when they forgave the ticket.

It turns out that I just won round one. Round two has now begun.

Yesterday, I looked out the window and noticed a parking ticket on the Disaster Magnet. Since my car was parked a few spaces away, I went to check mine.

Sure enough, there was the ticket. $30 for “P003 RESIDENTIAL PARKING”. Do you know what they’ve done? Sometime over the last week or so, they replaced all the parking signs on our street. They now state that a zone 1 sticker is required. No one notified me that there were new parking restrictions. I don’t know if the city is legally obligated to tell me, but they should be. Now, the DC DOT website still lists our block as un-zoned. I don’t know whether it just hasn’t been updated, or if they put up the wrong sign. In any event, at 9AM on the button I’m calling the DMV to find out what’s going on. I left a note on my car to hopefully prevent another ticket. I politely stated that I live on the block, I became aware of the new parking restriction last night, and I’m going to the DMV today. I have no idea if it will help.

So, let’s summarize my tickets since I moved here. The first I paid. It was for violating a temporary ‘No Parking’ sign. I thought I was past the area where parking was restricted, but there’s apparently some rule that you must be a certain distance away from the posted sign that isn’t printed on the sign. Maybe I could have contested it, I don’t know. My second was the $100 ticket for failure to register that I got while I had a temporary permit from the police. That one is still being contested. I think we’re going to call soon to see the status because we haven’t heard anything. The third was $30 for not having a residential permit, which we contested and won. And now this one, the fourth. All of these tickets, mind you, are for parking within 100 feet of my front door.

I hear rumors that the DC government brings in a huge portion of its revenue from parking tickets. I don’t know if that’s true, but I’m starting to feel a little persecuted. We have tons of people living in Maryland and Virginia who drive past Metro into the city for work. Shift the tax burden to them! Shift the burden to the giant beaurocracy of the federal government! Shift it anywhere but your residents, who already pay extremely high tax rates.

Anyway, I will keep you updated. I don’t think I’ve adequately expressed how infuriating this is. It’s going to make me even madder if my suspicions prove true - that this is a sign mistake, not a change in parking rules. I was told by the DMV that it requires approval from a ridiculous percentage of the residents of a street to zone an un-zoned street, and no one knocked on my door.

If I ran for mayor with a platform of, “Let the Marylanders and Virginians pay the parking tickets”, do you think I’d win? I’d vote for me.

Posted in: complaint , dc , dmv , Harvard Street , harvardstreet , parking

Thanks for the reminder - give blood

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

DCist: Morning Roundup: Answering ANSWER Edition

Summer blood shortage worse than usual (click here to find donation opportunities).

The wife and I talked about this a little while ago and haven’t done anything about it. Maybe after our houseguests (arriving today and Friday, I think) are gone, we’ll actually go give blood. Neither of us is really thrilled with the prospect. I gave blood once, during a high school blood drive. I didn’t feel faint, I didn’t pass out, but the nurse nearly took out the needle. I’ve never liked thinking about what goes on underneath my skin. It all seems too complicated, and if I think about it, it might stop working. So I like to pretend that I’m solid skin all the way through.

It’s not the blood that bothers me. I don’t get freaked out at the sight of blood. But while giving blood, I was shaking a bit. I sucked it up and finished, though. And I should do it again. I don’t remember my blood type, and I don’t think it’s one of the rare or really versatile ones, but I’m sure someone can use it.

Anyway, I’m going to give blood.  You should, too.  You really don’t need ALL the blood you have.  There’s bound to be someone who needs it more.

Posted in: dc , give blood , harvardstreet , health , Life

Put the full text in your blog feed and Ill read it

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Techdirt: Why Full Text Feeds Actually Increase Page Views (The Freakonomics Explanation)

Full text feeds makes the reading process much easier. It means it’s that much more likely that someone reads the full piece and actually understands what’s being said – which makes it much, much, much more likely that they’ll then forward it on to someone else, or blog about it themselves, or post it to Digg or Reddit or Slashdot or Fark or any other such thing – and that generates more traffic and interest and page views from new readers, who we hope subscribe to the RSS feed and become regular readers as well.

I hate partial text feeds. It’s very true that I am much less likely to read an article if I have to click through. And with so much content on the internet, much of it pretty decent, there’s a good chance that I can find something else just as good as what you wrote.

I ’m looking through my RSS reader, and there are hardly any feeds that I read regularly that don’t do full text.  Uniwatch doesn’t, and I frequently forget to read it.  The Hardball Times doesn’t, and I only read articles there where the subject line is intriguing.  Almost every site I read every day, including the above-linked Techdirt, has a full feed.

And look - here I am, blogging about something that they wrote at Techdirt, proving their point.

Posted in: Anti complaint , blogging , freakonomics , Internet , rss

Curse you, four car train

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Seriously, I’ve had it with the four car trains. Someone at WMATA needs to get it through their head that you can’t send a four car train ANYWHERE during peak commuting times. I didn’t even have space to read the Economist. How am I supposed to be informed if I can’t read on the Metro?

I don’t know if it’s a money thing. I suspect it is. It probably won’t really work to raise prices. They’re already pretty high. A tax to shift the burden to people who don’t actually ride Metro would be nice. If people want to drive in the city, that’s fine, but they’re going to subsidize those of us who avoid it as much as possible.

Anyway, it’s a crummy way to start the day.

Posted in: complaint , dc , Harvard Street , harvardstreet , metro

Any Oriole fan could have told you this

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Do you have a favorite sports team? Have they spent the last five years or so kicking you in the teeth and expecting you to like it? If so, you might be an Orioles fan. Ever since Cal Ripken saved baseball after the strike, it’s been nothing but a string of bad moves. I had thought earlier in the season that bringing in Aubrey Huff was the worst thing they’d done, but that’s because Jaret Wright has spent so little time in uniform that I forgot about him.

So, the Orioles gave up a promising young pitcher who is now working in the Yankees minor leagues. What did we get in return? We got a guy with one good season (15-8, 3.28, 159 K’s in 2004), only 60 career wins, and a history of injury problems.

Not only that, but we took an aging, overrated starter off the Yankee payroll, and replaced him with a young reliever. It’s like Angelos is a Yankee fan.

And what have we gotten out of Wright? Three starts. Twelve hits, nine walks, and eight earned runs in 10 innings while losing all three games. Wright should be ashamed of himself. There’s not a human being on earth who couldn’t lose all three of his or her starts this season. He should return his paychecks.

What’s especially discouraging is the Orioles have been showing some heart lately. I watched the game the other night when Bedard and Dice-K battled for seven, then the Red Sox went up 5-1, then the Orioles actually came back and won. They came back again against the Sox last night, and they’ve tied it late against the Yankees tonight (Game’s still going, tied 6-6 in the ninth. Although Bradford may be blowing it as we speak, hitting Cabrera in the middle of the back then giving up a double. Shoot. I didn’t even finish typing that sentence before Jeter knocked in the winning run. Still, they put up a fight.).

In conclusion, Peter Angelos is a jerk.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , sports

Like rats from a sinking ship

Monday, August 13, 2007

Top Bush Aide Karl Rove Resigns, White House Confirms Bush Political Strategist Is Heading Home To Texas - CBS News

He said he decided to leave after White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten told senior aides that if they stayed past Labor Day they would be obliged to remain through the end of the president’s term in January 2009.

So, Rove is resigning rather than sticking it out for the last sixteen months or so.  Maybe he wants to go work for another campaign.  Maybe he’s about to get indicted for something really nasty and was told to distance himself.  The above article says it’s very common for top aides to get burned out and leave before the eight years is up, but I would have thought he’d have gotten out before now if he was going to.  Although I suppose sixteen months is a long time.

Anyway, it can’t be good for the White House if he’s leaving.  It can be neither good nor bad, but I can’t think of a scenario where this is good news.

I hope the next time he’s in the news is when he announces his retirement from politics to pursue his true calling - pulling the wings off of flies.

Posted in: Politics

I hate computers

Sunday, August 12, 2007

I booted up Windows today for the first time in a while. Firefox is not working in Ubuntu. I mean, it is, sort of, but it hangs constantly, and it’s driving me insane. I imagine I broke something, but it’s a little strange that it only seems to be a problem in Firefox.

I’m hoping it’s just a problem with Wubi running on this piece of junk computer. I want a new computer with a full Ubuntu install.

Update:  I booted back into Ubuntu and started up Open Office, which is notoriously resource-hungry, figuring that I could determine if it were simply a Firefox problem.  It’s not.  Open Office never opened.  I waited a few minutes and then killed it.  I think I need to find a career that doesn’t involve computers.  I seem to break every one I touch.

Posted in: complaint , Computers , linux

Renovations to begin on Harvard Street

Sunday, August 12, 2007

DSC_6784.JPG

Construction is set to begin tomorrow, according to the contractor.  They’re going to put a dumpster in our driveway for a couple of hours.  While I’m not looking forward to the noise and mess and whatnot, it’s exciting that something’s going to happen to the house.  I would much rather have a renovated house on the block than a boarded up one.  It means we’re going to have to put up the blinds in our bedroom.  Currently, the only way to see in is through a boarded up window, but that probably won’t be boarded up for long.

Posted in: dc , harvardstreet , Real Estate

ColumbiaHeightsNews.org back from the dead

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Columbia Heights News - Washington, DC - Two Retailers Sign Lease With DC USA

Peter Mallios of Newmark Knight Frank, the leasing agent for DC USA, was equally mum about Ellwood Thompson’s. Mallios informed us that he is no longer allowed to speak with after the backlash from the whole Ross Dress for Less. See Whole Foods Or Ross? This is unfortunate as Mallios had been so informative. But perhaps this means Ross is backing out? We will keep you updated as we learn more.

This is what you’re missing out on by not reading the Columbia Heights forum and the mailing list.  Locals got so upset that Ross was coming to DC USA instead of Whole Foods that DC USA has cut us off.  It was quite a heated response, I suppose.  I don’t actually read the mailing list - the forum is heated enough for me.

Although occasionally a little heatedness can have positive impact - the site linked above has come back from the dead after a forum member made a replacement site.  They hadn’t really updated in a few months, but now they’ve been posting more or less regularly.  The site owners claim to have been busy with having a new baby.  Mind you, they have not yet produced this baby.  Although, I don’t actually know them in real life, so maybe I just missed it.  Nevertheless, it can’t be considered a real excuse until I see a baby.

The unfortunate part is the supposition that Ross might be backing out will undoubtedly renew the discussion on the merits of Ross.  I’ve never actually shopped there, so I can’t really comment.  I suppose I’ll have to give them a shot when DC USA opens.

Posted in: dc , Harvard Street , harvardstreet

More baseball geekery

Sunday, August 12, 2007

I’m making some progress with my baseball game. I’ve switched from Gedit to Anjuta, which I’m pretty happy with so far. Very lightweight, easy to use.

I’m fooling with pointers now, and remembering that I never really understood them when I was doing C++ before. So I’m figuring it out now. Slowly. I knew there was a reason I liked Java.

Anyway, it’s been going reasonably well.  I need to get over a little hump in general C++ knowledge, and then I should start making better progress.

Posted in: baseball , numbers , sports

Is this good or bad for me?

Friday, August 10, 2007

Bloomberg.com: Investment Tools

“We are experiencing home price depreciation almost like never before, with the exception of the Great Depression,” Countrywide Chief Executive Officer Angelo Mozilo said during a conference call with investors last month. He said it would take all of next year for the mortgage market to “turn this battleship around” before demand rebounds in 2009.

So Countrywide, the largest mortgage lender in the US, is in some fairly significant trouble because of the subprime mortgage market implosion and related fallout. It’s never good when you hear the current market compared to that of the Great Depression.

I won’t pretend to really understand what’s going on here beyond what’s covered in the article and a general understanding of the subprime implosion, but I understand enough to know that this problem looks to be expanding a lot more than anyone initially admitted it would. It’s not just small lenders who took on too much risk who are in trouble.

I don’t expect this will have any effect on the mortgage I have on our rental property out in Falls Church, which Countrywide bought from a smaller lender. I mean, I can’t imagine that Countrywide wouldn’t be able to find someone to take on that loan if they were going under (Which I don’t think is likely - they’re just missing earnings and having to tighten up their belt).

I’m actually more interested in what it’s going to do to the rental market, and to the value of the place where we live and the place we rent out. I’d really like a strong rental market in Falls Church. I’m not so concerned about the real estate market right now, since we have no immediate plans to buy or sell or take out a home equity loan.  But that doesn’t mean I want the value of our home to crash.  We will need a bigger place eventually.

I’m also wishing I had some spare cash lying around. Like maybe a couple hundred thousand dollars. When you have problems like this, there are ample opportunities for people with money to make more money. Unfortunately, my savings account doesn’t have that many zeros.

Posted in: Stupid people

New construction on Harvard Street

Friday, August 10, 2007

There are two buildings on our street that have been abandoned since we moved in last February, and it looks like renovation has started on both.  Work on the abandoned row house will begin this Monday, according to the developer.  And there is a work permit hanging on the side of the apartment building, although I didn’t really read it because it was starting to rain.

I’m curious how the housing market is going to look in a year or so when these places are finished (hopefully).  DC USA should be open by then, but so should the surrounding apartments and condos.

Still, it’s exciting that the eyesores will be going away.  The first thing I would do with the row house, were I the developer, is paint over the profanity that someone has spray-painted on the front steps.  I think that would go a long way towards making the place look a little nicer.

I’m going to take some pictures of the buildings this weekend so I can compare them to the finished product when construction is complete.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , harvardstreet , Real Estate

You there! You use too much electricity.

Thursday, August 09, 2007

EERE Consumer’s Guide: Do-It-Yourself Home Energy Audits

You can easily conduct a home energy audit yourself. With a simple but diligent walk-through, you can spot many problems in any type of house. When auditing your home, keep a checklist of areas you have inspected and problems you found. This list will help you prioritize your energy efficiency upgrades.

Via Lifehacker, the Department of Energy is offering tips on increasing your energy efficiency at home.  This is especially pertinent to me after getting a $174 electric bill from Pepco.  Our house was profiled in the local DC paper not long after the condo conversion, and the writer gushed about the environmentally friendly principles of the condos.  Aside from meaningless EnergyStar certifications (Nearly everything meets the requirements these days - there is talk of making them stricter) and pretty good natural lighting, there is very little about our place that is environmentally friendly.  Sometimes I wish we had thought more about that when we were buying, but we really fell in love with the place, and it wasn’t until after we moved in that I really thought about it.

Anyway, I think our electric bill is high because Pepco is not actually reading our meter.  They are doing estimated meter readings, and I think they are way off.  I think they are doing a real reading at the end of this month, so I don’t really expect to pay anything for electricity for a month or two.  I went and looked at the six meters - one for each condo, one for common areas - and ours was turning much, much more slowly than any but the common areas.  We don’t run the air as much as we might, and we set it higher than many people would, so I think we use a relatively small amount.

I do actually have a point here, and that is that you should check your house for wasted energy.  You could probably save money on your electric bill, and you could probably help lower greenhouse gas emissions and all sorts of things that are generally good for the planet.  And you can probably do all this without any lifestyle changes or great expense.

Posted in: Wind kissing

No more four car trains at rush hour!

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Don’t get me wrong, four car trains are great if they save a little energy at off-peak times.  But how can you use them on the Yellow line at rush hour?  The Yellow line, unlike the Orange line, actually has seats available most of the time.  But not this morning.  This morning, I was waiting as usual at Mount Vernon Square where the Green line dropped me, at my usual spot.  My usual spot is near the back end of the train, because that’s where the Columbia Heights escalator drops me, and I’ve never really had a need to move.  The end cars are usually empty compared to the rest of them.

This morning, the WMATA powers-that-be decided that they’d just skimp a little and send a four car train.  I have no idea why.  It’s quite possible they had a really good reason, but I frankly don’t care.  This means that everyone standing in front of where they expected cars five and six to be has to run down the platform and get onto the last car.  This makes it somewhat crowded.  The fourth car was full by the time a few people pushed on at Archives, but it didn’t get really bad until 300 clowns going to the Pentagon jumped on at L'Enfant Plaza.

I’ve been riding the Green and Yellow line since the end of March, and this is the first time been jammed into a train like this.  Yes, I realize I shouldn’t complain.  But when there is plenty of room on the train for five months, and then suddenly one day I have a sweaty Marine pressed into my back and a large shoulder bag pressed into my groin, someone is wearing really bad cologne, and people are making dumb “stuck in an elevator” jokes, then WMATA has failed.  Perhaps they were too busy playing with their new maps to notice.

But I notice.  And fear not, WMATA, I will continue to notice, and to complain.

Also, a note to people who pile on to an already full train at rush hour - there will be another train in six minutes or less.  Seriously.  You can wait.  You’re just going to work.

Posted in: complaint , dc , Harvard Street , metro , wmata

Is it just me?

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Or is it hot outside? It’s not so bad now, but when I got home from work, there was a hot breeze blowing that made me want to move to San Fransisco.

It’s good to be back home, though. Vacation was nice, but the cat missed me.

And, if I ever get a reasonable internet connection at work, I’ll try to get back in the habit of posting regularly.  I know I’ve been a bad, bad blogger lately.

Posted in: complaint , dc , harvardstreet , Weather

Away again

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Starting tonight and continuing until next Tuesday night, I will have no internet access.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  I will have some internet access through AOL dial-up.  But that doesn’t really count, does it?

Anyway, I won’t be posting.  But I’ll be back next week.

Posted in: Life

New depths of nerd

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Or maybe it’s new heights. I guess that depends on your point of view. I’ve been doing a little fooling around with some C++ with GCC. I’m doing a little baseball simulating, and it’s going well. If it continues to go well, I’ll eventually have a little executable that generates pages and pages of wonderful statistics that I can do all sorts of wonderful things with.

I realize I’m in a very small minority with my obsession with baseball statistics, but those of us here (And by 'here', I mean ‘In the crazy minority’) are really into it. The wife doesn’t really understand, but as long as I don’t sit here writing code and ignoring her while she’s talking, I think she’ll humor me.

I’m a little disappointed with Eclipse, however. It was slow, error messages were unhelpful, and code completion was iffy. And since code completion is one of the greatest things about an IDE, its absence is kind of a deal breaker.  It may be partly a function of my crappy computer, though.

So I’m currently coding in Gedit and doing command-line compiling. It’s fine so far, but I haven’t done anything really complicated.

Anyway, it’s fun.

Posted in: Anti complaint , baseball , gcc , linux , nerd , numbers

Starbucks is fired

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

It’s bad enough that Starbucks coffee tastes burnt. I could get around that by ordering, on my wife’s recommendation, the mild instead of the regular. And I can get by the milkshakes passed off as coffee by just making fun of the people who order them (A good general rule - if it takes more than 5 words to order your coffee, not including “please” and “thank you”, you’re drinking a milkshake). I even got past the first price increase that sent the largest coffee over $2 when you include tax. But now the medium coffee is $2.02, less than six months after the last price increase.

I’m done. No more Starbucks coffee. Tomorrow I’ll bring in a coffee mug and start drinking free work coffee.

On an unrelated note, I’m testing out a WordPress tag plugin.  I don’t really know what it does, but this is the first post that has tags on it.  Maybe nothing will be visible to you.  Anyway, we’ll see.

Posted in: coffee , complaint , Customer Service , starbucks

More Wubi and Ubuntu

Sunday, July 29, 2007

I’ve been doing some more playing with Ubuntu and Wubi. I got the wireless working Friday, and I haven’t booted up Windows since then. This is something holding back Ubuntu for the masses. It took me four tutorials and about a week to get connected to my wireless network. This isn’t so bad for me - I don’t mind messing around with things on the computer, and now I’ll appreciate the wireless connection even more. But I hesitate to put Ubuntu on my dad’s computer, for example. He’s a perfect candidate - Windows hater, older PC - but I don’t want to have to get things working for him every time he wants something new.

Anyway, I’m very happy with my new Ubuntu install.  And I don’t know how to write a wireless manager that just works.

I wonder if Dell has something.  They’re selling machines preloaded with Ubuntu now, and they must have come up against this by now.  Of course, if the Windows wireless manager that Dell put on my laptop is any indication, they probably just threw the first piece of junk they found in there and hoped that people would figure it out.

Posted in: linux , nerd

Hippies? I love hippies.

Friday, July 27, 2007

HIDE YOUR ARMS » Teetonic are a bunch of hippies

Teetonic is a t-shirt design competition website that has decided to go organic cotton. Not sure if they’re using the omnipresent American Apparel organic cotton shirts, but they’re using something. I like the American Apparel shirts because they’re cut skinny, and if I want to wear some of my favorite shirts, I have keep my weight down.

Posted in: Anti complaint , tshirts

Im on a roll with the sports stuff

Friday, July 27, 2007

The Soul of Baseball: First Base: Albert Pujols

For instance, a scout friend of mine called a couple of days ago and said that Manny Ramirez is an “underrated defensive outfielder.” Now, first of all, this may be true, in that MannyBeingManny is rated as “Putrid” defensively, and he’s actually “Rancid,” and “Rancid” is better than “Putrid,” so that would make him underrated.

I have to admit that anyone making fun of Manny Ramirez playing the outfield is likely to get on my good side, like people making fun of Condi Rice or Nickelback.  But this is funny, and it gets better from the quote above.

Posted in: Anti complaint , baseball , sports

You should go to Fleet Feet

Thursday, July 26, 2007

If you need any sort of running gear, go to Fleet Feet. However, unless you really have to (And I know I linked to it), don’t go to their website. It resized my browser window, which is absolutely unacceptable.

However, the service at the store is fantastic. At the end of May I bought a new pair of running shoes. I’ve since put probably 40 miles on them. There is now a hole worn in the heel on the inside of the left shoe. This seems a little ridiculous.

So, I went to Fleet Feet, where they promptly exchanged the pair of shoes for a new one. I hope it was just a defective pair, because I really like the shoes. And I have weird, skinny, flat, bony feet. It’s really hard to find shoes that fit me.

Anyway, I have been very happy with my experience at Fleet Feet. I’ll definitely go back next time I need something. Just hopefully not for these shoes again.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , harvardstreet , sports

Welcome to Web 2.0, WMATA.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Metroblogging DC: Metro Unveils New Online Station Maps Powered By Google

Metro’s unveiled new online maps for their stations, which include local business listings, all powered by Google Maps.

Well, not exactly. I mean, they still have all their vowels, and I don’t think they have an AJAX “search as you type” function. But they’ve finally gotten a decent map. The next step would be to integrate local public transportation search into Google Maps. That would be cool. You could choose driving or walking or riding public transportation when you tried to get directions. They’re probably working on it.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , Harvard Street , harvardstreet , metro

Drugs, cheating, and incompetent management

Thursday, July 26, 2007

What the heck is going on with cycling? They can’t go a month without someone getting caught doping. I can’t believe the positive feeling about cycling in the US generated by Lance Armstrong is going to last much longer, especially with the controversy surrounding him.

I’m in favor of not only a one strike rule, meaning you get caught doping once and you get a lifetime ban, but also a one year team ban. If your teammate gets caught, your team sits out a year. Edited to add:  Looks like they did kick out the first guy’s teammates, as well.  That should do wonders for team unity.  Maybe next time they’ll do a better job of policing themselves.  Or maybe they’re all on drugs.  I’m guessing the latter.

Maybe they should implement that in all pro sports. Mandatory regular tests and lifetime bans should go a long way towards getting rid of the performance enhancing drugs.

It gets pretty tiring. And it’s not just the drugs. We have Michael Vick leading a pack of guys who just can’t be satisfied by adoring fans and millions of dollars and feel the need to break all sorts of laws. We have the gambling, point-shaving basketball ref, and if you’ve ever watched a basketball game and think this guy is the only one, you’re crazy. The NBA has been a little too quick and to insistent in stressing that he was just one “criminal”. And we have Bonds on the doorstep of asterisking himself past Hank Aaron and into first place on the all-time home run list, at least until A-Rod passes him. If we lived in a truly just world, he’d get indicted this week and end up going to jail before he can break the record.

Anyway, none of this means I’m not eagerly awaiting the beginning of football season, and constantly dreaming that someone in the Orioles organization will finally wake up and trade the entire team except for Brian Roberts and Erik Bedard, rebuild with prospects, and be the 2006 Tigers of 2012.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , sports

Computers, baseball, and a lot of free time

Monday, July 23, 2007

Uni Watch » Pete, Julie, and Linc

It’s safe to say that I spend more time creating uniforms for MVP 2005 than I do actually playing it.

If you aren’t reading UniWatch, you should be.

This particular post is by a reader who painstakingly recreates all sorts of historical baseball uniforms for MVP 2005, a really nice baseball video game.

I’ve never been that interested in uniforms, but I have definitely spent unreasonable amounts of time on introducing realism to video games and whatnot, so I can identify his obsession. It started with Tomy Pocket Baseball, a little handheld game. I had a league that went on for about ten seasons (A good chunk of my childhood). I still have all the stats, and periodically I get nostalgic for the game, and I’m tempted to go find it and play another season.  I used to spend hours in my room with that game.  And it was really more the stats that drew me in than the game.

Then there was penny soccer, invented by a friend.  I played at his house for a while, then created my own league.  There weren’t so many stats to go along with that, but we did NCAA football-style rankings, which was fun.  I always loved watching the unranked no-name upset the undefeated powerhouse.

I wonder what the wife would say if I pulled out the old Tomy Pocket Baseball.  She’d probably prefer it to me playing on the computer, but not to me cleaning the house or something.

Posted in: Anti complaint , baseball , sports

I win! Im a big winner!

Monday, July 23, 2007

Some of you may remember that I contested a ridiculous parking ticket last month. I left the response letter at home, so I can’t post it now, but I can summarize.

Dear Sir, Your relentless powers of persuasion are too much for us. We have tried to formulate a response, a scenario where you might possibly be in the wrong, even a little bit, but we have failed. As such, please do not pay us any money. We’re sorry. Sincerely, DC Adjudication Services

I’m pretty sure that’s almost word for word. I may have taken a few liberties and substituted a word here and there to get down to what they really meant, without the posturing and bureaucracy. We’re still waiting on a response for the big ticket, the $100 ticket. The wife wrote that letter. She’s a lawyer, so she should be better at convincing them, but we had a much stronger case on the one that I contested. So we’ll see.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , Harvard Street , parking

71% is good?

Friday, July 20, 2007

The folks over at DCist write that, according to an article in the Examiner, 71% of the DC area drives alone to work.  They say this is good because we were at 74% three years ago, and the nation is at 77% and rising.

That’s kind of depressing.  I’ve been taking Metro to work since March, and I love it.  I don’t worry about traffic.  I’ve done more reading since then than in the previous three years combined.  My biggest worries are four car trains at Pentagon City and loud tourists.

I know many people don’t have the opportunity to take public transportation, and carpooling can be hard.  But only doing 6% better than the national average in a city like DC is kind of sad.  I wonder what the percentage is in London, for example, where they have huge congestion taxes.  Now that I’m an excessively smug city resident and Metro rider, I say $20 to drive your car into the city!  $30 if you’ve come from more than ten miles away!  We’ll give two monthly exemptions for people who just have to come to the city every once in a while, like they way I have to drive out to Manassas once or twice a month for work.

We can use some of that money to pay for whatever it is we’re paying for with all the parking tickets DC gives out.  I think more and more that DC gives out those tickets maliciously.  I think I’m going to start contesting them regardless of guilt, just to spite the city.

Posted in: complaint , dc , Harvard Street , parking

I dont want to be eaten by a lion

Thursday, July 19, 2007

MIT finds cure for fear | Press Esc

Inhibiting a kinase, an enzyme that change proteins, called Cdk5 facilitates the extinction of fear learned in a particular context, Li-Huei Tsai, Picower Professor of Neuroscience in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and colleagues showed.

This is interesting. If I’m reading the article right, they have chemically prevented a fear of a particular thing. They shocked the mice whenever they went to a certain spot until they were afraid of it. The more Cdk5 activity in their brains, the more fear. But when they cut down the activity, the mice were okay.

I’m not quite sure how this translates to humans, though. For example, I am quite rationally afraid of being eaten by a lion. I have never been close enough to a lion to really express that fear, but it is a fear nevertheless. Now, let’s say you have inhibited the Cdk5 in my brain. Will I now happily approach a hungry-looking lion?

No, I won’t. My fear of the lion, or lack thereof, has no bearing on whether or not it will eat me.

I suppose that what they really mean is that they could prevent me from being paralyzed by fear if I were ever in close proximity to a lion. But, I suspect I could prevent myself from being paralyzed by fear by spending a lot of time with lions and learning to avoid being eaten.

The article mentions soldiers with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and panic attacks, which “stem from the inability of the brain to stop experiencing the fear associated with a specific incident or series of incidents”. I guess I never realized that they were so technically precise.

It seems unlikely that they can stop rational fears. That is, I don’t believe that they can inhibit my Cdk5 and allow me to waltz through a war zone, explosions and people trying to kill me all around. But if I come home and still find myself waking up at night, screaming and remembering that experience, that seems like something they could turn off.

Anyway, I don’t mean to second guess MIT researchers. They probably know what they’re talking about.

Posted in: health , Science

Ubuntu, Wubi, and other funny words

Thursday, July 19, 2007

I installed Ubuntu on my laptop last night using Wubi, and I’m not sure why I didn’t do this sooner. Wubi is a Windows installer that lets you run Ubuntu sort of like running a Windows program.

My initial reactions are limited, because the install finished sometime after I went to bed last night, and I only had a few minutes to play this morning. But I was surprised that Ubuntu recognized the volume buttons on my Dell (I accidentally uninstalled the Windows driver for them and have never bothered to find it again), although I was a little disappointed that it seems to like to turn the volume on when I’m not logged in, which drives me nuts.

Also, I couldn’t get onto my wireless network. But I’m not positive I have the right password. I’ll have to play with it tonight. Of course, the wife comes home tonight, so I should probably do a bit of cleaning. I did some yesterday, but not everything.

In any event, I would much rather be at home playing with Ubuntu than sitting at work, checking for Section 508 compliance in our web application. Although at least this gives me an excuse to get rid of some of the awful, awful code generated by Visual Studio. If you ever hear anyone try to sing the praises of Microsoft’s .NET environment, I want you to kick them in the teeth.

Posted in: Anti complaint , linux , nerd

City wildlife

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

I saw a deer!  In DC!  I was out running (Well, running and walking.  It’s hot out, and I haven’t really run in three weeks) down along the Rock Creek Parkway path, and across the creek, behind a big tree, there was a deer.  Well, its rear end, anyway.  I couldn’t really see the rest.

Other than that, the run pretty much sucked.  A hole is wearing in the heel of my left running shoe, and the shoes are only two months old or so.  Maybe I’ll take them back and see if Fleet Feet can send them back to the manufacturer or something.  I know I have skinny, bony feet, and I tend to be hard on shoes, but this is a little ridiculous.

Honestly, I would pay $300-500 for a nice, custom pair of shoes that would last me five years.  Maybe not running shoes.  I don’t know if they could make them last that long.  But a nice pair of work shoes, lightweight, comfortable, and sturdy, that really fit my feet, would be great.

Can I get that somewhere?  Or am I looking at more like $3000?

Posted in: complaint , dc , Harvard Street , health

Im back, the cat is back, the wife is gone

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Well, she’s gone temporarily.  We got in on Friday (A day late because we missed our flight.  If you’re flying from Dublin to Philadelphia on US Airways, do yourself a favor and get there early.), and she flew out yesterday for work.  She’ll be back Thursday.

Unfortunately, as usual when she’s not here, I didn’t sleep well last night.  I haven’t figured out why I sleep better when she’s here, but I do.  And the stupid cat didn’t help.  She was loud and irritating pretty much all night.  I don’t think I got more than an hour straight of sleep all night.

Anyway, hopefully tonight I’ll sleep better.

The trip, by the way, was fantastic.  I’ll write more at some point, but we had a great time.  Dublin is very expensive, however.  But I sure do love Guinness.

Posted in: Anti complaint , complaint , Travel

A note on commenting

Monday, July 02, 2007

A friend recently gave me opportunity to discover that if you leave a comment under the name “Balls”, you are likely to be marked as spam by WordPress and Akismet.  Since I rarely ever see real comments marked as spam, I don’t usually watch them very carefully, and your comment is not likely to appear on the site.

Posted in: blogging , Spam

The Kennedy Center responds

Monday, July 02, 2007

Finally a response from the Kennedy Center to my complaints.

[Dear Cherished Patron,]

       We have manually removed you from our e-mail list. You shouldn’t be receiving any e-mail from us regarding anything aside from shows for which you have purchased tickets. If you do receive anymore unwanted e-mail, please feel free to get in touch with me and I’ll do my best to fix the problem. I apologize for your inconvenience.

Sincerely,

[Some dude]

Electronic Media Intern

So, all I had to do was complain to the FTC.  I would have appreciated an explanation of why they thought it was okay to violate the CAN-SPAM act, but maybe that’s too much to ask.  Maybe they could have told me why I had to complain three times before I got a response. 

Well, at least they responded.

Posted in: complaint , Spam

A suggesting for writing

Monday, July 02, 2007

Why I Won’t Read Your Unpublished Work (Whatever)

For God’s sake, if you’re going to hand your work over for critique, finish the damn thing first. Even if it’s broke, you can fix it. But you can’t fix a fragment. All you can do is fiddle with it, and in fiddling avoid finishing it. I don’t encourage this; even with friends, I don’t read things that aren’t finished.

The whole post linked above is pretty amusing, as Scalzi generally is.  But this part caught my eye.  I’d never thought of that.  And it makes a lot of sense.  Not that I’ve ever finished any story I’ve started, but often asking for feedback has actually been the last thing I ever did.  I joined a Sci-Fi writers feedback web site, got some pretty positive feedback on the first chapter of something that I had started, and promptly never picked the thing up again.  It was a strange feeling.  The person who offered the feedback did what I thought was a good job.  He mentioned some good things, gave some constructive criticism, and did it in a polite, supportive manner.  Not much more you can ask for.

And still, I got that “OMG my writing is terrible” feeling.  And it’s not that my self-worth is tied up in how someone I’ve never met feels about the first draft of the first chapter of a novel I was working on.  Honestly, if he’d ripped it apart, I would have just assumed that he was incapable of understanding what I wrote, and pretty soon I would actually believe that.

Anyway, not that I want to use “I let people read it” as an excuse for why I didn’t finish any of the writing projects that I started.  But maybe I should keep stuff to myself until I’m finished.  My wife will kill me, probably.  But if I explain to her I’m doing it so I can finally finish a novel, become a bestseller, and support us both into our old age, I think she’ll understand.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Writing

And Im out

Monday, July 02, 2007

A to-do list for the next ten days:

  1. Fly to London this afternoon.
  2.  Take a train to York.
  3. Hang out in York for a few days.
  4. Rent a car, drive a manual transmission on the wrong side of the road for the first time.
  5. Be ½ of that cool couple that came all the way from the States to the wedding.
  6. Fly to Dublin.
  7. Enjoy a delicious Guinness at a pub.
  8. Repeat #7 as necessary. So, I’ll be out until Friday the 13th.  I don’t expect internet access while I’m gone.  But, I’ll bring back pictures.  And memories.
Posted in: Uncategorized

A partial explanation

Saturday, June 30, 2007

I got an explanation on health insurance from my mother-in-law. She tells me that “anything taxable to the employee is generally taxable to the employer”, which I guess I knew but didn’t really think about, since I’ve never been the employer.  So, if health insurance is not taxable, then it becomes a relatively cheap benefit for the employer to offer.

I still think saying that it “encourages employers to offer insurance” is a little strong.  It encourages them to offer it instead of other benefits that might be taxable, but the real “encouragement” is that (another thing I learned from my mother-in-law) most states require it by law.

Certainly it seems likely that fewer businesses would offer health insurance if they had to pay taxes on the money.  So I’m still not exactly clear on who this proposal is supposed to help.  I’ve sent another email to my mother-in-law seeking further guidance, but I believe she’s out of town for the weekend.  And I’m out of town starting Monday, so we may all have to wait.

Posted in: health , Politics

$10 minimum?

Friday, June 29, 2007

I need a new dry cleaner.  I just picked up five shirts.  The total was $7.13.   They wouldn’t let me use a credit card, and I only had $5 in my wallet.  She said there’s a $10 minimum on credit cards.  Is it just me, or is that pretty high?  I’ve heard of $5 minimums, but $10 seems steep.

Anyone know a good dry cleaner in Columbia Heights?  I’ve heard nothing but bad stories about Georgetown Valet and Oxxo or whatever they’re called.

Posted in: complaint , dc , Harvard Street

Thatll teach the Kennedy Center

Friday, June 29, 2007

I filed a complaint with the FTC about the spam.  I’m sure that’s just as pointless as complaining about a Do Not Call violation, but it makes me feel better.

Posted in: complaint , Spam

Im trying to understand this

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Bush Tries to Resuscitate Health Insurance Tax Plan

Under current law, workers who get health insurance through their jobs do not pay taxes on the value of the insurance, which encourages employers to offer insurance as part of their benefit packages.

So, why does this encourage employers to offer insurance?  Clearly this encourages employees to want insurance through their employer in order to get the tax break.  And, obviously, this is a benefit to the employee, which makes the employer more attractive.  But the employee still benefits from the health insurance whether or not they are taxed on it.  I’m just not seeing the extra benefit for the employer beyond being able to offer a slightly better deal to employees.

Anyway, more importantly, what effect would Bush’s proposal have on this?

The Bush plan, unveiled in January, would substitute that tax break with a standard deduction that would go to any taxpayer with insurance.

Bush has recently said that “he might be satisfied with replacing the existing tax break with a tax credit, rather than a tax deduction.”

So, let’s say we stop offering a tax break (And by that I include credit and deduction and whatever else) on only employer-provided insurance.  Assuming that current practice actually does encourage employers to offer insurance, will changing the law discourage it?  It seems like an important point that the article suggests but doesn’t address.  And I can’t address it myself without seeing how it encourages employers to offer insurance in the first place.

Can anyone explain this to me?

Posted in: health , Politics

The Kennedy Center is spamming me

Thursday, June 28, 2007

My wife and I are going to see Phantom of the Opera at the Kennedy Center with my father-in-law next month, and I bought the tickets at their website.  Now they’re spamming me, and refuse to stop.  I tried their email preferences page, but every time I click anything, it selects all of the “send me junk mail and spam” options, and refuses to do anything else.  I emailed their web support on June 20th:

I am unable to unsubscribe from your email list.  I would like you to email me with updates related to shows for which I have tickets.  I do not want any other emails from you.  I do not want any regular mail from you.

 Thank you.

Then again today after receiving more junk from them:

Customer # 3747291 requesting action on issue # 58603.  I contacted you on June 20th, 2007, because you are sending me email spam, and your opt-out page on your website does not work.  I received an automated response, and then nothing.  Today, I received another spam message from you.  I would appreciate your immediate action on this matter.  I would like you to send me emails only in response to this issue, and for changes or updates to shows for which I have purchased tickets.  Never contact me by postal mail, or by email for any other reason than stated above.

We’ll see what they do.  Unfortunately, I don’t think the toothless CAN-SPAM act is applicable here because I have a business relationship with them.  And, also unfortunately, they have something of a monopoly on large-scale theater in the area.  Since both my father-in-law and one of my sisters-in-law are theater fans, it seems likely that I will return to the Kennedy Center.

In any event, I am annoyed by their junk mail, and I want it to stop.

Posted in: complaint , Customer Service

Letter to the DMV

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

There’s a new entry to the Angry Letters section of the site. You can find my letter to the DMV here.  It will go in the mail tomorrow, as soon as I buy a stamp.

Posted in: complaint , dc , New! , parking

Contesting a parking ticket

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

June 27, 2007 Adjudication Services P.O. Box 37135 Washington, DC 20013 To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to contest a parking ticket, citation #[redacted], that I received yesterday, June 26th, 2007. I recently moved to the north side of the 1400 block of [redacted] St. NW, and registered my car. I was told that, since my street is not zoned residential, I would not receive a Residential Parking Permit. I usually park on the north side of my street. However, on Tuesdays, the north side is closed for street cleaning, and so I moved my car to the south side of the street. Yesterday, I received a ticket for failure to display an RPP. According to the DDOT website, the 1400 block of [redacted] St. NW is not zoned residential. I have enclosed a printout of the DDOT web page listing the blocks of [redacted] St. NW which are zoned residential, and the 1400 block is not listed. I understand that the residential parking zones are designed to prevent commuters from leaving cars parked in residential areas all day, and I applaud these efforts. But in this case, my car was parked perhaps fifteen feet from the front door of my home. Clearly this is not the behavior that the parking zones were designed to prevent. Therefore, I would greatly appreciate it if you would forgive this parking ticket. Additionally, steps should be taken so that I and my fellow residents are not subject to similar tickets in the future.

You may reach me during the day at my work phone number, [redacted], or at home in the evening at [redacted]. Thank you very much for your attention.

Sincerely, Senor Complain-o

Posted in: Uncategorized

The street is NOT zoned

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

According to the DC Department of Transportation website, our block is NOT zoned residential.  Neither side.  My guess is that the sign says “residential” because they don’t make custom signs for our weird un-zoned street.  I printed out the DDOT search page showing that our block isn’t zoned residential, and we’ll be contesting this ticket. 

Posted in: complaint , dc , Harvard Street , parking

Now theyve done it

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

The DMV told me to get a petition to have our street zoned residential.  The woman I talked to was very nice, but completely failed to address my concerns.  “Is there another street nearby that’s not zoned where you could park on Tuesdays?"  Honestly, I don’t know.  And I won’t find out.  I was parked 15 feet from my front door, and I got a ticket designed to keep commuters from parking all day in residential zones.

I’m going to contest the ticket.  I’m going to write my councilmember.  I don’t know if I’m adequately portraying how ridiculous this ticket is.  It means that I’m subject to a ticket, every Tuesday, unless I drive around and find some other street to park on that isn’t zoned. 

This isn’t over.  I will not pay this ticket.  If I can’t park on the street where I live, then there’s something deeply wrong with the system.

Posted in: complaint , dc , Harvard Street , parking

Another parking ticket to contest

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

DC is a little crazy with their parking tickets.  When I registered my car, I thought I would get a Zone 1 designation on my registration sticker.  The 1500 block of our street is Zone 1 parking.  Most of the surrounding streets are Zone 1.  But not my block.  So I didn’t get issued a zone designation - it says “No RPP”.  RPP stands for Residential Parking Permit.

This morning, I moved my car to the right side of the street for street cleaning on the left.  This afternoon, I got a parking ticket for failure to display an RPP.  I can’t display an f'ing RPP if I’m not issued one.  Are they telling me that, on Tuesdays, I just have to drive my car to work, and not return until I can park on the left side of the street?

This is ridiculous.  The DMV is closed now, but they will be hearing from me tomorrow.

I would rant some more, but I have to go pick up my wife.

Posted in: complaint , dc , parking , Stupid people

Leaning left vs. right

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

My wife accused me of being a Republican a little while back based on things I’ve written here. And after my last post, in which I didn’t exactly present a Democratic Senator in a totally positive light, I thought I might address that.

I’m not a Republican. I’m not a Democrat. I think both parties suck. However, I think I just can’t complain about the Republicans anymore. I did, a lot, and they still suck. I guess I kind of feel like the current crop of Republicans in office is a lost cause. They’re going to continue to do stupid and possibly illegal things, and there’s not much we can do about it.

_As an aside, can I say “the current crop is” and then “They are”? It seems wrong, but grammatically I’m not totally sure. I’m referring to the same group, but in a different way? Anyway, if it’s wrong as I’ve written it, I apologize. _

The Democrats should take it as a compliment when I complain about them. It means I haven’t given up on you them yet.

What that means is that the day you see me start complaining regularly about Libertarians or the Green Party or some other political party, that will be the day that I’ve given up on everyone.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

Legislating fairness

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Techdirt: Senator Really Does Want A Return Of The Fairness Doctrine

Senator Dianne Feinstein said this weekend that a legislative remedy may be needed to counter the influence of right-wing talk radio, which she blamed for stymieing attempts to bring about immigration reform.

Ask any parent - it’s impossible to make a rule that’s fair for everyone. If all parties involved aren’t interested in being fair about things, you’ll never get anywhere.

Of course, this isn’t really about fairness at all. This is about unfairness in the opposite direction. And, actually, Techdirt is either reporting stuff from elsewhere, or is maybe inferring a little extra malice in what Feinstein is saying. She doesn’t seem to be making this as black and white as is suggested.

My view here is that the proper way to combat excessive right-wing bias in talk radio is to get more excessive left-wing bias on talk radio. I mean, that seems pretty simple, right? I don’t think anyone is barring anyone from getting a radio show based on their political leanings. And if they are, there are probably already laws in place to take care of that.

When you have two sides competing, and one is dominating a space, and the other suggests legislating fairness, you have to wonder if things are really unfair as they are. I honestly can’t think of how radio stations could be legally keeping liberal views off the air. They can’t get together and make deals to make sure only conservatives have jobs. Maybe they can just refuse to hire liberals? I don’t know that liberals are a protected group under EEO laws. I would suspect that they aren’t.

NB:  The wife says, “There is no historical evidence of discrimination on the basis of one’s party affiliation, so they don’t qualify as a discrete and insular minority."  Hence, no EEO protection. 

However, that doesn’t mean that a group of concerned liberals (With backing from, say, concerned Senators) couldn’t start a radio station and be as left-wing as they want to be.

The other issue here, and I may be completely wrong, but isn’t Bush being uncharacteristically reasonable on the immigration debate? Aside from the ridiculous wall, hasn’t he been pushing a pretty moderate plan?

Posted in: complaint , uninformed ramblings

My wife, my accountant

Monday, June 25, 2007

And I thought I was just getting a lawyer when I got married.  Turns out my wife is an accountant, too.  When we were (Well, she was) doing our taxes, she discovered that I had failed to report some mortgage interest paid on my 2005 return.  So, she insisted that I re-file.  Or, rather, she re-filed, and made me sign it.

Today, I get a check from the IRS for $328.46.  $300 in taxes I paid and didn’t owe, and $28.46 in interest.

So, what should I do with it?  I figure it should be something nice for both of us.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Personal

Nice job, Apple store

Monday, June 25, 2007

Yesterday, my wife fried the power supply to her month-old MacBook.  I think it happened when she unplugged it to move from the living room to the dining room.  Today, I went in to the Pentagon City Apple store, where we bought the computer last month, and talked with a salesman there.  He checked the power supply on a store computer, checked our computer on a store power supply, determined that our power supply was, indeed, dead, and promptly gave me a new one.  No questions, no nothing.  Just gave me a new one.

Then he walked me through the process for transferring files from the old computer to the new, which we tried once unsuccessfully.  I’m going to try it again tonight.

So, I may not like Apple and their over-priced proprietary hardware and their snooty commercials and the f'ing iPhone.  But I’m quite impressed with the service at this Apple store.  They were busy, too.  It’s not like I caught a guy, bored in an empty store, and got a lot of attention.  And this will certainly be the first time an Apple has ever worked better after I touched it. 

Posted in: Anti complaint , Customer Service

Opening night at The Heights

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Last night was the grand opening of The Heights, a new restaurant a few blocks from us. The wife and I went with a friend of hers visiting for the weekend.

First of all, it was packed. We waited probably half an hour. It wasn’t too bad - we found a spot at the bar to wait. The staff all seemed a little nervous, but very friendly and attentive. The food was very good. The buffalo shrimp appetizer was very good, and my tilapia with rice was also very good. The wife tried their frozen mojito, which she liked. We had a caramel banana cake thing for dessert, which was quite nice.

The staff was a little overwhelming. We had at least 5 people bring us things or take things from our table. But the service was good, and everyone who did come to the table was very pleasant. It was a little warm in the restaurant.

I really liked the bathroom - nice stone tiles and funky orange walls. The finish on the construction left a little to be desired. However, they plainly aren’t quite finished with the construction. The floor of the entire restaurant is still bare concrete. So maybe they’ll polish off the bathroom soon.

Anyway, I’m glad to have them here in the neighborhood. And it will be really cool when they open up the outdoor patio, which I think will just about double the capacity.

Afterwards, we went up to the Marx Cafe in Mount Pleasant. That just might be my new favorite low-key bar. The place looks like a barn or something. Lots of exposed wood, as if it’s still being built. The wife’s friend said it looked kind of like a wine cellar - they have bottles over the bar on some kind of strange shelves.

The beer selection is odd but good.  They serve beers I’ve never heard of in glasses with the name of the beer on it.  The service was great. The waitress even laughed at a marginally funny comment I made, which is always nice.  There was a slightly obnoxious group next to us, but not too terrible.  And the music was fantastic.  Apparently the DJ for most of the night is only there once a month or so, but he played nothing I’d ever heard before, and nothing I didn’t like.  Not that I would go out and buy everything he played or anything like that.  But you know how the bar always plays some really horrific stuff at some point, like some Jane’s Addiction or some other intolerable crap?  This bar played none of that.  And they have a really interesting menu, although we didn’t try anything.  Maybe next time.

Anyway, I heartily recommend both.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , Things to do

Observations

Friday, June 22, 2007

I was just in the restroom at work, and a short, balding man came in.  He had made an attempt to hide the fact that he was balding by getting a really bad haircut and wearing an ugly shirt.  It didn’t work.

He tried to fix his hair, then walked out.  It was all I could do to resist telling him not to bother.

Posted in: Life

18% alcohol, 100% delicious

Friday, June 22, 2007

Raison D'Extra

We were at RFD last night, and I couldn’t resist the Dogfish Head Raison D'Extra. I probably should have resisted, but I didn’t. Now I’m paying for it.

Anyway, the beer is 18% alcohol. It cost $19.95 for a 12 ounce bottle. And it’s pretty good. It’s not something I would drink very often. It’s very sweet, a little bit in the wine direction but not too far.

And I was thinking - with that much alcohol, drinking one of those is more or less like drinking a six pack of Miller Lite.  Except you can be much more smug about it.

The waiter almost got his arm ripped off, though.  He actually tried to take the glass when there was still a swallow left.  Ordinarily, I probably would have let him go.  But that was like $4 worth of beer left.  So I punched him in the face.

Not really.  But you get the idea.

Posted in: Beer , dc

Why I complain

Thursday, June 21, 2007

I may have posted about this once before, so if you’ve heard it, you can just skip to the next paragraph.  A friend at work a few years ago, defending me to someone else, said that, while I complain a lot, it isn’t quite complaining.  It’s really just making conversation.

I’ve always been a big talker.  A perfect example is last Christmas, the first one I didn’t spend at home with my family.  I was with my in-laws instead.  My two younger siblings told me later that we had never realized that I started most of the family dinner conversations.  Apparently Christmas dinner was rather quiet without me.

Anyway, the thing I’m really bad at, and I think the reason that I complain a lot, is that I’m just awful at making small talk with people I don’t really know.  It’s hit home recently in my interactions with the people who live in my building, and the people who live next door.

Just this afternoon, I was sitting on the front steps after I went running, which I often do to kind of cool off gradually before I sit in the air conditioning.  A girl next door, who I’ve never met, came up the steps with her bike.  She said hello, and I said hello.  She asked, “How’s it going?”.  And I had absolutely no response.  Luckily for me, her bike had a flat tire, which I noticed, so I could ask about that.  Otherwise, I really have no idea what I would have said.

And I fear that people will think me unfriendly, or that I don’t want to get to know them.  I would like to get to know my neighbors.  I’ve met the people in my building, some more than others, and I’ve met a few people next door.  They all seem very nice.  But I can just never think of anything to say to people I don’t really know.

I’ve never really understood why.  I love to talk.  I talk at great length when I’m comfortable.  But when I’m not, I’m nearly mute.

Maybe there’s a class or something I could take.

Posted in: complaint , Personal

Im totally using this in my next performance review

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Why Less Brilliant Presidents Do Better

I’m sorry, boss, but I’m too smart to be a good manager.  Although I suppose that would probably backfire, as if we assume this is true, it follows that it’s extremely unlikely that I will get dumber and therefore improve my managerial skills.

However, when you have a sample size as small as the number of US Presidents (43?  Is that how many we’ve had?  I forget.  Less than 50, anyway), and you can list two exceptions - he mentions Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt - one starts to doubt the hypothesis.

Never mind how difficult it is to really measure intelligence.

Still, it’s an interesting thought, if not a new one.  And it doesn’t make me want to vote for the dumbest person running.

Posted in: Stupid people

A strange but compelling book

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

I hereby demand that all people who are good at math make the world free of illness. The rest of us will write you epic poems and staple them together into a booklet.

I tried out the Mount Pleasant branch of the DC public library the other day, and one of the books I picked up was Adverbs by Daniel Handler. I picked it up because, seriously, it had a very colorful cover. That’s how I often pick books at the library. It has worked surprisingly well so far. I didn’t realize this was the Lemony Snicket guy. I didn’t see that movie, and I don’t really know anything about the books. I’m not sure if knowing would have influenced my decision to read the book.

Anyway, I like it so far. It reminds me of Chuck Palahniuk, the guy who wrote Fight Club, except with a softer edge. Palahniuk likes to lead you in circles and then punch you in the gut. Handler leads you in circles and then kind of jabs you in the ribs, hard enough so you rub them, but it doesn’t really hurt.

It’s a little strange - each chapter is not exactly connected to the previous chapter, and he uses first-person narration that is not always the same person.  But it often seems as if it could be the same person.  Except the gender changes.

I’m only about 65 pages in, though, so I can’t give a full review. But I will when I finish it.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Book Review

Go ahead, shoot the messenger

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Techdirt: Tighter Lending Standards Make Credit-Piggybacking Services More Popular

This issue – whereby a person can “piggyback” on another’s credit report and gain benefit from it – is just one that’s fueling financial institutions' unhappiness with FICO scores, and the company behind the system, Fair Isaac, says it’s making changes to eliminate the positive influence of piggybacking.

Well, not exactly shoot the messenger, but I couldn’t think of a more accurate yet still catchy title.  What’s going on here is that people are using what amounts to a loophole in your FICO score that makes it beneficial to “rent” your good credit to some schmuck, allowing the schmuck to get a loan.

The proper response here, which is what Fair Isaac is doing, is to fix the FICO so that this doesn’t give the score lender a bump.  It will all but eliminate the market for this stuff because no one will want to do it anymore.

The improper response is what the lenders will probably do instead, which is to move away from the industry standard and make up their own numbers.

I did financial analysis at a very large company in the mortgage field for about a year just out of college, and one of the things I learned is that a FICO score is a remarkably good predictor of loan performance.  The company I worked for employed some very smart economists to try and come up with a better method (Or at least an in-house method so they could stop paying for FICO scores), and I don’t think they ever really improved on FICO.

And lately, lenders have shown that they really aren’t very good at predicting loan performance (See:  subprime mortgage market implosion).  So getting away from a score that may need a little tweaking, but has been really good for a long time, seems a little silly.

Posted in: complaint , Real Estate

I knew it was a good beer

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Above And Beyond: Sierra Nevada’s Cool, Refreshing Customer Service - Consumerist

Total Wine said they’d exchange the beer for different cases – (hopefully they’ll have Sierra Nevada from this year) and Sierra Nevada said that they would send a check to reimburse the full cost of the cases if Total Wine didn’t exchange the old beer!

Story from Consumerist of a couple who bought three cases of Sierra Nevada for their wedding (The wife and I had Sierra Nevada at our wedding, too - certainly it follows that the couple in this story are just good people.) that turned out to be quite old.

Now, I’m not sure why they went straight to the brewer, but they did, and Sierra Nevada made sure they had fresh, delicious beer for their wedding.  Well done, Sierra Nevada.  To be fair, Total Wine, the place they bought the beer, did exchange the old cases.  But you can never have too much good service.  I don’t think.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Beer

Our new neighborhood bar/restaurant

Monday, June 18, 2007

Logan @ the Heights

The Heights is the quintessential neighborhood restaurant: perfect for a quick weekday bite, a night out with friends, or a lazy weekend Brunch.

The Heights is opening this Friday, according to signs in the window. I’m excited. I know it’s not the neighborhood bar/restaurant that they’d like you to think it is. I mean, this is their fourth one, which is approaching chain-status. But Merkado is pretty good, and I’ve heard good things about the others, and this one is ours. Now we can tell those snooty Mount Pleasant jerks that they can keep their crappy bars.

I’m just kidding, really. The only Mount Pleasant bar I’ve been to is The Raven, and it’s a cool place. And aside from the occasional “your neighborhood has more crime than our neighborhood” potshots, which are probably deserved, I like the people I know in Mount Pleasant. To be fair, that’s really only one couple, but still.

Anyway, the wife has a friend in town Friday, so maybe we’ll stop by the opening. Or maybe they have other plans. I don’t really know. But you can be sure I’ll try out The Heights eventually. And no, I don’t plan on calling it Logan @ The Heights unless they call the one down there The Heights @ Logan.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , Things to do

Weekend in Philly

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Best idea ever

The wife and I spent the weekend in Philadelphia. I’ve been there a few times, but not recently, and not for long. Philly has kind of a bad reputation, but it doesn’t seem deserved. The city is clean, there’s lots to do, and we had a good time. Maybe if we stayed longer, we’d find some reason to hate the city, but I have no complaints.

As you can see from the photo, the Latham Hotel has a bottle opener in the bathroom. How many times have you been in a hotel, and had to open a beer by banging it on the door hinge? I mean, that happens to me ALL THE TIME. And it’s not a really good way to open a beer. The Latham takes care of that.

Anyway, we got to see a lot of the city. We met up with some friends, had a really great dinner at Amici Noi on Market Street, and walked around a lot. It was a really nice weekend.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Travel

A lot of you are interested in Vector Security

Friday, June 15, 2007

Looking at my Google Analytics stats, many people have come here looking for information about Vector Security. I really have only one complaint about them, and that is that it took two months and repeated requests from my wife to get them to send us the referral bonus check we earned when our upstairs neighbors had their system installed.

But the check arrived yesterday, so it was just an annoyance, not a serious problem. The alarm system has been perfect so far.

If anyone is interested in Vector, and wants to have a system installed, send me an email: Jon at complainthub dot com. I’ll be happy to refer you and wait another month or two for a check.

Posted in: dc , Vector Security

Maybe I should have said this before I did it

Thursday, June 14, 2007

I just installed a WordPress plugin that forwards the default WordPress RSS feeds to a brand new Feedburner RSS feed, which allows me to track not only hits to the site, but people who just read the RSS. Now, that may only be me, but now at least I’ll know.

Anyway, if you experience problems with the feed, let me know. It should be a transparent change for any of you subscribed to the feed.

Posted in: blogging , New!

I may be throwing in the towel

Thursday, June 14, 2007

I’m just not enjoying Script Frenzy. The initial fun of using Celtx is wearing off, and I’m really not having a whole lot of fun.

I think part of it is that I only know two people doing it this year, and one has already quit. And I haven’t paid much attention to the forums. And I’m a little behind, and going out of town this weekend, and that will put me even further behind.

The other thing is that doing this, and doing Nanowrimo, don’t inspire me to take the next step. It was cooler when I thought, “Hey, I’ll do this in a month, and then go on to write a whole novel, or a whole screenplay”. But it seems pretty clear that isn’t happening.

Maybe I’ll take the story from this year’s Script Frenzy, which is something I’ve been kicking around for years, and make it into a novel. Or maybe not.

Anyway, I haven’t officially quit yet, but it’s sure looking that way.

Posted in: Writing

Mmm, wine.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Finding Gems in the “Off” Vintages

Reading this site always makes me want to go buy wine.  And I do need to fill up our wine racks - currently we just have a few special bottles that we’re saving (Actually, that we’re scared to drink).  One of them is for our anniversary in August, and one of them is my favorite wine, a 2004 Gibson Wilfreda, that we bought on the honeymoon.  I think I’m afraid to drink it because I worry that it won’t be as good as I remember.

Anyway, one of these days reading Vinfolio might actually make me buy the wine, rather than just think about it.  I’m sure that would make them happy.  Maybe they can get me a deal on a case of Wilfreda …

I also have to give Mr. Moore credit for correctly using both “its” and “it’s” in the span of three words.  I’m always surprised at how often I see people get this wrong, and often in publications that should really know better.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Wine

OMG I have DC tags!

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Finally.  My car is registered in DC, complete with tags, until 2009.  I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about that any more.

My experience at the Georgetown DMV was pretty good.  I was there at 8:07, and they open at 8:15.  The line was longer than 95 M St.  All the employees I dealt with were exceptionally friendly and helpful.  The woman giving out numbers actually joked with me.  A woman waiting also loaned me a pen, which I had forgotten to bring.  One bit of advice - the Georgetown DMV has a bunch of clipboards to write on, but about three pens, so bring your own.  They also don’t validate parking, which was no problem for me, since I rode the bus.  But it might be a problem for other people who relish the idea of driving into Georgetown at 8AM.

I got my number at 8:33AM, and walked out the door with my tags at precisely 9:00.  Well done, Georgetown DMV.

I have to say, my experience with the DC DMV has been entirely pleasant.  Dealing with Capital One to get my title was a hassle, and there is still the matter of the $100 failure to register ticket that I have to contest, but the DMV has been very good.

And, just to top off a fabulous day of working from home, a little later I’m going to fish a stool sample out of the litter box and take it to the vet so we can try and determine if the cat’s recent behavior issues are medical or (As we suspect) psychological.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , Harvard Street

It happened again

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

The disaster magnet once again worked its magic. I went out back yesterday to retreive the trash can before someone stole it, and I saw a note on the disaster magnet. I suppose I was being nosy in going to look, but I couldn’t help it.

Someone had hit the car. Parked in the driveway. Who gets their car rear-ended while it’s parked in the driveway? The person left a note, but seriously.

Even funnier, perhaps, is that I went out to retrieve the trash can after the salesman who was supposed to meet me to talk about installing garage doors at the back of the driveway stood me up. We want to put in doors because our driveway is currently the only one without them, which means that everyone turns around in our driveway. And sometimes hit the cars parked there.

Anyway, there wasn’t a lot of damage (And the car still hadn’t been repaired from last time, so he can get it all taken care of at once, that lucky guy).  But it’s enough to send you to Zipcar.

Posted in: complaint , dc , Harvard Street

Whoa, there

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

What’s going on at Mount Vernon Square Metro?  I’ve been riding the Green line to there and picking up the Yellow line to get to Pentagon City since March.  Yesterday, the Green line train overshot its normal stopping point by about half a six-car train-length.  This wouldn’t have been such a big deal, except that I usually sit in one of the back two cars - they tend to be less crowded as everyone stuffs themselves into the middle few cars.

I refuse to run for a Metro (Which is probably a little silly, but I don’t care.), but I will walk briskly.  Which I did, and I made it before they closed the doors.

Then, this morning, the Green line train stopped at about that same spot, half a train-length past the normal spot.  The Yellow line picked up at the normal spot.

What is Metro trying to do?  I don’t appreciate it.  I’m a creature of habit, which includes standing in the same spot on the platform every day.  And I expect the train to cooperate.

Posted in: complaint , dc , Harvard Street , metro

Perhaps the biggest food surprise Ive had in a while

Monday, June 11, 2007

Salsa Walnut Meat recipe at Gone Raw

When served on a (non-raw, non-vegan) organic whole wheat tortilla, this “taco meat” is fantastic.  I figured it would be edible, but this was way beyond edible.  This was good enough to request again.

I’d like to find a substitute for the walnuts so my mom can try it.  No matter how good it is, her walnut allergies would probably prevent her from enjoying it.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Cooking , health

Weekend bus trauma

Monday, June 11, 2007

Well, trauma is perhaps too strong a word. But I did have a few “incidents” on the bus over the weekend.

First, on Friday, I was taking the bus down to the DC Improv to meet the wife and some friends. The bus driver decided that the light at Connecticut and Florida just north of Dupont didn’t really apply to him. A few cars thought that maybe it did, and registered their disagreement with their horns. No one was injured.

Then, on the way home from the 10K, we were on the same bus line, the 42, going north on Connecticut.  We were at the Q St. stop, and a gentleman in a large Range Rover decided that he wanted to pass the bus before he missed the light.  Unfortunately, his Range Rover was wider than the space between the bus and the Jersey wall.  Oops.  So he hit us.  I actually didn’t notice the impact, but the bus driver had to stop and call it in and wait for her supervisor or something.  So we walked the rest of the way home.

I was a little disappointed in the reaction of the passengers on the bus, some of whom expressed a lot of anger at the bus driver.  It wasn’t her fault that she had been rear-ended, or that she had to wait for permission to move the bus.  But try telling that to the angry people on the bus.

Anyway, I think the bus driver handled the whole thing well.  She called it in right away, then told the bus passengers what was going on.  She apologized for the inconvenience.  Not much more she could have done.

And riding the bus still beats driving in the city.

Posted in: complaint , dc , Safety

Crossed the 5000-word mark

Sunday, June 10, 2007

I’m at 5123 words of my screenplay.  Only about two days behind.  I kind of like the story.  It remains to be seen whether or not anyone else will.

Posted in: Writing

Lawyers Have Heart 10K

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Fistrock

I ran the Lawyers Have Heart 10K yesterday. It was much more miserably hot and humid than the weather forecast had suggested. But my time was 56:04, only a minute slower than my previous 10K, which I ran in much cooler weather.

This race was much more crowded than my other one. The first mile was tough - not only were we baking in the sun, but it was like driving in rush hour traffic. There was always a slower person in your way, or a faster person cutting you off. But it cleared up later on.

