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  From: Jesse Vincent <jrvincent@wesleyan.edu>
  

Source: http://blog.fsck.com/feed/feed.xml

1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
2. <feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xml:base="en">
3. <title>Massively Parallel Procrastination</title>
4. <subtitle>I used to write more</subtitle>
5. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/feed/feed.xml" rel="self"/>
6. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/"/>
7. <updated>2024-04-21T00:00:00Z</updated>
8. <id>https://blog.fsck.com</id>
9. <author>
10. <name>Jesse Vincent</name>
11. <email>jesse@fsck.com</email>
12. </author>
14. <entry>
15. <title>Letting the LLM draft my commit messages</title>
16. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2024/04/21/Letting-the-LLM-draft-my-commit-messages/"/>
17. <updated>2024-04-21T00:00:00Z</updated>
18. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2024/04/21/Letting-the-LLM-draft-my-commit-messages/</id>
19. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;My friend harper built a neat tool to &lt;a href=&quot;https://harper.blog/2024/03/11/use-an-llm-to-automagically-generate-meaningful-git-commit-messages/&quot;&gt;let the llm draft your commit messages&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
20. <p>I ended up tweaking his code a bit for my own use. I wanted commit messages that were a bit more...boring. And I wasn't really happy with how the original code put together the 'why' of the commit message.</p>
21. <p>I made changes to harper's prompt to try to rein things in just a bit and also hacked up his git hook to tweak the model's "temperature" and to provide full-file context to the llm to give it a bit more to go on when writing a commit message.</p>
22. <p>I find that with this setup, I do need to edit my commit messages about 90% of the time, but that those edits are relatively minor and that I'm ending up with better, more detailed commit messages. (Also, I am generally much more productive when I'm hacking up something bad than when I'm staring at a blank screen.)</p>
23. <p>Although, having said that, when I added the first version of this post to the git repo for my blog, it generated this commit message, which I accepted unchanged:</p>
24. <pre><code>Add blog post and update CSS for code blocks
25.  
26. - Added a new blog post "Letting the LLM draft my commit messages" in `content/blog/2024/2024-04-21-Letting-the-LLM-draft-my-commit-messages.md`. This post discusses the use of a tool for generating commit messages with LLM and includes modifications to the original tool for better context understanding and message generation.
27. - Updated `public/css/index.css` to improve the styling of `<pre>` tags. Changes include setting the font size to 0.8em, adding a background color of #dedede, enabling horizontal scrolling for overflow content, and adding padding for better readability of code blocks.
28. </code></pre>
29. <p>You should refer to harper's post for context about what the heck this tool does and also how to set it up.</p>
30. <p>My <code>prepare-commit-msg</code> script:</p>
31. <pre><code>#!/bin/sh
32.  
33. # Exit if the `SKIP_LLM_GITHOOK` environment variable is set
34. if [ ! -z "$SKIP_LLM_GITHOOK" ]; then
35.  exit 0
36. fi
37.  
38. # ANSI color codes for styling the output
39. RED='\033[0;31m'    # Sets text to red
40. GREEN='\033[0;32m'  # Sets text to green
41. YELLOW='\033[0;33m' # Sets text to yellow
42. BLUE='\033[0;34m'   # Sets text to blue
43. NC='\033[0m'        # Resets the text color to default, no color
44.  
45.  
46. # Function to display a spinning animation during the LLM processing
47. spin_animation() {
48.  # Array of spinner characters for the animation
49.  spinner=("⠋" "⠙" "⠹" "⠸" "⠼" "⠴" "⠦" "⠧" "⠇" "⠏")
50.  # Infinite loop to keep the animation running
51.  while true; do
52.    for i in "${spinner[@]}"; do
53.      tput civis  # Hide the cursor to enhance the animation appearance
54.      tput el1    # Clear the line from the cursor to the beginning to display the spinner
55.      printf "\\r${YELLOW}%s${NC} Generating LLM commit message..." "$i"  # Print the spinner and message
56.      sleep 0.1   # Delay to control the speed of the animation
57.      tput cub 32 # Move the cursor back 32 columns to reset the spinner position
58.    done
59.  done
60. }
61.  
62. # Check if the commit is a merge commit based on the presence of a second argument
63. if [ -n "$2" ]; then
64.  exit 0  # Exit script if it's a merge commit, no custom message needed
65. fi
66.  
67. # Check if the `llm` command is installed
68. if ! command -v llm &> /dev/null; then
69.  echo "${RED}Error: 'llm' command is not installed. Please install it and try again.${NC}"
70.  exit 1
71. fi
72.  
73. # Start the spinning animation in the background
74. spin_animation &
75. spin_pid=$!  # Capture the process ID of the spinning animation
76.  
77. # Generate the commit message using `git diff` piped into `llm` command
78. # The LLM command takes a system prompt from a file as input
79. if ! commit_msg=$(git diff -U999999 --cached | llm -t commit-message  --option temperature 0.02 --option seed 1); then
80.  # Stop the spinning animation by killing its process
81.  kill $spin_pid
82.  wait $spin_pid 2>/dev/null  # Wait for the process to terminate and suppress error messages
83.  
84.  # Finalizing output
85.  tput cnorm  # Show the cursor again
86.  printf "\\n"  # Move the cursor to the next line
87.  
88.  printf "${RED}Error: 'llm' command failed to generate the commit message:\\n${commit_msg}${NC}\\n\\nManually set the commit message"
89.  exit 1
90. fi
91.  
92. # Stop the spinning animation by killing its process
93. kill $spin_pid
94. wait $spin_pid 2>/dev/null  # Wait for the process to terminate and suppress error messages
95.  
96. # Finalizing output
97. tput cnorm  # Show the cursor again
98. echo  # Move the cursor to the next line
99.  
100. # Display the generated commit message with color-coded headings
101. echo "${BLUE}=== Generated Commit Message ===${NC}"
102. echo "${GREEN}$commit_msg${NC}"
103. echo "${BLUE}=================================${NC}"
104. echo
105.  
106. # Write the generated commit message to the specified file (usually the commit message file in .git)
107. echo "$commit_msg" > "$1"
108. </code></pre>
109. <p>My prompt lives inside llm's "prompt templates" feature at <code>~/Library/Application Support/io.datasette.llm/templates/commit-message.yaml</code></p>
110. <pre><code>model: gpt-4-turbo
111. system: >
112.  
113.    Write a concise, informative commit message for these changes:
114.  
115.    - Review the whole context of the diff carefully to see what effect the change would have on the rest of the code and explain that. Be specific about the effect.
116.    - Do not guess about intent.
117.    - The goal of this commit message is that someone familiar with the codebase, but not with these changes would understand why the changes were made and what was changed.
118.    - The first line should be a short summary of the intent of the changes
119.    - Remember to mention the files that were changed, and what was changed
120.    - Keep the summary under 50 characters
121.    - Use bullet points for multiple changes
122.    - Reference related issues or tickets, but only if you are 100% sure the ticket numbers are correct.
123.    - If the change is just to documentation, state that.
124.    - If there are no changes, or the input is blank - then return a blank string
125.  
126.    Think carefully about what would be most helpful to someone trying to understand the intent of this commit before you write your commit message. Your commit message will be used as an example to train other team members about the content of a good commit message.
127.  
128.    What you write will be passed to git commit -m "[message]"
129.  
130.    The output format should be:
131.  
132.    Summary of changes\n
133.    \n
134.    - change\n
135.    - change\n
136.    ..and so on.
137.  
138. </code></pre>
139. </content>
140. </entry>
142. <entry>
143. <title>Fab out</title>
144. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2024/01/19/Fab-out/"/>
145. <updated>2024-01-19T00:00:00Z</updated>
146. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2024/01/19/Fab-out/</id>
147. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;A couple years back, I put a ton of effort into building a tool that would let me create KiCAD fabrication outputs (gerber files, pick and place docs, schematics) from the commandline.  What started as a hacky perl script became a 500 megabyte Docker image and &lt;a href=&quot;https://archive.org/details/kicon_2019-Automating_Fabrication_Outputs_With_KiCad_And_Git&quot;&gt;a conference talk&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
148. <p>At the time, getting KiCAD to generate Gerber files was...just barely possible through their Python API. But when it came to generating a schematic or a BOM, the simplest, most straightforward option was to spin up a headless X server in a virtual machine and write a bit of code to open the GUI, tab through UI widgets and "click" on the output options.</p>
149. <p>It was slow and incredibly clunky. But it worked.</p>
150. <p>Flash forward to last week when the first Release Candidate for KiCAD 8 dropped.</p>
151. <p>This shell script, largely written for me by an LLM, just does everything my tool used to.</p>
152. <pre><code>#!/bin/bash
153.  
154. KICAD_CLI_PATH=/Applications/KiCad/KiCad.app/Contents/MacOS/kicad-cli
155. kicad_cli_path="${KICAD_CLI_PATH:-$HOME/kicad/bin/kicad-cli}"
156.  
157. project_name=$(basename "$PWD")
158. project_path="$PWD"
159. output_dir="output"
160. current_date=$(date '+%Y-%m-%d-%H:%M:%S')
161. export_name="$project_name-$current_date"
162. project_output_dir="$output_dir/$export_name"
163.  
164. if [ ! -d "$project_output_dir" ]; then
165.  mkdir -p "$project_output_dir"
166. fi
167.  
168. export_description_file="$project_output_dir/export-version-info.txt"
169. gerbers_output_dir="$project_output_dir/gerbers"
170. step_output_dir="$project_output_dir/3d"
171. schematic_output_dir="$project_output_dir/schematic"
172. pos_output_dir="$project_output_dir/pos"
173. bom_output_dir="$project_output_dir/bom"
174. if [ ! -d "$gerbers_output_dir" ]; then
175.  mkdir "$gerbers_output_dir"
176. fi
177. if [ ! -d "$step_output_dir" ]; then
178.  mkdir "$step_output_dir"
179. fi
180. if [ ! -d "$schematic_output_dir" ]; then
181.  mkdir "$schematic_output_dir"
182. fi
183. if [ ! -d "$bom_output_dir" ]; then
184.  mkdir "$bom_output_dir"
185. fi
186. if [ ! -d "$pos_output_dir" ]; then
187.  mkdir "$pos_output_dir"
188. fi
189.  
190.  
191. echo "exporting git version information"
192. echo "Git describe output: " >> $export_description_file
193. git describe >> $export_description_file
194. echo "Export date and time: ${date}" >> $export_description_file
195.  
196.  
197. echo "Exporting gerbers"
198. "$kicad_cli_path" pcb export gerbers --output="$gerbers_output_dir" "$project_path/$project_name.kicad_pcb"
199.  
200. echo "Export schematic as PDF"
201. "$kicad_cli_path" sch export pdf --output="$schematic_output_dir/$project_name.pdf" "$project_path/$project_name.kicad_sch"
202.  
203. echo "Export BOM"
204. "$kicad_cli_path" sch export bom --output="$bom_output_dir/$project_name.csv" "$project_path/$project_name.kicad_sch"
205.  
206. echo "Export position file"
207. "$kicad_cli_path" pcb export pos --output="$pos_output_dir/$project_name.pos" "$project_path/$project_name.kicad_pcb"
208.  
209. echo "Export 3D model"
210. "$kicad_cli_path" pcb export step --output="$step_output_dir/$project_name.step" "$project_path/$project_name.kicad_pcb"
211.  
212. echo "Export drill files"
213. "$kicad_cli_path" pcb export drill --output="$gerbers_output_dir/" "$project_path/$project_name.kicad_pcb"
214.  
215. cd $output_dir
216. zip -r $export_name.zip $export_name
217.  
218. echo "Created $output_dir/$export_name.zip"
219. </code></pre>
220. </content>
221. </entry>
223. <entry>
224. <title>Imperfect-Board</title>
225. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2024/01/07/perfboard/"/>
226. <updated>2024-01-07T00:00:00Z</updated>
227. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2024/01/07/perfboard/</id>
228. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;This morning, while I was hanging out with the kiddo while he was assembling LEGO and we were watching the Animaniacs, &lt;a href=&quot;https://store.transmutable.com&quot;&gt;Trevor Flowers&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://machines.social/@trevorflowers/111716213726516524&quot;&gt;posted that he couldn&#39;t find his favorite no-jumper Perfboard anymore&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
229. <p>I figured that <em>somebody</em> ought to be making them, but my Google-fu failed me. And then I, foolishly, speculated that they ought to be pretty easy to knock together in KiCAD.</p>
230. <p>Reader, I nerd-sniped myself.</p>
231. <img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2024/01/07/perfboard.png" style="max-width: 90%;">
232. <p><a href="https://github.com/obra/Imperfect-Board">https://github.com/obra/Imperfect-Board</a>.</p>
233. </content>
234. </entry>
236. <entry>
237. <title>Copying HEIC images as JPEGS on macOS</title>
238. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2023/12/13/copy-as-jpeg/"/>
239. <updated>2023-12-13T00:00:00Z</updated>
240. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2023/12/13/copy-as-jpeg/</id>
241. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;For the last couple years, I keep getting hit with an annoying bit of friction when sharing images from my phone online.&lt;/p&gt;
242. <p>My iPhone defaults to saving photos in 'HEIC' format, which is a not-quite-proprietary Apple image format that's more efficient than the JPEGs we all know and love. That's mostly good. I get better-looking photos that take up a little less space than they might otherwise.</p>
243. <p>The problem comes when I try to upload one of those files or to paste it into a browser.</p>
244. <p>Just about nobody implements support for HEIC images, so I need to do this dumb dance of converting the HEIC to a JPEG just to share it online.</p>
245. <p>This morning, I finally figured out how to create a "copy as JPEG" action for Finder in Automator.</p>
246. <p>You can download my "copy as JPEG" workflow <a href="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2023/12/13/Copy-as-JPEG.workflow.zip">from here</a>. I <em>think</em> that when you unzip it and double-click it, it'll load it up in Automator to let you install it.</p>
247. <p>Once you do that, you'll see something like this in the command-click menu in Finder:</p>
248. <img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2023/12/13/copy-as-jpeg.png" style="max-width: 90%;">
249. </content>
250. </entry>
252. <entry>
253. <title>No, I&#39;m not actually blogging again</title>
254. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2023/12/08/not-blogging/"/>
255. <updated>2023-12-08T00:00:00Z</updated>
256. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2023/12/08/not-blogging/</id>
257. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;This morning, I got asked where someone should point a link to &amp;quot;me&amp;quot;, so I told them to just point it at https://fsck.com.&lt;/p&gt;
258. <p>And then I <em>looked</em> at https://fsck.com, which has been my personal homepage since people had personal homepages.</p>
259. <p>The blog that was supposed to show up there was literally just showing a javascript error. And half the social sites in my linkroll (is that even what you call that thing?) were dead. I mean, advogato.org and freshmeat.net weren't there anymore. But Twitter was still at the top of the list. And my Google Plus link was up there. And oh god. Talk about link rot.</p>
260. <p>So I figured it was time to finally shave that elephant-sized yak that's been sitting around in the room for the last five-plus years and move my blog onto some modern static site generator. I mean, I've posted there in the past decade. But the way I posted there was to...log into TypePad and put content into their WYSIWYG editor.</p>
261. <p>While I was at it, I rolled in all my old posts from my Livejournal, because yeah, a lot of my blogging life lived there too. And then I finally integrated <a href="https://blog.fsck.com/blog/1996/1996-09-01-a-letter-home/">a bunch of letters</a> home that I wrote to a mailing list of people who wanted to hear from me while I was studying abroad in Moscow 27 years. ago.</p>
262. <p>And now I'm trying to get my Twitter archive pushed up to <a href="https://tweets.fsck.com">https://tweets.fsck.com</a>, because it's Friday evening and this is what sounds like fun on a Friday night these days.</p>
263. <p>But hey, now that blogging is "put a text file in a directory and type an arcane command" instead of "log into a website and press buttons with gradient backgrounds", maybe I'll actually write a bit more?</p>
264. <p>Nah.</p>
265. </content>
266. </entry>
268. <entry>
269. <title>How to reboot an Arduino Leonardo / Micro into the bootloader.</title>
270. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2014/08/27/how-to-reboot-an-arduino-leonardo-micro-into-the-bootloader/"/>
271. <updated>2014-08-28T01:55:58Z</updated>
272. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2014/08/27/how-to-reboot-an-arduino-leonardo-micro-into-the-bootloader/</id>
273. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;One of the things we&amp;#039;re building for the Keyboardio Model 01 is an interactive keyboard shell that I&amp;#039;ve provisionally named &amp;quot;quiche&amp;quot;.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;
274. <p>Today, I implemented functionality to allow the user to reboot the ATmega32U4 inside the keyboard into the Caterina bootloader so the user can upload new firmware.</p>
275. <p>It took a lot more time than it should have to find the right magic incantations to get the bootloader to stay in firmware upload mode. (In the end, it was just a matter of looking at CDC.c inside the Arduino core.)</p>
276. <p>So that nobody else has to stumble through this as I have, I've pasted my solution below.</p>
277. <pre><span style="font-family:'"><br>#include <avr/wdt.h><br>// [...]<br>// Set the magic bits to get a Caterina-based device
278. // to reboot into the bootloader and stay there, rather
279. // than run move onward
280. //
281. // These values are the same as those defined in
282. // Caterina.c
283. uint16_t bootKey = 0x7777;
284. uint16_t *const bootKeyPtr = (uint16_t *)0x0800;
285. // Stash the magic key
286. *bootKeyPtr = bootKey;
287. // Set a watchdog timer
288. wdt_enable(WDTO_120MS);
289. while(1) {} // This infinite loop ensures nothing else
290. // happens before the watchdog reboots us<br></span></pre>
291. <p>Solutions that didn't work for for me included:</p>
292. <ul>
293. <li>Writing raw assembler like:</li>
294. </ul>
295. <p><span style="font-family:'">asm volatile ("jmp 0x7800"); // This address also happens to be bootloader-size dependent</span></p>
296. <ul>
297. <li>Tweaking <span style="font-family:'">MCUSR</span> to try to convince the bootloader that an external reset had been initiated.</li>
298. </ul>
299. <p> </p>
300. </content>
301. </entry>
303. <entry>
304. <title>Model 00</title>
305. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2013/12/22/model-00/"/>
306. <updated>2013-12-23T06:08:07Z</updated>
307. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2013/12/22/model-00/</id>
308. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a class=&quot;postlink&quot; href=&quot;http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11505710943&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;Image&quot; class=&quot;reimg-width&quot; height=&quot;551&quot; src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11505710943_332f27d8a3_b.jpg&quot; width=&quot;734&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
309. <div class="content">The Model 00 is very similar to the Mark 13 I mentioned over at <a class="postlink" href="http://blog.fsck.com/2013/12/better-and-better-keyboards.html">http://blog.fsck.com/2013/12/better-and-better-keyboards.html</a>, though it (finally) uses a PCB I designed and had Seeed Studio make me 10 copies of (for $200, including FedEx Next Day shipping from China!) and has a shell made from stained, polyurothane-coated birch plywood rather than acrylic sheets. It's pretty close to a "final" layout for the keyboard we're hoping to Kickstarter.<p></p>
310. <p>So far, we've built out four of our 10 PCBs. Two of them are for us. The other two are being sent to unsuspecting beta testers tomorrow. (They won't get there in time for Christmas, but what can you do?) We're not 100% sure what we're doing with the other six, but if we sell any of them, we'll tell <a href="http://lnc.hr/j4inD" target="_self" title="the keyboard.io launch page">the keyboard.io mailing list</a>.</p>
311. <p> <a class="postlink" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11505711274"><img alt="Image" class="reimg-width" height="551" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11505711274_e746cd9395_b.jpg" width="734"></a><br> <a class="postlink" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11505814283"><img alt="Image" class="reimg-width" height="551" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11505814283_f1810f6383_b.jpg" width="734"></a><br><a class="postlink" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11505669146"><img alt="Image" class="reimg-width" height="551" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11505669146_96dcfe9205_b.jpg" width="734"></a><br><a class="postlink" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11505733206"><img alt="Image" class="reimg-width" height="551" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11505733206_308526d380_b.jpg" width="734"></a><br> <a class="postlink" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11505815494"><img alt="Image" class="reimg-width" height="734" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11505815494_d87646e3b1_b.jpg" width="734"></a></p></div>
312. <div class="content"> </div>
313. <div class="content"> </div>
314. <div class="content">You can find more <a href="https://secure.flickr.com/photos/obra/sets/72157638928705996/" target="_self" title="photos of the Model 00">photos of the Model 00</a> on Flickr.</div>
315. </content>
316. </entry>
318. <entry>
319. <title>Better and better keyboards.</title>
320. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2013/12/11/better-and-better-keyboards/"/>
321. <updated>2013-12-12T02:27:41Z</updated>
322. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2013/12/11/better-and-better-keyboards/</id>
323. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#039;s been a while since I&amp;#039;ve written about my keyboard-building adventures....apparently, I haven&amp;#039;t blogged about keyboards since April of this year. I&amp;#039;ve been too busy designing keyboards.&lt;/p&gt;
324. <p>The first thing I should get out of the way is that you're going to be able to buy one. We're working hard to finalize a design and find manufacturing partners. If you want to know when we're ready to take your money, head on over to <a href="http://keyboard.io">http://keyboard.io</a> and sign up for our announcement list.</p>
325. <p>When I last wrote about keyboards here, I'd just completed my first fully homebrew design - the Mark 2 keyboard. From my phrasing, it was pretty clear that I intended to tell you about the Mark 3 that I'd already built.</p>
326. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8410601198/" title="Homebrew Mark 3 Prototype by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="Homebrew Mark 3 Prototype" height="600" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/8410601198_f33e888af4_c.jpg" width="800"></a></p>
327. <p><em>Mark 3 Keyboard</em></p>
328. <p>The Mark 3 was an attempt to build the most compact, yet reasonably ergonomic keyboard I could. It was also the first time I got to drive the lasercutter myself. As such, the folks at Danger!Awesome had me use plywood rather than acrylic.</p>
329. <p>The keys were arranged in what's known as a 'symmetric stagger' It was quite compact. And I didn't like it at all. Among other things, the thumb keys just weren't as comfortable as I wanted.</p>
330. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8434886832/" title="mark 4 keyboard prototype by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="mark 4 keyboard prototype" height="600" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/8434886832_cdc8978a0a_c.jpg" width="800"></a></p>
331. <p><em>Mark 4 Keyboard</em></p>
332. <p>The Mark 4 was the first thing that started to feel right. It was also my first foray into <a href="http://fsck.com/~jesse/tmp/2013-02-13/0d7dba94-ed53-456b-be5c-24aec53b088a/tron.pdf">TRON</a>-style thumb keys. I loved them. And hated them. I got the angles and positioning wrong. And my brilliant idea of having two rows per-thumb was a total bust. They just made it harder to hit either row. But it looked cool. Man did it look cool.</p>
333. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8471300825/" title="Mark 5 Keyboard by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="Mark 5 Keyboard" height="600" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/8471300825_314571f2c5_c.jpg" width="800"></a></p>
334. <p><em>Mark 5 Keyboard</em></p>
335. <p>The Mark 5, I finished just in time for Valentine's Day. A friend remarked that it looked kind of like a heart. So I made it look a lot like a heart. It was actually pretty good, but had a couple fatal flaws.</p>
336. <p>I was late for my lasercutting appointment when I decided to place the heart...and I misaligned it. I ended up having to dremel notches into a couple of the number-row keys in order to get everything to fit. The thumb keys with a shared central diamond seemed like a great idea when I was designing it, but in practice it was a pain to use. It was really hard to hit the top key in the diamond. For the keymap I was using at the time, that was the Control key. Emacs-using friends absolutely hated it. I got enough time typing on the Mark 5 that I finally started getting comfortable...except that I found my pinkies just sort of hanging out over the edges of the keyboard much of the time. It took a little while, but at Kaia's urging, I added an extra column for each pinkie on later models. This dramatically improved the usability and comfort for me.</p>
337. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8614513509/" title="A study for the Mark 6 Keyboard Prototype. by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="A study for the Mark 6 Keyboard Prototype." height="800" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/8614513509_f966f3c230_c.jpg" width="600"></a></p>
338. <p>This was right around when my 3D printer finally showed up. I spent most of a month teaching myself the rudiments of 3D modeling with OpenSCAD. It took a lot of tweaking to be able to reliably generate keyboard 'plates' that would reliably seat keyswitches without being so tight they caused the switches to bind or so loose the switches popped out.</p>
339. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8727926078/" title="Mark 6 Keyboard by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="Mark 6 Keyboard" height="600" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/8727926078_32d2a2259c_c.jpg" width="800"></a></p>
340. <p><em>Mark 6 Keyboard</em></p>
341. <p>The interesting things about the Mark 6 were:</p>
342. <ul>
343. <li>It was 3D printed. Each of the 'hand' plates took 3-4 hours to print. The bottom shell took about 12.</li>
344. <li>The key columns were splayed to better line up with where your fingers end up when you reach</li>
345. <li>It was tented -- The middle of the keyboard was just slightly taller than either side.</li>
346. <li>It had a rather significant negative slope -- the part of the keyboard under your wrists was higher than the part further away from you.</li>
347. <li>The keyplates were separate from the shell of the keyboard. This made it really easy to iterate on key layout separately from keyboard shape.</li>
348. </ul>
349. <p>The things that sucked about the Mark 6 were:</p>
350. <ul>
351. <li>The column splaying was far too wide. I could reach everything, but it wasn't particularly comfortable.</li>
352. <li>The negative slope was far too pronounced. It was just uncomfortable to use with the bottom of the keyboard flat on the desk.</li>
353. <li>I still hadn't added the extra columns Kaia had suggested.</li>
354. </ul>
355. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8726803753/" title="Mark 7 Keyboard by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="Mark 7 Keyboard" height="600" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/8726803753_65cbb1256a_c.jpg" width="800"></a></p>
356. <p><em>Mark 7 Keyboard</em></p>
357. <p>The Mark 7 was a fairly straight forward iteration from the Mark 6. Neat things about the Mark 7 included:</p>
358. <ul>
359. <li>Splitting the thumb and finger keys onto two different plates. This let me slightly change the angle between them.</li>
360. <li>Switching from a 5 key arc of thumb keys to a four key arc with a key above the arc and a new 'palm' key. The palm key, in particular, turned out to be pretty amazing. I use it to enable an additional layer of keys. Arrow keys live under HJKL. {}[] live under YUIO, and so on.</li>
361. <li>Slightly reducing inter-column finger splaying.</li>
362. <li>Finally adding the extra columns of pinky keys. These meant that the ` = ' - keys no longer needed to be hidden away on the second layer.</li>
363. </ul>
364. <p>What didn't work so well in the Mark 7:</p>
365. <ul>
366. <li>The keyboard shape was still pretty boxy</li>
367. <li>The inter-column finger splay was still too wide</li>
368. <li>The thumb keys were a bit too far away from the rest of the keyboard.</li>
369. </ul>
370. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11330431693/" title="2013-07-23 11.20.05 by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="2013-07-23 11.20.05" height="452" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11330431693_9be159b20f_c.jpg" width="800"></a></p>
371. <p><em>Mark 8 Keyboard</em></p>
372. <p>The Mark 8 was my first attempt to make a thin keyboard. It was identical to the Mark 7, except it was printed as two pieces -- a single key plate and a single bottom shell.</p>
373. <p>The biggest issues with the Mark 8 were that its shell wasn't structurally sound and that the front edge of the keyboard was sharp and ended up right in the middle of the user's palms.</p>
374. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11330277715/" title="2013-07-22 12.01.10 by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="2013-07-22 12.01.10" height="452" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11330277715_94e3fc5b70_c.jpg" width="800"></a></p>
375. <p><em>Mark 9 Keyboard</em></p>
376. <p>I spent a full week teaching myself how to design and 3D-print ball joints for the Mark 9. Two of those days were spent figuring out how to print all the parts of a ball joint as a fully assembled unit. Once I had it pretty well worked out, I realized that I was actually better off printing the two halves separately.</p>
377. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11330343406/" title="2013-07-18 18.33.09 by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="2013-07-18 18.33.09" height="452" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11330343406_ee7ff4dc21_c.jpg" width="800"></a></p>
378. <p><em>Mark 9 Keyboard, in two pieces</em></p>
379. <p>Things that were really cool about the Mark 9:</p>
380. <ul>
381. <li>It had a ball joint!</li>
382. <li>You could position the two halves independently!</li>
383. <li>It was thin!</li>
384. <li>It had rounded corners and edges!</li>
385. <li>It was the first keyboard I managed to print in ABS rather than PLA. As such, it just felt a lot nicer. Also, the colors were more exciting. (If pushed, I'll admit that the color choices were dictated by when I ran out of each spool of filament.)</li>
386. <li>I slightly reduced the inter-column finger splay. It was starting to feel reasonable.</li>
387. </ul>
388. <p>Things that could have been better about the Mark 9:</p>
389. <ul>
390. <li>It was basically impossible to use in my lap or tented on a desk -- The balljoint didn't work well enough to use unless the keyboard was on a flat surface.</li>
391. <li>The cables I used between the two halves were too brittle and unwieldy.</li>
392. <li>It suffered from the same problem as every other 3D-printed keyboard I'd made to date - When I showed it to someone, they got really excited about the fact that I had a 3D printer. In contrast, whenever I showed someone one of the layered acrylic prototype keyboards I'd built, they got excited about the keyboard.</li>
393. </ul>
394. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11330382594/" title="2013-08-30 22.56.12 by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="2013-08-30 22.56.12" height="800" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11330382594_84e4dd931d_c.jpg" width="452"></a></p>
395. <p><em>Mark 10 Keyboard</em></p>
396. <p>The Mark 10. I don't have a lot to say about the Mark 10.</p>
397. <p>Things that sucked about the Mark 10:</p>
398. <ul>
399. <li>While trying to print it, my 3D printer caught on fire.</li>
400. </ul>
401. <p>Things that were great about the Mark 10:</p>
402. <ul>
403. <li>I was forced to switch back to layering sheets of lasercut acrylic. While frustrating at the time, it was ultimately really, really good.</li>
404. </ul>
405. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11330345106/" title="2013-09-18 01.40.18 by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="2013-09-18 01.40.18" height="452" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11330345106_bb9395d33d_c.jpg" width="800"></a></p>
406. <p><em>Mark 11 Keyboard</em></p>
407. <p>I built the Mark 11 to take to XOXO. I'd had a lot of time to think and play since I'd made the Mark 9. And the Mark 9 just wasn't a usable keyboard for me. I procrastinated just a little bit too much and didn't have enough time to lasercut it myself. I ended up paying the nice folks at Danger Awesome a rush fee to get it cut within 24 hours after I emailed them my EPS files. Like the earlier lasercut keyboards, it was made out of stacked layers of acrylic. I went back to the completely-clear acrylic I'd used in the Mark 3, except this time I made the topmost plate thicker to better protect the key edges as I slid it in and out of my bag and to slightly raise the typist's hands into a more neutral position. The heart shape didn't work well with the palm keys -- playing around a little bit, I cut out a medium arc around the palm keys. It looked a little bit like a butterfly.</p>
408. <p>In general, I really liked the Mark 11. It was the design in a while that I was actually able to use as my primary keyboard. People I showed it to also liked it. This made me pretty happy. The comment that most blew me away was "If you made a commercial keyboard just like this, you could sell it in the MoMA Shop."</p>
409. <p>There were a few things about the Mark 11 that didn't work:</p>
410. <ul>
411. <li>It was really heavy. Really, really heavy. It turns out that a 9"x13" sheet of 1/2" thick acrylic is heavy. Who knew?</li>
412. <li>The sheet of acrylic that served as the keyplate started cracking pretty quickly. I'd seen that a little bit on earlier designs, but for whatever reason, the the Mark 11 was doing a pretty good imitation of a spiderweb.</li>
413. <li>The top layer of acrylic (the one in the butterfly shape) did a really good job of putting not one, but two sharp edges under each palm. On top of that, the positions I'd chosen for the screws that held the keyboard together put screws in a perfect place to bite into your palms.</li>
414. </ul>
415. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11330346296/" title="2013-10-19 00.16.56 by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="2013-10-19 00.16.56" height="452" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11330346296_f2c62e4250_c.jpg" width="800"></a></p>
416. <p><em>Mark 12 Keyboard</em></p>
417. <p>In an effort to cut down size and weight, the Mark 12 changed up the design just a little bit. I made the butterfly shape, now quite intentional, the outer edge of the keyboard. I did my best to keep the footprint the same size as an 11" MacBook Air. To help cut down on weight, I made the bottom layer of the keyboard a bit thinner. To better support the keyplate layer (and cut down on cracking), I made the electronics-wiring layer of the keyboard a full sheet with specific cutouts, rather than a wide outline. To further cut down on cracking, I changed most of the right angle cuts on the keyplate to gently rounded corners. (They may be somewhat out of vogue for web design, but rounded corners are really useful for lasercutting.) I moved the screws so they wouldn't bite into a typist's palms. To give it just a little bit more personality (and to make interlayer dust slightly less obvious, I cut the electronics-wiring layer out of translucent orange acrylic. After assembled, I softened the sharp edge under the typist's palms with a hand file. The layout didn't change much from the Mark 11. Just about the only thing I did was to tighten the inter-column finger splay just a bit more. Based on a study at Berkeley that claims any key spacing of 17mm or more doesn't increase error rate or typing pain for large-handed users, I tightened the baseline inter-key spacing to exactly 18mm. (I'd have tried 17mm, but knew that my current keycaps were just too big.)</p>
418. <p>The Mark 12 was good. Really good. I liked it. It felt nice to type on. It was fairly compact. It was totally manufacturable. The only real issues I had with it were that the palmrests were about half an inch too small for my hands and I'd misguessed on the lower bound of key spacing I could get away with -- they would sometimes scrape against each other as I pressed them.</p>
419. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11330385194/" title="2013-11-01 19.04.55 by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="2013-11-01 19.04.55" height="452" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11330385194_f80b33450e_c.jpg" width="800"></a></p>
420. <p><em>Mark 13 Keyboard</em></p>
421. <p>I'm typing this on the Mark 13 keyboard. I feel more comfortable on it than on any other keyboard at this point. While I'd like the Keyboard.io Model 01 to have 17mm or 18mm key spacing, I bumped the spacing on the Mark 13 up to 18.5mm to improve the typing experience with the commodity keycaps I have access to. The Mark 13 also improved the palm rest shape and played around a little bit with the butterfly shape to make it slightly prettier. The biggest change in the Mark 13 is inside. I'm still using the same solder and wire-wrap technique I've been using for most of the past year, but the Mark 13 is the first keyboard powered by an Arduino Micro rather than a Teensy.</p>
422. <p>The Teensy is a fantastic prototyping platform. And there are several very, very nice opensource keyboard drivers available for it. As I've been starting to look at my options for putting the keyboard into production, I've been trying to figure out what I want to use for a microcontroller. The Teensy is based on the Atmel ATMega32u4. It's a neat little single-chip solution that has enough pins to drive a keyboard and a few other peripherals and has native support for acting as a USB device. Unfortunately, the Teensy's bootloader is proprietary. That means that if I wanted to ship a "Teensy-compatible" keyboard, I'd need to either actually put a Teensy inside the keyboard or license the Teensy bootloader. Neither of those felt right.</p>
423. <p>The Arduino Micro has very similar capabilities to the Teensy. It's based on the same ATMega32u4 microcontroller. It has a comparable (thought slightly reduced) pin count. It costs about the same amount of money. The differences are in the development environment, the bootloader and in the license. As an Arduino, it's programmable directly in the vanilla Arduino IDE. It even includes native support for 'emulating' a USB keyboard and mouse. The bootloader is an AVR109 compatible Arduino bootloader. It's free to use and modify. The hardware design is <em>also</em> free to use and modify. So, while an Arduino Micro is around $25, putting all the parts of a Micro on our PCB will cost considerably less. And it'll be programmable with the Arduino IDE.</p>
424. <p>There was one teensy little problem. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) Nobody had, as far as I could tell, ever released a full keyboard driver for Arduino. But Arduino C was, I was told, really easy to pick up. I hadn't actually written any C in well over 15 years and the closest to embedded development I'd ever gotten was writing Java for Android. But hey, how hard could it be?</p>
425. <p>I wrote the first fully functioning version of <a href="https://github.com/obra/KeyboardioFirmware">KeyboardioFirmware</a> in an hour and a half. While watching a movie. While tipsy. It turns out that Arduino really <span style="text-decoration:underline;">is</span> easy to develop for. Since then, I've added support for keyboard-driven mouse emulation, multiple keymaps, rudimentary macros and dramatically improved reliability and memory efficiency.</p>
426. <p>The big issues I have with the Mark 13 are that it's heavy and that acrylic scratches and cracks easily. It also traps dust between layers and shows fingerprints and smudges like you wouldn't believe.</p>
427. <p>So, you ask, if the Mark 13 is basically the keyboard I want to ship, what's next?</p>
428. <p>Well, none of the techniques and technologies I've been using to prototype are going to work for a production run.</p>
429. <p>I've been talking to a few potential production partners in Taiwan and China, but folks are being slow to engage.</p>
430. <p>It's time to learn about D4M. (Design for Manufacturing)</p>
431. <p>The first and most obvious issue to solve is the circuit board. To date, every single keyboard I've built has been hand wired key by key and diode by diode. My friends who are electrical engineers recoil in horror when I tell them that. "But Jesse, it's so much easier to just design and fab a PCB," they say. Truth be told, circuit board design terrified me. I had absolutely no idea where to start.</p>
432. <p>Most of the Maker movement seems to have standardized on CadSoft EAGLE. It's relatively user friendly. And I mean relatively. It's awful, obtuse and incredibly dated. But compared to other CAD packages, it's astonishingly clean and intuitive. It's free to use if you're building open hardware and your board size is below a few inches square. A commercial license of EAGLE that lifts these restrictions is a few thousand dollars. That wasn't really going to work for me.</p>
433. <p>Over the past year, I've tried to design a keyboard PCB every few months. It was never really all that pressing and I'd invariably give up in frustration after banging my head against the CAD software for a while. I tried gEDA, KiCAD, circuits.io, and a host of other packages that don't spring readily to mind. After some encouragement at a conference in early november, I gave circuits.io another shot. It worked great, up to a point. By the time I'd built a grid of about 20 keys, their webui was so slow that Chrome would throw the "Kill the naughty page?" dialog after every operation. But I'd designed enough of a circuit that I thought I might understand what to do next.</p>
434. <p>I decided to give Upverter a shot next. It was slightly less polished and friendly than circuits.io, but it coped just fine with the schematic for the entire keyboard. I even managed to get a basic PCB laid out. The problem came in when I was trying to move and angle the keys. Each change took some manual calculation and a relatively large number of clicks. It just wasn't quite done enough for this project. That said, Upverter was actually pretty nice to use. And when I tried to use their 'live chat' feature to ask some how-to questions about the product late on a Friday night, one of the developers walked me through my issues and helped me find workarounds for features they didn't have yet. This was for a user with a free account. I've since upgraded to a paid account. If Upverter can handle what you're doing, it's a great choice for circuit design.</p>
435. <p>From there, I decided it was time to give KiCAD another shot. Previous attempts at KiCAD failed for a variety of reasons:</p>
436. <ul>
437. <li>I had no idea what I was trying to do</li>
438. <li>I was trying to use KiCAD in a Linux VM on a Mac, without an external 3 button mouse</li>
439. <li>I had no idea what I was trying to do</li>
440. </ul>
441. <p>This time things were different:</p>
442. <ul>
443. <li>I had the vaguest idea of what I was trying to do</li>
444. <li>I was trying to use KiCAD in a Linux VM on a Mac, with an external 3 button mouse</li>
445. </ul>
446. <p>Starting with the matrix I'd designed in Upverter and the component definitions from KiCAD-Keyboard-Tutorial, I managed to piece together a keyboard schematic and PCB design. KiCAD's rotation and placement UI isn't a whole lot better than Upverter's, but it's better enough that I managed to actually get a board designed. All in all, it took me about 4 days. Much of that was tweaking and learning. When I tried redesigning the board from scratch, I had it done in about 4 hours. Lest you think "Ok, he now has a production PCB design. Where's my damn keyboard?" I should admit that the PCBs I've designed to date have a slot for a commercially produced Arduino Micro. The production PCB will need to have an Arduino Micro (including a few surface-mounted components) cloned onto it. I either need to further level up in circuit design or enlist some professional help.</p>
447. <p>Once I had what I thought was a reasonable board design, I exported Gerber and Drill files and started shopping them around to PCB prototyping houses. Most of these companies gave me a "quick quote" after I gave them a little bit of metadata and uploaded my Gerbers and drill files. With the exception of Seeed Studio, everybody had a process that involved me interacting with a sales person before my boards got made. Quotes I got back were all over the map. I think the most expensive I got back was a cost of $270 for a single prototype board and 50 for each additional copy. Most were on the order of $100 for the first board and $25 for each additional board with prices falling off the more I ordered. Turnaround times quoted to me ranged from "We can FedEx overnight the boards to you tomorrow, if you're willing to give us your firstborn child" to "How about we think about making them in two weeks and then put them on a boat?"</p>
448. <p>Pretty much everybody had an intro/prototyping offer that would have been a lot cheaper. And pretty much everybody said I wasn't eligible for it because my boards were way, way too big.</p>
449. <p>Golden Phoenix were the most responsive vendor and their sales person actually flagged a technical issue with the Gerber files I'd submitted to them. They weren't the most cost effective vendor for the quantity of boards I was ordering. That honor went to Seeed Studio's "Propagate" offering.</p>
450. <p>Seeed Studio's minimum order is 5 boards. As I ran the numbers, it turned out that getting 10 boards would be only a few dollars more than getting 5. So, for $150 in product cost and $50 in FedEx shipping, I have 10 prototype boards that are currently "In Production" and should soon be "Shipped". I have no illusions about having my first board design actually <span style="text-decoration:underline;">work</span>, but I'm hopeful.</p>
451. <p>Once we have our PCB sorted out and our design finalized, we intend to do the whole Kickstarter thing. If you want to know when we're ready to take your money, head on over to <a href="http://keyboard.io">http://keyboard.io</a> and sign up for our announcement list.</p>
452. </content>
453. </entry>
455. <entry>
456. <title>Shanghai, late 2013. Day One. (The Electronic Component Market)</title>
457. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2013/12/05/shanghai-late-2013-day-one-the-electronic-component-market/"/>
458. <updated>2013-12-06T04:47:43Z</updated>
459. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2013/12/05/shanghai-late-2013-day-one-the-electronic-component-market/</id>
460. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/10998946355&quot; title=&quot;The Bund, As seen from Pudong by Jesse Vincent, on Flickr&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/10998946355_25fa02960c_b.jpg&quot; width=&quot;1024&quot; height=&quot;185&quot; alt=&quot;The Bund, As seen from Pudong&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
461. <p>This was my third trip to Shanghai. The first one was in 1993. The second was in 2010. Things had changed less between the two most recent trips than between the first two trips. That's hardly surprising. </p>
462. <p>The first time I flew into Shanghai, My dad and I flew into Hongiao Airport, took a taxi to the decaying Peace Hotel on the Bund and crashed out for 12 hours. Across the river was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_Pearl_Tower">the Oriental Pearl TV Tower</a> ...and not much else.</p>
463. <p>When we woke up, we started making our way through the legions of blue-grey-suited pedestrians and cyclists thronging Nanjing Road.</p>
464. <p>We found ourselves in front of a crowded little dumpling place on a side street. After observing for a bit, we figured out the system: hand over some cash and get issued plastic tokens. Push your way through the crowd to the kitchen counter and hand over your tokens in exchange for delicious looking fried dumplings. We were starving. So we pantomimed that we wanted six dumplings. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_number_gestures">Counting on your fingers in Chinese is different than in English.</a> You can get to 10 on one hand.) We got our six tokens. They were an impossibly cheap 20 cents or so. We pushed our way up to the counter and handed them over. The cook started shoveling little greasy fried balls of pork and deliciousness into a paper bag. He didn't stop at 6. He didn't stop at 7. He didn't stop at 8. Eventually we figured out that we'd bought six orders of four dumplings. Despite our best efforts, we only got through about 20 of them before sharing our bounty with a homeless guy in a park.</p>
465. <p>I remember wandering through dusty, sleepy department stores on Nanjing Road. I found the electronics counter tucked away on the 2nd or 3rd floor.  A small box caught my eye. It looked a little like the Gameboy I'd left at home. I was delighted to discover that it was an unlicensed implementation of Tetris that I could <i>almost</i> fit in my pocket.</p>
466. <p>From Shanghai, we set out across what felt like a very broad swath of Eastern China by hard-seat train. My only memory of Shanghai's main train station is one of low ceilings, signs showing that explosives and fireworks were prohibited on trains and big X-Ray machines for EVERY piece of luggage. The security staff gestured that we didn't need to scan our bags and just waved us through.</p>
467. <p>The second time I was in Shanghai was Christmas 2010. Kaia and I flew into the giant super-modern PuDong airport. From there, we paid a pittance to take the Maglev train into downtown PuDong - the mega-city that the Chinese government built by fiat in what had basically been rice paddies on my first trip to Shanghai.</p>
468. <p>We stayed at what was nominally a new-construction Sheraton in Pudong. They upgraded us to a two-room suite on a high floor with a glorious view of the bridges spanning the river and the Bund.</p>
469. <p>At one point, I went looking for 'interesting' electronics. The recommendation I got put me at what I can only describe as an electronics fake market. I was looking for an interesting Android tablet or something. When I asked about Android phones, I was handed an 'Android iPhone! Dual-SIM!' - It looked sort of like an iPhone. The OS it was running was a dumbphone OS upgraded with ripped icons from iOS and support for a resistive touchscreen. The only Android 2.x tablet I was shown...did not boot. Nor did any of the 4 others they took out of plastic wrap to try to demo. Eventually, the salesperson apologized and said she couldn't show me a working one. In general, though, there was relatively wide availability of high-end tech. When we visited the Super Brand Mall, Best Buy had the relatively complete, if uninspiring selection of gear you'd expect to find at a Best Buy. An underground Apple Store (that wouldn't look out of place in New York or San Francisco) was situated in the next mall over. Across the street from the two malls was the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. Underneath the tower was a sort of awesome but incredibly kitschy museum of the history of Shanghai.</p>
470. <p>Locals were fairly brand-conscious. Sure, I was offered a fake Rolex, but the tout offering it had stationed himself in front of the Rolex shop on Nanjing Road, a few blocks from American Apparel's China flagship store.</p>
471. <p>The phrase I use to sum up my impressions of late 2010 Shanghai is 'Starbucks across the street from another Starbucks.'</p>
472. <p>But this was supposed to be my 2013 Shanghai travelogue.</p>
473. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11180126886" title="IMG_20131114_064205.jpg by Jesse Vincent, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11180126886_8f0bb92ce7_b.jpg" width="1024" height="579" alt="IMG_20131114_064205.jpg"></a></p>
474. <p><i>The view from the airport lounge where I scrambled to install Chrubuntu on my Chromebook.</i></p>
475. <p>I'm going to skip over the gory details of my IT setup for this trip -- that's a subject for another post. The very short version is that I arrived with a Google-flavored HTC One with my regular T-Mobile SIM and an ARM Chromebook running Chrubuntu. On my phone, I had access to Twitter and Foursquare. Both devices were signed into a throwaway Google account.</p>
476. <p>I arrived, somewhat bedraggled, at PuDong airport. I turned on my phone and was greeted by an SMS telling me that international data roaming in China would be rate-limited to EDGE speeds but would be free. Yay T-Mobile!</p>
