isBlog

Config Hell

admin — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:57:05 +0000

This has been my private hell. What you see are 2 HP ProLiant servers and an IBM BladeCenter. I’ve been up all night trying to get these beasts configured with OpenSUSE 11.

I’m about to bail and try FreeBSD.

New Crayons from Old

admin — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:12:38 +0000

Sweet idea to create new crayons in funky shapes from stubs of old ones:
Recycle Crayons

Cory Doctorow on Human/Technology Relationship

admin — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:03:24 +0000

An interesting interview that explores the assumptions we make about the technology around us and the unintended consequences those assumptions have:

Cory Doctorow Interview at Chicago Tribune

Best LOLCAT

admin — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:40:50 +0000

Best LOLCAT so far:

Found Old Posts!

admin — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:11:30 +0000

Downloaded and fired up the latest version of ecto tonight, and to my surprise I found my last 20 or so posts listed in the editing window. Given the infrequency of my posts in the last year or so, this pretty much accounts for everything I’ve published since we moved to the house. I spent a few minutes editing categories and modifying dates and Bob’s yer uncle.

Edit: well, almost, This is the third time I’ve attempted to post this. The latest version of ecto ate my first two attempts, so maybe not all is well. At this point it won’t insert a link either. I’m using the latest beta version, since the latest production version crashes when I try to submit a post. Oh well.

Don’t Call It A Comeback

admin — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:25:27 +0000

So isLog is back after some extended downtime. Long story short, I ran an image editing tool on our shared server, caught a segfault, and then spewed random bits across the surface of our drive. Fortunately our backup allowed us to restore most of our essential services. Unfortunately, the WordPress database was corrupt and I lost 5 years worth of blog posts. Oh well, fresh start and all that.

Two new features: the Image Gallery to the right shows a feed of my last 3 months worth of pictures. Unedited, so you get a view of whatever I’m dumping into the memory hole. The pix link at top right takes you to my MobileMe gallery where you can see all the images I’ve uploaded.

Enjoy.

School Pic

admin — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 02:16:12 +0000

Max’s teacher sent me this excellent picture of her hard at work writing a report on China.

LOLCODE

admin — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 02:17:23 +0000

Not sure why I’ve been so taken with the whole Lolcats phenomenon, but I have. And I even find many of the spinoffs snort-out-loud funny. Dear reader, I never promised you shining prose or sparkling intelligence. Or a rose garden.

But the ultimate, the absolute best, has to be LOLCODE. Yes, I know it’s an almost unbearably geeky in-joke. But I submit that the whole Lolcats thing is an unbearably geeky in-joke, so this becomes more like the difference between 7,000 nuclear warheads and 12,000 nuclear warheads. Once you can utterly nuke the entire earth (or your social standing) further measurements are pointless.

P.S.: WANT!

P.P.S: Where LOLCats come from

Best webcomic ever

admin — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 02:17:16 +0000

xkcd

80’s Video Archive

admin — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 02:17:05 +0000

I admit it: I’m an 80’s music geek. I hate to sound like those annoying old farts I grew up hearing who always said “Music was way better 20 years ago..”, but honestly, I do think music was better 20 years ago. The most innovative bands I hear today are bands that would have easily fit into the alternative rock scene in the 80’s. You have to admit that there’s a much bigger gap between The Rolling Stones and The Clash than there is between Joy Division and Interpol. What new has happened in the past 20 years?

All this is provided as background for the amazing archive I ran across the other day: the Kino Digital Video Portal. Most of these are Boston bands or bands that played Boston in the late 80s, and there are some incredible videos here. My faves:

Human Sexual Response – “Land of the Glass Pinecones”

The Specials: Too Much Too Young

XTC: Respectable Street

The Thrills: Hey

Cool thing is, I saw all these bands perform these songs at one point or another in Boston. I actually got to see the Thrills perform “Hey” at the Rat, which just shows you how freaking old I am.