I wore my flag football jersey in honor of our end-of-the-season cookout later that day. You probably can’t read the back of the jersey, but the name is FISTROCK, which is a reference to the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode that lampooned the movie Space Mutiny. The jersey was cooler before BLASTBODY moved to San Fransisco. But it’s still cool. To me, at least.

Anyway, I had one moment during the race when I wasn’t sure I was going to finish. Have you ever had one of those where it’s quite clear that your internal temperature gauge is just about into the red? When your body sends a little message to your brain saying, “Hey, stupid, if you don’t cool us off pretty soon, we’re going to shut down.” I had less than a mile left, and I was again baking in the sun. But the feeling passed, and I finished the race. It helped that the last quarter mile was in the shade, downhill, with a breeze.

Posted in: dc , Harvard Street , health

At least its not a reality show

Friday, June 08, 2007

ABC.com: Fall Schedule - Cavemen

Basing the show on their popular GEICO “cavemen” commercials, Joe Lawson, Will Speck and Josh Gordon (Blades of Glory ) have created a hilarious and thought-provoking social commentary on race relations in today’s America.

I’m sorry, you lost me at “based on a commercial”.

Posted in: TV

There are no hot moms here

Friday, June 08, 2007

In June, I have 30 hits from people who have Googled “hotmoms” and found this post. Okay, fine, I know people look on the internet for porn. NB: There is no porn here. There is plenty of porn on the internet, and I don’t feel the need to contribute any more.

_Edit: I can’t believe no one caught that I wrote “don’t feel the need to contribute anymore” instead of “any more”. I certainly am not claiming to have previously contributed to the vast collection of porn on the internet. I guess my mom and my wife must not have read this post yet.  Both of them would have caught that. _

Anyway, what I find strange is that Google Analytics tells me that, of those 30 visits, two are RETURN visits. Now, I suppose it’s possible that the two returning visits are people who have otherwise seen the site, happened to be searching for “hotmoms”, and decided to see what Complaint Hub had to offer on the subject.

But I prefer to speculate wildly and assume that two people have searched for “hotmoms”, found my site, and then searched for it again and returned. I’m sure they were disappointed both times.

Posted in: blogging , Blogging

Woefully behind

Thursday, June 07, 2007

I have 2145 words done in my screenplay. I’m supposed to have 4669 done by midnight tonight. That puts me 2524 words behind schedule. But I’ve got nothing scheduled for this evening except writing and probably ordering sushi delivery, so I fully intend to do some catching up.

Edit: I’m at 2808 now. Still going, hopefully. The wife put on the NBA finals.

Posted in: Script Frenzy

The Republican debate

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Here are my notes from the debate. I watched about 2/3 before we were suddenly summoned to appear at Clyde’s in Gallery Place to hang out with a friend in town from NYC.

  1. Good for McCain being the only one with the courage to say that he doesn’t hate Mexicans. I mean, that English shouldn’t be the national language
  2. The Republican crowd applauded about 300 times as much as the Democrats.
  3. Lightning struck not once but three times while Guliani was speaking, interrupting the feed on his mic. A sign of something.
  4. The wife is proud of Guliani for sticking by his guns even if it kills him in the polls - that he’s personally against abortion, but thinks states should decide.
  5. Huckabee actually got up on stage and said he believes that God created the world.
  6. Wolf is not being equal in his time allotments - McCain, Romney, and Guliani get as much time as they want, the others get cut off.
  7. The wife really likes Ron Paul.
  8. Romney thinks that oil companies should use profits to reinvest in infrastructure, as if he as President should be able to tell private companies what to do with profits. That’s pretty insane.
  9. No one thinks gays and lesbians should be able to serve openly in the military. It boggles the mind who people DON’T want to allow to die for our country.
  10. Tommy Thompson made a funny joke about not sending Bush to the UN.
  11. Duncan Hunter is a coward and won’t answer a question about pardoning Scooter Libby.
  12. No one would pardon Libby “without an appeal process”, which is actually less insane than what Guliani and Romney had to say on the subject. Guliani thinks Libby’s sentence was way too harsh. I forget what Romney said, but it was equally insane.
  13. Ron Paul wants out of Iraq now, which is the first thing he’s said that I disagree with.
  14. Tommy Thompson has some good things to say about working for wellness before you’re sick to take some pressure off the health care system. You know the old saying about “An ounce of prevention … ” - well, he’d like to implement that with our healthcare system. I don’t imagine it’s quite that simple, but a good idea.
  15. It’s really too bad Ron Paul is unelectable. I like almost all of what he had to say, and he’s not nearly as crazy as the fringe Democratic candidates are.
  16. Romney speaks really well. A debate between him and Obama would be really fun to watch. Romney deflected a rather obnoxious but relevant question about religion pretty well.
Posted in: Politics

Sorry for the downtime

Monday, June 04, 2007

The main site, complainthub.com, and the site to submit your complaints, submissions.complainthub.com, have been down since this weekend.  Sorry about that.  My hosting company upgraded from Rails 1.1.6 to 1.2.3 and forgot to tell me.  Thanks to Mo for pointing it out.  No thanks to Dreamhost for not telling me.  Actually, they’re a pretty decent hosting company.  If anyone is looking for hosting, let me know, if I refer you I get money.

And the submission site is still down.  I don’t know why.  I’ll try and get that fixed ASAP.  And by ASAP, I mean when I get around to it.

Posted in: blogging , complaint , Computers

Shootings on Girard Street

Monday, June 04, 2007

Columbia Heights Shootings Cause Alarm - washingtonpost.com

“I’ve been living around here since I was in diapers,” said Chinata Nesbit, 21, who lived in an apartment across the hall from Terry. “It’s never been this bad.”

Well, I suppose it’s of some small comfort that this is the worst it’s been in 20 years - that suggests that we’re just going through a rough patch and it should get better. Or, maybe not. I don’t really know what I’d like to see done about it. I don’t know the best way to reduce violence. I don’t think that banning guns is the answer. There must be studies done on levels of violence before and after gun bans go into effect, and I’ll bet the change is not as drastic as people would like to think it is.

I’d like to see more police around.  I think foot patrols would be great.  I was talking to friends in Mount Pleasant, just a few blocks away, and they have police officers who are always around.  I think having a few cops who actually know residents on the street because they’re around all the time would have a much higher impact on the amount of violence.  It’s less flashy and more costly than banning guns, though.

Posted in: dc , Safety

My thoughts on the Democratic debate

Monday, June 04, 2007

Mike Gravel is an angry, angry man. I like that he’s passionate about what he believes in, but he needs to take a look at what happened to Howard Dean and tone it down a bit. He doesn’t have even Dean’s charisma - people aren’t going to forget his little outbursts. And he maybe needs to learn that not every issue is so black and white. There are subtleties to issues that he didn’t acknowledge. Not that it matters. He has no chance of winning, as evidenced by his seating position. He was off-camera in even most of the wide shots.

Also not going to win is Dennis Kucinich. His repeated insistence that his fellow debators could stop the Iraq war right now if they’d change political tactics was annoying. I am adamantly opposed to cutting off war funding. I know that something politically drastic has to be done to get Bush to listen to reason on the war, but cutting off funding is a really good way to get a lot of people, both American and Iraqi, killed. Like it or not, we stirred things up over there pretty badly, and I think we have a responsibility to the Iraqi people to stick around until it’s cleaned up.

Hillary Clinton was not as bad as I expected. She did spend too much time bashing Bush, though. We already know she doesn’t agree with Bush. It’s not like she was one of his advisors and needs to distance herself. Instead of rallying support, her bashing is going to look like cheap shots. I’m pretty tired of Bush-bashing. It’s not getting us anywhere. I mean, he’s a terrible President. He’s done some really awful things to the country. But I’m not really interested in hearing about it anymore. I want to hear how you’re going to fix it.

And that’s where Barack Obama comes in. Man, that guy sounded good up there. I keep saying that I need to do some research on him, because a friend insists he’s basically a socialist. I really want to support Obama, and I really need to find out if I can. He said all the right things. He’s got a really nice talent for complimenting someone at the same time he’s disagreeing with them.

I agreed with a lot of the things that were said on the debate. But then a few of them started talking about how we need to crack down on insurance company profits and oil company profits, and then they lost me. What better way to lose the socially-liberal, fiscally-conservative voters who really want to vote for a Democrat in 2008?

I also really hated the format of the debate. If Wolf Blitzer had asked them to raise their hands if they agreed with point X one more time, I would have lost it. I think the number of issues and the number of people were both much too high for a two hour debate. There were a few times where the question was specifically about semantics rather than real discussion of the issues.

Right now, I’d like to see Obama/Edwards for ‘08. I think the two of them were passing notes behind Hillary’s back, so maybe that’s what they’re planning on. I may change my mind as I learn more, but if the election were today, that’s who I would want on my ballot.

Posted in: uninformed ramblings

The perils of a transitional neighborhood

Sunday, June 03, 2007

I was in Maryland today visiting some good friends, and got home around 11:30PM to find the street one block over closed by police cars and crime scene tape. I’m not feeling terribly inclined to go investigate, but I’m curious what it is. I suppose I’ll have to find out in the morning.

Update: I hear from a Columbia Heights message board that our councilmember, Jim Graham, sent an email out. There was a shooting, one dead, one wounded.

Posted in: crime , dc , Safety

805 words

Saturday, June 02, 2007

It’s a little harder to rack up the word count when you’re writing a screenplay instead of a novel.  But I’ve got 805 words in my inaugural Script Frenzy effort, which is 138 more than my daily goal.  I still plan to do more writing tonight, because I expect to be busy all weekend, and I don’t want to go into Monday too far behind.

I kind of like the screenplay format.  I’m using Celtx, which I really like.  I don’t have anything to compare it to, so maybe it’s really a piece of crap, but I like it.  I’d recommend it.  It’s free, and it makes formatting a screenplay pretty easy.

I’m debating whether or not I want to share the screenplay here as I go.  Part of me wants to do it, and part of me is scared that people will read it and think that I’m crazy or something.

So I leave it to you, my loyal readers.  If I get three real, compelling reasons to post the screenplay as I write it, I’ll do it.  One reason per reader.

Posted in: Writing

More housing?

Friday, June 01, 2007

CJUF/Lowe Acquire Dupont Hilton for $290M

The company is also set to announce another DC deal in the coming weeks, CJUF managing partner Bobby Turner reveals: a $70-million mixed-use project in the Columbia Heights neighborhood. The residential component will have a significant affordable housing component and there will be retail on the ground floor.

Unfortunately, that’s all the information the article has about what’s going on in Columbia Heights. The rest of it is about the Dupont Hilton, which is of less interest to me.

Anyway, just what Columbia Heights needs - more housing! I like that they’re including affordable housing, although they probably had to, so it’s unlikely that we should give them credit for caring about the community. But as far as I know, the unfinished projects at the Metro - Kenyon Square and whatever the other one is called - are having trouble selling all the units, and it’s the same with Allegro further north. And I know some of the row-house-to-condo conversions that we looked at before we bought back in January are still on the market.

All of this suggests that a new housing development is not in anyone’s best interests. Now, CJUF undoubtedly knows something that I don’t, because they didn’t get to be a large investment fund by making dumb decisions. But I can’t imagine what they could know that goes against the indications that housing in Columbia Heights either is outpacing demand, or is stubbornly overpriced. Neither of these options make for a really profitable new housing development.

Posted in: dc , uninformed ramblings

Beautiful spam poetry

Thursday, May 31, 2007

I was searching through my Gmail spam folder, looking for names for the characters in my Script Frenzy screenplay, and I came across this surreal piece of art. I’m pretty sure that the sender, Rosanna RODGERS, didn’t intend for me to see the beauty in this piece (Which I reproduce nearly as she sent it, just with some line breaks to really give it some pop). She probably wanted me to buy generic Cialis or Tramadol or go see naked Russian teens or something.

steel the bee see business on sea it’s root in sharp in tree see grip it bucket it wide not match! stage but card see complete! moon but money it breath the left! sharp! thought be jump or person in warm it purpose but shock a liquid

approval see feeble be open may join on married in pencil some rub it’s pin be attention it kiss it’s credit! hope be thumb and behavior try harbour may door but straight error or glove in healthy not town on chief try design on medical be tray the angry the

bulb see heat on bath it’s leather be tired and hammer be pleasure some hammer be pot it jump some material! selection or complex , laugh try cough! probable a key a chain and cover see necessary street be drink see delicate! approval try train, knot it’s

I’m not a big fan of poetry, but in my book, this is right up there with Poe’s “The Raven”.

Posted in: Spam

Support the American Heart Association by running

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

LHH - Lawyers Have Heart

By participating in this event, you will not only help to strengthen your own heart through exercise, you will also help raise funds vital to the education programs and research of the AHA

On June 9th, I’m doing my second 10K.  The first one was a success.  This one is going to be hotter, and I’m going to the DC Improv the night before, so I should be all ready to run at 8 AM.  Then we have our flag football end-of-season barbeque.  Should be a good weekend.  I may sleep all day Sunday, though.

I have to wonder how much this race actually helps the American Heart Association.  It costs $30 to sign up.  I get a t-shirt.  They have to pay some people to run the event.  I can’t believe that any more than $5 per person actually goes to help the cause.

On the other hand, I’m really running this race for me.  If I want to help a charity, I’d rather just give them money.

Posted in: dc , Harvard Street , health

I just realized why I like this site

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Sabermetric Research: The large supply of tall people

But there’s a short supply of humans who are in the right tail of any and every normal distribution. Again, why should height be different? I see three ways height is different, and both of them work against Berri’s argument.

I’ve been reading the above blog ever since I came across it on the Numbers Guy blog at the WSJ.  This morning, I realized why I like it so much.  This guy takes two things I love, justice and files … I mean, statistics and complaining, and sticks them together.  He reads something, like a person blaming the competitive imbalance in basketball on the small supply of tall people, and he not only says, “Hey, you’re wrong” (Which I love to do), but then he goes on to give statistical analysis on WHY (Which I would do if I were a little more educated and motivated).

His analysis is pretty accessible, and it’s usually (Almost always, I guess) sports-related.

Anyway, I recommend the blog.  If you’ve ever listened to an argument and thought, “Hey, you’re wrong, but I can’t show you why”, you’ll enjoy reading.

Posted in: Anti complaint , numbers , sports

A really long walk

Monday, May 28, 2007

DSC_5755On Saturday, the wife wanted to go to Dumbarton Oaks to see the gardens. It was a nice day, so we hopped on the 42 bus down to Dupont Circle. The park is at 31st and R NW, so we figured we’d just walk down R, only about ten blocks.

Well, it appears we misread the map or something, because R doesn’t go all the way through. We hit Mass and headed north, past all the embassies, around the Naval Observatory, and finally into Georgetown. By this time we were hot, tired, and hungry, so we stopped for lunch at The Bean Counter on Wisconsin. I don’t know if it was just that the restaurant was air conditioned and we were starving, but that sandwich was delicious.  The service was good, too.

Then, we finally made it to the garden.  It’s a nice self-tour.  There’s a map, so the wife was happy.  They have a ton of roses, including the one up and to the right.

When we finally made it home, we determined (using Map My Run) that we’d walked about 5 and a half miles.  I think maybe next time we’ll take the bus a little closer to 31st and R.

Posted in: dc , Things to do

Not deleted

Monday, May 28, 2007

It was all Windows' fault.  Windows FTP seems to think that it shouldn’t notify me if I’m overwriting a .htaccess file.  So I overwrote one, and killed Typo (The blogging engine that I use for From Harvard Street).  It’s fixed now.

Also fixed - all the permalinks to Harvard Street posts now redirect to the corresponding pages at Complaint Hub.  So if you’ve linked to a post, the link still works, it just takes you to Complaint Hub instead.  I’m quite proud of myself.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Or, deleting a blog

Monday, May 28, 2007

From Harvard Street seems to be missing at the moment.  I’m working on it.  It’s late, though, so it will probably have to wait until tomorrow.  Sorry for the inconvenience.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Combining two sites

Monday, May 28, 2007

It turns out it was kind of silly for me to manage two blogs.  I mean, who needs two blogs?  So I’m combining them.  If you’re a regular reader of this blog and From Harvard Street, you’ll see some posts you may have read there show up here.  They should all be here, in fact.

All the comments from Harvard Street have not been transferred over.  They aren’t gone, though, and I may eventually transfer them.  If I get really motivated, I might even redirect the permalinks to Harvard Street posts so that they go to the corresponding Complaint Hub posts.

Anyway, if you have any questions, just ask.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Playing with themes

Sunday, May 27, 2007

If the site looks like crap, sorry.  If you’re using Internet Explorer, it’ll probably look really bad.  For that, I’m less sorry.  You shouldn’t be using that browser anyway.

I’m still working on it.  If I don’t get too distracted by Script Frenzy, I’ll finish fixing it pretty soon.

Posted in: blogging , Blogging

Raw breakfast

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Actually pretty good

As many of you may have, I saw Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen on BoingBoing the other day. Yesterday morning, we tried her recipe for a Spanish Breakfast Scramble.

I’ve never really tried raw vegan cooking. I mean, I’m certainly not going to start eating vegan exclusively, but that doesn’t mean I can’t learn anything from the diet.

Now, before I go any further, let me just make it clear that the wife cooked all this, not me. I just found the website. Well, BoingBoing found the website. Anyway.

So, we tried it yesterday, and it was quite good. “It was better than I thought it was going to be,” says the wife. I concur.

The fact that you have to watch the video on her website to learn how to prepare the meal is a pretty annoying way of encouraging you to buy her book, but I suppose I understand. As a result of this, I’ve done some quick Googling for other raw vegan recipes. Much of what I’ve found is buried in self-righteous crap - “Oh, you aren’t a raw vegan? You probably kick puppies too.” But I’ll keep looking.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Yay DMV! Boo Officer Key.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Now, I’m sure Officer Key is just doing his/her job. But that doesn’t mean I appreciate the parking parking ticket I got this morning. $100. Failure to register the car in DC. The policewoman at the station on V St. said my guest parking permit should be all I need. Apparently she’s a liar. On the bright side, however, I now have official DMV-issued temporary tags. I made it from Pentagon City to Columbia Heights (via Metro) to 95 M St SW (via car), got my tags, back to Columbia Heights, put them on, and back to Pentagon City in three hours flat.

That’s two trips to the DMV at 95 M St SW, and two great experiences. Yes, they gave me dirty looks because I haven’t registered the car in time. But I didn’t wait long, and they took care of my problem for another 45 days. By then I’ll have my title, and I’ll be able to get real tags.

I really can’t say enough about how the DMV has exceeded my expectations. True, my expectations were pretty low. And I don’t particularly appreciate the $100 ticket (Not that the DMV gave me that, but they played their role). But I was expecting at least the fourth or fifth circle of Hell when I walked in to the DC DMV, and I got quick and efficient service. The lady at the metal detector even complimented my hemp messenger bag as she searched it.

Well, I guess I can say enough about the DMV. I’m done now.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Dinner with the wife out of town

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Steak, fries, beer The wife is in Vegas for work, so I’m left on my own until Thursday. Last night, I cooked a frozen pizza for dinner, but tonight, I thought I’d do something a little nicer. When I was in college and lived near my paternal grandmother, she used to cook me dinner sometimes. It was nearly always the same thing. Steak, steak fries, and peas. She always had Coke to drink, and always had something for dessert. Here I’ve substituted a Red Hook Long Hammer IPA for the Coke, and I was too lazy to cook the peas, but the rest of the dinner is all there.

I made a pretty big greasy mess of the stove, and I overcooked the steak, but it was immensely satisfying nonetheless. The wife, apparently, is going to a sushi buffet with some coworkers tonight, and ordinarily I would be jealous. But not tonight.

I do miss the wife, but she’ll be back soon, and I also appreciate the time alone. The cat and I are hanging out (she was helping me cook. And by “helping me cook” I mean “poking around in the trash and sniffing the bit of leftover gristle in there”), watching some tv, and enjoying our freedom.

You can see the rest of the pictures of dinner here.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Life

No, no, dont kill the infidels

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

I mentioned a book I’m reading earlier. I said I was “looking forward to reading [the book] and understanding a little more about [Islam] and the culture behind it”. Sounds like a good idea, right? Islam has gotten a pretty bad rap lately because of a small but difficult-to-ignore minority, and I feel like I know nothing about the religion and the culture.

Well, it turns out I picked the wrong book. I mean, Robert Payne’s “The History of Islam” is an interesting read. But the guy makes absolutely no distinction between “This is an event which many historians agree actually happened” and “This is a conversation Muhammad had with the angel Gabriel”. None. Both are presented as fact.

The first time I really got the feeling that Robert Payne was a little wacko was page 32.

Soon there came another revelation: it was right and proper for the faithful to kill the infidels.

What? Kill the infidels? There is absolutely nothing in this book between “There is one God, and Muhammad is spreading his word” and “The faithful should kill the infidels”. I’m just not buying that. No one in their right mind looks at that and thinks, “Yeah, that’s cool.”

Later on, in the chapter on the Caliphs of Damascus, he tells of Sulayman, a guy who loved to eat. Maybe a little too much.

He posessed, like many enormously fat people, a steady driving intelligence.

Okay, that’s it. I’m going to finish this book, but I’m going to read it as what it is - a work of historical fiction. I still need a book on Islam. The real Islam. Real information on the history of the religion and the culture, not these fairy tales about decapitations and visions of angels.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Time to give Al Gore a hard time again

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Boing Boing: Al Gore’s impressively messy office

It won’t be the first time, nor the last, that I’ll complain about Al Gore.  I’m still angry that he and his advisors weren’t able to win a very, very winnable election against an opponent who has done very, very terrible things to our country.

I am not impressed with Al Gore’s messy office.  Yes, I know that they say really smart people are often messy.  I don’t care.  I’m not here to debate his IQ.  I am here to debate his dedication to his cause.  Does the man who is becoming synonymous with saving the environment really need three monitors and a television running?  Does he really need hard copies of all those books and papers?  And why not a reusable dry-erase board?

This is why you lost, Al.  On the rare occasions when you have a message, you can’t stick with it.

I’m not really sure why Al Gore pisses me off so much.  Maybe I just need a nap.

Posted in: complaint , Wind kissing

Hello, readers

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Dear Wonkette readers:

Uh… hey. How’s it going? I figure since (with three links since May 3rd) you all make up over 96% of my traffic in the last thirty days, I should say hello.

So, hello. I hope you’re enjoying it here.

I’m not exactly sure why I’ve been linked three times this month. It’s certainly nice to have people reading what I’m writing. My return traffic hasn’t gone up all that much, though, so either I’m not keeping your interest, or you’re all using RSS readers, which I’m not tracking.

I really have no idea how I could be failing to keep your interest, though. I mean, who can resist listening to me complain about owning a car in the city? You should all be riveted. And look out - later this week or early next, I expect to make a return trip to the DMV to try and get temporary tags while I wait for my title to arrive. I know you’re just shaking in anticipation, but you’re going to have to wait.

Posted in: Harvard Street

A complaint about me

Monday, May 21, 2007

Yeah, I know, if I complain too much about me, it will create a self-referential vortex and suck everything in the Universe into a black hole of complainingness.  But I had to share this.

I’ve probably complained about my computer before.  A quick search turns up nothing, but I must have mentioned the utter hatred I have for my Dell laptop.  I had a Dell desktop in college that was great.  I used it for years.  Then I bought an Inspiron 9100 that has been nothing but trouble.  The fan runs all the time.  The power supply is almost as big as my cat.  The DVD-RW broke.  It’s slow and clunky and just generally irritating.

This morning, I took off some panels on the bottom, looking for the memory sticks.  I wanted to see if I could buy a cheap stick of 512 MB and speed the stupid thing up, or if I’d have to replace the 256 MB sticks in there already.  Sure enough, the computer has two slots and two 256s.  Not surprising.

But the first panel I pulled off housed a fan.  It looked dusty, so I pulled it out to clean it off.  Imagine my surprise (Although, truthfully, I shouldn’t have been surprised, and this is why the complaint is about me) when the vent between the fan and the outside world was completely clogged with dust.  I don’t mean it was a little dirty.  I mean it was blocked.  If that vent was the only source of air in the room you were in, you’d die.

The fan on the other side of the computer was in the same condition.  I cleaned out the dust, restarted the computer, and voila!  It’s quiet again.  And it runs faster.  Not as fast as I’d like, but nearly as fast as a P4 3.2 gig processor with 512 MB of RAM can be expected to run.

So, now I feel a bit dumb.  Here I’ve been complaining about how crappy my computer is, and all it really needed for a significant performance boost was a quick cleaning.

I’m sorry, Dell.  You probably only deserve 40-60% of the hatred I throw your way.  If the computer continues to perform adequately, I might even take you off the Never Buy List.

Posted in: complaint , Me

Disaster magnet

Monday, May 21, 2007

The guy who lives upstairs in my building must be protecting my car from harm. Since moving into the building in January, he’s had his convertible top cut. He had a window broken. He’s been ticketed numerous times, and towed at least twice. And last night, a hit-and-run left the whole side of his car smashed.

Now, some might argue that he has a parking spot in back that he doesn’t always use. Some would probably have a point. But I like to think that his car is a little magic talisman that attracts minor disaster, leaving my car protected from all evil. Well, I have had a few bumper taps from people parking. But that’s an accepted part of living in the city.

I worry about what’s going to happen when the new condos at the Columbia Heights Metro station open up. It’s already crowded here, and that’s undoubtedly going to make parking a nightmare. Zipcar gets more appealing every day.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Capital One fouls off strike three to stay alive

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Capital One may have saved themselves. I called on Friday to find out if they had started the process of sending my title. The first person I spoke to didn’t know much, but eventually I was transferred to a woman in the titling department. Seems to make sense, since I was, in fact, calling about my title.

She gave me the usual, “Oh, it’s going to take three weeks” speech that I’ve heard before. But then she asked if I’d like a request for temporary registration or something like that. I’ve forgotten exactly what she said, but I have it written down at work. She told me they could send that out in 72 hours, and that would let me get some sort of temporary registration so I don’t get ticketed.

Now, I’m not sure why no one told me this the first time I called. Well, the first time I called they thought they’d send the actual title in 72 hours, so maybe that’s why they didn’t share this option. But certainly the person I talked to last week could have offered this. And it remains to be seen whether the DMV will accept this. It was already 3:30 PM when I found this out, and I figured that the DMV phone line would be hopeless at that hour on a Friday. But first thing Monday I’m going to find out if this will help me. If so, Capital One may safely reach base this time, but not without a stern look from the manager.

Posted in: Harvard Street

My motto for life

Friday, May 18, 2007

xkcd - A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language - By Randall Munroe

The world is so complicated - the more I learn, the less clear anything gets.

I love xkcd.  Three times a week, this guy makes me laugh.  You know when someone makes a comment about something, and you hear it, and you think, “OMFG, that is EXACTLY the way I feel, but I’ve never been able to put it into words!”?

Well, I get that feeling reading xkcd at least once a week.  If you are not reading this webcomic regularly, you are not truly an internet geek.  You probably are also not prepared in the event of a velociraptor attack.  Remember, they do not know fear.

Posted in: Anti complaint , linux , nerd

A quick question

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Someone out there keeps coming here by Googling “tilapia” within complainthub.com.  I know you’re in California, whoever you are.  Do you want a tilapia recipe?  I have a few.  I’m happy to share.  And may I suggest a site such as del.icio.us for your bookmarking pleasure?  It’s easier than doing the same, tired Google search 14 times in the past 30 days.

Who are you?  Do I know you?  Why are you fascinated with tilapia?

Posted in: weird

Vector Security - still cool

Thursday, May 17, 2007

A comment on this post, wondering how I liked our Vector security system, reminded me that I said I’d update everyone with a review after we’d had it for a bit. I suspect the guy who left the comment works for Vector, but that’s okay. He didn’t try and flood my site with spam or anything, so I think the comment is acceptable. Anyway, we have no complaints. We haven’t asked much of the system, and we haven’t had an alarm, but the system has never done anything it wasn’t supposed to do, nothing has broken, nothing has malfunctioned. I suppose the real test is what happens if someone tries to break in, or if we accidentally set off the alarm. Luckily, neither of those things have happened. So, after almost two months, I would still recommend Vector Security. I’d recommend them even more if they got around to sending us our referral bonus since some of our upstairs neighbors signed up on our recommendation. Edit to add: I’ve disabled the comments on this post. I’m not really comfortable hosting this discussion, so I’m not going to allow it to go any further. I still have had a fine experience with Vector, but others clearly haven’t. If you’re considering them, I recommend you do a little research about your local office and see if they’re a good fit for you.

Posted in: Vector Security

Mexico, brothers-in-law, school

Thursday, May 17, 2007

It appears my brother-in-law (one of them, anyway) is back in Mexico City. You can tell this because he’s blogging again. He goes down there to study atmospheric chemistry, but spends all his time talking about Mexican facial hair.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I mean, I’m not sure I’d read his blog if it were primarily about atmospheric chemistry. Not because I don’t think it’s important, but because I know nothing about it. Complaining about the DMV is really more my speed. And something I am intimately familiar with.

Although, whenever I talk to people with post-graduate degrees (Which my wife’s family has about a million of) I start thinking I should go back to school. I’m not sure it makes a whole lot of sense for me, though. I have a B.A. in math, and all my professors always encouraged us to go on to grad school. But while I enjoy learning, I was never a particularly good student. I did well here and there when I really got into a class or two, but I was never the type to do those things that you need to do to succeed in school, like my homework. I got away with it for a while. My ninth-grade Spanish teacher graded us ¼ each on homework, participation, tests, and quizzes. My test and quiz average was about 98% (It may have been higher - I think she gave a lot of extra credit, and I knew the Spanish pretty well), and my homework and participation average was about 40%, so she gave me C’s. She even kept me after class once to give me a speech to the effect of, “You know the Spanish. If you would put forth even a minimum effort to actually do the work assigned, you’d be getting A’s.” It didn’t work.

So, I generally ignore the urges to go to grad school, and they go away. Maybe I’ll go get a PHD in something weird when I retire. I think that would be fun. I would definitely call my professors “Sonny” and refer to my classmates as “whippersnappers”.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Just stop drinking the water

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Does your office have a water dispenser that takes one of those giant jugs of water?  The kind where you have to take the top off the jug, lift it up, and flip it over to refill the dispenser?  Our office does.  I’ve been here not quite two months and I’ve refilled the dispenser about five times.  I know I’m not drinking that much water.  Plainly people are choosing to not get water rather than refill it.

I understand it’s tough to refill.  But I can do it, and therefore most of the rest of the office should be able to do it, also.

Honestly, a better solution would be what we had at my old office, which is a filter for tap water.  That would solve this problem, and be better for the environment.

But, since that isn’t going to happen, it would be really cool if the other people in the office would just do their share of the refilling.

Posted in: complaint , Work

Strike two already

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

I called Capital One again today to make sure someone got the fax. Apparently the company that deals with titling for Capital One is on the West Coast, and no one is answering the phone yet. The CSR I spoke to was a little snotty with me. It’s not my fault that, while the first person I spoke to two weeks ago said the title would be mailed in 72 hours, this one told me that Capital One doesn’t even have a record of my request for 72 hours, and the whole process takes three weeks. So, even if I had started this process the day we moved, I’d barely have enough time to register the car in DC within the 30-day period that DC requires.

It’s more trouble than it’s worth to refinance my car loan through someone else, but this is likely the last time I deal with Capital One. The process to get the Blank Check loan was great, and they gave me a better rate than the dealership could, but once they had the loan, they haven’t been terribly helpful.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Thats one strike, Capital One

Monday, May 14, 2007

Capital One is stupid. Because the DC DMV is totally insane and requires that the original title to a car be sent to them before they will allow you to register it, I called Capital One, who hold the lein on my car. I asked them to send the title to the DC DMV. They said, “Sure. We’ll send it within 72 hours.” I thought, “Great. Now I can register my car and not get a ticket.”

It wasn’t great. About a week and a half goes by, and the DMV still doesn’t have my title. I called Capital One again. I got a very different story this time. “Oh, you have an electronic title, you have to fax us the form from the DMV.”

What?

I love when some CSR tells you, “Oh, you are in this situation, therefore you have to jump through this hoop”, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and aren’t you stupid for not knowing. Even better is that they didn’t bother to tell me that they weren’t going to send the title without the faxed form. Never mind that they have contact information for me - they sure find me when they want to try and sell me something. They just figured that I’d notice eventually.

So I’m waiting some more. Hopefully my wife will be able to bat her eyelashes at the nice police officers down at the station on V St. and get me another temporary parking permit. I have faith in her. And I’m going to call Capital One tomorrow and make sure they got my fax. I asked them to expedite it because they already screwed it up. I can’t imagine that they’ll listen, but there’s always hope.

Posted in: Harvard Street

No one told me it was almost June

Thursday, May 10, 2007

I just realized last night that Script Frenzy is only 21 days away.  That doesn’t give me much time to learn how to write a screenplay.

Posted in: Writing

Local Nanowrimo participants?

Thursday, May 10, 2007

I just realized that the movie script version of National Novel Writing Month is kicking off its inaugural session in 21 days.

Since last year’s Nano ended, I’ve moved from Northern Virginia to DC, which means that have a whole new group of fellow participants to not go out and meet.

Is there an active group of Columbia Heights (and nearby areas) Nanoers who plan to do Script Frenzy?

Posted in: Harvard Street

Youre a pain, Cingular

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

I’ve been having some problems at work.  It’s a really long story that I won’t go into because it’s not that interesting, but the end result is that I need wireless internet access for my work computer.  I did some brief research, and decided that online reviews suggest that Sprint has the best internet service.  Corporate tech support vetoed Sprint.  “We would prefer not to use Sprint”, they said.  Whatever.  Verizon was pretty expensive, and they have this really cool reputation for selling “unlimited” access and then cutting off service for people who use too much bandwidth.  Plus they’re trying to kill Vonage over some ridiculous patents (Search Techdirt if you want more info), which makes me salty.

Anyway, we went with Cingular.  The only other option was TMobile, and everything I’ve ever heard about them suggests that they are the Hyundai of mobile phone providers.

The Cingular card has been basically unusable.  I tried to download a large text file today and the connection cut out.  I tried to remote login to our server back at the main office to tweak some settings and the connection cut out.  I can’t talk to my wife on GTalk because it keeps signing me in and out.

To top it off, I need the wireless number attached to the card to even be allowed to speak to tech support.  I don’t have that because I didn’t buy the card, work did.  And work tech support took the day off today or something, so I couldn’t get the number I need.

In any event, I have my work laptop at home, and I’m seriously considering doing some work from here, where I have a reasonable internet connection.  But we’re going to have to figure this out, because I can’t work from home all the time (Not that I would mind).

So, Cingular, your tech support will get its chance to try and help me, but if you tell me to reinstall the connection software, I will seriously come to your house and do something really awful, like use your restroom and leave the toilet seat up.

Posted in: complaint , Work

A good habit

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

I don’t like to throw away food. I mean, who does? But sometimes you’re left with some kind of random stuff in the fridge, and you don’t feel like going to the store, but you really would like some dinner. What do you do?

Well, if you’re me, today, you order pizza.

Actually, I’m just kidding. What you’d do, if you were me this evening, is go to Hi Market and buy a six-pack of Sierra Nevada, two Vitamin Water XXX’s (Because you’ve never seen that flavor - it’s all rich in antioxidants and stuff), and some corn tortillas. Then you come home and wait for your wife to get home from happy hour. Late, as usual. And her cell phone died over the weekend, and you haven’t replaced it yet, so she couldn’t let you know. It’s okay, though. You just naturally assumed that she’d be late, and it didn’t bother you that much.

Next, you take the leftover onions and green pepper from making veggie burgers the other night. You saute them in some organic canola oil because you just ran out of organic olive oil over the weekend. Then you add some Quorn fake chicken, the spicy black bean salsa you made last week to serve with fish, and serve in the tortillas with some rice.

Your wife might then have to add the tail ends of two bottles of store-bought salsa and a bottle of picante sauce because it’s a little dry, but luckily that’s not enough to give her credit for cooking, so she still has to clean up.

You might later have to do some work, because you’ve been spending a lot of the work day checking your site traffic after not one but two links from Wonkette this week (A slow week, you guess. You swear you’re not paying anyone on staff there. Really.).

Anyway, that’s what you’d do if you were me.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Are you kidding me? The trash cans?

Monday, May 07, 2007

Who steals a trash can? My wife tells me they’re kind of pricey, but seriously. I’m still hoping that someone in the building will offer an explanation, but I really can’t imagine what explanation there could be. I put the cans out at the end of the driveway last night around 10pm. At 6pm today, they were gone. I don’t know what happened in the meantime. Perhaps one of the building residents who parks out back can tell me the last time they were seen, but they haven’t responded to my email yet.

What can we do about this? I don’t think there’s any way to secure the cans and still leave them free enough for the garbage men to pick them up. We can put our address in big numbers on the side, but I don’t think that will be terribly effective.

To whoever has our trash cans: I hope you enjoy them. I hope, very soon, you accidentally place something very dear to you in one of them. I hope you then realize that you’ve done this about an hour after the bins are picked up. To quote my 6th grade math teacher in a moment near nervous breakdown (It wasn’t my fault, it was Lucas'), “Karate Kid says, ‘What goes around comes around’.” I’m not sure he really said that, but it’s true nevertheless.

Posted in: Harvard Street

About nothing in particular

Monday, May 07, 2007

The Metro was empty this morning. Is there some holiday I don’t know about?

It still amazes me how different a city neighborhood is from a suburb neighborhood. I lived in my condo in Falls Church, VA, for two years. The only neighbor I spoke to more than once was the guy two doors down who signed for my vaccuum cleaner, and the women one floor down because the seal on my toilet broke and started leaking into their ceiling.

Now, I’ve been in the city for about two months. I’ve met a few of the people next door. Someone who lives down the street contacted me through Flickr to welcome me to the neighborhood. And I know everyone in my building, although that’s partly because of the condo association meetings.

I find myself feeling very smug about moving into the city. Walking to the neighborhood market, hopping on the bus to meet the wife for happy hour, listening to people talk through the open screen to the cat sitting in the windowsill …

In any event, I’m very happy with our decision to move. I’m glad we decided that we couldn’t afford anything we liked in Ballston and Clarendon.

I realize that this is a little rambling, and I’m not sure I ever really had a point. Maybe I’m just confused because it’s Monday morning and I’m not actually in a terrible mood. There’s probably a full moon or something tomorrow.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Now Im a donor and an independent

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

I got my DC license today. It was a pretty painless experience, contrary to what I’d heard about the DC DMV.

I had two choices to make that I had totally forgotten about. No, not whether or not to lie about my weight. I’ve been losing weight, and last I checked I was under 200 pounds, so I’m good with my real weight. The questions were my political party and whether or not I wanted to be a donor.

First, the donor question. I’ve never been one. It kinda creeps me out. I mean, I’m not so paranoid that I think the paramedics are going to let me die so some adorable little kid can have my liver. And I do, on some level, like the idea of saving some lives with my body parts after I don’t really need them anymore.

But I also like to think of myself as solid all the way through. I don’t like the idea of veins and organs and whatnot. Frankly, it makes me queasy. I nearly failed biology in high school because of it. Or maybe it was because I was lazy and bored in class. Whatever. The point here is that I don’t like thinking about my organs or what’s going to happen to them.

However, as I was filling out the form, I decided that my desire to help others outweighed my queasiness at checking “Yes” on the donor section. So I’m a donor now. I’ll try and take care of my organs. Someone might need them one day.

I also decided to register to vote in DC as an independent. I know that means I can’t vote in the primary, and that pains me a little. I know that I don’t get to vote on a lot living here, and I shouldn’t be voluntarily giving up opportunities. But I just couldn’t bring myself to register with a party. I might change my mind if there’s an important primary, but right now I can’t do it.

I was a Democrat when I was little because my parents were. I had a Dukakis sticker on my lunchbox in middle school. I didn’t really know what that meant. I know that one of the guys in my class who had Republican parents gave me a lot of crap about it. Then, in college, I was a Republican, probably because a bunch of my friends were, and it seemed like a good idea. I really do agree with a lot of the Republican ideals. Not that the current crop of Republicans demonstrates any of those ideals, but that’s not the point.

The point is that I don’t see either the Democrats or the Republicans working for the people. Their first responsibility is to the party, and I can’t get behind that. Do people really go into politics thinking, “I really love the RNC. I’m going to dedicate my life to increasing their fundraising power”? I can’t imagine they do, because I like to have a little more faith in human nature than that.

So I’m an independent and a donor.  I’m pretty happy with that.

Posted in: dc , Politics

DMV in SouthWEST - Not so bad

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

I’ve heard many, many horror stories about the DC DMV. In fact, I’ve heard nothing good about it. So imagine my surprise when I got to the DMV on M St SW this morning, just as they opened, and got my brand new DC driver’s license in about a half an hour.

The metal detectors at the door were a little unexpected, but the rest of the experience was totally pleasant. The staff was, without exception, pleasant and efficient. I have had equivalently nice DMV experiences in Maryland and Virginia, but never better than what I had this morning.

So, kudos to you, M St SW DMV. You exceeded all my expectations this morning, and I appreciate it.

The real test will be when I get back from my friends' wedding this weekend and try to get my car registered in DC. I’ll be at the Georgetown DMV for that one, because I’ve heard it’s the nicest. I’ll report back after that experience.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Featured Complaint of the Week

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Complaint: Dumbass Major League Baseball

There is no reason to freaking block a game because it’s on ESPN. IDIOTS!

So, one of my more obnoxious friends has been badgering me to upgrade the Your Complaints section of Complaint Hub for a while.  I haven’t done it because I’m lazy.  He wants to be able to reply to complaints.  I’ve told him to go to Ventbox, but he ignores me.

One of these days I’ll get around to it.  Probably not this week.  But one of these days.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , Your complaints

Come back soon, Eastern Market

Monday, April 30, 2007

Washington Post: Eastern Market: What We’ve Lost

It’s all over the news, so you’ve likely heard, but Eastern Market burned down last night. I’m very glad that I finally made it out there for the first time a few weeks ago. I don’t think I could hope to retain my DC resident status, parking tickets notwithstanding, if I had never been to Eastern Market.

My fear now is that it won’t be rebuilt without some kind of “anchor store”, like a chain grocery or a Starbucks. That would certainly ruin some of the feel of the market. I can’t claim to be a regular visitor, or claim any nostalgia at the market being part of my life, so it’s hard for me to talk about the feel of the market. But even my one visit was nice, and I can’t imagine it being reborn as something like Dean and Delucca in Georgetown.

Posted in: Harvard Street

I realized something today

Sunday, April 29, 2007

This may be obvious, but it just occured to me this afternoon.  The wife and I were dropping her car off at my grandmother’s to avoid the wrath of DC parking officials who don’t like people who “forget” to register their car in the District when they move there.  We’re selling the car, so it doesn’t make sense to title it in DC.  Anyway, we stayed to chat, and the topic of talking on the phone with computers came up.  The phone had rung, and I answered it.  It was someone wanting me to take a survey.  I declined, since it would be rude to leave my wife and grandmother.

In any event, we talked a bit about talking on the phone with computers, and how voice recognition has come a long way, but that it’s often difficult to get a real person on the phone when you need one.

I realized why this irritates me so much.  First, it irritates me because, in the grand scheme of things, it’s just a mild annoyance, which means it’s more likely to get under my skin.  But the real reason it drives me up the wall is that anything a computer voice can do on the phone, I’ve probably already tried to do on the company’s website.  I don’t call my bank to check my balance or see the last three debits from my account.  I call because I have a weird question that a computer isn’t going to understand.

There should be special customer service lines for the technologically-adept.  I’m willing to promise (And actually mean it) that I’ve made every reasonable effort to solve my problem on your website before calling you.  In return, you promise to actually have a real person answer the phone when I call.  I’m willing to answer two questions to a computer for call routing purposes, but that’s all.  No series of menus that never seem to quite have the option I need.

I suspect that things will go this way.  As more and more people grow up with the internet, more and more people will turn to the computer before the phone.  And as websites get better, the number of people who need to actually call a company for customer service will go down.  Then it may make sense to have direct lines answered by people because the only problems that will actually be addressed by phone are the ones that really do require human intelligence.

Of course, that’ll probably happen right about the same time that we figure out real artificial intelligence, and that will change all of customer service.  But that could be cool, too.

Posted in: complaint , Computers

On Blogging

Friday, April 27, 2007

I feel like I’ve been neglecting this blog lately.  That’s probably because I’ve been getting more traffic to From Harvard Street, and that makes blogging more interesting.  It’s always nice to have people reading your stuff, and maybe doing some commenting.  Harvard Street is tied to a location, and right next door to the 2nd “bloggiest” neighborhood in the country according to outside.in, and so there are tons of people looking for local DC blogs.  All this blog has going for it is me bitching about things.

As a brief aside, I cooked a delicious dinner tonight.  Tilapia sauteed with some olive oil and garlic, a little pepper and oregano, served on top of homemade black bean salsa, with steamed cauliflower on the side (The wife LOVES cauliflower).  We had a really nice bottle of wine that she bought me for Christmas, and we’ve been enjoying the nice weather with all the windows open.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking about consolidating the two blogs.  Mostly I’ve been using this one for general thoughts, and the Harvard Street blog for things related to DC.  I’m not sure if it really makes sense to keep them separate.  On the other hand, it’s probably a huge pain to take a wordpress blog and a typo blog and combine them.  I’m sure there’s a tutorial somewhere, but I’m also sure I don’t feel like doing it.

So, as usual, I’m rambling.  To summarize, the additional traffic I’ve been getting at the other blog has made me focus more on it than this one, and I’m not sure how I feel about that.  Thanks for reading, though.

Posted in: Anti complaint , blogging , Life

Go see this play

Friday, April 27, 2007

The Rorschach Theatre Blog: Political

This is not a show about two people fighting for two hours. There are very real laughs and tears. There is sex and hunger and all the colors of the human condition.

I think that does a pretty good job of summing up the play we saw last night as part of my birthday presents from my wife. References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot was written by the guy who wrote the screenplay for The Motorcycle Diaries. And The Rorschach Theatre is literally right around the corner from our place, tucked inside a little church. I would describe the theater itself as “very intimate”. There are two rows of folding chairs on either side of the stage, room for maybe 70 people.

I was pleasantly surprised by the production quality and the acting. I thought it might tend to the amateurish side, since this is a funky little theater in a church. Yes, I know I’m switching between “theater” and “theatre”. The proper name has the “re”, but I don’t spell the word like that.

Anyway, the acting was anything but amateurish. It’s a very emotional and sexually-charged play, typical of Spanish magic realism, and I thought the acting was great. The set was cool. They did a nice job of working with the space limitations and the lack of a curtain.

Now, the play itself. The story is about a soldier returning to his wife, who is bored and alone in the desert. She desperately wants his companionship, to connect with someone on a meaningful level, after spending a lot of time with her cat and the boy next door who is in love with her. He desperately wants to take his boots off and take her to bed.

I’m no theater critic, but this is a pretty good way to spend two hours. The wife and I will definitely go back to see another play.

Posted in: Harvard Street

In memory of Ruth Renaut, 11/19/1926 - 4/23/2007

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

My grandmother died last night. She had not been well for a while, and they couldn’t really figure out what was wrong.

I think she was ready to go. She had been in a rehabilitation center for a while, and then staying with my dad. She hasn’t been able to walk for months, and she wasn’t responding in any long-term sense to the treatment.

I last saw her the weekend before last. She didn’t really want company, but I went anyway, and I’m glad I did. Our last conversation wasn’t very good. She was upset, and wasn’t terribly pleasant. I’m sad that the last time we talked ended with her upset with me, but I know she didn’t really mean it. We’ve always had a good relationship. I used to spend the night with her and my grandfather when I was very little. She loves to tell the story of how I asked for toasted cheese one night for dinner. She cooked me a grilled cheese. Now, I don’t know about anyone else, but in our house when I was little, “toasted cheese” was really just a piece of bread with sliced cheese stuck in the toaster oven until the cheese melted and the bread browned a little bit. I’m not sure I’d ever had a grilled cheese at that point, and there was NO WAY I was eating it. I was a pretty picky eater until sometime in high school. My grandfather apparently made me sit in my chair for quite some time, staring at the grilled cheese.

“You asked your grandmother for this, and now you’re going to eat it.” He said.

“No.” I said. Allegedly. I was probably three years old. I deny this ever happened. I certainly don’t remember it.

I out-waited him, though. She never told me how the story ended, except that I never did eat the grilled cheese. It’s too bad - I probably would have liked it.

In college, I lived about 20 minutes from her, and I used to take her to the grocery store a few times a month. She never drove, and my grandfather died in 1986. Kind of amazing that she lived in the suburbs of Baltimore for 20 years without a driver in the house.

Anyway, I knew exactly where everything she ever bought was in the Pikesville Giant. She would always buy me a sandwich for lunch, and serve something for dessert. Often it was Ben and Jerry’s Coffee Heath Bar Crunch. Occasionally it was something she made. She was a great cook, and her specialty was old-fashioned New England desserts. Her Christmas cookies were fantastic, too, but I think that may be partly nostalgia.

So, my recommendation to all of you is to go and spend time with the people you care about. Some of them may be difficult sometimes, as I know my grandmother could be. But it’s funny how quickly you can forget the little difficulties.

Posted in: Harvard Street

High School kid shot in my neighborhood

Monday, April 23, 2007

Washingtonpost.com: High School Senior Killed in Northwest

An 18-year-old kid who lives on my street was shot about three blocks from my house late Saturday night. Maybe it was gang-related, but they don’t seem to have much in the way of details.

When we moved into the city, some people thought we were crazy. Why would we move from the nice, safe suburbs into the scary, busy city? People wondered about Columbia Heights, too. It’s not the most dangerous place in the city, but it’s also not Georgetown (Thankfully. I don’t want to live in Georgetown. It’s a nice place to go shopping if you have too much money on your hands, but I don’t like the feel of the area. Not quite sure why.). But this is the first major crime I’m aware of in the area since we moved.

I have not yet felt unsafe at any time in Columbia Heights. Sure, I’ve passed some people talking loudly to themselves, and I’ve been asked for money. But I’ve never had to cross the street because I felt threatened or anything like that.

We were out at a bar on P St Saturday night, and we were just walking home shortly before this happened. I guess that makes this a bigger deal. I’ve probably scared my mom and my mother-in-law by now. But I’ve talked to my wife, and we think we’re going to be more inclined to take a cab home if we’re out late. I still don’t feel unsafe, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be careful.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Tshirts are awesome.

Monday, April 23, 2007

All my friends are dead.  :-( Birthday present from my mom. If you can’t read it, it says, “All my friends are dead”. It’s funny because it’s a dinosaur. I found it on TCritic. Even more awesome is the kitten explosion t-shirt. I’m not sure it gets any awesomer than a mushroom cloud of kittens. I’m not sure which site I saw kitten explosion on, but if it wasn’t TCritic, it was Hide Your Arms. It could have been Preshrunk, except he stopped posting again. Kitten Explosion!In any event, the shirts are cool. I wish I could still wear t-shirts to work, but they frown on that at the new job.

Posted in: Anti complaint , tshirts

Happy Birthday to me!

Sunday, April 22, 2007

What a beautiful morning. It’s sunny and warm and all the windows are open. My wife is cooking me breakfast. There’s a huge pile of my mother-in-law’s chocolate chip cookies on the counter (I wanted to empty the box they were shipped in so the cat could play in it). This afternoon, the wife and I are going to take a little walk, and my family is coming over later for dinner.

Last night, we went to Merkado for dinner. It was quite good. I had the special, which was halibut over a black bean and mango salsa. I highly recommend it. The fried banana dessert was also great.

This is especially relevant to residents of Columbia Heights because the company that runs Merkado, as well as Grillfish and Logan Tavern, is opening a new restaurant in June or July right at the Columbia Heights Metro stop. They’re going to call it Logan @ The Heights, which I think is a dumb name. Maybe they think that Columbia Heights can’t stand up on its own, and they have to associate Logan Circle with us so we know their restaurant is cool.

In any event, I’ll try the new place when it opens.

I also need to try the Intercambios at Dos Gringos in Mount Pleasant. It seems like a cool idea - it’s a semi-structured informal conversation designed to meet new people and brush up on your language skills. I’ve been saying that I’d like to brush up on my Spanish, so I should actually do something about it.

Posted in: Harvard Street

So thats where all those people came from

Saturday, April 21, 2007

This morning, I checked my traffic for yesterday and found that it was about five times normal on Friday. Looks like my previous post got a mention on DC Blogs. That’s pretty cool. It appears to have been overshadowed by a somewhat heated discussion on some on- and off-line drama, but that’s okay.

As a follow up, the reason they blocked off the street became apparent this morning as I was woken by the sound of a large construction machine tearing up the street right in front of the house. They removed a chunk of pavement about ten feet by twenty feet, put down some metal screens, and then repaved. Not sure what that accomplished, but they seem pretty efficient at getting it done.

It is also a beautiful day, and we have flag football in a few hours. This is only my second game of the season, and the team’s third, due mostly to rain.

Also, tomorrow is my birthday. Looks like a pretty good weekend.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Teaser for Script Frenzy

Friday, April 20, 2007

The teaser site for the new project from the people who brought you National Novel Writing Month is up.  I think I’m going to try this new one.  The goal, instead of a 50,000 word novel in November, is a 20,000 word script in June.

I’ve never written a script before.  And I never got around to reading the script for Die Hard, which I’m told by someone who should know that it’s the de facto guide to writing a good script.  Or maybe a good action movie script.  Whatever.

I think it will be fun.  If you have suggestions for a movie, let me know.  If the suggestion in some way involves a duck, so much the better. 

Posted in: Anti complaint , Writing

Fewer lights, more pincers

Friday, April 20, 2007

Empire State Building Seeks Best of the Brightest via Gizmodo

With the new lights, though, the Empire State would be able to feature “dynamic new patterns,” said James T. Connors, the general manager of the Empire State Building Company.

Just what NYC needs.  A huge, gaudy, brightly colored display.  When this sort of thing is confined to Times Square, it’s kind of cool.  I still remember the first time I walked out of the subway into Times Square, and the overwhelming-ness of it all.  To be fair, it was only a few years ago.  But still.

And I’m not a New Yorker.  I love to visit the city, but I don’t live there.  But I can’t imagine that any New Yorker really wants a huge, animated American Flag waving over the city.

Maybe they’d be better off if they got their own Anti-Terrorist Pincers of Doom like we did.  Rumor has it that over 30,000 terrorists have already been captured and impaled by the pincers.  How many terrorists has the Empire State Building caught?  That’s what I thought.

Posted in: complaint , dc , Stupid people

Some of those loans were NOT a good idea

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Subprime lending is imploding

By now you’ve all heard about the problems in the subprime mortgage market. To summarize, if a person with bad credit and no money down wants a house, giving them a loan can make a ton of money for anyone willing to charge them exorbitant interest rates. With the housing market the way it was recently, it didn’t matter that they were unqualified because their homes would drastically increase in value almost immediately. Then, when they realized that they really couldn’t afford the place, they had no trouble selling it.

Now that the housing market sucks in comparison, these people who never should have been approved in the first place are defaulting on their loans, many of them in the first few months. When this happens, secondary mortgage purchasers (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) force the lender to buy back the loan. This means that lenders who made too many of these loans are bankrupt. And, since we’ve recently seen that neither Fannie nor Freddie are particularly concerned with things like obeying accounting laws, it follows that they are similarly unconcerned about ethical lending practices.  Now, the whole country is in a bit of a mess because of these defaulting loans.

These loans never should have been made. Many times a lender will take a loan that was designed for an investor and give it to an unqualified borrower. These investor loans usually offer very low payments up front, but then after two or five years, they explode into much larger payments. For someone buying a house to renovate and resell it, these make sense. For someone buying more house than he/she can really afford, they are utterly irresponsible.

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

I think Im officially a DC resident now

Thursday, April 19, 2007

This morning, I got my first parking ticket since I moved to the city. They have emergency - no parking signs up in front of my house, and I thought that meant no parking between the signs. Apparently it means no parking just beyond the signs, either.

My initial reaction was, “I’m selling my stupid car. I do most of my driving these days when I have to move it for street cleaning. I can use the Zipcars right down the street”. But then I got some Sierra Nevada from Hi Market and talked to my wife, and I feel a little better about it.

Still, the thought of getting rid of the car is getting stronger. Already I think about it as a nuisance more often than I think about it as a convenience. I don’t really want to give it up, though. If Zipcars had manual transmissions, it would be easier. I know, I’m being ridiculous if I keep my car just because I want a manual transmission. But that’s my right, I think.

I’ve also been given a “you have 15 days to get your car registered in DC, clown” notice. Maybe I’ll go park it at my grandmother’s house in Virginia for a few weeks until I can get that taken care of. This is a huge pain. I don’t really have time to go to the DMV and get all this taken care of. I hear all sorts of horror stories about the DMV. I don’t want to subject myself to that.

However, one $50 ticket and fear of the DMV is probably not a good reason to sell my car, though. We do still use it about once a week. I don’t think I’m really prepared to get rid of it yet.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Who needs cake?

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Accidental Hedonist - The Smells of a Kitchen

When the aroma [of garlic and onions frying] filled the kitchen and then wafted into neighboring rooms, something happened that kicked any “new home anxiety” out of the door.

Some people say to bake a cake or bread when you’re trying to make your house seem as appealing as possible.  I like garlic and onions better.

Smells do have a strange effect on people.  For example, I found it very disconcerting today when I walked into the men’s room at the headquarters of one of the illustrious branches of the Department of Homeland Security.  I can’t describe the smell, exactly, except to say that it reminded me strongly of a pet store.  Hamster bedding, perhaps?  I don’t know.  It freaked me out a little.

But I’d never really thought about smells-as-therapy.  It makes a lot of sense, though.  If a smell can quickly generate a strong feeling of something, it’s logical that they could be used to turn unwanted feelings into something more comforting.

That’s not to say that I want to smell garlic and onions everywhere, or that I want to smell my grandmother’s basement all the time and be transported back to 1986, playing my uncle’s old hockey game.  Sure, it’s a nice memory, but it wouldn’t be  so comforting if I had it all the time.

Anyway, it seems like an interesting way of manipulating emotions.

Posted in: health , Interesting

Stop your long commute

Monday, April 16, 2007

The Informed Reader - WSJ.com : The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Commuter

The number of people who travel 90 minutes to work — deemed an “extreme commute” by the Census Bureau—has doubled since 1990, reaching 3.5 million.

I can tell you from personal experience that my commute stress level has gone from below average to nearly nonexistent since I stopped driving and started Metroing to work.  I had a 25 minute drive, very pleasant as DC Metro area commutes go.  Now I have a three block walk, 25 minute Metro ride, and then 2 minute walk to work.  I’ve only been at this new job since March 26th, and I’m reading my third book.

Currently, actually, I’m reading Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, by Robert Putnam, quoted in the above article.  I’m still trudging through the 150 pages at the front of the book where he reels off statistics, but I expect to get to the good parts soon. 

As an aside, if you ask anyone who knows me, you will find that any amount of statistics that I find excessive is REALLY EXCESSIVE.  I enjoyed Bill James' Baseball Abstract in my early teens.  This is, for those who don’t know, the book where you can find out who the backup third basemen for the Pirates was in 1967, and what he hit on Tuesdays against left-handers in his home ballpark.

The point here is that these commutes are ridiculous.  As usual, I don’t know what the solution is.  Better public transportation would certainly be helpful.  I mean, I’ve taken my commute, which used to be a total waste of time, and turned it into nearly leisure time.  Not everyone has the flexibility to be able to move near work, or the willingness to live in a “transitional” neighborhood in the city to be near public transportation.  But there has to be some middle ground.

Posted in: health , Work

No RSS = WTF?

Monday, April 16, 2007

ShirtADay via HIDE YOUR ARMS

Okay, this is a cool idea. A new t-shirt every day, and the more people who buy it, the cheaper it gets.

But they don’t have an RSS feed for the shirts. This is the type of site that RSS was made for. If I wasn’t on my way to bed, I would email them right now and demand an RSS feed.

I mean, the nerve. Making me actually, like, check back every day to see what’s new. I don’t have time for that. Do you think these complaints write themselves?

Posted in: complaint , Complaint

We really need a solution for the immigration problem

Monday, April 16, 2007

Secret Immigration Raids in the D.C. Subway - NAM

I may be a little unsure of what I think should be done about the immigration problems in this country, but picking out Latinos on the Metro and asking for “papers” is not the answer.  It’s hard to fathom who might have thought that was a good idea.

I understand that many immigrants are coming in illegally, and many aren’t paying taxes, but still benefit from American tax dollars.  And I understand that I’m not one of the citizens being noticeably hurt by the fact that they’re here.  But whatever solution we come up with has to start with the fact that these are human beings, and this is the United States.  This is not a country where people of any color should have to worry about being stopped and asked for papers.

We need a solution.  We need to stop politicizing this, like we do everything else, and figure out what is best for the country, and what is best for people looking for better lives.  And then we have to implement that solution.

Posted in: complaint , World

Race is over!

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Less than a mile in

I’m back from the race. Official results posted here. I was 140th of 216 men. I was 30/47 in my age group, but my age group is 25-29, which is pretty competitive. Five of the top ten, including the top three, were in my age group. I finished in 55:04, first place was 31:27.

So, I’m pretty happy. I would do it again. My toe didn’t bother me. The dregs of my cold didn’t bother me.

Crossing the finish line

Biggest bother of the day, actually, was the crowds of people for the cherry blossoms. It took us forever to get back home because of all the streets that were closed. If Metro opened a little earlier, I would have done that, but it was cutting it a bit close.

And now the Bay Bridge Run monkey is off my back. A few years ago, some friends and I planned to run it, and we never made it. We started training, and then gave up. But now I’ve officially done a 10k. Maybe next year I’ll be in town for the Bay Bridge Run, and I can do that one. I think it’s a tougher run - this one is all flat, but the bridge slopes a lot. Next year.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Almost race time

Friday, April 13, 2007

My race starts in about ten and a half hours. I’m honestly a little nervous. I’ve just had a weird 24 hour cold. I banged my foot on the door yesterday, and now have a cut on the top of my big toe. I’m not quite sure how this whole thing works.

But I can’t imagine it’s that difficult. I mean, you show up, you get a number and a little sensor on your shoes, you line up, someone says go, and you run. I’m really curious as to what it will be like. I imagine adrenaline kicks in when you’re surrounded by all those people. There are 793 participants, but many of them are doing the walk, not the run.

According to the participant list at the website, I’ll be number 360. That’s a pretty sweet number. So, if you’re going to be near West Potomac Park tomorrow morning at 8AM, you can come cheer us on.

Now I think I’m going to bed. Don’t want to be tired in the morning.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Flickr users like hot moms

Thursday, April 12, 2007

I LOVE HOT MOMS

It appears that Flickr users, despite whatever claims they might make to the contrary, are really looking for pictures of hot women, probably in various stages of undress. Witness the photo here, which in a mere 11 days has already become the most viewed photo I have on Flickr. I have 1,951 other photos on Flickr. The first one was posted February 25th, 2005. Many of them are of greater artistic quality than this one.

Y ou may wonder, from looking at the photo, why it’s so popular. One only has to look at the title, “I LOVE HOT MOMS”, and the tags, which include “hot”, “hotmoms” and “NOLA”.

For shame, Flickr users. For shame.

Posted in: complaint , Sex

Sitting in the sun

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Perhaps the only good thing to come of this cold I’m coming down with is that it has given me the opportunity to sit in the sun and do some work at home, rather than at my desk at the office. I sometimes feel that our lovely sunroom is underused, as we spend much of the sunny part of the day at work and not at home. Not today, however.

Drawbacks include the fact that my 10K on Saturday will not wait for me to stop sniffling.

Edited to add: Very shortly after I posted this, the sun went away. Now it’s raining. Such is life.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Alas, poor Vonage

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Vonage shakeup: CEO resigns, cost-cutting announced

Things are not looking good for my VOIP-provider of choice.  I suppose I don’t blame Verizon for suing Vonage instead of attempting to compete, since certainly they have a clear financial incentive to see Vonage go away.  But it’s still a crappy thing to do.

And losing a CEO is usually not a sign of positive things to come.  Sure, maybe they’ll find someone else to take them through this.  But when you lose the CEO because he just left, rather than you taking a proactive step of replacing him, that’s less “shakeup” and more “rats from a sinking ship”.

Looks like I will soon have to find a new VOIP provider.  It will not be Verizon.

Posted in: complaint , Technology

Kurt Vonnegut, 1922-2007

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Perhaps a strange source for this news, but I am honestly saddened to hear that Kurt Vonnegut died last night.  He wrote some fantastic books, and some equally (perhaps even more so) fantastic short stories.  I highly recommend that anyone who reads this should go out and find something he wrote and read it.  Cat’s Cradle was one of my favorites.

My source for this news, noted above, linked to this article, which is a nice read.

Posted in: Life

New book

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Fresh on the heels of The Assassin’s Gate: America in Iraq, a new book arrived today from Seashell books via AbeBooks. While reading The Assassin’s Gate, I realized that it would be much easier to understand what has been and still is going on in Iraq if I had a better understanding of Islam. And, perhaps, of the happy fairy world where George Bush and his band of lunatics live. But I don’t think anyone has yet written a book on that.

So, I wanted a book on Islam. My sometimes-moustached brother-in-law recommended The History of Islam.

My new (to me) book

It has a nice inscription in the front.