477. <p>The next thing my phone told me was that in the 14 hours I'd been offline on my way to china, updates for a dozen or so Google apps had been uploaded to the Play Store. It was almost certainly a coincidence.</p>
478. <p>I decided that given how tired I was, I could treat myself to a taxi. I spent a few minutes stumbling around the arrivals hall of the airport looking for an ATM. A liveried driver hanging out at an official looking 'Ground Transfers' desk tried to convince me that she'd offer me a much better rate to the hotel than the hotel's airport transfer service. She quoted a number approximately 3x what a cab was supposed to cost. When I told her what a cab cost, she looked a little disappointed, said 'taxis are downstairs' and wandered off.</p>
479. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11180270833" title="IMG_20131115_163654.jpg by Jesse Vincent, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11180270833_e24e48b806_b.jpg" width="579" height="1024" alt="IMG_20131115_163654.jpg"></a></p>
480. <p><i>Dear San Franciscans - the Shanghainese have developed artificial fog technology and may soon put @carlthefog out of business</i></p>
481. <p>Stepping out of the airport, I walked into a wall of air. At least it felt that way. It was insanely smoggy. I didn't find out until later that it had been 'keep the kids and grandparents inside, halt construction projects and ban fireworks' smoggy. The cab ride was uneventful. I'd printed a copy of the Chinese-language driving directions from the airport to my hotel during my downtime at the airport in Chicago.</p>
482. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11180084365" title="IMG_20131115_160557.jpg by Jesse Vincent, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11180084365_6908dc18d1_b.jpg" width="579" height="1024" alt="IMG_20131115_160557.jpg"></a></p>
483. <p><i>Some of the drive from PuDong to Shanghai felt like driving through a megalopolis. Some of it felt like driving through a post-apocalyptic wasteland.</i></p>
484. <p>I spent the trip splitting my attention between marveling at the endless tracts of buildings across PuDong, Friday afternoon traffic and an email conversation with <a href="https://twitter.com/ghosTM55">Thomas Yao</a>,the leader of the Shanghai Linux Users' Group. I was pretty shattered, but Thomas talked me into going out for dinner with him later in the evening.</p>
485. <p>The cab pulled up at the Sheraton Hongkou, which I'd picked because it had an astonishing promo rate and was located across the street from a subway station on the Shanghai side of the river. What I hadn't realized at the time was that it was a brand new skyscraper in an area that was otherwise completely un-redeveloped.</p>
486. <p>The Sheraton was...well, it was a very, very nice Sheraton. From the bedroom-sized shower with a claw-foot tub and a view of downtown Shanghai to the heated marble floor by the sink and the french press for coffee and the $10 bottle of Evian, it was what you'd expect.</p>
487. <p>Heading out for dinner with Thomas, I asked the front desk if the RFID transit card I had in my wallet was a Shanghai subway pass. He told me he thought it was, but wasn't sure. It didn't work, so I bought a 40 cent subway ticket to Thomas' office on the Pudong side of the river.</p>
488. <p>Coming out of the subway, there was a small flea-market, consisting of sweaters, nuts, roasted snacks and iPhone cases. So many iPhone cases.</p>
489. <p>I walked into the GitCafe office to find Thomas and one of his coworkers playing XBox soccer on a giant wallscreen. They finished up their game, we chatted a bit and Thomas and I headed off for dinner. I asked him about the RFID card the clerk thought might be a Shanghai subway card. Thomas pointed out the large text that said '北京' (Beijing) before helping me buy an actual Shanghai subway pass.</p>
490. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11197908865" title="PB180482.jpg by Jesse Vincent, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11197908865_78139770b6_c.jpg" width="600" height="800" alt="PB180482.jpg"></a></p>
491. <p><i>The old TV tower got a new lease on life as the host of the hourly laser show.</i></p>
492. <p>We had dinner at <a href="https://foursquare.com/v/%E4%BB%A3%E5%AE%98%E5%B1%B1/4bb48d07f187a5931e3914f8">代官山</a>, one of Thomas' favorite restaurants at Super Brand Mall. Very few parts of dinner were things I recognized, but everything was tasty. One of the oddest bits was the drinks, which were some sort of Coca-Cola and citrus concoction with tiny little citrus fruits served in glass bottles heavy enough to kill someone. As we were leaving the mall, the Oriental Pearl TV Tower lit up with a laser light show. Green laserbeams started hitting nearby buildings and giant laser-projected horses stampeded across the tower's base.</p>
493. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11197939166" title="PB180522.jpg by Jesse Vincent, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11197939166_56ef44438e_c.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="PB180522.jpg"></a></p>
494. <p><i>Some of the local cafe chains have made fascinating branding choices.</i></p>
495. <p>We made plans to meet up Wednesday evening at <a href="https://blog.fsck.com/2013/12/05/shanghai-late-2013-day-one-the-electronic-component-market/xinchejian.com">XinCheJian</a>, the local hackerspace. From there, I headed home and passed out until morning.</p>
496. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11199265093" title="PB150003.jpg by Jesse Vincent, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11199265093_bc6ac261c9_c.jpg" width="600" height="800" alt="PB150003.jpg"></a></p>
497. <p><i>Consumerism!</i></p>
498. <p>Saturday, I set off to find the Beijing Street electronic components market Thomas had recommended to me. It was fairly near Nanjing Road, so I hopped on the subway and popped up in front of the Sony Store and a gigantic Forever 21. Across the street was the first block of the Nanjing Road pedestrian mall. As soon as I set foot on the pedestrian mall, the touts hit. "Hey Mister. You want a watch?" "No." "You want a handbag?" "No." "Massage?" "No." "Lady massage? Very sexy girls." "No." And it didn't let up. From there on in, if I was on Nanjing Road, a tout was trying to sell me a Rolex, a designer handbag or a happy-ending massage. Some of the touts were men. Some were women. All were reasonably young. Some were more aggressive about it than others. Some only got in a single question as I walked past. Others followed me for half a block. That's the last I'll mention of the touts.</p>
499. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11180224474" title="PB150005.jpg by Jesse Vincent, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11180224474_1eb1b94296_c.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="PB150005.jpg"></a></p>
500. <p><i>Just like home!</i></p>
501. <p>I walked down Nanjing Road for a couple blocks -- past a mobbed Apple Store, a gourmet grocery store, Gucci and a bunch of other high-end western shops. Guided by Google Maps, I took a right toward Beijing Road. Things quickly became more chaotic. Sidewalks and traffic lights became more...advisory than anything else.   The side street was lined with small local shops, restaurants and...sort of ramshackle holes where there should be more shops.</p>
502. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11180250586" title="PB150012.jpg by Jesse Vincent, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11180250586_ca44df6688_c.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="PB150012.jpg"></a></p>
503. <p><i>Seconds before, this shop window had been shilling for DeWalt</i></p>
504. <p>As I hit Beijing Street, things changed again. Apparently that section of Beijing Street is known as 'Hardware street.' On the corner as I walked up was a sort of micromall of power tools, hand tools and gas generators. Some of the stuff there was from Chinese brands I'd never heard of like Dongcheng, but there was just as much stuff (and advertising) from DeWalt, Craftsman and Milwaukee.</p>
505. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11196949244" title="PB150025.jpg by Jesse Vincent, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11196949244_e945b495f3_c.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="PB150025.jpg"></a>
506. </p><p><i>Plumbing supplies on Beijing Street</i></p>
507. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11197023294" title="PB150045.jpg by Jesse Vincent, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11197023294_d4e59288b2_c.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="PB150045.jpg"></a></p>
508. <p><i>Perhaps I could interest you in some industrial springs in a range of festive colors?</i></p>
509. <p>Walking down Beijing Street, there were whole stretches of shops that sold nothing but magnets or bearings, tubing, connectors or brushes. Across the street, I found the 7 story <a href="https://plus.google.com/111805589479132756945/about?gl=HK&hl=en">"Technology Jingcheng Electron Market"</a>.</p>
510. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11197259366" title="PB150092.jpg by Jesse Vincent, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11197259366_205bfc3718_c.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="PB150092.jpg"></a></p>
511. <p><i>Every kiosk also sold a range of diodes, capacitors, oscillators and so on, but they weren't nearly as photogenic.</i></p>
512. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11197283943" title="PB150063.jpg by Jesse Vincent, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11197283943_73015e338f_c.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="PB150063.jpg"></a></p>
513. <p><i>See. Told you so.</i></p>
514. <p>I started by wandering in the front door. A few dozen kiosks filled almost all available floor space. The kiosks had demos of the various LEDs they had for sale. They also appeared to sell everything else. Under glass various kiosks had piles of different sorts of switches, diodes, ICs, power adaptors, LCDs and a variety of other parts.</p>
515. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11197317003" title="PB150071.jpg by Jesse Vincent, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11197317003_45135062d6_c.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="PB150071.jpg"></a></p>
516. <p><i>Some of the kiosks were filled with unstable stacks of partial reels of surface-mount components.</i></p>
517. <p>And kids. Kids everwhere. It was Saturday, so everyone just brought their babies, toddlers and 10 year-olds to hang out.</p>
518. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11197149224" title="PB150058.jpg by Jesse Vincent, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11197149224_a49727ec3a_c.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="PB150058.jpg"></a></p>
519. <p><i>Every kiosk had one display case on wheels that served as a door..of sorts.</i></p>
520. <p>Heading downstairs into the basement, I found more of the same, but also a little more work being done. A few shopkeepers had customers laptops open and were attacking their motherboards with soldering irons. Things in the basement were generally a bit better organized than on the first floor. </p>
521. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11197457034" title="PB160158.jpg by Jesse Vincent, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11197457034_50431fdfb8_c.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="PB160158.jpg"></a></p>
522. <p><i>If you need custom faceplates for your milking machines, this is the place to go.</i></p>
523. <p>The second floor was...probably about 50% bigger than the first floor and connected to the next building over.  As I was doing the tour of shops that sold nothing but spools of surface-mount microcontrollers (and there were probably about 20 of them), women with small sheafs of paper listing the parts their clients needed would dart in an out of various shops placing or picking up orders.</p>
524. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11197335404" title="PB160125.jpg by Jesse Vincent, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11197335404_2426860e67_c.jpg" width="600" height="800" alt="PB160125.jpg"></a></p>
525. <p><i>At some point, a guy on a powered self-balancing unicycle zoomed past me.</i></p>
526. <p>I wouldn't realize it was odd until days later, but not a single person on any of the 5 occupied floors of the component market said a single word to me without me trying to start a conversation first. And I only did that twice.</p>
527. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11197462166" title="PB160157.jpg by Jesse Vincent, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11197462166_f338a49631_c.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="PB160157.jpg"></a></p>
528. <p><i>I seriously considered trying to bring one of these soldering station microscopes home in my suitcase.</i></p>
529. <p><a href="http://keyboard.io">I make keyboards</a>. I hadn't really thought about buying keyboard parts on this trip. Had I planned ahead, I could have gotten someone at the electronics market to design me a PCB for my next model. As I was walking around, I kept an eye on the keyswitches that were being offered for sale, on the off chance that someone had a good deal on the switches I use (or interesting alternatives). Somewhere on the third floor, I finally found someone selling Cherry keyswitches.  The vendor didn't speak any English (and, to a first approximation, I speak no Chinese.) Using Google Translate, I explained that I wanted to know how much 200 of those keyswitches would cost. One of the two folks behind the counter picks up the switch I wanted and ran off. About 10 minutes later, he turned up again and wrote down a price...which was easily twice what they should cost. I wrote down what I wanted to pay. He shook his head, made an X with his arms and turned away from me. As I walked away, he was taking cameraphone pictures of the keyswitch.</p>
530. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11197355334" title="PB160134.jpg by Jesse Vincent, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11197355334_220e36fd48_c.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="PB160134.jpg"></a></p>
531. <p><i>Very, very few of the vendors had posted price lists like this one.</i></p>
532. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11197266885" title="PB150102.jpg by Jesse Vincent, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11197266885_44f35fb126_c.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="PB150102.jpg"></a></p>
533. <p><i>There were three of these shops in a row</i></p>
534. <p>The higher floors of the central market held more and more 'finished' goods. The shops in the secondary building tended to sell only a single sort of thing. There were bubblewrap shops. There were X86 CPU shops. There were packaging shops. There were shops that only made faceplates. There were cabling shops. You get the idea.</p>
535. <p>I got all the way to the top of the market without finding another vendor selling keyswitches. There had to be one -- the merchant with the high price really clearly hadn't left the building when he'd run off to get me a price. But it was lunch time and I was a little burned out on electronic components.</p>
536. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11197346754" title="PB160129.jpg by Jesse Vincent, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11197346754_a36b5d19cc_c.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="PB160129.jpg"></a></p>
537. <p><i>If I'd been planning ahead, I probably could have gotten some keyboard PCBs made while I waited.</i></p>
538. <p>As I was walking across the second or third floor to get to the escalator, I noticed a tiny, tiny little kiosk (maybe 3 feet square) that had some keycaps on their "what we sell" board. Looking closer, they had an awful photocopy of the data sheet for Cherry keyswitches taped to the front of their display case. Getting into a conversation with the seller, it turned out that she had a pretty reasonable selection of Cherry keyswitches and keycaps. Her pricing for keyswitches was among the best I've found anywhere, though I know she was still making a decent profit. Her pricing on keycaps was astonishingly good for what she was selling. So I can find it later, her email is 724371693@qq.com and her phone is 021-53083556. The website on her business card doesn't exist. I walked out about $60 poorer, but 200 Cherry keyswitches and about 700 keycaps richer.</p>
539. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/11197355593" title="PB150084.jpg by Jesse Vincent, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/12/11197355593_964a4db4f8_c.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="PB150084.jpg"></a>
540. </p><p><i>Over the course of the morning, I became a big fan of the Beijing-lu Electronic components market.</i></p>
541. <p>It was time for lunch.</p>
542. </content>
543. </entry>
545. <entry>
546. <title>Airplane Mode for Glass</title>
547. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2013/06/20/airplane-mode-for-glass/"/>
548. <updated>2013-06-21T04:46:56Z</updated>
549. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2013/06/20/airplane-mode-for-glass/</id>
550. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#039;ve built my first little piece of software for Google Glass.&lt;/p&gt;
551. <p>I flew home from SF yesterday and realized that there was no way (short of installing a very crashy Settings.apk) to enable Airplane Mode on my Glass.</p>
552. <p>That seemed like a reasonable enough "small" starter project.</p>
553. <p>This is really, really only for folks who are already comfortable running third party apps on their Glass. If you don't know how to sideload apps with adb, please don't install this. </p>
554. <p>You can grab the initial build at:</p>
555. <p><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/rtbt7vc3bz67j3c/GlassAirplane-0.1.apk" target="_blank" title="https://www.dropbox.com/s/rtbt7vc3bz67j3c/GlassAirplane-0.1.apk">https://www.dropbox.com/s/rtbt7vc3bz67j3c/GlassAirplane-0.1.apk<br></a><br>Source lives at <a href="https://github.com/obra/GlassAirplane" target="_blank" title="https://github.com/obra/GlassAirplane">https://github.com/obra/GlassAirplane</a></p>
556. <p>Patches welcome!</p>
557. </content>
558. </entry>
560. <entry>
561. <title>Recon MOD Live - a hackable $300 Android wearable (sort of)</title>
562. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2013/05/28/recon-mod-live-a-hackable-300-android-wearable-sort-of/"/>
563. <updated>2013-05-29T05:30:59Z</updated>
564. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2013/05/28/recon-mod-live-a-hackable-300-android-wearable-sort-of/</id>
565. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I got a MOD Live HUD from Recon Instruments today.&lt;br&gt;It is, indeed, running Gingerbread.&lt;/p&gt;
566. <p>As it turns out, if you can get it to install an update.zip, it won't check the signatures. Which means it's pretty easy to root :)</p>
567. <p>Cracking it open, the display is a Kopin, though I don't yet know which model.</p>
568. <p>It's designed as a look-around display. The prism has a mirrored backing and is wrapped in black plastic. The mirror coating on the prism comes off quite easily with a bit of rubbing alcohol.</p>
569. <p>So yeah, rootable Android (2.3) wearable computer. $300.</p>
570. <p>More details as the story develops.</p>
571. </content>
572. </entry>
574. <entry>
575. <title>Google I/O 2013 &amp; Google Glass</title>
576. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2013/05/18/google-io-2013-google-glass/"/>
577. <updated>2013-05-19T03:21:12Z</updated>
578. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2013/05/18/google-io-2013-google-glass/</id>
579. <content type="html">&lt;div class=&quot;wm Ob8Frf VC&quot;&gt;[crossposted from Google+]&lt;/div&gt;
580. <div class="wm Ob8Frf VC">[tl;dr $300 Android wearable computer with a HUD. Has been shipping for quite some time]<p></p>
581. <p>Growing up and hanging out near Cambridge, MA, I was always fascinated by the "mediaborgs" - the folks around the Media Lab who were building and <strong>using</strong> wearable computers. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how I could get myself a rig. At the time, the $1000+ for a heads-up display was more than I could pull off. I played around with sticking the tiniest laptop I could find (and even a bit of PC104 kit) in a bag and using a Twiddler and Emacs with T.V. Raman 's  emacspeak to have a walking-around computing environment with an audio interface. It was pretty neat, but incredibly clunky. I never really got the hang of it. </p>
582. <p>Over the years, I made a bunch of half-hearted attempts to get my hands on head mounted display that was functional enough to use and small enough to actually wear. I'd occasionally look around to see if anyone was selling something that seemed workable. Occasionally, I'd poke at <a class="ot-anchor" href="http://tekgear.com/hmd.html" rel="nofollow">http://tekgear.com/hmd.html</a> to see if there was anything that looked reasonable. Generally, though, the cheap options cost around $1000 and are really intended for immersive video or gaming experiences. (Or they're upwards of $10,000 and intended for defense and industrial applications.) </p>
583. <p>Needless to say, Google Glass somewhat piqued my interest. Google aren't yet making Glass available to folks like me who played the <a class="ot-hashtag" href="https://plus.google.com/s/%23ifihadglass">#ifihadglass</a> game. It sounds like they're just getting a handle on the initial production run for folks who were at Google I/O last year.</p>
584. <p>I got to try Glass pretty early in the conference. The friend demoing it for me was pretty happy with his, but the functionality he was able to show me was...very basic. To a first approximation, all you can do with the current "Mirror" API is to push snippets of text or HTML+CSS to be displayed in the upper-right corner of the wearer's vision.</p>
585. <p>At one of the early Glass talks at I/O, the speaker mentioned that a "GDK" to allow native development was coming soon. Glass is, indeed, Android under the hood. (4.0.x for now) Suddenly, this was looking a little more interesting.</p>
586. <p>A couple weeks ago, +Jay Freeman (@saurik) made news by finding an exploit that allowed him to gain root on his Glass. Since then, there's been a bit of a of a hacker scene growing up around Glass. At dinner on Thursday, I  saw a demo of a patched version of Glass Home running on an Android phone. I've heard reports of a homebrew Glass lock-screen app with an improved guest mode, too.</p>
587. <p>The one session at I/O that I was not going to miss was <span class="proflinkWrapper"><span class="proflinkPrefix">+</span><a class="proflink" href="https://plus.google.com/104909144433751521217">Hyunyoung Song</a></span>  & <span class="proflinkWrapper"><span class="proflinkPrefix">+</span><a class="proflink" href="https://plus.google.com/102269210431782050091">P.Y. Laligand</a></span>  talk on "Voiding your warranty: Hacking glass" ( Linked below, since I can't figure out how to inline it in G+.) Having been shut out of a few over-full sessions earlier in the conference, I went and sat second-row center at the previous session in the same room -- and learned a bunch of useful stuff about what's coming in Google Analytics. (During the GA session, I was seated next to a guy who looked to be trying to get his new Chromebook Pixel into developer mode. I...tried to be helpful. I was a little bit embarrassed to realize that  he was none other than <span class="proflinkWrapper"><span class="proflinkPrefix">+</span><a class="proflink" href="https://plus.google.com/115749542640996630663">Liam McLoughlin</a></span>  (@hexxeh), who, uh, knows a little bit about ChromeOS. </p>
588. <p>Getting there early was a good call. The session was packed.  Really packed.</p>
589. <p>H.Y. and P.Y. demoed how to use adb to push a launcher app and a settings app to your Glass and how to pair a Bluetooth HID device (which just works) and talked a little bit about what one can do by treating Glass as just a "regular" Android device. Porting <span class="proflinkWrapper"><span class="proflinkPrefix">+</span><a class="proflink" href="https://plus.google.com/114221735215588688400">K-9 Mail</a></span>  looks incredibly plausible. I'm really glad we never gave up on QVGA support.</p>
590. <p>Then they got into the good stuff. How to unlock and root your Glass. It's.. really easy. And exactly how you'd assume you'd do it. <br><a class="ot-anchor" href="https://plus.google.com/118132270929426815661/posts/4MyjGZhN575" rel="nofollow">https://plus.google.com/118132270929426815661/posts/4MyjGZhN575</a> is cameraphone shot of the slide from their deck.</p>
591. <p>To explain just how far one could go, H.Y and P.Y. demoed that one could use one of the Linux Installers on the Play Store to install an Ubuntu chroot on Glass. They said that they'd gotten the idea for the demo from <span class="proflinkWrapper"><span class="proflinkPrefix">+</span><a class="proflink" href="https://plus.google.com/115133427183932749413">Greg Priest-Dorman</a></span>  who "does his development in Emacs on Glass." </p>
592. <p>The world of computing is a very small place. I remember corresponding with Greg when he was at Vassar in the late '90s. If I recall correctly, my friend <span class="proflinkWrapper"><span class="proflinkPrefix">+</span><a class="proflink" href="https://plus.google.com/102099680822183285316">Dave Barker</a></span> mentioned to Greg that I had a Twiddler I hadn't fallen in love with. He was hoping to get to try out and I was a flaky Wesleyan undergrad, though I'm pretty sure we met and he showed me his wearable when I finally got up to visit friends at Vassar.</p>
593. <p>Chatting with a few other Googlers, it sounds like there's a fair contingent of Glass developers who use emacs (and possibly emacspeak) on Glass.</p>
594. <p>So yeah, after the Hacking Glass session, I..really, really want to get back to wearables stuff. As soon as I can get my hands on a Glass, I will.</p>
595. <p>I think I've found something to tide me over.</p>
596. <p>On more than one occasion, Artur Bergman has told me how amazingly amazing his ski goggles with a heads-up display are. They have a bunch of skiing-related sensors. I just sort of assumed that they had some little microcontroller and a custom OLED superimposed on the faceplate.</p>
597. <p>I was wrong. The folks who make the goggles, <a class="ot-anchor" href="http://reconinstruments.com" rel="nofollow">http://reconinstruments.com</a>,  were exhibiting at I/O. Their next gen product, "Jet",  is a Glass-esque setup with (not-see-through) HMD, an HD camera, bluetooth, wifi, a gigahertz ARM chip running what they say will be a fully unlocked build of Jellybean capable of running regular Android apps. It's going to ship "later in 2013" for "less than a thousand dollars."</p>
598. <p>So, that's pretty cool. But I can't have one today. As I talked to them a bit more about their existing product, I found out that it was...not quite what I expected. It's a QVGA (320x240) display that they say looks like a 14" screen 5 feet away. It's powered by...a device running (the slightly dated) Android Gingerbread. (In a previous version of this post, I accidentally said it was running Froyo) </p>
