Wednesday, October 30, 2002

Whoa. In 1994, we had Thanksgiving dinner with friends who deep fried the turkey. Underwriters laboratories thinks this is a bad idea and there's a movie to show you why.

Friday, October 18, 2002

Wednesday, October 16, 2002

It really is possible to gain useful knowledge on slashdot. In the article "Mac OS X to Get Journaling FS", one reader explains how journaling file systems work with a nice analogy that involves a librarian falling out of a window.

There also a tangential discussion comparing features of linux vs. OS X which includes the line "Damn that apple and their embracing of open standards."

All this has me seriously thinking about getting a mac. We bought a video camera this weekend and iMovie seems like it'd be a nice way to share some movies of Marney.

Thursday, October 10, 2002

Senate Panel Votes to Give D.C. Full Voting Rights in Congress (washingtonpost.com)... no, it won't get any further than committee approval.
Supporters of the measure note that the District is the only jurisdiction where U.S. residents who pay federal taxes and serve in the military have no vote in Congress. The District, with 572,059 residents, ranks second among the states in per-capita federal income taxes paid, and it suffered more casualties than did several states in 20th-century wars, from World War I through Vietnam.
And still "Minority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) restated his flat opposition to the measure". Please, somebody, explain to me again how an allegedly patriotic American like Lott can oppose the basic right of congressional representation.

Wednesday, October 02, 2002

I've found a new pastime to try, Letterboxing. From the FAQ:
Here's the basic idea: Someone hides a waterproof box somewhere (in a beautiful, interesting, or remote location) containing at least a logbook and a carved rubber stamp. The hider then usually writes directions to the box, which can be straightforward, cryptic, or any degree in between. Selecting a location and writing the clues is one aspect of the art.

Once the clues are written, hunters attempt to find the box. In addition to the clue and any maps or tools needed to solve it, the hunter should carry at least a pencil, his personal rubber stamp, an inkpad, and his personal logbook. When the hunter successfully deciphers the clue and finds the box, he stamps the logbook in the box with his personal stamp, and stamps his personal logbook with the box's stamp. The box's logbook keeps a record of all its visitors, and the hunters keep a record of all the boxes they have found, in their personal logbooks.

It's appealing to me because it's a goal-oriented (yet still basically pointless), it's a nice weekend outing with my wife and daughter, and it's a modest way to get a little more exercise.

My big beef with the site is that there's no entry for District of Columbia on the directory of clues. Repeat after me:

Washington, DC is not part of Maryland.
Washington, DC is not part of Maryland.
Washington, DC is not part of Maryland.
Washington, DC is not part of Maryland.
Washington, DC is not part of Maryland.
On a UI note, the Letterboxing North America web site has one of the most creative uses I've seen of image map navigation, particularly the page about their mailing list.