Book inscription

Too bad I’m not Pop. But I hope he enjoyed the book.

Anyway, I have another book to read before I get to this one, but I’m looking forward to reading it and understanding a little more about the religion and the culture behind it.

Posted in: Harvard Street

New job, crazy rules

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

I don’t have permission on my new work computer to even change the desktop theme from the stupid Windows XP theme back to the “Windows Classic” theme that I much prefer.  I’m not sure how anyone is expected to do a job on a computer without admin access.  Certainly there are people who don’t know computers well enough to safely be granted that sort of power over their machine.  However, I think that computer classes, not ridiculous restrictions, are the answer there.

I honestly can not do my job on a computer without admin access.  I just can’t do it.  Even if you forget about the convenience issues of being able to install the helpful software, there are real roadblocks that can not be overcome without admind access.  It’s ridiculous.

I can’t even use the Windows calendar because they have no “view only” mode.  I just want to see whether May 13th is a Saturday, but I can’t. 

And I have to use Internet Explorer.  The horror.

Posted in: complaint , Work

Mystery solved

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

The gift card mystery has been solved.  It was a housewarming present from my mother-in-law, and she has now been thanked.  I’m glad we got that cleared up.  I would hate to think that someone had sent us a gift and we didn’t thank them.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Life

Snow?

Friday, April 06, 2007

It’s April 6th.  One to two inches of snow are predicted for tonight.  Pardon my French, but c'est connerie.

It’s all your fault, Al Gore.

Posted in: complaint , Weather

Did you send us a gift card?

Friday, April 06, 2007

So, the wife and I received a package today, USPS Priority Mail.  Inside was a catalog and gift card from Home Decorators Collection.  Noticeably absent from the package was any indication of who might have sent it.  The pleasant woman who answered the phone when I called them couldn’t look it up without an order number, which wasn’t included.

It looks like they have a bunch of nice stuff, so I’m looking forward to ordering something.  But I’d also like to thank the person or persons who sent us the card.  So, if it was you, let me know.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Anti-complaint

Three blocks to Sierra Nevada

Friday, April 06, 2007

I am so glad I made the three block walk down to Hi Market at the corner of Fuller and 15th NW. It may not look like much, but they have a great beer selection, and they have Vitamin Water. What more can you ask for from your local market?

They have the wife’s favorite, Sierra Nevada. They have Red Stripe (Hooray, beer). They have Magic Hat #9. And they have some other cool stuff. Awesome.

Posted in: Harvard Street

My first 10K

Sunday, March 25, 2007

International Race to Stop the Silence

I’m really getting into this running thing, apparently. Three weeks from today, I’m going to do my first 10K race. I’ve never actually run that far, so this should be interesting. And the race fights child sexual abuse. I’m opposed to child sexual abuse. I imagine most people are.

My wife is actually not looking at me like I’m insane as I do this, so that’s a good sign. I mean, 10K is not all that far. 6.2 miles. I ran 4.1 today. I can do 6.2. I don’t think I’m going to finish at the top of my age group, but I don’t think I’m going to embarrass myself.

Anyway, it should be fun. And I’ll even have a few hours afterwards before flag football.

Posted in: Harvard Street

So you need a home security system

Friday, March 23, 2007

Yesterday, we had Vector Security install a system in our condo. We’re on the first floor, so a few of our windows are pretty exposed, and we figured it would be a bit of peace of mind.

So far, I’m very impressed with Vector. We talked to ADT and ASC, and weren’t impressed with either. ADT was okay, but I don’t feel like they were being completely straight with us. ASC postponed the first appointment by calling 45 minutes before they were supposed to arrive, and then forgot to show up for the second appointment. When I called at 4:30, half an hour after the guy was supposed to show, their answering machine told me to call back during business hours, 8-5. So we didn’t expect much from Vector, who actually sent us junk mail that turned out to be good for both us and them.

I wasn’t there for the installation. My wife took care of it, which she’s done a lot of lately, and for which I’m very grateful. She said the install guy was exceptionally polite. He waited to be invited in to enter the house, he swept up the dust from drilling in the closet when he was finished, and just did about everything you’d want from someone coming to your home to do some work. Vector has also been responsive and very pleasant on the phone, and I love their web interface to the alarm. If I forget to turn the alarm on when I leave for work, I can go online and turn it on from there, or see the status, and all kinds of information about the alarm. It’s pretty cool.

Anyway, it’s too early to give a full evaluation of Vector, but so far I’d highly recommend them to anyone looking into a security system.

Posted in: Vector Security

Pizza and basketball

Friday, March 23, 2007

Tell me if this sounds like a nice Thursday evening.

It’s about 72 degrees out, sunny, pleasant breeze. At about 5:30, I walk to 16th St to catch the S2 bus down to K St and walk over to meet my wife and some coworkers at Bottom Line. A former coworker and good friend who moved to Philly was in town, and another former coworker and good friend who just switched jobs was there, too. We hung out until about 8 and then caught the 42 bus back (Never mind running diagonally across the intersection of 17th and I, that never happened). Around about Dupont Circle, we realized we had no food at the house. No problem, send a text to Google and get the phone number for Radius Pizza, which we’ve been told is some of the best in DC. Forty-five minutes later (A little slow, but tolerable), they arrive with a giant pizza. Wow, was it good. Expensive ($23 for a large), but a huge pizza, and one of the best I’ve had. Then we fell asleep watching the NCAA tournament.

And now it’s my last day at my job. I’m staying with the same company, but moving to a new project. I start the new on Monday (Unfortunately I can’t take some time off in between), and it’s on Metro, which is really cool. I’ve only had one commute in my life that didn’t involve driving, and that was just a winter break job one year in college. So I’m excited.

So, I’m in a pretty good mood. And rambling. You can tell I’m in a good mood when I start rambling about not much in particular.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Sorry folks, streets closed

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Wirefly National Marathon

I just realized that my street is closed from 8:25AM to 12:05PM on Saturday as the marathon goes past. That should be interesting. Our flag football game is at noon, I think, so we’ll have to make sure we can get the car out. I don’t suppose parking around here is going to be easy at that point. Maybe we’ll have to take the bus or something.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Why Al Gore wont be President

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

There have been many who hope to see Al Gore run for President in 2008.  His recent push to clean up the environment has energized a lot of people.  And it’s nice to see people excited about cleaning up the environment.  Whether or not you believe Gore’s claims about global warming, you have to believe that we are doing things that hurt our planet, and that we should do something about it.

In any event, the real reason that Gore won’t, and shouldn’t, be President is that he is much more valuable to the country and to the Democratic party as a lightning rod.  Recently I’ve heard more conservative venom directed at Gore than at Hillary Clinton.  And when you can make the National Review start seeing Hillary as the moderate candidate, you are doing a great service to the Democratic party.  If you help make Hillary President, you may be doing a disservice to the country, but that’s a question for a different post.

Posted in: Politics

Web 2.0 for running

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

A little while back my sister told me about Map My Run. It’s a site integrated with Google Maps that lets you plot out your running route, and share routers with others. It’s really cool in that you can add point by point to your route, so you can show how you turned left at that intersection and doubled back at the next one and all that. It also tells you how far you went, and lets you share a list of your public runs. This is mine, so far. I did the “Up 29th in Woodley Park” run today. 29th is pretty rough.

So far there aren’t a lot of runs mapped out in Columbia Heights and the surrounding area, but I’m going to do my part to change that. And now that I’ve told all of you, I’ll be embarrassed if I don’t.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Inform, offer incentives, walk away

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Energy Roundup - WSJ.com : Look for the Carbon Label

The label will show how many grams of carbon dioxide were emitted in the process of making the product and delivering it to store shelves. Companies joining the scheme will vow to cut that footprint in two years or risk getting booted from the project

Hopefully this idea will cross the pond soon.  I really like the idea.  Inform consumers about the real environmental cost of what they’re consuming, and let them make their own decisions.  Don’t force people to change, but give them an explicit picture and let them choose for themselves.

Contrary to the hysterical first comment (And I mean “hysterical” both in the “I thought it was really funny” and the “the person who wrote it needs to relax” kind of ways), this is a very Republican/conservative/non-hippie way of trying to bring about change.  Instead of adding regulations and forcing people to cut down on carbon emissions, they’re informing people of the facts, giving some incentive to change, and then walking away.  The commenter obviously has a knee-jerk reaction to anything related to global warming and the environment and would rather spew a canned response than actually think about what’s really going on.

On a related note, a friend mentioned the Wall Street Journal blogs to me last week, and I just started reading them.  I like them so far, and it’s nice to see the WSJ offering more free online content.

Posted in: Wind kissing

The zoo is all uphill

Monday, March 19, 2007

Ever gone in the back entrance of the zoo? The one off Adams Mill and Harvard, not Connecticut. If you haven’t, you probably have no idea that every single path in the zoo going from east to west is uphill. Every one.

I found that out the hard way, it turns out. Went out for a run, decided to go through the zoo and see if I liked that route.

I don’t.

Actually, it wasn’t too bad. It was about a 45 minute round-trip from Columbia Heights through Mount Pleasant through the zoo, past Woodley Park Metro, back through Adam’s Morgan, and home.

Now it’s starting to rain, and of course I have to move my car. It’s a few blocks away, furthest away I’ve had to park since we moved here.

I’ll wait until 6:30 when both sides of the street are open for parking. Meanwhile, I’m going to get out a pen and paper and try and figure out how I managed to run for 40 minutes, return to my original destination, and never go downhill. By my calculations, I should be about thirty feet above the roof of the house.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Full weekend

Monday, March 19, 2007

This was the first weekend where I really feel like I took advantage of living in the city. Friday night, we went to Georgetown to see Hexagon. Saturday, we went to Luna Grill in Dupont Circle for lunch, back to Georgetown, then to Woodley Park. We ended up at The Raven in Mount Pleasant, which many consider to be the best dive bar in DC. I’m not inclined to argue. Sunday, we took my brother-in-law and his girlfriend on a monument tour, which gives me an excuse to be a bit of a tourist.

Hexagon was pretty interesting. I didn’t know what to expect. The brother-in-law had said that he was going with some friends, and we should get tickets. Except then they didn’t get tickets. So the wife and I went alone. It was a great opportunity to learn a bit about the buses. We found that the 42 bus takes us right down to Dupont Circle, which is convenient. It was very cold waiting for the bus to Georgetown, and the sleet in our faces didn’t really help matters. But at least we were inside during all of the snow.

So, we got to the school where they were performing. We walked in, and it took me a minute to find someone less than twice as old as me in the crowd waiting to take their seats. There were young people, but I imagine the bulk of the crowd was 50+. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Just that I felt very young, and under dressed. So, the show started. They dance and sing songs about politics. Some of it was pretty funny. One of the funniest things for me, that probably doesn’t amuse anyone else, was that the woman they had playing Nancy Pelosi a few times could have been Laura Bush’s sister. Or maybe it was actually Laura Bush. Apparently some politicians have had cameos on stage with Hexagon, including Janet Reno. I wonder if her appearance was as funny as her SNL skit. Did you see the one where Will Ferrell was doing “Janet Reno’s Basement Dance Party” or something like that, and she smashed through the “brick” wall wearing the same outfit? I almost wet myself.

Anyway, Hexagon was good. Some of their stuff missed. They did a little Borat skit that I think most of the audience didn’t get. But they did a song called “Turning the Elephant Pink” about how the entire Republican party is closeted gays. A little juvenile, perhaps, but the dancing pink elephants and the guys dressed like the Village People were pretty funny. All in all, I’d say go see it, but don’t cancel cooler plans to do it.

I had been to Luna before, so it wasn’t terribly exciting, but the food was good, as usual.

We wandered around Georgetown, then met a friend of the brother-in-law, then went to Dean and Delucca for coffee. I wasn’t impressed. The BIL got bad service, and my coffee was mediocre. But the company was good, so I can’t complain.

That evening, we went to the Afghan Grill for dinner. Service was a little slow, and they were out of coffee, but the food was great, and they brought us free dessert to make up for the coffee.

The Raven is exactly what a neighborhood bar should be. It’s smallish, but it never got too crowded, even though it was St. Patrick’s Day. I guess everyone nearby was down the street in Adam’s Morgan getting belligerent and puking in alleys. We overheard one of the bartenders mention that she didn’t know anyone in the bar, implying that she usually does. The wife and I will definitely go back. If you’re going to go, remember that they don’t do tabs, and it’s cash only. They have Magic Hat #9 and PBR in bottles, so there’s not really anything else you need. It’s cheap, too.

Sunday morning, we went to the Mall. I had actually never taken a photo of the White House, which seems kind of strange. It’s nice to have people visiting from out of town because then I don’t feel so bad about taking pictures of the Washington Monument and stuff like that. We saw the Lincoln Memorial, the reflecting pool, the Korean War memorial, WW2, Vietnam, and most of the stuff in between. The Vietnam Memorial is funny - it’s much more solemn than the WW2 Memorial, even though a lot fewer people died. I think because it’s so personal - you can actually read the names of real people who died. It’s pretty powerful. People are even quieter there than a lot of other places.

We closed out the weekend with lunch at Potbelly, which was delicious, as expected.

So, it was a full weekend. Got to see a lot of the city, and learned a few helpful bus routes. And now I’m back at work.

Posted in: Harvard Street

California - A presidential candidates bad analogy

Friday, March 16, 2007

I’m sure you’ve heard by now that people are complaining that California is just a big ATM for presidential candidates.  They come in, they have a few fundraisers, they take a bunch of money, but by the time California’s primaries roll around, the candidate is already chosen.  The Californians are feeling a bit impotent, it seems.

It makes a good sound bite, I suppose.  But it’s a terrible analogy.  A better one would be paying the homeless guy to wash your windshield with a dirty rag.  You give him money, he’s theoretically doing something to help you out, but what he’s really doing is smearing the dirt around and pocketing your cash.

More importantly, it totally misses the point.  First, does it really matter if the actual vote you cast is of vital importance if your candidate wins?  I mean, let’s say Bob and Joe are fighting for the Democratic nomination.  Californian’s LOVE Bob because he’s a wind-kissing hippie, while Joe is a moderate ex-military pro-lifer.  Bob and Joe come to California, where Bob raises $30 million and Joe gets $5 million.  Bob uses that money, along with a bunch from the Sierra Club and PETA, to run a brilliant ad campaign in Iowa and a couple of other key states.  Joe blows his cash on flying from state to state, trying to get his message out there.

By the time the California primary happens, Bob has already sealed up the nomination.  Oh, no!  Californians' votes don’t matter!  But their candidate won.  So what’s the problem?

The problem is that the Governator’s TV time has been reduced.  This seems like a big ploy for attention more than a real desire for change.  California plays a huge role in driving policy, especially about the environment.  Californians have a loud voice in politics.  They just don’t get to use it much during the presidential primaries.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

Bye-bye, Duke

Friday, March 16, 2007

My brother-in-law is in town for a job interview, so last night we went out get some dinner. He was craving a burger, so we went to The Diner in Adam’s Morgan. I’d never been. I’d recommend it - the service was good, my burger was good, and they have Sierra Nevada on tap. Ten minute wait at 8pm on a rainy Thursday wasn’t great, but it could have been worse.

What was great, though, was watching the end of the Duke-VCU game. I had been glancing at the score now and then throughout the second half. Like any normal person from the DC Metro area, I hate Duke. And so the highlight of the evening was definitely when VCU’s Eric Maynor pulled up and hit a quick jumper from the foul line to put VCU up, 79-77, with 1.8 seconds left. Most of the restaurant yelled. The two girls sitting at the table in front of me, who probably didn’t even know there was a TV in the place, let alone a tight game going down to the wire, jumped.

It was anti-climactic when Duke missed their desperation three to end the game. But it was still nice to watch.

Have I mentioned that I love living in the city? Now, when we have guests, we can walk 5-10 minutes and find all kinds of cool stuff. A walk like that from our old place left you in a little strip mall with an old Safeway and a Radio Shack. We can give them directions to Sticky Fingers rather than Dunkin' Donuts. They can hop on the Metro when they need to go somewhere instead of borrowing a car.

Actually, we don’t need guests to do all that. But we have guests now (Well, technically we have A guest until his girlfriend arrives, and I think she’s on the Flyer from Dulles to West Falls Church right now).

Posted in: Harvard Street

Oh, look, torture works

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Transcript: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confesses 9/11 role - CNN.com

“If now we were living in the Revolutionary War and George Washington he being arrested through Britain,” [the transcript] reads. “For sure he, they would consider him enemy combatant.”

I haven’t seen anyone say it yet, although I’m sure it’s all over Fox News, but I hope that this doesn’t lead people to think, “Oh, hey, I know they say bad stuff about Gitmo, but now we know who planned 9/11, so the horrible human rights violations must be okay!”.

I’m not sure I believe the confession.  NPR mentioned that this guy likes to present himself as a “super terrorist” (That may not be the exact phrase they used, but you get the idea), so it makes sense that he would take credit for all these high-profile attacks.  And how long has he been in custody?  He had no legal representation, he’s probably been treated abominably, and he likes to make himself out as a big shot.  Big shocker that he confessed.  I probably would have, too.

That doesn’t mean he wasn’t responsible.  But it means we have to be careful what we take away from this.  If this was an American citizen confessing to killing JFK after a similar experience in jail, any judge in the country would laugh this confession out of court.  And the American people would probably agree with him.  But because he’s a terrorist, and terrorists are bad, we can do whatever we want as long as we find someone to blame for 9/11.

Posted in: complaint , uninformed ramblings

Green your pets, too

Thursday, March 15, 2007

A Pet Cause Celebre link via my mom

“They have never eaten meat in their whole lives,” [Ward 1 Councilman Jim] Graham said. “They are about as green as you can be for white Westies.”

Well, that’s nice to know. Our Councilman buys additive-free food for his dogs from a local store. I still don’t know much about him, which is probably something that should change. I imagine he’ll be up for re-election at some point, and since I don’t (yet) have a senator, I’ll be desperate to get my voting fix.

And I think I might have to drag the wife down there to get some additive-free food for my crazy cat, too. Actually, dragging the wife probably isn’t going to happen. It’s pretty clear that it’s MY cat, not OUR cat.

Anyway, maybe they have something to keep the cat from being so weird. She is more active at 5:15AM for about half and hour than she is the entire rest of the day. Luckily she didn’t adjust for Daylight Saving, and now she doesn’t bother me as much because I’m usually awake. But this morning she was scratching at something for a while, and I couldn’t quite bring myself to get out of bed and see what it was. I didn’t see anything destroyed, so I guess it was something harder than her claws, but it’s never good to hear your pets (Or children, I suppose, but I don’t yet have children) making destructive noises.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Seriously, WTF?

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

To the person who found this site searching Google for “childporn hub”:

Please explain yourself.  Were you really looking for pornography featuring children?  If so, please go get help.  If you were looking for something else, can you tell me exactly what that was?  Because I can’t think of any good reason you’d put that into Google.  I hope they at least gave you a “Did you mean to search for "How do I turn myself in to the police”?

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

Tuesdays in the winter

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Every weekday, the right side of Harvard Street is closed for parking during rush hour, both morning and evening. That gives traffic two lanes on this one-way street, and parking one lane. It’s a big cut-through between 16th and 14th, so traffic is pretty heavy at times.

On Tuesdays, they clean the left side of the street. So there’s no parking there all day, and the parking restriction on the right side of the street is lifted. In the winter, there is no street cleaning, so these rules don’t apply.

However, the result of this is not that Tuesday is the same as Monday and Wednesday through Friday. What happens on Tuesday is that everyone ignores the “no parking on the left side” signs, and obeys the “You can park on the right side today” signs. So they park on both sides of the street all day, meaning that the afternoon rush outside my window is particularly heavy. I’m glad I’m already home and parked right out front.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Maybe that was my bad

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

It looks like it might have been sort of my fault that our wireless disappeared. I may have inadvertently changed the name of my neighbor’s network instead of ours. Which wouldn’t be possible if Comcast actually set different passwords on the routers. It also shouldn’t have happened because I told my computer not to connect to the neighbor’s network any more after we got our own, but it apparently didn’t get that memo.

It seems to be resolved now. I still have my old modem from Cox cable, so I plugged that in, Comcast activated it, and I’m using my Linksys router like I wanted to originally, and everything seems to be fine.

The quality of our cable tv is still poor, though. I still stand by my statements about Comcast sucking.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Today we teach race car drivers how to fly

Monday, March 12, 2007

‘World’s most valuable car’ fails to sell - CNN.com

One thing it doesn’t have, of course, is modern safety technology. Race cars in those days didn’t even have seatbelts. It was seen as preferable to be thrown from the car in a crash.

This car has a top speed of 185 miles and hour, and it was “seen as preferable” to exit the vehicle at that speed than to stay inside.  I can’t imagine what the car must be like to make people think that.  Perhaps, instead of today’s “crumple zones”, old race cars had “pointy-spike-impalement zones”.  That’s the only explanation I can think of.

Posted in: Interesting

Could Comcast be any worse?

Monday, March 12, 2007

Let me count the ways in which Comcast sucks. First, it took them over a month to recognize that my house had been converted to condos. The guy upstairs spent that whole time fighting with them. Even after they finally acknowledged multiple units and installed his cable, their customer service was unable to schedule an install at my house for a few days because it wasn’t in the computer.

Finally, they came out and installed the cable. They did this while my wife was home, not me, so I was unable to check what the installer did. First, he used a combination modem/wireless router. This probably saves Comcast money, but is really annoying for those of us who have a Linksys wireless router with integrated Vonage phone jacks, and don’t want to use Comcast’s crappy router. Never mind that Comcast assumes that I’m incapable of changing settings on the router, and doesn’t leave me login details. I found the IP in my history, and he had saved the password, but that hardly seems sufficient. Then he set the name of the network to my last name, which is exactly what I want to be broadcast to anyone in range.

Luckily, it wasn’t hard to fix the settings, although if IE ever forgets the password, I’m going to have to figure out how to reset it. I turned off the wireless of the Linksys router, and the phone works, so that’s only a minor annoyance.

Then, after about 24 hours, my computer stopped seeing the Comcast router’s wireless signal. I tried cycling the power, and still nothing. I plugged in with an ethernet cable, which worked, but I was unable to get to the router login to check and make sure it still thought it was broadcasting the signal. So, currently I have what is effectively a wired modem/router, and I’m using the wireless from my Linksys. This would be fine if Comcast had just set me up with a modem and let me provide my own wireless. But since they provided a wireless router (Which, actually, provides a slightly faster connection than the Linksys. Although that may be only because the Linksys has to go through the Comcast router. Anyway.), I would like to be able to use it.

The cable, however, was even worse. I paid for HD, and wanted to switch over once my wife started watching ABC in SD. I found the second ABC channel, which seems to be something in between SD and HD. I’m not sure what it is, but it kind of sucks. It sucked even more because the Comcast installer was running coax to the tv. Can you even send an HD signal over coax? It comes in from outside over coax, but I didn’t think it was an option from the cable box to the tv.

I didn’t think it was possible to nostalgic about my mediocre experience with Cox, but Comcast has not done a single thing right since I started dealing with them. I’m tempted to try to bribe Verizon to bring Fios to our neighborhood.

In any event, I hope to have this resolved this week. Currently everything is working, just not very well. I’m sure you can guess how excited I am at the prospect of sitting on hold with Comcast tech support (Their automated phone service refused to accept my home phone number, and wouldn’t give me a person, so I had to wait ten minutes on hold with customer service to be transferred to wait on hold for tech support).

Posted in: Harvard Street

Wow, thats a stupid law

Thursday, March 08, 2007

‘Happy slap’ crackdown sparks row - CNN.com

The French law says that anyone who “knowingly” films illegal acts of violence and distributes the images can be considered an accomplice – but that professional journalists are exempt.

Okay, so kids are doing something illegal, filming it, and putting it online for people to see. We have a few options here. First, we could crack down on the illegal acts. We could even use the videos they’re sharing of themselves doing it to help find and prosecute them. They’ve done half our job for us!

Or, even better, let’s make it illegal for anyone who isn’t a professional journalist to film and distribute acts of violence. Not only does that not do anything at all to combat the real problem, it opens up numerous other problems, as well. I mean, what’s a journalist? Let’s say I write for a medical journal. Can I post a video of my friend punching a random stranger?  What about bloggers? What if I used to write for a newspaper, but I’ve since gotten a new job, but still keep up a news-related blog?

Never mind that. What’s really stupid is that we’re trying to catch people who are already breaking the law by making the legal part of what they’re doing illegal.  That’ll show ‘em.

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

Transparency, not regulation

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Area has high number of subprime mortgages

Never mind that this article is using data from 2004 to talk about the effect a large percentage of subprime loans has on the current market. The larger problem is that they’re ignoring the other details.

First, the DC housing market has a bit of a crutch that other areas don’t have, and that’s the federal government. There will always be federal jobs here, and so there will always be demand for housing. I think if you look at the numbers, you’ll see that the DC area is less susceptible to recessions and things like that because the government never goes away. Second, the housing market generally picks up with the warm weather. January was probably as bad as it’s going to get for a while (NB: I am not in the mortgage industry. I worked at Fannie Mae for a year in 2002-3, but that hardly qualifies me as an expert.).

That doesn’t mean that people with bad credit who have taken on loans that they can’t really afford aren’t going to get hurt. But the real issue there is not the housing market at all. A strong market does help people get out from under their homes if they can no longer afford them. But it doesn’t address the root of the issue, which is that these loans never should have been made. I know there has been a push for more regulation on subprime lending, and I know it’s a fight to balance between allowing people with little credit or bad credit to buy homes and protecting the uninformed from bad decisions.

I hesitate to push for more regulation, to force lenders to teach potential homebuyers about what they’re getting into. But I wouldn’t mind seeing a push for more transparency. I just bought a home, and with a degree in math and a year in the secondary mortgage industry, I still had trouble deciphering all the paperwork they threw at me. Even my wife, a lawyer, had trouble wading through all the paperwork. It doesn’t need to be that complicated. It SHOULDN’T be that complicated. I think that’s where we have to make some changes. If everything is out in the open, in plain and simple English, we will reduce the problem because people will better understand what they’re getting themselves into.

We’ll still have people who take on mortgages they can’t afford. But we can’t protect everyone from their own stupidity all the time.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Will I ever make it home?

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

A bunch of MD and VA schools are already closed. There’s a dusting of snow on the ground. I’m at work in VA, and I’m pretty sure the snow emergency is going to trap me here for at least six days.

Where’s your global warming now, Al Gore? Snow in March! It must be a new Ice Age.

Seriously, the snow is just annoying at this point. I’m ready for spring. This winter had a nice run, but now it’s time for flowers and birds and walking around in flip flops.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Do not mess with the Do Not Call list

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

When I was trying to sell my old condo, my home phone number was posted to whatever real estate sites list this sort of thing. That was fine when I was trying to sell because realtors would call me to tell me they were going to show the place.

Now, however, we’ve bought a new place and took the old place off the market so we could rent it. We’ve rented it, so we have no need for a realtor. Even if we did, we have two already.

Starting a few days ago, I’ve been getting calls from realtors (What do you call “ambulance chasing” if it’s a realtor and not a lawyer?) who want to help me sell my home. My number is on the Do Not Call list because I really, really resent telemarketers interrupting me.

After about five calls, I finally remembered the Do Not Call list, and so this evening, when Marjorie from Remax called, I wrote down her number. She asked me the usual questions.

“I see your home is off the market. Are you currently working with a realtor?” I told her we were renting the home. “Oh, have you found a rentor?” I asked her if she knew this number was on the Do Not Call list. “Oh, I forgot to check, I’m sorry.” Click.

So I filed a complaint at donotcall.gov. They told me this:

YOUR COMPLAINT HAS BEEN ACCEPTED Thank you for filing your complaint with the National Do Not Call Registry.Do not call complaints will be entered into a secure online database available to civil and criminal law enforcement agencies. While the FTC does not resolve individual consumer problems, your complaint will help the agency investigate the company, and could lead to law enforcement action.

So, basically, “Hi, we collect complaints, but don’t do anything about them.  Thanks for wasting your time!”

I’m going to contact Consumerist and see what they suggest.  I want Marjorie at Remax to pay the fine.

Posted in: complaint , Telemarketers

What a great shirt

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

goats: Goats News forum: POLL: Thanks A Lot, Intelligent Design

This is an awesome, awesome shirt.  I may preorder it later today.  I already own three or four Goats.com shirts.  In fact, I’m wearing one right now.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Religion

80 Years of Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Gabriel Garcia Marquez turns 80

“He was born in Colombia, but all of us who speak Spanish have in him a referent of perfection and the creation of beauty,” Colombian Ambassador to Spain Noemi Sanin said in Madrid.

A referent of perfection.  If I ever win the Nobel Prize for Literature, which is on my list of things to do, I hereby promise to to close my acceptance speech by screaming, “I am a referent of perfection!  You will all grovel at my feet!”, and then drop the microphone and walk off stage, where I will pull a flask of very expensive scotch from my pocket and proceed to get very, very drunk.

Seriously, I read 100 Years of Solitude in college, and I really liked it.  My Spanish isn’t strong enough to appreciate the original, but my translation was enjoyable.  I’m sure it loses something, so that means the original must be really, really good.

I mean, the guy is the father of magic realism.  Anyone who’s ever taken a Spanish class has probably heard their Spanish teacher gush about “realismo magico”.  This dude started all that.  That’s pretty cool.

So, go read on of his books.  I’ve only read the one, but I figure the rest are good, too.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Writing

We have internet! Sort of.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Well, we have my neighbor’s internet. The couple who live in Unit 4 have had their cable installed, and have graciously given out the password for their wireless network until we can get cable. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than nothing.

Comcast, meanwhile, has been less than helpful. One would think that they would be eager to get four new subscribers all set up. We’re all but begging them to let us use their service. Yesterday, two days after the Comcast install guy cut through my condo (With permission) to get to the back of the house, the Comcast CSR I spoke to was almost rude when I told her that Unit 4 had cable already, despite the fact that we still show up in the system as one unit. “Well, I don’t see how THAT’S possible.” She said.

Still, rudeness from Comcast aside, we are that much closer to having our very own internet connection. I’m, obviously, thrilled.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Another reason to love Nine Inch Nails

Monday, March 05, 2007

NIN Year Zero: Too Much for the RIAA - Gizmodo

Oh my gosh, he’s realeasing free MP3s!  Now all the artists will starve!

Oh, wait, what?  The free tracks are creating tons of buzz for the upcoming album?  That can’t be!  That flies in the face of everything the recording industry has told us.

Could it be that the RIAA is wrong?

Posted in: Anti complaint , Music

It figures

Thursday, March 01, 2007

During the big snow last week, we discovered that my wife’s car wouldn’t start.  She doesn’t drive very often, so it wasn’t the end of the world, but she would have liked to have driven that particular day, so it was a little annoying.  Then we moved, and didn’t really have a chance to take care of it.  So, yesterday, I went to take care of it.  I borrowed jumper cables from a coworker, figuring I’d try that because it was free.  If that didn’t work, I’d see if the guys at the repair shop across the street would come look at it, or else I’d get it towed.

I got there, and there were cars on either side of hers.  I would have had to park in her trunk to get close enough to jump it, so I went across the street to the repair place.  They were unhelpful and wouldn’t go off-site, so I called AAA.  They were very quick, and sent someone in about 25 minutes.  23 ½ minutes after I called, the car next to my wife’s pulled out.  When the tow truck driver arrived, he pulled out a little thing that was probably a battery in a case with cables attached, and he jumped the car.  It started just fine.

It’s nice that it’s the battery and not the starter or something worse, but it’s annoying that I could have done all that myself if only my wife had backed in to the spot, or the lot had been less crowded.

Oh, well.  Didn’t cost me any money, at least.  And now I’ll go get a battery today and put it in, and then we’ll figure out where we’re going to keep her car, or if we’re going to sell it, or whatever.

Posted in: Cars , complaint

How do people find me?

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

I’ve seen this done at other blogs (like Minor Tweaks), and I’ve always been fascinated with it, so here are the last ten search strings that brought people here. * test scores at odds with rising high school grades My opinion on this isn’t too well informed, but I don’t think I said anything ridiculous * coca cola engiva berry green tea * coca cola engiva peach green tea * enviga too much caffeine? * how much egcg should i take? Looks like a lot of people are coming to read my lukewarm but honest review of Enviga, a bunch of links to the lies Coke tells about it, and my unconfirmed and possibly libelous claim that artificial sweetener causes cancer. By the way, the answer to “how much egcg should I take?” is none. Get up off your fat ass and exercise like a normal person. Just because it’s from China and not some lab in Idaho doesn’t mean you should take it.  And yes, Enviga has too much caffiene. * bitching and complain about wife I just want to state for the record that I do not bitch and complain about my wife. References to my wife may appear in complaints of which she is not the subject. * achilles rupture blogs This one’s for you, Gayle. * baroody You think that was him, Googling his own name? * “internet explorer is the devil” * internet explorer is devil Sweet.

Posted in: blogging , Blogging

Things are getting back to normal

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

A little while back, I moved this blog to a subdomain, breaking RSS feeds, and confusing the spam robots.  I’m happy to report that my spam comments are back up to the numbers they were at before I moved the blog, which I suppose means that people have more or less figured out that you have to come to the blog subdomain.

I haven’t been posting much lately because I still don’t have internet at home, and I can only spend so much time doing this at work.  I have to say that because my team lead reads this.  In reality, I spend at least 6 hours a day working on Complaint Hub related things.  Just kidding, Andy.

Anyway, word from the condo association is that Comcast may be out as soon as tomorrow to install something or other, which means that we should be able to make appointments to have cable/internet hooked up on Thursday.  This is excellent news.

So, I hope that, by next week, I will be online at home, and everything will be right with the world again.

Posted in: Anti complaint , blogging , Life

I cant take this no internet thing much longer

Monday, February 26, 2007

This weekend was the longest time I can remember while I was in the U.S. and didn’t have an internet connection. I’m starting to twitch.

Seriously, it’s not that bad, I guess, but there’s stuff I need to get done that I don’t want to do at work. And it would have been nice to be able to look up a few things over the weekend that actually were work-related. On a positive note, however, Comcast seems to think that they might be able to finally help us out this weekend. That would be cool.

Makes it a little hard to update, though. Fortunately, it was a quiet weekend.

We did get to Sticky Fingers for brunch on Sunday. I had coffee and a vegan cold cut sub, which was actually pretty good. And we had lunch with my mom and grandmother Saturday. Other than that, we mostly cleaned. The house is looking like a real place, although there’s still stuff to do. I think I’m going to order blinds today so we can get them up in time for the housewarming party.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Make sure you find the real problem

Friday, February 23, 2007

Test Scores at Odds With Rising High School Grades - washingtonpost.com

The mismatch between stronger transcripts and weak test scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often called the nation’s report card, resonated in the Washington area and elsewhere. Some seized upon the findings as evidence of grade inflation and the dumbing-down of courses. The findings also prompted renewed calls for tough national standards and the expansion of the federal No Child Left Behind law.

Since I don’t teach in area high schools, and don’t have children or even know any children in area high schools, I can’t comment on this from direct experience.  But it worries me that nowhere in this article does it suggest that the problem might be the tests.  I’m not saying that I don’t think there is grade inflation and course-title inflation.  I’m sure there is.  But the article takes it as accepted fact that the tests are infallible - that a good test score means a student who is well-prepared for the real world.

Anyone closely involved with area high schools can probably tell you that isn’t true.  Certianly it is more likely that a student with high scores will do well in the real world, but I can’t believe that it’s an absolutely accurate predictor of success.

I think the danger here is that we take things as fact when they are anything but.  If you make very logical and informed decisions based on flawed assumptions, your decisions are probably going to be wrong.

Maybe we should be looking at students who took these tests five years ago and looking at what a high test score meant.  Were those students more likely to be successful in college?  More likely to get a good job?  What were we doing differently back when scores were higher?  Were those students better or worse off?  There are a million questions to answer, and seeing low test scores and immediately assuming that the teachers are failing is a disservice to everyone.

Posted in: complaint , Education

The bus

Friday, February 23, 2007

I did take the bus to meet my wife. As I was waiting to cross 16th Street to the bus stop, I watched the S4 bus go by, and my heart sank. I was destined to wait on the street corner on a blustery afternoon instead of sitting at Bottom Line with my wife and her coworkers.

But then, to my surprise, the S2 bus was right behind! It was maybe two blocks behind the S4, and it took me right down 16th Street. It wasn’t crowded. It didn’t stop too often. It was quite pleasant.

I know the bus gets a bad rap, but it really is a great way to get around. We took a cab home (We split it with a coworker who lives nearby), and arrived just before the bus did. The cab probably saved us a whole minute, and cost three times as much. This may change as I use it more, but right now, I’m totally sold on bus transportation.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Everything is the devil

Thursday, February 22, 2007

The Fictional Works of Joseph Shimerdla | Grass is the Devil

Look, You say, “I’m finally done”. But Satan says, “You’ve just begun”

Got a link from fellow Nanoer Joseph Shimerdla, so I thought I’d return the favor.  He got me thinking - how many things really can be the devil? We’ve already established that Internet Explorer is the devil.  It appears that grass is also the devil.  Women, of course.  I believe that at least one person has called George Bush the devil, and he was probably right, although otherwise he’s probably insane. So, the devil doesn’t really make sense if there’s no god.  I mean, if there is a force of pure evil, there must be an opposing force of good, or we’d all be in trouble.  It is widely accepted that the Judeo-Christian God is omnipresent.  Therefore, it is logical to assume that the devil is also omnipresent, or else he would have been kicked to the curb by now.  So we must come to the conclusion that, in fact, ALL THINGS are the devil. That’s either scary or it’s liberating.  Maybe both.

Posted in: The Devil

Bravo, AP, for a wonderful headline

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Sword seized after man mistakes porn for rape - CNN.com

“Now I feel stupid,” said James Van Iveren, who has been charged in the case. “This really is nothing, nothing but a mistake.”

Kicking down the door with a sword, demanding to see the woman being raped is clearly not the best way to handle your neighbor watching porn.  Certainly it’s admirable to want to help a woman in distress, but perhaps a little more calmness would have been a good idea.

Posted in: Stupid people

And were in

Thursday, February 22, 2007

We’re all moved in. The house is still a disaster, but we’ve made a lot of progress. Actually, I’ve made some progress, and my wife has made a lot of progress. But the progress is being made, that’s what’s important.

There are plenty of problems so far. First, the cat is still very agitated. And when she’s agitated, she’s loud. I hope another day or two and she’ll be adjusted. Much more than that and I fear the wife will ship her off to Siberia.

We still don’t have cable or internet. There’s a weak unprotected network that’s available sometimes, but not reliably. Comcast and Verizon both don’t recognize the building as separate units, so they won’t install anything.

On the bright side, I went to the new Super Giant on Park St., and had no problems. I had heard a lot of complaints about the store, but I had short lines, pleasant and efficient cashiers, and I found just about everything I needed. It’s cool to be able to walk to the grocery store.

So, I’ll be updating more as we get internet at home, and as we get a little more settled. I may be meeting the wife and her coworkers for happy hour tonight, so I might try the bus down 16th Street. I’ll report back if I do, I know you’re dying to hear.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Follow up - Car tracks in the 7-11

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Complaint Hub » Blog Archive » This is in my hood

It’s times like these when I wish I had a camera phone.  I was in this 7-11 the other day looking for twine for the movers, and there is a tire skid mark in the first aisle.  That’s awesome.

Posted in: Funny

Review of a car Ill never buy

Monday, February 19, 2007

The Truth About Cars | Lexus SC430

The seating position is a throwback to bygone era, when rakish drivers knew low meant go; a time before owners of $100k SUV’s looked down on diminutive coupes. Shame the roof is too low for you to look back up at them.

TTAC is often pretty harsh in their reviews, and this one is no different.  The above quote made me laugh.  I’m not sure exactly why, but I thought I’d share it anyway.  They don’t much like the SC430, and I guess that doesn’t surprise me.  It’s always struck me as a car for rich women who want the devil-may-care attitude of a convertible without actually having to be inconvenienced in any way.  I shouldn’t bad-mouth them too much, though, because I think my realtor drives one.  And she’s very nice, and an excellent realtor.

Posted in: Funny

Look at me, being helpful

Monday, February 19, 2007

Complaint Hub » Blog Archive » Things every guy should know

Anyway, every guy should know basic garbage disposal maintenance. You never know when your wife will spill half a can of Quaker Oats in her purse on the way home from work, then dump a penny down the disposal as she’s cleaning it out.

Awesome.  Someone found this entry searching Google for “remove penny from garbage disposal”.  I hope I helped him or her out.

I love looking through my referrals and search term results.  It would be even cooler if I had more visitors.  But it makes me happy that searching for “whatever” + “complaint” often brings people to me.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Anti-complaint , blogging

Stupid federal holiday

Monday, February 19, 2007

I’m at work today, despite the fact that it’s Presidents' Day.  Or is it President’s Day?  A day for all the Presidents?  Or a day for the office of President?  I don’t know.  But all you should know that, if “Presidents' Day” is wrong, it means I got the the name wrong.  It’s not a grammatical error.

In any event, the point is that no one is here.  More importantly, Caribou Coffee is not opening until 8AM.  That’s 15 minutes from now.  I know it opens at 8AM because I just walked down there in the cold to find them closed.  I’m so mad I briefly considered not going back after 8.  That’s how mad I am.

Posted in: coffee , complaint , Life

Couldnt they find anyone less suited for the position?

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Bush Expected to Name Industry Lobbyist to Head Consumer Safety Agency link via Consumerist

The recess appointment authority is intended to fill vacancies in agencies during an emergency while Congress is in recess. Presidents have used it in the past as a way to ensconce controversial, often spectacularly unqualified political insiders who would be unlikely to win Congressional approval.

They need to close this loophole. If there is an emergency that arises while Congress is in recess (That’s what, 50% of the time? 60%?), then certainly exceptions can be made in the interests of the country.

But our fearless leader wants to use a long weekend to appoint a spectacularly inappropriate canidate to an important position that has been vacant for six months. This is quite plainly a violation of the spirit of the rule. I understand that we are not bound by the spirits of rules, but wouldn’t it be nice to think that our President would hold himself to a higher standard?

And then we can examine the choice itself. “Michael Baroody, chief lobbyist for the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), a powerful trade group that opposes aggressive product safety regulation” is now going to be the chief of an organization meant to protect consumer safety. I think we can safely replace “the fox guarding the henhouse” with “Michael Baroody protecting consumer safety” as the default cliche.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

New Nine Inch Nails single

Saturday, February 17, 2007

You can hear it on the NIN MySpace page.  I’m really not sure whether I think a Nine Inch Nails MySpace page is one of the great things about the internet, or one of the signs that it’s all ready to come crashing down.

Nine Inch Nails is one of the few bands whose cd I will buy without hearing anything from it.  It’s a pretty short list, especially after Garbage’s most recent cd refused to let me rip MP3’s and they fell off the list.  Actually, the list may just be Nine Inch Nails at this point.  Cake’s most recent cd was pretty mediocre.

Anyway, hearing that the new cd is coming out in April is the first time I’ve been excited about music in a while.  I haven’t listened to music on the radio in a long time.  When HFS went away, leaving us with only DC101, I mostly switched to NPR.  I’m tired of the RIAA, of copy-protection, of DRM.  And I’m tired of the same old crap music being played over and over.

But I should have a new cd on April 17th.    I’m looking forward to it.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Music

Moving Tuesday

Saturday, February 17, 2007

So I have a question. Let’s just say that we need to park a moving truck in front of our new place for a few hours while we unload. So, we go to the police station to get “No Parking” signs 72 hours in advance, just like we’re supposed to. We go put up the signs in front of the house and realize that on the day we’re moving, the side of the street where we live is already no parking because of street cleaning.

So, my question is this: Is it unethical to just park the truck there, on the restricted side of the street, for as long as it takes to unload? Tuesday was chosen in good faith. That is, we chose the day and then found out that it was street-cleaning day.

I don’t suppose it matters too much whether it’s unethical or not, because we’re going to do it anyway. But we’d like to not piss off our neighbors (or the police) before we even finish moving in.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Even Enviga knows that Enviga sucks

Friday, February 16, 2007

Enviga’s Own Study Undermines Calorie Burning Claims - Consumerist

Raise your hand if you don’t know that Enviga sucks.  That’s what I thought.

Posted in: Advertising , complaint , health

Dont talk about hot weather when its 18 degrees F out.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Report: January hottest on record - CNN.com

That didn’t just nudge past the old record set in 2002, but broke that mark by 0.81 degrees Fahrenheit (0.56C), which meteorologists said is a lot, since such records often are broken by hundredths of a degree at a time.

Explain that, Neil Cavuto!  Warmest on record!  By almost an entire degree.

Of course, clowns like U.S. National Climatic Data Center scientific services chief David Easterling give him plenty of ammunition.

Larger increases in temperature farther north, compared to mid-latitudes, is “sort of the global warming signal,” Easterling said.

Scientists don’t use phrases like “sort of”.  It makes it sound like you aren’t sure.  And maybe you aren’t, but you have to sound like you are.  Especially when many are so quick to dismiss your work as liberal propoganda and lies.

Posted in: Weather

Its official

Friday, February 16, 2007

The wife and I are officially District homeowners. Now all we have to do is move in. The snow and ice, combined with missing the deadline to reserve parking in front of the house for a few hours, are making that difficult. But the wife remains optimistic that we’ll move no later than Monday.

I got to the house early yesterday for the final walkthrough, so I wandered around the area for fifteen minutes. It’s quite different than Falls Church. There are actually people around, for one. And two police cars, lights and sirens going, arrived rapidly in front of 7-11 as I waited at the light. I imagine it was a belligerent customer, or perhaps a shoplifter. I can’t imagine the store was being robbed at 2:30PM on a Thursday.

Anyway, I can’t wait to move. I can’t wait to be finished moving.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Finally, a reason to hate elevators

Thursday, February 15, 2007

I just got stuck in one for about five minutes.  I was on the way back from getting lunch, so I imagine this is punishment for eating at McDonalds.  Still, I don’t think it was really necessary to be stuck there with one guy who thought he was really funny (He wasn’t), a guy who stuck his phone out between the crack in the door trying to tell his office-mates that he was stuck (We were there 5 minutes.  You aren’t that important), and a woman who laughed incessantly and also made jokes (She wasn’t funny, either).

So, this is a message to everyone stuck in a small space with people you don’t know:  You aren’t funny.  I don’t care if you are a professional comedian doing very well for yourself.  If you are stuck in an elevator with me, do me a favor and keep your wit to yourself.

Posted in: complaint , Elevators

Snow day

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Little Mazda that could So, I’m not going to work today. I’ve got stuff I can do from home. But the wife had to go in because her boss is completely insane, so I took her to the Metro. It took a few minutes to get out of the parking spot, because they haven’t plowed the parking lot.

Big snowy hill But a little push from the wife, and I was out. The roads are bad. I made a nice little U-turn after dropping her. All I had to do was turn the wheels a bit, give it a little gas, and wait for the back end to swing around. Even in a front-wheel drive car, you can do a power slide if the roads are slick enough.

When I got back, some clown had taken my parking spot, and I had already passed the only other open spot, so I had to do a three-point turn in the snow. Keep in mind that the snow is piled anywhere from an inch to six inches, and the ground clearance of my car is probably more like four inches.That's where I made my three-point turn

In any event, you shouldn’t be driving out there if you can help it. And if you have an automatic and don’t know how to drive, like the woman I tried to help out of her spot when I was outside taking these pictures, don’t even bother. It’s days like these when the shortcomings of automatic transmissions become most apparent.

The roads were much less plowed than I had anticipated when I went out. The intersection of 66 and Lee Highway was particularly bad. Considering that’s one of the busiest intersections in the area, you’d think they’d plow that one first. However, you’d be wrong.

So, if you live in the DC Metro area, don’t go anywhere today. It’s not worth it.

Posted in: complaint , Weather

Do I really care about the zoning board?

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Opposition to mayor’s zoning commission nominee growing

You know, I’m really kind of excited to move to a place where things like “Who’s on the zoning board?” actually interest me. I realize that the decisions of the zoning board, especially in an area like Columbia Heights where tons of new construction is happening, really make a difference.

However, it worries me that people who run for office in the District seem to have legal problems at well above the national average. Maybe it’s just Marion Barry throwing off the curve.

Posted in: Harvard Street

If we ban it, it will go away

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

WIStv.com Columbia, SC: AMA asks for movies showing smokers to get “R” rating

The [American Medical Association alliance] says their research shows that smoking in movies recruits close to 400,000 adolescent smokers each year, eventually killing over a third of them.

Okay, I’m totally on board with trying to keep kids from smoking.  And frankly, I think we’re well on our way - with more and more places banning smoking in bars, I think we’ll soon reach the tipping point where we really start to make progress towards getting rid of cigarettes completely.

But R ratings for showing people smoking?  Why don’t we just take children from their parents at birth and raise them in sanitized cocoons where they’re only exposed to purified air and educational material until they turn 18.  Obviously human beings are inherently incapable of raising children, so we should just outlaw that.  While we’re at it, people eat too much fatty foods.  Let’s ban eating.  You can get your nutrients from an IV in the hospital.  It’s safer there anyway.  Otherwise you might go out and drive somewhere in your SUV and talk on your cell phone or adjust your iPod and crash into a farmer’s market.

I’m sure most of you have seen the movie Demolition Man, where Stallone goes to “cryoprison” where they freeze him for 70 years and he wakes up in a place where kissing and salt are illegal, because exchanging body fluids and eating salt can be bad for you.  This is funny because it’s so ridiculous.

It’s not looking so ridiculous any more.  They start with fois gras and trans fats.  Eventually they’ll get to something you care about.

Posted in: complaint , health , Life

I didnt sign up for ice

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Okay, snow I can deal with. That doesn’t scare me. You have to drive more slowly, and leave more distance between you and the guy in front of you. It can be nerve-wracking, but it’s not that big a deal.

But now they’re calling for half an inch of ice by tomorrow, and that’s where I have to draw the line. Ice is NOT COOL. Half an inch of ice on the ground means you should be curled up on the couch with a nice blanket and your significant other, and not out on the road. After all, it will be Valentine’s Day.

I have to talk to my team lead and see if there’s anything constructive I can do from home tomorrow.

Posted in: Harvard Street

OMG Turn off the internet!

Monday, February 12, 2007

WiFi Turns Internet Into Hideout for Criminals - washingtonpost.com

… an increasing number of criminals are taking advantage of the anonymity offered by the wireless signals to commit a raft of serious crimes – from identity theft to the sexual solicitation of children.

Never mind that this is an irresponsible, fear-mongering article that misses the point.  The problem with home wifi networks is not that they allow criminals to use them.  There will always be criminals online, and they will always use the anonymity of the internet to escape detection.  This is an unfortunate side effect, but we’re just going to have to figure out how to catch them some other way.

The problem with home wifi networks is that no one has created an interface that makes sense.  Microsoft and Apple haven’t done it.  Dell hasn’t done it.  Linksys and DLink haven’t done it.  I’m beginning to think that no one will.  I should be able to plug in a wireless router and set it up in five minutes.  After that setup, I should have a network that is as secure (or insecure) as I want.  I shouldn’t have to know what a MAC address is, or what ports I want open.  I shouldn’t have to know what type of encryption I want to use.  I’m a software engineer, and I spend all day on a computer, but setting up my wireless router is not a trivial task.  This is ridiculous.

And the problem is on the computer end, too.  I want to see a list of all the wireless networks in range.  I want to tell my computer not to ever connect to one with a low signal strength.  I should be able to customize all that.  And I should get error messages when I can’t connect.  It is absolutely infuriating to press the connect button, not be connected, and not have any feedback as to why.

I’ve had an open network for almost a year.  Do you know why?  Because every time I put a password on, either my PC can’t connect, or my wife’s iBook can’t connect.  If I mess with it for a week, I can usually get them both on.

Anyway, it’s ridiculous how hard it is to use and maintain a wireless network.

Posted in: complaint , Computers

Things every guy should know

Monday, February 12, 2007

Actually, women should know, too, but that wouldn’t segue into my post so well.

Anyway, every guy should know basic garbage disposal maintenance.  You never know when your wife will spill half a can of Quaker Oats in her purse on the way home from work, then dump a penny down the disposal as she’s cleaning it out.   The first thing you should do is turn off the power to the disposal, although I didn’t bother.  The second thing to do is unhook the thing, turn it upside down over a big bowl and dump out the penny.  If your disposal is like the ones I’ve worked with, there are two hoses coming in - one to drain the water, and one that hooks up to the dishwasher.  The dishwasher one is very important - make sure you remove the plug so there is actually a hole for water from the dishwasher to pass through.  If you’ve never run your dishwasher before, and it won’t drain, check the connection to the disposal.  If yours is like mine when I moved in, someone has forgotten to remove the plug.  Removing the plug is not trivial, either.  You probably have to bang on a screwdriver with a hammer or something like that.  Then you have to dump the piece of plastic out, because it won’t go down the drain, and it will take approximately six years of running the disposal to chop it up into little bits.

Another important thing to know about disposals is that they have a little screw at the bottom that takes an allen wrench.  You should always know where this wrench is.  If your disposal stops working due to large amounts of whatever you’ve put in there, get the wrench and turn that screw back and forth for a bit, then try the disposal again.  The only thing I’ve put down a disposal that made it stop working that wasn’t fixed by turning that screw was a shot glass.

It is also important to use your disposal.  If you have one, you must run it occasionally, or else you need a screen to keep things from falling down there.  I can’t tell you how awesome it is to have congealed chicken fat and six month old onion peel sitting at the bottom of the disposal.  Actually, I can.  Because I know.  It is not awesome at all.

Posted in: Life

Its a done deal

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Columbia Heights rezoning approved

“I drive down my block and others in neighborhood and I just smile because I know these houses and the families that live in them are going to be protected for a lot more years,” said Anne Theisen, an ANC commissioner who led the effort.

So, it’s a done deal. This doesn’t affect the street I’m about to live on, though. It’s up closer to the DC USA project. Frankly, it’s a pretty small area that’s been rezoned. Only from Monroe to Spring between 14th and 16th. I don’t know the area well enough yet to know what makes that little rectangle significant.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Calling all car nuts who dont really like to drive

Friday, February 09, 2007

Automotive Killer App? The Zeroshift Automanual - Jalopnik

If your idea of nirvana is clutchless gear changes with zero lag up and down the cogway, today may be your birthday.

However, if you really like to DRIVE, this is another nail in the coffin. I know I’m in a small minority here, but I think the skill and enjoyment of driving comes from the driver, not the car. Certainly it is more fun to drive a brand new BMW M5 than a ‘74 Pinto. But if I shave .4 seconds off my quarter mile time because I got some new transmission that does all the work for me, that’s a step down in my book.  If I have aFerrari, and you have a Hyundai, and I beat you in a race, that doesn’t mean I’m a better driver.

I LIKE doing the work. I like working the clutch and shifting gears. I’m comfortable doing that, and I want to continue doing that. It’s not the most efficient way to drive, perhaps, but I’ll trade some efficiency for my enjoyment.

I hope that, when the day comes that this kind of thing is standard, where the car controls everything, that we also have auto-drive cars. If the car is going to insist on shifting for me, I’m not interested in doing any of the rest of the work.

Posted in: Cars , complaint

What planet is this guy on?

Friday, February 09, 2007

The Fantasy Of Happily Ever After - washingtonpost.com

I won’t pull a quote from the article, because you should really read the whole thing.  Any article with references to Tolstoy and Newt Gingrich while calling Anna Nicole Smith a modern courtesan is just something that everyone should read.

I’m not sure what the author, Philip Kennicott, was trying to do with the article.  Perhaps it was subtle satire of of our star-obsessed culture.  Perhaps he hoped to educate us on the ridiculousness of putting people like Anna Nicole on a pedestal.  Perhaps he was really, really high.  I don’t know.  All I know is that the article made me laugh.

Posted in: Stupid people

They want to make my condo illegal

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Rezoning targets rowhouses in Columbia Heights

Looks like the Advisory Neighborhood Commission for where I’m going to be living is trying to block the condo-fication of row houses, which of course is exactly what we just bought. The claim is that taking one single-family row house and turning it into multiple condos will increase traffic, limit parking, and diminish “the architectural integrity of the rowhouse blocks”.

They probably have a point, but trying to revitalize the neighborhood, and then insisting that everything stay the same, is kind of counterproductive. I’d like the neighborhood to keep some of its history, its personality, etc. If we wanted cookie-cutter suburbs, there are plenty of places in Fairfax County.

There’s going to be more traffic. It’s just a fact. As the area becomes a bigger draw, more people will come there. Parking will get worse. Traffic will get worse. Re-zoning will perhaps slow the tide, but it won’t turn it back.

And if your goal really is to keep the architechture, then make sure the outside of the houses stays more or less the same. Personally, I love the look of the old row houses. I wish our developer hadn’t made our building look like an office building. But these are separate issues.

I don’t really know what the solution here is. I agree with the intent of the ANC, but I’m not sure I agree with the execution. I guess I’m going to have to start going to these meetings when I move down there.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Really old and really dead people found hugging

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Prehistoric lovers found locked in eternal embrace - CNN.com

“It’s rare for two young people to die at the same time, and that makes us want to know why and who they were, but it will be very difficult to find out.”

Really?  It will be hard to figure out who they were?  Maybe because they were buried 5000 years ago.  I mean, it’s not like there’s some old guy you can just go ask.

Seriously, this sounds like an elaborate pre-Valentine’s Day hoax.  Right near the place where “Romeo and Juliet” was set, a week before Valentine’s Day, we find the remains of two young lovers?  Someone better check and make sure the skeleton doesn’t say “Hallmark” on it.

Posted in: Science

Man, I forgot about McSweeneys

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

McSweeney’s Internet Tendency: The Americans Who Voted for George W. Bush Wish to Return Their Television.

McSweeney’s is a frequently hysterical satire site that I never remember to look at because they don’t have a friggin' RSS feed.  I don’t know what they’re trying to accomplish - they don’t have ads that you’d miss out on if you looked at the RSS instead of the main site.  There is no reason I can imagine.  And yet still no RSS feed.  On the bright side, when I do remember, there’s usually a bunch of new stuff since the last time I was there.

Posted in: complaint , Funny

Snow again

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

It’s so disappointing when you find out at 10pm that you somehow missed the announcement that it was going to snow, and didn’t notice the snow until there was almost an inch on the ground, but wake up the next morning to find that the streets are already clear.

So now you’re just stuck with the occasional icy spot, a few dumb drivers, and no excuse to stay home from work. I hear lots of people say, “Oh, it’s not the roads you have to worry about, it’s the other drivers.” I think that’s a pretty pathetic excuse. There are ALWAYS stupid drivers trying to kill you. One woman did it to me this morning. Somehow, her red light and my green turn arrow meant she could go right into the lane I was turning into.

I’m really looking forward to getting into the city, where people do the sensible thing when it snows and don’t drive for a week.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Not looking good for Whole Foods

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

According to the Columbia Heights News Forum, it’s not looking good for a new grocery store in the DC USA site. That’s too bad. I was pulling for Whole Foods. Certainly we can make do with the one on P Street. But I hear on the forum that the new Giant and the local grocers are having a hard time keeping up with demand, and I do love Whole Foods' organic vegetables.

It looks like it’s 1.6 miles from our house to Whole Foods. That’s doable.

Posted in: Harvard Street

What is art, really?

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Inhabitat » URBAN CURATORS PROJECT In Downtown Providence

Passing residents were pleasantly bewildered when they stumbled upon a series of gold-painted frames haphazardly taped to graffiti-covered walls and the crumbling exteriors of abandoned sites.

This is pretty cool.  Up in Providence, they just stuck frames on random spots of wall and whatnot.  For anyone who has ever wondered what makes something art, this seems to suggest it’s just the eye of the beholder.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Art

I wish they used the closed captioning

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

As you may know, it’s really f'ing cold in the DC area.  NPR told me this morning that it was 9 degrees with a wind chill of -1.  That’s totally awesome.  Yesterday, I was at the gym, and while I was on the elliptical, I had my usual choice of ESPN, NBC4, and Fox News.  I generally watch ESPN, because NBC is usually showing Dr. Phil, and Fox News is just completely insane.  But during ESPN commercials, I looked over at what Neil Cavuto was talking about.  They didn’t have the closed captioning turned on, so I could just read his inflammatory headlines.  The one that made me laugh out loud was the suggestion that this cold spell disproves everything we’ve been hearing about global warming.  He then went on to talk to some PR guy from some big company, at which point the closed captioning came on, and the guy actually said that obviously global warming people will never change their opinions that it’s happening, and his reasoning for this was that they were crazy liberal Democrats.  Then he took a few uninspired shots at Al Gore, at which point I went back to ESPN heaping praise on undeserving Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning.

The logic here is absolutely incredible.  Al Gore made a movie blaming people for global warming.  Al Gore is a Democrat.  Therefore, global warming can not be happening, and is merely a political tool of the liberals against big business.  Amazing.  Paranoia, thy name is Fox News.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

Twelve hour school days?

Monday, February 05, 2007

As Push for Longer Hours Forms, Intriguing Models Arise in D.C. via DCIst

Kids in school 12 hours a day? It seems to be working in some schools, but I’m not totally convinced. Of course, if I were totally convinced by a one page newspaper article, that’s probably not saying much.

Anyway, it seems that some schools have had a lot of success with extended days and shorter vacations. It makes sense that, without a long summer off, kids have less time to forget what they learned in previous years. And it makes sense that spending more hours in class will make you learn more than spending fewer hours in class. But I’m not sure there has been enough research into how much might be too much. After a certain point, the kids aren’t going to learn anything. They’re going to be bored and inattentive and start causing trouble. It’s not reasonable to expect them to be in school all the time.

One school that has been successful so far has 12 hour days, broken up into a more or less normal school day, then a break in the afternoon for a few hours, and then dinner, followed by two hours of study hall. Students get home late, but all their work is done for the day. As an aside, during my last two years of high school, I did most of my homework each day either in study hall, the library, or the cafeteria. By the time I got home, I was usually completely done with school until the next morning. It was fantastic - my grades were good because I wasn’t blowing off work, and I had plenty of time to enjoy being a kid.

I’d be curious to see what happens when a couple of regular public schools try this. It will take some time, as the teachers and the curriculum will have to adjust as well as the students.

I worry, though, that some kids are really going to suffer if they spend this much time in school. For example, for me, middle school (grades 6-8 if you don’t/didn’t have middle school in your area) was an almost entirely social learning experience. I certainly learned some school stuff, but the real bulk of what I learned was about dealing with other people. Up to then, I had been in private school. Sixth grade was really my first experience having classes with kids who weren’t upper-middle-class and white. I’ve long advocated sending thirteen-year-olds in groups to work on farms and things instead of trying to teach them how to pass high school entrance proficiency tests. Get a big diverse group of kids, have them spend six weeks getting up at 5AM, shoveling manure and plucking chickens. I know, it’s prohibitively expensive. Whatever.

It’s funny to finally be really thinking about schools and techniques for teaching kids in a much less abstract way than before. The wife’s not pregnant, and we’re not trying at the moment, but having children is finally something that will probably happen sooner rather than later. I think my perspective on schools will change a lot more once I get closer to having school-age children.

Posted in: Harvard Street

VentBox is live

Monday, February 05, 2007

Have something you want to get off your chest?  Realize that my complaint submission page is a long way from being cool?  Your prayers have been answered.  VentBox is now live, and you can go sign up and start complaining about whatever you want.

Posted in: Uncategorized

Look, I was right

Monday, February 05, 2007

First, I’ll gloat for a minute because I went 8-3 picking winners, and the Colts even covered like I said they would.  Rex Grossman played badly, but it was the Bears defense that really disappointed.  They gave up 190 yards on the ground to Rhodes and Addai.  You don’t win Super Bowls giving up that kind of yardage on the ground.

Then, I’ll complain that Peyton didn’t deserve the MVP.  True, no one had a really standout game, and typically when that happens they give the MVP to the quarterback of the winning team.  But I would say the Colts offensive line deserved it more than Peyton, and I would say that Addai, with 10 catches on top of 77 yards rushing, deserved it more than Peyton.  But I don’t expect the NFL to actually give the MVP to someone who deserved it.  Everyone was expecting all week that Peyton would get it, and they couldn’t go back on that.

I’ll also complain that the commercials were terrible.  CareerBuilder should go back to the monkeys instead of this Lost/Braveheart mistake they offered up yesterday.  I think Ford made a dumb move pushing their new Super Duty behemoth pickup just as GM is bringing hybrids to the market, although maybe they were just trying to fight off the challenge from Toyota and keep sales of the F-150 ahead of the Tundra, which is probably a losing battle at this point.

And I will finish by complimenting Prince on a nice performance.  I don’t know who the woman in white was, and she was weird, but she didn’t ruin it.  Covering the Foo Fighters was surprisingly cool, and I wish I could pull off the outfit Prince was wearing.

Posted in: Anti complaint , complaint , sports

Super Bowl Sunday

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Today is the big day. When people all over the country gather together in living rooms and sports bars (but not churches) to watch the best commercials advertisers have to offer, and maybe a football game.

If I were a betting man, and I’m not, except at the craps table, I would take the Colts to cover. The spread is 7 last I checked, and I think the Colts will win by that much. I’m 7-3 picking winners so far in the playoffs, which means maybe I should be betting on the games. But those picks have been ignoring the spread.