599. <p>Me: "So, I could buy a set of your ski goggles for $449 and rip them apart and get a wearable computer running Android with a heads up display."</p>
600. <p>Guy from Recon: "Well, you could.The HUD is designed to be taken out of one set of ski goggles and put in new goggles when you upgrade. Bu<br>
601. t, that's kind of a pain in the neck. It'd be easier and cheaper just to buy the HUD from our webshop as a standalone unit. It's $300."</p>
602. <p>Me: "..."</p>
603. <p>Me: "..."</p>
604. <p>Me: "And this is shipping? I can order it today and you already have them in stock?"</p>
605. <p>Recon: "Oh yeah, I mean this <em>is</em> the old model. It's been out for a while. We've actually discounted it from $400 to $300. It's running Froyo. The new one is much nicer and will be out later this year."</p>
606. <p>Me: "Please take my money"</p>
607. <p>So yeah. $300 wearable Android device. Has been shipping for quite a while. You can buy one today. I ordered mine before blogging about it. I'll report back once I've gotten to play with it.</p>
608. <p>To answer the obvious question:</p>
609. <p>Yes, I will be building a version of K-9 Mail for heads up displays.</p>
610. <p>To answer the other obvious question:</p>
611. <p>Yes, I'm going to be playing with building a Bluetooth input device or two for Android wearables.</p></div>
612. </content>
613. </entry>
615. <entry>
616. <title>Mark 2 Keyboard</title>
617. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2013/04/27/mark-2-keyboard/"/>
618. <updated>2013-04-27T19:22:18Z</updated>
619. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2013/04/27/mark-2-keyboard/</id>
620. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#039;s been quite a while since I&amp;#039;ve written about my keyboard hacking project.&lt;/p&gt;
621. <p>Since I wrote up the Mark 1 keyboard, I've made 5 more keyboards. I've learned a bunch about soldering, I've learned how to operate a laser cutter and I've learned a bit about 3D printing. I've also learned a bit about ergonomics and keyboard design.</p>
622. <p>I'm going to take this chronologically, even though that means I'm going to tell you about stuff that I later discovered was...not so right. So, bear with me through some clunky keyboard prototypes. It gets better. This post documents work from January, 2013.</p>
623. <p>To recap, the Mark 1 keyboard was based on the shell from the <a href="http://ergodox.org">ErgoDox</a>. It was a two-hand split layout, which turns out not to work well when you type with your keyboard in your lap. I had the ErgoDox 3D printed by <a href="http://shapeways.com">ShapeWays</a>. It was very expensive. Expensive enough that buying a 3D printer didn't sound like a bad idea. It actually sounded like a vaguely plausible idea. The 3D printer I ordered, an Aluminatus from <a href="http://trinitylabs.com">Trinity Labs</a> was going to take a while to ship, so I started looking around for other options. (They have since started shipping. The production units are more expensive than the beta version I got.)</p>
624. <p>It turns out that Cambridge, MA is home to <a href="http://dangerawesome.co">danger!awesome</a>, a storefront lasercutter shop. Yeah. It's as awesome as it sounds. It isn't particularly dangerous, though. I'm not complaining.</p>
625. <p>To get a lasercutter to do its thing. you need to feed it a vector file describing the cuts you want it to make.</p>
626. <p>To design the Mark 2 keyboard, I used my favorite vector drawing package -- Omingraffle. I drew a bunch of 14mm holes in a pattern that seemed to make sense and sent Danger Awesome an eps file.</p>
627. <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/d519d-6a00d83456074b69e201901ba1aa0c970b-pi.png" style="display:inline;"><img alt="Mark2-as-shipped" class="asset  asset-image at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e201901ba1aa0c970b" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/04/d519d-6a00d83456074b69e201901ba1aa0c970b-pi.png?w=300" title="Mark2-as-shipped"></a></p>
628. <p>Two days later, I dropped by their shop and picked up an 11"x17" sheet of green acrylic with a bunch of 14mm square holes cut out of it.  The nice folks at danger!awesome weren't quite sure what I was up to, so they saved all the little 14mm square munchkins they'd cut out of the plate.</p>
629. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8377369116/" title="With key caps. by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="With key caps." height="375" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/04/8377369116_d778925ea4.jpg" width="500"></a></p>
630. <p>I brought the sheet home and started sticking Cherry keyswitches into the holes. I quickly discovered that my acrylic sheet was too thick for the keyswitches to stay in place when I pushed them into the holes. It turns out that Cherry keyswitches have cute little clips designed to fit into 1.5mm thick plates. I quickly hit upon a solution that eventually turned out to have been a really bad idea. I...painted superglue around the edge of each key. This had the intended effect of making the keyswitches stay put. It also had the unintended effect of making the keyswitches somewhat...scratchy feeling.</p>
631. <p>I soldered up the Mark 2 very similarly to how I did the Mark 1. It...took a lot less time, though. Probably only 10-12 hours. (Since then, I've gotten much faster and more accurate. And have better ways of wiring everything up.)</p>
632. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8378615729/" title="Matrix fully wired. (Next up: wire in the controller) by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="Matrix fully wired. (Next up: wire in the controller)" height="375" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/04/8378615729_6d4fda64b0.jpg" width="500"></a></p>
633. <p>Rather than use the prototyping wires I used to connect the <a href="http://pjrc.com/teensy" target="_blank" title="Teensy">Teensy</a> in the Mark 1 to the keyboard, I decided to try a ribbon cable. I happened to have a bunch of old IDE cables hanging around, so I chopped one end off a cable and started soldering. All in all, it worked pretty well.</p>
634. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8381183519/" title="Wired up. Tomorrow: debugging by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="Wired up. Tomorrow: debugging" height="375" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/04/8381183519_5360baa8de.jpg" width="500"></a></p>
635. <p>I then had a working keyboard....at least as long as I carefully held it in the air so nothing crushed the key wiring.  I needed a case. The right thing to do was probably to have more parts lasercut, but I was impatient.</p>
636. <p>I hopped on my bike and pedaled down to the neighborhood Michael's to look for something I could use for a case. After a bit of wandering around, I found something that worked reasonably well...A picture frame designed for 11"x17" photographs. That got me enough height to make sure my keys and wiring weren't crushed. I let them keep the glass from the frame & had them cut a matte to the outside dimensions of the frame rather than the inside dimensions. Yeah, my keyboard had a paper back. Not great for a production keyboard, but just fine for a prototype.</p>
637. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8410653328/" title="Homebrew Mark 2 by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="Homebrew Mark 2" height="375" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/04/8410653328_345aed870f.jpg" width="500"></a></p>
638. <p>Within a couple days, it became clear that the keyboard was..not perfect.</p>
639. <p>I'd designed the hand layouts with a nice finger staggering. but each laid out..straight in front of me. It was a little bit like a flat Kinesis or Maltron. It was typeable, but not amazing.</p>
640. <p>The key column layout wasn't right.</p>
641. <p>The keyboard was big.</p>
642. <p>The picture frame shell was...heavy.</p>
643. <p>It was a reasonble prototype, but I could do better.</p>
644. <p>Next up would be the Mark 3. It wasn't right, either.</p>
645. </content>
646. </entry>
648. <entry>
649. <title>Pinkies and your brain.</title>
650. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2013/01/08/pinkies-and-your-brain/"/>
651. <updated>2013-01-08T21:12:16Z</updated>
652. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2013/01/08/pinkies-and-your-brain/</id>
653. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Your pinkies are not exactly your most...adept fingers. I don&amp;#039;t mean to imply that I&amp;#039;d be happy to lose mine, but I&amp;#039;m also not exactly happy that the standard QWERTY keyboard sticks keys like Shift, Return, Delete, Tab and Escape out of the way where you need to stretch your pinkies to whack them. If you&amp;#039;re an emacs user and have remapped Caps Lock to Control, things don&amp;#039;t exactly get easier for your poor left pinkie.&lt;/p&gt;
654. <p>As I've been starting to research keyboard design, I came across a tidbit about the placement of the Shift keys -- The earliest Remington typewriters (the ones by the guy who devised QWERTY) were strictly uppercase affairs. The competition added lowercase through a simple if somewhat...brute force hack. They added a second keyboard. Remington contrived something else - they welded lowercase type to the same hammers as as the uppercase letters and contrived a mechanism to literally shift the typewriter's platen up so the lowercase type would make an impression rather than the uppercase type.</p>
655. <p>As you might guess from that sort of a solution, there was an engineer involved. Apparently, an engineer who didn't want to spend time reengineering something they'd already built. So, when they went looking for a place to put their new platen shift keys, guess what they did with em? They bolted them on the side and a little out of the way. </p>
656. <p>And that, my friends, is why Shift lives where it does.</p>
657. <p>Another paper I was reading alluded to a study that said that one can not properly touch type on a keyboard with more than 50 keys. Looking down at my macbook air's keyboard...yeah. A few more than 50.</p>
658. <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/467b3-6a00d83456074b69e2017d3fa324e6970c-pi.jpg" style="display:inline;"><img alt="Macbook_air_laptop_key_13_keyboard" border="0" class="asset  asset-image at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e2017d3fa324e6970c image-full" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/01/467b3-6a00d83456074b69e2017d3fa324e6970c-pi.jpg" title="Macbook_air_laptop_key_13_keyboard"></a></p>
659. <p>Even a happy hacking has more keys than that:</p>
660. <p><img alt="" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/01/hhkbpro.gif"></p>
661. <p>So I set about trying to figure out a keyboard layout that wouldn't put so much emphasis on your least awesome fingers. I'm working from the ErgoDox keyboard design I wrote about earlier.</p>
662. <p> </p>
663. <p><img alt="" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/01/8197651589_74910fba43_z.jpg"></p>
664. <p>Those of you who are big into counting might count just over 75 keys there. But the basic layout of the keyboard is what I currently have to work with.</p>
665. <p>The layout I'm currently using is pictured below. What I've done is to eliminate all but a single column for each pinkie in favor of an additional "blue shift" layer. So far, I'm finding it fairly comfortable and getting used to it pretty quickly. I'd love comments and questions, though.</p>
666. <p>
667. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8361045529/" title="A reduced travel keyboard layout by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="A reduced travel keyboard layout" height="281" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/01/8361045529_4694afe187.jpg" width="500"></a></p>
668. <p>(Yes, I'm at 52 keys, not 50)</p>
669. </content>
670. </entry>
672. <entry>
673. <title>A pound of Sculpey</title>
674. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2013/01/03/a-pound-of-sculpey/"/>
675. <updated>2013-01-03T21:30:46Z</updated>
676. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2013/01/03/a-pound-of-sculpey/</id>
677. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;m starting to play around with what my first fully-homebrew keyboard design might look like.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
678. <p>This is my first pass at the left half of a keyboard:</p>
679. <p> </p>
680. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8343190766/" title="Keyboard Mock-up by jesse, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2013/01/8343190766_4d3e9b23ef.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Keyboard Mock-up"></a></p>
681. </content>
682. </entry>
684. <entry>
685. <title>Building a Keyboard: Part 2</title>
686. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2012/12/09/building-a-keyboard-part-2/"/>
687. <updated>2012-12-09T21:24:27Z</updated>
688. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2012/12/09/building-a-keyboard-part-2/</id>
689. <content type="html">&lt;h3&gt;An explanation of what I&amp;#039;m trying to do by writing this up&lt;/h3&gt;
690. <p>When I started in on this project, I was a complete electronics newbie. I had no memory of holding a soldering iron. (Though as soon as that rosin core got hot, I recognized the smell. I'm pretty sure I must have soldered as a kid or in a past life or something.) I made...a number of mistakes as I built my first keyboard, but in the end I have a fully working keyboard. I'm attempting to recount, from memory, everything I did. Especially everything I did wrong. If you know what you're doing, you probably laughed or cried a fair bit as you read part 1 of this writeup. If you <em>don't</em> know what you're doing, it's my hope that this writeup shows you just how easy it is to build something that you might otherwise consider out of reach.</p>
691. <h3>Wiring up the left hand side for testing</h3>
692. <p>As I finished off Part 1 yesterday, I'd just managed to get the matrix on the left hand side of the keyboard wired up. From there, I wired up some temporary leads to the rows and columns on the left side. I used adapted breadboard wires from <a href="http://adafruit.com">Adafruit</a>. These have the advantage of plugging directly into the pins on the Teensy++ microcontroller. If I was working from a PCB, this wouldn't be necessary, but, since I didn't have a PCB to work from I was doing this freehand.</p>
693. <p>Once I got the rows and columns connected to the Teensy, I found some bad solder joints. I used the solder sucker to undo my bad joints and redid them.</p>
694. <h3>Weird interference issues</h3>
695. <p>Even once I'd debugged the bad solder joints, I was still seeing...weird behavior. Some areas of the keyboard weren't generating keystrokes. My first assumption was that I just had a few bad solder joints in a row. So I redid them. That didn't really help. Sometimes, it <em>changed</em> the failures a bit, but it didn't actually fix things. "I know what this is! I must have toasted some of the diodes by shorting or melting them during some of my ham-fisted soldering." So I replaced the diodes. Nope.</p>
696. <p>I unplugged the keyboard from the Teensy and started poking around with the multimeter. I couldn't find anything wrong at all. I went back and tested the "bad" diodes with the multimeter (like I should have done in the first place). They were all fine.</p>
697. <p>I plugged the left hand back into the Teensy. A different region of the keyboard was now misbehaving. Finally, I realized that certain leads from the matrix to the Teensy were misbehaving when they were plugged in next to each other. What was going on is likely obvious to anyone who understands electricity. My assumption is *mumble* *mumble* interference *mumble* shoddy wiring *mumble*.  Rejiggering the wires made the problem go away. Not exactly a shining example of root cause analysis, I know.</p>
698. <p>At this point, it was time to try to wire the two halves of the keyboard together. I just needed to find a 13 wire cable.</p>
699. <h3>Explanation of my keyboard matrix</h3>
700. <p>13 wires, you ask?</p>
701. <p>Yes. 13 wires. On <strong>my</strong> wiring of the ErgoDox shells, I have 5 rows of up to 8 columns.</p>
702. <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/c48ed-6a00d83456074b69e2017c346cdd77970b-pi.jpg" style="display:inline;"><img alt="Keyboard-matrix" border="0" class="asset  asset-image at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e2017c346cdd77970b image-full" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/12/c48ed-6a00d83456074b69e2017c346cdd77970b-pi.jpg" title="Keyboard-matrix"></a></p>
703. <p>Normal keyboards are typically wired in something like a 6x18 matrix. Because the ErgoDox is a split layout, it's effectively wired as two separate mini-keyboards. The "real" ErgoDox design sticks an IO Expander on one of the hands' PCB so it can be connected to the other one by an 1/8 inch headphone-style cable. That's slightly more advanced than I'm capable of at this point, so I went for the hacky solution - just back-hauling the entire matrix from the left hand over to the right hand side where the Teensy lives.</p>
704. <p>There was just one small problem. Finding a 13 wire cable.</p>
705. <h3>Trying to find a 13 conductor cable</h3>
706. <p>An 8 connector cable is no problem. Easy to find. You can even go up a bit from there. But try as I might, I couldn't find a reasonable cable with enough wires for me. Then I hit upon an idea.</p>
707. <h3>HDMI!</h3>
708. <p>Big, thick, heavy HDMI cables. They have lots of pins, right? And lots of conductors inside. A quick check of wikipedia confirmed that there were enough wires inside for me. I briefly looked at adding HDMI ports to each side of the keyboard, but couldn't find female HDMI ports with suitable solderable headers. (They're generally fiddly little surface mount components designed to be placed and soldered by a machine, rather than a 30-something just learning basic soldering technique.)</p>
709. <p>So I pulled out my wire cutters and <strong>*snip*</strong>, I had a 13+ connector cable that I could solder to both sides of my keyboard.</p>
710. <p>In the end, I actually soldered the matrix on the left hand side of the keyboard directly to the formerly-HDMI cable. On the righthand side, I soldered each wire of the cable to a strand of the breadboard patch cable I bought from Adafruit. (The female ends on each strand of the patch cables comfortably seats one pin from the Teensy and means I don't have to mess around much when I realize I've screwed up and need to rewire things.)</p>
711. <p>I  connected both halves of my keyboard to the Teensy and plugged the Teensy into my desktop machine. I hit some keys on the right hand. Everything looked fine. I hit some keys on the left side. And...nothing. Nothing at all.</p>
712. <h3>All wires are not the same</h3>
713. <p>It turns out that HDMI cables are made of twisted pairs of various gauges of wires. That fail for this application in exactly the same way as my own twisted rats' nest of cabling did.</p>
714. <p><a href="https://www.adafruit.com/products/793"><img alt="" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/12/793_MED.jpg"></a></p>
715. <p>In the end, I took some of the jumper wire I got from Adafruit and just used it as a ribbon cable. I tried chaining it, so I could have a 20" cable rather than an 8" cable, but things started misbehaving.</p>
716. <p>I threaded the jumper cable from the left hand to the right and got it connected to the Teensy. What I had at this point wasn't <em>ideal</em>, but it did <em>work</em>.</p>
717. <h3>Time to put together the keyboard</h3>
718. <p>It was time for final assembly. That sounded so nice. "final". Ha ha ha. No. At a guess, I ended up taking the keyboard shell apart and putting it back together about 20 times after this point.</p>
719. <p>So, I grabbed the back halves of the keyboard shell and carefully aligned them on top of the front halves. I grabbed some screws I had lying about and....they didn't fit. The screw heads were just a little bit too big to fit in the screw holes printed into the back shell of the ErgoDox.</p>
720. <p>In Part 1, I described the SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) process Shapeways used to 3D print my keyboard shell. What I ended up with is just white plastic -- It's fairly easy to customize. In this case, I started my customization by picking up my Leatherman and starting to carve out the edges of the screw holes one at a time.  This technique was good enough to get the right hand side of the keyboard fully put together.  During my initial final assembly, I managed to over-tighten one of the screws causing the plastic on the bottom side of the case to snap, leaving me down one screw hole. Thankfully, Dox (and/or his co-conspirators) nicely over-provisioned the keyboard shell with screws. Being down one screw isn't a significant hardship.</p>
721. <p>I flipped the keyboard over and connected it up to my desktop and started testing each of the keys....and found that I had a few new key failures. I unscrewed all the screws I'd just managed to tighten and set to work with the multimeter and soldering iron. Mostly, it seems I managed to stress the solder joints connecting the column wires to the keyswitches. A little bit of work with the solder sucker and soldering iron and I was ready for reassembly. I managed to repeat this process a few times. I'm now...rather better at freehand solder joints than I was when I started this project. None of this would have been an issue with a PCB to mount my keyswitches in.</p>
722. <p>Now that the right hand was behaving, I was ready to screw the left side together. My screws still didn't fit in the holes I needed to sink them into.<br>
723. The correct solution would have been to wait until the next morning and walk down to the hardware store and buy properly sized screws. As you can tell from what I've already written, I haven't exactly done everything...correctly.</p>
724. <p>Rather than whittle out the screw holes on the left side, I hit upon a technique that seemed to work for me, but is probably quite dangerous and prone to catastrophe. Kids, don't try this at home until and unless an expert weighs in and says I'm just being overly dramatic.</p>
725. <p>The shell of my keyboard is made from plastic. Sure, it's not injection-molded like most plastic you'll find in a commercial product, but it has most of the properties of regular plastic. I already described how it snaps when it's subjected to too much stress. It also melts when it gets hot. Perhaps you see where I'm going?</p>
726. <p>I carefully aligned the back shell of the left hand on top of the front shell. I picked up one of my slightly-too-big screws. I placed the screw in the hole I wanted to secure. It did not seat itself properly because the screw head had a larger diameter than the hole I intended it to fill. I turned the temperature of my soldering iron way up. (As I said in the previous paragraph: <strong>Kids, don't try this at home.</strong>) I rested the tip of the soldering iron on the screw I hoped to sink. I applied a small amount of pressure with the soldering iron. As it became warm, the screw began to sink into the plastic. As it became warm, the plastic began to emit a noxious odor. When the screw appeared to be properly seated, I removed the soldering iron. This seemed to work quite well and I used the same technique for the remainder of the screws.</p>
727. <h3>I can't press the reset button</h3>
728. <p>I think I mentioned earlier that the way one uploads new firmware to the Teensy is by tapping a little black reset button.</p>
729. <p><a href="http://www.pjrc.com/store/teensypp.html" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/12/tpp_main.jpg"></a></p>
730. <p>That button drops the Teensy into upload mode so you can blow new firmware into its tiny little brain.  When you're using a Teensy on a breadboard, this is nice and easy. You can use a finger or a small screwdriver or a tweezer or just about anything to tap that little black button. When it's sealed away inside your keyboard, it's a little bit harder to press. I really, really, really didn't want to have to disassemble my keyboard every time I wanted to reprogram it. So I took advantage of one of the properties of plastic I've already written about. I did something that would probably get me kicked out of electronics class, especially if it's not done in a well ventilated area.</p>
731. <p>One should never plunge one's soldering iron into plastic. One should never then hold one's soldering iron inside a piece of plastic and slowly melt out a groove of plastic. When one is finished doing things one should never do, one should carefully clean one's soldering iron while it's still hot.</p>
732. <p>That completed, I could now easily tap the Teensy's reset button with the keyboard fully assembled.</p>
733. <h3>Time to switch to the production firmware!</h3>
734. <p>I carefully tapped each key on my keyboard. Finally, every key registered. Each key only registered once. I was ready to switch the <a href="https://github.com/humblehacker/firmware" target="_blank">Humble Hacker firmware</a> from "matrix discovery mode" to keyboard mode. That way, rather than each key telling me its coordinates in the matrix, it would instead, you know, generate a keystroke. I'm told this is a desirable property in a keyboard.</p>
735. <h3>Keys aren't registering. WTF?</h3>
736. <p>I realize I should step back a bit and describe the firmware build environment, at least a little bit.</p>
737. <p>Getting the keyboard firmware built was fairly straightforward, though it did involve a bit of cobbling things together. The Humble Hacker firmware seemed to be the most flexible option for "new keyboard, new matrix" (as opposed to "upgrade an old keyboard"), though there were a number of other options available. At some point, the author broke apart a single "keyboard" repository into a set of repositories - "firmware", "hardware", "remapper" and "kspec". I actually had the most luck following the instructions from the "keyboard" repository which is marked as "DEAD".</p>
738. <p>In addition to the Humble Hacker source, I needed to install the <a href="http://www.pjrc.com/teensy/loader.html" target="_blank">Teensy Loader</a> in order to blow firmware into the Teensy.</p>
739. <p>To build that firmware, I needed a crosscompiler toolchain. The <a href="http://blog.fsck.com/2009/04/savory.html">last time</a> I needed a cross-compiler toolchain, I had to commit unspeakable acts involving multiple bootstrapping builds of <tt>gcc</tt>, insane sets of shell scripts and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atrocity_Archives" target="_blank">a summoning grid</a>. It was bad enough that I ended up just installing a compiler on a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_N800" target="_blank">Nokia N800</a> and building things there.</p>
740. <p>Thankfully, things are easier these days.</p>
741. <p>I downloaded <a href="http://www.pjrc.com/teensy/gcc.html" target="_blank">an installable cross-compiler toolchain</a>. It took about 10 minutes. No lurking horrors needed to be placated with the offering of a child-to-be-born. No contracts in blood. No bootstrap compiler. Not even a shell script.</p>
742. <p>I recall a little bit of futzing around to try to get the <tt>kspec</tt> tool to build from the Humble Hacker repository. In the end <a href="https://github.com/humblehacker/keyboard/downloads" target="_blank">I just used a prebuilt version</a>.</p>
743. <p>So, back to the keyboard build-out.</p>
744. <p>I turned off the "matrix discovery mode" in the humble hacker firmware. I did the bare minimum I needed to get the "Q" key to print a "Q" on screen. I rebuilt the firmware, tapped the little black button on the Teensy with a screwdriver and flashed the new firmware.</p>
745. <p>Ready for glory, I tapped "Q" and...nothing.</p>
746. <p>I reflashed the firmware and tried again. Nothing.</p>
747. <p>I turned matrix discovery mode back on. Everything was great.</p>
748. <p>I reflashed the firmware and tried again. Nothing.</p>
749. <h3>UTSL</h3>
750. <p>I opened up the source to the Humble Hacker firmware and started reading code.  Apparently, it's more common to wire your diodes on the columns, rather than the rows.</p>
751. <p>Oops.</p>
752. <p>At this point, I was pretty good at rewiring the keyboard. I was also pretty sick of rewiring the keyboard. But there was an easier way.</p>
753. <h3>Lie to the firmware</h3>
754. <p><em>Why yes, Mr. Firmware. My keyboard does have 10 columns and 14 rows.</em> (Astute readers will note that doesn't jibe very well with my claim of an a 5x8 matrix on each hand. It turned out to be a little bit easier to give each hand 5x7 to itself and then to double up on one "row".)</p>
755. <h3>Success.</h3>
756. <p>My "Q" registered just fine.</p>
757. <p>I filled in more of the kspec matrix.</p>
758. <pre><span style="font-family:'">Keyboard:Doxy
759. Matrix:
760. /*  F4      F3      F7      F5      F6      D4      D3      D2      D1      D0                  */
761. /*  0       1       2       3       4       5       6       7       8       9                   */
762. Row:  EQUAL   TAB     CAPS    LSHIFT  BLQ     --      --      RALT    PGUP    PGDN      /*  0  C7 */
763. Row:  1       Q       A       Z       LBRKT   --      --      --      --      --        /*  1  C3 */
764. Row:  2       W       S       X       RBRKT   --      --      --      --      --        /*  2  C4 */
765. Row:  3       E       D       C       LFING1  --      --      --      --      --        /*  3  C6 */
766. Row:  4       R       F       V       LFING2  --      --      --      --      --        /*  4  C5 */
767. Row:  5       T       G       B       BKSP    --      --      --      --      --        /*  5  C1 */
768. Row:  HOME    LIDX2   LIDX3   LCTRL   DELETE  --      --      --      --      --        /*  6  C0 */
769. Row:  --      --      LORDER  LGRN2   LFUNC   --      --      --      --      --        /*  6  C2 */
770. Row:  --      --      --      --      --      RIDX1   RIDX2   RIDX3   RCTRL   ENTER     /*  7  B1 */
771. Row:  --      --      --      --      --      6       Y       H       N       SPACE     /*  8  B2 */
772. Row:  --      --      --      --      --      7       U       J       M       LARROW    /*  9  B4 */
773. Row:  --      --      --      --      --      8       I       K       COMMA   DARROW    /*  10 B3 */
774. Row:  --      --      --      --      --      9       O       L       PERIOD  UARROW    /*  11 B5 */
775. Row:  --      --      --      --      --      0       P       SEMI    SLASH   RARROW    /*  12 B7 */
776. Row:  --      --      --      --      --      MINUS   BSLASH  QUOTE   RSHIFT  INS       /*  13 B0 */
777. /*       0   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   */
778. ColPins:PF4 PF3 PF7 PF5 PF6 PD4 PD3 PD2 PD1 PD0
779. /*       0   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14 */
780. RowPins:PC7 PC3 PC4 PC6 PC5 PC1 PC0 PC2 PB1 PB2 PB4 PB3 PB5 PB7 PB0</span>
781. </pre>
782. <p>I filled in the matrix-to-keys table. I'll spare you the bulk of that table, but to give you the flavor of things, it looks like this:</p>
783. <pre><span style="font-family:'">  Key:Q Map:q_and_Q                                    tl:"Q"
784. Key:W Map:w_and_W                                    tl:"W"
785. Key:E Map:e_and_E                                    tl:"E"
786. Key:R Map:r_and_R                                    tl:"R"
787. Key:T Map:t_and_T                                    tl:"T"
788. Key:Y Map:y_and_Y                                    tl:"Y"</span>
789. </pre>
790. <p>The Humble Hacker firmware has support for multiple (toggleable) keyboard layers. You can do just about anything you want. Native Dvorak keyboard? No problem. Native Colemak keyboard? Sure thing. Design your own. You can do that if you want. You can't reprogram the keyboard without installing a firmware update, but there's no reason you couldn't write firmware that could do that.</p>
791. <h3>Keycaps I ordered from WASD</h3>
792. <p>Knowing (hoping) that I would eventually have a keyboard I needed to type on, I had ordered a set of keycaps from <a href="http://wasdkeyboards.com" target="_blank">WASD Keyboards</a> earlier in the year. I'd ordered, basically, "one keyboard" of keys. </p>
793. <h3>Keycap shapes</h3>
794. <p>I set about placing the right keycaps on the right keys. Just click em in place, right? Not so much. If you look at most modern keyboards (other than laptop or ultra-thin keyboards), you'll see that the keys have a pleasing sculpted shape. Each row has its own shape.</p>
795. <p><a href="http://www.cherrycorp.com/english/switches/key/mx.htm" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/12/mx_keydim_cyl.gif"></a></p>
796. <p>The ErgoDox shape isn't exactly the same as your typical desktop keyboard. Nor does it have all the same keys. It needs a couple weird-shaped vertical keys and a whole slew of slightly-wider-than-normal keys. Once I got a full set of keys on the keyboard, it felt...weird. The shapes just didn't fit.</p>
797. <h3>Now, where have I seen this layout before?</h3>
798. <p>I hadn't payed incredibly close attention to the layout of the ErgoDox - It had some properties I really cared about (like keys aligned in columns and clusters of keys designed to be pressed with your thumbs). Past that, it was just the first thing that looked even vaguely plausible.</p>
799. <p>Once I actually thought about it, I realized where I'd seen a layout like that before. It was, in fact, glaringly obvious. I just hadn't realized <strong>how</strong> glaringly obvious it was.</p>
800. <p>The ErgoDox Keyboard</p>
801. <p><a href="http://ergodox.org/" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/12/ErgoDox_001.png"></a></p>
802. <p>The Kinesis Contoured Keyboard</p>
803. <p><a href="http://kinesis-ergo.com" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/12/kb_adv-pro_met720x471.jpg"></a></p>
804. <p>It just so happened that I had an old, dead Kinesis lying around. (Everybody does, right?) I harvested its keycaps and started pulling the keys I'd bought from WASD off of the ErgoDox. As I did so, I managed to yank one of the keyswitches up. After a small detour to the soldering station, I was back in business. (While I had the keyboard open, I locked down most of the keys by painting the edges of the keyswitches with superglue.)I was rather more careful as I pulled the remaining keycaps. I'd been using my fingers for the first few.</p>
805. <p> </p>
806. <p>After the accident, I switched to a key-puller. Yep, there's a specialized tool for pulling keys off a keyboard. A basic key-puller looks like this:</p>
807. <p> </p>
808. <p><a href="http://hooleon.com" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/12/281-512-0049-large_medium.jpeg?0"></a></p>
809. <p>That's what I started with. As I continued, I managed to dislodge another few keys, so I dug out a higher-end key-puller that WASD had sent me free with my keycap order:</p>
810. <p><a href="http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/wasd-wire-keycap-puller-tool.html" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/12/wirekeypuller1.jpg"></a></p>
811. <h3>Finally, the working keyboard</h3>
812. <p><img alt="" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/12/8197651589_74910fba43_z.jpg"></p>
813. <h3>Thanksgiving</h3>
814. <p>I spent Thanksgiving in northern Virginia with family. I'd brought along my new keyboard. TSA at Logan were....curious about my keyboard. And surprised I don't work at MIT. But totally comfortable with weird hardware with lots of bad solder joints.</p>
815. <p>Shortly after getting to Virginia, I noticed that my "A" key was frequently generating two "A" characters each time I tapped it. I wasn't 100% sure what was wrong, but based on past experience, I was willing to go with my gut. I would have been willing to bet money that it was a bad solder joint.</p>
816. <p>My father-in-law was quite accommodating and I soon found myself at the kitchen table warming up his soldering rig.</p>
817. <p>Five minutes later, I had an A key that generated only a single "A".</p>
818. <h3>All told, It took me nearly 40 hours of work</h3>
819. <p>How do I know how long this took, you ask? I spent a number of years in consulting and am careful to run a timer for everything I do so I can charge appropriately. No, wait. That's not it. I've never been much good at time accounting. I didn't think very hard about how long it was taking me to build my first keyboard. I didn't really want to think very hard about it. I sort of wish I didn't know how long it took. But I do. </p>
820. <p>Remember how, back in Part 1, I said that as I sat down for my first soldering experiment I started the pilot of Community on Hulu? Well, as I was futzing with the firmware, I ran out of Community to watch. That'd be 71 half-hour episodes. To have _something_ on as I was finishing up, I put on the pilot of Modern Family. I...did not enjoy that and will not be repeating the mistake.</p>
821. <h3>So, do I like it?</h3>
822. <p>Yes. It's not quite my ideal keyboard or keyboard layout and is different enough than everything I've ever spent time typing on that I'm still getting somewhat fatigued using it for more than a short period if time, but I'm getting better.</p>
823. <p>It's nicely portable. I quite like being able to fold it in half and tuck it away for transport.</p>
824. <p>I know how it works. A friend commented that this is one keyboard I'd hate to spill something into. Thinking about it, I realized that I'm actually less worried about something bad happening to this keyboard. I'm confident that, given minimal (and fairly ubiquitous) tools I could repair it without too much effort.</p>
825. <h3>Where am I headed next?</h3>
826. <p>I have...ideas for some novel keyboard designs that I'd like to try out. When I'm back from holiday travel, I'm going to start in on an original design. I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to build, but it might be something with a layout like this:</p>
827. <p><img alt="" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/12/neo1.png"></p>
828. </content>
829. </entry>
831. <entry>
832. <title>Building a Keyboard: Part 1</title>
833. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2012/12/08/building-a-keyboard-part-1/"/>
834. <updated>2012-12-08T23:39:23Z</updated>
835. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2012/12/08/building-a-keyboard-part-1/</id>
836. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;In early 2012, I ran across a fascinating project on the keyboard forums at geekhack.org. The ErgoDox is a project by some gifted hobbyists to build a split ergonomic keyboard inspired by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.key64.org/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;the Key64 Project&lt;/a&gt;. The Key64, in turn, counts the µTron, TypeMatrix, Maltron and Kinesis keyboards among its influences. The right place to read up on the ErgoDox is probably &lt;a href=&quot;http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/split-ergonomic-keyboard-project-t1753.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;this thread on deskthority.net&lt;/a&gt;, since &lt;a href=&quot;http://ergodox.org&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;ergodox.org&lt;/a&gt; is still fairly spartan.&lt;/p&gt;
837. <p>As soon as I saw it, I signed up to buy an ErgoDox kit when the folks designing it were ready to start the group-buy process. Being somewhat mechanically disinclined (I'm a software guy), I said that I'd pay extra to have someone else solder it together for me. And then I waited. And waited. And waited. Don't get me wrong -- It's a free, open-source project. My impatience is not a reason for someone else to work any faster. But I was excited.</p>
838. <p><img alt="" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/12/1N5229BFS_sml.jpg"><br>
839. <img alt="" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/12/large_100_MX1A-E1NN.jpg"></p>
840. <p>Right away, I ordered roughly 80 Cherry "blue-stem" MX keyswitches and 1N4148 diodes from <a href="http://digikey.com" target="_blank">Digikey</a> or <a href="http://mouser.com" target="_blank">Mouser</a>. I don't recall which. Both are great vendors. (Generally, I find that I prefer keyboards with brown-stem Cherry keyswitches, but I was curious about the clickier-sounding blues. They're not bad, but from here on in, I'm back to brown-stem switches.)</p>
841. <p><img alt="" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/12/41WVs6AdNqL._SL500_AA300_.jpg"></p>
842. <p>I went out and bought a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BRC2XU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000BRC2XU&linkCode=as2&tag=fsck-20" target="_blank">Weiler WES51 soldering iron</a>. (Disclosure: That's an Amazon affiliate link. I earn money when you buy things through it.) At the same time, I picked up some solder, a pair of pliers, some de-soldering braid, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005C789EU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B005C789EU&linkCode=as2&tag=fsck-20">a brass-wire sponge soldering iron cleaner and some </a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000RB38X8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000RB38X8&linkCode=as2&tag=fsck-20">helping hands</a>.</p>
843. <p>I bought a pair of <a href="http://pjrc.com/teensy/index.html" target="_blank">Teensy++ microcontrollers</a> from PJRC. Initially, I opted for the ones with pins. I later regretted that. Still later, I unregretted it. The Teensy is a tiny little circuit board built around an 8bit Amtel AVR processor and a MiniUSB port. It has an Arduino compatibility mode, but I've only worked with it in its native personality. PJRC provides Mac, Linux and Windows versions of a tool to install new firmware onto the Teensy over USB. You just hit the "reset" button and the Teensy reboots into program mode.</p>
844. <p>Over the course of a week, everything showed up at my doorstep. I played a little bit with the soldering iron. I wired up four keyswitches to a breadboard, loaded the sample "USB Keyboard demo" firmware from PJRC's website onto the teensy and made letters show up on the screen. Neat! I then put everything on the shelf and didn't really touch it for months.</p>
845. <p>In September, I noticed that 3D designs for a prototype shell for the keyboard had shown up on ergodox.org. Designs for the PCBs were (intentionally) absent. For a variety of reasons, the project's creators didn't want to ship PCB designs before they were ready. Nonetheless, I downloaded the .stl files for the keyboard's shell and made my way over to <a href="http://shapeways.com" target="_blank">Shapeways</a>. I uploaded the .stl files and a few minutes later, Shapeways told me that if I chose their standard laser-sintered white plastic, I was looking at a cost of about $230. This was...slightly pricier than I'd expected. Because I wasn't actually sure that I was going to be able to do anything useful without those PCBs, I only ordered the top sides of the keyboards. I made a deal with myself: If I managed to wire up at least one side of the keyboard and get it to output characters, I'd buy the bottoms, too.</p>
846. <p>Still, the folks designing the ErgoDox (mostly Dox himself) hadn't released their PCB designs, though they'd done an initial run of prototype boards to validate their design. But I was impatient.</p>
847. <p>Two weeks later, I got a package in the mail from Shapeways containing the top halves of an ErgoDox shell. They were...dusty. (The way Shapeways' 3D printing tech of choice works is that they fire a laser mounted on a plotter into a big tub of plastic dust. It traces one (very, very thin) layer of your design in the plastic dust. Then platform holding the object being printed drops a tiny, tiny bit into the bin and the laser melts the next layer of dust onto your design.) I rinsed off the shells and started popping 70-odd keyswitches into 70-odd 4mm x 4mm holes. Then I put keycaps on top of the keyswitches. I had an incredibly high-quality non-working fake plastic keyboard!</p>
848. <p>It took another week or two, but I decided I wasn't going to wait for the ErgoDox team. I set up a soldering station at my desk, pulled out the right-hand side of the keyboard. Inspired by lowpoly's <a href="http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/the-apple-m0110-today-t1067.html" target="_blank">Apple M0110 Today</a>, I decided I'd try to wire the keyboard freehand. That sounds fairly hardcore. It's not. (It's nowhere near as hardcore as designing a PCB.)</p>
849. <p>It turns out that Keyboards are really, really simple. A keyboard is just a matrix of keys. You wire up the rows to one set of analog lines on a microcontroller. You wire up the columns to another set. If your rows are A,B,C,D and E, your columns will be 1,2,3,4,5 and so on. Typically, "Esc" is in the upper left-hand corner of your keyboard. That'd be the A1 position in your matrix. When you tap Esc, the keyswitch momentarily connects the "A" IO to the "1" IO. On some keyboards, you'll find the "Tab" key. That's connected to B and to 1. The "1" key would be connected to A and to 2. The astute reader might now ask "So, what if I hit 1 and "Tab" at the same time. Is that going to generate a spurious "Esc"? Or maybe a "Q"? Yep. Well, it will if you've wired up your matrix without <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diode">diodes</a>. That's called "ghosting". I remember making my Apple //e ghost when I'd finally learned to type fast enough that I was sometimes hitting keys at almost the same time. Rather than attempt to explain how diodes let you build a matrix that doesn't ghost, I'll refer you to <a href="http://www.dribin.org/dave/keyboard/one_html/" target="_blank">someone who actually understands how this works</a>.</p>
850. <p>I got out my pliers and my diodes and my keyswitches. It was at this point that I realized that I didn't actually have any wire to wire my keyboard with. So, I did what any self-respecting geek would do. If it were 1985. I walked into a Radio Shack. Voluntarily. It turns out that behind the Beats By Dre®, displays full of Blackberries®, and low quality iPhone® accessories, they still sell some DIY supplies. I could have bought my diodes there. For only a few orders of magnitude more money than they're worth. They even sell Arduino kits now. I picked up a spool of copper wire and was on my way back home within a few minutes.</p>
851. <p>Once at home, I made a few startling discoveries. 1) I did not own wire cutters. 2) The wire I'd bought was way, way too stiff to work with very easily. As I was getting settled, I started up the pilot of <em>Community</em> on Hulu. (I'd never seen it.) and started wiring the diodes in series across the rows of keyswitches. It took a while, but I got all the keys on the right-hand wired up. After that, I started cutting tiny little lengths of wire and stripping the ends with a pair of nail clippers. I wired up all the columns of keys with tiny little hops of green wire. And horrible, horrible drippy solder joints.</p>
852. <p>I stuck the Teensy into a breadboard and wired up a couple rows and columns to a few of its IO pins. I grabbed the best, most flexible USB Keyboard driver I could find for the Teensy -- The firmware for the <a href="http://humblehacker.com/" target="_blank">Humble Hacker Keyboard</a>. It's designed to support multiple "layers" of keys you can access by holding down modifiers. It's fully programmable. It's well commented. And it has a "matrix discovery" mode. You don't need to actually know what pins you've wired things up to. You just connect your rows and columns to the Teensy's various IO ports (The ports have letter+number identifiers like A1 and F6. Those aren't the same as the examples I used in the keyboard matrix earlier. Then you hit a key and it will print things like <tt>(A1,E2)</tt>. Then you know that that key's row is connected to the <tt>A1</tt> IO line and its column is connected to the <tt>E2</tt> line.</p>
853. <p>At least, that's how it's supposed to work.</p>
854. <p>Once I got the Humble Hacker firmware installed on the Teensy, I was able to hit a key and have it register as a keypress. Sometimes. I started to triage what was going wrong. Many of my problems were just bad solder joints. As I repaired those, I started to notice that I was only able to generate keypress events for half the keyboard or so. I eventually figured out what I'd done wrong. I'd wired my diodes in series. They're supposed to be wired in parallel. If I actually understood anything about electronics, this would have been blisteringly obvious.</p>
855. <p>I desoldered everything, using copper braid to try to suck up my waste solder.</p>
856. <p>Then I started again. I wired up the diodes in parallel -- Each key connected to one side of a diode and the other side of each diode bridged to its neighbors in the row. Rather than using little wires to hop from key to key on the columns, I stripped longer lengths of wire and bent it so that I could solder one length of wire to each key in a column. This proved much less fiddly to solder and much, much more robust.</p>
857. <p>Now the matrix barely worked at all. I'd managed to misidentify which direction the diodes should be connected in.(Diodes are directional)</p>
858. <p>So I undid everything and started again. I ordered a bunch more diodes. They're cheap and I was clearly not very good at this.</p>
859. <p>
860. <a class="asset-img-link" href="http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/82ffd-6a00d83456074b69e2017c346cdd77970b-pi.jpg" style="display:inline;"><img alt="Keyboard-matrix" border="0" class="asset  asset-image at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e2017c346cdd77970b image-full" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/12/82ffd-6a00d83456074b69e2017c346cdd77970b-pi.jpg" title="Keyboard-matrix"></a></p>
861. <p>Eventually, I was able to get every single key on the right hand side to generate a keypress event. That was good enough for me to go ahead and order the bottom shells for the keyboard. I also ordered a bunch of very useful stuff from <a href="http://adafruit.com">Adafruit</a>. I bought some very nice tweezers, which made wiring up the diodes a lot easier. I bought proper wire strippers. I bought good pliers. I bought ribbon cable with breadboard-compatible pins on the end. And I bought a <a href="http://adafruit.com/products/148" target="_blank">Solder Sucker</a>. Best $5 I've spent in a long time. Rather than trying to sop up excess solder with copper braid, the Solder Sucker just...vacuums up the hot solder. I also bought a multimeter, which made finding wiring faults much easier. (I'd previously been using an LED soldered to a pair of wires and a battery. Not recommended.</p>
862. <p>I started in on the second half of the keyboard. The basic matrix wiring went much quicker. I still screwed it up and redid the entire matrix at least once. I was finally ready to wire the two halves of the keyboard together.</p>
863. <p><em>To be continued</em></p>
864. </content>
865. </entry>
867. <entry>
868. <title>Keyboards</title>
869. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2012/12/08/keyboards/"/>
870. <updated>2012-12-08T20:15:13Z</updated>
871. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2012/12/08/keyboards/</id>
872. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;ve been typing since 2rd grade or so, when my parents bought an Apple ][e.  I started taking notes on a laptop in 8th grade. I tried to take a keyboarding class in 9th grade, since I&#39;d never learned to type properly. Unfortunately, I typed well enough that I actually got kicked out of class.&lt;/p&gt;
873. <p>These days, I spend a lot of my time writing software. When I'm not doing that, I spend my time making trouble on the Internet. To say that I spend much of my time at a keyboard would be somewhat of an understatement.</p>
874. <p> </p>
875. <p><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/12/419V8X7P7FL._SX300_.jpg" alt=""></p>
876. <p>For many, many years, I was a happy user of the Microsoft Natural Elite keyboards. I say "keyboards" rather than "keyboard" because that particular model is...somewhat inexpensively constructed. It's the only keyboard I've ever met with water-soluble traces. That is to say that getting even a small amount of moisture into it would result in permanent hardware failure.  Its saving grace was that replacements were cheap. Particularly if you bought them in 5-packs. Attempting to find a reasonable link to Amazon, it appears that these keyboards may finally have been discontinued.</p>
877. <p>I was visiting family during the week between Christmas and the New Year - and ran across this post by Jeff Atwood on <a href="http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2010/10/the-keyboard-cult.html">the Keyboard Cult</a>. From there, I found my way to <a href="http://geekhack.org">geekhack.org</a> and eventually to <a href="http://deskthority.net">deskthority.net</a>.</p>
878. <p>
879. <a class="asset-img-link" style="display:inline;" href="http://colemak.com"><img class="asset  asset-image at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e2017c346b36bf970b" title="Colemak" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/12/47267-6a00d83456074b69e2017c346b36bf970b-320wi.png" alt="Colemak"></a></p>
880. <p>It turns out there's a huge keyboard otaku subculture. People fetishize their favorite obscure keyboard or hyperoptimized key layout. I'd like to claim that I mined their FAQs for recommendations and went on my merry way. But I can't. I got sucked in. I spent months learning about keyboards. In my bid for typing nirvana, I've amassed a fair collection of obscure keyboards. Some of them could easily be mistaken for "normal" keyboards but feature interesting keyswitches or some specialized bit of technology. A few of them are genuinely special.</p>
881. <p> </p>
882. <p> </p>
883. <p><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/12/6932971160_35fa1142a3.jpg" alt=""></p>