In any event, I’m hoping that Peyton finally wins a Super Bowl so we can stop talking about how he hasn’t won a Super Bowl. And I’m hoping the Bears get pounded, because I’ve been telling everyone all season that they aren’t very good, and they’re running out of time to prove me right. Yes, I realize they made the Super Bowl. But who did they beat? No one. The whole NFC sucks.

So, we’re going to a Super Bowl party at the home of frequent reader and commenter gayleforcewinds, who remains the only girl , along with her sister, are the only girls I know who don’t live with a guy, yet own a big-screen HDTV. We went to her party last year, too, and I’m looking forward to it. Hopefully it will be a good game, too.

Posted in: sports

FYI

Friday, February 02, 2007

Yes, the links in the RSS feed are broken because I moved the blog from complainthub.com to blog.complainthub.com.  I’m planning to fix that.  I’ll get to it eventually.

Posted in: blogging , Blogging

This is why northern states make fun of us

Friday, February 02, 2007

There was a “winter weather advisory” for the entire DC Metro area last night. Schools canceled evening activities, and probably opened late this morning. And for what?

Nothing. There was a little ice on my car this morning. The kind of ice that melts when you turn on the defrost.

Areas that get real snow make fun of us because this area hoards milk and toilet paper when there’s a prediction of an inch of snow. Less than three inches and people in Wyoming don’t even slow down when they drive. And when I first moved to the area, I was working in NW DC, and parking in a residential neighborhood. We had a bad winter, and there was snow on the ground for a few weeks. Half the cars in that neighborhood were never cleared of snow. They just sat. Obviously that’s not something most people can do in the suburbs, but, since I had never lived in the city, it was a completely foreign concept. Not drive for three weeks? I hadn’t done that since I got my license.

Anyway, they’re calling for more “wintry mix” this morning. I’m hoping to use it as an excuse to leave work early.

Posted in: Harvard Street

I want in on this

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Coke & Nestle Sued Over Enviga’s Bogus Calorie Burning Claims - Consumerist

Enviga, the so-called “calorie burning soda” has landed Coke and Nestle in some hot water, as the The Center for Science In The Public Interest has filed suit against both for false advertising claims

I’ve written about Enviga a few times.  I don’t like it.  I don’t like their claims.  I don’t like their carcinogen sweeteners.  I don’t like the taste.

But I do like a lawsuit for false advertising.  That’s always fun.

Posted in: Advertising , complaint , health

Coming soon . . .

Thursday, February 01, 2007

I’ve got some changes in mind for this site.  I’ve been working on some things, although it’s hard to find time with moving and everything and still wanting to spend a little time with my wife.  But she’s got stuff she has to get done tonight, so I’m hoping to get some work done while she’s busy with that.  My lack of success installing a test MySQL server on my Windows machine is not helping things, but the primary change I’m looking to make right away shouldn’t depend on the database anyway.  Maybe tonight.  This site might be down briefly as I move it to a subdomain.

Anyway, we’ll see how it goes.

Posted in: blogging , New!

WordPress 2.1 bonk

Thursday, February 01, 2007

I upgraded to WordPress 2.1, and it broke the tag cloud that I’ve been using for my categories. I’m going to have to go find the WordPress API again and figure out why it’s broken and how I need to fix it, but it’s kind of late, and I’m kind of annoyed because I always upgrade and things break and I always think nothing will go wrong and something always does.

WordPress 2.1 doesn’t seem like a big upgrade, but maybe there’s some stuff I haven’t seen yet. I had the impression that it was awesome, but that’s not my experience so far.

Edit: Apparently the plugin that I used for the cloud was just something that some dude wrote, and he hasn’t upgraded it for 2.1.  I guess I need to brush up on my PHP skills.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint

Inside the house

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Living space

So here’s the view from the hallway looking forward. The place is beautiful. There were some minor problems that came up during the inspection - the showers don’t drain that well, the water shut-off is kind of hidden behind the washing machine …

But nothing they can’t fix. And parking wasn’t too bad. I don’t know what I’m going to do before I get my car registered in DC, though. It’s 2 hour parking unless you have a sticker. I guess I’ll have to do that sooner rather than later.

The drive wasn’t bad, either. I came from work, although I left work at 2:30, so traffic shouldn’t be bad. But it wasn’t bad coming home at 4:30, either. People say traffic in the city is bad, but it’s really not the city. It’s the suburbs where the traffic will kill you.

You have no idea how excited I am to move.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Bad mood + too much tv = uncontrollable ranting

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

You know what I hate?  No, the other thing.  I hate Cox Communications‘ annoying mascot “Digital Max”.  I just saw a commercial that thankfully didn’t feature him about how wonderful Cox’s customer service is.  I can’t believe that’s true, but since I haven’t had to call them, I can’t really say it isn’t good.  Their prices sure aren’t very good, but neither are anyone else’s because of the barriers to competition in the cable tv market.

Anyway, for me, the best thing they could do to make me happy as a customer (Which I’ll only be until I move - I think DC is Comcast) is make a little flash game called “Dismember Digital Max” where I could choose from a variety of weapons and then chop Max up into little tiny bits.  Extra points for creatively gory animations.

It would probably be for the best if I didn’t watch any TV tonight.

Posted in: complaint , TV

I cringe at the thought

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

The Police reunite for Grammys - CNN.com

The band, known for such hits as “Roxanne,” “Message in a Bottle” and “Every Breath You Take,” has never performed at the annual telecast for the music industry’s most prestigious awards that are given by The Recording Academy.

If you add in anything from Jane’s Addiction, that’s the list of “songs I hate most in the world”.  I understand that they’ve been hugely influential and lots of people love them, but, for me, listening to Sting is about one rung up from fingernails on a chalkboard.  And one rung down from the sound of my alarm clock.

Luckily, I don’t have to watch the Grammys.

Posted in: complaint , TV

Ads for ads

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

The Super Bowl ads have gone too far.  It’s not enough that many people watch the game just for the ads.  Although it supports the point that Techdirt makes all the time - make ads interesting and people don’t mind watching them.  Now we have CareerBuilder advertising that they’re going in a new direction with their Super Bowl ads (I did like the monkeys.  Although I often forgot what was being advertised), and Rolling Rock pretending to apologize in advance for a commercial about men wearing thongs.

In any event, it suggests something fundamentally wrong with us as a society when we have advertisements trying to get us to watch other advertisements.  I suppose they always have to push it one step further - eventually even the most shocking thing gets to be normal, so you have to take the next step.  But this is a step that I think we all will soon be regretting.  It’s like Christmas decorations before Halloween.  They keep expanding the holiday.  And the Super Bowl is not that different.  It’s just like Christmas, except without the whole religious aspect.

Posted in: complaint , TV

Inspection tomorrow

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

We’re doing the home inspection tomorrow. That gives me a chance to get in and take some pictures of the inside of the house. I’m looking forward to it, and I think friends and family are, too.

It’s going to be my first opportunity to experience the drive from work to the house, although I’ll be leaving work around 2:30, so I won’t get the full effect of rush hour. Still, it should give me an idea. Which reminds me - I need to figure out the best way to go. I still have time.

I’ve been doing a little reading about the neighborhood. Our councilmember Jim Graham says that Ward 1, which includes Columbia Heights, contains DC’s most diverse neighborhoods. That’s pretty cool. Maybe it will give me a chance to brush up on my Spanish. I’m really looking forward to the neighborhood. Yes, it can be a little sketchy. Yes, there’s more crime than there is in Falls Church. But we can walk places. There are people outside doing things all the time. I can’t wait.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Why would none of your plates be microwave-safe?

Monday, January 29, 2007

I was just down at Target to buy a cheap plate to use at work.  I don’t want to take one from home and leave us with an odd number, and I don’t want to use paper plates because that’s not environmentally-friendly.  So I picked up a cheap plate, Target’s Home brand.  Not microwave safe.  I picked up another, and it said the same thing.  The only plates that ARE microwave safe at Target are the big heavy ceramic ones.  I just want this so I can microwave my lunch on the occasions that I didn’t pack it in the same tupperware I’m going to eat it from.

A coworker mentions that this seems reasonable to him because, after all, “No one uses microwaves these days”.  That coworker, obviously, was being sarcastic.

Anyway, Target, you suck.  I know I’ll come crawling back next time I need kitty litter, but right now I’m mad at you.

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

Mmm. . . delicious cupcakes

Monday, January 29, 2007

Strict Vegan Ethics, Frosted With Hedonism - New York Times via Accidental Hedonist

“Punk taught me to question everything,” Ms. Moskowitz said. “Of course, in my case that means questioning how to make a Hostess cupcake without eggs, butter or cream.”

Should we be eating animal products? I mean, you can’t tell me that it’s nice to the animals to kill and eat them. I think it’s a natural part of life - human beings evolved as omnivores. But it’s not a necessary part. I like the attitude here that the focus shouldn’t be on meat substitutes. Some of the best vegetarian stuff my wife cooks doesn’t have any meat substitutes.

I don’t know that I could give up meat, though. I’ve pretty much given up red meat and poultry at home (I was never that crazy about chicken anyway), sticking to vegetables and seafood. But could I give up the occasional bacon cheeseburger at a restaurant? Could I give up sushi? I don’t think I could.

But tasty vegan cupcakes? I’m happy to eat those.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Food

YouTube finds great method to create the next YouTube

Monday, January 29, 2007

YouTube Finds Step 2 1 In Profit Plan: Will Pay For User Vids - Gizmodo

YouTube rolls out profit sharing plan where they reward uploaders with shares of ad sales based on number of views. The ads will come in the shape of short clips in place of the actual YouTube video, which you presumably have to watch before getting to the meat. The videos may be at most three seconds long, but the details are still being worked out.

The day people have to watch a video ad before they watch the YouTube video is the day that YouTube is no longer relevant.  Unless Google makes it not just illegal but physically impossible to create a free user-content video sharing site, this is doomed to fail.  You can’t just take a service that everyone loves, make it less valuable to the audience by adding commercials, and expect people to stick around.  Sure, it might help get more and better content.  But that wasn’t really the problem, was it?  Have you ever NOT found what you were looking for on YouTube?  This strikes me as catastrophically stupid.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint

About this blog

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Just over twenty-four hours ago, my wife and I had our contract accepted on a shiny new condo on Harvard Street, right in the middle of the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, DC. We should be moved in by the end of next month. We are, obviously, very excited.

So, this blog is a few things. First, it’s a test of Typo, blogging software written in Ruby on Rails. I’ve been meaning to try it, mostly because Ruby is more fun than PHP, which is what Wordpress is written in. This is a trial run for switching all of Complaint Hub over to Ruby.

Second, it’s preliminary motivation to get more involved in the community. I’m moving into the city, into a real community, and I don’t want to sit around and watch. I want to be a part of my new community, and this is to start the ball rolling.

So, we’ll see what happens. I plan to update the layout here and play around and do all sorts of geek stuff. With all of the house-related stuff, I don’t know how quickly that will happen, but it will happen.

Anyway, keep watching this space. My next post will be more substantive.

Posted in: Harvard Street

Should DC get a vote?

Sunday, January 28, 2007

George F. Will - Voting Rights Chicanery - washingtonpost.com

For Speaker Pelosi, two questions about the possible scope of your majoritarian abuse: Given your disregard of the unambiguous language and clear intent of Article I, Section 2 – which uses the word “state” eight times to designate the only entity from which a member of the House may be chosen – do you acknowledge any impediment to using your majority to give “Committee of the Whole” voting power to a delegate from, say, the AFL-CIO?

My mom pointed me to this article, wondering what my take on it was. As you all know, I’m not a big fan of Nancy Pelosi. But I think here she’s just the easy target. I wonder what George Will’s take on this would be if the five non-states that the Democrats want to give House votes to were likely to vote Republican instead of Democratic? Or, similarly, whether Pelosi and the Democrats would still be on board with letting them have a vote.

This gets back to my point that I’ve made before - too often politicians ask “What can I do for my party?” rather than “What can I do for my country?”. Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans are always right. Neither is always wrong, either. But dividing the country into two vaguely defined groups and then governing based on what works to the benefit of the leaders of those groups is just stupid. I wish we could stop it. I wish there was a better way of running the country.

How about automatic impeachment after six months if a representative has not made an earnest effort to compromise on at least half of the bills he or she has been asked to vote on? “I’m sorry, you plainly have your own interests in mind ahead of those of the country. Please accept your severance package of a swift kick in the butt and get the heck out of here.”

As for the issue - should DC, Guam, etc., have a House representative who can vote? Well, it’s pretty clear in the Constitution that this right is reserved for states only, so I think it’s going to have to be an amendment if it happens. As a resident-to-be of DC, I’d like a rep with a vote, but I knew I didn’t have one when I decided to move, so I can’t very well complain now that I don’t have one.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

We got the house

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Our front doorThe wife and I are now proud owners (Pending closing in a few weeks) of a new condo in Columbia Heights.  We have the first floor.  It’s absolutely gorgeous.  I’ll have more pictures next time we’re able to get inside.  We’re obviously very excited.  Columbia Heights is a late-transitional neighborhood, new stuff going in all the time.  It’s walking distance (If you really want to) to Dupont Circle and the zoo.  We can walk to the trendy U Street Corridor.  It’s going to be awesome.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Personal

A sad day for haters

Friday, January 26, 2007

Boing Boing: Bush no longer “miserable failure”: Google tackles googlebombs

Google is changing algorithms so that Googlebombing doesn’t work anymore.  That makes me a little sad.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint

Frolicking dolphins

Friday, January 26, 2007

On my way to work today, I was behind a girl about my age driving a little Corolla.  I happened to look down at her license plate.  It said “4 RIZZL”.  It was a Jimmy Buffett “Parrothead” plate.  Yes, Virginia offers a Parrothead license plate.  It was in a license plate frame with dolphins on it.

I think I’ll stop now, because there is nothing I can say to make this any funnier.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Funny

Those who forget history . . .

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Ford Posts Record Loss of $12.7 Billion - washingtonpost.com

The company’s strategy is built around catering to those new consumer demands and also shifting its assembly lines to use fewer unique engine and transmission combinations and more common “platforms.”

Is it any wonder that Ford sucks?  Henry Ford is nearly synonymous with “assembly line”, and yet Ford Motor Company can’t manage to reuse components and processes?  If there is a heaven, I’ll bet Henry Ford spends all his time up there jumping up and down and screaming at Ford MoCo executives for being so stupid.  They’ve taken the number two automobile company in the country and flushed it down the toilet because they forgot about the stuff that their founder figured out a hundred years ago.  They’re behind Toyota now worldwide, and will likely fall behind them in North America, too.

Can you imagine losing 12.7 billion dollars?  Can you imagine even looking at $12.7 billion?  Seriously, no one above middle management there should be taking a salary until the company breaks even.

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

Best Indian food ever

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Haandi Fine Indian Cuisine

Who knew the best Indian food I’ve ever had would be from a strip mall in Falls Church?  We took my grandmother last night as a Christmas present.  She’s very hard to shop for - she pretty much has everything she’ll ever need.  So we figured food and company would be better than things she doesn’t really have much use for.  And the food was worth the slight wrong turn I took in getting from her house to the restaurant.

Anyway, I highly recommend the place.  They have a location in Bethesda, too, though I’ve never been.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Restaurant Review

Spammers need to die

Thursday, January 25, 2007

I’ve had an Akismet spam filter on the comments here since right after I started the site last August.  It’s caught about 1500 spam comments in that time.  However, 600 of them are from the last three days, all with the same text in the comment.  It’s driving me insane.  A couple of them have even gotten through into my comment moderation queue.  Akismet has been great, but these people are relentless.  And I don’t get it - they have the same misspelling in each of the comments.  I don’t know why they misspell words.  Surely they must know that it tips off spam filters because all spammers seem to do it.  And I know many of them may not be native English speakers, but not using a spell checker seems strange.

Anyway, I hope all spammers get to spend eternity in a special hell where they must constantly read advertisements every time they try to do anything.  The ads can only be for mortgage refinancing, viagra, phone sex, and fake designer handbags.

Posted in: complaint , Spam

Check out KZoo

Thursday, January 25, 2007

100 ‘best communities’ for youths named - USATODAY.com

Kalamazoo, Michigan, my wife’s home town, was named on the 2007 list of “best communities for youths” by America’s Promise Alliance.  This is probably largely due to the Kalamazoo Promise - some wealthy person donated money to pay for Kalamazoo public school students to go to Michigan state schools free - if you go to public school in Kalamazoo, prorated for the number of years, you get free college if you stay in-state.  It’s pretty cool, and it’s raised property values inside the city limits.

I found that article looking for this one, which I saw on the front page while I was in line for coffee at Caribou.  Just as the wife and I are pretty close to putting a bid in on a condo in a “transitional” neighborhood of D.C., I see that crime rates are threatening the revitalization of many cities.  The article doesn’t mention D.C., focusing more on smaller cities that don’t have the money and the history of D.C. - Louisville, Milwaukee, Trenton.  Still.  Maybe my VA-based realtor (Who’s made because we’re buying in the city where she’s not licensed) is right that we’re going to be beaten and mugged three or four times a day in D.C..

One of the most important parts of the article is that “perception is reality” - when you’re talking about property values, it doesn’t matter what the real crime rate is.  It matters what people think the crime rate is.  Certainly the actual crime rate matters to those who live there, but attracting new people (and new money) requires that you appear to be safe.

I’ve always wondered, though - where do they expect people to go when the value of the neighborhood shoots up around them?  Certainly some will be able to take advantage of the rise in the value of their home.  But what if you rent?  What if you don’t want to go but suddenly your property tax triples?  I’m all for revitalizing cities, and I know that many new developments set aside (maybe they have to?  Not sure) some space for low-income residents.  But I’m not sure that’s enough.

And if some of the revitalization money comes from the government, I think we have a responsibility to make sure that what we’re doing is enough.

Posted in: Anti complaint , complaint , Politics

Duck Conspiracy?

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Those who know me will no doubt be aware of my feeling that Condi Rice looks like a duck. I think it’s unfortunate - it can’t have been easy for her to have grown up looking like a duck. Kids are merciless. But she seems to have gotten past it, and that’s really an accomplishment that we can all be proud of.

I watched about three minutes of the state of the union last night. That’s about as much as I can stand.  But I noticed something. Nancy Pelosi was sitting behind the President, and SHE LOOKS LIKE A DUCK, TOO! Not only that, but if you look at her haircut, she seems to be actively cultivating the image.

There are a few things that could be going on here. It could be a coincidence that two of the most powerful women in America both look like ducks. I choose not to accept that, because it’s boring. It could be that Pelosi, knowing that her extreme liberalism (And probably her gender) will turn many conservatives away.  So she is trying to emulate one of their own to win favor. This sounds like a reasonable thing for her to do, except that as far as I can tell, she has absolutely no use for conservatives at all, so it may not be that likely.  Perhaps the most interesting possibility is that, some years ago, a poll was conducted that, due to rounding error, determined that what the American people really look for in a strong female politicians is a striking resemblance to a duck.  Hillary, this might be something you want to consider.

I don’t know which of these scenarios is the correct one.  Someday, perhaps I’ll find out.  Perhaps the world will find out.  Hopefully before it’s too late.

Posted in: Politics

Were mad, and were not going to take it. Well, maybe we will.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Bush faces angry, dissatisfied electorate in speech - CNN.com

Two-thirds of respondents say that Bush has done something to make them angry – a figure that has grown six points since last year and 16 points since Bush’s State of the Union in 2004.

I’ve kind of gotten away from talking about politics here for a couple of reasons.  One, the letdown after the election - after focusing on politics so much leading up to the election, I was kind of burned out.  I know, really rough for me.  The second was that I was afraid that the constant beating my head against a wall was going to cause permanent damage.

In any event, I should get back into politics.  Just because it’s not making news now like it was in October doesn’t mean that nothing important is going on.

Posted in: Politics

SNOW!!!!

Monday, January 22, 2007

As usual, the DC Metro area has officially flipped out because we got a little snow yesterday.  I’m the only one at work.  There are usually at least two people here by 6AM.  It’s a good thing I remembered my password to turn off the alarm.  Last time I had to open, I set it off and had to call Honeywell to reassure them that nothing horrible was happening.

It’s funny - I’ve heard two phones ring this morning, both belonging to people who are NEVER here this early.  One was my boss' phone, and someone might be telling him that the scary wet roads are keeping them at home.  The roads were much worse last night.  The last mile before our place was a sheet of ice at about 4:30PM.  But this morning, the roads were just wet and a little slushy.  I had no trouble getting to work.

Posted in: complaint , Work

Dinner at Wasabi

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Last night, the wife took me to a TasteDC event at Wasabi in DC.  It was a Christmas present, and I recommend the restaurant whole-heartedly.  It’s a kaiten-zushi restaurant, which means they have a conveyor belt coming from the kitchen, and you take what you want as it passes by.  This type of restaurant is very popular in Japan, and getting there in London, too.  This is DC’s first one.

The food was great.  And, because it was sponsored by TasteDC, they explained a little bit about the sake and the sushi that they served.  They also made it a little bit like a summer camp orientation day, but that was okay.

If you go there, try the green tea mousse.  I’ve had green tea ice cream before, and I don’t love it, but this was great.  All the sushi they served was great.  The wife especially liked the nigiri.

The owner of the restaurant looks like some minor movie or tv star that we can’t place, but that you’ll probably recognize.  I think he played a principal in some cheesy comedy (Like Saved by the Bell, but it wasn’t that guy).  I wish IMDB had a search by facial description.

Posted in: Restaurant Review

Looking at houses today

Saturday, January 20, 2007

We’re finally going out looking at new places today.  We’ve decided to see if we can keep the place I own now, rent it out, and still manage to buy a new place.  If it works, it will be great, because eventually we’ll have rental income from this place, and it will always be sort of a savings account.  And if it turns out we can’t afford it (We can’t rent it right now for the amount of the mortgage), we can sell as investors rather than residents, and the taxes work out much more nicely.

So, anyone looking to rent a lovely two-bedroom condo, conveniently located in beautiful Falls Church, Virginia?  Near Metro, 66, 495, Tyson’s Corner …  We’ll probably be advertising on Craigslist soon.

Posted in: Home Improvement

You! Go take an econ class, right now.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Techdirt: Infinity Is Your Friend In Economics

So the trick to embracing infinite goods isn’t in limiting the infinite nature of them, but in rethinking how you view them.

I’ve said many times to anyone who will listen that no one should graduate college without an economics class. I took Principles of Econ as a freshman (And got one of only two or three A’s for the semester, despite being one of only a few underclassmen), and it changed the way I thought about things. Just understanding a supply and demand curve, even a basic understanding, can allow you to look at things differently.

I wonder what would have happened if I had graduated as an economics major. I started off that way, then, through some sort of entrance test mixup that placed me in Calc I after two years of Calc in high school (I think maybe I was asleep for the test? I don’t know) and the subsequent working it out with a math professor, I became convinced that Math-Econ was the way to go. I managed two Econ classes before I dropped the major. It wasn’t the material, it was just that the class was so boring. There was no discussion. We just sat and took notes and then took tests. I wanted to shoot myself.

Anyway, this is sort of relevant to the link at the top. Business flips out when there is no scarcity - when supply really is infinite. This makes sense, because an infinite supply means you should be selling it for nothing. Obviously you aren’t going to make any money that way. But this article points out that markets do not exist in a vacuum. A free good can be used in other goods or used in relation to other goods, and money can be made.

It’s all about, as Techdirt says, continuous innovation. You can’t ride one great idea forever. Sooner or later, someone will do it better and cheaper. And when your old business model is obsolete, because the good you were selling is now infinite, or whatever else might happen, you can’t run to the government and ask them to make competing with you illegal. You have to think about the next step. There’s almost always value to be added.

Edited to add:

BoingBoing has a post about inflation in virtual worlds that seems appropriate here, too. I actually didn’t read the linked article, but it’s probably interesting and relevant.

Posted in: Interesting

I LOVE Web 2.0!!!!

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Web 2.0

Of course it might have to be explained to someone like your granny, but how many shirts do you honestly own that she doesn’t get anyhow?

Awesome t-shirt over at Preshrunk.  I’m glad the bitter guy who runs that site came back from his little hiatus.  I actually read three t-shirt/clothing blogs regularly now.  Is there something wrong with me?

Posted in: Anti complaint , Anti-complaint

Commenter with interesting site

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

The Average White Guy

I hope you find my blog to be well…average! If it’s too good, expectations emerge. If it’s not good enough, I’ll be the only one reading it. So I figure: “Average”.

I got a comment from this guy the other day, and I checked out his blog.  He and I have a lot in common, I think, but maybe I’m better at creative rationalization, so I haven’t had to come to terms with my place in the world yet.  Maybe that makes me worse.

Anyway, I’ve been reading his stuff, and it’s interesting.  He is a Yankees fan, so that’s minus two points, but he said good things about Cal Ripken when he got into the Hall, so I guess I can give the two points back.

Posted in: blogging , Blogging

This is in my hood

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Woman Crashes Car Into 7-11 Store - News

The woman, driving a Honda Accord, said she thought she was going into reverse when the accident happened.

We passed this on our way home last night at about 8:15PM - the store is two blocks from our house - and this morning at 7:05AM the store was open for business with boards covering the hole in the window/wall.

I’m curious how she managed to get that far.  She would have had to go up over the curb, across three feet of sidewalk, and through a brick wall to do the damage she did.

Maybe I’m not a good driver, but I usually notice which direction I’m going pretty quickly.

This is a good argument to outlaw automatic transmissions.  They’re just not safe.  You never know which direction you’re going to go until you’re in the candy aisle at 7-11.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Stupid people

A way to submit your own complaints thats better than mine

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

VentBox â„¢ » VentBox is coming… real soon (beta invite)

My co-complainer over at VentBox is releasing a beta version of his complaint (vent) submission site.  It’s way more web 2.0 than mine, and much more involved and well-done.   Anyway, go get a beta invitation and check it out.

Posted in: Your complaints

Nicest thing hes ever said

Friday, January 12, 2007

ESPN.com - MLB - Bonds denies receiving amphetamines from Sweeney

“He is both my teammate and my friend,” Bonds said in a statement. “He did not give me anything whatsoever and has nothing to do with this matter, contrary to recent reports."I want to express my deepest apologies especially to Mark and his family as well as my other teammates, the San Francisco Giants organization and the fans,” he said.

After my recent post bashing Barry Bonds, I feel some obligation to show the other side, as well - he actually said the right thing for a change.  I obviously can’t attest to the sincerity of what he said, but I can at least say that this is the first time I’ve ever read a quote from him and thought, “Assuming he’s sincere, that was the right thing to say.”

Of course, you may argue that he wouldn’t have had to apologize if he had never a) taken amphetamines or b) blamed an innocent teammate for giving them to him.  And you’d be absolutely right.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Anti-complaint , baseball

The perfect commercial

Friday, January 12, 2007

There’s an Olive Garden commercial that I saw four times last night that got me thinking.  No, that commercial is not the perfect commercial.  That commercial sucks.  Although, I’m obviously not the target audience.  The commercial starts off with a woman coming into the Olive Garden saying she’s looking for her date.  She describes him as, “handsome, and his shoes are probably untied”.  At this point, off-screen a child calls, “Mom!”, and the mom and the hostess share a syrupy moment as it becomes obvious to all that the woman is having dinner with her husband and her son, and isn’t some divorced hussy on a blind date.

So, my idea starts off similarly.  It’s obviously a commercial for anti-bacterial kitchen wipes or healthy frozen dinners or something.  Just as we’re getting to the syrupy punchline moment, the director walks out yelling, “Cut!”.  The mom stops.

“This is the wrong commercial.  We shot for the female 35-55 demographic yesterday.  This is for the male 18-35!"  He says.

"Oh."  Says the mom.  She pauses for a moment.  "Okay.  Should I take off my shirt?”

“Yes, that would be great."  The director says.  "Someone get these kids out of here!"  He walks off screen and we see the mom start to pull her shirt over her head, and then the commercial cuts to the screen that shows the company name and website and whatnot.

The voice-over then comes on and says something like, "At blah-blah company, we know what our customers want.  And we work tirelessly to give it to you.”

This commercial has it all.  Syrup, humor, memorability, sex, self-referential “we joke about ourselves because we’re real people, just like you” stuff …  It’s perfect.  Someone needs to contact me about the rights to it.

Posted in: TV

Bonds is a druggie, CEO of MLB players association a liar

Thursday, January 11, 2007

SI.com - MLB - Caught speeding - Thursday January 11, 2007 3:09AM

“I can say unequivocally in my 22 years I’ve known Barry Bonds he has never blamed anyone for anything.”

So says Gene Orza.  A quick Google search for “barry bonds blame” turns up this:

“I’m tired of my kids crying. You wanted me to jump off a bridge, I finally did,” Bonds told reporters Tuesday, shortly after returning to training camp. “You finally brought me and my family down. … So now go pick a different person.”

So, maybe Orza was exaggerating a little.  Why do people make statements like that when they must know them to be false?

Anyway, Bonds is a jerk.  I don’t care how many home runs he hits or what his career stats look like when he finally retires.  He has made himself the poster child of everything that’s wrong with Major League Baseball.  It would make me very happy if he doesn’t break Hank Aaron’s record because he’s in jail for perjury.  That would be too awesome.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , sports

Sir, youre going to have to remove your monkeys diaper for inspection

Thursday, January 11, 2007

TSA: Service Animals

When the handler and monkey go through the WTMD and the WTMD alarms, both the handler and the monkey must undergo additional screening.

BoingBoing posted this today, but they didn’t quote this rule, which is quite possibly the funniest.  I mean, the nerve of the American public, thinking that they can set off alarms and allow their monkey to get off scot free.

“Sir, your monkey is going to have to step over here for further screening.”

It’s worth becoming disabled and getting a helper monkey just for the airport hilarity that this could cause.  Even better than wearing an “enemy combatant” t-shirt through the security line.

Posted in: Pets

Restaurant week in DC

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Wife and I are off to a fancy dinner tonight at Mendocino, booked through OpenTable. Can’t wait for some nice fish, maybe some organic wine …

I know you all are jealous.

Edit: Totally worth it. I’d highly recommend Mendocino. Dinner was great. Nice, small restaurant, good service, right in the heart of super-trendy Georgetown. Georgetown is actually so trendy that I don’t think it’s trendy anymore - it’s gone totally back around to only semi-cool.  The wife says, “Great company.  But I guess I can get that anywhere.  I would recommend the goat cheese cheesecake”.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Personal

Tag abuse

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Some of you may know that I love Flickr.  I have about 1800 pictures up there.  Recently, I posted some pictures of Barb’s family watching a video on YouTube, and tagged it “youtube”, among other things.  It currently has 107 views, up from the normal 5-10 views on most of my pictures.

That got me thinking.  Is it “ethical” to drive traffic to your website by adding tags and search terms that don’t really apply?  The “youtube” tag was relevant to the picture, but I could have tagged it with all sorts of popular tags that don’t really apply.  Similarly, I could tag this blog post with “sex” or “hate Republicans” or whatever the kids are searching for these days, and drive more traffic.

Or, alternatively to adding tags that don’t really fit, what if I actually wrote about stuff based on current top Google searches?  It wouldn’t be hard to find out what  the week’s popular search terms are, and then I could write about those things.

Usually, I post about whatever I feel like posting about.  Sometimes that’s current events.  For example, I got some random traffic when I posted about Zidane’s head butt, and I got random traffic when I posted about the Enviga tea that some marketing guy sent me.  But often it’s not, like when I post about my stupid cat.

Anyway, I have no point, here.  I’m just wondering where the line is between offering content that people might find interesting and then trying to promote it, and prostituting one’s self for traffic.

Posted in: blogging , Blogging

Social shopping app?

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Cribcandy - the household shopping blog. Daily picks of the best designed or most unusual finds, for your home link via BoingBoing This site probably requires a little more browsing before I understand where they’re going, but they seem to be trying to create a social web app for shopping. I’m not sure what value they expect to add, but the stuff they find for around the house is awesome. And it doesn’t seem to be all super expensive, unlike many sites that aggregate cool stuff.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Home Improvement

Nice job, Cal

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Baltimore Orioles : News : Baltimore Orioles News

“He proved that a tall man could play shortstop, enabling players like Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez to follow.”

Cal Ripken was just inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, the first time he was on the ballot, with the third highest vote percentage ever.  Growing up in Maryland, following the Orioles ever since I was ten, it was a long time before I saw a live baseball game that he didn’t play in.  Well, not including my rec league games.  He got an honorary degree when my sister graduated from Johns Hopkins, and I walked past him at Preakness last summer.

I still remember coming home from work on September 6th, 1995, and watching him do his victory lap as he broke Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games streak.  I hadn’t really realized how much of a big deal it was until I saw that on tv.

I know that the exploits of a man who played a game for a living are pretty unimportant in a lot of ways, but in some other ways, they make a big difference to a lot of people.  There’s nothing quite like sitting in the bleachers on a sunny day, throwing peanut shells on the ground and watching a baseball game.  It doesn’t match the intensity of a lot of other sports, but there’s some magic there (I know, I’m being a little cheesy, sue me).

So, congratulations to Cal, and to also-deserving Tony Gwynn.

Posted in: Anti complaint , baseball , sports

Id like a new layout

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

I’m tired of the way Complaint Hub looks.  I’ve just been over at Candy Blog, run by Nanowrimo big shot Cybele, and I really like the design.  It’s not what I’m looking for, but it fits her site really well.  And that’s what I want here - a design that fits my site.  Then the question becomes, what sort of a design is right for a blog about complaining?  I don’t know.  I’d like to do something myself, but WordPress uses PHP, and I have pretty limited PHP experience.  I suppose it would be good to learn.

Posted in: Personal

Kids, dont try this at home

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

I just posted about how much I hate elevators, and how I can’t take the stairs up at work because they lock the doors.  Well, they just started leaving the doors unlocked.  So now I don’t have to wait for the elevator when I come back from getting coffee!  I still can’t walk up from the parking garage, but that’s an extra three floors - I don’t feel bad riding the elevator up six flights.

Now, kids, here’s how you can complain about both sides of an issue.  It requires a delicate amount of self-deprecation, a little poetic license, and a flexible moral compass.  With practice, you, too, can become a professional complainer.  You must learn to deal with the classic complainer’s Catch-22. The problem now is that I have to walk up the dang stairs, or else I can no longer be smug about those who ride the elevators.  I just started going to the gym again last week after a month and a half off, and thirty five minutes on the elliptical makes your legs tired.  And now I have to walk up the stairs or risk invalidating a previous complaint.

Here’s where we redirect the complaint, taking the blame away from ourselves.

The building security people are clearly out to get me.  They must read the site, and know that they’ve come up against a formidable foe, a complainer with a mission and an audience.  So they have set out to undermine me.  They think they can respond to my complaint, and I’ll quietly continue to use the elevator, despite my protests.

Finally, we say things that don’t mean much, but sound good on television, to leave the reader feeling inspired.  No one pays attention to the middle of something they read, just the beginning and the end. 

They will be disappointed.  I will take the stairs.  Two at a time, if necessary.  I will not be defeated!  They think they can grease the squeaky wheel and get away unscathed, but that is not the way the world works.  I’m on to you, building security.  I’m going to take the stairs every day, just to spite you.

Posted in: complaint , Elevators

Manhattan smells like gas

Monday, January 08, 2007

Mystery odor permeates Manhattan

“One thing we are very confident of, it’s not dangerous,” New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a news conference.

We don’t know what it is, but we know it isn’t dangerous. Thanks, Mayor Bloomberg. Sorry to all of you who live in Manhattan. That’s got to be rough on you.

“If you were in a gas station, [the odor] would be magnified 1,000 times,” NEW JERSEY mayor’s spokeswoman Maria Pignataro told CNN.

At least it’s not terrorism. Not sure how they’re ruling that out without knowing what the smell is, but maybe they have advanced terrorism identification techniques that are too secret to inform the public of their existence.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint

Your complaints

Monday, January 08, 2007

I should really do some work on the page where you can submit your own complaints.  It’s terrible that the page still looks as badly as it does.  It needs more interaction.  It needs more CSS, maybe some more color.  And innovation.  It needs innovation.

Posted in: Your complaints

I hate elevators

Monday, January 08, 2007

I have an irrational hatred for elevators.  I hate riding in them.  I hate looking at them.  I hate walking past people waiting for them.  In my office, we have six elevators and eleven floors.  Usually, that means you don’t wait long for an elevator.  I almost always take the stairs down, but you can’t take the stairs up because they lock the doors.  Only the lobby and basement doors open from the outside.

For the last two weeks, they’ve been taking one elevator out of service at a time to replace the doors.  Yes, I’m serious.  Currently, the elevator doors are a golden color, with a column of the same material that runs from the top of the door all the way to the ceiling.  These doors are being replaced in the lobby with silver colored mirrored doors that have stupid square patterns etched into them.  The first time I saw one, I thought it had been scratched as it opened.  They are not, however, replacing the panels above the doors.

So, now our lobby not only has marble walls with patterns that could only be described as six foot tall female genitalia, but it also has silver doors with gold trim.  Awesome.

And the elevators are slow.  I don’t see how taking one out of service quadruples the wait time, but it does.  Let’s do the math here.  Let’s say that the time I wait for an elevator is (# of people)/(# of elevators)*(# of trips per elevator), or t=p/er.  Let’s call the time it normally takes t0, and the time it takes with one elevator out of service as tf (Where ‘f’ stands for you know what).  We can reasonably assume that p and r remain constant.  If tf=4*t0, we do some algebra, and we determine that 4/e = (6/5)/e, or 4=6/5.  This is false.  Therefore, we have to assume that the elevators defy the laws of physics.

Actually, we should probably assume that t=p/er is incorrect.  Since taking 84% of e causes t to increase four fold, there must be something more sinister afoot here than that innocuous equation.  I suspect that natural logs are involved.

Posted in: complaint , uninformed ramblings

What have we done?

Friday, January 05, 2007

In the House, Suddenly Righteous Republicans

Anne Kornblut of the New York Times asked McHenry if his complaint might come across as whining.

“I’m not whining,” he whined.

So, when the Republicans were in power, Nancy Pelosi submitted a bill asking for fair treatment of the Democratic minority. The Republicans ignored it. Now, the Republicans are submitting the same bill with the roles reversed, and are mad that the Democrats aren’t jumping to do what they ask. The Republicans even had it delivered by a new member who could argue with something resembling a straight face that he had nothing to do with the Republicans actions a few years ago.

This is a pretty crappy thing to do on both sides, especially the Republicans. But the Washington Post has to go and ruin the article by the above quote. “Ooh, let’s call the Republicans ‘whiners’. That’ll show them.” On a related note - Cindy Sheehan is not helping anything. Defunding the Iraq war is the worst idea I’ve heard since someone thought, “Hey, it would be cool if George W. Bush was the President!”

I think my point here is that, when we “cleaned house” and got rid of some of the biggest problem Republicans in office, we seem to have replaced them with equally bad (though in different ways) Democrats. My mom doesn’t like Nancy Pelosi. And my mom has an incredible gift for finding the good in anyone, so if she can’t see anything positive in Nancy Pelosi, it’s probably not there.  And yes, I know my mom doesn’t know her personally, nor is she a professional political analyst. Actually, I don’t think I have a point. I’m just terribly frustrated that there doesn’t seem to be a single person anywhere in American politics who seems to represent my views. There’s no one I can get behind and say, “Hey, this person speaks for me”.  Am I asking too much?  Should the leaders I helped elect occasionally say things I agree with?  There are things I believe in on both sides of the political spectrum (Although not on the strange third axis of political thought where George W. Bush lives).

Is this my least coherent post ever?  Vote in the comments.  It’s not even 8:30AM. I swear I’m not drunk.

Posted in: complaint , uninformed ramblings

Its book review time!

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

I mentioned earlier that I was reading “Radical Evolution” by Joel Garreau.  I just finished it last night.

It was interesting.  He presents three possible scenarios - the “Heaven scenario”, prominently advocated by Ray Kurzweil, the “Hell Scenario”, foretold by Bill Joy, and the “Prevail Scenario”, which he learns about from Jaron Lanier.

The Heaven Scenario is where technology moves us past such problems as sickness, hunger, and death, and into a utopia.  The Hell Scenario is where technology moves forward without us, and we’re all eaten by rogue self-replicating nanomachines or wiped out by a bio-engineered super plague.  The Prevail Scenario is where we take control of the rush of technology and use it to find new ways of connecting people.  The key element of the Prevail Scenario is that we are in control.  The other two predict that the rapid rate of change in technology, which is currently increasing, is going to be too fast for us to have any input on where it’s going.

As I read the book, I went through a few phases.  First, I read about the Heaven Scenario, and envisioned myself enhanced and posthuman, immune to disease, constantly connected to an ever-present network, and immortal.  It was pretty sweet.  Kurzweil thinks we’ll have significant changes in what it means to be human in the next 2-3 decades. Then I read about the Hell Scenario, which seems less likely.  Maybe I do still have a little faith in humanity that we won’t totally destroy ourselves just yet.  Probably we will before the sun goes out, but that at least gives us a little time.  Although, if we do have a man-made global killer, it’s going to suck pretty hard.

The Prevail Scenario is less concretely defined.  It’s almost like an extension of the web 2.0 user communities into all aspects of life.  Instead of people being kept physically apart, sitting at computers in basements, new technology would allow richer connections between people than are possible now, combining the best of online communities with the best of physical communities.

In all, it’s a good read.  Even those who don’t know much about the tech side of things should be able to follow along.  The writing style is accessible.  And it’s exciting.  The idea of transcending humanity is really fascinating, and it doesn’t sound that far-fetched.

Next on my list is Glasshouse by Charles Stross, which is actually a novel about posthumans.  In the first chapter, we already have a duel for making eye contact and a no-strings-attached orgy just for fun.  The future is awesome!

Posted in: Technology

Internet Explorer is the devil, Part II

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Due to a little investigating after seeing it in my Google analytics reports, I am now able to tell you that, happily, Complaint Hub is the #1 Google result for the phrase “Internet Explorer is the devil”.  That makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

This is also my 300th post.  I guess that’s cool, too.

Posted in: Anti complaint , nerd

Bipartisan government - the wifes take

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

So, apparently the other human being who lives with me doesn’t agree with my post about the Democrats being big meanies who don’t want to compromise.  She says, and it’s certainly a valid point, that the Republicans have shown no interest in compromise, and the Democrats have things they need to get done.  So they should just do them.  Getting the majority is no small feat, and they need to make things happen quickly or run the risk of losing ground in the 2008 elections, where Republicans will be eager to play up any failures by the new majority.

I think that was Mike’s point in the comments, too - they need to jump in and get some things done, and then they can worry about compromising.

On some level, I have this optimistic view that the Democrats will rush in and stand on principle, doing things the Right Way even if it means they lose, and then eventually that Right Way will win out, and the country will be better off.  Why I think that, I don’t know.  I’m not usually that optimistic.  I think I hold Democrats to a higher standard than I do Republicans.

In any event, my view has been tempered somewhat.  But I still don’t like the sound of what they’re doing.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

News Flash - People take cabs at 2am on New Years Day

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

I went to a party at a friend’s house for the New Year.  It was a cool party.  It became uncool, however, through no fault of the hostess, at about 2am.  My wife and I had planned to take a cab to my mom’s house, only a few miles away, where the spare room was all set up for us.  We had both been drinking, and had no intention of driving anywhere.

So I went to Google maps and looked for a cab in the area.  First company didn’t even answer the phone.  The second one told me there was a two hour wait for a cab.  The third said they had no cabs.

Was this a shock?  Were they unprepared for people to want cabs after parties for New Year’s?  I can’t imagine demand was much higher than last year.

It worked out okay, as the hostess had a fold-out couch that we could sleep on that wasn’t even uncomfortable.  But it was annoying.  You suck, Annapolis cab companies.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint

A new age of bipartisan government

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Democrats To Start Without GOP Input - washingtonpost.com

As they prepare to take control of Congress this week and face up to campaign pledges to restore bipartisanship and openness, Democrats are planning to largely sideline Republicans from the first burst of lawmaking.

Oh, wait, never mind.  It’s great to talk about bipartisanship and compromise to get elected, but then let’s just throw that out the window and pass some laws really quickly before anyone can do anything about it.  This is not how our government is supposed to work.

Don’t get me wrong, I approve of some of the laws they want to pass.  More stem cell research?  I approve.  Tightening ethics rules for lawmakers?  Sure.  Cutting interest rates on student loans?  Well, maybe.  I don’t know that cutting the interest rates is really going to help the kids who graduate with $100,000 in debt, but maybe it will.  I’ve spoken at length on the minimum wage, and how it should be tied to real, local economic indicators and shouldn’t be a tool of politicians to appeal to liberals and poor people.  Yes, it should be raised, because if you assume we need a minimum wage, we certainly need to raise it from what it is now because it hasn’t changed in, what, ten years?  At least adjust it for inflation.

I wish the Democrats would notice that they’re alienating a lot of the people who could really be helping them.  After the colossal mess that President Bush has made of absolutely everything, many people (Like me, for example) are desperate for someone to bring back a little sanity to the federal government.  The Democrats would just have to come through on some of the promises they made before the elections and I’d be happy to support them.  But they aren’t even in office yet, and they’ve already broken a big promise to compromise and keep everyone involved.

Are you trying to force me to vote Libertarian, Nancy Pelosi?  Because I’ll do it.  You watch.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

A bunch of stuff

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Bad timing for some big news items. I haven’t had a chance to write about Gerald Ford, even though I flew out of an airport named after him last week. I haven’t had a chance to write about Saddam Hussein, in part because I’m still not sure how I feel about the whole thing, which is puzzling. I haven’t written about New Year’s, which contains a small complaint about the cab companies in Annapolis, Maryland, who were woefully unprepared for the demand.

So, either I’ll get to all that, and whatever else I missed, or I won’t. That’s the nice part about not doing this for a living. You can always complain yourself if I’ve missed something really glaring.

Posted in: Life

Happy New Year!

Sunday, December 31, 2006

I know, it’s early for almost all of my usual readers, who tend to be in the United States.  But I won’t be near a computer at midnight.  Actually, I might be, but I’m pretty sure I won’t be sitting down to post something about it.  The wife and I are running late for a party at a friend’s house.  We were planning to leave ten minutes ago, and we are not walking out the door yet.  But that’s okay.

Anyway, it’s been a good year.  I’m not going to summarize now.  Maybe tomorrow.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Personal

Awesome playoff scenario

Sunday, December 31, 2006

NFL.com - NFL News

**Packers clinch strength of victory tiebreaker over NY Giants if all of the following occur: ARI win, DET win, MIA win, MIN win, SF win, CAR loss, HOU loss, TB loss.

Because the Redskins and the worst defensive coordinator ever, Gregg Williams, couldn’t even begin to stop Tiki Barber and the Giants (He had TWO 50+ yard touchdown runs.  TWO!), Green Bay has a very slim chance to make the playoffs.  Eight games need to have exactly the right outcomes, or else the Giants go to the playoffs.  I think this could be the coolest playoff scenario ever.  Except that it will probably end up with the Giants going to the playoffs, and I hate the Giants.

The Redskins, on the other hand, should be embarrassed.  The Giants had lost six of seven games, were without one of their best defensive players (Michael Strahan), one of their best offensive players (Jeremy Shockey), and, for all intents and purposes, based on how he’s been playing, without their quarterback (Eli “The Whiner” Manning).

And the Redskins let the Giants come into their house and run for 250 yards.  Joe Gibbs is a Hall of Fame coach.  But that man on the sidelines is not Joe Gibbs.  I think a brain-sucking parasite had taken over his body and delegated all playcalling to a Ouija board run by a couple of chimpanzees who don’t even watch the games.

On behalf of the Redskins, I’d like to apologize to the NFC teams who had a shot at the playoffs if the Giants lost.  We let you down, and we’re sorry.

And to the Giants:  I can’t wait until you get knocked out of the playoffs in a three-touchdown loss to someone.  Have fun!

Posted in: complaint , sports

Having a cold sucks

Friday, December 29, 2006

I have a cold.  It’s not a really bad one, but it’s making me tired and a little achy.  And therefore somewhat irritable.

You’d think that would make it easier to run a website about complaining, but it turns out that’s not the case.  I should be back to normal in a few days.

Posted in: complaint , health , Life

Soon you can eat a clone

Thursday, December 28, 2006

FDA OKs Food From Cloned Animals - washingtonpost.com

Because scientists concluded there is no difference between food from clones and food from other animals, “it would be unlikely that FDA would require labeling in those cases,” Sundlof said.

I saw this today on Accidental Hedonist, and now on the Washington Post. The issue here is not safety, or how different or not different clones are from normal animals. The issue is that some people don’t like the idea of cloning, and don’t want to eat a cloned animal.

Personally, I don’t care if the animal was cloned. I don’t care if nano-scale assembly robots built my prime rib from individual carbon atoms. I’ll eat it either way. But I want to know what I’m eating. Give people the information to choose for themselves, and I’m happy.

Posted in: complaint , Technology

All done

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Golfing Benjamin While I was at my father-in-law’s over Christmas, I got a chance to hang out with my new nephews (New to me - they’re the sons of my brother- and sister-in-law). The older one, not pictured here, I’d met before. Benjamin, above, I’d met before, but he’s still pretty young. This is the first time I’ve hung out with him since he could really communicate. Two days ago, he was asking to play golf. There’s a nerf golf set in the basement, and the kids like to go down and play, but Benjamin is a little small to do it himself. I happened to walk by the kitchen as people were cooking dinner and Benjamin was looking for an escort into the basement. My wife told him to ask me, since I wasn’t busy cooking. So he did, and he and I went downstairs. He carefully set up all the little plastic holes. I put the flags on the sticks for him, and he put them in the slots where they belong. Then he hit the ball around a bit (His short game needs work, but he’s got the “put the ball in the hole” part down). Then he looked at me and said, “All done.”

And then, to my amazement, he started putting everything away. He gathered the holes (I had to help him remove the flags) and put everything back in the box. I only prompted him for one or two pieces that he forgot, and only after he had started cleaning on his own. When everything was put away, he said, “Go see mommy.” And we went back upstairs.

Watching little kids like that has always fascinated me.  I wonder about the thought process that goes on in his head.  Sometimes I think they couldn’t possibly be comprehending what it seems like they are.

I guess it’s good practice for when I have my own kids.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Personal

Insult or compliment?

Thursday, December 28, 2006

A woman in the hallway at work just told me I look like Taylor from American Idol. I’m not sure I agree. Maybe it’s just the grey hair.

Taylor Hicks

I’ve heard more often that I look like Claudio Reyna.

Claudio Reyna

I think I’d rather look like Claudio Reyna.

Posted in: Personal

Im back

Thursday, December 28, 2006

The Garreau Group

And I’m reading a new book.  I got a bunch of books from my in-laws, and I’ve started reading Radical Evolution by Joel Garreau. It’s about a group of fundamentalist Christian zealots who start blowing up buildings to protest the teaching of evolution in schools.

I’m just kidding.  It’s actually non-fiction about the marriage of technology and evolution, and whether we are approaching “The Singularity”, which is basically the tipping point beyond which there is a fundamental change in what it means to be human.  This is not the only view of the Singularity, but this is more or less the view he’s going with. So far I’m more or less buying it.  He makes some assumptions that I don’t think are true, but none of them are really important to his hypothesis.  It’s a little scary/exciting, because he and others he quotes are expecting huge changes in not just the way we live, but the way we are.  And they’re expecting them in the next few decades.

I’ll keep you all posted on how it’s going.  If I start getting a little existential here, tell me to take a break from the science and go watch some reality tv.  Nothing will destroy my faith in the imminent transcendence of humanity quicker than a few hours of prime time television.

Posted in: Technology

What a nice way of putting it

Friday, December 22, 2006

Techdirt: Who’ll Pay For C3PO’s Social Security Benefits?

The paper admits we won’t be worrying about any of this for at least another twenty years, assuming robots can first hurdle the monumental task of self-sustained bipedal movement sans fatality.

This has been going around for the last few days - how will we handle things when we have artificial intelligences demanding citizenship?  Frankly, I don’t think it will be that big a deal.  Things are likely to be very different around here by the time robots are thinking enough to want citizenship, and this change will just be rolled into all the rest of them.  Not that we don’t have to think about it - we’ll definitely have to really examine the changes and figure out a long-term solution.  But it’s not like we’re suddenly going to have hundreds of thousands of thinking robots taking social security benefits all at once.

I posted this article rather than any other simply because of the “self-sustained bipedal movement sans fatality”, because I’m a dork.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Technology

Almost out

Friday, December 22, 2006

I’m at work until lunchtime today, and then home to finish packing and head off to the in-laws'.  It still sounds weird to talk about going to my father-in-law’s house.  This is my first Christmas away from home, so it should be an experience.  I’m a little sad to be away from my family, but this was inevitable at some point, and I’m excited to experience my wife’s family Christmas.  It promises to be more hectic than mine.

That said, don’t expect much posting until I get back next week.  I’ll have computer access there, but I don’t expect to use it very often.  And without my stored passwords, I may forget how to login here to post anything.  But I imagine most of you will be similarly busy with family and holiday celebrations and just not being at work.

So, happy holidays, whichever holidays it may be that you do or don’t celebrate.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Personal

Angry letter to Safeway

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Well, it wasn’t really angry, exactly.  Puzzled is probably more accurate.  But it’s here, along with Safeway’s response.  Well, along with a summary of Safeway’s response, because their email to me had a “don’t share this with anyone or we’ll shoot you” note at the bottom.

Note:  Safeway did not actually threaten to shoot me.  I just said that for effect. 

Posted in: complaint , New!

Safeway hates the environment

Thursday, December 21, 2006

I recently purchased a carton of Safeway brand organic milk from the Safeway near my house. After drinking the milk, I rinsed the carton, and then asked my wife whether it could be recycled with the bottles and cans, or if we had to take it with the cardboard. She didn’t know. So I checked the carton.

To my utter shock and dismay, I found no indication that the carton was recyclable at all! This is organic milk, friendly to cows, friendly to the environment, but the carton has to go in the trash? I hoped that I was just missing the mark on the carton that explained how to recycle it.

I went to Safeway online and filled out their contact form.

I purchased a carton of your Safeway brand organic milk, and the carton does not seem to be recycleable. Is this true? While I applaud Safeway’s efforts to provide a greater selection of certified organic foods, I would hope that you would also provide more environmentally friendly packaging.

I’m not allowed to print their response because it might contain Safeway proprietary information. I’m not sure if their little disclaimer would stand up in court, but I don’t really want to get an email from their lawyer. But I can summarize.

Thank you for your email. Sorry it took so long to respond. Thanks for telling us that you can’t recycle the organic milk carton. Your comments are important to us. We’re glad you’re buying our organic products, even though the “O” symbol we use reminds people of Oprah. We’re going to have more organic products in the future, and we hope Oprah isn’t just waiting for us to get further along before she sues us. We’ll file your comments away somewhere, and probably no one will ever read them, even though we told you that they would. Thanks for contributing to the bottom line - some executive just got a million dollar bonus for heading up the organic initiative.

Safeway may or may not have said all those things. I’m not sure. Maybe they should have let me reprint it verbatim to make sure I haven’t misquoted them.

Posted in: Uncategorized

Its nice to be a grown-up

Thursday, December 21, 2006

There are a lot of hidden and unexpected benefits to growing up.  Many of the benefits are obvious:  You can drive, you have a real income, you don’t get funny looks from convenience store clerks … the list goes on.  But then there are the things you never thought about.

Right up there on that list is that you have the maturity to know that there’s nothing wrong with going to bed really early when you’re tired.  I generally go to bed between 11 and 11:30, since I get up at 6:15.  Last night, the wife and I met some friends out for dinner and got home around 9pm.  We were both pretty tired - It’s been kind of a long, stressful week.  So we went to bed at 9:30.

What a difference.  I feel much better this morning.  Sometimes, you need to get a few extra hours of sleep, and sometimes it isn’t feasible to do that by sleeping in.

I won’t be in bed early tonight because I have to take the cat to the babysitter’s.  Her old owners are watching her while I’m at my in-laws' for Christmas.  And of course I can’t just drive down there when I get out of work, because traffic is hideous.  So I’ll have to wait until 7:30 or so.  It’s an hour each way to their house, and I can’t imagine I won’t stay for a bit (They’re some of my best friends as well as cat-sitters).

So, I have a few recommendations for all of you:

  1. Go to bed really early every once in a while.
  2. Have friends who barely even notice an extra cat for a week.
  3. Don’t drive on 395 in DC at 5pm.
Posted in: Pets

The perils of semi-public restrooms

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

There are four urinals in the men’s room at my office.  One of them is often broken.  It is currently broken - there has been plastic covering it for two weeks or so.  Today, someone has pushed aside the plastic and urinated in the broken urinal.

I am again at a loss for words.

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

OMG, Transformers are soooo dark

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Next Transformers Trailer Online at Dethroner

It’s dark, but a Transformers movie should (or at least could) be; the franchise is no stranger to dark moments.

I can’t decide whether I really like reading Dethroner or not, but this made me laugh.  I mean, yes, I almost cried when Optimus Prime died.  But, to be fair, I was 8.  Does that justify “the franchise is no stranger to dark moments”?  Well, I’ll let you be the judge of that.

I can’t decide, either, whether I want to see this movie.  I did not see the Dukes of Hazzard movie after loving the series as a kid.  After seeing the cast, I’m pretty sure I made the right call.  But I maybe do want to see Transformers.

Posted in: Movies

Depressing politics

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

I was writing a lot here about politics before the elections, and since then I’ve written almost nothing.  Partly this is your fault for not holding me to my promise to write a letter to Jim Webb as soon as Novel Writing Month was over.  You all are such slackers.

But partly I just find myself depressed by the state of politics.  I was about to write something about a Wash Post article that celebrates Bush’s first admission that we’re not winning the war in Iraq, but as I was reading it, I lost heart.  I mean, what do I say at this point?  We’ve made a huge mess over there, and we show no signs that we’re close to having it cleaned up.  Bush is going to send more troops, but the article thinks that will take years.  That’s comforting.  Are we really spread so thin that we can’t scrape together a few hundred thousand troops?  What if something else happens that requires our attention?

I realize I don’t really know what I’m talking about here, and that’s part of my frustration.

On a lighter note, I can already see someone on SNL making a joke out of Bush’s “We’re not losing, we’re not winning."  If I were funnier than I am, I would think of a new word that means something in the middle.  And then I would say it in my best imitation of someone imitating Bush.  Then people would laugh.

Posted in: World

Money-saving gadgets

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

The Simple Dollar » 25 Gadgets That Actually Save Money

In fact, I actually started this list as justification to my wife for a few items I wanted to buy for myself.

This list is great.  I want half the things on here.  His RSS feed seems to be broken, though.  That’s not cool.

Posted in: Gadgets

Its about time

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Techdirt: China To Mandate Standardized Phone Chargers

Apparently South Korea did this last year and I didn’t notice (Sorry, South Korea), but now China is standardizing its phone chargers.  It is absolutely ridiculous now, when each cell phone requires a different charger.  True, people like Radio Shack sell chargers with interchangeable connectors for different phones, but I can’t imagine why these things aren’t standardized.  Even within one manufacturer, they aren’t standard.  So every time I get a new phone, I need a new charger.  And probably two, so I have one in the car and one in the house.  But, no more.  Now all I have to do is buy Chinese phones and make sure I have USB available everywhere.  I wonder how hard it would be to install USB ports in my car?

Posted in: Anti complaint , Technology

All you needed was a cat and mouse

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Cartoon Pioneer Joe Barbera Mourned - washingtonpost.com

But I felt that in any country you wouldn’t need dialogue to understand the plot. All you needed was a cat and mouse, and everybody knew what was going to happen.

I saw yesterday that he had died, but I didn’t post anything about it because I didn’t know what to say.  I didn’t really know anything about him, but his cartoons were such a big part of everyone’s childhood for so many years.  I wonder about the kids I’ll have eventually - will they appreciate the things I loved when I was little?  I think it would be cool to watch “Tom and Jerry” with my kids.  You know, in between playing outside and doing their homework and going to museums and family game night and all sorts of constructive behavior.

By the way, the article mentions that “Tom and Jerry” won seven Academy Awards.  That’s pretty impressive.

Posted in: Life

A ton of stuff

Monday, December 18, 2006

No, literally a ton of stuff.  I spent much of yesterday helping my siblings and my mom clean out my dad’s attic.  Now, the attic still looks terrible.  Much improved, but still terrible.  I just got a call from my brother telling me that, after they dropped two bunk beds, a couch, and various other assorted things at the Salvation Army, they still managed to throw away 2320 pounds of trash.  That’s over a ton.  Or, 1052 kg.  That’s a lot of stuff.

Posted in: Personal

My cat is crazy

Friday, December 15, 2006

Anyone who’s met Biscuit would probably tell you she’s crazy, but most of them don’t even know one of her strange little eccentricities.  On the advice of a friend, known by many as a “cat whisperer”, I take Bis' food away in the morning, and refill her dish in the evening.  This, somehow, makes her less likely to be a noisy pain in the butt at three AM.  Now, Biscuit is always very vocal and excited when dinner time rolls around.  Makes sense.  Most living things enjoy eating.  But Biscuit is similarly excited in the morning when I take away her food and refill her water bowl.  I don’t understand it.

Posted in: weird

Good xkcd today.

Friday, December 15, 2006

xkcd - A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language - By Randall Munroe Ninja Turtles and Renaissance artists - who could ask for more in a comic strip?

Posted in: Funny

Inefficient use of resources

Friday, December 15, 2006

I’ve been driving the wife to work this week, due to her unfortunate knee incident (She’s seeing an orthopedist on Monday, we think she hurt her MCL), and that involves taking 66 into the city.  Now, at 7am, that’s not bad.  It’s HOV-2, and traffic is light.

However, they already have the metered ramps turned on.  Along the entrance ramps to 66, they have traffic lights, where they allow one car per lane to go at a time.  The light is red, someone arrives at the light, it turns green for one car.  Great system when traffic is heavy - it prevents a big pile of cars trying to merge all at once.  Unless the backup gets really bad, and then it doesn’t do any good.

My point, and I do have one, is that these meters have sensors in the road so they know when a car comes.  So they know how heavy traffic is.  And therefore, they could turn themselves off when there is one car coming by every minute or two, when the lights are totally unnecessary.  They could also turn themselves off when the traffic is so heavy that they don’t make any difference at all.

Is that too much to ask?  I have the email of someone at VDOT now from the whole Seven Corners debacle.  I haven’t contacted him yet.  I should - now that the election is over, I’ve been swept under the rug, it seems.

Posted in: Cars , complaint

Open letter to the world

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Dear Inhabitants of Planet Earth,

Let’s just say you’re a human being.  The other inhabitants are unlikely to be able to read this, and I don’t hold them responsible.  Those human beings who don’t speak English, if you become aware of this letter, please let me know, and I will provide a translation.

Now that we’ve established that you’re a human being, let me give you a scenario.  Let’s say that you’re walking with three coworkers to Caribou Coffee.  As you reach the door from one side, a dashing and handsome gentleman reaches the door from the opposite direction.  As your coworker opens the door, the gentleman on the other side of the door holds it, allowing you and your other coworker to pass through, after which he follows.

I happen to know that the gentleman would be happy if you thanked him with a brief nod, perhaps a quick “thank you”.  I also happen to know that none of you offered either.  Nor did you offer any alternative method of giving thanks.  I happen to know this because the gentleman is me, and all three of you are BAD HUMAN BEINGS.

That is all.

Love, Complaint Hub

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

Internet Explorer is the devil

Thursday, December 14, 2006

I’ve been working on some Ajax hotness for you on the complaint submission form, and it looks pretty cool in Firefox.  However, not long ago, Windows XP insisted that I upgrade to Internet Explorer 7, where they added some features that other browsers have had for years and moved everything you’ve always used to strange places so you can’t find anything.

So, the cool Ajax, courtesy of Scriptaculous, doesn’t work at all in IE7.  I’m still working on it, though.

For any of you coming here using Internet Explorer, please do yourself and the rest of the world a favor and download a real browser.  I prefer Firefox, but anything is better than IE.

Posted in: complaint , Your complaints

Someone agrees with me about Al Gore

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

EcoGeek - Technology for the Environment - Gore Officially Campaigning…Poorly

What he’s doing here is trying to seem more thoughtful about Iraq, a very divisive issue, while relying on climate change to be his main bedfellow. What he’s actually doing is looking like a total weenie again, which is exactly what lost him the election in 2000.

Would I like a President who’s willing to do something about the horrible things we’re doing to the environment?  Absolutely.  Do I think Al Gore has any chance of winning?  No.  Do I think Al Gore running will hurt the Democratic party?  Yes.

He already lost once because he was a robot who stood for nothing every time I ever heard him or read about him.  Recently, I hear that he speaks well, and passionately, about environmental issues.  But now he’s maybe looking at another Presidential bid, and returning to his 2000 form.

Stop it, Al Gore.  Don’t run.  Throw your weight behind another candidate, get your environmental message out there, but please don’t hand another election over to someone like George W. Bush.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

Are you ready to complain?

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

I hope you are.  When I first started this site, everyone immediately asked, “How can I complain?"  And now, you can.  The alpha release of the complaint submission form is available!  This is very rough, and needs a lot of work, but if you submit a complaint, it will be displayed.

So, I’m looking for feedback.  It needs some styling, I know.  I’m not really good at building a pretty page.  And eventually you’ll be able to add your own tags instead of picking from a limited number of categories (Something like del.icio.us or Flickr or whatever).