884. <p>Early this spring, I met a Taiwanese keyboard designer and got to play with his latest prototypes while sitting on the polished marble floor of Academica Sinica in Taipei. What I saw there was one of his designs, the VorTex "Pure" 60% keyboard. I'm typing this on a Pure I cajoled out of him shortly thereafter. The Pure uses brown-stemmed Cherry mechanical keyswitches. Unlike the keys on your laptop or a typical modern desktop keyboard, you don't have to bottom out Cherry keyswitches. They have a subtle "bump" about 2/3 of the way down as you depress them. Once you've felt the bump, you can let go. The keys don't feel as good as an IBM M-series keyboard, but they're still so much nicer on my hands than most of what I've been typing on for the last several decades. The Pure is what's known as a "60%" keyboard - It has full size keys, but is 60% of the width of a standard 104-key desktop keyboard. It doesn't have a number pad or a separate section for arrow keys. (If you want arrow keys but no number pad, you're looking for a "tenkeyless" or "TKL" keyboard.)  The Pure, like the Happy Hacking, puts many of the keys you'd normally reach for on a second layer you access by holding down a function key. For example, the arrows live under the O/J/K/L keys.</p>
885. <p><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/12/7079069649_a4d4d8dd3c_n.jpg" alt=""></p>
886. <p>Because many of today's high-quality keyboards are targeted at the gamer market, they have a few features that I'd ordinarily pass on...but secretly enjoy. For example, my Pure has a mode where every single key is lit up with a purple LED backlight. The Pure is a damn fine keyboard. And Justin, its designer, is hard at work on what sounds to be an even nicer successor. But it's not quite my ideal keyboard. Its layout is startlingly traditional and, like most keyboards, forces my hands to contort in a slightly unnatural way as I type.</p>
887. <p><a href="http://www.clickykeyboards.com/index.cfm/fa/categories.main/parentcat/12675"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/12/13h6689002.jpg" alt=""></a></p>
888. <p>Sometime in May or June, I hunted down a 20-year old IBM M-15 adjustable split keyboard. The M-15 is just like those big old IBM keyboards that sound like machine guns. Except it's split down the middle -- held together with a ball joint that lets you set the two halves at whatever angle you want. You can split it like a butterfly. You can tent the two halves. With a couple more turns of the knob, you can actually split the two halves and type with your hands in much more natural resting positions. It feels stellar to type on, but it's loud. Loud enough that you can't use one in public. It's also heavier than my laptop. (Admittedly, I have a very light laptop.)  It's also nearly unobtainable - They only made it for two years in the mid-1990s and it wasn't terribly popular. When it was new, you could buy one from IBM for $179. These days, the few used M15s that show up on eBay sell for between $400 and $900.</p>
889. <p><a href="http://ts.uctec.com/uctec/en/products/p_04.php"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/12/p_04-01.png" alt=""></a></p>
890. <p>In September, I found myself on the 14th floor of a Tokyo office building paying rather a large amount of cash for an incredibly obscure µTron ergonomic keyboard. The µTron is the most lovingly designed keyboards I've ever seen. It uses the same Topre keyswitches as the famous Happy Hacking keyboard. Unlike the HHKB, it's got a split "symmetric" staggered layout that's much less harsh on your left hand than the keyboards you're used to. It adds a few extra keys designed to be pressed with your thumbs.  The thumb keys have sculpted edges -- The keys you hit on the side have sculpted sides. The keys you hit from the bottom have gently sloping bottom edges. The keys you hit at an angle have a gentle slope originating _on a corner_. When I asked why the µTron is so hard to buy - Why it's not really sold in stores or outside Japan - the answer I got back was a nice formulation of Catch-22: "Well, it's very expensive because it's not mass-produced, so not many people will buy it."</p>
891. <p>I've skipped over the Kinesis, the Maltron, the Access-IS POS keyboard, the TypeMatrix (which, even before the Coding Horror blog post, primed me to start thinking about keyboards), the TrulyErgonomic, the KBT Race and the KBC Poker. Each is interesting in its own right and each has a story, but none are the story I'm trying to get to. Tune in next time for "How I came to find myself buying keyswitches and diodes in bulk, ordering 3D prints from ShapeWays and learning to solder freehand."</p>
892. <p><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/12/8198741542_e6c80d7332.jpg" alt=""></p>
893. </content>
894. </entry>
896. <entry>
897. <title>Today</title>
898. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2012/10/17/today/"/>
899. <updated>2012-10-17T19:15:58Z</updated>
900. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2012/10/17/today/</id>
901. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;For the past couple of months, I&amp;#039;ve been tinkering with Yet Another Todo App. Currently called &amp;quot;Today&amp;quot;, it&amp;#039;s designed to emulate a behavior that turns me from productivity-Clark Kent to productivity-Superman.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;
902. <p>On days when I'm productive, I start out my morning by writing out a list of everything I need to do. Sometimes, I've done that on paper. Sometimes, I've done that in a text file. The precise medium doesn't <strong>really</strong> matter. </p>
903. <p>There are two things that <strong>do</strong> matter: </p>
904. <ul>
905. <li>Before I get sidetracked by life, I start my day by writing out a list.</li>
906. <li>At the end of the day, I'm <strong>done</strong>. No matter how far I've gotten, I retire my list at the end of the day. It's ok if I don't cross off every task. It's ok (but not ideal) if I don't check off any tasks.</li>
907. </ul>
908. <p>The next day, I do it again. Lists should start from a blank page every single day. Never carry over yesterday's list to tomorrow. </p>
909. <p>Tasks should:</p>
910. <ul>
911. <li>Be actionable. If you can't actually <strong>do</strong> something, it doesn't belong on a list of things to do.</li>
912. <li>Take less than 20 minutes or so</li>
913. </ul>
914. <p>Today is a tiny little micro-application. As of now, you don't need to log in or identify yourself to use it. When you first visit the app, you see a big textarea. Treat it like your legal pad or scratch buffer. Jot down what needs doing today. Once you've gotten everything out of your head, click the big blue button.</p>
915. <p>Presto! Your lines of text have turned into a todo list.  </p>
916. <p>As you check things off, Today keeps track of the amount of time since your last checkmark. (Right now, I'm running a little behind - I'm at 25:27.)</p>
917. <p>On the side of the screen, you'll find little a progress bar, a place to write down new tasks that come up throughout the day and a place to set your email address.</p>
918. <p>Here's where the real magic happens - 18 hours after you start work, Today emails you a final copy of your list and stops letting you check things off.  </p>
919. <p>The next day, Today is ready for you to start a new list.</p>
920. <p>There are a lot of task tracking systems out there. I've written more than a few of 'em myself, but this one seems to actually make me productive more consistently than anything else I've built to date. And it doesn't get heavier the longer I use it. </p>
921. <p>If you've read this far and think that my crazy productivity hack might work for you, drop me a line at jesse@fsck.com and tell me you'd like to try Today.</p>
922. </content>
923. </entry>
925. <entry>
926. <title>3G Web Browsing on the Kindle Paperwhite</title>
927. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2012/10/05/3g-web-browsing-on-the-kindle-paperwhite/"/>
928. <updated>2012-10-06T02:05:16Z</updated>
929. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2012/10/05/3g-web-browsing-on-the-kindle-paperwhite/</id>
930. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Last night, I was playing around with my new &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008UB7DU6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&amp;amp;creativeASIN=B008UB7DU6&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;tag=fsck-20&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; title=&quot;Kindle Paperwhite 3G&quot;&gt;3G Kindle Paperwhite&lt;/a&gt;. (I earn a few bucks if you buy from Amazon after clicking links to Amazon in this blog post)&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;
931. <p>(It is, in fact, the nicest kindle I have ever owned. The new screen is gorgeous. The touch screen is responsive. Large parts of the UI are just HTML5 apps, which means that the system is quite flexible. Sometimes more flexible than intended. When the Kindle Touch first got pwned, it was through the music player app, which didn't escape JavaScript in ID3 tags.)</p>
932. <p>One of the things that bums me out about the Kindle Touch and Kindle Paperwhite is that they don't support browsing over 3G. It's a feature I used rarely on my Kindle 2 and Kindle 3. But when I needed it, I really, really needed it.</p>
933. <p>So yeah. Last night, I was playing with my new <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008UB7DU6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B008UB7DU6&linkCode=as2&tag=fsck-20" target="_blank" title="Kindle Paperwhite 3G">Kindle Paperwhite 3G</a>. </p>
934. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8057826854/" title="Home Screen by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="Home Screen" height="500" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/10/8057826854_6ec20c80bc.jpg" width="375"></a></p>
935. <p> </p>
936. <p>I clicked the menu button.</p>
937. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8057827338/" title="Main menu by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="Main menu" height="500" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/10/8057827338_29d315af28.jpg" width="375"></a></p>
938. <p>I clicked "Settings"</p>
939. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8057827416/" title="Settings by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="Settings" height="500" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/10/8057827416_877bac4e3b.jpg" width="375"></a></p>
940. <p>I clicked "Reading Options"</p>
941. <p>Then I clicked on "Social networks"</p>
942. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8057827985/" title="Social Networks by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="Social Networks" height="500" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/10/8057827985_2a661e79c9.jpg" width="375"></a></p>
943. <p>Then I clicked on "Link my account to Twitter" and got a very familiar OAuth login page.</p>
944. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8057828117/" title="Link to Twitter by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="Link to Twitter" height="500" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/10/8057828117_6d7586c247.jpg" width="375"></a></p>
945. <p>It was at about this point that I remembered what I'd seen poking around inside the Kindle Touch's UI toolkit. Different applications were basically implemented as little webkit containers with different local and remote permissions. The browser's container was, for example, configured to let you reach Amazon and Wikipedia over 3G and to require WIFI for everything else.</p>
946. <p>Now, this "Manage Your Social Networks" app pretty clearly lets you get to Twitter and Facebook (and Amazon), but how locked down is it? </p>
947. <p>To make a long story short, it's about as locked down as a 1999-era web kiosk.</p>
948. <p>Back in the early days of the web, people didn't have web browsers in their pockets, so "web kiosks" were a frequent sight in forward-thinking public locales like libraries and corporate lobbies. They were invariably locked down. You couldn't launch Telnet or download a copy of Snood. In fact, they were mostly set up to only let you browse a single website. The usual mechanism for this fascist policy was to use a hacked up web browser without a URL bar. Sometimes, you were just out of luck. More often, you got to demonstrate your l33t sk1llz at a game called "clicks to Yahoo!" or its more nefarious sibling -- "clicks to porn." Somewhere on every website is a link to another website. Back in the day, an easy target was a "best viewed in Netscape 3.0" or "Best viewed in Internet Explorer" button - from netscape.com, you could get <strong>anywhere</strong>.</p>
949. <p>Today, well, today you have many options. My first path through this game led me from http://kindle.amazon.com to http://amazon.com/ to http://www.woot.com to http://reddit.com. From reddit, you can get just about anywhere, though you might have to endure more mindless yammering than you'd like. For my proper demo, I went for something a bit more useful (if via a slightly more circuitous route.)</p>
950. <p>Rather than signing in to Twitter to let Amazon tweet on your behalf, break the flow by clicking the little bird in the upper left corner.</p>
951. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8057827702/" title="Sign up for twitter by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="Sign up for twitter" height="500" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/10/8057827702_d302186671.jpg" width="375"></a></p>
952. <p>Then click "Sign in"</p>
953. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8057827256/" title="Log into twitter by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="Log into twitter" height="500" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/10/8057827256_e6bed44945.jpg" width="375"></a><br>
954. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8057826814/" title="Free 3G Twitter by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="Free 3G Twitter" height="500" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/10/8057826814_452f29dd4e.jpg" width="375"></a></p>
955. <p>Scroll to the bottom of the page and search for @google</p>
956. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8057827146/" title="Search for @google by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="Search for @google" height="500" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/10/8057827146_8e13b57c34.jpg" width="375"></a></p>
957. <p>Click on @google's profile</p>
958. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8057827517/" title="See @google's profile by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="See @google's profile" height="500" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/10/8057827517_c6eefd757e.jpg" width="375"></a></p>
959. <p>Click on the URL to get to Google Support.</p>
960. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8057826968/" title="google.com/support by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="google.com/support" height="500" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/10/8057826968_d79aafb482.jpg" width="375"></a></p>
961. <p>Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Google Home"</p>
962. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/8057827255/" title="The ballgame by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="The ballgame" height="500" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/10/8057827255_c513ce03c7.jpg" width="375"></a></p>
963. <p>Google something.</p>
964. <p>Now, I don't mean to suggest that this turns the Kindle Paperlight into a <strong>useful</strong> 3G web browser, but when you're desperate, you're desperate.</p>
965. <p>(Also, if you're just trying to read Twitter or Facebook, it's actually not that painful.)</p>
966. <p>Enjoy!</p>
967. </content>
968. </entry>
970. <entry>
971. <title>Project: Rei Toei</title>
972. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2012/08/09/project-rei-toei/"/>
973. <updated>2012-08-10T03:51:59Z</updated>
974. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2012/08/09/project-rei-toei/</id>
975. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#039;ve been messing around with a few new projects. Over the past couple months, I&amp;#039;ve become increasingly fascinated by the state of the art in what one might call &amp;quot;conversational UI&amp;quot;. I&amp;#039;m mostly an Android person -- I&amp;#039;ve been vaguely jealous of Apple&amp;#039;s Siri since I first got to play with her on &lt;a href=&quot;http://dan.co.jp&quot;&gt;Dan Kogai&lt;/a&gt;&amp;#039;s iPhone 4S at &lt;a href=&quot;http://yapc.asia&quot;&gt;YAPC::Asia&lt;/a&gt; in Tokyo last year.&lt;/p&gt;
976. <p>There are a dozen+ Siri competitors for Android. They have various levels of platform integration, but none of them are Really Excellent. And they're all proprietaryish products put out by companies trying to make a buck. I haven't yet found one of them that's end-user extensible. Not even Google Now. (Google Now is actually excellent, but it's not extensible. I can't make it smarter. Also, it has the personality of a textarea.)</p>
977. <p>At the same time, many of us have been living with IRC bots of various flavors for well over a decade. Some of our bots are cute little Markov chainers that babble incessantly about whatever they've been fed. Some of them are call-and-response creatures - they have a database of factoids and know only that when you say "What is 42?" they should say "The answer to life, the universe and everything".  Other bots let developers write plugins that do a bit of computation or know how to fetch answers by asking a search engine or grabbing the first entry from an RSS feed. Some of our bots can do all of these things. By and large, the bots are actually useful little beasts. And they're ours.</p>
978. <p>A couple weeks ago, I started playing around with <a href="http://phonegap.com">PhoneGap</a>. Inside of an hour, I built myself a little JavaScript parrot that could listen to whatever it was that I said, parse it and repeat it back to me. It totalled up at about 5 lines of JS. I briefly considered dropping Eliza or Adventure into the runloop before realizing that what I really wanted was a personal bot on my phone whom I could make more personal.</p>
979. <p>Thanks to an excellent suggestion from <a href="https://twitter.com/quince">Kaia</a>, the bot ended up getting named Rei Toei after the idoru in Gibson's <em>Idoru</em>. Rei Toei was a virtual Japanese popstar who was always your personal ideal of her. Our Rei should grow to know you and to help you in ways that are useful to you. Writing a plugin to give Rei a new superpower is a few lines of JavaScript. Right now, she can learn your name, tell you about current weather conditions and tomorrow's forecast and learn X is Y facts, but she's learning and growing.</p>
980. <p>Rei is stll very, very young. I could use lots and lots of help. Right now, the codebase is very, very simplistic. (That means it's a great time to get involved.) <a href="http://iconocla.st">Schuyler</a>'s been helping get some NLP going, so that Rei can make choices about how to reply to you something a little more advanced than a lookup table of regexes. <a href="http://yoz.com">Yoz</a> got us the beginings of a test suite, so Rei keeps getting smarter and keeps working.</p>
981. <p>At this point, any help that anyone cares to give would be awesome. We need folks to write plugins to teach Rei about the world. We need folks to help Rei understand people. We need folks to test Rei and suggest how she can be better.  If you're looking to code, all you really need is a willingness to learn a bit of JavaScript.</p>
982. <p>You can find <a href="https://github.com/obra/rei_toei">the codebase</a> over at GitHub. You can also find <a href="https://github.com/obra/rei_toei/blob/master/doc/COMMUNITY">a bit of documentation</a> about the mailing list and where on IRC you can talk to people about Rei (though Rei herself isn't yet ready to make a public appearance on IRC).</p>
983. </content>
984. </entry>
986. <entry>
987. <title>Computing Environment - Late Summer 2012 Edition</title>
988. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2012/07/28/computing-environment-late-summer-2012-edition/"/>
989. <updated>2012-07-29T01:17:21Z</updated>
990. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2012/07/28/computing-environment-late-summer-2012-edition/</id>
991. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Blog Post. Take 2!&lt;/p&gt;
992. <p>I wrote a reasonably eloquent bit about my current ~computing environment. And then TypePad managed to not save me from a mistaken keystroke and ate it. (Yes, I get to claim it was eloquent. If you can recover the content and disprove me, I will be thrilled.)</p>
993. <p>So now, here I am in a nice 80x25 with a trusty vim executable autosaving every keystroke and backing up what I write...without really giving me any say at all.</p>
994. <p>Before I was so rudely interrupted, I was attempting to document the contents of my portable "office" (Late Summer 2012 Edition)</p>
995. <p>Kaia and I are in SF for the summer - She has a summer internship at a tech company in the South Bay. I'm spending my summer hanging out with a laptop in cafes in the Mission pretending (not?) to be a hipster.</p>
996. <p>I get asked about my computing setup fair bit. (Often, 3-4 times a day. More, even, than I get asked for help connecting to cafe wifi.) My blog's been feeling somewhat neglected. Documenting the bits of my cafe-haxx0ring setup seems like it might be a reasonable solution to help me kill several birds with one hunk of text.</p>
997. <p>(ObDisclosure: The links mostly go to Amazon. I get points (dollars) when you click through.)</p>
998. <p>The laptop is a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0074721BI/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0074721BI&linkCode=as2&tag=fsck-20" target="_blank" title="Retina MBP">Retina MBP</a>. It is, indeed just a little bit unweildy. If they'd come out with a 13" Retina Air, I'd have bought that. Yes, the screen is gorgeous. It's got a lot of very small pixels. It's fairly glare-y, but nowhere near as bad as a last-gen 15" MBP. It's nice to have the screen real-estate, so I can keep a regular-size browser and a terminal up next to each other, which was a little tight on the Air that's now pretending to be an Apple TV.</p>
999. <p>The new machine is blisteringly fast. (No, it runs fairly cool. It's not actually blistering. Just blisteringly fast.)  I haven't actually managed to max out the machine's physical memory just yet. And with a comfortable environment set up, I still have well over a terabyte of space left.</p>
1000. <p>Somewhat tellingly, I find that I still mostly work with a single window maximized. More often than not, it's an <a href="https://blog.fsck.com/2012/07/28/computing-environment-late-summer-2012-edition/www.iterm2.com" target="_blank" title="iTerm 2">iTerm 2</a>. Admittedly, it's a terminal with incredibly crisp text. </p>
1001. <p>I developed serious (but SERIOUS) RSI at a relatively early age. Spending a lot of time on a laptop keyboard seems to do me in pretty quickly. Consequently, I've been traveling with a separate keyboard for quite a while. I've been through just about every ergonomic keyboard known to humanity as well as a few that nobody's ever heard of, but that's a topic for another day. </p>
1002. <p></p>
1003. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/6932972280/" title="R6081141.jpg by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="R6081141.jpg" height="375" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/07/6932972280_e2f8c6e4d5.jpg" width="500"></a></p>
1004. <p>Right now, I travel with a KBT Pure keyboard, made by VorTex in Taiwan. It's a happy-hacking-esque reduced footprint keyboard with Cherry Brown keyswitches. Thanks to the small size, nothing is ever very hard to reach. The keys also light up purple, but that's neither here nor there. It's well made and incredibly comfortable to type on. I have some quibbles with the default key layout, but they're nothing that can't be solved with some judicious remapping.</p>
1005. <p>The most important change I made was a trick I picked up from the emacs set -- That key to the left of the A. You know. The one typically used only when someone is WRONG ON THE INTERNET. Some folks remap it to another Control key. I'm perfectly happy with Control living down toward the bottom of the keyboard. About 3 months ago, I remapped Caps Lock to Escape and I haven't looked back. It's great.</p>
1006. <p>In general, I find the most comfortable place to type is with my hands resting in my lap. The Pure is small enough that I can't easily balance it on my legs. A little bit of poking around Amazon turned up a...well, it's a piece of aluminum with neoprene on it. It turns out to be pretty much ideal. (It's a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004SOMAWA/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=fsck-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004SOMAWA">Grifiti Deck 13 Lap Desk</a>.) They also make a decent wrist-rest sized perfectly for the Pure: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004DANDN4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004DANDN4&linkCode=as2&tag=bestpractical-20">Grifiti wrist rests</a>.</p>
1007. <p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H3F28A/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000H3F28A&linkCode=as2&tag=fsck-20" target="_blank" title="IMAK SmartGloves">IMAK SmartGloves</a> help keep my hands in a reasonable semblance of the right position for typing without losing feeling in my pinkies. I've been wearing them when typing fairly religiously for...a lot of years now. I'm pretty sure that <a href="http://fastly.com" target="_blank" title="Artur">Artur</a> was the one who turned me onto them.</p>
1008. <p>The laptop tends to live on a table. The keyboard is often a bit hard to see when it's hidden away under the table. I'm told that I look like I'm typing with THE POWER OF MY MIND when I'm focused.  Sadly, it's just the power of mechanical keyswitches and a USB cable.</p>
1009. <p>The laptop is usually propped up. Just a couple of inches makes typing on a laptop much less of a pain in the neck.</p>
1010. <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/8889c-6a00d83456074b69e2017743b1c42a970d-pi.jpg" style="display:inline;"><img alt="Cricket" border="0" class="asset  asset-image at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e2017743b1c42a970d" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/07/8889c-6a00d83456074b69e2017743b1c42a970d-pi.jpg?w=300" title="Cricket"></a></p>
1011. <p>My go-to laptop stand has been a Cricket (or one of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003KGZTKW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003KGZTKW&linkCode=as2&tag=fsck-20">cheap knockoffs available on Amazon</a>) for the last 5 or so years. The name comes from the fact that the original was a pastel green and when mostly folded up, it looked...well, ok. It looked a little bit like a stylized reproduction of a cricket.</p>
1012. <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002L31GZW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002L31GZW&linkCode=as2&tag=fsck-20" style="display:inline;"><img alt="Latosta" border="0" class="asset  asset-image at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e2017743b1c164970d" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/07/e97d6-6a00d83456074b69e2017743b1c164970d-800wi.jpg" title="Latosta"></a></p>