Don’t worry - your email address is not visible to anyone but me, and I’ll never contact you (Unless you’re already a friend, as most of you submitters will be) and I will NEVER sell your email address.

For those who are curious, the submission form is written in Ruby on Rails, which is a pretty cool new-ish web programming language.  So far, it’s a joy to program in.  And I barely know what I’m doing, so it should be even better when I know a bit more.

Posted in: Your complaints

That sound you hear is Walt spinning in his grave

Monday, December 11, 2006

‘Apocalypto’ wins weekend box office - CNN.com

But “Apocalypto” overcame the baggage of Gibson’s personal troubles as well as its difficult subject matter, which features a no-name cast in a hyper-violent tale that includes beheadings and images of hearts ripped from people’s chests.

This is a DISNEY movie.  What is wrong with the world where once-respected actor who has lost all touch with reality can make a “hyper-violent” movie in a language almost no one speaks, get a deal with the company that makes almost nothing but children’s entertainment, and then lead the weekend in ticket sales?  There is absolutely nothing right with this picture.

Where are the people screaming for an NC-17 rating?  Once again, horrific violence is just fine, as long as there’s no sex.  Or maybe there is sex, I don’t know. Our country is so messed up.

In any event, I don’t watch Mel Gibson movies anymore.  Old ones are okay, before he lost it.  But nothing new.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint

Metro doesnt understand economics

Monday, December 11, 2006

Metro Considers Increasing Rail Fares - washingtonpost.com

“Because of declining real estate values, we have holes to fill of our own, and now we’re being presented with holes in Metro,” said Kauffman, a member of Fairfax County’s Board of Supervisors. “It’s not like we have a stockpile of green putty to fill the gaps.”

Wonderful. I was just talking to my friend and host in NYC yesterday about how much nicer the subway is in New York than Metro is in DC, and how Metro is expensive here.

I love how they want to combat a slower-than-expected increase in Metro riders by a fare increase. It’s like the pay phones, facing greatly increased competition from cell phones, doubling the cost of a call in a few years. And what happened there? The pay phone has become nearly obsolete. Not that they had much chance of competing, so maybe it’s not a good analogy.

But it’s Econ 101 - the way to fix slow growth is not to raise the price. In fact, they might want to consider lowering rates. And the article mentions discounts for SmartTrip riders (SmartTrip is the permanent card that replaces the paper cards, if you ride Metro more than once every six months it’s worth the SmartTrip). I had no idea there were discounts for SmartTrips. Maybe they should try publicizing this. You can discount all you want, but if people don’t realize it’s cheaper, it doesn’t do you much good.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint , dc

Worst tunnel ever

Monday, December 11, 2006

Yesterday, we finished our flag football season, finally.  I had the pleasure of taking not one but two members of the team to the GW emergency room.  In the first game, on the last play, they had 4th and goal, eight seconds to go.  The play before, my wife had been bumped in the head, and she was a little ticked off.  They snap the ball as she’s leaning over the line, ready to rip someone’s head off.  She pressures the quarterback, he throws it up, we knock it down, and we have our second win of the season, 12-7, over the 4th seed in the playoffs.  Our only other win was against a team playing short a player because they only had two girls, and you need three on the field at all times.

So, in our celebration, we didn’t notice at first that my wife was on the ground.  Did any of you see Carson Palmer in the playoffs last year, when he got hit on the side of his leg and tore up his knee?  Well, that’s what happened here.  It doesn’t look like it will be that bad.  She’s on the couch icing it right now, and we’ll go to an orthopedist later this week if it doesn’t get better.

She was sitting on the sideline, elevating her knee, as we played our second game (Rescheduled due to rainout), and it didn’t go so well.  They went up 7-0 pretty quickly.  On the ensuing kickoff, “Picnic” got run over by this gigantic meathead.  You know the type of guy who comes to a game when it’s 27 degrees out in shorts, with the sleeves ripped off his shirt, with “MAXIMUS” or something written on his arms?  Wearing a leather rugby helmet?  Yeah, that kind of guy.  The one who is way too intense for co-ed flag football.  Anyway, he ran into Picnic on the kickoff, and Picnic came off the field.  He had his hat pulled down to his brow, but there was a little blood on his forehead.  I mentioned this to him, and he took his hat off, revealing an inch long cut about an inch above his eye.

So, I took Picnic and the wife to GW, where he got ten stitches, and they determined that my wife hadn’t broken her leg or torn anything major.

Then we went to NYC to visit some friends.  We’d been planning this for months, and didn’t want to let a little injury get in the way.  But we left hours later than we meant to, and hit the Holland Tunnel just as everyone going out in Manhattan on a Saturday night got there.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  The four lanes in the middle are EasyPass only at the toll, while the two on the right and two on the left are cash.  I was in the second from the right, and the EasyPass lanes are moving much better than the cash lanes, obviously.  So everyone wants to drive down the EasyPass lanes and then cut in in front of me.  I played chicken with a big black Nissan Titan for about 50 yards before he finally backed off.  It was extremely satisfying.  I was less than six inches from him most of the time as he tried to nose his way into my lane and I wouldn’t let him.  I hate people who do that.  Traffic sucks, we all have to sit in it, and you’re making things worse.  But I didn’t let anyone in.  Ordinarily, if people are being polite, I’m happy to do it.  But not when they’re sprinting to the end of the line and then trying to cut in at the front.

Anyway, it was an adventure.  The weekend was fun.  I got to see some of the holiday decorations in Times Square and all that.  I love NYC.  I didn’t think I would until I visited earlier this year.  I’ve been three times now, and I’ll definitely go back, especially since we have a friend in Chelsea who happily gives up her apartment and stays with her boyfriend when we come visit.

Posted in: Anti complaint , sports

Crowdsourcing Christmas

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Futurismic: New Fiction From Jason Stoddard

He was nine when Dark Christmas came. He knew there were lots of different kinds of Santas. But when the first robotic Santa went rushing from tree to tree in his front yard like a soldier in a wargame, he knew something was wrong. When two more Santas, shiny with human sweat, appeared from the street and chased the robot down, David knew that something had changed forever.

New short science fiction on Futurismic combining “the magic of Christmas” with Web 2.0 buzzword-concept “crowdsourcing” and a little bit of the dark side of capitalism and the American Way.  It’s a nice, quick read.  I like the way the author tells the story as a father explaining Christmas to his daughter.  In fact, it’s very much like an old fairy tale before they were all Disney-fied and the dark parts taken out.

Posted in: Writing

Congratulations to the Vice Presidents daughter

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Report: Vice president’s lesbian daughter pregnant - CNN.com

Mary Cheney, 37, and her partner of 15 years, Heather Poe, 45, are “ecstatic” about the baby, due in late spring …

I like how CNN had to make sure they mention in the headline that she’s a lesbian.  That’s because everyone knows that lesbians have babies with two heads and shoot beams from their eyes that turn straight people to gay.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Politics

T-shirts and more t-shirts

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Tcritic - Daily T-Shirt Blog

Ever since the dude from Preshrunk stopped updating regularly, there has been a t-shirt-shaped hole in my RSS reader.  But no more.  Ever since BoingBoing pointed me towards the list of blogs that I’m not cool enough to be reading already, I’ve added Tcritic to my daily reads.  Awesome t-shirts, not too much commentary (You know how some of us bloggers get long-winded and rambling.  I mean, not me, of course).

Posted in: Anti complaint , Interesting

Were just going to take our God and go over here

Monday, December 04, 2006

Episcopal Churches To Vote on Departure - washingtonpost.com

Many Episcopal churches are voting very soon on whether or not to leave the umbrella of the U.S. Episcopal church because the U.S. church has allowed a gay bishop in New Hampshire.  I’m a little torn.  First, I fully support the right of a church to decide that they want to leave the organization because the organization did something they don’t believe in.  But it’s sad that two churches in Fairfax County, VA, where I live, are so upset over a gay bishop that they want to ally themselves with an African Reverend, Peter Akinola, who thinks holding hands with your gay partner in public should be punishable by jail time.

I assume that most people voting to leave will say that it’s not just one gay bishop in a state most of them will never visit, but rather the direction the church is heading by allowing him to become a bishop, and that’s certainly valid.

I wish some positive stuff about religion would make the news.  I know there are religious groups doing good things out there.  But the only ones that make the news are the intolerant ones.

I’m going to stop here, because I’ve lost my train of thought.

Posted in: complaint , World

Saturday afternoon

Saturday, December 02, 2006

It’s actually quite a nice day out.  It was a little cold this morning as we lost our flag football game, but it’s 47 and sunny now.  Excuse me for a moment … Ahh, that’s better.  Sorry, just had to take a quick break and drink a little Bell’s Oberon that we got from Whole Foods just half an hour ago.  We were there trying to find key limes for a pie, but had to settle for regular limes.  Hopefully our hosts this evening won’t notice.  The wife will probably tell them.

Anyway, I took a little detour down the beer aisle, because I knew they had Bell’s, and wanted to see if they had anything new.  Turns out they did, as they did not have Oberon last time.  It’s out of season now, so this is maybe the dregs of the summer run, but, contrary to what Budweiser might tell you, beer doesn’t have to be bottled in the last week to taste good.  And honestly, lukewarm skunked Oberon is better than freshly bottle Budweiser anyway.

So we picked up a little sushi, and a little Bell’s, and even a new flavor of Odwalla bar.  It’s so new it’s not even on their website yet.  It’s called Choco-Walla, and I haven’t tried one yet, but it’s sure to be delicious.

The cat is currently trying to drink my beer.  I might have to lock her in a closet.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Beer

Complaining through song

Friday, December 01, 2006

Treehugger: The Complaints Choirs of The World

Global Warming got you down? Wish your city had better recycling programs or more bike lanes? These are some of the issues that the Complaints Choir of Helsinki and the Complaints Choir of Birmingham are singing about.

If I could sing, I would totally want to do this.  These two groups sing about their complaints.  I’m sure my compatriot over at VentBox will be interested to see this, as well.

Score one point for those of us who call it complaining rather than venting.

Posted in: complaint , Music

And you thought you were old

Friday, December 01, 2006

Carbon globules in meteorite may have seeded Earth life - space - 30 November 2006 - New Scientist Space via Kurzweil AI

Now, analysis of atomic isotopes shows that the globules could not have come from Earth and must have formed in very cold conditions, possibly before the Sun was born.

It’s crazy to think about little bits of carbon that have been hanging around inside a rock since before the sun was born.  I mean, that’s, like, a long time ago, and stuff.

But to think that, maybe, some carbon got stuck inside this rock, where it was more or less protected, way back before the sun.  Then that rock flew around space until it eventually crashed into earth, where the conditions were right for life to emerge.  Eventually, that life became us, and koala bears, and fruit bats.

They aren’t sure that’s what happened, but it’s a good theory.  Makes you feel really small and insignificant, doesn’t it?

Posted in: Anti complaint , Science

Its about time

Friday, December 01, 2006

Security Of Electronic Voting Is Condemned - washingtonpost.com

The recommendations endorse “optical-scan” systems in which voters mark paper ballots that are read by a computer and electronic systems that print a paper summary of each ballot, which voters review and elections officials save for recounts.

It’s amazing that the electronic voting systems have lasted this long. We all know that computers have problems. I mean, I’m a software engineer. I know better than most how buggy software can be. But still, we let the computer count the votes with no way to check the results? That’s insane.

Instead, we really should be using the system that this study recommends. You use a touch screen to cast your vote, then it prints out a piece of paper with your vote on it, which is both easily readable by you, and by the machine. You then stick that piece of paper into the counting machine, and you’re done. Yes, election officials have to make sure you don’t take the paper home with you. If that’s a big deal for your election officials, you need new election officials. This way, everything is quick because it’s done by a machine. But if you have any questions (Like the county in Florida that seems to have lost 10,000 votes or something in this most recent election), you can count the ballots by hand.

This system combines the best qualities of both paper ballots and electronic voting, and it makes it very hard to interfere with an election. At least, to interfere by messing with the votes. Messing with voters is a different story, but it can’t be helped if people are dumb.

Edited to add: A coworker mentions the problem here, that it’s difficult to change a vote. Let’s say you vote, and the card that prints out is wrong. What do you do? We don’t really want poll workers to be able to change the vote, or to be able to throw votes away and make new ones.

Maybe the machine will accept your old ballot, destroy it, and allow you to make a new one. If you destroy one without replacing it, the machine sounds an alarm that can be heard from space.

_NB: Any comments about Bush stealing an election will be marked as spam and deleted. _

Posted in: Anti complaint , Politics

Wine and women

Thursday, November 30, 2006

The Wine Collector: Practical Wine Collecting Advice

Women are more disciplined drinkers and physically smaller. This in turn leads to less consumption and a lesser need to collect.

Disclaimer - a good friend of mine works for Vinfolio, the source of this post. That probably doesn’t matter, but I thought I’d let you know anyway.

So, why is wine collecting male-dominated? I don’t think it’s because women are smaller. The first (currently only) comment on the post suggests that collecting in general is more of a male thing_. _I certainly know more males who collect stuff. And I think women collect stuff more as decoration. Maybe that’s just the impression I get from the women collectors I know, and doesn’t accurately reflect women overall.

__

Posted in: Wine

Warning - box contains decapitated pony

Thursday, November 30, 2006

This Is Broken - Warning on Hasbro pony toy

“Adults take note: Pony comes unassembled in box with head detatched. You may wish to not open the box around your children if they may be frightened by a box with a decapitated horse inside.”

I guess it’s nice to warn parents that their children may be scarred for life when they open the box and see that their wonderful new pony is headless.  Although, I’m not sure it’s really the box that’s frightening.  I mean, if you are frightened by a headless pony, I don’t think the placement of the pony inside or outside of a box will make much difference.

Posted in: Funny

Ive always wanted to do this

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

In Following His Own Script, Webb May Test Senate’s Limits - washingtonpost.com

“How’s your boy?” Bush asked, referring to Webb’s son, a Marine serving in Iraq.“I’d like to get them out of Iraq, Mr. President,” Webb responded, echoing a campaign theme.

“That’s not what I asked you,” Bush said. “How’s your boy?”

“That’s between me and my boy, Mr. President,” Webb said coldly, ending the conversation on the State Floor of the East Wing of the White House.

This is an exchange between new VA Senator Jim Webb and our intrepid leader. I’ve always wanted to be a total dick to the President, although I realize that it’s kind of childish.

I hope Webb takes a bit of this fire and desire for change and actually does something constructive with it. Going to a White House reception, avoiding the President, then being rude to him when he seeks you out is a little counterproductive, I think. Like it or not, Bush is going to hang around for another two years, and anything that happens is going to involve him. Being rude to him in public will probably endear you to the loons at Daily Kos and whatnot various liberal whackos, but it’s not exactly advancing the cause.

Edit: I realized after I posted this that it’s a little hypocritical to call Jim Webb childish, then take cheap shots at Daily Kos. So, I apologize to the Daily Kos and the surrounding community.

Posted in: Politics

Wait, the Post DOES get it

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Rob Pegoraro - Missing the Big Picture - washingtonpost.com

In doing this, they seem to be giving in to two of their least-appealing instincts: a need to regulate every single aspect of the mobile-phone experience and an irresistible urge to nickel-and-dime the customer.

Should have known that I can’t expect the front page guy to know what’s going on.  You have to look to the tech columnist for tech news with a basis in reality.  This is actually a pretty good explanation of why the Verizon/YouTube deal is dumb for Verizon.

Posted in: Technology

OMG two baseball posts in one day!

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

ESPN.com - MLB - Pen collection: O’s to add Williamson, Bradford

The Baltimore Sun reported that Bradford, who pitched for the Mets last season, will receive a three-year contract from the Orioles.

Chad Bradford, hero of a chapter in Moneyball, is going to be an Oriole!  This is cool.  Of course, they’ll probably pay him way too much, as they usually do.  But at least they didn’t blow $100 million on Carlos Lee.  And the Orioles generally don’t run into money problems.

Just like every other year, I get excited about the Orioles in the off-season.  They’re finally addressing a real need (the bullpen), and the young rotation could be on the verge of greatness (Or it could be on the verge of going back to the minors).  I guess we’ll see.  The Yankees and Red Sox were very beatable last season, so maybe next year we can actually compete.

This is probably all happening because I mentioned to some people that I was seriously considering abandoning the Orioles for the A’s because the Orioles haven’t been making a sincere effort to get better for years.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Anti-complaint , baseball

Two different viewpoints

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Washington Post’s take

Verizon Wireless is hoping to parlay YouTube’s reputation as the premiere Web site for posting and sharing homemade videos into success for its own mobile-video service by delivering YouTube clips to subscribers of its premium V Cast service starting next month.

Gizmodo’s take

The deal is expected to be officially announced later today and launch next month but it’s important to note that you won’t be paying $15 per month for the YouTube you know and love. Nope, the video service will be a part of V Cast, Verizon’s multimedia hub, and won’t be a replication of the content you get on the actual YouTube Web site.

There is no chance this is successful. YouTube is successful because you can do a quick search, and find whatever video you were looking for. Your friend mentions that he saw this great video clip of something, and you go to YouTube, and there it is. You watch, it’s funny, you tell your friend, “Hey, I saw that, it was funny.”

Now, with Verizon’s YouTube-branded substitute, your friend mentions a video, you search VerizonTube, and you get a one minute clip of “24” made specially for your cell phone. You go to your friend, telling him you couldn’t find it, and he stops returning your phone calls.

It doesn’t make any sense to me. YouTube had a hugely successful idea. Now, Verizon thinks they can come in and copy YouTube without the user community that made it popular, and be successful? That’s just stupid. What they’re really doing is more like making a mobile version of network television with the YouTube brand to generate interest.

I hope Verizon loses a ton of money on this, and it teaches them (and the idiots who will no doubt follow them) a lesson. And it’s annoying, because I need a new phone, and I currently have a Verizon phone. I know that if I go to the Verizon store, they’re going to push stupid VCast junk at me that I don’t want.

Posted in: complaint , Technology

A fallen hero

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

SI.com - MLB - Poll: Big Mac in HOF? Don’t hold your breath - Monday November 27, 2006 9:01PM

The Associated Press surveyed about 20 percent of eligible voters, and only one in four who gave an opinion plan to vote for McGwire this year. That’s far short of the 75 percent necessary to gain induction.

In the late 80’s, before I became an Orioles' fan, I loved the A’s.  I think I’ve mentioned it here before, but Mark McGwire was my favorite baseball player.  This skinny little first baseman who hit 49 home runs as a rookie, hit the home run that provided the A’s only win in the ‘88 World Series, how could you not like him?

I was pulling for him to break Maris’ record.  That was a fun season of baseball.

But then the steroid allegations came out.  I know he’s never actually been caught doing it (Neither has Barry Bonds, but everyone knows he’s been on something), but it’s pretty hard to believe that he was totally clean.  I don’t trust Jose Canseco any further than I can throw him, and I believe that he would make up stories to sell books.  But there’s too much pointing to steroids, and McGwire never really did anything to clear his name.

I know the player’s union would kill him if he undermined the work they did by volunteering for steroid tests, but they’re going to shoot themselves in the foot.  What good is protecting the players' rights if people lose faith in the integrity of the game and stop watching?

However, I think the whole thing may be moot.  Even assuming that McGwire was clean, I don’t think he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.  His career average was .263.  He had a total of four seasons where he played 100 games and hit over .280.  Yes, he hit a lot of home runs, but that’s all.  Generally, admission to the Hall of Fame requires a more well-rounded player.

So, we’ll see.  But I don’t think he makes it in, and I don’t think he deserves to.

Posted in: baseball , Baseball

Nano is over

Monday, November 27, 2006

I just hit 50,000 words. For some reason, the text file validator at the Nano site decided to give me 2,000 extra words, but since what really matters is less than vs. more than 50,000, and I’m definitely more than 50,000, who cares?

So now I spend some time with my wife, finish getting the condo ready to sell, then maybe work on my 2003 novel. Next week. That sounds like a plan.

Edited to add: I’m disappointingly not that excited about finishing this year. Yes, it’s my fourth time out of five finishing. Yes, I know I can do it. But last year was more exciting.  Perhaps it’s because I’m now firmly convinced that I need a new challenge (Like finishing a novel instead of just starting them).

Posted in: Writing

256 gigs on a sheet of paper

Monday, November 27, 2006

Techworld.com - Storage News - Store 256GB on an A4 sheet via Kurzweil AI

Files such as text, images, sounds and video clips are encoded in “rainbow format” as coloured circles, triangles, squares and so on, and printed as dense graphics on paper at a density of 2.7GB per square inch.

An Indian engineering student has figured out a way to print encoded data on a piece of paper. This sounds pretty cool. Having a sheet of paper with 256 gigs on it isn’t necessarily all that great, but the applications that could come from this are exciting.

Edited to add: All this would be exciting, that is, if it were true. Now posted in the middle of the article I read is this:

Update: But following this article and widespread coverage of the claims, the claimed storage technology has been widely and roundly dismissed as not possible.

Thanks, Cheryl, for pointing that out.

Posted in: Technology

November is almost over

Monday, November 27, 2006

Only 2471 words to go.  I have no ending in mind at all.  The story has completely gone off into random plotlessness.  I don’t really like it anymore.  I had high expectations for this story, but they have not come to fruition.  But that’s fine.  I still have my 2003 novel to finish, and I really do like that one.  I might even put this year’s up here for people to read if they want to.  That’s how I first read John Scalzi and Charles Stross.   Of course, they put up PDFs of finished novels that have since been published by real publishers, while I’ll put up a rambling first draft of lofty expectations and not much else.

We’ll see.  Keep an eye out, maybe I’ll post it here.  It still needs a title.  Maybe if I post it, someone will read it and think of a title for me.

Posted in: Writing

Bells!

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Now Whole Foods has Bell’s, too!  What a great time to live in the DC area.  You West Coast deserters (You know who you are) can kiss my Bell’s-drinking behind.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Beer

Wood floors

Saturday, November 25, 2006

The wife and I have decided that the new home we’re planning to buy is going to have to have wood floors somewhere.  If you’ve never chased a cat across a wood floor, watching her try to get traction on the slick surface, you really haven’t lived.

No cats were harmed while getting inspiration for this post. 

Posted in: Pets

A great tradition

Friday, November 24, 2006

I went to a funeral this morning. My cousin Jonathan (The oldest son of my grandmother’s sister, I can never remember what that’s called, but I’ve always thought of his as just plain cousin, not ‘removed’ or ‘second’ or whatever the proper term is) died on Tuesday. It was a nice funeral, and I got to see some family I don’t see very often. While it would be nice to see them more on happier occasions, it’s still nice to see them.

Jonathan was from the Jewish half of my family, and there’s a great tradition at Jewish funerals. The service beforehand is not terribly different from Christian services that I’ve been to, and that most of you are likely to be familiar with. But those who haven’t been to a Jewish internment are missing out on a great tradition. They have a little shovel and a little pile of dirt by the grave, and family and friends line up and each toss a little dirt on the coffin. It’s one last little good deed you can do for the person you cared about, and I think it’s a great way to give the mourners a sense of closure, that they’ve helped put the person to rest.

One of Jonathan’s best qualities was that he always remembered to ask about the people who weren’t there. And more than just ask, he honestly cared how they were doing. If I saw him, and my siblings weren’t there, he’d want to know how they were doing. It’s one of those things that seemed small when he was alive, but now I realize how much I appreciated it.

I’m glad I went to the service, and got to do one last good deed for him. He will certainly be missed.

Posted in: Personal

Happy Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 23, 2006

For those who celebrate Thanksgiving, have a good one.  For those who don’t, I hope you at least get a day off to enjoy.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Anti-complaint

Nano - 40,000 words

Thursday, November 23, 2006

I passed the 40,000 word mark earlier this evening.  I’m currently at 41,047.  For a little while the story was kind of sucking, but maybe I’ve saved it.  Maybe not.  It’s not as good as my 2003 novel.  And it’s not exactly what I had planned.  But it’s not totally without positives.

I’m ready to be done, though.  There’s a lot of stuff I’ve been kind of putting off that I’d like to stop putting off.  I read a short story by Charles Stross recently (I’ve read a few of his novels already), and it has me wanting to write science fiction.  The problem is that I don’t know enough of the science to make the fiction work.  I don’t want to make up stuff (Like I’m doing with this Nano novel).  I want far-future-but-realistic, if that makes any sense.  So I think I need to do some reading of some real science, and then I can take a shot at science fiction.

It would also be nice to be done because I think my wife has been a little neglected.  She’s a good sport about it, but that doesn’t mean I should push my luck.

Posted in: Writing

Michael Chertoff doesnt understand what better off means

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Homeland Security to require passports for U.S. entry - CNN.com

“Each of these steps raises the bar to an attack. None of this is perfect. None of them is foolproof. But we’re always better off when we build higher levels of security,” [Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff] said.

It becomes increasingly clear that Chertoff seeks to lull the entire nation into a false sense of security.  Requiring everyone entering the country to show a single document so that security officers only have to worry about recognizing that one document does not make us safer.  In fact, it makes us less safe.  It’s like taking all the passwords you have for your bank, your credit card, your email, your whatever, and making them one long, random string of characters.  It’s really hard to break that string.  But if someone breaks it, or steals it, they know everything about you.

It doesn’t matter how hard it is to forge a passport.  It’s not necessary to forge one.  Just steal one.  All terrorists are Arab guys with beards and turbans, right?  And don’t they all look the same?  How do you know that the guy coming through your security checkpoint, most of his face concealed by a beard, is actually the guy pictured on the passport he hands you?  And do we honestly think that no one is capable of recruiting someone with a clean passport to blow up a plane or something?  We can’t possibly believe that we have a list of everyone who might ever wish to do the United States harm.

Someday, I hope people look back on this time in our history and realize how stupid we’re being.  And I hope it happens before we’ve done irreparable harm to the country.

Posted in: complaint , World

OMG PHISHING!

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

This is the most ridiculous overreaction to hacking and phishing attempts I’ve ever seen.  I just had to read a 30 page PowerPoint highlighting the dangers of PHISHING, and, even more dangerous, SPEAR PHISHING.  Did they make that up?  That’s what they’re calling the more specifically targeted phishing attempts.

Anyway, they’ve disabled ALL webmail.  Which means there are now two computers in my entire office where I can check my email.  My WORK email.  All because some DoD employees can’t be bothered to learn basic web security, they’re going to, once again, make it harder for me to do my job.

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

Cool DIY site

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

instructables : Conjoined Twin Mice

Warning: dead mice in decorative form. If you disapprove of this concept on principle, please peruse some of the other new Instructables instead.

Instructables is a collection of HowTo guides from people on all sorts of things.  I found it through Lifehacker, telling you how to make a solar powered light in a jar, but this dead mouse art is obviously the pinnacle of the site.  Some of the stuff here just sucks, but some of it is pretty cool.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Interesting

Its not even Thanksgiving

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

I say this every year, but I didn’t think I could, in good conscience, let this complaint go by.  There is Christmas stuff everywhere.  I see Christmas commercials on TV.  My beloved Caribou Coffee has their employees decked out in red, and they have their yuletide napkins out.

It’s bad enough that the day after Thanksgiving is the official start of the holiday shopping season.  But by the time December 25th rolls around, I want to shoot anyone who mentions the word ‘Christmas’.

Do you think our new Senator, Jim Webb, would care?  As I promised, I’m going to write to him as soon as Nano is over.  He’s an old school Navy guy.  He probably is opposed to the excessive commercialization of Christmas, right?

Posted in: complaint , Personal

Google is changing the world

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Today at work, and I don’t even remember how it came up, we were talking about a movie that one of my coworkers saw.  It’s about some guys who use a time machine to go back and hunt dinosaurs.  One of them accidentally kills a butterfly, and this has profound effects on the time in the future that they then return to.  He couldn’t remember the name of the movie.

So I type “dinosaur butterfly movie” into my handy little Firefox Google search bar.  The second hit takes me to a page that currently isn’t coming up (Although Google has a cache) that gives the plot of the movie, “A Sound of Thunder”, based on a Ray Bradbury story.  The page came up this afternoon when I first looked for it, though. What did we do before Google?  I don’t even know.  But I’ve gotten used to this instant location of whatever I need using only a vague idea of what it is to find it.

For reference, the first Yahoo result that refers to the movie is the fourth, and it’s for a Boston Globe review trashing the movie.  MSN returns as the first hit the Wikipedia page for the Bradbury story, which references the movie.  But I don’t use their searches, because they suck.  Although Yahoo hasn’t killed Flickr yet.  I do give them credit for that.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Technology

199.6

Monday, November 20, 2006

199.6 was my weight today, in pounds (That’s 90.5 kg, for those of you who use that crazy system), after the gym, with shoes on.  Today is the first day since I don’t even know when that I was under 200 pounds fully clothed.  I suspect it may have more to do with two weeks off from the gym and losing muscle rather than losing fat, but I choose not to dwell on that.

Posted in: Anti complaint , health , Personal

Genetic eating habits

Monday, November 20, 2006

I always thought I was weird because, no matter what, I want lunch at 11:30.  People always yell at me at work because I want lunch early (partly that may be because I get in at 7-730, and many of them get in after 10).  But I found out yesterday that my sister is exactly the same way.  Even if I eat breakfast at 8, a snack at 9, and another snack at 10, I’m still hungry.  And it’s not that I eat bad snacks, because my sister is the same way, and she’s a health nut.  So while I may sometimes eat bad snacks, that is not the root of my problem. It’s comforting to know that it’s not me being weird, it’s something genetic.  I don’t get hungry like that in the afternoon and evening.  It’s just the morning.  I wonder if that’s related to the fact that I’m more of a morning person, and generally more productive in the morning.  It probably is.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Food , health

Combining a few of my favorite things

Monday, November 20, 2006

Treehugger: What Can Robots Learn From Rats?

The project seeks to create the “Inspirat”, a prototype climbing robot. Yes, in case you were wondering, the name does come from “inspiration” and “rat”.

Come on, tell me you can’t get excited about a project that combines robots, saving the world, and awesome moving rat x-rays.  You have no choice.  if you don’t think this is cool, then there’s just something wrong with you.

Apparently some scientists are more or less making movies of rats climbing things, except the movies are series of x-rays.  They hope to use the rat climbing technique to make robots that can climb.  Treehugger is interested because “a robot capable of performing inspection or maintenance activities in previously unreachable locations could extend the lifespan of buildings and structures, perhaps even enable new green construction materials to be developed."  That seems like an awfully optimistic outlook to me, but they’re the treehuggers, and I’m just a complainer.

It’s funny - you occasionally see these experiments where we take some natural organism that’s really good at something, and try and mimic the technique it uses with a machine.  This seems like common sense to me.  A few hundred thousand years of evolution probably got a few things right - we might try at least starting with all that prior knowledge.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Wind kissing

PS3 craziness

Friday, November 17, 2006

The building I work in has a Target beneath it.  I walked past the Target this morning on my way to Caribou Coffee to get my daily large dark roast.  On an unrelated note, Caribou makes much better coffee than Starbucks.  There are probably two dozen people camped out in the parking lot, waiting for a Playstation 3.  There were two tents set up yesterday morning at 10AM.

It’s mind boggling to see how crazy people are for this thing.  Preorders are going on eBay for $5000 or more.  I’ll bet Sony wishes they could get a piece of that, because I hear they’re going to lose $200-300 per unit when they sell them for $600.

I wish I had the extra cash lying around to be able to pay an extra $4000 just to not have to wait until Sony manufacturing meets the demand.  I mean, by January, these should be in every store, right?  I’m trying to think what it would be worth $4000 to me to not have to wait a few months for.  I can’t think of anything.

Meanwhile, the Nintendo Wii sounds more my speed.  They’re supposed to be focusing on gameplay rather than graphics.  And it costs $250.  Maybe I’ll sell my Gamecube that I never play and buy a Wii.  Or maybe I’ll try playing the Wii before I buy it.  That’s probably a good idea.

Anyway, my advice to you - don’t buy a PS3.  Sony makes a habit of deciding that you are a criminal, and must use their proprietary everything, all the time.  Sony would be happy if you had to wear special Sony glasses to see the world.  I would love a Sony EReader if it were made by any other company, but as it is, I won’t buy one.  Sony doesn’t deserve your money.

I realize this won’t influence anyone’s decision, but I’m saying it anyway.

Posted in: Stupid people

Harvey Manning, 1925-2006

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Harvey Manning, 1925-2006: Author of hiking guides ‘was a force of nature’

Helen Cherullo, publisher of The Mountaineers Books, recalled getting an early e-mail from him. It started, in all caps, “WHY I AM PISSED OFF … .”

I’m not a hiker, although I do enjoy a bit of hiking on occasion.  One of Harvey Manning’s daughters is one of my Nano mentees.  From this article, he sounds like a cool guy.  One of the early environmentalists, he did a lot to protect the woods he loved to walk in.

Most of Manning’s writings were done on a typewriter, and always on recycled paper – usually with something else printed on the back, Cherullo said.

That’s great, the idea of sending a manuscript to your publisher, typed up on the back of your grocery list or a note to your family.  I imagine many publishers would flip out, but I guess his was a little more tolerant.

Posted in: Wind kissing

A Nano complaint

Thursday, November 16, 2006

I’d never realized it before, but one of the great advantages of writing online is the ability to hyperlink.  If I have a word or concept that some people might not be familiar with, instead of explaining at length what I mean, I can just throw in a link to Wikipedia or something that explains the topic for me, and continue to write.

I’m finding that not being able to do that while I’m writing for Nano is becoming increasingly annoying.  For example, I’m writing about a software company.  There’s a good chance that someone might make a joke about l33+ speak, and I’m going to have to explain it.  Good for the word count, bad for the story flow.

Anyway, it’s a small complaint.  Someday, all our books will be interactive, and you’ll be able to add hyperlinks to your novel.  Until then, I remain slightly annoyed.

Posted in: complaint , Writing

Good try, DC

Thursday, November 16, 2006

D.C. Moves to Become Pioneer In Forcing ‘Green’ Construction - washingtonpost.com

The era of “green buildings” would include devices such as low-flow shower heads and recycled materials and would require designing passageways that encourage walking, choosing drought-tolerant plants and improving air quality by reducing the need for artificial heating and cooling.

I’m very much on board with getting companies to build greener.  And this not only promotes recycling, but health, too, with better air quality and getting people to walk.  My one problem here is that they’re forcing companies to do it.  I’d rather see them give incentives first, and if not enough companies do it, then think about legislating it.  For example, if you give tax breaks for meeting some or all of these standards, something to offset the increased cost, then you’ll likely get more support from the business community.

As it is, they’re kind of salty because they think it will raise costs by 11%, instead of the 2-4% that supporters claim.  But DC is pioneering this sort of program in a large city.  Maybe the next city to try it will go a different route.

Posted in: health , Politics

Nano update

Thursday, November 16, 2006

I should really be getting to bed, since I woke up at five this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep (Then made the mistake, without thinking, of complaining about not sleeping to the guy in the office with a two week old baby in the house).  But I just crossed the 30,000 word mark three days ahead of schedule, and I can’t quite bring myself to go to bed.  I don’t have much more time to write tonight, as anything after midnight counts as tomorrow, but I suppose that doesn’t really matter.  All the words count towards the total.

The story is going well.  I have a lot more characters in this novel than I have in previous novels, and I’m often surprised at which ones are taking central roles.  Some of the ones I thought would be important have stepped back so that others could get more time in front of the camera.  That’s one of the cool things about writing like this.  Stuff just happens.

Anyway, I have to get back to writing about the meeting between my disgruntled blogger and the wife of the executive.  He just broke the news to her this morning that her husband is cheating on her, and now they’re having dinner in the lobby of the hotel where she’s staying.

Posted in: Writing

Election withdrawl

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

I got used to having political stuff to talk about all the time, and now there doesn’t seem to be much going on.  I’m sure there is, but it’s not plastered all over the front page anymore, and I haven’t taken the time to go find it.

It was as if everyone let out a collective sigh of relief - “Oh, the Democrats took both majorities, now they’ll fix everything."  Sure, that would be cool.  But it’s not going to happen right away.  I think it’s important that we, the people, continue to pay attention and put pressure on our representatives to do what they’ve promised.  You want us out of Iraq?  Tell your representatives that we need plan, now, that gets Iraq stable and self-sufficient so we can get the heck out of there.  Is illegal immigration your issue?  Tell them that Bush’s big wall is a stupid idea, and we need to figure out a way to deal with this that doesn’t involve racist Texans shooting at Mexicans.  There’s a whole lot of compromising room between amnesty and deportation of all.

I know I’ve been slacking, but November is really busy.  I promise to write a letter to a representative (I’m thinking new VA Senator Jim Webb) the first week in December.  I don’t know what I’m going to write, but I’ll write something.

Posted in: Politics

Halfway point

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

I just hit the 25,000 word mark in my novel.  It’s going well, although I’m currently suffering from a small case of writer’s block.  I ended a chapter without an idea for the next one, and I’m a little stuck.  But I should be okay.

In more exciting news, my mom is not only trying Nano this year, but is really enjoying it and looking forward to next year.  She doesn’t think she’ll hit 50,000 this year, which is fine, but it sounds like she’s all set to try again in 2007.

I’m not sure what it is about human beings that drives us to recruit friends and family to join us in the weird and sometimes crazy things we do, but it’s pretty universal, so it must have its root in some basic part of humanity.  “Misery loves company” doesn’t quite cover it all.  As much as Nano can be frustrating and take up all your time and make you want to scream, I find that the good far outweighs the bad.  So it’s not misery (Except when you get stuck).

I encourage you all to try Nano, too.  There was an article about it in the Washington Post this past Saturday, and the number of people trying it goes up every year.  You’re running out of time to join up before it hits the tipping point and EVERYONE is doing it.  You don’t want to get on the bandwagon late, do you?

Posted in: Anti complaint , Writing

Would this work at Seven Corners?

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Techdirt: Getting Rid Of Traffic Lights And Traffic Signs To Make Everyone Safer

When you remove all of the guidance, it makes people (and that includes the bikers and pedestrians as well) much more cautious and careful – so they tend to make fewer dangerous moves. On top of that, it actually makes the traffic flow much more smoothly, allowing people to get where they’re going much faster, even if they drive slower.

I suspect that this works better in cities, and Seven Corners might be too complicated to remove the signs, but this is an interesting concept.  Basically, if you remove traffic signs and lights, everything moves more slowly and smoothly and people drive more safely.  I suspect that this would only be temporary, though.  People would drive more safely at first, but if you go through an intersection twice a day on your commute to and from work, many people will get used to the little quirks of the road (For example, at a particular intersection, the left lane always backs up trying to turn, so you get to the right before you get there) and take advantage.

Still, it is nice to see people examining things like this, which people take for granted, and wondering if there is really a better way, even if it sounds quite drastic.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Cars

Mommies have known this for years

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Natural-born painkiller found in human saliva - health - 13 November 2006 - New Scientist Link via Kurzweil AI Saliva from humans has yielded a natural painkiller up to six times more powerful than morphine, researchers say.

See? And you thought that it was just a placebo and a mother’s love when she offered to kiss your boo-boos and make them better. She was actually just trying to apply a substance that “works in nerve cells of the spine by stopping the usual destruction of natural pain-killing opiates there” to make your pain go away.

Posted in: health , Technology

Brickskeller now has Bells!

Monday, November 13, 2006

The Brickskeller & RFD Washington DC

Local (to me, at least) beer heaven The Brickskeller now has Bell’s Beer in a bottle. For those not familiar with Bell’s, don’t even finish reading this post. Get to The Brickskeller and have an Oberon. They have a KEG OF OBERON. Why are you still reading? Go, now! They might run out.

Thanks to guest-blogger Gayle for the head’s up.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Beer

What did I do before?

Monday, November 13, 2006

I just finished painting the second bedroom.  If someone even mentions something related to paint, I’m going to snap.  Now, at a very, very conservative estimate, my wife did 70% of the painting.  I did all the sanding, which was an awful, awful job.  But she did the vast majority of the painting.  And it’s times like these that I wonder what the heck I did before I met her.  She has a nearly unfathomable ability to just work on something until it’s finished, no matter how much it sucks, or how tired she is.  I can not imagine how long it would take me to get my condo ready to sell if she weren’t doing the bulk of the work, and gently nudging me to do the rest.

For example, last night, after moving stuff out of here to my grandmother’s so the place looks bigger, cooking dinner for some friends (Who were my friends first, by the way) who are moving to the West coast, and packing for her four day work retreat, she painted all the edges in the second bedroom so that I could just do the big wall sections today.  I fell asleep while she was still working.

And now I need to reheat the lasagna she made for dinner last night so I can get back to my novel, which I haven’t touched since Friday.  And wouldn’t be touching again at all if my wife hadn’t done so much work on the condo.

So, for all of you single people out there who have the means to obtain a significant other even half as great as mine, I highly recommend that you do so.  You won’t regret it.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Writing

So busy

Monday, November 13, 2006

With Novel Writing Month (a personal daily best of 5700 words on Friday), preparing to deliver version 3.0 at work, getting the condo ready to sell, and various other life responsibilities, I feel like I’m not complaining enough.  At least, not here.  I’m certain I’ve done enough complaining about painting, even though my wife does most of the work.

So, I’d like to apologize to my loyal fans.  This week is pretty busy, but next week is looking a little better, and the week after that even better.  I could be wrong, though.  But I’ll be back to my normal elevated level of complaining as soon as possible.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint

What do you want, a cookie?

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Accidental Hedonist - Labels and Standards

In essence, what they’re saying is that food companies don’t get a bonus credit for leaving out an excess of salt, sugar or fat, because it’s something they should be doing anyway.

I love this post. It reminds me of the Chris Rock skit about the guy bragging that he’s never been to jail, that he takes care of his kids. Rock, appropriately, responds, ‘You’re not supposed to go to jail.“ If you haven’t seen the skit, you should. It’s probably on YouTube or something.

What we’re looking for is "good faith” healthy food.  That is, not something that’s had just enough fat or salt or whatever removed to meet some minimum guideline.  Stuff that’s labeled “healthy” should actually have healthy ingredients.  It should have a reasonable amount of sugar (natural sugar, not the cancer-y stuff), minimal fat and sodium, maybe some protein, some whole wheat flour …

While it’s nice that it’s getting easier every day to find stuff labeled “organic” at the grocery store, there’s more to it than that.  And most people, myself included, aren’t going to go research the company they’re buying from and make sure the labels really mean what they imply.

I don’t know what the solution is, but I hope someone does.

Posted in: Food , health

Im special

Friday, November 10, 2006

I just got a letter from the Virginia Department of Transportation.  It seems that Senator Saslaw and Congressman Moran passed my letter along, and now I’m going to be notified by a member of the Traffic Engineering Section concerning the results of their effort to provide “innovative guide signage and pavement markings”.

And people said I was crazy to write to my representatives.  But you see here that it makes things happen.  I mean, who among you has received a letter from VDOT?  I’m holding one in my hand right now.  Maybe I’ll frame it, and put it above the mantle next to the flag football trophy.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Politics

Looks like its almost over

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Allen to Concede Election This Afternoon - washingtonpost.com

Virginia Sen. George Allen ® will concede that he has lost the election to Democrat James Webb at a 3 p.m. news conference in Alexandria, according to a source close to the campaign with direct knowledge of the senator’s intentions.

Now it’s time for the Democrats to come through on all the stuff they promised.  I mean, they have a few weeks before they have to start campaigning for the 2008 Presidency, right?  Let’s get some bipartisan compromising done!

Posted in: Politics

Ooh, thats classy, Britney

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Divorced By SMS: The Exact Moment K-Fed Gets Britney’s Text Message Caught On Video - Gizmodo

This video apparently shows the exact moment that Kevin Federline gets the SMS from Britney telling them that it’s over.

I had seen rumors of this before on sites of questionable sources, but if Gizmodo says it, it MUST be true.  Not only is Britney protecting the sanctity of marriage by getting married (To a man, thank god) twice in two years, but she allegedly sent him a text message on his cell phone to announce the divorce.

Posted in: Stupid people

Nano update

Thursday, November 09, 2006

I’m all caught up on my novel as of right now. I’m not really ahead, as I’d like to be, but I’ve been behind since November 4th, so a little bit ahead is an improvement. The story is going well. I’m finding my main character less interesting than I’d hoped, and focusing more on some female characters. This is good for me because I always worry about writing female characters. I was told by a few female friends that the lead female in my 2003 novel was a slut (Although many disagreed), and I think these female characters are better. One of them might be a little bit of a slut, but one out of three isn’t bad, right?

I forget every year how much I enjoy doing this. I really need to get myself writing outside of November. And I say that every year. Maybe this will be the year I get better about it.

Posted in: Writing

And it comes down to us.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

They just called the Senate race in Montana for Democrat Jon Tester.  So now control of the Senate rests with Virginia, and Jim Webb’s 7000 vote lead.

Do you see now why I tell everyone to vote?  The difference between a Republican controlled Senate and a Democrat controlled senate is 7000 votes.  That’s it.  I’m going to punch the next person who says his vote doesn’t matter.  Yes, I meant to say ‘his’.  I won’t punch a girl.  I’ll just glare at her sternly.  Perhaps waggle my finger.

Posted in: Politics

How appropriate

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

After two years, Britney has had enough - CNN.com

Spears' marriage to Federline was her second after a 2004 spur-of-the-moment wedding in Las Vegas to a former high school sweetheart that was quickly annulled.

When people talk about how gay marriage is supposedly an attack on the sanctity of “real” marriage, many like to bring up Britney’s twenty-four hour (or whatever) marriage that was annulled, and say (Rightly, I think) that we heterosexuals are doing a pretty good job of screwing up marriage already.

So it seems like fate that I read about her impending divorce on the day after Virginia votes to “protect marriage”.  Here we have a woman in her, what, mid-twenties?, who makes a living with her abs and cleavage, seeking sole custody of two young children after her second marriage fails.

THIS is a perversion of marriage, not a committed gay couple seeking legal equality.  THIS is what cheapens my nearly three month old marriage (Going perfectly so far, thank you).

So, thanks, Britney, for illustrating this point so well.  You’ve done a service to your country.  Now, please go away and try not to screw up your kids too much.

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

Change of plans

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Last night, when I went to bed, I was all ready to yell this morning about how residents of the bigoted, intolerant commonwealth I live in couldn’t manage to see past their homophobia and vote against an overly broad amendment banning gay marriage.  I guess I should have expected it when even the campaign signs against the amendment said, “Read the whole thing!”.  As in, it’s okay to ban gay marriage, but do you have to ban civil unions, too?

But this morning I’m feeling much better about things.  I’m still mad the amendment passed.  But the Democrats took control of the House, and maybe will get the Senate, too.  My wife is happy because the race is close enough that her absentee ballot might actually mean something.  She’s out of town until Thursday, so she dutifully voted absentee.

So, for all of you who voted Democratic, either because you agree with the Democrats, or because you’re fed up with this administration and want a change, we’re heading in the right direction.  But we have to keep at it.  I urge you to write your representatives.  Tell them that we want a plan to finish what we started in Iraq and get our troops home.  We want our civil liberties back.  We want to once again respect the Constitution at ALL times, not just when it’s convenient.  We want a government that focuses on compromise and serving the people, not this partisan bickering that has taken over.

What are you waiting for?  Go write a letter.  Well, if you have a new representative, you can wait until he or she takes office.  But write the incumbents now.  It’s never to early to let them know how you feel.

Posted in: Politics

I love voting machines

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Polling places turn to paper ballots after glitches - CNN.com

“We got five machines – one of them’s got to work,” said Willette Scullank, a troubleshooter from the Cuyahoga County, Ohio, elections board.

Looks like there was some difficulty voting in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and, shocker, Florida.  Some poll workers didn’t know how to use the machines.  Now, I could be way off on this, but I’m pretty sure this wasn’t a surprise election.  Shouldn’t someone have checked that the machines worked, and that people knew how to use them?

Tomorrow, the Republicans will probably be blamed.  However, as whoever it was said (Google is not cooperating on this one), “Never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by incompetence”.  I don’t think there’s any big conspiracy.  I have nothing to base that assumption on, but this is a blog, I don’t have to have a basis for my sweeping judgments.

Posted in: Technology

Helium shortage? Oh, no!

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

NPR : Helium Shortage Looms for United States

Helium balloon fans – of whatever age – shouldn’t worry about a shortage, however: The balloons suck up only 8 percent of the helium stock.

Well, that’s good to hear.  I don’t know what we’d do without helium balloons.   It’s a little surprising, though, that 8 percent of all the helium in the country is used for balloons.  I mean, not to knock birthday decorations and whatnot, but do we really need to use that much for something that lasts only a few days at best?

Posted in: Interesting

Scalzi on voting

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Whatever: A Small Plea to the Right: Vote Left in 2006

if you decide it might be important that your Republican leaders actually act like Republicans, and also treat the Constitution as something other than a nice absorbent blotter for their processed beer – you might consider doing what it appears so many others are going to do this year and give your vote to the Democrats.

If I could say it as well as he has, I wouldn’t need to link to his post.

Posted in: Politics

Everybody vote!

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Voter turnout looked good this morning. I was number 93 with a last name L-Z only an hour after the polls opened. It was the longest line I’ve ever seen to vote, which is encouraging.

So, you may be curious how I voted. First, I voted for Jim Webb and Jim Moran because I think it’s important that we get a Democratic majority. Then maybe we can start getting back some of our civil liberties that President Bush has taken in the name of terror. Unfortunately, it probably also means that we’ll continue to botch things in Iraq, since the Democrats plan of “let’s not stay the course” is just as bad as Bush’s “stay the course”.

I voted against the gay marriage ban. Even if I hated homosexuals, I would have voted against it. It goes way beyond “protecting the sanctity of marriage” and bans all sorts of things that might be sort of like marriage if you look at them kind of squinty-eyed. And, more importantly, I think we have to treat people of all sexual orientations as human beings.  That means protecting their rights and allowing them to live, even if you don’t approve of their lifestyle.

I voted to remove the unconstitutional language that should have been removed automatically instead of requiring a vote.

I voted against extending the right to grant tax breaks to the local government.  Although in general I think local government is better suited to grant tax breaks for real estate development, I don’t see why we need to help people build new houses in conservation areas.  There’s too much building around here as it is, and the excess of housing is going to start hurting the local economy if we aren’t careful.  I’m not really sure what the point of this amendment is supposed to be, but the potential adverse effects it could have outweigh the positive ones I can think of.  So I voted no.

I voted to allow the issuance of bonds to build more parks, and to build more jails.  Seems like a good idea to me.

So, I urge you all to get out and vote if you haven’t done so already.  I’d be happy if you voted the way I did, but I’d rather you did a little research and voted against me than not vote at all.

Posted in: Politics

Google is not down

Monday, November 06, 2006

I had to restart my computer, and now Google is working.  Whew.   Almost lost my faith in humanity there.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Anti-complaint

Google is down?

Monday, November 06, 2006

The Google homepage and Google Reader aren’t coming up for me.  That’s a nuisance, since there’s usually lots to read on Monday morning because I don’t read much of my RSS feeds over the weekend.  I suppose I could actually go to the sites that I read, but that somehow seems like too much trouble.

In other news, the wife is in Massachusetts until Thursday, babysitting her nephew.  That’s partly good for me, because it will give me time to get caught up on Nanowrimo.  I’m about 1300 words behind, not including the 1667 I’m supposed to write today.  It’s not a big deal, though.  I can make up 1300 words.

The story is going well so far.  We’ve got intrigue and sexual harassment and passionate rants in opposition to elevators.  My main character really hates elevators, which means I’m pretty sure he’s going to get stuck in one later on in the story.  His behavior between now and then will likely determine whether he gets stuck in there with the cute girl from accounting, or with 19 total strangers who smell funny.

Posted in: complaint , Writing

This is fun

Friday, November 03, 2006

Boing Boing: Michael Crook sends bogus DMCA takedown notice to BoingBoing

Crook is a deranged, serial troll, and his behavior is consistent with that of someone who craves attention, no matter how negative. But what does matter is the fact that the DMCA is so poorly conceived and written that even the nuttiest, most deranged of trolls can abuse it into silencing constitutionally-protected online speech.

I love BoingBoing posts that have a half dozen or more updates to them. This one is particularly fun. This crazy guy is abusing the misguided Digital Millennium Copyright Act to make a nuisance of himself.

You know you’ve arrived in the blogosphere when you get DMCA'ed.  I don’t mean that BoingBoing has just “arrived”, they “arrived” some time ago.  I’m just saying that getting DMCA'ed sounds like fun.  Except for the legal liability part.

I think the proper response to this - he claims that he holds the copyright to his face, so by extension has a say in photos of himself - is to draw a picture of him using MS Paint (Make sure to ask the least artistically talented person you know to draw it) and use that instead of the photo.  Make sure to caption it “Mr. Poopy Pants” or something equally witty.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Stupid people

Nano update

Friday, November 03, 2006

5187 words in two days.  Because I’m a numbers geek, I can tell you that I’m ahead of my pace in all the other years I’ve done Nano.  Although I’m about to fall behind 2003’s Love in Black and White - I wrote 4000 a day on the 3rd and 4th that year.

So far, I’m happy with the story.  I’m a little worried that I’ve introduced too many characters, and that the timeline on the plot is going to get too hairy.  And I also am getting overwhelming urges to kill of a character or two.  I may succumb to the pressure.  I had already planned a death later in the story, but I don’t know if I can wait.

Killing a character in your story is strangely liberating.  It’s like playing God.  Even though, as far as the story is concerned, you already are God (And I mean that in the least blasphemous and least offensive way possible), but it’s still fun.  You get to say to your character, “Look at you.  You thought you were going to be a major character in this story.  And where are you now?  You’re dead!  Didn’t see that one coming, did you?”

It’s also helpful to combat writer’s block.  For example, let’s say you have a character who is absolutely vital to your plot at some point later in the story.  Let’s call him Harold.  Without Harold, your main character, Thor, will never meet Bridgitte, the green-eyed girl who works at Starbucks, fall in love, and move in with her mother.  This meeting, complete with harpsichord music in the background and a gentle snowfall, happens in chapter 12 because Harold asks Thor to meet him at the library to help him unload the secret documents that Harold smuggled out of CIA headquarters.  They meet, and Harold gets spooked by the strange elderly man reading Consumer Reports, and he takes off.  Thor follows, but loses him on the street, and finds himself in front of Bridgitte’s Starbucks.  The rest, as they say, is history.

So, let’s say now you’re in chapter seven, and Harold has just obtained the secret documents, but you have no idea how to get him to that library.  In fact, you have just spent forty minutes staring at a blinking cursor without typing a damn word, and you have stuff to do all weekend, and you know you’re going to fall behind.

At this point, Harold goes for a walk.  As he walks down the city street, a pack of wild dogs leaps from an alley and devours him, leaving behind nothing but his left shoe and the secret documents.

Do you see how you’ve conquered writer’s block?  Now you don’t have to worry about getting Harold to the library.  Harold is no longer your problem.  And now you’re scrambling to rewrite the entire second two thirds of the novel.  Soon, your imagination will awaken from its bored stupor, and realize that what Thor really needs is a plate of waffles, not a green-eyed love interest.

And there you go.  Problem solved.  See how easy that was?  And people say writing a novel is hard.

Posted in: Writing

Ever honked at a school bus?

Friday, November 03, 2006

I took an alternate route to work today because I had to drop the wife off in Arlington so she could pass out Jim Webb (Democratic candidate for Senator in VA) literature.  So I was coming through a sort of bad intersection - nothing like Seven Corners, but not the nicest intersection, either.  As I went through the green light, a school bus pulled halfway into the intersection to turn right.  Into my lane.

First of all, you don’t pull halfway into the lane when a car with the right of way is already occupying that lane.  Second, I thought school buses never turned right on red.  Doesn’t it say that on the back of the bus?

I always drive more carefully around school buses.  I mean, they’re full of children without seatbelts.  And usually the bus drivers are extra cautious, too.  But not this one.  So I honked at him.  He then turned right just behind me.  On red.  Jerk.

Posted in: Cars , complaint

Shouldnt that be automatic?

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Project Vote Smart - Virginia Election Ballot Measures

The proposed amendment would delete the provision found to be unconstitutional.

There are three measures on the Virginia ballot this year.  One of them is the ridiculously far-reaching gay marriage ban that I’ve mentioned.  I can’t imagine anyone who reads past the “ban gay marriage” part will vote for it.  If your knee-jerk reaction is “I must vote against gay marriage”, you might support it, but you’d be making a mistake.  I’m not going to argue why I support gay marriage, I will just say that this particular ban is similar to destroying a thirty story office building because you didn’t like the color of the eighth-floor bathroom. Measure two simply removes a section that has been found unconstitutional.  It changes no law - the law has already been changed.  Why we have to vote on this, I don’t know. Measure three would expand permissible tax relief for “new structures and improvements located in a conservation, redevelopment, or rehabilitation area”.  I’m not sure I like that.  On one hand, it seems to allow tax breaks for someone who might want to rehabilitate an old house, or perhaps put in a new retaining wall to protect a stream.  These things seem fine with me.  But wouldn’t this also open the door for tax breaks if someone wants to buy a little house in an old neighborhood and tear it down to put up a McMansion?  It seems like it, again, is too broad.  I might be missing the point, but my initial reaction is that the potential benefits are less than the potential abuse.  If someone wants to correct me, please do.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

Nanowrimo!

Thursday, November 02, 2006

3343 words on Day 1.  That’s my new record.  It helps that I did over 500 just after midnight, then the rest after work.  And it also helps that my wife is so great.  She not only finished painting the living room, but she also cooked dinner, AND cleaned up the dishes.  At this rate, it’s going to take me until next November to make up for this month.

What’s nice is that 3343 puts me about a day ahead.  I already know that I won’t write much Friday (Going away party for some friends after work) or Saturday (Flag football and a wedding).  So being ahead is very important.  Also, three out of four of my mentees, plus one of my real-life friends, have posted wordcounts that are ahead of the pace, as well.  The Nano site has been really slow as they try to deal with all the traffic, so some people may not have been able to get in to update wordcount.  So I won’t assume that my last mentee is behind.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Writing

Is this better or worse than reality?

Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Posted in: Politics

Halloween is going to kill me

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

A coworker brought in two giant bags of candy. Apparently he didn’t get as many trick-or-treaters as expected.

What makes it worse is that it’s good candy - Heath bars, Butterfingers, M&Ms;, Nerds … I’m going to need to jog home for the next week, I think.

So, both a complaint, and an anti-complaint.  Because candy is awesome, but thousands of extra calories from fat are not.

Posted in: Anti complaint , complaint , Food , health

Because everyone should read this webcomic

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

xkcd - A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language - By Randall Munroe

New comic every M-W-F.  Always weird, often roll-on-the-floor funny.  And seriously, how many people do you know who could get a reference to Ubuntu Linux AND Pokemon into a one panel comic?

And if you’re into webcomics, don’t miss Goats and Unshelved, either.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Funny

Less than one hour to go

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

For those of you on the East coast of the US (or perhaps those not reading this right after I post it), there is less than one hour until Nanowrimo starts.  I’m excited.  I’m going to stay up until midnight and get started.

I’m pretty excited about this year.  I have four mentees (first-timers needing veteran advice), and a couple of friends are going to do it (Maybe) as well.  I’m even thinking about heading to a writing meetup or something with my fellow local Nanoers.

Maybe you all can help me.  If you were creating a company intending to compete with Google, what would the name be?  Would it change if you were a slightly eccentric old man with a personal grudge against Google?  Post suggestions in the comments.  If I choose your suggestion, you can have a guest post here (Your ticket to fame and fortune, let me tell you) and an acknowledgment in the novel dedication.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Writing

Ruby Tuesdays is cheap

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

We (Myself and four coworkers) went to Ruby Tuesdays for lunch today.  They actually had the same menu as last time, which is a shock.  But they’ve stopped providing a bottle of ketchup at the table.  Instead, they provide a little bowl.  I just sent them a complaint through their website.  Maybe they’ll give us something free.  I told them we go there two to three times a month, and we’ll go to Fridays or Chilis instead if they don’t bring back the bottles.  That’s probably an empty threat - Fridays has no parking, and Chilis has terrible service.  But they don’t know that.

Posted in: complaint , Food

Firefox 2.0 gripe

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

I admit that this is a minor and easily fixable gripe, but the built in spell-check dictionary for Firefox 2.0 does not include the word “okay” or “ok” by default.  Is there some fight about whether or not this is a word?  I thought it was universally accepted as part of the English language.  It’s pretty easy to add it, and then it’s not a problem again, but it seems strange that it’s not included.

Other than that, 2.0 is pretty cool.  Memory footprint is still too big, but I like the new features.  It does break the “Alt-a” add a link in the WordPress dashboard, which is annoying but not that big a deal.

Posted in: complaint , Technology

Response from Delegate Scott

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

You can see the response I got to my letter about Seven Corners here.  The relevant quote is this:

The main reason we in No.Va. suffer from inadequate transportation solutions is that we have not increased revenues in 20 years. Again this year, many of us in NoVA tried to obtain support for new sources of funding, but we had little support from House members from other parts of the state.

This sounds to me like a plea from Democrat to support a tax hike.  Now, maybe that’s not being fair, but doesn’t that sound to you like a plea for a tax hike?

But I’m not buying it.  If you can’t increase revenue without raising taxes when the population explodes (I don’t know what the population was in 1986, but it sure wasn’t what it is now), then it’s not the fault of House members in the rest of the state (Republican, probably, since NOVA is the only Democratic part of the state commonwealth).  It’s the fault of those who write up the budget.  I understand that increased population means increased costs, but it also means increased revenue. And seriously, how much does it cost to put up a sign?  I honk at someone almost every day at that intersection because they cut me off from the wrong lane.  Do you think they’d put up a sign if I offered to pay for it?  That’s probably illegal.  Maybe I’ll ask Jim Scott.

Posted in: Cars , complaint

More Enviga

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

I know I’m scoring some points with the Coke people because I’m talking about their tea so much, but I have to share the last flavor. We tried the Green Tea flavored Enviga today. The wife liked it. I didn’t think it really had any flavor.

This whole Enviga experiment has so far been a huge disappointment. It didn’t make me shake uncontrollably or hallucinate or give me a twitch. It didn’t taste like used motor oil or dead bugs. Maybe I should ask Craig to send me samples of something that’s earlier in the testing process and hasn’t been approved by the FDA. I’d like something that makes me think I’m some sort of barnyard fowl, preferably a duck. I could live with thinking I’m a chicken, but I would much rather think I was a duck.

Since this hasn’t gone well, I’d like to try an experiment. I complained about Enviga, and three cans showed up in the mail. So, I’d like to tell you all that the new 6-series BMW convertibles are complete junk. They are, without doubt, the worst car I’ve ever seen on the road. The 6-series BMW convertible is absolute proof that there is no god.

However, if BMW would like me to use my super blogging power to spread the word about the 6-series convertible, I’d like a red one with a manual transmission. No skimping on the options, either.

Posted in: complaint , Food , health

All about Enviga

Monday, October 30, 2006

Well, I didn’t get a chance to complete my testing of Enviga over the weekend because our trip home from NYC took six hours instead of four because of traffic in New Jersey and Delaware. But the wife and I did taste two of the three flavors.

Berry:

It’s okay. I didn’t notice the aspartame right away, but it definitely hits you in the aftertaste. Some people may be okay with this, but I’m not. I know there’s a lot of controversy surrounding aspartame, and they haven’t proven convincingly that it’s bad for you, but I still try to avoid it. The wife said, “It tastes like those carbonated juices that we drank instead of champagne when we were kids” after she tried it. That doesn’t sound like a glowing endorsement to me, but you can draw your own conclusions.

**Peach: **

Wife’s reaction was, “I would drink these. But, I like carbonation.” She will occasionally drink carbonated water (Without mixing it with gin or vodka!), so I’m not sure how much stock we can put in her mild approval. I don’t think the peach is much different from the berry.

Overall, I’m disappointed that they weren’t awful. I was hoping to be able to spew fire and brimstone here as my heart raced from the caffeine and concentrated tea extract. Enviga contains “seven times as much EGCG as the leading sweetened green tea”. By the way, Enviga is the top paid Google result when you search for EGCG. Coke is really marketing this pretty hard. Anyway, EGCG actually seems to be good for you - it’s an antioxidant, and because it occurs naturally in green tea, we’ve had plenty of time to study the effects. Whether it’s really good for you to have that much of it in a 12 ounce can of tea, I don’t know. I have to say that I don’t think that cramming more of it into the same volume of tea is really a good idea, but that’s totally a guess, with no scientific support. It could be really good for you to inject concentrated green tea right into your veins. Coke has this to say about Enviga:

Engiva is not designed for rapid weight loss. Enviga is a choice - like taking the stairs - that can contribute to consumers' overall goals for a healthier lifestyle.

In response to that, I say that actually taking the stairs is a much, much better choice.

Posted in: Food , health

Oh, have I got a treat for you

Friday, October 27, 2006

On October 13, I posted about a new soft drink called Enviga, and how I didn’t believe the marketing hype. On October 18th, I posted again about Enviga and how it sucks. On October 19th, I got an email from a guy who works for Manning Selvage & Lee, an advertising firm representing Coca Cola.

Hello, My name is Craig Eldon and I’m assisting in the launch of Coke’s new sparkling green tea - Enviga.

I’ve read your blog and thought detailed news about this new product might be a fit for your readers. I have pre-sale samples available for you and would like to provide detailed information about this new drink category.

What do you think? I look forward to hearing from you shortly.

Best, Craig

Today, I received three cans of not-yet-released-to-the-public “sparkling green tea”, Enviga. Coke calls it “The Calorie Burner”. Later tonight, the wife and I are going to try it. On Monday (Because no one reads blogs on the weekend), you’ll have a full report on the aspartame-filled beverage.

It’s interesting - I exchanged a few emails with Craig, and every subsequent email had a note at the bottom threatening all that I hold dear if I shared any information. I’m actually not going to share any of it with you. The reason for this is that they obviously thought about what communication they could and couldn’t keep privilaged. That is, they knew an unsolicited marketing email could hardly be called private, but once I responded, they had some reasonable expectation for my discretion. The fact that they made this distinction suggests that they are on firm legal ground in restricting what I can and can’t share, so I’m going to listen to them.

I will have you know that I have received only a few emails, some marketing documents, and three cans of Enviga from Craig. There is no money, nor promise of money, nor any other sort of compensation. The review of Enviga you read here on Monday will be honest, and it will be my opinion, whatever that turns out to be.

I hope you’re excited.  I know I sure am.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Food , health

Yeah, whatever

Friday, October 27, 2006

Hell.com is being sold at Web domain name auction - Oct. 27, 2006

The online address is the latest to be put up for sale in a growing market for domain names, consisting of Internet addresses people type in for Web sites, which has been fueled by the surge in Internet advertising, the newspaper said.

I don’t really care about hell.com - as search engines get better and better, the necessity for a good, memorable domain name goes down.  But the sentence quoted above is really awesome.  It’s like saying, “a growing market for houses, consisting of buildings that people live in”.  Whoever wrote that sentence doesn’t seem to have any understanding at all of what they’re talking about.  I mean, if the market for domain names consisted of cuddly little puppies and Elvis memorabilia, would it still be the market for domain names?

Posted in: Funny

Ubuntu 6.1 released

Friday, October 27, 2006

Welcome - Ubuntu: Linux for human beings

Just saw on Lifehacker that Ubuntu has released a new version, which contains, among other things, Firefox 2.0. Sweet. Can’t wait to get home and upgrade my Ubuntu box.

Edit: Ooh, maybe I should have waited. Upgrade crapped out, now I’m not sure whether it’s going to boot back up. We’ll see how long it takes me to get a good install again.  Ubuntu forum users report some problems, which I guess is to be expected.  But I was so close to getting my Complaint Hub enhancements working, and now my development box is hosed…

Posted in: linux , nerd

Angry letters update

Friday, October 27, 2006

New update to the Angry Letters section.  I got a response from Senator George Allen telling me it’s not his f'ing problem.  He said it more politely than that.  And he actually has a point - stupid traffic patterns are not really a federal matter.  So I wrote to Delegate James “Jim” Scott and Senator Richard “Dick” Saslaw, my state representatives.  I eagerly await their responses.

Posted in: Angry Letters

Stop with the negative ads

Friday, October 27, 2006

The Year Of Playing Dirtier - washingtonpost.com

It is harder for Republicans to blame out-of-power Democrats for the current state of Washington, but they are equally eager to depress Democratic turnout and fire up their conservative base.

It may be that, after a conversation about ‘the liberal media’ yesterday with a definitely conservative coworker, I’m just looking for the Post’s liberal bias, but this line jumped out at me.  The article, up to then, had been close enough to balanced (It said that both parties are stooping to new lows in negative political ads, and the Republicans are worse about it.  That’s sort of unbiased) that I could live with it.  But if the Post honestly believes that the Democrats are completely blameless for the state of the country, I don’t even know what to say.

Back to the point of the article, though.  I’m pretty sick of smear ads.  Being near DC, we get both Virginia and Maryland ads.  George Allen and Jim Webb, running for Senate from VA, have been sniping at each other for a while.  Allen doesn’t seem to be trying that hard - he’s still focusing on some comments Webb made in 1979-80.  Allen also responded to my angry letter, which is nice.  I’m still voting for Webb, though.

I wish we’d get to hear why I should vote for one guy rather than why I shouldn’t vote for the other guy.  I’m tired of voting against the unacceptable canidate.  I’d really like to vote for someone because I think he or she is going to do a good job.  Is that too much to ask?

Posted in: complaint , Politics

Slim with the tilted brim

Friday, October 27, 2006

‘Snoop Dogg’ faces gun, drug accusation - CNN.com

“An investigation revealed Calvin Broadus to be in possession of marijuana and a firearm,” a police statement said… .  “There was no basis for this arrest,” said the rapper’s lawyer, Donald Etra. “We believe that once this is cleared up, all charges will be dismissed.”

Numerous things here.

First, if I were Snoop, I would legally change my name to Snoop Dogg so the media would have to stop putting it in quotes.

Second, taped to the monitor on my old PC at home is a picture of Snoop from the Wall Street Journal about eight or nine years ago when he publicily made a big deal out of quitting marijuana.  It appears he’s started again.  Anyway, I was taking Public Finance in college, and we had to have a subscription to the WSJ for class, so I would usually read it during lunch.  As an aside, that was just after one of my roommates taught me how to make grilled cheese, and to this day I associate reading the WSJ with eating grilled cheese.  As for Snoop, I couldn’t resist the little picture of him - it seems so out of place next to big time politicians and important people.  So it’s been taped to that monitor for all that time.  I don’t know what I’ll do when I replace the monitor.

Third, Snoop needs to remember that a 2:1 arrests-to-albums ratio is safe, but if you get much higher than that, they stop calling you “rap artist ‘Snoop Dogg’” and start calling you “convicted felon Calvin Broadus, who rapped under the name ‘Snoop Dogg’ before his arrest”.

Fourth, as far as I’m concerned, rap doesn’t get much better than “Doggystyle”.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint

No substantial relationship

Thursday, October 26, 2006

John Scalzi on gay marriage in NJ

Denying committed same-sex couples the financial and social benefits and privileges given to their married heterosexual counterparts bears no substantial relationship to a legitimate governmental purpose.

John Scalzi has a nice bit on the NJ Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage. The above is my favorite line from the quote from the decision. It looks like the Jersey Supreme Court has sent a nice not-so-subtle message that the government is not in the business of spreading homophobia and discrimination. I think “no substantial relationship to legitimate governmental purpose” is a lovely turn of phrase, and I applaud the court.

I’m not so sure I’m happy with their failure to rule on whether you can call it marriage - this is an important issue for many, and not calling it marriage leaves them open to “separate but equal” challenges. But I suppose that leaving some of the decision to legislators is what the whole system is about. Hopefully New Jersey’s legislature will work something out that most people can live with.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Politics

Everyone else is posting it

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

outside.in

outside.in is designed to change all that, as a bridge between information space and real-world space – a place to see in a single glance all the interesting things that are happening around you.

I’ve read about this on at least three blogs already, so I figured I might as well check it out. It’s user-based content, so there’s not much there yet, although with all the pimping it’s getting from big shots like John Battelle and David Pescovitz at BoingBoing, it shouldn’t be long before they have a good user community.

The idea is that you will go and provide local information about where you live, and be able to find similar information about other places.  Or you might find that little hole in the wall restaurant around the corner that you’ve never noticed.

Nice idea.  Execution looks pretty good, although I didn’t poke around too much.  It’s certainly designed better than HotSoup.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Anti-complaint

Im very dusty

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Dusty hallwayWhen I moved in to my condo, the seller swore that we could easily paint over the ugly venetian plaster he’d had put up. “But, of course, you’d never want to”, he said. I beg to differ. Brown bamboo floors and brown walls just don’t do it for me. So the wife and I painted over the walls, and it just peels right off. Now that we’re trying to sell, we’re sanding the stupid walls so we can paint them. We tested a little spot, and sanding actually makes the primer stick.

Unfortunately, sanding also makes a horrific mess. I’m at work now, and my hands still feel like they have plaster dust on them. And I haven’t sanded anything since last night. I’ve taken TWO showers since I touched a sander.

Oh, well.  I think we can finish sanding tonight or tomorrow, then we’ll paint, and forget this horrible dusty mess.  The cat will no doubt appreciate that, as well, so she can go back to being black again.

Posted in: Home Improvement

This is what they mean by liberal media

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Bush’s New Tack Steers Clear of ‘Stay the Course’ - washingtonpost.com

But the White House is cutting and running from “stay the course.”

Oh, how clever.  Use the phrase that the Republicans use to attack Democrats and then the phrase the Republicans used before the Democrats used it to attack Republicans.  Where does one go for neutral news reporting?  I get Fox News at the gym.  Fair and balanced, they say.  Yes, fair to radical conservative nutjobs, and balanced between Republicans and other Republicans.  I tried Daily Kos, because that’s one of the first names in political blogging news.  If you take Daily Kos, and reverse the adjectives - that is, replace “bad” with “good” and all that, you have Fox News all over again.  I tried the Wall Street Journal, but they hide behind a pay wall, and I don’t want to get a subscription.  The Washington Post can’t possibly claim to be unbiased after allowing a line like the one above to be printed. Where do you get your news?

Posted in: complaint , Politics

Banana nut goodness

Monday, October 23, 2006

Odwalla Beverages

We’ve taken the memories of home-baked banana nut loaf and turned them into a convenient on-the-go snack. Luscious banana is blended with whole oats and walnuts.

You know what sucks about the Odwalla Banana Nut Bar?  Not a damn thing.  That is one fine “nourishing food bar”.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Uncategorized

Yeah, remember what we said before? We were lying

Monday, October 23, 2006

Beltway Toll Plan May Need Va. Funds - washingtonpost.com

“I think it demonstrates the risks involved in seeing privatization as a panacea,” said Gerald E. Connolly (D), chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. “We can’t simply hope that the tooth fairy, in the form of the private sector, will make all of our problems go away.”

No, but you can hope that a plan that you agreed to doesn’t go $100 million over budget. The sequence of events seems to have gone like this:

  • Private industry says, “We can make an HOT lane without using any taxpayer money, thereby easing congestion and making a profit!”
  • Virginia government says, “Sweet, go for it, dude.”
  • Private industry says, “Oops, when we said ‘no taxpayer money’, we really meant ‘$100 million in taxpayer money’. Our bad.”
  • Virginia government says, “Looks like you’re not the tooth fairy! Here’s some cash.” Great. It probably won’t even help traffic.
Posted in: complaint , Politics

New stuff coming soon

Monday, October 23, 2006

I’ve been working this weekend to bring you some new features here. Once I get it all working, you’ll be able to submit your own complaints, and view the complaints of others. It will be pretty low-tech at the beginning. It will probably involve you emailing me through a form on the site, and then I’ll add your complaint somewhere. The goal eventually is to take me out of the equation, and allow you to interact somehow with the complaints of others.

To that end, I’ve been working in Prado, a PHP framework. I started using them because they offered AJAX support, and you can’t be a cool website without AJAX, right? But it turns out that AJAX was supported in version 2.X, and will be again in 3.1, but the current version is 3.05, and it does not really have any AJAX support. I thought about going back to 2.X, but then I’d have to redo things when 3.1 came out, which they claim should be in about two weeks. So, thanks to Mo for showing me how to upgrade to PHP5 on Dreamhost (Great inexpensive web hosting company, by the way), and I’ll get the new stuff out as soon as I can.

This also gives me the opportunity to say how much I like developing on my Ubuntu box using a lighttpd server.  For some of you, I know this is like a foreign language, but I honestly thought you stopped reading when I started talking about Prado.  Anyway, it was a real personal accomplishment for me to get PHP 5 and Prado installed on lighttpd and have a small web app up and running over the weekend.  I’m quite pleased with myself, actually.  While I do web development for a living, the server configuration and things like that are not my strong suit (Or even, really, my suit at all).  I never really learned anything about managing a server, and our enviroment at work was set up before I got here.   So I’m just going to pat myself on the back here for figuring it out and getting it all working.

Posted in: Anti complaint , New!

Hey, that might be a good idea

Monday, October 23, 2006

My wife is going to be out of town for the election this year, so she dutifully applied for and received her absentee ballot.  I was looking at the propaganda they send along with it (Apparently both the Democratic and the Republican parties are notified when you get an absentee ballot, because both sent her some literature).  Have any of you read how far-reaching the proposed gay marriage ban in Virginia is?  It doesn’t stop at banning gay marriage.  It doesn’t even stop at banning civil unions.  It bans anything that might resemble marriage, or carry some of the same benefits of marriage, for anyone who isn’t a married couple of opposite gender.

I’m not a lawyer, but I think a good lawyer could argue convincingly, based on the wording of this law, that I can’t enter into a verbal contract with a buddy to help him move some furniture in exchange for a case of beer.  Someone correct me if I’m wrong.

However, I think this may be a brilliant move on the part of those against a ban on gay marriage.  They may have realized that there was no way they could avoid putting it on the ballot.  Instead, they made it so far-reaching that even if it passes, it should be ruled unconstitutional.  Of course, as shown by the second question on the ballot, that doesn’t mean much.  The second question proposes removing something from the books that has, actually, been ruled unconstitutional.  Shouldn’t that be automatic?  I mean, as a citizen of the Commonwealth of Virginia, I’m okay with allowing the VA government to remove unconstitutional laws from the books without asking my permission.

Posted in: Politics

Maybe this will move them to act

Friday, October 20, 2006

GOP terrorism ad sparks Democratic furor - CNN.com

I haven’t seen this ad.  I don’t need to see it.  I’m voting, and whatever the ad is, it won’t affect my vote.  But I hope people are angry about it.  I hope it pisses off hundreds of thousands of people and maybe some of them will actually get up and vote.

I would rather see 90% of the registered voters elect Bill Frist or Hillary Clinton President than 10% of the registered voters elect someone who isn’t a minion of Satan.  If the vast majority of the country disagrees with me on who should run the country, fine.  I’ll accept that.  But if we don’t know who the vast majority of the country prefers because most of them don’t bother to exercise their Constitutional right to tell us, then I’m pissed off.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

More autism

Friday, October 20, 2006

TIME.com: Why We Need to be Careful in the Search for Autism’s Cause – Page 1

The week also brought a more definitive, though less splashy finding on the causes of autism, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. A team led by Levitt found that a fairly common gene variation-one that’s present in 47% of the population-is associated with an increased risk of autism.

I just posted about the research that this article is responding to. This Time article sounds a little like blogosphere hate - because many bloggers read the article I did and talked about it, the article must be based on wild conjecture and made up data.

I think it’s great that scientists take the research of others with a grain of salt - if it looks contrary to what you’ve seen, you should certainly investigate. And I understand the feeling of many experts in various fields that the internet has allowed everyone to think they are experts, and spread their opinions all over. But isn’t it at least worth investigating? They’ve found some strong statistics suggesting that increased TV watching corresponds with a rise in autism. Isn’t that at least a good starting point? Why can’t the geneticists and medical researchers talk to the economists about their findings? Maybe that would be helpful.

The fact that something is blogged does not make it right or wrong. Many smart people blog many smart things. And many not so smart people blog misleading or untrue things. Actually, I’m sure smart bloggers post false information, too. Anyway.

Time had this to say about the previous research:

Could there be something to this strange piece of statistical derring- do? It’s not impossible, but it would take a lot more research to tease out its true significance. Meanwhile, it’s hard to say just what these correlations measure.

A lot more research? Well, lucky us, we have 300 million people in the country. Surely some of them could do research. Maybe they could look for reasons why or why not TV watching affects autism. Maybe a kid has to be genetically predisposed to autism to get it, but that watching a lot of TV at a young age makes it more likely. Meanwhile, it’s hard to say what ANY correlations measure. We don’t live in a vaccuum with only one or two outside influences acting on our bodies and lives at a time. If we did, cause and effect would be easy to determine. “Look, that guy who likes to swim in a pool of mercury is looking a little unwell.”

Edit: Time has now changed the title of the story from “_Why We Need to be Careful in the Search for Autism’s Cause_” to “_A Bizarre Study Suggests — Irresponsibly — That Watching TV Causes Autism_”.  I don’t know how much they changed the article since this morning - I think the opening paragraph is more skeptical of the report, but the rest of the article looks the same.  I’ll leave it to you to decide what that all means.

Posted in: health , Health

Creative Commons - not just for hippies

Friday, October 20, 2006

MediaShift . Digging Deeper::Creative Commons + Flickr = 22 Million Sharable Photos | PBS Link via John Batelle

“I think Creative Commons is a huge thing and I attribute a lot of my success to it,” Krug said. “Since the beginning I’ve given all my photos away on the Internet and they’ve been used by other bloggers and people all along the way and it’s gotten my name out there.

Article is about a photographer who has shared his high quality photos under a Creative Commons license, and how it’s gotten his name out there.  Are you listening, music industry?

I have about 1500 photos shared on Flickr under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike license.  That means anyone can use the photo for whatever they want as long as theygive me credit, don’t make money from it, and keep the license the same.  I’ve never had anyone I don’t know use a photo (To my knowledge), but I know at least one friend has used a few as desktop backgrounds, which is cool.  And I’m not a professional photographer or anything, but I have an expensive DSLR and I more or less know how to use it.

Anyway, good to hear Creative Commons success stories.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Technology

The age of stingrays is upon us

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Stingray leaps into boat, stabs man in chest - CNN.com

This is somewhat worrisome.  The number of stingray attacks that I’m aware of has risen from zero in the first twenty-eight years of my life to two in the last two months.  The percentage increase in stingray attacks is so large we can’t express it in numbers!  It has to be expressed in abject terror.

Did you see the Simpsons episode where Lisa frees the dolphin, who then brings the other dolphins back to enslave the world?  This is what’s happening now with the stingrays.  You’ll see.  All this talk about the 2008 elections will be moot when Stingy the Stingray is our tyrannical leader, and we’re all slaves in his palace.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint

HOTSOUP.com is open for business

Thursday, October 19, 2006

HOTSOUP.com - Home

HOTSOUP.com was created by four Democratic strategists, three Internet entrepreneurs, two Republican strategists and one journalist. But it’s not about us …. It’s about you….

HOTSOUP finally launched today.  So, my first impressions …   First of all, they don’t have RSS feeds for anything that I saw right away.  I suppose the point of the site is community involvement rather than just content, so in some sense letting people use an RSS feed instead of having to come to the site is counterproductive.  But it’s probably not a good idea to travel down the “AOL Walled Garden” approach and force people to interact with you in your little playhouse.

I have to say that I’m likely to forget about a site if there’s no RSS feed.  If it has a regularly updated feed, I’ll put it in my Google Reader and follow along.  If not, I’ll probably forget to check back.

Another thing, and I suppose this is just my perception, is that I get this feeling of underhandedness.  As if they’ve got some agenda they’re going to spring on us as soon as they reel us in.  And I can’t quite explain where that comes from.  Perhaps paranoia.  But it seems a little artificial.  As if they’re trying to make a MySpace for politics, and they’ve drafted some big names to get the first accounts and attract the people.

But this so far is all negative, and I don’t think the site is bad.  And I’m sure, if they really are serious about it being community-driven, that they’ll tweak it if things don’t work.  So I’ll keep an eye on it, and see how things go.

Posted in: Politics

Enviga sucks. Pass it on.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Shocker: Enviga Doesn’t Actually Burn Calories - Consumerist

Heck, we’re only marketing it as ‘The Calorie Burner.’ It’s not like we’re saying it burns calories or something!

I wrote about this before, and now it seems that the calorie burning soda-tea or whatever it is doesn’t really burn calories. Still no information on calorie content.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint , health

Eat more fish

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

TIME.com Daily Rx: Choose Your Fish Wisely

While Americans are eating more fish on average today than at the turn of the century, we’re not eating the healthiest kinds of seafood. The most popular form of seafood, shrimp, is high in cholesterol and contains low levels of omega-3 fatty acids. And that cafeteria staple, fish sticks, contain very low levels of methylmercury but are equally poor sources of omega-3 oils

You, undoubtedly, should eat more fish.  What I recommend you do is go to the store and purchase some fresh tilapia, a lemon, some broccoli, a few tomatos, garlic, vegetable broth, olive oil, black pepper, and oregano.  Come home and put the fish in some tin foil, drench it in lemon juice, sprinkle with oregano and black pepper, and then seal the tin foil.  Preheat the oven to 400 and bake for 10-15 minutes, maybe more, depending on the thickness of the fish.  If you don’t know how to tell if fish is done, consult someone who does.

Meanwhile, saute the garlic in the olive oil.  If you don’t already have olive oil, you really should.  I know, it’s expensive.  But a bottle lasts a long time, and it’s good for you.  Anyway, saute the garlic, then add the tomatos.  Make sure you throw the juice and squishy stuff from the tomatos in to the pan, too.  There should be a layer of liquid covering the pan.  If not, add a bit of vegetable broth.  Once the tomatos are simmering, toss the broccoli, turn down the heat, and cover.  Do NOT stir in the broccoli - it should be sitting on top of the tomatos.  You’re basically steaming the broccoli with the tomato juice. If you’ve timed it correctly, your fish will be done right as the brocolli gets nice and tender.  If you have, let me know, because I’ve never managed to do it.  When it’s all done, throw the fish on a plate, add some of the broccoli/tomato mixture (I think it should go on top of the fish, but that’s just me), and enjoy.

I think the problem with fish (It was my problem, at least) is that people are scared to cook it.  It’s really easy to cook.  Yes, you should be careful and make sure you’ve cooked it all the way through.  But other than that, it’s very easy to cook, and I find it delicious.  And it’s good for you.

Posted in: health , Life

Turn the TV off

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

TV might cause autism. By Gregg Easterbrook - Slate Magazine link via Futurismic

Today, Cornell University researchers are reporting what appears to be a statistically significant relationship between autism rates and television watching by children under the age of 3.

So, really, when they say that TV rots your brain, maybe they were actually right. The article makes it clear that they have not proven that watching TV too much when you’re under 3 causes autism.  But they have shown that the percentage of children with autism were rising faster in areas with cable TV than those without, and this is based on data old enough so that there still were areas without cable.

Research has shown that autistic children exhibit abnormal activity in the visual-processing areas of their brains, and these areas are actively developing in the first three years of life. Whether excessive viewing of brightly colored two-dimensional screen images can cause visual-processing abnormalities is unknown.

There are other factors that may come into play here.  The negative effects of the TV watching could be due to increased time indoors rather than the actual TV.  But it’s interesting that autism may be more strongly linked to the first couple years of life rather than genetics.

Regardless, get your kids outside.  Playing in the backyard with the neighbor’s kids definitely doesn’t cause autism, or ADHD, or obesity.

Posted in: health , Health

Angry Letters

Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Posted in: Angry Letters

Complaining in action

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

I’m still unhappy with the result of my inquiry to the DMV about Seven Corners. Today, as usual, someone wanted to be in my lane. And it’s dark when I go through the intersection at this time of year, and raining this morning. It just makes it worse.

So I’ve decided to do something about it. I just wrote a letter to Congressman Jim Moran, 8th District of Virginia. I’ve decided that I should write more letters to my representatives. I may write to Tim Kaine and complain about his treatment of my wife when she volunteered for him (He never sent even a mass-email thank you). I’ll write to my Senator about this same issue at Seven Corners.

I invite all of you to write your representatives, as well. If you send me a copy of the letter, I’ll post it here. Then you’ll be famous with ten to twenty people a day just like I am.

Edit: I sent the letter to Senators Warner and Allen as well. You can see that letter, and the future letters I plan to write, once I write them, by clicking the “Angry Letters” link at the top of the page.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

OH NO! Family values are dead!

Monday, October 16, 2006

For first time, unmarried households reign in US - Yahoo! News

Unmarried couples gravitated toward big cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco, while the farm states in the Great Plains and rural communities of the Midwest and West remained bastions of traditionalism, according to the survey.

Interesting survey, maybe, except Yahoo doesn’t really provide any numbers.  Their main point is that in 2005, for the first time more than 50% of households were not a heterosexual married couple.  The gist of the story is, “OH NO!  The family is going out the window!  Soon the evil gays will run the world!"  You have to read between the lines a little bit, but that’s all there.

I don’t think this points to any sort of decline in family values.  In fact, maybe it points to a growing financial intelligence among young people.  Nothing in the article supports that, but it’s not my fault that Yahoo’s reporting is not very thorough.

What I’m talking about, though, is that they don’t take into account people cohabitating because it makes financial sense.  For example, about three years ago, I was living with two roomates.  We were renting a house because none of us could really afford a place on our own.  The two of them, encouraged by our landlord/realtor, decided to buy a house.  They were both tired of throwing money away in rent, but we live in Northern Virginia.  It’s really expensive to live here, and most single people in their mid-twenties have a little trouble buying.

So, they bought a house.  They signed some contract so they used both of their incomes as co-buyers.  I rented from them because I wasn’t ready for that kind of financial commitment.

Now, a few years later, I’ve moved out, bought my own place, and gotten married.  One of the roommates is currently renting with his fiancee, and the other just got married a few weeks ago, and he and his new wife are moving somewhere together.

My point here is that we were a household that didn’t involve a heterosexual married couple, but it wasn’t because we’re bad people or we hate family values or anything like that.  It was because we were unmarried and didn’t want to spend three quarters of our income on housing.

I have no idea if there’s anything in the survey to support an increase in situations like that.  But this shows the danger in showing partial statistics.  If you can pick and choose which numbers and which relationships to show, you can support just about any hypothesis you want.

Posted in: complaint , Life

Its a long way to November

Sunday, October 15, 2006

I really need to figure out how to motivate myself to write outside of November. This morning, I’m home alone because the wife has to meet with her boss and get some stuff done at the office. Since it’s Sunday, and there’s no football on yet, I’ve been struggling to amuse myself. I’ve been using PBWiki to see if it’s a good way to plan out the novel, and so far it seems to be working. I just had a mini-epiphany this morning on the plot of this year’s novel, which is always fun.

It makes me wonder why I can’t get myself to do much writing outside of the confines of Novel Writing Month. I like writing. I like that feeling when the solution to your sticky plot point just comes to you. And, according to some (biased, I know) people, I’m not a bad writer.

It’s just frustrating that, since November 2002, my first Novel Writing Month, I’ve written over 150,000 words of fiction in four Novembers (And one, 2004, I only wrote 400, so really in three Novembers), and probably 30,000 words in the other thirty-two months.  That’s not very good.

I think part of me is convinced that one day something will just click and I’ll just “be a writer”.  But the more sensible part of me knows that it’s not that easy.

But, Nano 2006 seems to be coming together nicely, so I’m going to keep working on it and enjoy the month of November.  And then on December 1st, I can see where I am.  Either I can go back to working on 2003’s Love in Black and White, or I can continue with this year’s still untitled novel.  I expect all of you to yell at me if I don’t.

Posted in: Writing

How am I going to explain this to my daughter?

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Boing Boing: Fake beauty, video about transhuman tricks used on models

That is, when I have a daughter.  But the likelihood of me having a daughter is pretty good.  I mean, the first kid has about a 50/50 chance of being a girl, right?  So if I plan to have multiple children, which the wife currently is on board with, I have a better than 50/50 chance of having a girl.

Anyway, the point is, how would you explain this to a little girl?  The video shows an attractive but perfectly normal woman, and the process to make her face into a billboard.  Makeup, which isn’t surprising, but then the digital manipulation of her face is a little shocking.  They make her neck thinner and longer, raise her eyebrows, make her lips fuller.

I can’t imagine explaining that to my (As yet unborn, or even conceived) little girl when she’s six and asks me why.  There’s a long time in a kid’s life when they understand enough to ask hard-to-answer questions, but they may not understand enough to hear the real answer.  Assuming there is one.  I mean, I don’t know why we’ve built up completely unreasonable expectations of beauty.

I’ve heard the arguments that some of it is based on propagation of the species, and the claim that a fit woman with wide hips is well-suited for reproduction.  But what do full lips and a long, slender neck have to do with reprodcution?

Absolutely nothing, that’s what.

Posted in: complaint , health , Life

Its interesting to live near D.C.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Wild Blue Wonder - washingtonpost.com

The wife and I were driving from her office in the city to Arlington to take my grandmother on some errands when we passed this new monument, and what looked like a circus or something or other happening at the Pentagon. I didn’t know anything about it, but apparently she had heard something about a new monument. So we surmised that this was the dedication ceremony. I have to say that, from 395, the monument is kind of dumb. I mean, it’s big and shiny and sharp, and I guess it probably strikes fear in the hearts of terrorists or something. But it’s sort of ugly.

But, whatever. Art is subjective, and I’m picky about my art. I’m happy to honor the Air Force, as they’ve done a great deal to protect my way of life.

Anyway, my real point was that part of the ceremony is an air show. As I was turning off of Spout Run Parkway, we heard a loud plane overhead that turned out to be one of these.USAF B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber Plainly visible, right overhead through my open sunroof on this sunny and brisk day, a friggin' stealth bomber. I’m not usually one to get all worked up over something like this, but these things cost $2.2 BILLION each. And, it’s a stealth bomber. That’s pretty awesome. We saw a few other planes (And heard even more), some that I recognize from video games and whatnot. But the stealth was the highlight.

Anyway, I hope that hotlinking to airforce-technology.com isn’t going to cause any problems. At least they aren’t likely to goatse (Link to worksafe explanation, for those who don’t know) me.

Edit: Didn’t realize that the image was too big for IE, since I avoid using IE as much as possible. So I made it smaller.

Posted in: Anti complaint , dc , Technology

You cant just say your domain name

Friday, October 13, 2006

Utube.com deluged with YouTube seekers | CNET News.com

How many times have you heard a radio commercial that directs people to a website?  And how many of those times has the actual site been something different than what you heard?  English is a funny language - we have these things called homophones, and they can make it difficult.  Sometimes you can figure it out from the context (Assuming you know how to spell), but I’ve heard commercials, although of course I can’t think of an example, where it’s impossible.

Part of this is due to the fact that sometimes the company name isn’t a real word.  If you’ve invented the spelling of the company name, I’m not necessarily going to be able to spell it if you say it.

I suppose it’s not that big a deal.  It’s just dumb.

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

New drink burns calories

Friday, October 13, 2006

Accidental Hedonist - Coke’s Caloric Sophistry

There are a couple things wrong with this.  First, they say that drinking three twelve ounce cans will burn about 100 calories.  Okay, fine.  How many calories are in a can?  There’s about 140 calories in a 12 ounce can of Coke.  Unless each can of this new stuff is less than 35 calories or so (Highly unlikely, but I can’t find the number online), even if the calorie-burning claims are correct, you’re still taking in more than you’re burning.

Second, you’d burn about 35 calories taking a slow walk for ten minutes.  35 calories is not that much.

Third, “The makers claim that a combination of extracts from green tea and caffeine speeds up the drinker’s metabolic rate, which helps the body to burn calories”.  How many can I drink in a day before my metabolic rate is at an unsafe level?  Artificially speeding up your metabloic rate just doesn’t seem like a good idea to me.

Fourth, “But, this is a positive step that people can take to make a difference to their health with regular physical activity and a balanced, healthy diet."  So says Rhoma Applebaum, chief scientist for Coke.  Everything I’m reading from Coke implies that this is a health drink.  That is, something that will help you be healthy.  Is it healthy like Diet Coke is healthy?  I mean, sure, drinking it is probably healthier than drinking straight high-fructose corn syrup, or drinking battery acid.  But I doubt drinking one of these Envigas is healthier than drinking nothing.

Anyway, I love Coke.  Not the company, but the soda.  I know it’s bad for me, and that’s why I try not to drink it too often (Although I should drink less of it).  But this stuff is being marketed deceptively, and I’d like to see Coke get sued for it.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint , health

Winter is here

Friday, October 13, 2006

Yesterday morning, it was 65 degrees (18 C for those of you who use that ridiculous system.  Freezing is zero degrees?  Crazy!) out when I went to work.  Today, it was 34 (1 C).

Now, I like the cold.  But those first few days of cold are always a bit of a shock.  All the windows in the house were still open this morning, so it was a bit chilly inside.  And our flag football game tomorrow is at 8AM, so that will probably be cold.

Of course, it’s still hot in my office, as usual.

Anyway, that’s probably all I have to say about the weather.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint

Listening to NPR makes me cry

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Charlie’s Diary: Playing the Genocide Card

The Lancet isn’t just any medical journal, it’s one of the big three that you used to — and probably still do — find in common rooms in hospitals all over the UK (along with the British Medical Journal and sometimes the New England Journal of Medicine). It is not noted for publishing random speculation, agitprop, and crank letters — it’s the top journal of record in its field. Getting an article into The Lancet is like getting one in Nature, or Science: it’s a big one.

This morning, for example, I heard President Bush and one of his big shot generals dismissing this report because they’ve never heard a number bigger than about 50,000, so this 650,000 estimate MUST be wrong.

Now, before you go doubting my source, I know Charles Stross is an author, not an expert in military excursions or whatever.  But we are bringing the qualifications of The Lancet into question here, not Stross.  The Lancet was founded in 1823.  When a scientific journal is that old, one guesses that it has not made a habit of inventing numbers more than 10 times the number we’d heard previously just for kicks.

So, NPR followed that with a little bit telling how Bush has made absolutely sure that we associate North Korea with terrorism.  The only thing North Korea has in common with Al Qaeda is that they have been making a nuisance of themselves (And by “making a nusiance” I of course mean “testing nuclear weapons”) at the same time as we are fighting a war that we like to think has something to do with Al Qaeda.

I suppose it is fair to lump North Korea in there with Iraq, though.  There’s probably just as much chance of finding Bin Laden in North Korea as finding him in Iraq.

I was a Republican during the Clinton administration.  By the end of this administration, I expect to be huddled on the floor in a corner, rocking back and forth and mumbling something about “the days of yore”.

Posted in: complaint , World

Space Invaders is awesome

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Teenager moves video icons just by imagination Via Futurismic

The teenager, a patient at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, had a grid atop his brain to record brain surface signals, a brain-machine interface technique that uses electrocorticographic (ECoG) activity - data taken invasively right from the brain surface. It is an alternative to a frequently used technique to study humans called electroencephalographic activity (EEG) - data taken non-invasively by electrodes outside the brain on the scalp. Engineers programmed the Atari software to interface with the brain-machine interface system.

So this kid is not only helping us learn how we might deal with epilepsy, but can also play Space Invaders without a controller.  That’s just one step closer to the end of computer input devices as we know them.  Wouldn’t it be cool if your interaction with the computer wasn’t limited by the speed at which you can communicate with it?

Posted in: Anti complaint , health , Technology

More on Googles purchase of YouTube

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

The Jeff Pulver Blog: Some thoughts on the Google Purchase of YouTube:

Some interesting speculation here.  Jeff Pulver thinks (hopes?) that this could mean a real step forward towards internet TV.  The combination of YouTube’s community with Google’s developers and resources could be the start of a real alternative to cable/satellite TV.

That could be really cool.  An entirely new model for distributing mainstream video entertainment.  Maybe we’d finally stop being stuck with this antiquated “this show is on at this time” system.  You’d think that the popularity of Tivo and DVR would suggest that maybe people don’t like being forced to watch a show at a specific time, but the networks don’t seem to want to deliver what people want.

Posted in: Anti complaint , uninformed ramblings

Oh, you mean this wasnt just an unsubstantiated rumor?

Monday, October 09, 2006

Google to buy YouTube for $1.65 billion - Yahoo! News Link via Gizmodo

Hmm. I’m not sure what Google’s intention is here. For a while, I trusted their judgement and figured they knew what they were doing. But their sea of perpetual betas is starting to get old. Yes, I love Gmail. Yes, I love Google maps. Yes, I use writely and calendar and spreadsheets and translate. But they have a million more things that are in a constant state of upheaval. I guess it’s good that YouTube is pretty stable.

I wonder if they’re going to make a lot of changes. Google is much more of a target for the lawsuits that YouTube has been getting over the copyrighted content that people put up. And Google has been much more willing to remove things under pressure from copyright holders (Probably why no one I know uses Google video). YouTube has never really made any money, so I think people hesitated to sue them. Google, on the other hand, has gobs of money. Will Comedy Central stop thinking it’s cute that you can find about a million Daily Show clips on YouTube now that YouTube is Google?

You know what I’d like to see come out of this?  A standardized video format.  Something I can view embedded in a browser, or streaming, or on my desktop, or wherever, nicely compressed, in stereo, and all that.  I don’t want Real Player and QuickTime and WMV and Divx and whatever the heck else you need to watch video.  I want one little app that plays one little open source format that EVERYONE uses.  Can you do that, YouTube and Google?  Please?

Posted in: uninformed ramblings

Ive actually WORKED from home

Monday, October 09, 2006

So, I have honestly spent most of the day working at home. Now, to be fair, that was all spent installing Subversion, Java 1.5, the GWT, and Intellij IDEA, and it’s still not all working, but I’ve been doing things for work since nine this morning. With a quick break to go to the grocery store and then fix lunch.

I’m close to getting something to work, though. So close. Right now, though, I’m going to get up from the computer. I think that will be best for my mental well-being. I might even go for a run, since I haven’t done any physical activity since Friday.

Edit: Good day for a run. Ran past an old coworker I haven’t seen in over a year who now works right around the corner.

Posted in: Personal

Working from home

Monday, October 09, 2006

Our office is all but closed today, and I got permission to work from home (Mostly because I’m pretty sure I’m technically supposed to do the combination lock on the office door every time I go to the bathroom if I’m the only one there).  And what’s even better is that my assignment for the day is to get IntelliJ up and running with the Google Web Toolkit and see if I can get an environment set up to write some web services.  I’m thinking I might try writing a little something for Complaint Hub if I can get it working (And playing nicely with the WordPress php theme that I’m using).  Maybe I’ll put up a little Nano progress bar so you all can yell at me if I start falling behind next month.

Posted in: Anti complaint , nerd

Why I dont blog at home

Sunday, October 08, 2006

HOWTO: Draft A Good Complaint Letter - Consumerist

The wife is half-looking over my shoulder as we watch some Sunday Night Football, and she saw the headline.

“How to draft a good complaint letter?  What are you doing?"  She says.  And it’s the tone she used that’s important here.  The tone implied that blogging about how to draft a good complaint letter is utterly worthless and ridiculous.

I run a blog called "Complaint Hub”.  Blogging about complaining is what I do.  And Consumerist also does a lot of complaining.  So sometimes I link to their site (Don’t tell them it’s because they pay attention to who links them, and sometimes link back.  Tell them it’s because they’re so witty.  They’ll like that.).

I don’t think that’s ridiculous at all.  I’m here, providing a service to the community by helping to spread the word about how to write a good complaint letter.

So, go out and write a complaint letter to someone who has wronged you.  It will feel good, trust me.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint

Norton Antivirus kills my processor

Sunday, October 08, 2006

I hate my laptop.  It’s a Dell, and I have a Dell desktop that I’ve had since 1998 that I love.  Once it got too old to do much with, I installed Ubuntu Linux on it, and that’s been pretty cool.  But this laptop has been a piece of crap ever since I bought it.  And now I’ve found that maybe I’ve put too much blame on Dell, and not nearly enough on Norton.  My antivirus that came with the computer expired long ago, and I refuse to pay for virus protection.  I’ve never had a virus in my life.  Never.  And I don’t trust Norton to work, anyway.

So, the computer has been running slowly for a while.  Finally I decided to uninstall all the extra junk I’ve gathered along the way.  Soon enough, I got to Norton.  I can’t believe how much faster the computer is running now that Norton is gone.  It’s not just Norton, but that was the only thing I uninstalled where I saw an immediate change in how the computer was running.

I would suggest to all of you that you get rid of Norton, but I don’t know what you should replace it with.  So I won’t recommend that you do that just yet.  It’s one thing for me to go without virus protection, but I’m not going to recommend that you do it.

But I have to say that I’m thrilled with my uninstalling exploits.  I’ll keep you all posted on how it works from here on out.

Posted in: Anti complaint , complaint , Technology

Guest blogger Gayles bathroom experience

Friday, October 06, 2006

Gayle originally left this as a comment on this post, but I have to share it on the main page.

this guy intrigues me. first, he obviously has a hair dryer at work…but no towel? i would think most guys would have a towel before a hair dryer. of course, i’m a girl and i just blow dryed my hair for the first time in several years the other week (it’s long hair, too).

second, he was drying his body with the dryer? as opposed to his hair or shirt?? i think it’s safe to say that’s a little strange, even in the privacy of your own bathroom.

third, this post prompts me to share a related work bathroom etiquette complaint:

i work in a building with 2 women’s restrooms and maybe 6 women total. each bathroom is a single locking room (no multiple stalls, so one person at a time, technically). one of the women i work with is just coming off maternity leave and has to pump her breast milk every few hours. this takes up about half an hour of single bathroom time. i am completely on board and understanding of that.

the thing that bothers me is, another one of the women in my lab will come in, go into the only other bathroom (while the first is unavailable), and put on make up and do her hair…with a curling iron! this seems a little less pertinent to me than pumping breast milk, especially when i have to use the bathroom for more legitimate reasons. and to add insult to injury, this woman generally doesn’t look any different after all of her primping.

as a result of this whole scenario, i can say i’ve: a. been inconvenienced on more than one occasion, and b. been inside (and used) the men’s room at my work.

Posted in: complaint , Guest Blogger

Does this cross the line?

Friday, October 06, 2006

I work in a nine-story building, made up of primarily government and military contractors.  As one would expect, there is a men’s room (And a women’s room, though I’ve never been inside) on my floor.  There is currently a man in the men’s room, shirtless, drying himself with a hair dryer.  Let me say again that he is completely shirt-free. I believe this is inappropriate in a semi-public restroom.  There are probably eight offices on my floor, so he probably won’t know most of the people who might come in to the men’s room.  Although knowing them might make it worse.

Anyway, am I being ridiculous?  Is this just an unlucky guy who got rained on while coming to work, and he’s trying to make the best of it?

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

Children are being exploited, lets punish them

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Time.com - Time to Close the Book on Washington Pages?

Some are calling for an end to the page program after Mark Foley’s illegal-no-matter-what-the-FBI-says activities.  This is a truly wonderful idea.  Really great.  They haven’t been punished enough already.  We should also take away this wonderful opportunity for young people to learn about politics just because one jackass can’t control his sexual urges.  Surely Foley’s actions must mean that all pages are being molested by all senators and congressmen, right?

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

Voters in Maryland - Protest the voting machines

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Techdirt: Diebold’s Solution To E-Voting Problems: Beg Poll Workers Not To Touch Touchscreens

The state ran a daylong test, and found plenty of problems still to overcome – including the same problems with the e-poll books that caused all sorts of delays during the election.

For any of you living in Maryland, do not use a Diebold machine to vote this November.  Demand something else.  I don’t know what legal rights you may have, but there must be some alternative voting method for people who can’t use the touchscreen (The blind, for example).  Call your congressperson, your senator, your mayor, governor, whatever you have to do.  Voting is way too important to be left to a company like Diebold that refuses to provide a working product.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

OPEC cutting oil production

Thursday, October 05, 2006

OPEC to cut 1M bpd oil supply, says OPEC delegate - Oct. 5, 2006

Wow, what a shock.  OPEC is acting to protect their interests.  I haven’t seen a backlash against this yet (And maybe I’m just not paying attention), but the first time I hear someone complain about gas prices because of this, I’m going to smack them.  Let’s see … many of these countries get a huge amount of their revenue from the sale of oil.  Oil prices are dropping.  Basic economics says to cut back on the supply to keep the prices up.

It’s nothing personal against the United States.  Well, maybe it is to some extent, but not really.  It’s just business.

Anyway, I want to see gas prices hit $10 a gallon.  Maybe $20.  How long before we’re all driving cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells, or biodiesel hybrids, when it costs $900 to fill up your Escalade?  For the record, I drive a Mazda 3.  I get between 23 and 32 miles per gallon, depending on traffic and amount of highway driving.

Posted in: World

Time again for the flu shot controversy

Thursday, October 05, 2006

I was listening to NPR this morning, and they were talking about the difficulty we’ve had in distributing flu shots.  The CDC says that 75% of the country should have a flu shot.  Surveys say that 50% are planning to.  But how about the vaccines?  The NPR story didn’t give all the details, but they did say that doctors give out 70% of the vaccines.  But often big companies like WalMart get more of the vaccines.  NPR didn’t come out and say it, but I suspect this is because the drug companies make more money when they sell to big pharmacies.  I doubt that WalMart pays more than the doctors do, but Walmart is also in the position to buy millions of dollars worth, and pledge to buy millions more of other drugs on the condition that they get the flu vaccines.

Anyway, my point here is that these drug companies are, in effect, deciding who gets a flu vaccine.  Never mind that we should have enough for every human being in the country, if not the planet, just because it’s the right thing to do.  Let’s pretend for a minute that there’s a legitimate reason we can’t produce enough that doesn’t involve profitability.  Who, then, should decide where those vaccines should go?  And now we’re back into the argument over health care.  Can we assign responsibility to the government to ensure that the country is as healthy as possible?  Does every American deserve health care?  The answers are “I hope so” and “yes”.

When it comes to health, no one should ever be denied because it’s not profitable.  I don’t know how to overcome the problems with “free” health care.  I don’t know how to minimize abuse of the system.  But we have to figure it out.

Posted in: complaint , health , uninformed ramblings

I think I need to re-read Fahrenheit 451

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Boing Boing: Man demands that book about book-burning be banned – during Banned Books Week

“It’s just all kinds of filth,” said Alton Verm, adding that he had not read Fahrenheit 451.

This, kids, it’s what’s called “lazy-ass blogging”, where you not only get a story from another (better known) blog, but you even steal the quote they highlight.  I’m not even quoting BoingBoing, I’m quoting the quote they quoted.  Awesome.

I read the book years ago, and I don’t remember liking it all that much.  I think I might have been too young.  It was certainly in high school, and maybe early high school.  So I think I should try it again.  I’m prettys sure my mom, seeing that I was reading just about anything you put in front of me, bought me copies of 1984, Animal Farm, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451 at the same time.  If you have not read these books, I want you to go RIGHT NOW to the library, the bookstore, Amazon, or wherever you get your literature, and get these books.  Read them.  If you have children over 14, they should be reading them, too.

In fact, you should read them together.  You don’t have to read aloud, you can both have your own copy, but read and talk about them with your kids. Or you read them first, if you’re afraid some parts are inappropriate for your kids.  That way you can be prepared when your kids ask you about those parts.

Posted in: Stupid people

Think this cant happen to us?

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Treehugger

Still, with an estimated nine years of landfill space left, councils throughout the UK are faced with a tough decision about what to do with the UK’s waste

Okay, I know England has much less space than we do. But I’ll bet that fifty years ago they didn’t think they’d be running out of landfill space. It’ll happen here, eventually. I know I’ve been making a conscious effort to throw less away. I’ve been trying to recycle more, and half the food I eat is fresh vegetables, so anything that I don’t eat goes down the disposal. But we Americans throw tons and tons of stuff away all the time, and it’s going to come back to haunt us eventually. You know you saw the Simpsons episode where they had to move Springfield because there was too much trash. Sure, it was funny. But it won’t be nearly as funny when it happens somewhere near you.

Posted in: Wind kissing

FBI cant find evidence of broken laws

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Foley case, a legal ‘gray area’ - Today - MSNBC.com

One federal law enforcement official said the FBI reviewed some Foley-related e-mail in July but concluded that no federal law had been violated.

Are you kidding me? With all the ridiculous crap that we aren’t allowed to do, like photograph a building in DC or bring a bottle of water on a plane, you expect me to believe that telling a sixteen-year-old boy that you’d like to take his clothes off doesn’t violate any federal law?

When they write laws to protect children from MySpace or maybe seeing a naked person on TV, did they just forget to write the laws to protect children from actually being molested? I don’t have kids yet, but I’m pretty sure I can speak for most parents when I say that I’d rather a child watch an hour long TV show of naked people screaming profanity than get one single instant message from a congressman asking for sex. Am I being ridiculous?

We need to prosecute this guy, and then we need to get him some help.

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

Make your own paper

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

How to Make Paper - a photoset on Flickr Link via Lifehacker

Paper making is a science in the same way cooking is. You learn the rules, which are hardly ever solid, then you improvise and improve and make it your own.

This seems like the perfect thing to do with old bank and credit card statements.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Wind kissing

Why arent we talking about sending him to jail?

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

CNN.com - Attorney: Clergyman molested Foley as teen - Oct 3, 2006

You know, even if Mark Foley’s lawyer is telling the truth, and Foley was both molested as a child and never actually had any sort of sex with any underage boys, Foley still needs to go to jail. Unless he can prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that every single time he said or did anything innapropriate to or with an underage boy, he was completely trashed. Then I’m okay with alcohol treatment.

Where are the Florida police? Shouldn’t someone have arrested him by now for soliciting sex from a minor or something like that? You can’t tell me that they haven’t already published enough to get a warrant and arrest him. Are we not arresting him because he’s in alcohol treatment? If I go rob a bank and then join AA, is that cool with everyone?

We seem to be focusing a lot on Hastert, and whether or not he should resign. I mean, there was an article at the National Review Online calling for him to resign. He probably should. At the very least, he wasn’t paying enought attention.

But that’s really not the point.  The point is that Mark Foley broke the law, and he needs to be prosecuted.  He probably needs some help, too.  His lawyer seems to want to dismiss this by saying that Foley’s gay.  That’s fine, but there’s a huge difference between “Foley is gay” and “Foley tries to have sex with teenage boys”.

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

Things not to do while cooking

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Do not, under any circumstances, dice a jalapeno pepper, briefly rinse your hands, and then rub your upper lip not half an hour after shaving.  Just don’t.  There are certainly many things that are more painful than doing the aforementioned, but I haven’t done any of them this week.

Posted in: complaint , Cooking

Electronic poll books in Tuesday test

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Electronic poll books in Tuesday test

State election officials and the manufacturer of the machines, Diebold Inc., will conduct the test from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. at the BWI Airport Marriott Hotel.

Any of you in Maryland anywhere near BWI should go take part in this test today.  I suggest reading up on how to hack a Diebold machine so you can try and do it while you’re voting.  Anyone who reads Techdirt (Or, for that matter, anyone paying attention to any election in the last few years) knows that Diebold has made a lot of machines that don’t work very well, has been extremely resistant to allowing any kind of testing, and has ignored repeated assertions that the machines are insecure.

To all of you who find a Diebold machine in front of you on election day - refuse to vote on it.  If we make enough noise, maybe we can actually have an election that is efficient, accurate, and verifiable.  Note well, though, that I can not be held responsible if you protest too loudly and are arrested.  That’s all you.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

A whole bunch of complainers

Monday, October 02, 2006

VentBox

I got a link from a new complaint blog this afternoon, and I thought I’d return the favor.  Apparently there’s a whole complaint blog community out there that I haven’t made myself a part of.  I may have to change that.

Now, do I post this tagged with a “complaint” category because it’s on the subject of complaining, even though it isn’t really a complaint?  I think I will.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint

The Pop Tart Scourge

Monday, October 02, 2006

Someone in the office just toasted a cinnamon Pop Tart.  It smells really good.  But Pop Tarts are evil.  First of all, anything with that much sugar is dessert, not breakfast.  Second of all, and this should be illegal, they count a serving as ONE Pop Tart.  You all know the Pop Tarts packaging - they come two to a bag.  And the bag is not resealable.  It’s not even big enough to fold over to keep the second Tart slightly fresh.  There should be a law that anything contained in a non-resealable container is one serving.  Actually, I guess they’d have to make it more specific, because I’d hate to buy a value pack of six pounds of chicken breasts and then have to eat the whole package.  Could it apply only to snack foods?  I guess then they’d just fight to make Pop Tarts a breakfast food, not a snack food.

In any event, it’s an outrage.  One Pop Tart is about 200 calories, 60 of those from fat.  But you can’t eat just one Pop Tart unless you’ve got a buddy to eat the other one.  So one Pop Tart is, in effect, 400 calories and 35% of your RDA for saturated fat.

However, if we make anything in one package have to be a serving, they’d just start packaging things in more plastic.  You’d have a box of cereal that contains 15 little shrink-wrapped packets of exactly 37 bran flakes.  Our landfills would explode.

All of this makes me glad that I ate a bowl of Kellogs Smart Start and some organic yogurt for breakfast.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint , health

Good news - we really are married

Monday, October 02, 2006

So, there was some confusion as to whether or not the state of Maryland was going to accept our marriage license after we missed the deadline (five days after the wedding) by almost exactly a month.  Oops.  I called the license department this morning, and they said they didn’t have the license, which was sort of troubling.  After a quick consultation with the wife, who obtained a tracking number from her dad (the wedding officiant), I called back.  This time they found it, and everything is official.  So we don’t have to get our wedding bands re-engraved with a new date.  That’s a plus.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Personal

National Novel Writing Month is nearly upon us

Monday, October 02, 2006

National Novel Writing Month

So, signups for Nano opened sometime late last night.  For those who don’t know, Nano was started by a group of friends in San Fransisco who thought it would be cool to each write a 50,000 word novel in a month.  To put that in perspective, the average novel is about 120,000 words.  The point has been made that it might be better to call it Novella Writing Month (And it’s international, as well), but those people have been made to sit in a corner in shame and think about what they’ve done.

The first year, I think about 20 people did it.  This year, they expect 75,000.  It’s all on the honor system.  I’m sure people cheat, but since you don’t really win anything, it’s like cheating at solitaire.  I’ve never cheated.  I finished in 2002, 2003, failed in 2004, and finished in 2005.  It’s really amazing the first time you win (And pretty cool the other times).  In 2002, I finished the 50,000th word of “The Dance of the Ducks” at about 10PM on November 29th.  I rushed to Kinkos to print it out, but they were CLOSED.  Lights on, doors locked.  Oh, was I salty.  I’ve harbored a bit of a grudge towards Kinkos ever since.

In 2003, I finished “Love in Black and White” on the 27th.  I’m still working on LIBW.  It’s up to maybe 75,000 words now (I write a bit every 6-8 months, it seems).  It’s my favorite of the three, and the best prospect to be published should I ever finish it.

In 2004, I wrote about 450 words and didn’t get any further.

“The Dance of the Ducks” was a story about a man tormented by personal demons that manifest themselves as almost-real ducks.  Then he becomes the hero and saves the girl and banishes the ducks.  In 2005, I wrote “The Dance of the Ducks II - In the Land of the Ducks”.  It’s something of a continuation of DotD I, except from the perspective of the ducks.  It was the least serious (by far) of the three.

Anyway, it’s a lot of fun.  As it gets more popular, it gets harder to find the people who are really into it because they tend to be obscured on the forums by forum-junkies who have 4000 posts in the Off-Topic forums in November, and only 3000 words in their novel.  I’m not bitter, though.

So, you should all try it.  It’s really a rush, the first time you hit the word count button and it says “50,000”.  And I had never written 50,000 words before my first Nano.  My longest story was about 20,000 words prior to DotD.  I expect I will be doing something here to track my progress so you all can yell at me if I fall behind.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Nanowrimo

Dude clearly needs to get his priorities straight

Friday, September 29, 2006

Uni Watch » White Glove Treatment

Uni Watch is a weirdly fascinating daily blog that obsesses over quirks in professional and college sports uniforms.  I don’t know why, but after Mo pointed it out to me, I read it almost every day.  Today’s was particularly funny.

I know, as an announcer, it must be hard to come up with interesting banter when nothing interesting is happening on the field.  But I think they can try harder than this.

Posted in: Anti complaint , baseball , sports

Democrats are incompetent

Friday, September 29, 2006

Whatever: On Moral Cowardice

I simply cannot understand the sort of rank and pervasive incompetence Democrats have to have in order to allow themselves to be politically flummoxed time and again by the least popular and least competent president in modern political history.

Great rant against our current government from John Scalzi.  What I find truly amazing is that, out of two dozen or so comments so far, not a single person has disagreed with him.  I imagine the trolls will come out soon, and I’m sure many of his commenters are regulars who like him in part because of his mostly liberal outlook, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a political statement online written with such anger that didn’t have a bunch of equally angry comments in opposition.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Politics

I love RSS

Thursday, September 28, 2006

I’m curious, and I don’t have enough readers to do a poll, but I’d really like to know how many people don’t return to a website that doesn’t have an RSS feed.  Sometimes I’ll come across something interesting at a site and think, “Hey, I’d like to read this site regularly."  But then I look in the address bar, and there’s no little Firefox Live Bookmark icon.  And that’s usually the last time I visit that site.  It’s just too much trouble to actually have to bookmark the site, then remember to check back and see if anything’s new.

With my RSS reader, Firefox plugin Sage, I don’t have to remember.  When I have a free moment, or need a quick break from work, I just click the Sage button on my toolbar, hit refresh, and suddenly I have new things to read from websites I like.

I don’t really read a newspaper (Too hard to recycle).  But I have RSS feeds for the Washington Post, CNN, the BBC … Certainly I don’t get every bit of news that happens, but I get the highlights.

Don’t really know where I was going with all this.  But I don’t know what I would do without RSS.  I look forward to the day when my little PDA/cellphone/camera/etc uses the ubiquitous free WiFi to keep my RSS feed updated wherever I am.

Posted in: Technology

Lets regulate all the competition away

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Verizon, Montgomery Reach Tentative Deal - washingtonpost.com

Jane Lawton, the county’s cable administrator, said the county’s goal was to get a deal that was equitable to the agreements with Comcast and RCN Corp., the two other cable operators in the county.“We didn’t want to disrupt a level playing field and be open to challenges by competitors,” she said.

Let’s see … cable companies nationwide have local monopolies almost everywhere. I don’t know of anyone who can choose cable provider A instead of cable provider B. So now Verizon is introducing real competition, something that should raise the quality of service and lower prices for consumers, and the Montgomery County cable administrator (Whatever the heck that is) is complaining about an unlevel playing field? That’s ridiculous. If the playing field is not level, it’s because YOU, Jane Lawton, and your predecessors have imposed stupid regulations on the existing cable companies. So now you have to make sure you impose them on Verizon, too.

As part of the 15-year agreement, Verizon will pay a franchise fee of 5 percent of television revenue. Another 3 percent of TV revenue will go toward public access programming and other cable television needs. Verizon must also pay $1 million over five years for cable-related investments and provide cable TV for schools, libraries and fire stations.

I don’t know what “cable television needs” and “cable-related investments” are, but this sounds like extortion. I don’t mean to get too Techdirt here, but any time someone says, “We have to protect the consumer by regulating a level playing field”, I hear “The companies that give large donations to my re-election campaign are NOT going to like this new competition.”

Posted in: complaint , Complaint

Shes okay now

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

This is what happens when your cat swallows a sewing needle She swallowed a sewing needle, but the vet removed it, and now she just looks a little ridiculous. Thanks to Northside Veterinary Clinic for the diagnosis and SouthPaws for the surgery. I’d recommend both if you’re in the area and in need of a vet.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Pets

Special guest blogger

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Meow. Hello! I’m Biscuit, the official Complaint Hub cat. I have a little story to tell you. Last Thursday, I was wandering around the house, hungry. I thought I’d make some noise so someone would feed me, but that didn’t work. Those two people who live in my house were nowhere to be found. People are always disappearing like that. Never around when your food dish needs refilling.

So I decided to go look for them, to make sure they weren’t hiding somewhere. I jumped up on the table, and … Oh! Something shiny! And string! I played with the shiny thing and the string for a little while. I love playing with string. It just never gets old.

Well, eventually it gets old. And I was still hungry. So I thought, why not eat the shiny thing? That seems reasonable. I mean, if I wasn’t supposed to play with it and then eat it, why would it be on the table?

It didn’t really agree with me, though. And it wasn’t satisfying at all. In fact, it was kind of pointy. I couldn’t really swallow it all the way.

I spent the next day whining about it so those dumb people would fix it, but they just ignored me. And then they disappeared for two days! No one was there to sit with me on the couch. And my neck hurt. If I’d had anything to eat in the last few days since that shiny thing, I would have left them a little surprise, let me tell you.

Finally they got back! But still, they ignored me. “Poor Bis,” they said. “What’s wrong, Biscuit?” They said. My dang neck hurts, that’s what’s wrong! Can’t you see that? But they couldn’t.  The next day, I was still hungry.  The people came home, and I could smell something delicious!  My stomach was growling.  They were cooking shrimp!  I rushed to the kitchen, meowing as best I could to let them know that I, too, would like some shrimp.  They didn’t give me any, though.  But they did give me some other food from a can, so I ate that.  The shiny thing kind of got in the way, but not too much.

Then, the people thought I was getting better.  I tried to tell them I wasn’t, but you know how people are.

Finally, the next day I’d had enough.  My neck really hurt, and I was really hungry.  That’s when they grabbed me and put me in that little box.  I hate that box.  Whenever I get in that box, I’m always somewhere I don’t want to be when I get out.  Sure enough, they opened the box, and I was at the vet!  I hate the vet.  You wouldn’t believe where she sticks a really cold thermometer.  And she put me in this strange, noisy machine, but I guess it wasn’t too bad.  It didn’t hurt.  But then, I had to go to a new place.  It seemed a lot like the vet, so I hid under a desk until they made me come out.

After that, they took me into another room, and they shaved my ankle!  The nerve!  I don’t remember too much after that.  I’m home now, though.  I think I’m going to stay under the couch this week, though.  That seems safest.

Posted in: complaint , Pets

Can I forgive Sony in order to buy this?

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Sony Reader: Gizmodo’s Hands All Over, $350 in October (Really!) - Gizmodo

So, Sony sucks.  After their insistence on their stupid proprietary flash memory, their rootkit fiasco and subsequent refusal to take responsibility, and a general “Our customers are criminals who must be stopped” mentality, I wrote off the company.  But, damn, this is a sexy gadget.  Have you ever wished you could take your whole book collection with you?  Tired of paper cuts?  Want a real step forward in the whole book-reading experience?  This thing is it.  I really want one, and I don’t know if I can buy one.  I’m really, really hoping that someone, soon, puts out a similar device that runs on Linux or something.  I don’t think it will happen, though.  Book publishers will almost certainly reject anything that doesn’t help implement their DRM, and a Linux device isn’t likely to satisfy them.

What should happen, at the very least, is the electronic ink technology their using should become more common.  The cool thing about electronic ink is that it only uses power when the screen changes.  Excellent applications include the preview on the outside of your cell phone, or advertising billboards.

So, we’ll see if the cool factor outweighs the Sony sucks factor.  And if it does, the next hurdle is wife-approval.  But I think I can handle that.

Posted in: Technology

Time magazine is on notice

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

TIME.com: Do Newspapers Have a Future? – Oct. 2, 2006 – Page 2

But there is room between the New York Times and myleftarmpit.com for new forms that liberate journalism from its encrusted conceits while preserving its standards, like accuracy.

I was just about ready to remove Time magazine from my Google homepage because they were disappointing me with thin articles, but this one is a little better. It whines a little about the blogosphere and how the bad bloggers are getting treated like journalists without having to pay their dues as whatever journalists are before they get a job with a big paper. But then it goes on to talk about the need for old school media to find the spot between bloggers and where they are now where people want to read them, and they still make money.

I do have to take issue with this quote:

The Brits have never bought into the American separation of reporting and opinion. They assume that an intelligent person, paid to learn about some subject, will naturally develop views about it. And they consider it more truthful to express those views than to suppress them in the name of objectivity.

American papers objective? I don’t know what American paper he’s reading, but if it’s really objective, I’d love a subscription. I have yet to find a news source in between “OMG Bush is a jerk” and “Fight terrorism at all costs!”.

I’d like to see old media compete. I think that established newspapers have a place alongside blogs, and it’s an important place. They just need to figure out what that place is, and how to monetize it.

Posted in: complaint , Technology

Pope a liar

Monday, September 25, 2006

CNN.com - Pope: ‘Total and profound respect for Muslims’ - Sep 25, 2006

Pope Benedict XVI expressed “total and profound respect for all Muslims” at a meeting Monday with ambassadors from Muslim nations and other Islamic leaders.

Really?  Is that why you said something insulting and inflammatory, then apologized for the reaction of the Muslim community?  If I punch you in the face, then say, “I’m sorry you were hurt”, that’s not a sincere apology for my actions.  That is saying, “I didn’t do anything wrong.  It’s unfortunate that you had a negative reaction to what I did."  It places the blame on the injured or offended party, and it does not show respect for anyone.

Posted in: complaint , Religion

Oh, thats encouraging

Monday, September 25, 2006

TIME.com: Why The Democratic Wave Could Be A Washout – Oct. 2, 2006 – Page 1

Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican National Committee, says the opposition hasn’t sold a vision for handling terrorism, Iraq or jobs. He also cites a drop-off in turnout for most Democratic primaries this year as one sign that the Dems aren’t strong enough to mount a takeover of power on Capitol Hill.

This article is a little short on content, but it speaks to what I can’t figure out about the Democratic party. People are abolutely livid about the way things are going with our Republican-led government. All the Democrats have to do is say, “Hi, we’re not Republicans, and we have a plan.” And then demonstrate with a few talking points that they might, in fact, actually have a plan. That’s all they have to do to win just about every contested election in the country.

But they can’t seem to do that. I haven’t seen a poll anywhere that suggests the Democrats are going to win any big battles. It’s disgraceful. Democrats, this is why Republicans make fun of you. You’ve been handed half the elections in the country on a silver platter, and you’ve done nothing at all.

I’ve said it before - if the Democrats don’t take the Presidency and a strong majority in Congress, the party should be disbanded for absolute and utter incompetence.

Posted in: complaint , uninformed ramblings

Up yours, Peter Angelos

Friday, September 22, 2006

ESPN.com - MLB - ‘Free the birds’: Fans walk out in protest

“When you get down to facts, putting together a team that can compete in the AL East means having a payroll between $100 million-$110 million. That money comes from the consumer, and I have chosen to keep ticket prices to a minimum.