1013. <p>Lately, I've been test-driving <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002L31GZW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002L31GZW&linkCode=as2&tag=fsck-20">a pair of small pieces of aluminum made by Latosta.</a>   </p>
1014. <p>They're much, much lighter than a Cricket. And they're more portable. The big downside is that out of the box, they don't raise the laptop nearly as far as the Cricket does. I suspect I'll either mod them or find myself back in cricket-land soon. (And, in fact in the 24 hours since I wrote the first draft of this post, I'm back to the Cricket and my neck is much happier.</p>
1015. <p>Well this certainly turned out to be a bit of a product shilling, which wasn't what I...actually, yes, it's <em>exactly</em> what I intended.</p>
1016. <p>I haven't talked about the tablet, phone, tabletphone hybrid, headphones, backpack, chargers, pen, paper notebook, keyboard case or the pound of cables and adaptors I cart around. If enough people prod me, I'm happy to do so.</p>
1017. </content>
1018. </entry>
1020. <entry>
1021. <title>In which our hero travels from Tokyo to Boston in a single bound</title>
1022. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2012/04/24/in-which-our-hero-travels-from-tokyo-to-boston-in-a-single-bound/"/>
1023. <updated>2012-04-24T17:55:36Z</updated>
1024. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2012/04/24/in-which-our-hero-travels-from-tokyo-to-boston-in-a-single-bound/</id>
1025. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/7109609639/&quot; title=&quot;R6081324.jpg by jesse, on Flickr&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;R6081324.jpg&quot; height=&quot;375&quot; src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/04/7109609639_055dbf484e.jpg&quot; width=&quot;500&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
1026. <p>Last week, I was in Taipei for <a href="http://osdc.tw" target="_blank" title="osdc.tw">OSDC.tw</a>. As usual the conference was well put together and had lots of tasty food.  After the conference, Audrey, Luke and I spent a few days working on new features for <a href="https://checkmarkable.com" target="_blank" title="Checkmarkable">Checkmarkable</a>, my startup Prime Radiant's product. I also met one of the guys behind <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Vortexgear" target="_blank" title="Vortex Keyboards">Vortex keyboards</a> and scored myself a sexy new KBT Pure 60% keyboard, but more on that another day.</p>
1027. <p> I spend a lot of time on airplanes. Specifically, I spend a lot of time on Oneworld airplanes.  Typically, I visit Taiwan once or twice a year. Nobody flies directly from Boston to Taipei. The most convenient flights for me to get from Boston to Taipei have historically been Boston-Chicago, Chicago-Tokyo and then Tokyo-Taipei.  I like having a convenient excuse to visit friends in Tokyo.</p>
1028. <p> As I was booking this year's trip to OSDC, I started fiddling with dates to see if I could shave a few hundred bucks off the somewhat heart-stopping fare that AA.com first popped up.  When I added a 3 day layover in Tokyo, the flights that came up were a little different than usual. Tokyo-Boston travel time was shorter by about 4 hours and the flight that popped up was a codeshare on JAL. (That it showed up as a direct flight wasn't the first thing that caught my eye. AA 154 shows up as NRT-BOS, but involves a layover, customs clearance and a plane change at O'Hare.)</p>
1029. <p> And then I noticed the equipment it said JAL would use for the flight - 787 - Boeing's new Dreamliner. I started poking around<a href="http://flyertalk.com" target="_blank" title="flyertalk"> flyertalk</a> and yep, JAL was coming to Boston - using the 787 for the first regularly scheduled route between Asia and Boston.  I dithered for a couple days and managed to miss getting a seat on the inaugural flight. As soon as _that_ happened, I clicked the "buy" button so I wouldn't miss my seat on the second 787 flight to Boston.</p>
1030. <p> Usually, I try really hard to fly on American Airlines "metal" for longhaul international travel -- The frequent flyer perks they give me every year include a few free upgrades for just about any flight, so long as it's on one of American's planes.  12+ hours in coach is typically a pretty brutal affair, but I was willing to make an exception...just this once.</p>
1031. <p> Because it was booked as a codeshare, I couldn't find any way to select my seat online. It seemed like it wouldn't matter very much even if I could -- JAL hadn't posted the <a href="http://www.jal.co.jp/en/aircraft/conf/787.html" target="_blank" title="seatmap for the 787">seatmap for the 787</a> yet. (They wouldn't actually take delivery of the planes until March 27th.)  With a little bit of digging, I found out something interesting about how JAL assigns row numbers. <a href="http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Japan_Airlines/Japan_Airlines_Boeing_767-300ER.php" target="_blank" title="Row 45 is always the exit row">Row 45 is always the exit row</a>.</p>
1032. <p> So I called American.</p>
1033. <blockquote>
1034. <p>"Hi, I'm flying on JAL 8 on April 23. Is there any way you can assign me a seat now?"</p>
1035. <p>'Sometimes they let us. Sometimes they don't. I'd be happy to try for you, Mr Vincent.'</p>
1036. <p>"Great! Is there any chance that there's a window seat in Row 45?"</p>
1037. <p>'How's 45A?'</p>
1038. <p><em>stunned silence</em></p>
1039. <p>"...ok. That'd be great!"</p>
1040. </blockquote>
1041. <p>This was the second flight of JAL's new 787 service to Boston. It was already mostly full. JAL's frequent flyers can book these seats online. And nobody had picked the exit row window.</p>
1042. <p>Several weeks passed. I flew to Taipei. I spent a couple days in Tokyo. I saw Karen and Marty. I ate a bunch of incredibly tasty food.  I wandered around Akihabara.  </p>
1043. <p>JAL lets you check in online up to 72 hours before your flight. American and JAL use different reservation networks, so my flight had an American PNR (Passenger Name Record - that 6 letter record locator code) and a JAL PNR. My American PNR wasn't letting me check in on JAL.com. I called up American and got my JAL PNR. That didn't work either.</p>
1044. <p>This is when the most impressive and astonishing part of my travel experience happened. Sunday night, I opened up AA.com to confirm my flight details for the next morning and noticed the "Check in online" button at the bottom of the screen. This button has almost never worked for me for international flights on American. And this was a codeshare. I knew that pressing this button would show me a nice error message about how my flight wasn't actually eligible to check in online. When I clicked the button, nothing happened. I clicked it again. Nothing happened again. And then I noticed the "Popup blocked" message in the browser's URL bar. I allowed chrome to show me the error popup.</p>
1045. <p>It wasn't an error popup. </p>
1046. <p>AA.com redirected me to JAL.com and checked me in online and then emailed me a boarding pass. Airline IT isn't actually supposed to _work_.</p>
1047. <p>Scrutinizing the boarding pass, I noticed my sequence number. (Most airline boarding passes show a number indicating the order in which passengers checked in)</p>
1048. <p>   <span style="font-family:'">SEQ: 186</span></p>
1049. <p>So, I was the 186th person to check in for the flight, a good 14 hours before departure. On most longhaul international flights, that number wouldn't be exceptional. On JAL's 787, it's a little surprising - It is a 186 seat aircraft. I haven't gone digging too deeply - It may just have been a bug or some nuance of JAL sequence #s I'm not aware of. Or I might indeed have been the last passenger to check in for the flight.</p>
1050. <p>It took me...9 minutes from stepping off the Skyliner at Narita to the JAL Lounge.</p>
1051. <p>I got to the gate about an hour before departure. Sure, I could have hung out in JAL's lounge longer, but DREAMLINER!  The departure area was already half full. And our plane was already at the gate, which wasn't too surprising. JAL 787 #1 wasn't actually back from its maiden flight to Boston yet. This plane was brand new.</p>
1052. <p>It was parked next to a BA 777. Compared to the gorgeous curved wings of the 787, the 777 just looked...clunky and dated.</p>
1053. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/6963675526/" title="R6081370.jpg by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="R6081370.jpg" height="375" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/04/6963675526_c96ba6f0af.jpg" width="500"></a></p>
1054. <p>More people were taking pictures of the departure board than the plane. Go figure.</p>
1055. <p>Boarding started about 10 minutes late. The fabled arched entryway of the 787 was...nice, but nothing to write home about. . o O { Though I suppose I just have }</p>
1056. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/7109729199/" title="R6081350.jpg by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="R6081350.jpg" height="500" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/04/7109729199_2e084313d5.jpg" width="375"></a></p>
1057. <p>I walked back through Business and the first bit of economy to seat 45A. Before I got there, I didn't really know what to expect. I could have had a cold, cramped little seat with no window. That sometimes happens in exit rows. But no. The seat was fairly roomy (very roomy for JAL). It reclined. The video monitor and tray were in the armrest.</p>
1058. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/6963681766/" title="R6081387.jpg by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="R6081387.jpg" height="500" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/04/6963681766_261ff704f9.jpg" width="375"></a></p>
1059. <p>And if I stretched my legs out as far as I could, I could just barely use the emergency exit door as a footrest.</p>
1060. <p>The 787's windows don't have shades. They have a dimmer that lets you set 5 levels of blue-tinted transparency.  I immediately started playing with the window's controls. The windows don't go all the way opaque, but the darkest setting is enough to keep the interior pretty dark, even in bright sunlight.</p>
1061. <p>Speaking of windows - They promised us a window in the bathroom. That one <em>does</em> have a shade...when it exists. No such luck in JAL Economy.</p>
1062. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/6963685132/" title="R6081390.jpg by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="R6081390.jpg" height="500" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/04/6963685132_1833efe768.jpg" width="375"></a></p>
1063. <p>The interior of the plane definitely felt roomier and airier than a 767, though not much more spacious than a 777. Not bad for a plane with 10 rows of Business and 17-odd rows of Economy.  Boarding was mercifully quick - the plane was full, but there just weren't that many passengers.</p>
1064. <p>Before we took off, a flight attendant brought over the "responsibilities of passengers in the exit row" cards and asked if we'd be willing to follow crew-member instructions in the unlikely event of an emergency...in Japanese. Apparently, I nodded well enough.</p>
1065. <p>Our taxi out to the runway took 20+ minutes. On the ground, the 787's wings are incredibly bouncy. I know they've passed some impressive wing-break tests, but it was just slightly terrifying.</p>
1066. <p>It was a gray, rainy day - takeoff was a little bit bumpy and the flight didn't really even out for about 45 minutes.</p>
1067. <p>Inside, the 787 is quiet, but not astonishingly so. You can't forget you're on an airplane.</p>
1068. <p>JAL's inflight entertainment system was..decent. It was snappy and actually registered touches when you touched the screen. The interactive maps were pretty and responsive.  The "I'm working" watch cursor made it pretty obvious that (like many IFE systems) it was running X (and presumably Linux.)  Unfortunately, I'd already seen every movie I wanted to of their relatively thin selection.</p>
1069. <p>The IFE had a feature I've never seen anywhere else....ebooks. In this case, branded as "JAL Sky Manga" - They say that they're working on an English version, but for now, it's all in Japanese. They had a few dozen manga to choose from, divided into general interest, Boys' Manga and Girls' Manga. I think the most surreal part of it was the pageturn navigation -- To go to the next page, you click the left arrow on your remote. To go to the previous page, you click the right arrow. It makes perfect sense. Japanese books start from what I, as an American cultural absolutist would call the "back" of the book.</p>
1070. <p>In coach, we were fed 3 times. The first meal was a choice between chicken curry and something described to me as "Japanese Pork" - In general, the flight attendants spoke to me in Japanese. I know enough food words that this wasn't actually a big deal (and I know they spoke to other Western passengers in English. Go figure) Desert after the first meal was a "Boston 1955" Mr Donut ice cream sandwich.  The ice cream was light and airy and a little bit too frozen. </p>
1071. <p>The second food service was a cup of soup and a Danish.</p>
1072. <p>The third food service was...clam chowder and "AIR MISDO" - I know you're all dying to know if JAL can pull off a competent New England Clam Chowder.  I'm a bad New Englander - I don't really like chowder on the best of days. I chose to skip the airplane chowder.  I'm sorry I've let you down.</p>
1073. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/7108063339/" title="R6081489.jpg by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="R6081489.jpg" height="375" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/04/7108063339_a96f3fc944.jpg" width="500"></a></p>
1074. <p>AIR MISDO was...reasonably decent. A pair of small, cakey donuts. One with chocolate and sprinkles. One plain.</p>
1075. <p>I spent most of the flight coding. If you know me, that should tell you just about everything you need to know about the flight's comfort. The 787 has in-seat universal sockets at every seat. Mine cut out for 30-90 seconds every 20 minutes or so, but on the whole behaved itself.</p>
1076. <p>One of the cool things about the 787 is that, because it's made of carbon fiber instead of aluminum, they can keep it pressurized to something that approximates sea level much more closely than any plane you've ever flown on. Coming off the plane, <a href="http://twitter.com/rasmus" target="_blank" title="@rasmus">@rasmus</a> asked me if I'd noticed the difference. Indeed I had. Usually, I feel fairly...freeze-dried after 13 hours in a small tube in the sky. I felt a lot less shattered than usual after this flight.</p>
1077. <p>As we were disembarking, the staff were handing us each a card:</p>
1078. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/6963811616/" title="R6081504.jpg by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="R6081504.jpg" height="375" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/04/6963811616_1d35957dd4.jpg" width="500"></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/7109883613/" title="R6081502.jpg by jesse, on Flickr"><img alt="R6081502.jpg" height="375" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2012/04/7109883613_22f590c05a.jpg" width="500"></a></p>
1079. <p>Arriving at Logan, we appeared to be the ONLY plane at the international part of Terminal E. 11:30AM isn't exactly a common time for flights to and from Europe  and nobody else is flying from Boston to Asia. A quick Global Entry scan and I was through passport control and down at the baggage claim. The siren started screeching, the conveyor started rolling and...my bag was the first one to drop onto the belt.</p>
1080. <p>From there, I made my way to Terminal B and had lunch with <a href="http://twitter.com/schwern">@schwern</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/noirinp">@noirinp</a>, who were on their way to PDX by way of DFW.</p>
1081. <p>After lunch, I collapsed into a cab and made my way home to a pair of very cross cats who quickly forgave me for my long absence and a very, very long afternoon before finally collapsing into bed at a respectable 10pm.</p>
1082. <p>Overall, I was really quite impressed by the 787. It's a nice, comfortable modern aircraft. I'd totally fly to Tokyo in Economy on JAL's 787 service again.</p>
1083. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/sets/72157629890181165/with/7109883613/" target="_blank" title="I have a few more pictures up on Flickr">I have a few more pictures up on Flickr</a>.</p>
1084. <p> </p>
1085. </content>
1086. </entry>
1088. <entry>
1089. <title>WaffleTodos - An app for the Kindle Touch</title>
1090. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2011/12/12/waffletodos-an-app-for-the-kindle-touch/"/>
1091. <updated>2011-12-13T03:30:40Z</updated>
1092. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2011/12/12/waffletodos-an-app-for-the-kindle-touch/</id>
1093. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I had a nice long plane flight to mess around with the Kindle Touch today.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;
1094. <p>Its an interesting beast. Much of its user interface is built in HTML5. (The browser "application" itself is just some JavaScript, HTML and CSS wrapped around the platform's built-in WebKit rendering engine running full-screen in X11.</p>
1095. <p>Yesterday, Yifan Lu (http://yifan.lu) released a tool to allow Kindle Touch owners to gain root access to their devices. This tool took advantage of the fact that the MP3 player app on the Kindle Touch renders the titles of .mp3 files as HTML.</p>
1096. <p>I spent a bit of time poking around my Kindle Touch last night - I found all sorts of neat stuff. One item stood out - "waf", the Kindle's client-side Web Application Framework.  Amazon have used it to build their updated on-device Kindle Store, as well as some other bits and pieces.</p>
1097. <p>On a lark, I cobbled together enough bits to run the "Todo list" demo that ships with bootstrap.js. It ran. It even ran reasonably well.</p>
1098. <p>Using Yifan's "Musical Launcher" technique, I've polished up this todo list demo to the point where it should run fine on any Kindle Touch (rooted or not). The only changes it makes to the Kindle's internal filesystems is to add three required entries to an application registration database. I don't believe that this is likely to brick your Kindle Touch. If it does, please email me and I'll see what I can do. Bear in mind, however, that I may not be able to help you out and won't replace your Kindle if something goes wrong.</p>
1099. <p>This package consists of two pieces:</p>
1100. <p>    music/Todos.mp3 - Drop this file in your Kindle's "music" folder.<br>    WaffleApps - Drop this file in the toplevel directory on you Kindle</p>
1101. <p>After that:</p>
1102. <ul>
1103. <li> Disconnect your Kindle from your computer   </li>
1104. <li>Click the "home" button   </li>
1105. <li>Click on the "menu" button   </li>
1106. <li>Select "Experimental" from the menu   </li>
1107. <li>Select "MP3 Player"   </li>
1108. <li>Click on "Launch Todos"   </li>
1109. <li>Get stuff done</li>
1110. </ul>
1111. <p>The actual Todos app is the backbone.js clientside Todo list app demo, prettied up a bit for the Kindle. There's nothing really fancy there. But this should make a decent starting point for more ambitious app development.</p>
1112. <p>You can download the binary package from github: <a href="https://github.com/obra/waffle/downloads" target="_self" title="https://github.com/obra/waffle/downloads">https://github.com/obra/waffle/downloads</a></p>
1113. <p>If you're interested in building other HTML5 apps for the Kindle Touch, <a href="https://github.com/obra/waffle" target="_self" title="https://github.com/obra/waffle ">https://github.com/obra/waffle</a> wouldn't be the worst place to start.</p>
1114. <p> </p>
1115. </content>
1116. </entry>
1118. <entry>
1119. <title>Come hack Perl for Best Practical! (We&#39;re hiring)</title>
1120. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2011/06/14/come-hack-perl-for-best-practical-were-hiring/"/>
1121. <updated>2011-06-15T01:09:49Z</updated>
1122. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2011/06/14/come-hack-perl-for-best-practical-were-hiring/</id>
1123. <content type="html">&lt;h2&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:13px;&quot;&gt;About us&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
1124. <p>We're Best Practical Solutions, a small software company located in Somerville, MA. We build software and sell support, training, consulting, and custom development. Our main product, RT (Request Tracker), is the premiere open source issue tracking system. We've been around since the fall of 2001 and are entirely self-funded. We're currently hard at work on our next new product. Things just keep getting busier.</p>
1125. <h3>About the job</h3>
1126. <p>We're looking for a Perl Hacker to help us enhance and refine our products, and help us be excellent to our customers. You'll be responsible for everything from implementing new features across all our products to testing and applying user-contributed patches to our released software. In a typical week, you'll probably spend about half your time working on customer projects and half working on internal and open source projects.</p>
1127. <p>The hours are flexible and we all telecommute some of the time...though we work from our office in the heart of Davis Sq, Somerville, most days. We do just about EVERYTHING online and on the phone. You should be comfortable using email and instant messaging systems to collaborate and get work done.</p>
1128. <h3>About you</h3>
1129. <p>You should be a self-starter who has some experience with Perl, as well as a bit of experience with at least a few of the following:</p>
1130. <ul>
1131. <li>Open source development practices</li>
1132. <li>Distributed source control</li>
1133. <li>Test driven development</li>
1134. <li>User interface design</li>
1135. <li>Documentation</li>
1136. <li>Javascript</li>
1137. <li>SQL databases</li>
1138. <li>Optimization, profiling, and debugging</li>
1139. <li>UNIX systems administration</li>
1140. </ul>
1141. <p>It's okay if you don't know everything out of the gate, but you should be able to learn on the fly and be comfortable asking questions when you get in over your head. RT is a large codebase to dive into, so you should be prepared to work with a project that's too big to hold in your head at once. If you want to see what sort of trouble you're getting yourself into, you can find all of our open source code <a href="https://github.com/bestpractical/internal-wiki/wiki/on%20github"></a><a href="http://github.com/bestpractical/">http://github.com/bestpractical/</a>.</p>
1142. <p>We're a small company and the boss is typically overextended. You should be comfortable working both independently and in small teams, prioritizing tasks on your own, and juggling tasks and projects.</p>
1143. <h3>Compensation</h3>
1144. <p>DOE - This is a full-time salaried position, but the details are negotiable. We're a small, self funded company. The standard benefits apply, of course: health insurance, dental insurance, and junk food to make that dental insurance worthwhile.</p>
1145. <h3>How to apply</h3>
1146. <p>Send something approximating a cover letter, and a resume in plain text, HTML or PDF, and a sample of some code you've written to <a href="mailto:resumes@bestpractical.com">resumes@bestpractical.com</a>. If you're involved in open source development of one kind or another, please tell us about it. If you have a CPAN ID, tell us what it is. We won't consider applications without a code sample. We'll be paying particular attention to the readability, comments and tests.</p>
1147. <p> </p>
1148. </content>
1149. </entry>
1151. <entry>
1152. <title>An untitled post</title>
1153. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2011/06/14/wow-its-been-rather-a-long-time-since-ive-posted-anything-terribly-sorry-about-that-folks-things-arekind-of-busy-betw/"/>
1154. <updated>2011-06-15T01:07:45Z</updated>
1155. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2011/06/14/wow-its-been-rather-a-long-time-since-ive-posted-anything-terribly-sorry-about-that-folks-things-arekind-of-busy-betw/</id>
1156. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wow. It&amp;#039;s been rather a long time since I&amp;#039;ve posted anything. Terribly sorry about that folks. Things are...kind of busy.&lt;/p&gt;
1157. <p>Between RT 4.0, Perl 5.14.0, K-9 Mail 3.8 and Kaiten Mail 1.1, I've been a bit busy on the software side of things. More on all of that later. For now,</p>
1158. </content>
1159. </entry>
1161. <entry>
1162. <title>K-9 Mail 3.600 for Android</title>
1163. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2011/02/02/k-9-mail-3600-for-android/"/>
1164. <updated>2011-02-03T06:06:10Z</updated>
1165. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2011/02/02/k-9-mail-3600-for-android/</id>
1166. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;It gives me great pleasure to announce the release of version 3.600 of K-9 Mail. &amp;#160;Notable in this release are significant performance improvements and proper support for replying to / forwarding HTML mail.&lt;/p&gt;
1167. <p>While K-9 was originally "my fault", its continued success wouldn't be possible without the hard work of a number of contributors and committers.  At the risk of accidentally leaving out any recent contributor, I'd particularly like to thank (in alphabetical order): </p>
1168. <p>    achen.code, cketti, fiouzy, hiranotaka, jca02266, kris.p.wong, and marcus.wolschon</p>
1169. <p>Their bug triage and commits are a big part of why K-9 is as wonderful as it is.</p>
1170. <p>A rough changelog of "important" updates in K-9 3.6 follows:</p>
1171. <h2>Settings</h2>
1172. <ul>
1173. <li>Restore "only vibrate once" vibration notification option.</li>
1174. <li>Add a setting to enable Outlook-style message quoting.</li>
1175. <li>Add a setting to allow users to always show email addresses instead of the "friendly" parts of email addresses.</li>
1176. <li>Add a setting to disable unread count in notification bar.</li>
1177. <li>Add a setting to change the font size of the message preview in the message list. Fixes <a href="http://code.google.com/p/k9mail/issues/detail?id=2788" title="Configurable preview font size"> issue 2788 </a></li>
1178. </ul>
1179. <h2><a name="User_Interface"></a>User Interface</h2>
1180. <ul>
1181. <li>Round account color chips</li>
1182. <li>Be a little more graceful when scrolling horizontally in a (vertical) scroll view. Not quite to the point of diagonal scrolling, but hopefully closer.</li>
1183. <li>Visual cleanup to Message Lists, Message views</li>
1184. <li>Stop showing "Not polling" in the status header. Most of the time, this is because Push mail is enabled.</li>
1185. <li>Improve the first page of the wizard on tablet-scale devices</li>
1186. </ul>
1187. <h2><a name="I18N"></a>I18N</h2>
1188. <ul>
1189. <li>Added a Brazilian Portugese translation from Marcio Viterbo</li>