Let’s just see how many teams have a lower payroll than the Orioles, and a better record. Toronto, San Diego, Texas, Minnesota, Oakland, Cincinnati, Arizona, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Colorado, and Florida. Hmm. And look at that, Toronto is in the AL East. They made huge free agent signings over the winter to not win the division. It might take $100 million to win the division, but it doesn’t take $100 million to finish above .500.

For the record, I know it’s hard to compete with the Yankees and Red Sox. I understand that. But spending a ton of money is NOT the answer.

I’m not sure how I feel about the staged walkout at Camden Yards to protest Angelos. It doesn’t seem like it’s going to get anyone anywhere. Is Angelos going to sell the team because 1000 fans walked out? I’m going to have to say that’s unlikely. Is he going to change the way he does things? Well, if nine straight losing seasons hasn’t changed him, I don’t think 1000 angry fans will, either.

Posted in: baseball , complaint , Complaint

Stupid computer

Friday, September 22, 2006

So, I’m at work right now, and I was about to actually do some work, and apparently my server died overnight, which isn’t that unusual.  It’s just a local server running on my machine so I can test our Java web app.  It dies a lot, it’s not a big deal.  Except that this morning, it wouldn’t come back up.  So I tried rebuilding it, and got this error: “creation was not successful for an unknown reason”.  Now, we use Eclipse as our IDE, and for the most part I love it.  It works well, it has a lot of nice conveniences built in, and an active developer community writing plugins.  But when I get error messages that say, “Like, um, something’s wrong, but, um, we don’t know what it is, or how you might fix it”, then I start to get a little annoyed.

Now, I know it’s tough to write good error messages.  Believe me, I’ve written some bad ones myself.  But, damn it, I’m actually trying to get some stuff done here, and Eclipse is not cooperating.  Stupid Eclipse.  If I hadn’t already gone to get coffee, I’d do that now.  That’s how mad I am.  Instead, I’ll probably waste some time until some coworkers get here, and then waste some more time, and then maybe try to fix my server.  Maybe.

Posted in: complaint , Technology

Dont take a picture of this

Friday, September 22, 2006

Top Ten Things NOT Safe To Photograph | DSLRBlog

  1. Underground/Tube/Buses
  2. Refineries or other Industrial plant
  3. Police
  4. Government buildings
  5. Bridges
  6. Tunnels
  7. Shopping malls
  8. Airports
  9. Office Buildings
  10. Houses When I see things like this, it makes me want to go photograph the Metro, industrial plants, the White House …  The story in the post is about a guy detained in France, so I can hardly blame that on our current administration and their civil rights == terrorism campaign.  But if I were one of those sites with, you know, readers, I’ll bet one of them would do it.  As everyone knows, as the number of readers goes up, the probability of stupid trolls increases exponentially.  I’d do the math, but I don’t know they keyboard codes for limits and integrals.  I’m sure you understand.
Posted in: complaint , Politics

How accurate is your forecast?

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Weather Forecast Accuracy for Falls Church, Virginia via Lifehacker This website not only gives you a current forecast, but it also tells you which of the other forecasting sites are most accurate. If you haven’t lived under a rock your entire life, you probably know that weather forecasters are generally regarded to be on about the same level as used car salesmen in terms of honesty. I’m often surprised at how angry people get at the weatherman, as if it’s his or her fault that either the weather is bad, or that the prediction was off.

What I’m really curious about, though, is how accurate the accuracy-checkers' forecast is.

Posted in: Life

He says what were all thinking

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

CNN.com - Chavez calls Bush ‘devil’ in U.N. speech - Sep 20, 2006

This article scares me.  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is supposed to be a lunatic, but the article makes him sound like a mildly loopy Democrat.  Am I so tired of the stupid things our President does that the ravings of a madman start to sound normal?  Or is Chavez made out to be a little crazier than he really is by the media (Impossible!)?

Posted in: World

I shake my fist at you, minivan

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

A blue minivan was the first to trigger my smug reflex.  I knew she was going to do it the minute I saw her.  And not only did she turn into the third lane from the left from the far left lane, but she was poking around under her seat or something while we waited for the light.  Who knows what she might have been looking for?  A pound and a half of pot she grabbed from Willie Nelson, probably.  Or an assault rifle.

But she got hers.  I honked at her as she cut me off.  She’ll think twice about doing that again, I assure you.

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

Surprise! Youre Jewish.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Allen Says He Embraces His Jewish Ancestry - washingtonpost.com

“I was raised as a Christian and my mother was raised as a Christian,” Allen, 54, said. “And I embrace and take great pride in every aspect of my diverse heritage, including my Lumbroso family line’s Jewish heritage, which I learned about from a recent magazine article and my mother confirmed.”

If you’re 54 years old, and have to find out about some aspect of your family heritage from a magazine article, I don’t think you can claim to take great pride in that aspect. This is his grandfather he’s talking about. It’s obviously not something his family takes pride in. It’s pretty obvious to me that Allen is a racist. That doesn’t bother me so much. What bothers me is that he seems to think it’s okay to express his racist feelings, which is just mind-boggling. If he’s a racist, fine. That’s his problem. But when he continues to make remarks that demonstrate total insensitivity to different peoples of the world, I start to wonder if he should be involved in politics. There are plenty of non-caucasian and non-christian residents of Virginia, especially around DC, and I think they deserve a representative who doesn’t hate them. Or, at the very least, a representative who can acknowledge that other peoples have an equally valid claim to personhood as he does.

I don’t know much about his opponent (Although I voted for him in the primary) except for an offensive paper he wrote 20 years ago about women in the military. I’m inclined to forgive that in the absence of more recent examples of similar things.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

An omen?

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

As of about 5:30 PM today, I have been married for a month. It’s been a very good month. Tonight, after a celebratory sushi dinner, we went to Harris Teeter so my wife could get ingredients for a vegan carrot cake.  She often bakes dessert for birthdays at work (She even takes requests - is it any wonder I married her?). Harris Teeter often gives coupons when you check out based on what you’ve just bought.  I think this is a cool idea, although it irritates me that I get coupons for Propel with carcinogenic artificial sweetener when I buy delicious Vitamin Water.  We’d been complaining that we hadn’t gotten any good coupons lately. One of the ingredients in the cake was, strangely enough, carrot baby food.  We got a coupon today.  I’ll bet you can guess what the coupon was for, loyal reader.

Posted in: Personal

Where are the drivers in the wrong?

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

I was all set this morning to scowl smugly at any driver who dared to turn into my lane from the wrong lane at Seven Corners.  I was eagerly anticipating the opportunity to bask in the glow of self-righteousness.  I could almost taste it.

And no one was there to turn next to me.  I was so disappointed.  We left the house a little earlier than usual this morning, and there just wasn’t any traffic.

As an aside, do you see what I did there?  I managed to turn a day in Northern Virginia with no traffic into a complaint.  That skill (And I was born with that.  That’s not something you can learn) is why I run Complaint Hub, and you just read it.  Anyone can complain about stuff that sucks.  But it takes a true visionary to complain about the lack of one of the things that everyone complains about.

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

Aha! I was right!

Monday, September 18, 2006

The DMV was a couple of hours late in answering my question, but I’m willing to let that slide because they completely vindicated me!  Emphasis mine on the relevant paragraph.

Per Code of Virginia, § 46.2-846:

A. Except where turning is prohibited, a driver intending to turn at an intersection or other location on any highway shall execute the turn as provided in this section.

  1. Right turns: Both the approach for a right turn and a right turn shall be made as close as practicable to the right curb or edge of the roadway.

  2. Left turns on two-way roadways: At any intersection where traffic is permitted to move in both directions on each roadway entering the intersection, an approach for a left turn shall be made from the right half of the roadway and as close as possible to the roadway’s center line, passing to the right of the center line where it enters the intersection. After entering the intersection, the left turn shall be made so as to leave the intersection to the right of the centerline of the roadway being entered. Whenever practicable, the left turn shall be made to the left of the center of the intersection.

  3. Left turns on other than two-way roadways: At any intersection where traffic is restricted to one direction on one or more of the roadways, and at any crossover from one roadway of a divided highway to another roadway thereof on which traffic moves in the opposite direction, the driver intending to turn left at any such intersection or crossover shall approach the intersection or crossover in the extreme left lane lawfully available to traffic moving in the direction of travel of such vehicle and after entering the intersection or crossover the left turn shall be made so as to leave the intersection or crossover, as nearly as practicable, in the left lane lawfully available to traffic moving in such direction upon the roadway being entered.

B. Local authorities having the power to regulate traffic in their respective jurisdictions may cause markers or signs to be placed within or adjacent to intersections and thereby direct that a different course from that specified in this section be traveled by vehicles turning at any intersection. When markers or signs are so placed, no driver shall turn a vehicle at an intersection other than as directed by such markers or signs.

So, if you are in the far left, you must turn into the left lane.  I’m willing to concede the second lane from the left as well, but NOT the third from the left.  So take that, high-beam-flasher-lady!  You’re wrong!  I’m right!

I still contend that the intersection is an abomination, but I feel quite vindicated.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Stupid people

Big surprise - Microsoft Zune to suck after all

Monday, September 18, 2006

Medialoper » Zune’s Big Innovation: Viral DRM Link via Techdirt.

Everything I had heard so far about Microsoft’s supposed iPod killer was pretty good.  They were going to work out some way to reproduce your iTunes collection so you didn’t have to repurchase all those songs (Because Apple sure as hell wasn’t going to let you transfer those songs to a competitor’s product).  It really sounded like they were going to try and create a music player that didn’t assume everyone was a criminal.

Unfortunately, things are not what they seemed.  If you share a song via the Zune’s wireless sharing, it will apply DRM to the file so that you can only play the song for three days or three times.  I assume the intention here is to allow you to share a song with your friend so the friend will go buy his or her own copy.  I don’t necessarily have a problem with that - I understand that Microsoft and the record labels are just trying to make a buck, and I really do fully support capitalism.  But the article explains how this is a problem.  Let’s say I’m an amateur musician.  I create a new song on my computer by sampling my cat scratching in her litter box and set it to a beat of me kicking the wall as the Redskins got manhandled by the f'ing Cowboys.  I decide to apply a Creative Commons license to my work, because I think it would be cool if someone else sampled my work and used it in their own song, so long as they give me credit.  So, I have this song on my new Zune, and I’m playing it at a party.  Someone comes up to me and says, “Dude, I love that song!”.  He has a Zune, too, so I share the song with him.  Oops, Microsoft’s DRM just violated the Creative Commons license.  Creative Commons forbids any kind of DRM (Which is a large part of the reason I chose the license).

I haven’t bought a cd in close to a year.  The last cd I bought, in April of 2005, was Garbage’s Bleed Like Me.  I bought it without hearing it, because I really like Garbage.  I put it in my computer so I could rip the MP3’s FOR MY OWN PERSONAL USE (I wanted to make an MP3 cd to use in the car so I don’t scratch up the original, and so I can fit ten albums on one disc), and the cd told me to go jump in a lake.  My computer didn’t recognize the cd as an audio cd.  It would play it, but it didn’t see any rippable files.

What I really should have done was return the cd as defective.  I bought the cd assuming that I could listen to the music however I wanted.  Unfortunately, that was not the case.  I haven’t decided yet whether I’ll buy Garbage’s next cd.  Part of me wants to boycott it, but the other part of me knows that will hurt me (as I like the music) more than it hurts the company selling the cd.

The real problem here is that the music industry has made it so hard to buy a song once and use it in whatever legal way I want that I’ve just stopped buying music completely.  It sounded like Microsoft was going to help that problem, but apparently that’s not the case.  I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.

Posted in: complaint , Gadgets

A light bulb and a solar panel

Monday, September 18, 2006

EcoGeek - Technology for the Environment - Photovoltaic OLEDs: The Lightbulb Combines with the Solar Panel

So, some really smart people at Cornell have created organic LEDs that can both emit light, and create energy from light.  This makes a lot of sense - one doesn’t need nearly as many light-producing devices when it’s bright and sunny outside, but those lazy regular light bulbs just sit there during the day, mocking the environment.  Even the fancy CFLs don’t do anything useful when they’re not turned on.

I’ve always thought we should do more of this - collect energy that’s already there when we don’t need it so we don’t have to buy as much from the power company when we do.  Efficient appliances are great, but appliances that gather some or all of the energy they need to run are even better.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Wind kissing

American Airlines gets their (its?) comeuppance

Thursday, September 14, 2006

American Airlines to ‘Path to 9/11’ Producers: That Was US Airways, You Jackasses - Consumerist

So apparently the farce of a documentary called “Path to 9/11”, which seeks to politicize the tragedy even more than it is by spreading lies and deception, got some facts not related to Bill Clinton wrong.  You see, it wasn’t American Airlines who let Mohammed Atta through.  It was US Airways.

American Airlines are so pissed, they’re threatening to withdraw all advertising from the ABC network, and are also murmuring ominously about lawsuits.

I think this is merely karma for American Airlines.  If they hadn’t screwed up my bachelor party, or if they had been nice about fixing it, this never would have happened.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Politics

Email to the DMV

Thursday, September 14, 2006

I have a question about right-of-way rules at the intersection of Leesburg Pike and Arlington Blvd (Seven Corners). If I am on Wilson Blvd and turn right onto Leesburg Pike West, there are two lanes going to a yield in order to go left onto Leesburg Pike East. There are four lanes on Leesburg Pike East. If I want to be in the second lane from the right after I turn onto Leesburg Pike East, should I be in the right or the left lane before the turn?If this is not the right place to come for laws such as this, could you possibly direct me to where I might find an answer?

Thanks very much

They say they’ll respond within two days. 8:22AM, the clock is running.

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

It begins . . .

Thursday, September 14, 2006

For 1st Woman With Bionic Arm, a New Life Is Within Reach - washingtonpost.com

Today, the first woman gets a bionic arm to replace one she lost.  Sooner than you think, a plastic surgeon is going to amputate the arms of a rich bored kid to replace them with metal arms as a fashion statement or a “body upgrade”.

I think it’s great that people without limbs have this available - a partially thought-controlled replacement arm.  I know how difficult it can be to do normal tasks when I’ve just jammed a wrist or something - I can’t even imagine losing a limb.  And while this technology isn’t perfect, I imagine an imperfect arm is better than no arm.

But it’s a new world out there, and it’s only a matter of time before this is cosmetic surgery.  It remains to be seen whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

Posted in: health , Technology

I will get to the bottom of this

Thursday, September 14, 2006

I’m tired of this madness.  Every morning, I drop my wife off at the Metro and then drive to work.  Every morning, I think I’m in the correct lane to get where I want to go.  Every morning, someone in another lane thinks they have a right to be where I am.  I have to find out who’s correct.  Some woman flashed her high beams at me this morning in anger, and I’m almost positive I was right and she was wrong.

The intersection in question is Seven Corners, one of the most poorly designed sections of road I’ve ever seen.  The engineers responsible should never work in this field again.  If you leave the East Falls Church Metro down Sycamore/Roosevelt, then turn left onto Wilson, you arrive at a light.  Two lanes go right.  You turn onto what appears to be Leesburg Pike West, which has four or five lanes.  The two left lanes lead to a left turn yield.  This left turn takes you to Leesburg Pike East, which has four lanes.  Now, here is where the problem is.  If I see two lanes turning left into four, and I want to be in the lane second from the right, it makes sense that I get in the right lane before the turn, right?  There is no sign, and no line on the road to suggest anything.  And I seem to be the minority.  But if I get in the left lane, no doubt I will find myself again in the minority.  Because there are always fewer people who agree with you on matters like this, I’ve found.

In any event, if I was high-beamed in error, I’m very offended.  If I screw up and you flash your lights at me, I’ll take that.  I might even wave an apology.  I can admit when I’m wrong.  But I won’t stand for unwarranted high-beaming.  I just won’t stand for it.

I’m going to contact the DMV today and see if I can get to the bottom of this.

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

Perfect timing

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Blogwise - Blog directory I just registered Complaint Hub with Blogwise, although it will take some time for a real person to verify it.  Perfect timing, I say, because I’m in a bit of a posting slump right now.  But I won’t be forever.  Maybe a flood of readers from Blogwise will arrive at the same time I break out of my slump with a half-dozen brilliant posts, sure to turn the casual blog browser into a lifelong fan. Or maybe not.

Posted in: Uncategorized

I seem to be numb

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Nothing I read seems to inspire me to post since I got back.  I’m reading the same amount of junk online, but nothing catches my eye, saying, “Hey, jerk, blog about me”.  Nothing at all.  It can’t be that I’m tired of complaining, because that certainly isn’t true.  And it can’t be that nothing stupid is happening in the world, because that isn’t true, either.  I’m not still jet-lagged, since it’s been a week.

So I can’t explain my lack of posting.  I can just apologize to my legions of fans, and pledge to try and get inspired again soon.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint

Montgomery County doesnt want you to vote

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Voting Delays at D.C., Md. Polls - washingtonpost.com “It was simply an unfortunate human error,” [Montgomery County] spokeswoman Marjorie Roher said. “We’re getting the cards out there as quickly as possible.”

An unfortunate human error?  Voting machines can’t be used without voter authorization cards.  Forty-five minutes before polls were scheduled to open, someone happened to check to see if those cards were there.  They were not.  I’m not one for conspiracy theories, but that seems unbelieveably incompetent.

It’s happening more and more (Or at least making the papers more and more) that we as a country seem to have a hard time setting up the means to vote.  There are few countries more technologically advanced than we are, and yet we aren’t capable of making a secure voting machine that keeps a record in case of any problems?

Posted in: Stupid people

What about Jamie Foxx?

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

NFL.com - Minnesota at Washington Game Recap Big things are expected of the Redskins this year, a confidence reflected in an attendance of 90,608 that set a new record for the largest stadium in the NFL. Even Hollywood made an appearance: Actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were guests of owner Dan Snyder, who has recently entered into a partnership with Cruise’s production company.

Okay, let’s focus on the total whack job who hasn’t made a good movie in years instead of the recent Academy Award winner who visited the booth to, sort of, hang out with the fans.  I didn’t like Ray, although I thought Jamie Foxx did a great job.  I liked Tom Cruise a lot in Top Gun and in Top Gun II (on the ground) - Days of Thunder.  But that was before he took the path of Michael Jackson and Mel Gibson and forgot that he lived on Planet Earth with the rest of us.

It is nice that 90,000 fans showed up for the game.  Not so nice that our brand new offensive genius decided that the screen pass to Santana Moss needed to be run three times.  I wish Moss would stop breaking those for 15-20 yard gains so they’d realize that it’s really a terrible, terrible play.  If it works, and he makes 6 guys miss, he gains 20 yards.  If it doesn’t work, best case scenario is he loses five yards.  Worst case is it’s picked off, which is an almost guaranteed touchdown for the other team because there’s no one back there to catch the guy.

We still can’t run the ball, and Portis seemed pretty healthy.  If he wasn’t, Ladell Betts is a perfectly adequate backup.  The game was close from beginning to end, so there’s absolutely no excuse for running the ball only 18 times.

Anyway, it was a pretty disappointing game.  And I lost my fantasy football game, as well.  And our flag football game.  Everything football-related for me this past weekend was bad.  At least Virginia Tech won, but that was pretty much a given.

Posted in: American Football , complaint

Awesomest thing Ive seen all year

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

ULTIMATE Lego Chaingun – not your parents' rubberband gun - Engadget

Well, except, you know, my wedding, and related things.  Be sure to watch the video of the gun in action.  This gun combines everything that makes childhood great:  Legos, destruction, the possiblity of injury and/or grounding …

Posted in: Anti complaint , Gadgets

Join the Mile-High Club, if you can take the pressure

Monday, September 11, 2006

Boing Boing: Have sex on a plane at 10,000 feet for under $300

This seems like cheating, though.  I mean, isn’t most of the allure of sex on a plane the fact that you’re doing it more or less in public?  Maybe not.  Not sure the wife would be up for it in any event.

Posted in: Airline , Anti complaint

Five years ago yesterday

Monday, September 11, 2006

On September 10th, 2001, I moved to Northern Virginia.  I was a few months out of college and unemployed, looking for a job in computers, and some friends were renting a place in Fairfax, so I went along with them.  I brought a bed and some odds and ends.  On the 11th, I was heading back to my parents' to pick up more stuff.  I had arranged with a friend to help me load my truck.  I had just left the house when I heard from Howard Stern about the WTC towers.  At first I thought it was a joke until the WHFS morning show confirmed it.  My roommates were both off at work, and we didn’t have a landline, and of course my cell phone wasn’t working because of all the stress on the system.  My dad worked in DC at the time, and I had no idea how far he was from the Pentagon.  And I couldn’t get a hold of anyone.  I finally managed to get through at the pay phone at Wendy’s (Although the calling card I had and rarely used decided not to work.  Luckily by that time I had memorized my dad’s calling card number).

It was an interesting welcome to the DC Metro area.  And now, five years later, where are we?  We’ve destroyed the beauty of much of Washington DC with jersey walls and iron fences.  We’ve made flying in and out of the US completely ridiculous.  We’ve given our President an excuse to spy illegally on our citizens and to deny basic human rights to prisoners of war because we’re calling them “enemy combatants” instead.  The site of the WTC is still a big hole.  We haven’t found those responsible for the attack.

It’s been a great five years, huh?  I hope this will be the legacy of the Bush administration.  They were quick to put a nice bandage on the wound cause by 9/11, and tell everyone that things would be okay.  But then they embezzled insurance money for expensive plastic surgery, and accused those who complained of being unpatriotic.  Patriotism is not a flag sticker on your car and blindy supporting every action of the President, no matter how misguided or illegal.

Posted in: complaint , World

And football is back

Friday, September 08, 2006

NFL.com - Miami at Pittsburgh Game Recap

After the World Cup and watching a little Australian Rules over in Melbourne, the game seemed a little slow, but it feels really good to have football back on tv.  The Orioles are all but eliminated, so it’s time for a little Redskins action.  I watched the first half of Miami-Pittsburgh last night, mostly to make sure my dogg Hines Ward got in the end zone for my fantasy team, which he did.

I think I’m going to finally bite the bullet and invest in High Def cable.  After the third time I thought the Dolphins had faked the punt snap because I didn’t see the ball, I’d really had enough.  My only problem is that I already send over $100 to Cox Cable for tv and internet, and I hesitate to send them any more.  I mean, their service isn’t really that good.  But I can’t take it any longer.  Until Verizon gets around to offering their fiber tv/internet service in my area, Cox will continue their localized monopoly and have zero incentive to provide me with better service.

Posted in: sports

Welcome back to me

Thursday, September 07, 2006

I’m back.  I’m sure there are tons of things to post about.  Gas prices are down 20-30 cents.  The Crocodile Hunter died while I was in Melbourne.  I’m sure someone did something stupid regarding one of BoingBoing’s hot-button issues.  Our fearless leader probably did something ridiculous.  I could complain about stupid airlines.

Instead, though, I think I’ll just ease back into this whole regular life thing.  Being gone for nearly three weeks has made everything seem a little off.  And then there are little things, like the fact that they moved the little stand where you get milk at the Caribou Coffee I frequent.  Not a big deal, I know, but strange that it just happened to occur when I was gone for three weeks.

In any event, soon things will be back to normal, and the complaining will return, to the delight of all half-dozen or so of you who read this regularly.

Also, for the record, being married doesn’t really feel any different than not being married.

Posted in: Personal

On hiatus

Thursday, August 17, 2006

So, I’m getting married the day after tomorrow.  As a result, I will be away from a computer until September 7th or so.   Which means that you’ll have to look elsewhere for your complaining needs.   But, rest assured that I will be thinking about each and every one of you, Loyal Readers, the whole time I’m on my honeymoon.  Seriously.

And I’ll be back.  But not until next month.  Try not to miss me too much.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Personal

You mean THAT Ramsey? Really?

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Suspect Held in Ramsey Slaying

First, I can’t believe it’s been ten years since JonBenet was killed.  Second, I had no idea anyone still cared.  But apparently they arrested some guy in Thailand, who claims the whole thing was an accident.  I’m sure everyone will believe that.  When you get arrested on sex charges, and happen to admit that you were involved with the “accidental” death of a six-year-old beauty queen, most people are going to throw the whole “innocent until proven guilty” thing out the window. I wonder if this will be all over the news again.  They LOVE showing the pictures of her with eight pounds of makeup on.

Posted in: Stupid people

I told you ethanol wasnt the answer

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Appetite for destruction - August 21, 2006

The grain required to fill a 25-gallon SUV gas tank with ethanol, for instance, could feed one person for a year. If today’s entire U.S. grain harvest were converted into fuel for cars, it would still satisfy less than one-sixth of U.S. demand.

While it’s nice to see GM trying to save the world, they are heading in the WRONG DIRECTION with corn-based ethanol.  It is not sustainable.  It may mean that we’re less dependant on the Middle East, but it means were more dependant on somewhere else.  Not a solution to the problem, just pusing the problem off into the future.

Posted in: complaint , Wind kissing

Security? What security?

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

CNN.com - Boy, 12, evades security clampdown - Aug 16, 2006

LONDON, England – Despite a high level of alert at British airports, a 12-year-old boy managed to board a plane at Gatwick without a passport, ticket or boarding pass.

The important question, though is, “Was he carrying any liquids or an iPod?” Seriously, why do we have security at the airport if it’s not meaningful? Are they really just trying to collect nail clippers and screwdrivers to sell on eBay?

Edit: Again, I say something, and BoingBoing backs it up.  The letter they link to, from a chemisty grad student, is pretty funny.  And makes our security measures look pretty ridiculous.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

Not even Republicans are Republican

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Michael J. New on Buck Wild: How the Republicans Broke the Bank and Became the Party of Big Government on National Review Online

Even worse, many agencies which have received large budgetary increases are not even remotely related to the war on terror.

Because, of course, if you aren’t fighting the war on terror, obviously you don’t need any money.  Education and health care don’t matter if the terrorists hate our way of life so much they want to kill us.

I’ve often wondered about today’s Republicans.  Previously, being Republican meant small central government, lower taxes, let the local governments take care of as much as possible.  I think that, in general, is a good idea.  The government should step into our lives only when necessary, and then it should do it as gently as possible.  The government exists to help the people live their lives, not as an entity for itself.

But no one seems to want small, localized government these days.  And when the National Review starts bashing Republicans for not being very Republican, you know we’re in trouble.

Posted in: uninformed ramblings

I love it when everyone wins

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

CNN.com - U.S. plans for Mideast foiled, Syrian president says - Aug 15, 2006

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah has declared “strategic, historic victory” against Israel.

So, Hezbollah says they’ve won, too.  That’s pretty cool.  Everyone wins!

Posted in: World

execrable automotive aardvark

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

The Truth About Cars Chevrolet Uplander This review is funny in part because I’m ashamed of American car companies and their continued quest to not provide anything useful to the world beyond jobs for factory workers, so I like hearing GM-bashing. But it’s also funny for phrases like “execrable automotive aardvark” and “the Uplander’s plastics seem designed by rental car companies for rental car companies; their ability to withstand endless applications of industrial strength ammonia being their only saving grace.”. I think most phrases with the word “execrable” are funny. That’s because it sounds like “excrement”! Or looks like it. Or something. Great. This is the 100th post on Complaint Hub, and I’m making poop jokes.

Posted in: Funny

Terror! Liberty! Freedom! Cookies!

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Hezbollah the Loser In Battle, Bush Says

“Forces of terror see the changes that are taking place in their midst. They understand that the advance of liberty, the freedom to worship, the freedom to dissent, and the protection of human rights would be a defeat for their hateful ideology,” Bush said. “But they also know that young democracies are fragile and that this may be their last and best opportunity to stop freedom’s advance and steer newly free nations to the path of radical extremism.”

Every time I hear statements like this from Bush, I hear his imitator on Saturday Night Live talking about “strategery”.  Was that Will Ferrell, or someone else?  I can hear it in my head, but I can’t quite picture him.  Anyway, an equally effective image that this should conjure up is Cookie Monster.  “Terror bad.  Liberty and freedom good!  Me love cookies!”.

I don’t like making fun of the way Bush speaks, as I’ve said before, because I think it tends to be the thing that people notice and latch onto, and then they miss the fact that he’s doing terrible things to the country.  But I just can’t help myself here.  He just enjoys saying “terror” and “hateful” and “freedom” too much.

Oh, well.  What I should be focusing on here is how he has, again, delcared victory in a fight that’s long from over.  He seems to think that he gets to determine when a conflict is over, and who won.  I know that whole “Mission Accomplished” banner wasn’t his fault, but the administration has talked about how we “won” the war in Iraq for years, but last time I checked, people were still dying over there.  That’s not winning in my book.  And neither has Israel won.  There may be a temporary cease-fire, which is good, it will hopefully allow some diplomacy to happen.  But if people start thinking that this is over, they haven’t been paying attention to the entire history of the region.

Posted in: complaint , World

Leave it to BoingBoing to provide more examples

Monday, August 14, 2006

Boing Boing: Chertoff: We must “eliminate people who are susceptible to becoming killers”

Apparently BoingBoing was listening, as they’ve now provided an even stupider quote from Chertoff.  Awesome.

Posted in: Stupid people

Ask, and you shall receive

Monday, August 14, 2006

Newsvine - Chertoff: U.S. Should Review Terror Laws - via BoingBoing

“What helped the British in this case is the ability to be nimble, to be fast, to be flexible, to operate based on fast-moving information,” [Chertoff] said. “We have to make sure our legal system allows us to do that. It’s not like the 20th century, where you had time to get warrants.”

And there you go. A wonderful quote from the guy in charge of making us safe. Who do you suppose is going to protect us from Homeland Security?

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

Stop using terrorism as a political tool

Monday, August 14, 2006

CNN.com - UK lowers threat level to ‘severe’ - Aug 14, 2006

“The threat level is at severe, indicating the high likelihood of an attempted terrorist attack at some stage, and I urge the public to remain vigilant.”

I’m glad that was the British Home Secretary saying that, and not someone from our DHS. It would have been really embarrassing if Chertoff said something that dumb. Now, if I had a devoted readership, it would be mere minutes before someone would dig up an equally stupid quote from Chertoff. But, since my devoted readership is about five people, I’m not sure it’s going to happen.

Anyway, the point of this post is not to attack stupid quotes. I mean, if the British government wants to terrify their citizens over the threat of attempted attacks, that’s fine. It’s idiotic, but it’s fine.

The point of this post is that all of these security measures are ridiculous. You can bring electronics on this flight, but not that flight. You can only bring a clear plastic bag on this flight, but three days later you can bring a regular carry-on. You can bring a computer or a hair dryer, “provided they are visible at security checkpoints”. So, I’m free to put a bomb in my suitcase and use my hair dryer to set it off, but I ABSOLUTELY MUST ensure that the hair dryer is visible to the security folks.

None of this is making us safe.  This is making us afraid, and this is making it a pain in the ass to travel.  But it does nothing for our safety.  It’s so frustrating that I don’t feel as if there’s anything I can do.  I could make a fuss at the airport, but what will that accomplish?  The people there are just following orders from higher up (If anyone makes a “the Nazis were just following orders, too” comment, I’m going to block your IP.  If I can figure out how to do that.), so complaining to them is useless, and likely to only delay me further.

So I bitch about it here, and to anyone else who will listen.  I’ve heard people suggest that many of these terrorists we’ve caught were planted by the government as an excuse to do things in the name of national security.  I don’t think I’ve sunk quite to the level of paranoia it takes to believe that, but the fact that it doesn’t sound all that far-fetched anymore worries me.

Note to any and all government agencies who may be listening in:  I am not a terrorist.  I am not bringing any bombs on any planes, nor have I ever even seen a bomb.  I love my country, for better or for worse, and have no ties to any terrorist organizations.  When I talk about being free to bring a bomb on a plane, I mean that in a purely hypothetical sense.  I would never actually do it.

Posted in: complaint , uninformed ramblings

Oh, the Web 2.0-ness is spectacular!

Monday, August 14, 2006

I posted about HotSoup a while back, and it looks like they’re one step closer to going live.  They’ve got little quotes from some famous people like John McCain and Lance Armstrong.  They’ve got little animated ads for themselves on a splash screen.  Who uses splash screens?  Aside from fifteen-year-old girls and car manufacturers?

I know the site’s not live yet, but when it goes live, they’re going to have to remember that they need some real content behind the pretty pictures and draggable divs.  Hopefully they’re just trying to drum up some interest now, and the real site will be very different.

I’m also curious about their poll.  What, exactly, is the difference between “Government” and “Political leaders”?  If I go to my political leaders, does that mean going straight to the top?  Skipping the low- and mid-levels of government and taking my complaint or concern straight to the big boss?  It seems like an awfully subtle distinction for such a general poll.

But maybe I’m just in a bad mood because it’s Monday.

Posted in: Politics

CNN.com - Navarrette - What really bothers immigration foes - Aug 11, 2006

Friday, August 11, 2006

CNN.com - Navarrette: What really bothers immigration foes - Aug 11, 2006

Update to this post.

Aha! This guy agrees with me.  Many of the people opposed to illegal immigrants are using border security as an excuse to hide the fact that they just don’t like Mexicans.  Some people expressed fear that the immigrants were a threat to our security.  But when a proposal came out that satisfied their demands, they came up with new demands.  You’ve made our borders safe?  Now make sure that you give preference to English-speakers and skilled workers.

No, I’m sorry, you can’t do that.  This is America.  This is not English-Speaking-Skilled-Worker Land.  There’s no sign on the Statue of Liberty that says “You must be this Americanized to enter”.  If you want to hate Mexicans, fine, that’s your right.  But stop lying about it, and stop trying to pass laws so you don’t have to see them.  You can go live in your close-minded little world all you want, but stop forcing your racism on me and the rest of the country.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

Weve known about the threat for a year, but just now overreact?

Friday, August 11, 2006

Tip Followed ‘05 Attacks on London Transit

Apparently the group that was going to blow up some planes yesterday has been under surveillance for about a year.  So now, they got too close to maybe pulling off something, and they had to be arrested.  And as a result of that arrest, when theoretically the threat is the lowest it’s been in a year, we can’t bring any liquids on planes.

Cory Doctorow over at BoingBoing had an interesting post yesterday.  He’s a little ticked off.  Hopefully, we all are.

Until they handcuff us all nude to our seats and dart us with tranquilizers, there will always be the possibility that a passenger will do something naughty on a plane

I’m tired of having my life disturbed because of some supposed terrorist threat.  I live just outside of Washington, DC.  I know we’re a big target, and that if something big happened in DC, I’d be at risk.  I’m willing to take that risk because I like living in this area.  Sure, there are some downsides.  But I choose to live here, and deal with the possible consequences.  I also like to travel.  I’m getting married a week from tomorrow, and we’re flying to LA then on to New Zealand next Sunday.  Because of these ridiculous restrictions, I’m probably going to have to sit in lines for hours before my 14 hour flight from LA.  And all for what?  So everyone is extra scared so we can lose some more civil rights?  If they were really concerned about our safety, they’d ban electronics, too.  They were planning to set off the liquid explosives with cell phones, right?  So why are the cell phones still allowed?

It’s ridiculous.  I refuse to live in fear of a terrorist plot.  I refuse to let some extremist nutjobs tell me how I can live my life.  That includes you, President Bush.

Posted in: World

Mom as a role model for kids? Say it aint so.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Mom’s dieting can be unhealthy for kids - Yahoo! News

Shocker.  Mothers who live unhealthy lifestyles then diet when they can’t fit into their pants are likely to have daughters who do the same.  Thank you, Yahoo!, for that unexpected fact.  Note - the study cited in the article focused on mothers and daughters, since a higher percentage of women have body image problems.  Perhaps because all the studies focus on them.

The gist of the article is that mothers who obsess about weight and diet all the time tend to have daughters who do the same.  Mothers who make lifestyle changes towards better health also tend to have daughters who do the same.  Imagine that.  The way you live your life often has a strong influence on the way your kids live theirs.

As someone who has, in the last six months to a year, made a real conscious effort towards a healthier lifestyle, I can tell you that it’s hard.  It’s especially hard at work when we go to lunch.  It’s hard not to get the bacon cheeseburger and fries with six Cokes.  And even the “healthy” choices are usually only healthy in comparison to the 1200+ calorie meals that are typical of most restaurants.  And I even have the advantage of a fiancee who’s a great cook.  If all you out there don’t have that, you’re kind of screwed.  And you can’t have mine.  I found her first.

Posted in: health , Personal

British Police Thwart Major Terror Plot

Thursday, August 10, 2006

British Police Thwart Major Terror Plot

U.S. officials raised the “threat level” for air transport to red , the highest alert. The terrorists had targeted flights operated by American Airlines, Continental Airlines and United Airlines, a U.S. official said.

Emphasis above is mine. I can certainly understand why someone would want to blow up an American Airlines flight. They probably missed out on 16 hours of bachelor party, too.

I ’m just kidding. I understand that this is serious. But sometimes you have to joke about it or you go crazy. And since the plot was foiled by British authorities, this seems like a good time to joke.

The TSA said passengers who need to bring medicine and baby formula on board planes would need to present those items for inspection at checkpoints. In Britain, passengers were being asked to taste these liquids in the presence of security guards.

I hope that’s not the case when I fly to Australia in less than two weeks. I’ll have my nasal spray to prevent clogged eustachian tubes, and I don’t relish the thought of tasting it.  I mean, I imagine it’s safe, since they can’t very well expect you to spray the stuff up your nose if you can’t swallow a little bit.  But I doubt it’s terribly pleasant to taste.  I’m going to stop now before this gets really unpleasant.

Anyway, the article is short on detail.  It doesn’t say if this was a known terrorist group, or just a bunch of pissed off but well-organized people.  I suppose more details should be forthcoming.

Posted in: World

Perhaps the sexiest piece of stereo equipment Ive seen

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Yamaha RX-V2700 and RX-V1700 HDMI Receivers - Gizmodo

The higher-end member of this pair is the RX-V2700 …, bringing Ethernet connectivity to the feature list, where it’s able to hook up with PCs on your network and stream their music files, or it can let you listen to Internet radio stations right in your home theater.

This is what I want.  Interconnectivity.  Just because my music’s on my computer doesn’t mean I’ll never want to listen to it anywhere else.  Plus, this thing is HDMI-capable, in case I ever get around to getting HD from the cable company, or buy a new DVD player.

I wonder what the ethernet streaming interface is like.  They don’t say it’s PC-only, and the thing works with iPods, so that could be cool, especially if it will work with Ubuntu.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Gadgets

This is actually great for the country

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

CNN.com - Lieberman concedes to Lamont, vows to run in November - Aug 9, 2006

Lamont wins, and now Lieberman is going to run as an independant.  Screw you, two party system!  First, Lamont shows that you don’t have to be the candidate that the national party likes.  You can use the internet to get your name out and bypass the big party machine.  And now, Lieberman shows us that the two party system is not enough, that sometimes you have to go outside the system.  Let’s abolish Democrats and Republicans.  They’ve had their time in the sun.

The danger for Connecticut Democrats, I suppose, is that Lamont and Lieberman split the liberal vote and hand the election to a Republican challenger.  But since Connecticut voters have already made it quite clear that supporting President Bush and his war on civil rights and separation of power is not going to fly, perhaps they’ll get a nice, intelligent Republican who goes against the President because the President has, as a Republican, lost his way.

Posted in: Anti complaint , uninformed ramblings

Is this what it takes to get people to vote?

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

CNN.com - High turnout in Lieberman-Lamont showdown - Aug 8, 2006

Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz predicted Tuesday that turnout for the primary could reach 45 to 50 percent.

So, it takes a Republican pretending to be a Democrat and supporting an unpopular President to get an almost reasonable voter turnout. Congratulations, Connecticut - you’re way ahead of most of the rest of us, although you should still be embarrassed about your turnout.

The rest of the country is watching this race very closely, I know. Many think this is a good indication of what’s going to happen in other states. I hope it is. I would love to see record voter turnouts. Of course, I would always love to see that.

I don’t know that I really have a point here. I don’t really like Lieberman. Lamont obviously has a lot of support in the blog community, which could be good or bad. I think there’s some great stuff coming out of the blog community (Much of it from right here), and I think it’s great to fill in some gaps in the mainstream news coverage and help get people involved and paying attention to the news. But it’s dangerous to put too much stock in a random blogger. Me, for example. I don’t know jack. But sometimes I might sound like I do.

Whether that’s a reason to support Lamont or not, I don’t know. I like to see people using alternative means to promote a candidate, taking power away from the centralized party and the special interest groups and maybe actually responding to the people. But I can’t tell you whether or not their faith in Lamont is misguided.

Okay, I’m done rambling. I don’t know whether Connecticut should have voted for Lamont or Lieberman. I’m just happy that a bunch of them voted.

Posted in: uninformed ramblings

Dont you love the DMV?

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

How can the customer service line for the Department of Motor Vehicles be busy? I just got a bill for my property tax on the truck I sold last year. I called the county, and they said that the DMV has no record of the sale. So I guess someone forgot to write it down when I turned in my tags. And now I can’t get through to the DMV. I do not want to have to go there in person. Although it might turn out to be easier.

And honestly, how does Virginia get away with a yearly tax on a depreciating asset? They like to talk about how wonderful the car tax relief they offer is, but they fail to mention how stupid the car tax is in the first place. If they want to tax the USE of the car to help pay for roads and such, I wouldn’t be totally opposed. That would place the tax burden firmly where it belongs - on those who drive the most. But a tax on the car itself, above and beyond sales tax, is ridiculous.

Update: I’m currently on hold with the DMV. After a half hour of redial, I finally got past the busy signal and got their automated system. How the heck do I get a busy signal when I’m calling a computer? That’s just a bad system.

Not only that, but when I finally got through, they launched into the recorded spiel about how much you can do on their website. How do they think I got the stupid phone number? So, as I was verbally expressing my disgust at their awful phone system, that very same phone system interpreted my words as me having trouble with their menu system. This is actually impossible, because they never gave me any menu options. At least my supposed difficulties got me straight into the customer service queue, which is where I wanted to be anyway.

Update II:  So it looks like I got it taken care of.  The CSR was completely incapable of answering any questions as to why they failed to take the vehicle out of my name, but at least she took it out.

By the way, if you ever find a Virgina driver’s license, you can do all sorts of things.  They don’t ask any identifying information beyond what’s on the license.  That makes me feel safe.

Posted in: Cars , complaint

Competition before I even get off the ground

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Sutori: Digg for Consumerists - Consumerist

This site is more or less what I had in mind for Complaint Hub, except I would have skipped the meaningless Web 2.0 name.  Sutori?  WTF is that?  I guess if I want to compete, I’ll have to hook up with the Better Business Bureau and allow people to complain to someone who really listens rather than just their fellow internet nerds.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint

IE sucks. Why are you still using it?

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

IE 7.0 Technical Changes Leave Web Developers, Users in the Lurch

Paul Thurrott at WindowsITPro.com says (Link via Slashdot):

My advice is simple: Boycott IE. It’s a cancer on the Web that must be stopped. IE isn’t secure and isn’t standards-compliant, which makes it unworkable both for end users and Web content creators. Because of their user bases, however, Web developers are hamstrung into developing for IE at the expense of established standards that work well in all other browsers. You can turn the tide by demanding more from Microsoft and by using a better alternative Web browser. I recommend and use Mozilla Firefox, but Apple Safari (Macintosh only) and Opera 8 are both worth considering as well.

I’ve been using Firefox for a while now, and the only reason I still have IE is that it’s too much trouble (If not impossible) to get rid of it on my Windows box. Firefox includes, and has included, many of the features that are new for IE7, Microsoft’s new version of Internet Explorer that’s still in Beta. Microsoft likes to crow about their new tabbed browsing feature, which has been available in Firefox and whatever Apple’s browser is for a while.

Another major flaw with IE is the release cycle. Firefox updates all the time. When someone finds a security flaw, they fix it. If it’s serious, they force you to upgrade. And they respond quickly. Microsoft has never been quick to fix security flaws. By the time they get around to patching something, your computer has been open to who knows what for an unacceptable amount of time.

And then there’s the point of the article I linked - Microsoft isn’t standards-compliant. They use their dominant (though shrinking) market share to do whatever they want. There are standards for building web pages that are independant of whatever it is that the browser manufacturers want, and Microsoft, more than other browsers, ignores these standards.

If you’re using IE right now, I want you to go get a real browser. Firefox, Safari, Opera, all of these are much better options. IE is bad for your computer, and bad for the internet.

Posted in: complaint , nerd

Up yours, says American Airlines

Monday, August 07, 2006

Got a reply from American, finally. Unfortunately, it doesn’t address any of my concerns.

August 7, 2006

Dear [Me]:

I am so sorry for your unhappy experience when you traveled with us to Las Vegas. There’s probably nothing more frustrating than having to travel when bad weather conditions play havoc with airline schedules. From your description it certainly sounds as if the delay was aggravating and uncomfortable, and it’s unfortunate we didn’t do a better job of overcoming the many challenges we faced. I am especially concerned that we missed opportunities to mitigate the effects of the weather disruption.

Unfortunately, many times we don’t have too many options to help make such situations less trying. Still, your comments enable us to understand things from our customers' perspective, which is crucial as we strive for better performance next time.

Although we do whatever we can to minimize weather related problems, our schedules are not guaranteed; there are simply too many uncontrollable factors for us to make such a commitment. For this reason, we cannot assume financial responsibility for our customers' personal time lost or for out-of-pocket expenses incurred as a result of operational difficulties. Instead, you have my assurance that we will always work hard to get you to your destination on time. I hope you will give us another opportunity to do so.

This is an “outgoing only” email address. If you reply to this message by simply selecting the ‘reply’ button, we will not receive your additional comments. Please assist us in providing you with a timely response to any feedback you have for us by always sending us your email messages via AA.com at http://www.aa.com/customerrelations.

Sincerely,

[Some CSR] Customer Relations American Airlines

So I replied to them via their crappy web form. They tell you not to reply to the email they send you, but then they don’t give you any way to reply via the web form that makes it clear you’re replying to an email they sent you. Here is my reply:

I sent you a letter complaining about terrible service, and you sent me a reply blaming it all on the weather. I should have been more clear in my first letter - the first delay was mechanical. Subsequent delays may have been weather related, but the first delay, the one that pushed my flight from Thursday evening to Friday morning, was a mechanical problem with our plane.

Please contact me as soon as possible. I do not consider this matter closed, although I do appreciate your apology in the email I received this morning.

I suppose my reply might have been a little snippy.  But I was hoping for something a little more substantial from them than “Sorry, we don’t control the weather”.

This is not over, American Airlines.

Posted in: complaint , Personal

Hillary, Health Care, and the Morbidly Obese

Sunday, August 06, 2006

As you may know, I’m in favor of universal health care, although it would need to be watched carefully to prevent inefficiency and abuse. If every American is guaranteed public schooling, it’s ridiculous not to offer health care as well.

I’ve always wondered, though - how do you stop abuse? I don’t want my tax dollars to go to pay for repeated bypass surgery for someone who refuses to even try to be healthy. Should everyone have to pay for the 400 pound man who smokes two packs a day and never gets off the couch?

I was talking to a friend of a friend of my fiancee, a guy who happens to be a Canadian citizen (Through a rather confusing set of circumstances). The conversation came up just as we were leaving, so it didn’t go as far as I might have liked, but he made the point that there will always be people like that, no matter what is being paid for, and we can’t choose yes or no on universal health care based on that.

It got me thinking. What about the kid in the public school system who cuts class when he can, and sleeps or misbehaves when he can’t? I don’t want to pay for his schooling, either. Or perhaps the couple who fight constantly - I don’t want to pay for the police to come break it up once a week. For any service the government provides, there will be people who abuse it.

So we have to figure out how to prevent abuse. We don’t want people rushing to the emergency room every time they sneeze in search of expensive prescription drugs. We don’t want people to abuse their bodies, knowing that corrective surgery will be available when they need it. We also need to protect the system from abuse by politicians. It would be a matter of minuntes after a universal health care system was put in place before someone tried to pass a law saying that the government would never pay for anything to do with birth control.

So, how can we make this work? I think a co-pay system might help. If people have to pay some amount, it would make them think twice about going to the doctor for something trivial. Of course, there’s virtually no way to keep a co-pay system from being like a regressive tax, and putting more burden on those with lower incomes.

A non-partisan council to determine what is necessary and what is elective might help, as well. Of course, I have no idea how such a council might be created.

So, Hillary, I’ll make you a deal. If you present a realistic and feasible plan for universal health care, I’ll vote for you, despite my misgivings. And I’ll even consent to paying for a bypass surger for the fat smoker on the couch. However, I reserve the right to throw rotten tomatoes at his house while he’s in the hospital.

Posted in: health , uninformed ramblings

Charles Stross blog

Friday, August 04, 2006

Charlie’s Diary: Genre neuroses 101

I don’t really care if you read the above-linked post, although it is interesting and amusing.  I found it via John Scalzi’s blog.  The important part of this post is that Stross is a cool author.  As is Scalzi.  I don’t remember how I first came across Stross' novel Accelerando, which he had shared online.  I imagine I found it through BoingBoing.  But I read it, and enjoyed it, and kept reading his stuff.  I think Iron Sunrise is my favorite thus far.

I really should read more.  It makes me want to write, which is both good and bad.  It’s good because I like writing, but it’s bad because I can never seem to keep at it long enough to finish anything, so it’s frustrating.   Maybe I’ll get a chance to hit the library this weekend.

Posted in: Personal

American Airlines thinks it can ignore me

Friday, August 04, 2006

I still have no response from them.  They didn’t even respond to the online form, although I told them another letter was coming, so maybe they figured they’d wait for that.  I’m not sure they realize who they’re dealing with.  Do they not know who I am?  They will taste the wrath of the Better Business Bureau before long, you wait and see.  They will rue the day they stole 16 hours of my bachelor party.

Posted in: complaint , Personal

How does this help the American people?

Friday, August 04, 2006

Senate Rejects Estate, Minimum Wage Bill

The GOP strategy put Democrats in an uncomfortable position. Either they could vote against the bill - thus rejecting a minimum wage increase - or they could vote for it - thus agreeing to cut taxes on multimillion-dollar estates. Most rejected the bill, blocking a GOP victory months before the election.

Never mind that it’s disgraceful that the minimum wage is tied to the whims of politicians rather than some real measure of economic conditions.  That’s a post for another day.  I fail to see who benefits from tying together two unrelated bills.  This is (or should be) an abuse of the system.  If I have a bill that no one wants to vote for, then I tack it on to a bill that everyone wants to vote for, and therefore get my bill passed, that only serves me.  It does not serve the public.

When I vote for Congressmen and Senators, I don’t do it with the idea that my Congressmen and my Senators will fight for exactly what I want at the expense of everyone else.  I vote for them so that they can take some views I agree with into the larger discussions of what’s best for the country.

This particular case is pretty despicable, too.  Bill Frist desperately wants to repeal the estate taxes so that wealthy people can leave more to their wealthy children.  He can’t get enough votes to do it, so he (or someone else, I don’t know) attaches the bill to a raise in the minimum wage.  So, take a bill to help put more tax burden on lower income people, and tie it to a bill that people mistakenly thinks helps some of those same lower income people, and voila!  You have a bill that everyone likes.

Except what we really need is a simplified tax code that treats all income like income, and then makes some exceptions to promote things we want to promote, like saving and investing and charitable contributions.  Then we need to rethink the minimum wage laws.  Yes, I know I said this was for another day, but I’m on a roll.  First, determine what the minimum wage is supposed to do.  Is it supposed to guarantee that a couple on minimum wage can raise a family?  If that’s the case, it’s way too low.  Is it supposed to be a guideline for what to pay a sixteen-year-old kid on his first job?  Well, then it at least needs to incorporate cost of living adjustments.  Whatever it’s supposed to do, it’s broken now, and this bill isn’t going to fix it.

Posted in: complaint , uninformed ramblings

Kudos to GM

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Being Greenish: Silverado, Sierra to be GM’s First Hybrid Trucks; Fall 2007 Launch - Jalopnik

I’m always quick to bash GM (Because they make shitty cars and embrace dead-end means for saving the planet like corn-based ethanol), but I will give credit where credit is due - GM will probably beat Toyota to market with the first hybrid pickup.  This is exactly what the American auto industry needs - to fire back against the attacks that Toyota and Nissan (And, to a lesser extend with the ridiculous Ridgeline, Honda) have been mounting against American dominance in the large truck market.

Americans like to buy big trucks.  For some, it’s a necessity.  And the Toyota Tundra and Nissan Titan have finally given consumers a real alternative to Ford, GM, and Dodge.  So it’s nice to see GM fighting back, and in exactly the direction I like to see.  Sure, a V8 hybrid isn’t going to get 30 MPG.  But if it gets improved mileage, doesn’t lose a significant amount of power, and runs a lot cleaner, then I’m willing to pat GM on the back for this one.  Assuming this isn’t just a rumor.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Wind kissing

A thought

Thursday, August 03, 2006

I was listening to NPR this morning, and they were of course talking about the conflict (War?  Is it officially a war?  Does it matter?) over in Israel and Lebanon.  Now, I’m a little biased, since I have cousins in Israel.  But NPR explained how France, and many of the other countries who might be involved in a security force, don’t wish to go in and secure the area until there is a cease-fire and Hezbollah has been disarmed.  Now, set aside the fact that it seems silly to wait to send in a peace-keeping force until after there is some amount of peace.  How would you feel if you were Hezbollah?  This is a group fighting for power, and now the world is going to come in and pat them on the head and tell them, “If you want to be a real political power, you’re going to have to give us your guns and play by our rules”.  That’s insulting, and patronizing, and it’s the kind of attitude that makes people all over the world hate us.

I don’t know enough about the situation over there to offer a solution.  But I know enough about human nature to realize that disarming Hezbollah and not Israel is going to make a lot of people really mad.

Posted in: World

Even now, no one wants to vote

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Democrats Scrambling To Organize Voter Turnout

It seems to me that, in the current political climate of 36% approval ratings, if you can’t get Democratic voters to actually get out and vote, then the problem is not with your voter turnout schemes.  The problem is that you have offered no compelling reason to vote for you.  “I’m not a Republican” is not a compelling reason to vote for you.

Maybe if Democrats actually focused on the issues.  For example, I’d love to see a Democrat with a real plan to get us out of Iraq.  But we have to finish what we started, first.  We can’t just leave while the country is still in disarray.  And what about the environment?  Health care?  The economy?  You can’t just claim that the Republicans are ruining everything and leave it at that.

It’s frustrating.  If the Democrats can’t take back the House and Senate now, when Bush and his supporters are so unpopular, then the party should be disbanded.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

This is not a surprise to me

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Acura Integras Still Being Stolen - Jalopnik

Of course Integras are still being stolen while RSX’s aren’t.  One, the Integra was awesome while the RSX is just an Integra with a new name.  Two, the smart kids bought Integras to pimp out - a stock Integra blows the doors off a Civic with $10,000 of engine work.

My first car was a 1988 Integra RS.  I loved that car.  Then someone rear ended it, and Allstate determined it wasn’t worth the repairs.  So my sister and I took the insurance money and a little out of pocket cash and bought a 1989 Integra LS.  We had that until my brother drove it into the ground.  They were great cars.  My girlfriend in college bought a brand new 2000 Integra during our senior year.  That was a fun car to drive, but not quite as much fun as the ‘89.

Anyway, it’s too bad they’re discontinuing the RSX.  Maybe if they brought back the Integra it would start selling again.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Cars

Its like rats from a sinking ship

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

CNN.com - UK, Arnie in global warming pact - Aug 1, 2006 First Nick Saban, now the Governator?  Ahnold has now bypassed the President and gone straight to Tony Blair to make an agreement on global warming.  Everyone wants to distance themselves from an unpopular President.

“We see that there is not great leadership from the federal government when it comes to protecting the environment,” Schwarzenegger said. “We know there is global warming, so we should stop it.”

Great.  Stop global warming.  I’m all in favor of being more environmentally friendly.  But this reeks of “Please re-elect me, California” rather than any sort of real step toward anything.

And no matter how much I dislike the President, we can’t let being publically rude to him become a tool to win voters.  It’s like focusing on his poor public speaking - it ignores the real problems (Like his desire to take away all of our civil rights) and focuses on something highly visible, but not that important.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

Jayson Stark is smoking crack

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

ESPN.com - MLB - Stark: What should have been – Clemens to Red Sox

But there is also an obligation on the other side, the obligation any team has to a player of Roger Clemens' stature.Obviously, everybody in Houston has a vision of how the Rocket Man deserves to close out his astonishing career. And obviously, this isn’t it.

For some reason, Jayson Stark thinks that, after Roger Clemens stated quite clearly that he was more important than all of baseball with his little “I’m going to sit at home and play when I feel like for who I feel like” stunt, the Astros should do what’s best for Clemens and trade him to a contender.

Is Clemens the greatest pitcher of the modern era?  You can make that argument.  Would a lot of people be happy to see him end his career with a win in Game Seven of the World Series?  Sure.  Would I be one of them?  No.  Is that because I’ve got a little sour grapes because he’s played for every AL East team but my Orioles?  No, of course not, that’s ridiculous, how could you even say that?

Where is it written that the Astros (Who are only 6 games out of the wild card, although they aren’t playing that well right now) should make their team worse to give Clemens a last shot at the postseason?  It’s not written anywhere.  Clemens came to Houston because he wanted to pitch at home.  They were okay with a big contract for half a season.  Fine, that’s their decision.  But now that Houston doesn’t look like a good bet for the playoffs, they’re supposed to roll over and die?  Do you think they’d get anything in return from Boston?  Some mediocre prospect, maybe, and they’d probably have to eat a big chunk of Clemens' salary.

Anyway, I hope Clemens' last start is a totally meaningless game in September.  Houston plays at Pittsburgh right before going to Atlanta to finish the regular season.  I hope Clemens starts one of those games and loses to some 22-year-old kid brought up when the rosters expanded.  Maybe that will remind him that even 343 wins doesn’t make you bigger than the game.

Posted in: baseball , Stupid people

Peek of the Week

Monday, July 31, 2006

Piker Press - Front Page

The Piker Press is an online magazine run by some friends I met doing Nanowrimo.  This week, the “Peek of the Week” is a photo I took at the Getty Museum in L.A..  Check out the rest of the Press, too - plenty of interesting fiction and whatnot.

Posted in: photo

This sounds like the liberal medias doing

Monday, July 31, 2006

SI.com - NFL - Saban declines offer from Bush - Monday July 31, 2006 1:26PM

“It was really a tough decision,” Saban said. “I feel like my first responsibility is our team. That in no way disrespects the importance of the opportunity I would have loved to have had to spend dinner with the President.”

Apparently getting the Dolphins ready for the season takes up every minute of his time.  I suspect that this is either exaggeration on the part of an AP reporter trying to drum up some controversy, or Saban is a Democrat and thinks his fame means we care about his snub of the President.  Oh, wait, I just wrote about it, I guess I do care.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Politics

To be a photoblogger

Monday, July 31, 2006

Nokia’s N73 Cellphone With 3.2-megapixel Camera Available Now in Europe - Gizmodo

A 3.2 megapixel cameraphone with built in Flickr support?  That needs to be available here, now.  With a glass Zeiss lens.  Maybe a little zoom and image-stabilization.  And at a reasonable price.  You can keep the MP3 player built in, though.

Posted in: Anti complaint , photo

Is the big house in the suburbs really worth it?

Monday, July 31, 2006

Commuting Is a Drag (on the Economy): Money & Happiness - Yahoo! Finance

… classic studies of lottery winners and paralyzed accident victims found only small differences in life satisfaction between these groups and control subjects. But certain experiences – living near a noisy highway, for example – become more aggravating over time, something scientists call “sensitization.” Commuting falls into this category.

A friend at work recently bought a big house pretty far away from where we work.  We don’t really have the option of telecommuting, so he drives an hour and a half or so each way (on a normal day.  Bad days can be much worse).  Is he happier that way?  I don’t know. But it’s interesting to think about what really brings us satisfaction.  I don’t think a big house in the suburbs would bring me much satisfaction.  I mean, I don’t have kids now, so I don’t need a yard for them to play in, or good schools, or anything like that, so it gives me some more freedom to choose where I live.  But I live with my fiancee in a two bedroom condo, about 1100 square feet, in a safe but uninteresting community that’s just a bus ride from the Metro.  Would we like a bigger kitchen and some more storage space?  Sure.  Do I need two more bedrooms and a den?  No, not really. I don’t mean to bash those who live far from work.  Although I do give my friend a hard time about it sometimes.  People have different priorities, and one of mine is a short commute.  I had a two hour or more round trip commute for about a year, and I hated it.  My commute is maybe 25 minutes now, and that includes dropping the fiancee at the Metro.  And I’d still telecommute if I had the opportunity.

Posted in: health , Life

American Airlines update

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Just opened my email box this morning to an email from American Airlines!  After all, it’s only been a week, why wouldn’t they have emailed me by now?

But it was just spam about their AAdvantage program.  Alas.  They had better get back to me soon.  My mouse moves ever closer to the “Click here to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau” button.

Posted in: complaint , Spam

And why doesnt the Prius get 72 MPG?

Friday, July 28, 2006

Go Blue! Volkswagen’s Diesel-Sipping Polo Gets 72 mpg - Jalopnik

I don’t know.  But I know I want my next car to run on biodiesel and need refueling once ever 4-6 weeks.  It’s too bad the Polo has gotten away from the 1989 GTI “17 year old guys think this is cool” look and moved towards the “17 year old girls think this is cute” look.  Maybe if I get one in black and put flames on the side …

Posted in: Anti complaint , Wind kissing

An intelligent statement from a politician

Friday, July 28, 2006

Techdirt: House Rushes Through Bill To Make The Web More Dangerous For Kids

I know, it’s amazing.

Rep. John Dingell’s statement is worth repeating: “So now we are on the floor with a piece of legislation poorly thought out, with an abundance of surprises, which carries with it that curious smell of partisanship and panic, but which is not going to address the problems. This is a piece of legislation which is going to be notorious for its ineffectiveness and, of course, for its political benefits to some of the members hereabout.”

Well said.  He was speaking of the “Deleting Online Predators Act”, which doesn’t actually seem to delete any predators (Isn’t it nice that they use delete, because that’s an internet word!  They’re so clever and hip!), but actually blocks a lot of websites at any school that takes federal money.  Because that makes kids safer.

Unless you take away internet access completely, it is possible that online predators will get at kids.  You see, the internet is a dynamic, ever-changing thing.  This may seem obvious to many of you.  To to 410 of the 425 members of the House who voted for this bill, it apparently isn’t.  Blocking things on the internet will never work.  There will always be something new you have to block, and the people trying to beat the blocks are at least as good as those trying to block them.  As Techdirt says, why don’t we try educating people on the potential dangers?  Oh, right, that costs money.  Stupid bills like this just allow politicians to pretend they care about children.

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

Never, ever go out in the sun

Thursday, July 27, 2006

CNN.com - Sun kills 60,000 a year, WHO says - Jul 26, 2006

“The application of sunscreens should not be used to prolong sun exposure but rather to protect the skin when exposure is unavoidable,” the report advises.

When the World Health Organization tells me to only go outside when absolutely necessary, I stop paying attention.  Sure, we should do more to protect the ozone layer.  But staying inside with the A/C blasting isn’t really the way to go.

I’m too lazy to look up numbers, but I imagine that 60,000 people a year makes the sun about as dangerous as a pair of toenail clippers.  How many people are there in the world?  Four billion?  What percentage of four billion is 60,000?  Well, I’ll tell you.  It’s 0.0015%.  You’re more likely to be struck by lightning while being mauled by a bear and holding a winning lottery ticket.  Actually, I made that up.  But seriously.  More people die from heart disease because they stayed inside worrying about skin cancer than die from actually getting skin cancer.  I made that up, too, but I guarantee it’s true or your money back.

Posted in: complaint , health , Wind kissing

Does this void my warranty?

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Treehugger: Convert Your Car To Run On Ethanol With New Kit

I love the idea of this.  $500-700 and, with a flip of a switch, I can choose to fill my car with gasonline or ethanol.  I’m not sure I’d risk this on my car (It’s not even a year old) without doing some research, but it’s a great step forward.  Why be forced to buy a poor quality GM product just to use ethanol?  Now, I’m still waiting for the Back to the Future banana peel and stale beer fuel, but I guess I can wait a few more years.  Now all we need is an alternative to ethanol that’s a little more sustainable than growing corn.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Wind kissing

I am unauthorized

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

I got this yesterday, but just got around to reading it.

Thank you for contacting us. We consider feedback from our customers to be very important. We are currently experiencing higher than normal email communications from our customers and our response to you may be delayed. We’ll reply as soon as possible and we appreciate your patience in the meantime.

That’s not the best part. This is:

This email message and its contents are copyrighted and are proprietary products of American Airlines, Inc. Any unauthorized use, reproduction, or transfer of this message or its contents, in any medium, is strictly prohibited.

The email message is copyrighted. Um, okay. I guess this is an unauthorized reproduction. What are they going to do, steal 16 hours of my bachelor party? Oh, wait …

I also like how they attach a name to the autoreply, as if some CSR actually read my submission and responded personally. How touching.

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

Gun control - a sensible approach

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Bring it On! » Blog Archive » Let’s Complicate Some Issues!

I saw this on Fark this morning. This guy presents a pretty good argument for coming to a compromise on gun control (and rewriting the ambiguous Second Amendment). He compares a gun to a car. Both are capable of killing people if used incorrectly (Or even by accident when used properly), but both become much safer as people learn to use them responsibly.

A big part of his point is that the utter refusal to compromise by the Democrats and Republicans (Beyond “I’ll vote for your bill if you vote for mine” because my constituents don’t really care about your bill) means that, too often, we’re stuck with one extreme or the other, even if most people who understand the issue agree that both extremes are wrong.

Unfortunately, there’s no chance anything this sensible would ever happen in Washington. Oh, well.

Posted in: Politics

Maybe this will help get rid of spam

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

I’ve just activated Akismet, which is supposed to help prevent comment spam.  If you enter a comment that doesn’t show up for a few days (I moderate all comments until you’ve had one approved, so it won’t show up right away), email me and let me know.  If your comment actually is spam, then please go play in traffic on the highway.

Posted in: Spam

Is it wrong to enjoy Husseins trial?

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

CNN.com - Hussein: Shoot me if found guilty - Jul 26, 2006

I can’t wait for the movie version of his capture and trial.  It will be like Saving Private Ryan plus A Few Good Men, except ten times awesomer.  The media coverage of this makes it sound like Hussein is playing the charismatic lunatic really well, ranting and raving and refusing to give up on his principles.  Sometimes it gets easy to forget that the guy slaughtered his own people when it suited him, and that he doesn’t like us Americans very much.

But when I read that he said he should be shot like a military man, not hung like a criminal, I envision the end of _Lionheart _that I just saw on TNT the other day where Van Damme is standing over the big bad guy he just beat and the blond woman who runs things is standing next to him looking like she’s trying to inhale herself out of her dress because it’s so tense, and Van Damme is about to kill the guy, but then he doesn’t.  If that guy was Saddam Hussein, and Van Damme was George Bush, and the blond woman was maybe Condi or someone … Hussein looks Bush in the eye and says, “Shoot me”.  And for a second you think Bush is going to do it, but then he relaxes and turns around and walks away.

Or maybe you like the Lethal Weapon/Bad Boys/Die Hard ending, where they think the guy is toast, but then he has another gun and as Bush is walking away, Hussein pulls the gun out in slow motion, and then Dick Cheney shoots him in the face.  Bush could smile and say, “Thanks, Dick”, and the audience would laugh. I should be a screenwriter.  This would be the best movie ever.

Posted in: Anti complaint , World

Pre-Vegas timeline of incompetence and sorrow

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Thursday 1:00PM - Leave work, giddy with anticipation 3:30PM - Leave home, Sam in tow, to pick up Evan 3:36PM - Return home to feed cat so fiancée can go to happy hour 4:00PM - Arrive at Mike’s office to carpool to airport 4:11PM - Arrive at Dulles Airport 4:30PM - Check in, breeze through security 4:32PM - Realize that our flight is delayed. 4:45PM - Realize that we will now miss our connection in Dallas 5:30PM - Find out there are no more flights from Dallas to Vegas 6:03PM - Leave airport, new boarding passes for Friday morning in hand 6:15PM - Arrive at restaurant to drown our sorrows 6:30PM - Very nice waitress tells us “dead baby” jokes to try and raise our spirits 7:00PM - Our spirits slightly raised, we go our separate ways. 8:00PM - Join fiance at happy hour Friday 1:30AM - Leave bar, fiance convinces cab driver to go through Wendy’s drive through 2:15AM - Arrive home to sleep 4:45AM - Alarm goes off, time to do it again 4:46AM - Unbeknownst to me, receive a call at work from American notifying me that my flight is delayed 4:49AM - Evan gets the same call from American. 5:30AM - Arrive at Mike’s office again, break the news that we have a new flight, but it’s out of National Airport. 6:03AM - Arrive at National Airport for a 7:17 flight 6:10AM - Begin horror of checking in for an America West flight bought with an American Airlines ticket 6:10-7:14AM - Made three runs back and forth between counters, cutting in line and getting yelled at each time (Thanks, Evan) 7:14AM - End horror of checking in for an America West flight bought with an American Airlines ticket and proceed to security 7:19AM - exit security, thirty yards from our gate, only to find that the plane that was supposed to be waiting for us has just pulled away. 7:20AM - Gnashing of teeth, screams of anguish, various cursing 7:22AM - Return to American counter, beaten and depressed. Get booked on Continental flight at 11 8:00AM - Mike throws in the towel. 8:15AM - Nutritious breakfast at Cinnebon accompanied by really bad coffee 9:45AM - Mike leaves the airport, refund in hand. Evan, Sam, and I head to security. 10:00AM - Evan, Sam, and I, one right after the other, are selected for “random” expanded security screenings 10:02AM - Very pleasant gay man gives me a wanding and a pat down 10:15AM - Arrive at our new gate 10:15:02AM - Sit down at airport bar for beer, screwdrivers 10:30AM - Realize our flight is delayed again, and we’ll miss our connection 10:31AM - Wonderful Continental agent gets us on another flight which has already boarded 10:34AM - Surprised flight attendant finds us some empty seats seconds before the doors close 12:00PM - Arrive in Cleveland, slightly surprised Continental agent prints our boarding passes since the first agent had kept them 2:30PM - Arrive in Vegas, start drinking heavily. It sure is nice when your boy has $12 margaritas waiting for you at the pool bar.

Posted in: complaint , Personal

Ooh, a direct hit

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Take this, American Airlines. This is what you get for costing me sixteen hours of bachelor party in Vegas. What follows is my letter to the airline that I mailed this morning. They’re going to be sorry if they make me bust out the BBB. You don’t mess with a man’s bachelor party.

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to tell you about the worst airline experience I have ever had. On July 20th, I left with my brother and two friends to fly from Dulles Airport in Virginia to Las Vegas, Nevada for the weekend. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6:26PM, arriving in Las Vegas via Dallas, Texas at 10:40PM. Our troubles began when the first flight was delayed, and we were told that we would miss our connection in Dallas, and that there were no more flights to Las Vegas from Dallas, either that night, or the next morning. Rather than risk being stranded indefinitely in Texas, we returned home after being booked on an America West flight through Phoenix the next morning.

Unfortunately, in the morning, our flight was again delayed, such that we would miss our connection. American called one of my fellow travelers, and we managed to get a flight for the four of us from Washington National airport through Newark. We rushed to National and arrived approximately one hour before our scheduled departure at 7:17AM. When we got to the America West counter, we were forced to literally run back and forth between the American counter and the America West counter, trying to get the proper documentation so that our boarding passes could be printed. At approximately 7:14AM, we had our passes and rushed to security, assured by the America West counter agent that the flight knew we were coming and would wait for us.

However, this was a lie, and the flight was already backing away from the gate when we arrived at approximately 7:19AM. We returned to the American counter and were booked on a flight through Continental at 11AM. Continental finally provided us with good service. When our 11AM flight was delayed, again making us miss our connection, the Continental agent found us another flight that left immediately and brought us to Las Vegas, through Cleveland, arriving at 2:30PM the day after we were scheduled to arrive.

I can understand delays. I understand that they happen sometimes, and sometimes there is nothing the airline can do. But when we are forced to change flights three times, change airports, and do all of the running back and forth to get the proper documentation ourselves, it becomes unacceptable. At no time did any employee of American Airlines apologize. At no time did any employee acknowledge that we had been subjected to unreasonable delays. The only thing that American employees did was dump us off on other airlines, hoping the problem would go away.

I have already written to you using the complaint submission form at aa.com. However, the 1500 character limit did not allow me to fully explain the situation. The reference number is XXX.

I travel a lot. My fiancée’s family owns a travel agency. At this point, I have no interest in ever flying with American Airlines again. You have made a mistake, which is understandable. But you have done absolutely nothing to fix it, which is unacceptable. Please contact me as soon as possible if you have not already done so as a result of my complaint online.

Thank you very much

I’ll keep you all posted on what transpires. I also submitted a thank you through Continental.com’s web form, because I figure I shouldn’t only contact the company when they screw up.

Posted in: complaint , Personal

And the first shots are fired

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

I wrote to American Airlines this morning using their online form.  It only allows 1500 characters, so I gave them a brief summary and told them that the full letter would follow via the postal service.  And it will.  I sent the form at 8:57AM EST, so we can now begin the countdown to my response.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint

Look, the ABA agrees with me

Monday, July 24, 2006

CNN.com - ABA: Bush violating Constitution - Jul 24, 2006

A little while back I wrote about how some people thought President Bush’s signing statements might be overstepping the bounds of his position:

Honestly, when you have prominent Republicans like Specter saying that our Republican President is overstepping his bounds, we’re all in trouble.

And now the American Bar Association, which might know a thing or two about the law, says that, sure enough, President Bush is doing “grave harm to the separation of powers doctrine”.

Perhaps more worrisome is that those very same people who may lose power to the President are backing him in this.

The ABA report said President Reagan was the first to use the statements as a strategic weapon, and that it was encouraged by then-administration lawyer Samuel Alito – now the newest Supreme Court justice.

That suggests that the Supreme Court might not fight back very hard if something relating to this pracitce came across their respective desks.  It also means that the signing statements might carry more weight if the Supreme Court thinks they’re okay.  Now, that may be reading too much into what could be a coincidence.  But when it comes to the Bush administration serving its own interests under the guise of fighting terror and at the expense of our freedoms, I’m not inclinded to give much benefit of the doubt.

Posted in: uninformed ramblings

I cant wait to complain

Monday, July 24, 2006

How to Complain About Your Airline Service

A friend and attempted Vegas co-consiprator sent me this.  If I wasn’t so tired … I mean working so hard, I’d start writing my letter to American Airlines.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint

Im back

Monday, July 24, 2006

And boy, do I have some complaints for you.  I have complaints about American Airlines first, who decided that I didn’t need to get to Vegas Thursday night, but that getting me there Friday afternoon without so much as an apology was just fine.  I have complaints about the place where we’re getting married, who have now charged my credit card twice when they were only owed once, and a complaint about Discover, who blocked the first charge, then let a duplicate charge go through two weeks later, putting me over my limit.  I also have complaints about Vegas, primarily that it was way too hot and I didn’t win every time I played craps, but those are probably not really so legitimate.

In any event, I will be posting the saga of our trip out there soon.  It’ll be fun, just wait.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint

Vegas, baby, Vegas

Thursday, July 20, 2006

You won’t be hearing anything from me until Monday at the earliest.  This evening we leave for sunny Las Vegas for my bachelor party (and that of a friend, who’s getting married in September).  So, I will not be posting anything until we get back.  Instead, I’ll be playing craps.  Wish me luck.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Personal

Go get some air

Thursday, July 20, 2006

xkcd - A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language - COMPLY

Found this on BoingBoing.  A comic strip that that mentions the Riemann-Zeta Function.  Awesome.

Well, the strip that I linked didn’t mention it.  But another one did.  Still awesome.

Posted in: nerd

John Scalzi on marketing

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Whatever: How (And How Not) To Market To Me When I’m in Blogger Mode

I think I’ve linked to John Scalzi’s blog before.  He’s a science fiction writer and a blogger and I’m sure some other things, too.  This particular post is about two different marketing pitches, and why one’s bad and one’s good.  The basic idea of his post is that mass marketing, even when it’s trying to be slick (Or maybe especially if it’s trying to be slick), comes off as being intrusive and doesn’t work.  At least not on smart people like us.  But if you take a minute to show that you know a little about the person you’re marketing to, and then offer something worthwhile, people will listen.

I understand that companies want to sell their products.  I don’t fault them for wanting to make a buck.  But intrusive marketing drives me up the wall.  My blog doesn’t have a following like Scalzi’s (yet), so I’m not on anyone’s radar (Except for a few F'ing spammers).  But if I get to that point, I’ll probably react a lot like he did.

By the way, sending me free stuff is always encouraged.  If you send me free stuff, I promise to review it on the site.  I don’t promise that anyone will read it, and I don’t promise to review it positively, but I promise to review it honestly.

Posted in: Stupid people

Thats what Ive been trying to tell you

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Daily Kos: Happy Blogosphere Day!

The most telling part of this whole post is the final line: “Our biggest enemy isn’t the GOP. It’s our own inaction."  That’s exactly my problem.  Both with everyone else, and with myself.  I complain, and I vote, but that’s about it.  I need to find a way to get more involved.

Actually, I think I should run for office.  I’ll destroy bi-partisanship and return the government to the people.  Would you vote for me?

Posted in: Politics

CNN ticker is crazy

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Anyone have the CNN headline widget on their Google homepage? I do. Someone over there has a weird sense of humor, because they like to juxtapose the weirdest articles. Currently, they have these three headlines displayed:

I mean, sorry, John, I loved Grosse Pointe Blank, but your stalker is not headline news. Good luck with that, though.

Posted in: weird

Failure or success?

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

You may know that I’ve been trying to get a more balanced view of the news.  I realized recently that everything I read has a pretty liberal slant, and I want to see the other side.  Both because I agree with a lot of conservative ideas, and because seeing both sides of an issue helps you regardless of which side you’re on.

So tell me if I’m better off now - I don’t like reading either side.  I read the National Review, and all I hear is, “President Bush is doing the right thing, why can’t you stupid liberals see that?”.  Then I read the Daily Kos and I see, “President Bush is destroying the world.  Why can’t you stupid conservatives see that?”.  I’m sick of it all.

What happened to the idea of public service?  What happened to the idea that we’re going to do what’s right for the people, not what the leaders of the political party you affiliate yourself with think serves their interests.

When I first registered to vote in Maryland when I was 18, I registered as a Democrat, mostly because my parents are Democrats, and Maryland requires you to register with a party to vote in the primaries.  Did that mean that I was ruled by the Democratic party?  No.  It means that I chose to associate with them because, in general, their ideas matched up with mine, and they had a much bigger voice than I do.  Later, I considered myself a Republican, because my views changed, and now I agreed with more Republican ideas.

Today, I will not associate myself with either party.  Politics is too much about the party, and about the fighting for the superiority and power of one over the other, and too often the people are forgotten.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

Two things

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Slashdot | Windows Vista still Rife with Insecure Code

  1. Anyone surprised by this has not been paying attention
  2. Kudos to Slashdot for working “rife” into the headline.
Posted in: linux , nerd

Bush Set to Use First Veto on Stem Cell Bill

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Bush Set to Use First Veto on Stem Cell Bill

I’m actually okay with Bush vetoing this bill.  I mean, he said in 2001 that he wasn’t going to expand federal funding for stem cell research.  At least he’s being true to his word.  I disagree with his 2001 decision, but at least he’s being honest and consistent.

I’ll discuss my views on stem cell research another time.  The real problem I have with this veto is this:

[This veto] would mark the first time the president has wielded a veto pen, putting him far behind his predecessors Bill Clinton (38 vetoes in two terms), George H.W. Bush (44 in one term) and Ronald Reagan (78 in two terms). To a large degree, the lack of a veto reflects the simple fact that Republicans have controlled Congress almost the entire time Bush has been in office and they have been reluctant to send him legislation that might be vetoed.

You know, the real failing of those who don’t like the President may not be that we allowed him to be re-elected, but rather that we haven’t managed to get anyone in Congress who both disagrees with him, and has the backing to do something about it.  If all of Congress is behind him, and at this point it seems like half of the Supreme Court is his nominees, it’s no wonder that he’s been able to do so many things that make so many people upset.

I thought midterm elections where when the party that opposed the President typically got some more control of Congress.  Maybe we were too busy crying about how poorly he speaks, or how he stole the election.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

Lets not get ahead of ourselves

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Boing Boing: Will Bix kill the record industry? (I hope so)

This is a cool idea.  This new company, Bix, started by the guy who build epinions, is going to pretty much move American Idol online, except without obnoxious hosts.  The idea is to hold online contests, where maybe everyone pays an entry fee and the winner gets a chunk, or things like that.

Let’s see … combine YouTube with American Idol, tempt people with the idea of getting “discovered”, and sell advertising everywhere?  That sounds like a business model that could work for a while.

Plus, if it gets big enough, maybe some cool bands will get discovered that don’t sound like they were manufactured for MTV.  I think the musings at BoingBoing that suggest this could kill the recording industry are a little far-fetched, but giving up-and-coming musicians and whatnot a lower barrier to entry into the market sounds good to me.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Music

Comment spam

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Have I mentioned that people who take the time to write little scripts or whatever it is they do to spam the comments at this blog and others deserve to be hit by buses? I don’t quite know why this bothers me so much. It feels like an invasion of privacy. I love when people comment here. I love that people actually do enjoy what I write, and I welcome comments, whether you agree with me or not. But I do wish, with all my heart, that those responsible for comment spam and all other types of spam would die. This is not hyperbole. I wish death upon them. The world would be better off. If only Dante were alive now so that he could write them into The Inferno. They’d be sitting on top of Satan’s head, screaming offers for cheap V14gr4 at the tortured souls all around them.

What may be even worse is the people who actually buy from them. It must be profitable, or they’d quit. Please, anyone reading this, never, EVER EVER EVER buy ANYTHING from a spammer. If you get an email trying to sell you something, it IS A SCAM. No exceptions. It’s only going to get worse if you keep encouraging them.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint

Someone should be complaining about me right now

Monday, July 17, 2006

So you may know that I’m getting married in about a month.  You may also know that I typically keep my hair short enough that I haven’t owned a brush or comb since high school.  Usually, the $14 Hair Cuttery special is just perfect for me.

But I wanted something a little nicer for the wedding, so, at the advice of a coworker, I went to Phantacee, which is not a strip club.  Although they do give you a nice scalp massage before they shampoo your hair.

Now, so far I like the haircut, although I just got home and haven’t washed it yet, so it’s too early to really tell.  But I feel bad.  I didn’t realize that I wasn’t going to be able to tip the woman who cut my hair on my credit card when I paid.  I gave her all the cash in my wallet, which was a mere $4 on a $30 haircut.  I apologized, explaining that I didn’t realize I needed cash.  She blew it off, but she’s not a native English speaker, and I fear I may not have adequately expressed myself.

Anyway, there was an ATM across the street.  However, I felt it would be rude to go across the street and come back, have to get change for a $20 from the desk, and then give her a tip.  Is that wrong?  My plan is to go back for a trim the week before the wedding and give her a large tip to make up for it.  Of course, I forgot to get her name, so it may be difficult.  But I intend to make up for my small tip.

Maybe now that I’ve linked to the salon’s website, the thousands of visitors I get here will all get their hair cut there, and that will make up for it.  So, if you’re reading this, and you’re in the DC Metro area, head on over and ask for the girl who got the crappy tip from a guy with an unkempt (but clean) mop of rapidly greying hair.  Then tip her well.

Posted in: Personal

Put a what on you?

Monday, July 17, 2006

Baltimore Orioles : News : Baltimore Orioles News

No matter how many runs you get, you feel like they can come back and put a [hurt] on you like they did the first night.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t you usually use the word in brackets to add or replace words that are a little out of context?  For example, replacing a pronoun with the specific noun if you’ve chosen not to quote the previous sentence where the pronoun was defined.

What the heck is this [hurt] replacing?  Was there some even more obscure slang word there?  Profanity?  Did Sam Perlozzo, Orioles' manager and the quoted, make hand gestures?  We’ll probably never know.

Also, allowing 5 hits and no runs in 5 2/3 innings is not a “gem”, as the article states.  It’s a solid start, but in my book, a “gem” is at least 7 full innings, and most of those innings better not contain any hits.

Posted in: baseball , sports

A different perspective

Monday, July 17, 2006

Touch Messenger: Braille Text Messaging - Gizmodo

The first time I really thought about things like this was a few years ago when I had a deaf coworker.  Of course I understand the concept of being deaf, or blind, but it never sinks in until you spend some time with someone who actually is deaf or blind.  But you never think about things like, “How would a blind person text message?”

My deaf coworker called his little two way text messager a “deaf person’s cell phone”.  I had never thought about how useful something like that would be to someone who’s deaf, but once I saw him use it, it’s obvious.  But I’m glad to see some of the gadget companies looking around and seeing niches that need to be filled.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Gadgets

Virginia last in voter turnout in the last primary

Monday, July 17, 2006

USATODAY.com - Fewer primary voters ‘define the range of choices’

I found this via Raising Kaine via Daily Kos.  3.5% of Virginia voters turned out to vote in the primary.  At the school where I voted, it was about 6%, which I thought was pretty terrible, but apparently we were ahead of the rest of the state.  Now, I know there’s a Republican incumbent, so the Republican half of the primary is pretty trivial.  But Virginia allows you to vote in either one.  Those who want Senator George Allen to retain his seat certainly could have decided which of the two Democrats had a better chance of winning, and voted for the other guy.

This seems to be either voter stupidity or voter apathy.  We have a President with a 36% approval rating.  If that doesn’t get people out to vote, what will?  Maybe we need to lose some more civil rights to the war on terror.  Maybe we do need a national ID card, something we’d be required to present all the time to prove our citizenship.  Maybe a draft, to send ground troops in to help Israel, or to invade North Korea.

It blows my mind that people don’t vote.  And then they try to use dissatisfaction with the government as justification.  If you don’t vote, then you don’t get to complain about the government.  I don’t care if George W. Bush himself comes to your house, installs a bug in your phone, and then kicks your dog.  I have no sympathy for you if you don’t vote.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

All alone

Friday, July 14, 2006

My fiancee leaves for Puerto Rico today.  She’s going for a quick getaway with a friend, and she’ll be back next Wednesday, just in time for me to leave for Vegas on Thursday.  I think it’s good that we take separate vacations sometimes.  I mean, my trip to Vegas is my bachelor party, so that’s obviously separate.  But we’ll continue taking separate vacations after the wedding.  Not all the time, but sometimes.  I mean, we’re going to be hanging out with each other a lot, for a long time.  Having a few days here and there apart makes us appreciate the rest of the time even more.

Posted in: Life

Hillary after 100 pages

Thursday, July 13, 2006

This entire book is a string of little chronological factoids about Bill and Hillary and the various wonderful people they have as good friends, and the various Republicans they strongly disagree with, but respect very much.

It has given me no reason to like or dislike Hillary.  I wish she’d give just some small insight into why she thinks the things she does.  Oh, well.  I didn’t expect anything controversial.  I just maybe hoped for a little something interesting.

I’m not giving up yet.  I don’t plan to give up at all.  But it sure is slow going.

Posted in: Politics

The age of cigarettes may be drawing to a close

Thursday, July 13, 2006

San Diego bans smoking at beaches, parks - Yahoo! News

This is a pretty big step for San Diego. It’s one thing to ban indoor smoking, but we haven’t seen too many outdoor smoking bans. The focus of this article, though, is more on the discarded butts than the health hazards. That may be a subtle acknowledgement of the fact that secondhand smoke is unlikely to be too great a danger in huge, wide-open spaces. But it reminds me of my old boss at a summer job in high school. He was a smoker, but he absolutely refused to pitch a butt on the ground. He would twist off the burning end and put it in his pocket until he could throw it away. “It’s my nasty habit, not anyone else’s”. He said.

I wonder how many people would be less adamant about banning smoking if more smokers were as considerate about their habit as he was.

Posted in: health , Health

Ken Lay - not Jesus

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Whatever: When Ministers Say Goddamned Stupid Things

John Scalzi has a little response to Reverend Dr. Bill Lawson, who compared Ken Lay to Martin Luther King, Jr, and to Jesus. This is worse than PTI comparing Jonathan Papelbon to Mariano Rivera.

By the way, if you’re a fan of science fiction, or even if you aren’t, check out Scalzi’s books. I’ve enjoyed them. His blog’s not bad, either.

Posted in: Stupid people

Why no response to the bombings in Mumbai?

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Deafening silence in the blogosphere - Sepia Mutiny

Found this on BoingBoing.  It seems that, for a change, the “old school” news guys covered this a lot more thoroughly than the “new school” bloggers did. 

I can’t really say why I didn’t say anything about it.  It’s certainly a big deal.  An unnamed political blogger quoted in the article said that he didn’t post it because he had nothing to add, and I probably don’t, either.

I have to say that my technique for finding things to write about is that I post something when I notice and article that interests me.   Often things are going to slip through the cracks. 

I don’t mean to trivialize the importance of what happened there.  This is a big deal, not only for those directly affected, but for the world. 

I think it reminds us that bloggers and traditional journalists don’t have to be on opposite sides. The success of blogs does not have to come at the expense of traditional journalism, and I think we’ll find a good middle ground where everyone (except close-minded and insecure jerks) can live in peace.

Posted in: Politics

The perils of the Blogosphere

Thursday, July 13, 2006

I want people to read my blog.  I have pipe dreams of getting 200,000 unique hits a day and making a living with Google Adsense.  I like to think that I have interesting and humorous things to share with the world (My mommy and my fiancee tell me they think my blog is good). In my quest to expand my readership, I’ve been searching around for other blogs and such where I can contribute a comment with a link back to my site, so that maybe I’ll say something interesting, and someone will come read a post or two here, and they’ll enjoy it, and keep coming back.  So I was poking around at del.icio.us, looking for interesting things to read.  Wow, are there some crazy people out there.  There was one person who dissected and refuted an Onion article, accusing them of pushing their agenda, whatever that is.  I won’t link to the post, because I don’t want to encourage her to post anything ever again.  I found an article from some reputable news site that claimed to talk about politicians in Washington regulating the internet, but never really saying anything.  Politicians regulating the internet is a big deal.  There’s lots to say.  Why write an article about it and not say any of them?  I don’t know, either.

My point is that you never know what you’re going to get when you read a blog.  So you need to be careful.  If you read a story at the Washington Post, or the Wall Street Journal, you’re probably getting someone who at least did some research.  And of course, everything you read here is thoroughly researched, down to the most mundane detail.  I swear.

But what about those scurrilous bloggers who would deceive you with lies and half-truths?  They’re out there.  You’ve got people paid by companies to promote products.  You’ve got insane people making things up as they go along.

I’m here to tell you not to trust anyone.  Except me.  You can trust me.  Just ask my mommy.

Posted in: uninformed ramblings

And this solves what?

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

US wants passenger info before overseas departures - Yahoo! News

This article is a little thin on details, but apparently DHS wants to get a list of all passengers on a plane, plus a bunch of info about them, before any plane in another country leaves the gate bound for the US.  Each passenger must then be cleared by customs before the plane can leave. 

Does anyone really think this makes us safer?  Do we somehow have a list of the names and addresses of every terrorist in the world?  If so, maybe we’d be better served by going to their respective houses and asking them to please stop being terrorists. 

This seems like an excellent way to delay plane departures and make a show of making us safe without actually doing anything.  And there’s the added bonus that most of the passengers will blame the airline, not the government.  It’s really a stroke of genius by Homeland Security. 

Posted in: complaint , uninformed ramblings

Forget the polar ice caps, now theyre messing with wine

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Treehugger: Climate Change Threatens Vineyards

Climate change is making more and more areas unsuitable for growing grapes to make wine.  This is an outrage.  Who cares about dumb jaguars (Note - it’s more fun to say jaguar in Spanish - the “j” sounds like an “h”.  Try it!) and worthless giant pandas - they can’t mess with my wine!

Actually, I’m just kidding.  I care deeply for jaguars and giant pandas.  And the article is making predictions for 2099.  By then, little nano-machines will be making wine from raw carbon without all that work of growing grapes and fermenting them and all that.

I wonder how long it takes before climate change starts affecting something that everyone cares about?  I mean, it’s easy for someone to say, “I don’t care about the rainforest” if you’ve never seen one.  The whole “we need them to survive” thing doesn’t seem quite real.  It’s the same with melting ice caps.  They’re far away.  Not to diminish the impact they have on our lives, but it is certainly easy to ignore.

Maybe someone should get Al Gore on this.  He could make another movie called “A Sobering Picture” all about how wine is good for you, but the Republicans are trying to destroy it.

Posted in: Wine

I've been waiting for this for all my life

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Newsvine - Political Strategists to Launch Web Site

Well, not quite all my life.  Looks like “Matthew Dowd, chief strategist for the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2004, and Joe Lockhart, former White House press secretary under President Clinton” are starting up an “Internet information venture designed to interact with America’s opinion leaders and serve as an antidote to the right-left clash that typifies political discourse on the Web”. 

It’s supposed to be a social networking site for grownups.  And it’s supposed to be bipartisan, focusing on informed debate rather than the self-serving crap we get from the Democrats and Republicans now.

It remains to be seen if it will be anything worthwhile, but I would love to see this work out.  Imagine!  A place to get real information from both sides of our political spectrum.

Anyway, keep your eye out in October for HotSoup

Posted in: Anti complaint , Politics

Does the AP do it on purpose?

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

CNN.com - Bush heralds improved deficit figures - Jul 11, 2006

Bush says:

These tax cuts left nearly $1.1 trillion in the hands of American workers and families and small business owners. And they used this money to help fuel an economic resurgence [leading to higher tax revenues and a smaller deficit]

The AP says:

Impressive profits and big income gains by the wealthy are largely responsible for the surge in [tax] revenues and, in turn, the deficit drop.

Does the AP mean to point out the half-truth here, or are they honestly just trying to add some analysis?  I have to think the former, because I can’t imagine that the AP would be that clueless.  But I don’t really know for sure.

Posted in: Politics

Materazzi is uncultured

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

SI.com - 2006 World Cup - Materazzi admits insulting Zidane but denies ‘terrorist’ - Tuesday July 11, 2006 12:03PM

“I did insult him, it’s true,” Materazzi said in Tuesday’s Gazzetta dello Sport. “But I categorically did not call him a terrorist. I’m not cultured and I don’t even know what an Islamic terrorist is.”

I wonder - was this quote translated from Italian? Does Materazzi speak English? If he does, how fluently? Regardless, the fact remains that Zidane is a douchebag.

Posted in: Zidane

It looks like Ten isnt Pearl Jams only worthwhile gift to society

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Treehugger: Pearl Jam Announces Carbon Portfolio Strategy

Pearl Jam has announced that they are giving “$100,000 to nine different non-profits ‘doing innovative work around climate change, renewable energy, and the environment’”, and hope to get to 0% net emissions for their tours and business.

I haven’t listened to much Pearl Jam lately, mostly because I haven’t liked much they’ve done since “Ten”, but “Ten” was one of the top five or so albums released in the last 20 years, and ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE IS STUPID. Just kidding. Anyone who says otherwise isn’t necessarily stupid. They’re wrong, but not necessarily stupid.

This does make me want to go out and buy the latest Pearl Jam cd. Do you think they’re selling a DRM-free copy?

Posted in: Anti complaint , Wind kissing

64 pages of Hillary - I still dont like her

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Unfortunately, I can’t really say why yet. I’m curious, though - in 64 pages, we’ve gone from the birth of her grandmother to Bill proposing - what the heck is she going to talk about for the next 450 pages? One thing I’m sure of, she’ll mention wonderful people who’ve become lifelong friends. And she’ll probably pat herself on the back for being so gosh darn eager to change the world through dialogue and diplomacy!

Posted in: Politics

New tax on VOIP to go to . . . nothing

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

The Jeff Pulver Blog: Guest Blogger: Daniel Berninger - “Universal Service Fund generated remarkably meager results for $50 billion spent”

I’ve been using Vonage’s VOIP service ever since I bought my condo in March 2005. I’ve been pretty happy with it, although their tech support is less than perfect. Now, the link above is an open letter to Congressional Commerce Committees about the decision of the FCC to apply the Universal Service Fund to VOIP. The USF is supposed to bring telephone service to poor rural areas, a noble goal as far as I’m concerned. But the gist of the letter is that what the USF really does is make it that much harder for Vonage and other VOIP providers to turn the phone industry into a real competitive market.

I think one of the real problems is that, too often, little bits of data transmitted over our internet connections are treated as different objects when they really aren’t. Somehow, it’s totally different, according to some, to transfer voice instead of video, or data instead of voice. This is ridiculous. It’s all the same stuff. It’s as if we decided that you needed one highway for automobiles, and one for SUVs. Never mind that many small car drivers would love this, that’s not the point. The point is that it doesn’t matter what you’re sending. This device produces this data, and sends it to that device, which receives it. Does it matter if the first device was a webcam or a VOIP phone?

Apparently it does, and the FCC is going to tax it. I don’t have a problem with the FCC taxing communication to raise money for things that need to be done, but the USF has spent $50 billion over the last 20 years to increase phone penetration in rural areas by about 3%. I would hereby like to volunteer to accept $50 billion and spend the next 20 years trying to get a phone for every person in America. If I don’t have 99% coverage by 2027, feel free to put me in jail. I’ll deserve it.

Posted in: complaint , Politics

Still digging Ubuntu

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

As I near the internet geek abyss, posting to my blog using Flock on a box running Ubuntu, setting up an account at del.icio.us, spending the afternoon learning about apt-get, I realize that I’m enjoying myself.  My fiancee thinks I’m crazy, but that’s nothing new.

I haven’t cut the cord to Windows yet, although I’d like to.  I’ll probably keep my laptop dual-booting (Currently it’s XP only) just in case.

On a related note, speaking of fiancees, I’m wondering how I can convince her that a new monitor is a reasonable investment.  I’m currently using a 17" CRT from 1998 when I’m not on my laptop, and it’s pretty painful.  It was cruel of them at work to buy me a 24" widescreen, because now everything else seems like an insult to my eyes.  It’ll probably have to wait until after the wedding, though.

Posted in: linux , nerd

When two things I love come together

Monday, July 10, 2006

Sales of organic beers start to hop - Yahoo! News

And those two things are Yahoo! News and dumb headline puns.

Actually, the two things I love are organic and beer.  I was in Giant yesterday because I was out running another errand (recycling cardboard, actually - I’m so environmentally friendly) and I was right next to Giant.  I never used to think there was much difference between one supermarket and another.  But now that we have a new super Safeway nearby, plus the Harris Teeter and Whole Foods, where I can get all kinds of cool organic food, the fact that Giant seems to have watched the organic bandwagon go flying by without so much as a wave is a big deal.

Now, I don’t buy everything organic.  I’ll buy “conventional” if no organic is available.  But it’s always nice to be able to get the organic.

So now organic beer is starting to pick up.  That’s great.  I do love beer.

Organic beer sales increased 40 percent in 2005, tying it with organic coffee as the fastest-growing organic beverage, the Organic Trade Association says. By comparison, overall U.S. beer sales fell slightly last year.

Awesome.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Wind kissing

Increasing my nerd quotient

Sunday, July 09, 2006

First, there was the Slashdot post about Mac nerds switching to Ubuntu. Then I saw that someone I’ve met in real life uses Ubuntu. Since I’ve always thought that I couldn’t really claim that I was a computer geek unless I had at least one computer running Linux (And my previous attempt at running Debian was a failure), I thought, why not follow Cory’s lead and check out Ubuntu.  So far, it’s pretty cool.  I had some issues getting my resolution to display at anything but 640X480, and I still don’t have my wireless card working (Although I’m not sure it ever worked that well when I was running Windows, either), I’m liking the Linux.  Ubuntu comes with a pretty slick GUI, and a lot of the stuff you need - Firefox, OpenOffice, Gimp …

And it’s keeping my old Dell P3 500mhz from sitting in a corner collecting dust.  I bought the computer in 1998, and it’s treated me well.  Now I think I can get a little more use out of it.

My fiancee tells me that I’m running Linux because I want to be able to look down my nose at you silly Windows users, and she’s not entirely off-base.  There is a certain part of me that yearns to be snooty to everyone else.  But I try to keep that part in check.  Sometimes I even manage to do it.

Posted in: linux , nerd

Zidane is a clown

Sunday, July 09, 2006

ESPNsoccernet - World Cup - Zidane sent off in extra time for head butt

Throughout the World Cup this year, France’s Zinedine Zidane has been fantastic. Not only has he played very well, but he’s been classy - When he scores, which he does a lot, he acts like he’s done it before.

And then he headbutted a defender. It looked like the two of them had some words, and then he headbutted him in the chest. So, as he’s already announced his retirement, the last time he left the field, ever, was on a red card when his team really needed him. When that happened, I totally lost interest in the game. I had been rooting for France - Zidane and Henry have been fun to watch, and I’ve never been a big fan of Italy, not since Roberto Baggio’s awful PK miss against Brazil in 1994. But when Zidane left the field, due to nothing but his own inability to control himself, I just stopped caring about the outcome.

It’s too bad he’s retiring - it would be nice to see a big long suspension for him.

Posted in: Zidane

36 Pages of Hillary - An Initial Reaction

Sunday, July 09, 2006

After 36 pages of Hillary’s book, my only reason to hate her is that she’s not a gifted writer. I’ve read a little about her childhood and schooling, a little about her family.

I’m certainly not going to quit now. I know I can’t make an informed judgement about her (Or anyone) after reading 36 pages. What I would say now is that her childhood wasn’t that interesting, she probably got good grades on the papers she turned in while she was in school, and none of her teachers ever told her to write for a living.

I’m probably being nitpicky, looking for things I don’t like. I mean, who am I to criticize the writing ability of a published author and Senator? I’ve published two stories in my college literary magazine years ago, and a few little articles at the Piker Press, but I have yet to see my own work in Borders.

Still, as a public figure, and a political one, she brings this sort of criticism on herself. And trust me, Hillary, there will be more by the time I’m finished.

Posted in: Politics

A step in the right direction, but not far enough

Friday, July 07, 2006

OpinionJournal - Extra

I heard a quick interview with Republican Congressman Mike Pence from Indiana on NPR this morning, and it sounded like he had some good things to say about immigration. He’s proposing 6 year guest worker visas - at the end to the six years, the worker can apply for citizenship. One would assume that, after working here six years, it should not be terribly difficult to obtain citizenship, and indeed it is good for the country if these workers gain citizenship. Pence wants to revisit automatic citizenship for the children of guest workers born in the US, which I think is a good idea.

But his ideas are not all good. For example, he advocates contracting out processing of these workers on entry. I’m not opposed to government contracting (Disclaimer - I am a government contractor, though the opinions expressed here are my own, and do not reflect opinions of anyone else unless otherwise noted), it can be much more efficient. But I am opposed to unreasonable expectations:

Private worker-placement agencies–“Ellis Island Centers”–would be licensed by the federal government to match guest workers with jobs that employers cannot fill with American workers. These agencies will match guest workers with jobs, perform health screening, fingerprint them, and convey the appropriate information to the FBI and Homeland Security so that a background check can be performed. Once this is done, the guest worker would be provided with a visa issued by the State Department. The whole process will take a matter of one week, or less.

One week? Come on, Mike. It takes eight weeks to renew a passport for a natural born American citizen, doesn’t it?

I also have a problem with his plan that your first renewal of your guest worker visa requires that you pass an English proficiency test. Why is that? So that the workers can integrate themselves into the community? I think that’s a pretty weak argument. Language is not forced like that. It’s a much more natural process. As workers come here, they’ll pick up English as needed. And it certainly wouldn’t hurt if we Americans made a little effort to learn some Spanish. Communication is not something that needs to be legislated. Give human beings some credit - Americans don’t mostly all speak English because there’s a law saying we have to. We do it because we have a need and a desire to communicate, and that’s the way we do that here. Guest workers will adapt, too, and do what they need to do to communicate.

On the whole, though, I think Pence’s plan is getting close to a compromise that I think most people can live with. He needs to take out the part about building walls around the country. We have enough things that give us a false sense of security, and having useless walls would be another. Does he think that, because they don’t speak English, those who would come here illegally can’t find their way over, around, or through a wall?

Still, he’s heading in the right direction. Now all we need is someone else to step in and lead him the rest of the way.

Posted in: Politics

Researching the enemy

Thursday, July 06, 2006

I’ve always hated Hillary Clinton. I don’t even think I can explain why. People argue with me. “Oh, she’s so smart,” they say. I know she’s smart. If she were dumb, I wouldn’t worry about her.

My mom fiancee (EDIT: Ooh, misremembering the source of this is getting me into trouble) actually makes a good point about Hillary - She was already in the public eye when she began her political career. That means we got to watch her turn into a politician. We got to watch as she started saying exactly what she thought the voters wanted to hear (And so far, she’s been right). Most politicians do this soul-selling before we hear about them, so they’re already like that when we “meet” them. And so we can tell ourselves that it’s just the way they are.

Not Hillary. She changed before our eyes. For the record, I hated her before that.

Anyway, I am now determined to figure out why I hate her. To that end, I ordered her book, “Living History”, used at Amazon. I have to say I’m impressed with the seller, who managed to get me the book in about a week for the low, low price of $3.63 shipped. I have to say it does make me happy that only 14 cents of that was the actual cost of the book. It’s not in fabulous condition, but that will only add fuel to my argument once I read it and learn why it is that I hate her.

The Amazon reviews suggest that the book is pretty vanilla - she doesn’t come out and say anything shocking. And this book is from before she was a Senator. I’d rather read about Hillary the Senator than Hillary the First Lady. I’m sure we’ll get that opportunity after she’s through running for President.

So, I’ll keep you posted. We’ll have to see if I can get through it.

Posted in: Politics

A little bit more sensible article at the National Review

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Rich Lowry on Catch and Remove & El Salvador on National Review Online

I don’t necessarily agree with all of this, but I can chalk up the disagreements to philosophy rather than insanity.

Advocates of a guest-worker program and amnesty argue that the migrant inflow here from points south is literally inexorable. Actually, illegal migrants are people, and so they respond to incentives and disincentives. Enforcement matters to them, as is being demonstrated by the two different approaches to catch-and-release on the border.

Hey, what do you know, immigrants are people.  I fear the acceptance of this fact is much more difficult than it should be for too many people.

However, I’m afraid that the article is failing to take some things into account.  It blames an old rule that prevented the US from deporting Salvadoreans because El Salvador was in the middle of civil war in the 1980’s.  The rule is still on the books, and Mr. Lowry postulates that many Salvadoreans come here because they know about this law, and they know it’s harder to send a Salvadorean back.  Even illegals from other countries often try to claim to be Salvadorean.  I’m sure this old law is not helping, and it should be fixed.  Old laws that are no longer applicable should be rewritten.

The point he’s missing, though, is that there are other possible reasons that there are more Salvadoreans.  For example, let’s say that one Salvadorean leaves his home and comes to the US illegally and manages to stay because of this law.  He starts working and sending money back home, helping his family.  So his old neighbors see this happening, and they decide to try it, too.  His cousin comes along as well, knowing he’ll have family around to help him get started.

Contrary to popular belief, not all illegals know each other.  If there are strong Salvadorean communities here in the US, they will attract more immigrants, legal or not.

I don’t want to trot out the tired arguments in favor of letting all the illegals stay.  “Were your parents Native Americans?"  "What happened to bring me your tired, your poor?"  Those arguments have been made, and I think they have some validity, but it doesn’t really solve the problem.  I think we do need some control over who’s here and who’s allowed to stay.  But we do not need racist militia in border states shooting at people looking for a better life.  We don’t need a wall across the entire southern edge of the country.  We certainly don’t need a national id card that we all have to carry, all the time.  I will show my id when asked to prove my age at a bar, prove my identity at the bank, to vote, or to prove I can legally operate a motor vehicle.  That’s about it.  I like to think I would go to jail before I showed my id to prove I could legally walk down the street.  A small part of me hopes I’ll have to prove that sometime.  It would be fun to call my mom to bail me out.

I do think we need to do something about illegal immigrants.  But I haven’t yet heard a good solution, and I don’t have one myself.  But someone must.

Posted in: uninformed ramblings

Way to circumvent the legal system

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Enron Founder Ken Lay Dead of Heart Attack

I think “died of a heart attack” is just code for “moved to a tropical island with no extradition laws”.

Posted in: Stupid people

Am I really a liberal?

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

I’ve realized lately that most of what I read online has a pretty liberal slant to it.  I think this is a problem, because I really do want a balanced viewpoint.  And I’ve always thought that I agreed with a lot of conservative viewpoints - small government, low taxes, take care of the economy and it’ll take care of the rest …

So I’ve gone looking for some conservative websites so I could read some stuff from the intelligent conservatives.  I know they’re out there, although clowns like Bill Frist and Ann Coulter seem to be pushing the good ones into the background.

I tried the National Review.  Wow.  I managed to read one article, which spoke of the Supreme Court decision that said that even captured terrorists have rights, and that was about all I could handle.  The biggest problem was the blind support of our President.

For a little background - I turned 18 in 1996 and I voted for Bill Clinton, flush with pride at taking part in the democratic process.  I didn’t really like Clinton by the end of his term - Hillary gives me the creeps, and if you’re going to get caught cheating, you should at least make the rest of us jealous.  I voted for George W. Bush in 2000, mostly I think because Al Gore didn’t really seem to ever say anything.  After four years of Bush, I started to think that Clinton wasn’t all that bad.  I voted for John Kerry in 2004, not because I like Kerry (I voted for Dean in the primary - at least he seemed to give a crap), but because I was embarassed to have a president who seemed to want to turn the world into a Christian theocracy when no one was paying attention.

Anyway, back to the National Review.  Or actually, not to the National Review.  I’ll try another article or two, but I think I’m done with them.  Where are the Republicans who say, “Whoa, these lunatics in power don’t speak for us.”?  Where are the Republicans who say, “You can’t use 9/11 as an excuse to declare war and then expand the office of the President in the name of national security”?  I need to find them.  I think we’d get along.

Posted in: uninformed ramblings

Dont call kids fat. Wait until heart disease does it for you

Monday, July 03, 2006

Experts debate labeling children obese - Yahoo! News

There’s a ridiculous bit of debate on whether we should tell kids that they are “overweight” or “obese”, or whether we should use other words so the kids don’t feel bad. The real problem here is that they still use BMI to determine overweight. BMI is a ridiculous, meaningless number. Let’s say I’m in perfect shape. I eat healthy foods and exercise regularly. Then I decide to bulk up a bit, and I hit the gym and gain ten pounds of muscle. According to my BMI, I am now less healthy.

It’s ridiculous. Kids are fat. They eat terribly, and don’t exercise enough. And we want to worry about hurting their feelings?

Posted in: complaint , Stupid people

Perhaps the most insane thing ever said by a Senator (But probably not)

Monday, July 03, 2006

27B Stroke 6

This is going around today, I saw it on Fark, they got it from Daily Kos. In any event, it’s a partial transcript of a rambling diatribe given by Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens that plainly shows he does not understand what “the internet” is. He makes the claim that we need to separate the commercial part of the internet from the part that is “essential to small businesses, to our operation of families”. Now, I’m not sure how “small businesses” aren’t part of the commercial world, but maybe he just thinks that people feel warm and fuzzy about small businesses so it’s okay to lump them in with regular people.

He’s arguing for regulation of the internet so that the bandwith hogging applications (he mentions on-demand movie downloads) don’t interfere with little Billy’s email to Grandma. Okay, fine, I’m in favor of that. But there are a couple of directions we can take here.

One, we can make the big bad corporations build their own internet so that it doesn’t interfere with families. Does that mean I’d have to have two accounts with Cox? One for my “family internet” and one so I can get on Buy.com? Not sure how that helps me.

Two, we can look at why (or if) this is really a problem. Maybe the RIAA and MPAA could stop trying to criminalize Bit Torrent and try using it for their own legal distribution. Maybe we could remove some of the monopolies granted to cable companies and get some real competition. Problems like the ones Stevens describes don’t happen in truly competitive markets. When they come up, someone figures out how to fix it, and everyone else follows along or gets left behind. It’s only when the barriers to entry are set so high that competition is impossible that we run into things like this.

Anyway, his statement would be really funny if it weren’t so scary.

Posted in: complaint , uninformed ramblings

Its the governments fault

Monday, July 03, 2006

Treehugger: So Why is Ford Backing Away from Hybrid Commitment?

Some short-sighted laws intended to encourage automakers to go green is too restrictive.

According to the US Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center, these laws create an incentive for auto makers to build cars capable of using alternative fuels by “[giving] a credit of up to 1.2 mpg toward an automobile manufacturer’s average fuel economy which helps it avoid penalties of the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards.

So, it makes sense that Ford would go towards alternative fuels instead of hybrids that use regular gas, but less of it.  It’s certainly possible that, when they wrote the law, they had the best of intentions.  I doubt they did, but it’s possible.  But now that it’s obvious that the law is having unintended consequences, such as pushing Ford away from hybrids, then we should change the law.  It’s already more difficult to make a hybrid than to change an existing car over to flex-fuel, so we don’t need to add artificial barriers on top of the ones that are present already.

Posted in: complaint , Wind kissing

NY Times, House of Representatives holding pissing contest

Friday, June 30, 2006

CNN.com - House vote slaps news organizations - Jun 29, 2006 The House of Representatives (hereafter referred to as Bickering Partisan Assclowns) passed a resolution “condemning news organizations for revealing a covert government program to track terrorist financing”. Now, this got me thinking - what, exactly, is a “resolution”? Well, answers.com had a nice definition. Interesting to note is that there are two types of resolutions - those that pass laws, and those that more or less express the opinion of the legislative body, in this case the Bickering Partisan Assclowns, or BPA. This type of resolution is in response to a certain event, such as the Times writing about our secret and probably illegal searching techniques for terrorists. It is not intended to be permanent or enforceable.

In a certain respect, [resolutions of this type] resemble the opinions expressed by a newspaper on its editorial page, but they are nonetheless indicative of the ideas and values of elected representatives and, as such, commonly mirror the outlook of voters.

Oh, really? So, the Times prints an article. The BPA gets its panties in a bunch, and publishes an editorial. Except that because the BPA is a large and powerful organization, it passes a resolution instead of publishing an editorial. This, in effect, says to the Times, “our genitals are larger than yours”. So that’s fine, I guess. Sure, it’s a waste of time and taxpayer dollars, but I suppose a response is justified. But then we see that the vote on the resolution was pretty much straight down the party line, with the Republicans (Not surprisingly) in the pro column. The Democrats had a problem with some language in the resolution that defended the legality of the search techniques. Now, here’s where I have a real problem, and why I think our government is broken. There are two issues that need to be resolved here. First, did the Times break the law? Are they guilty, as complete nutjob Ann Coulter says, of treason? Well, either they are guilty of breaking some law, and they should be dealt with by the legal system, or they’re not, and their actions are protected by the free speech, or freedom of the press, or whatever. Second, are the methods they wrote about illegal? Are we violating our citizens' rights in the name of stopping terrorists? It seems likely that we are, but I can’t say for certain. Again, if these methods are illegal, then the legal system needs to deal with that, and if not, everything’s fine. So, what does the BPA do? It writes an opinion piece. It tackles none of the underlying issues, and simply drafts a non-binding opinion calling people names. Great.

Posted in: uninformed ramblings

Im sorry, Godwins Law says youre done now.

Friday, June 30, 2006

Pro-lifers against Buffett-Gates alliance - Yahoo! News

How misguided do you have to be to attack a man for pledging tens of billions of dollars to charity? Misguided enough, I suppose, to run smack into Godwin’s Law.

“The merger of Gates and Buffett may spell doom for the families of the developing world,” said the Rev. Thomas Euteneuer, a Roman Catholic priest who is president of Human Life International.

Referring to Josef Mengele, the infamous Nazi death camp doctor, Euteneuer said Buffett “will be known as the Dr. Mengele of philanthropy unless he repents.”

Now, for a minute, let’s assume that the Judeo-Christian God exists more or less as He’s described in the Bible. Then, we can suppose that Rev. Euteneuer asked Him, “So, God, we have this guy who wants to pledge literally billions of dollars to promote global health. He wants to bring medicine and education and all sorts of necessities to people who need them. But there’s a possibility that a small fraction of the money will go to promote abortion. Should we stone him, or simply banish him into the wilderness?”

Whatever God may or may not be, He’s not stupid. I’m pretty sure He’d tell the Reverend to go take a long walk. Actually, the Bible makes God out to be a little more aggressive. He might actually smite the Reverend.

I understand why people are against abortion. I’m against it, too, although I won’t support laws that make it illegal. But when you’d stand in the way of all the good that can be done with this money just because you don’t like where some of it’s going, you’re not doing God’s work.

And I know the vast majority of pro-lifers aren’t as dumb as this guy. Nor are the vast majority of Christians. But when you let idiots like this be your voice to the public, it’s not helping things.

Posted in: complaint , uninformed ramblings

Compact Flourescent bulbs save a ton of energy

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Treehugger: Change a Light Bulb: It Really Can Make a Difference

Treehugger points to a report from the International Energy Agency that claims that switching to efficient bulbs like CFL’s would cut the world’s electricity use by 10%.  Considering that these bulbs are not much more expensive than regular bulbs anymore, and they pay for themselves by using less energy and lasting longer, there is absolutely no reason you shouldn’t switch.  Most of them don’t work with dimmers, but I think you can get dimmable ones, and if you can’t now, you will be able to soon.  I’ve been switching over at home as bulbs burn out, and my only complaint is that the bulb they say replaces a 60 watt regular bulb is not as bright as a regular 60 watt bulb.

Posted in: Wind kissing

Ford sucks.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

The Spokes-Frog Is Dead, Long Live The Spokes-Frog! - Jalopnik

Jalopnik has a nice summary of an article detailing how, once again, Ford is backing down on a promise to go greener. Ford is spinning it to say that the original promise was “too narrow”, and that they underestimated the changes in alternative fuels, so that their pledge to build more hybrids is no longer reasonable, but it’s hard to believe that’s anything but spin.

I’m continually embarrassed by the state of American automobiles. I would love to buy an American car. In fact, I sort of did, as I’m pretty sure my Mazda 3 has some Ford technology in it. But Japanese automakers are light years ahead of the American automakers in terms of fuel efficiency, reliability, quality …

And I don’t understand why GM and Ford are latching on to ethanol so much. We have yet to show that we can produce sufficient quantities of ethanol at a feasible price. And they make most of it from corn, which is a tough, expensive crop to grow.

I know some argue that we need to buy American to support ourselves, rather than sending our money overseas. But I refuse to purchase an inferior product in the name of patriotism. It doesn’t help my country if I reward Ford and GM for failing, and for breaking their promises to get greener. When an American car company makes a car that I can be proud to drive, I’ll buy it. Until then, I’ll stick with Japanese cars.

Posted in: complaint , Wind kissing

Well, hes the decider

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

CNN.com - Panel questions whether Bush improperly ignoring laws - Jun 27, 2006

When the first thing you see in the article is a quote from insane Republican Arlen Specter saying, “It’s a challenge to the plain language of the Constitution”, it’s a pretty good indication that the AP doesn’t think that Bush should be adding all of these signing statements to the bills he signs.

Defending Bush, a Justice Department lawyer said the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks had made it prudent for the president to protect his powers with signing statements more than did his predecessors.

I’m not quite sure what September 11th has to do with the President overstepping the legal boundries of the office. One of his signing statements said that he would ignore laws preventing torture on detainees if he felt like it. There’s a reason that we have this system of checks and balances that we all learned about in high school. We have it to prevent any one part of the government from gaining too much power. The system seems to have been working pretty well for quite some time, and now Bush has added more signing statements than any of his predecessors, according to NPR this morning.

Honestly, when you have prominent Republicans like Specter saying that our Republican President is overstepping his bounds, we’re all in trouble.

The title of the article is also priceless.  It implies that maybe there are other laws that it would be proper for Bush to ignore.

Posted in: Politics

This sounds like a bad idea

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Internet providers to combat child porn - Yahoo! News

I was actually going to post this earlier today, but the article I first saw on Slashdot was from some little Florida news site, and I wanted something a little more reputable.  But then I thought that searching for “child porn database” probably wasn’t a good idea.

The gist of the article is that they’re going to catalog all known child porn images so we can scan for them.  Now, I’m all in favor of getting rid of child porn.  People who involve children in their sex lives should be sent to jail for a long, long time.  But I think this is a misguided and doomed attempt to do something about it.

When you start scanning for these “known” images, it will drive people to find or create new images.  You may catch some people who are emailing stuff to others, but I can’t imagine that’s really the bulk of the problem.  I’d really rather catch the guy who makes the images rather than the guy who looks at them.  And this database only encourages the making rather than the looking, because the old pictures are all marked.  It’s basic economics - the old pictures are less valuable, and new ones are more valuable, so it encourages more people to make new images. I also don’t like the idea of a big database full of child porn.  We’ve all seen lately how securely companies and the government protect sensitive data, like our social security numbers.  What makes anyone think that the security on this database will be any better?

Posted in: uninformed ramblings

Ive had it with the rain

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

For Wetter or Worse: A Wanton Excess of Water

The above Washington Post article suffers from a great many maladies. First, alliteration is a nice literary tool, but I think it’s better suited to fiction, or perhaps poetry. Second, aside from a few quotes and factoids about the weather, it doesn’t have much of a point. “Too much rain can be a bad thing”. Yeah, thanks for the bulletin. At least we were spared some remark about drought in other countries.

Third, and most importantly, I’m a little bitter about the weather already, and reading an article like this (I know, I could have skipped it) doesn’t help. I’m not sure if we’ve broken any records in the DC area these past few days, but I’ve lived in and around the area my whole life, and I don’t remember anything like this.

The article also mentions Al Gore, in the news lately for finally showing that he has a soul (A little late for the Democratic party, who maybe invested some time and money in him a while back).  It doesn’t actually come out and say that the rain is a direct result of the global warming that Gore’s been talking about, but I think it’s clear what we’re supposed to infer.

Anyway, I lost my point long ago.  I just wish it would stop raining.

Posted in: complaint , uninformed ramblings

On the Internet!

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

I just ordered some hanging plant pots from some strange store I found on Google. I need a new one because I have a hanging plant that has outgrown its pot. None of this is very interesting. However, I just got the shipping confirmation email (Edit: It was UPS that sent this email, not Novosel.), and it includes this at the bottom:

Click here to track if UPS has received your shipment or visit http://www.ups.com/WebTracking/track?loc=en_US on the Internet.

Now, I don’t know about you, but “on the Internet” is the LAST place I’d look for www.ups.com. The absolute last place.

Edit: These guys are the fastest online seller I’ve ever seen. I placed an order at 9:40AM yesterday. The UPS woman showed up at 10:50AM today. For $4.83 in shipping. If you ever need garden supplies, check out Novosel Enterprises.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Stupid people

Please, wont someone think of the stupid adult men

Monday, June 26, 2006

WAWS FOX30 Online - Jacksonville - Man Robbed by Teen Girls, Thought He was Meeting MySpace Friend

With everyone flipping out over MySpace, and how dangerous it is for young people - apparently no parent in America is willing to tell his or her 14-year-old daughter that she shouldn’t go meet some “great guy” she met online in a dark alley in the middle of a strange city at 1am - it will be interesting to see how we also protect the adults from the children.  To summarize the article, an adult male of unspecified age meets 18-year-old “Natalia” on MySpace.  He goes to meet her at her place.  He instead meets a 14- and 15-year-old girl, who rob him at gunpoint.

First tip that the person you’ve met online might not be who they say they are?  She says her name is “Natalia”.  No one is actually named Natalia.  No one.

Link via BoingBoing.

Posted in: Stupid people

Hello, WordPress

Monday, June 26, 2006

I’m home from work today due to the power outage. Apparently the DC area got six inches of rain this weekend, most of it last night, and now the whole area is a bit of a mess. I’m supposed to be working from home, but there’s not much I can do without access to the servers, and so I’m awaiting instruction. And by that I mean awaiting the start of the Italy-Australia game.

This morning, I made the switch from Blogger to WordPress. It seems cooler. The template I got from WordPress is certainly nicer than what I had before. And there’s a lot of stuff I don’t know how to do yet with WordPress, so I’ll probably be playing with that today.

And now, a complaint - the traffic lights at Seven Corners weren’t changing this morning. Now, Seven Corners, on a good day, is a miserable place to be. When the traffic lights are on, but never change, and there’s no police presence to keep order, it’s a disaster. Not as big a disaster as Metro seems to be, but a disaster nevertheless.

Edit: It’s pouring again.

Posted in: complaint , Complaint

About

Monday, June 26, 2006

Old Stuff

First, Complaint Hub was a blog. As you may know, everyone was put here on earth for a purpose. After years of soul searching and contemplation, I have come to the realization that my purpose here is to complain. Do what you know, they say. And so I am.

Complaining is something I know. Complaining is something I’m good at. It may not always be appreciated, but true greatness never is in its time. History will vindicate me.

Then, it was a place where you could share your complaints, too.

And then it was two blogs, with the addition of From Harvard Street, a blog about my life as a new resident of Washington, DC. More recently, I decided that it was too much trouble to maintain two blogs. From Harvard Street was a nice experiment in using a different blogging engine, but Wordpress is a much more mature application, and I really don’t want to have to worry about two sites anymore.

Then, it wasn’t a place where you could share complaints anymore because my webhost decided to upgrade their version of Ruby on Rails (Otherwise I’m very happy with them, and this is a complaint more about what the Rails people did in their update than a complaint about Dreamhost), and everything broke. Unfortunately for anyone wanting to complain here, this is not anywhere near the top of my ToDo list, so it’s probably not getting fixed any time soon.

And now, I’ve switched from Wordpress to Drupal. I’m really happy with Drupal so far, and the site got a needed redesign (Although my mother-in-law doesn’t like it). More changes are coming, including a return of Your Complaints.

As for me, I’m a software engineer doing soul-sucking government contracting work. I’m on a new job since April 2008, and while the work is still dumb, at least my boss is cool. In my spare time, I like photography, writing, traveling, and hanging out with my wife. I have a really loud and needy cat named Biscuit, who is barely tolerated in public but secretly loved by my wife.

And in September, I will be a new dad. I will probably forget to update this page when the kid pops out, but you can keep up with the latest and greatest on my dad-hood via the front page. You can contact me at complaint hub at gmail.

Current

Whoa, this hasn’t been updated in a while. I have a different job. I have two kids. That one I was just talking about in the paragraph above? She’s in kindergarten. I started another blog that turned into a small business that failed and now the LLC that used to be the business owns a gorgeous home in Annapolis. Life is weird sometimes.

Now I work with government accountants. I ride my bike a lot. I love my wife and kids and the rest of my family, who I see more lately than I used to, which is good. This blog is likely to have a lot of stuff about bikes, living in DC, stupid intellectual property law (especially pertaining to ebooks), and complaining. You’ve been warned.

Posted in: Uncategorized

The shrinking American social network

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Last night, Barb and I had dinner at the little Mexican bar/restaurant across the street. We hadn’t been, because last time we went it was an Indian place. We were the only native English-speakers in the restaurant, which wasn’t a surprise. I think it’s a good sign for a Mexican restaurant to be full of Latinos - it probably means the food is good. Which it was.

Everyone in the bar seemed to know each other. Partly it’s a small place, so many of them probably came together. But I suspect that it’s also because we have a large Spanish-speaking community right around here, and my impression is that these communities tend to keep a bit to themselves. The language barrier probably contributes to that.

Today I saw this article that tells of a study that found that Americans are more socially isolated than we were twenty years ago. We have fewer close friends now than we did in 1985.

I think it’s causing problems in our society. How many people know their next-door neighbor? The family across the street? People are social by nature, and I don’t really understand why Americans as a society have pulled away from that. Is it television? Do we turn on the tv and ignore the rest of the world? Are we spending more time in online communities? There’s probably not one answer.

But I’m curious why the Latino communities I see still have that sense of togetherness, of knowing everyone, and I’m also curious if they’re better off for it.

I know I have friends who live less than ten minutes away on foot, and I see them maybe once a month. I spend the vast majority of my time at work, or alone with Barb. And not that spending time alone with Barb is bad - it’s actually great. But maybe we’re missing something. And it will be even more important when we have kids. I think Barb and I are even ahead of the game. We both have close friends that we can turn to when we need something.

So, I don’t know what this study means, or what can be done about it. Harvard University Public Policy Professor Robert Putnam suggests in the article that flexible work schedules would allow people more time for community, but that sounds like a pretty simplistic answer. Working fewer hours a week might help, if we turned to community activities to fill the extra time. But there’s no guarantee we would. I’d love to see the construction industry start planning housing developments to be more community oriented. But we can hardly put the responsibility on them, as much as they might make an easy target in these days of over-development.

Anyway, go out and meet your neighbor. Offer him a beer or a cup of coffee. Or maybe brush up on your Spanish and head to the local Mexican bar. And don’t work so much. Tell your boss some guy from Harvard said so.

Posted in: uninformed ramblings

England Wins!

Sunday, June 25, 2006

I’m mostly just testing the Flickr’s “Blog This” option. But it seems appropriate to post a photo from London right after David Beckham and his immaculate hair gave England a 1-0 win over Ecuador. It was really a nice goal, even if he does need to remember that he’s a football player, not a fashion model.

Posted in: world cup

Not really a complaint

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Well, maybe one little complaint, to start things off. It’s POURING outside. It has been most of the morning. They’ve been predicting thunderstorms that we haven’t gotten for weeks, and the rain all came today. I think there’s some guy in a kayak out in the parking lot right now.

And then, not a complaint. The Argentina-Mexico second round World Cup game yesterday. That was some nice soccer. I’ve been keeping an eye on the games with the little Google home page plugin, but I haven’t been able to watch too many of the games since they all happen while I’m at work.

But I watched Argentina-Mexico. A lot of people are raving about Argentina’s Maxi Rodriguez’s goal in overtime. It was a pretty goal, but honestly, I don’t think he was even looking when he shot it. A little bit of luck was probably involved. No, my favorite goal of the match was the little flick and then goal by Mexico’s Rafael Marquez. That, and how Marquez started sucking his thumb before a teammate jumped on his head. Thumb-sucking is always a classy goal celebration.

Anyway, the reason that I liked that goal was that it was obviously a scripted play, and it couldn’t possibly have happened any better. A quarter second earlier or later and Marquez doesn’t score that. It was just a beautiful team effort.

And now it’s almost time for England-Ecuador.

Posted in: world cup