1190. <li>Updated Italian translation from Giuseppe Arrigo and Paolo Maccione. Fixes <a href="http://code.google.com/p/k9mail/issues/detail?id=2778" title="Italian localization file"> issue 2778 </a></li>
1191. <li>Updated Czech translation from lubekgc. Fixes <a href="http://code.google.com/p/k9mail/issues/detail?id=2808" title="Czech localization update"> issue 2808 </a></li>
1192. <li>Updated German translation with slightly modified version of the patch provided by OliverMe<a href="http://code.google.com/p/k9mail/w/edit/OliverMe">?</a>...@googlemail.com</li>
1193. <li>Updated Italian translation from paolo.maccione</li>
1194. <li>Updated Spanish translation from Adolfo Gutiérrez Ocaña</li>
1195. </ul>
1196. <ul>
1197. <li>Improved emoji support for a wide variety of carriers. HIRANO Takahito</li>
1198. <li>Support for emoji in message subjects. HIRANO Takahito</li>
1199. <li>Allow emoji input on Japanese devices. HIRANO Takahito</li>
1200. <li>Implement phonetic search of Contacts on Eclair and earlier.</li>
1201. </ul>
1202. <h2><a name="Internals"></a>Internals</h2>
1203. <ul>
1204. <li>Upgrade to a newer version of MIME4J to gain significant performance improvements from the past few years of development</li>
1205. <li>Enable Strict Mode when a new "developer mode" is enabled and we're running on 2.3 or newer</li>
1206. <li>Update URL regexes by importing from AOSP and then from IANA</li>
1207. <li>Initial implementation of folder attributes on the folder, rather than in preferences</li>
1208. <li>Improve generation of plain text versions of HTML mail</li>
1209. <li>Improve generation of message previews</li>
1210. </ul>
1211. <h2><a name="Performance"></a>Performance</h2>
1212. <ul>
1213. <li>Improve performance of account statistics generation.</li>
1214. <li>Call the routine to convert emoji to images only when a message actually contains emoji.</li>
1215. <li>Batch storing of unsynced messages to speed up DB update (chunk size set to 5).</li>
1216. <li>Execute LocalMessage<a href="http://code.google.com/p/k9mail/w/edit/LocalMessage">?</a>.appendMessage() & LocalMessage<a href="http://code.google.com/p/k9mail/w/edit/LocalMessage">?</a>.setFlag() in the same transaction for small message storing in order to speed up DB update.</li>
1217. </ul>
1218. <h2><a name="Security"></a>Security</h2>
1219. <ul>
1220. <li>Disable webview cache and javascript.</li>
1221. </ul>
1222. <h2><a name="Notifications"></a>Notifications</h2>
1223. <ul>
1224. <li>When mail is sent successfully, cancel the "couldn't send mail" notification</li>
1225. <li>Don't notify for new mail in a designated spam folder</li>
1226. <li>Prevent new mail notifications for IMAP messages older than our most recent message.</li>
1227. <li>Use a heuristic to try to avoid notifying POP3 users about older mail messages</li>
1228. </ul>
1229. <h2><a name="Sending_mail"></a>Sending mail</h2>
1230. <ul>
1231. <li>Preserve HTML formatting when replying to or forwarding HTML mail</li>
1232. <li>Clean up the display of quoted messages on the mail composition screen.</li>
1233. <li>When editing a previously saved draft, only show the BCC field if it has entries other than the auto-bcc for that account.</li>
1234. <li>Switch from generating X-User-Agent to User-Agent headers. Fixes <a href="http://code.google.com/p/k9mail/issues/detail?id=1917" title="Missing User-Agent: header in outgoing mails"> issue 1917 </a></li>
1235. </ul>
1236. <h2><a name="Account_setup"></a>Account setup</h2>
1237. <ul>
1238. <li>Use full email addresses as usernames for alternate Yahoo! domains.</li>
1239. <li>Add support for other Yahoo! domains (ymail.com, rocketmail.com)</li>
1240. <li>Set up some reasonableish defaults for which folders to sync when creating a new account.</li>
1241. </ul>
1242. <h2><a name="IMAP"></a>IMAP</h2>
1243. <ul>
1244. <li>Correctly encode/escape strings when used in IMAP commands. Fixes <a href="http://code.google.com/p/k9mail/issues/detail?id=2832" title="hierarchy delimiter backslash is not properly handled"> issue 2832 </a></li>
1245. <li>Escape backslashes in IMAP mailbox names</li>
1246. <li>Fix for the "K9 skips every 101st message when fetching on IMAP" bug by e-t172 <e-...@akegroup.org>. Fixes <a href="http://code.google.com/p/k9mail/issues/detail?id=2819" title="K9 skips every 101st message when fetching on IMAP"> Issue 2819 </a></li>
1247. <li>Better handle the case where a list in an IMAP response is prematurely ended by CRLF. Fixes <a href="http://code.google.com/p/k9mail/issues/detail?id=2852" title="UID COPY command timing out on client, completing on server"> issue 2852 </a></li>
1248. </ul>
1249. <h2><a name="SMTP"></a>SMTP</h2>
1250. <ul>
1251. <li>Changed SMTP code to handle reply codes without additional text. Fixes <a href="http://code.google.com/p/k9mail/issues/detail?id=2801" title="Unable to open connection to SMTP server"> issue 2801 </a></li>
1252. <li>Try using IP addresses for EHLO if the local hostname is unavailable. Only use a default hostname if the IP address is unavailable. ref <a href="http://code.google.com/p/k9mail/source/detail?r=2958">r2958</a>, <a href="http://code.google.com/p/k9mail/issues/detail?id=2750" title="501 #5.0.0 EHLO requires domain address upon setting up outgoing server"> issue 2750 </a>.</li>
1253. </ul>
1254. <p> </p>
1255. <h2><a name="Exchange"></a>Exchange</h2>
1256. <ul>
1257. <li>Fix usage of 'advanced' exchange settings.</li>
1258. <li>Fix form based re-authentication when logon cookies had expired.</li>
1259. </ul>
1260. <h2><a name="Behavior"></a>Behavior</h2>
1261. <ul>
1262. <li>Don't reset visible limits every time K-9 is opened, only when the user changes how many messages they want to be synced.</li>
1263. </ul>
1264. <p> </p>
1265. <p> </p>
1266. </content>
1267. </entry>
1269. <entry>
1270. <title>Froyo for nookcolor</title>
1271. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2010/12/05/froyo-for-nookcolor/"/>
1272. <updated>2010-12-05T20:00:15Z</updated>
1273. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2010/12/05/froyo-for-nookcolor/</id>
1274. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/c14f3-6a00d83456074b69e20148c66efe13970c-pi.jpg&quot; style=&quot;display:inline;&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;Froyo&quot; class=&quot;asset  asset-image at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e20148c66efe13970c&quot; src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2010/12/c14f3-6a00d83456074b69e20148c66efe13970c-pi.jpg?w=224&quot; title=&quot;Froyo&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
1275. <p> </p>
1276. <p> </p>
1277. <p>If you've read my blog for a while, you've probably seen my unfortunate interactions with Barnes and Noble trying to buy a nook last Christmas.  You've also probably seen some of my Kindle hacking and Android development work.</p>
1278. <p>The big takeaway from last Christmas was "don't by a nook"</p>
1279. <p>The nookcolor is B&N's latest - a 7 inch eReader.</p>
1280. <p>Calling it an eReader is somewhat disingenuous.  It's somewhat different from the original nook:</p>
1281. <ul>
1282. <li>No 3G </li>
1283. <li>No E Ink screen </li>
1284. <li>50% heavier than the original nook </li>
1285. </ul>
1286. <p>Like the original nook, it's running Android. It has a microSD slot. And it's been rooted. (Not by me.)</p>
1287. <p>I've been on the road for work a lot lately. That usually means I have rather a lot of time to kill in the evenings. Last Wednesday night, I found myself in a Barnes & Noble store in Northern Virginia.  I wanted to check out the new nookcolor, but, well, I wasn't about to give Barnes & Noble any more of my money.</p>
1288. <p>I walked in the front door to find one of the booksellers standing in front of the nook kisok messing around with the nookcolor.  I asked if  I could play with it for a moment.</p>
1289. <p>As I popped into the Setttings menu, she started to tell me about the device. I'm...not quite sure how it happened, but some of the first words out of her mouth were "It's been rooted, you know."</p>
1290. <p>I guess I look the part.</p>
1291. <p>I played with the device for a while. It felt reasonably solid and was impressively speedy.  The bookseller (I've forgotten her name :/) started talking about how much she was looking forward to a community port of Froyo.</p>
1292. <p>My resolve began to weaken, but I knew that I knew <span style="text-decoration:underline;">nothing</span> about the internals of the device and I wasn't about to buy another Android tablet with an anemic CPU. (I bought a ZT-180 from China and dropped my PixelQi display into it, just to see if it would work. I bought a Viewsonic G Tablet a couple weeks ago with the same intent, but haven't fully disassembled it to get to the display yet.)</p>
1293. <p>I played my get out of jail free card: "So, uh, I suspect that this isn't the typical sort of question you get about the nookcolor, but how fast is the CPU?"</p>
1294. <p>"It's 800MHz."</p>
1295. <p>I bought one. And sat down in the B&N cafe.  I used their free wifi to download nooter from nookdevs.</p>
1296. <p>15 minutes later, I had ADW.Launcher, Angry Birds and K-9 Mail installed. Angry Birds was remarkably smooth.</p>
1297. <p>Like everyone else, I spent some time messing around on the device, which identified itself as a "LogicPD zoom2" internally.</p>
1298. <p>"Wow. This is a pretty standard Android device. I wonder how hard a vanilla Android build would be."</p>
1299. <p>Flash forward to Friday.</p>
1300. <p>B&N finally shipped bootloader and kernel source.  The source distribution was  a zip file containing "Documents and Settings/awu/Desktop/distro.tar"</p>
1301. <p>The content inside the tarball left a bit to be desired. I haven't yet found enough markers to figure out what kernel tree and tag was used as the branchpoint, so I don't know precisely what the local changes are.</p>
1302. <p>I have made reasonable headway on figuring that out, though.</p>
1303. <p>I started reading up on the relevant bits.</p>
1304. <p>Meanwhile, this YouTube video was NOT posted by me:  <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uviopU8Ve-Y">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uviopU8Ve-Y</a></p>
1305. <p>Over the past couple days, with help from [mbm] on #nookcolor (who did all this before I did ;),  I've cobbled together a basic working Froyo userland.</p>
1306. <p>Below is a first pass braindump of what I've done. I'm 100% sure I'm missing steps - and what I have running so far is hardly something I'd want to run full time on my device.</p>
1307. <p>Per usual, what you're doing could turn your device into an expensive paperweight. (It's too flat to make a decent doorstop.)</p>
1308. <p>As nooter (the nookcolor rooting tool) showed us, the nookcolor can boot from SD. In fact, it's set to prefer to boot from SD. This makes development rather  less painful than it might otherwise be.</p>
1309. <p>I initially started building a full cleanroom filesystem, but [mbm] convinced me that it's a bit easier to start off with the working nookcolor filesystem image and customize from there. Long term, this is obviously not the right plan.</p>
1310. <p>Root your nookcolor (nc) with nooter.</p>
1311. <p>Download a full filesystem image from the nc.  There are a few ways to do this. The fastest is to dd to a local filesystem on the flash card. and mount that on your workstation. The most trivial is:</p>
1312. <pre>adb pull /dev/block/mmcblk0 ./nook-8-gig-raw-filesystem</pre>
1313. <p>You'll need a MicroSD card of at least 8 gigs to drop this filesystem onto.  This will (sort of obviously) obliterate every single bit on that MicroSD.</p>
1314. <pre>dd < nook-8-gig-raw-filesystem > /dev/sdX</pre>
1315. <p>When you pop the MicroSD out and re-insert it, you'll likely see a whole bunch of partitions automount.</p>
1316. <p>Be careful not to distribute this SD image, as the factory partition contains a zip file including a full (proprietary) OS image and the rom partition includes personal device details.</p>
1317. <p>If you stick this into your nc, it should boot to the regular nook image using the boot partition on the MicroSD card.</p>
1318. <p>Right now, the one you REALLY care about is "boot" (On ubuntu, it'll mount as /media/boot).  It's a VFAT filesystem on partition 1.</p>
1319. <p>For now, what we care about on that filesystem is uRamdisk, the boot ramdisk.  As of this moment, it's set up to mount the nook's internal flash and continue boot from there.</p>
1320. <p>Make a backup of uRamdisk.</p>
1321. <p>uRamdisk is a u-boot filesystem.</p>
1322. <p>You need to unpack it, twiddle some bits and repack it. I have some tools for this, which I'll publish to github as soon as I untangle them from the rest of the nook image in my local repo (Which contains B&N code I can't distribute because it's not obviously under an opensource license).</p>
1323. <p>There's likely a <span style="text-decoration:underline;">correct</span> way to do this, but the quick-and-dirty way was a bit easier for me to sort out. u-boot ramdisks are gzipped cpio archives with a 64 byte header.</p>
1324. <p>My "unpack" script looks like this:</p>
1325. <pre> #!/bin/sh
1326. IMAGE=$1
1327. mkdir work-$$
1328. dd if=$IMAGE of=/tmp/image.cpio.gz bs=64 skip=1
1329. zcat /tmp/image.cpio.gz > work-$$.cpio
1330. cd work-$$
1331. cpio -i -F ../work-$$.cpio
1332. echo "Unpacked ramdisk is in work-$$"
1333. </pre>
1334. <p>The two files you really care about right now are env.txt and init.rc</p>
1335. <p>Right now, all we care about is twiddling pointers to partitions.</p>
1336. <p><span style="text-decoration:line-through;"></span></p>
1337. <p>env.txt should look like this:</p>
1338. <pre>
1339. bootdelay=1
1340. bootargs=console=ttyS0,115200n8 androidboot.console=ttyS0 root=/dev/mmcblk1p2 rw rootdelay=1 mem=512M init=/init videoout=omap24xxvout omap_vout.video1_numbuffers=6 omap_vout.vid1_static_vrfb_alloc=y omapfb.vram=0:8M
1341. bootcmd=mmc 0 read 0x800 0x81c00000 ${kernel_size}; bootm 81c00000
1342. recovery=echo recovery mode
1343. </pre>
1344. <p>I've altered the bootcmd's pointer from "mmc 1" to "mmc 0" - this is very much cargo-culting based on the TI docs and not something I've looked at.</p>
1345. <p>Similarly, I've flipped the "root" argument of "bootargs" from mmcblk0p2 to mmcblk1p2. It shouldn't really matter.</p>
1346. <p></p>
1347. <p><strong>EDIT: Turns out this isn't strictly necessary</strong></p>
1348. <p>In init.rc, anywhere the mmcblk0 is mentioned, make it mmcblk1</p>
1349. <p>I also forced adb to always start, just for ease of development.</p>
1350. <p>Now you'll want to repack the ramdisk. My "repack" script looks like this:</p>
1351. <pre>
1352. #!/bin/sh
1353. DIR="$( basename `pwd`)"
1354. cpio -i -t -F ../${DIR}.cpio | cpio -o -H newc -O ../ramdisk-repacked-${DIR}.cpio
1355. cd ..
1356. gzip ramdisk-repacked-${DIR}.cpio
1357. ./mkimage  -A ARM -O Linux -T RAMDisk -C gzip -n Image -d ramdisk-repacked-${DIR}.cpio.gz uRamdisk-${DIR}
1358. </pre>
1359. <p>mkimage is a standard tool from the u-boot tools directory shipped as part of the B&N nookcolor sourcedrop. I'd assume that the mkimage from any copy of u-boot would be fine.</p>
1360. <p>Once you repack the ramdisk, put it back on the boot partition as uRamdisk.</p>
1361. <p>Umount all the filesystems on the MicroSD, eject the MicroSD and drop it in your nc.</p>
1362. <p>Boot your nc. It should boot normally.</p>
1363. <p>Once it's booted, use adb shell to check that filesystems are mounted from mmcblk1 and not mmcblk0</p>
1364. <p>You can now shutdown your nook.</p>
1365. <p>You have a full OS image on SD.</p>
1366. <p>It's now time for the interesting bit, building Android.</p>
1367. <p>I built from TI's omapzoom branch of Android - They're the folks who make the innermost parts of the nc.  <a href="http://www.omappedia.org/wiki/Android_Getting_Started">http://www.omappedia.org/wiki/Android_Getting_Started</a> should tell you everything you need to know about using repo to clone the repositories, check out froyo and build.</p>
1368. <p>You'll need a crosscompiler. TI recommend:</p>
1369. <p><a href="http://www.codesourcery.com/sgpp/lite/arm/portal/release858">http://www.codesourcery.com/sgpp/lite/arm/portal/release858</a></p>
1370. <p>Follow the instructions for zoom2</p>
1371. <p>Once the build is done, put your MicroSD card back in the nc. This time, you're looking for the system partition (sdX5).</p>
1372. <p>You have two options. You can either wipe out B&N's Android build entirely and install the pristine zoom2 build or you can overlay the zoom2 build on top of B&N's build of Eclair.</p>
1373. <p>I went for the former, though [mbm] had better luck with the latter, as it means you won't have to pick out proprietary libraries and tools and install them one by one.</p>
1374. <p>Obviously, if you use any of the B&N bits, you MUST not distribute your filesystem image.  It appears that TI publishes just about every proprietary bit we could possibly want on their GForge instance, though I haven't actually dug in too deep just yet.</p>
1375. <p>You'll want to neuter etc/vold.* on the system partition once you've installed the new image, as it tries to mount an sd card that's now... otherwise occupied.</p>
1376. <p>Once you're done with this, it's time to go back to work on your uRamdisk image, since froyo wants somewhat different startup bits than eclair.</p>
1377. <p>I ended up with something a bit wonky causing mount failures as I was migrating init.rc to froyo.  Again, this is courtesy of [mbm]:</p>
1378. <pre> --- ../work-20413/init.rc   2010-12-05 11:22:40.514818375 -0500
1379. +++ init.rc 2010-12-04 21:34:36.209385337 -0500
1380. @@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
1381. -# init.rc used on Encore hardware
1382. on early-init
1383. # Give the kernel time to enumerate the internal and external MMC/SD cards
1384. @@ -16,7 +15,8 @@
1385. export ANDROID_ROOT /system
1386. export ANDROID_ASSETS /system/app
1387. export ANDROID_DATA /data
1388. -    export EXTERNAL_STORAGE /sdcard
1389. +    export EXTERNAL_STORAGE /mnt/sdcard
1390. +    export ASEC_MOUNTPOINT /mnt/asec
1391. export INTERNAL_STORAGE /media
1392. export BOOTCLASSPATH /system/framework/core.jar:/system/framework/ext.jar:/system/framework/framework.jar:/system/framework/android.policy.jar:/system/framework/services.jar
1393. export DSP_PATH /system/lib/dsp
1394. @@ -37,16 +37,39 @@
1395. # Backward compatibility
1396. symlink /system/etc /etc
1397. -# create mountpoints and mount tmpfs on sqlite_stmt_journals
1398. +# create mountpoints
1399. +    mkdir /mnt 0775 root system
1400. +    mkdir /mnt/sdcard 0000 system system
1401. +
1402. +# Create cgroup mount point for cpu accounting
1403. +    mkdir /acct
1404. +    mount cgroup none /acct cpuacct
1405. +    mkdir /acct/uid
1406. +
1407. +# Backwards Compat - XXX: Going away in G*
1408. +    symlink /mnt/sdcard /sdcard
1409. +
1410. mkdir /system
1411. -    mkdir /tmp 0777
1412. mkdir /data 0771 system system
1413. mkdir /cache 0770 system cache
1414. mkdir /media 0777 system system
1415. -    mkdir /sdcard 0777 system system
1416. -    mkdir /sqlite_stmt_journals 01777 root root
1417. mkdir /rom 0777 root root
1418. -    mount tmpfs tmpfs /sqlite_stmt_journals size=4m
1419. +
1420. +    mkdir /config 0500 root root
1421. +
1422. +    # Directory for putting things only root should see.
1423. +    mkdir /mnt/secure 0700 root root
1424. +
1425. +    # Directory for staging bindmounts
1426. +    mkdir /mnt/secure/staging 0700 root root
1427. +
1428. +    # Directory-target for where the secure container
1429. +    # imagefile directory will be bind-mounted
1430. +    mkdir /mnt/secure/asec  0700 root root
1431. +
1432. +    # Secure container public mount points.
1433. +    mkdir /mnt/asec  0700 root system
1434. +    mount tmpfs tmpfs /mnt/asec mode=0755,gid=1000
1435. mount rootfs rootfs / ro remount
1436. @@ -55,6 +78,46 @@
1437. write /proc/cpu/alignment 4
1438. write /proc/sys/kernel/sched_latency_ns 10000000
1439. write /proc/sys/kernel/sched_wakeup_granularity_ns 2000000
1440. +    write /proc/sys/kernel/sched_compat_yield 1
1441. +    write /proc/sys/kernel/sched_child_runs_first 0
1442. +
1443. +# Create cgroup mount points for process groups
1444. +    mkdir /dev/cpuctl
1445. +    mount cgroup none /dev/cpuctl cpu
1446. +    chown system system /dev/cpuctl
1447. +    chown system system /dev/cpuctl/tasks
1448. +    chmod 0777 /dev/cpuctl/tasks
1449. +    write /dev/cpuctl/cpu.shares 1024
1450. +
1451. +    mkdir /dev/cpuctl/fg_boost
1452. +    chown system system /dev/cpuctl/fg_boost/tasks
1453. +    chmod 0777 /dev/cpuctl/fg_boost/tasks
1454. +    write /dev/cpuctl/fg_boost/cpu.shares 1024
1455. +
1456. +    mkdir /dev/cpuctl/bg_non_interactive
1457. +    chown system system /dev/cpuctl/bg_non_interactive/tasks
1458. +    chmod 0777 /dev/cpuctl/bg_non_interactive/tasks
1459. +    # 5.0 %
1460. +    write /dev/cpuctl/bg_non_interactive/cpu.shares 52
1461. +
1462. +    # Create dump dir and collect dumps.
1463. +    # Do this before we mount cache so eventually we can use cache for
1464. +    # storing dumps on platforms which do not have a dedicated dump partition.
1465. +
1466. +    mkdir /data/dontpanic
1467. +    chown root log /data/dontpanic
1468. +    chmod 0750 /data/dontpanic
1469. +
1470. +    # Collect apanic data, free resources and re-arm trigger
1471. +    copy /proc/apanic_console /data/dontpanic/apanic_console
1472. +    chown root log /data/dontpanic/apanic_console
1473. +    chmod 0640 /data/dontpanic/apanic_console
1474. +
1475. +    copy /proc/apanic_threads /data/dontpanic/apanic_threads
1476. +    chown root log /data/dontpanic/apanic_threads
1477. +    chmod 0640 /data/dontpanic/apanic_threads
1478. +
1479. +    write /proc/apanic_console 1
1480. # mount MMC partitions
1481. mount vfat /dev/block/mmcblk1p2 /rom sync noatime nodiratime uid=1000,gid=1000,fmask=117,dmask=007
1482. @@ -382,8 +445,8 @@
1483. service vold /system/bin/vold
1484. socket vold stream 0660 root mount
1485. -#service mountd /system/bin/mountd
1486. -#    socket mountd stream 0660 root mount
1487. +service netd /system/bin/netd
1488. +    socket netd stream 0660 root system
1489. service debuggerd /system/bin/debuggerd
1490. @@ -396,10 +459,13 @@
1491. service zygote /system/bin/app_process -Xzygote /system/bin --zygote --start-system-server
1492. socket zygote stream 666
1493. onrestart write /sys/android_power/request_state wake
1494. +    onrestart write /sys/power/state on
1495. +    onrestart restart media
1496. service media /system/bin/mediaserver
1497. user media
1498. -    group system audio camera graphics inet net_bt net_bt_admin
1499. +    group system audio camera graphics inet net_bt net_bt_admin net_raw
1500. +    ioprio rt 4
1501. service fw3a /system/bin/fw3a_core
1502. user root
1503. @@ -421,6 +487,37 @@
1504. user bluetooth
1505. group bluetooth net_bt_admin
1506. +service bluetoothd /system/bin/bluetoothd -n
1507. +    socket bluetooth stream 660 bluetooth bluetooth
1508. +    socket dbus_bluetooth stream 660 bluetooth bluetooth
1509. +    # init.rc does not yet support applying capabilities, so run as root and
1510. +    # let bluetoothd drop uid to bluetooth with the right linux capabilities
1511. +    group bluetooth net_bt_admin misc
1512. +    disabled
1513. +
1514. +service hfag /system/bin/sdptool add --channel=10 HFAG
1515. +    user bluetooth
1516. +    group bluetooth net_bt_admin
1517. +    disabled
1518. +    oneshot
1519. +
1520. +service hsag /system/bin/sdptool add --channel=11 HSAG
1521. +    user bluetooth
1522. +    group bluetooth net_bt_admin
1523. +    disabled
1524. +    oneshot
1525. +
1526. +service opush /system/bin/sdptool add --channel=12 OPUSH
1527. +    user bluetooth
1528. +    group bluetooth net_bt_admin
1529. +    disabled
1530. +    oneshot
1531. +
1532. +service pbap /system/bin/sdptool add --channel=19 PBAP
1533. +    user bluetooth
1534. +    group bluetooth net_bt_admin
1535. +    disabled
1536. +    oneshot
1537. service installd /system/bin/installd
1538. socket installd stream 600 system system
1539. @@ -432,8 +529,6 @@
1540. disabled
1541. oneshot
1542. -
1543. -
1544. service ifcfg_ti /system/bin/ifconfig tiwlan0 up
1545. disabled
1546. oneshot
1547. @@ -447,6 +542,19 @@
1548. disabled
1549. oneshot
1550. +service racoon /system/bin/racoon
1551. +    socket racoon stream 600 system system
1552. +    # racoon will setuid to vpn after getting necessary resources.
1553. +    group net_admin
1554. +    disabled
1555. +    oneshot
1556. +
1557. +service mtpd /system/bin/mtpd
1558. +    socket mtpd stream 600 system system
1559. +    user vpn
1560. +    group vpn net_admin net_raw
1561. +    disabled
1562. +    oneshot
1563. service keystore /system/bin/keystore /data/misc/keystore
1564. user keystore
1565. @@ -463,5 +571,7 @@
1566. service debuglog /system/bin/debuglog.sh
1567. user root
1568. -
1569. -
1570. +service dumpstate /system/bin/dumpstate -s
1571. +    socket dumpstate stream 0660 shell log
1572. +    disabled
1573. +    oneshot
1574. </pre>
1575. <p>At this point, (assuming I haven't forgotten anything), you should have a MicroSD that will boot froyo on a nookcolor.</p>
1576. <p>...and then immediately shut down, ostensibly due to power issues. My sneaking suspicion is that this is because the kernel the nc is booting from is B&N's original 2.6.29 image and there's been a bit of skew in how it reads some bit of information out of /proc.</p>
1577. <p>The correct next step is to go and build a proper kernel for the device.</p>
1578. <p>The easy next step is to perform a brutal hackjob on android's batteryservice.</p>
1579. <h2>IF YOU DO THIS, YOUR NOOKCOLOR WON'T SHUT DOWN WHEN THE BATTERY GETS HOT ENOUGH TO DAMAGE YOUR NOOK OR EXPLODE.  IF YOU DISTRIBUTE AN ANDROID IMAGE WITH THIS HACK TO _ANYONE_, YOUR INTERNET LICENSE WILL BE REVOKED AND MEN WITH PITCHFORKS AND TORCHES WILL COME FOR YOU:</h2>
1580. <h2>Edit: I have no reason to believe that this is actually likely. But it'd be double-plus irresponsible of me to suggest that turning off a hardware safety feature was a good idea.</h2>
1581. <p> </p>
1582. <pre> jesse@puppy ~/android-omapzoom/frameworks/base/services ((6c81cb0...) *) $ git diff
1583. diff --git a/services/java/com/android/server/BatteryService.java b/services/java/com/android/server/BatteryService.java
1584. index 5cf61bd..bf96479 100644
1585. --- a/services/java/com/android/server/BatteryService.java
1586. +++ b/services/java/com/android/server/BatteryService.java
1587. @@ -176,8 +176,8 @@ class BatteryService extends Binder {
1588. void systemReady() {
1589. // check our power situation now that it is safe to display the shutdown dialog.
1590. -        shutdownIfNoPower();
1591. -        shutdownIfOverTemp();
1592. +        //shutdownIfNoPower();
1593. +       // shutdownIfOverTemp();
1594. }
1595. private final void shutdownIfNoPower() {
1596. @@ -210,8 +210,8 @@ class BatteryService extends Binder {
1597. boolean logOutlier = false;
1598. long dischargeDuration = 0;
1599. -        shutdownIfNoPower();
1600. -        shutdownIfOverTemp();
1601. +      //  shutdownIfNoPower();
1602. +        //shutdownIfOverTemp();
1603. mBatteryLevelCritical = mBatteryLevel <= CRITICAL_BATTERY_LEVEL;
1604. if (mAcOnline) {
1605. </pre>
1606. <p>Once you've rebuilt the android core and reinstalled it on your system partition, you should now have something that boots froyo on your nook.</p>
1607. <p>This froyo is VERY MUCH not ready for primetime. Don't expect WIFI, Bluetooth, Google Apps, reasonable performance, sensor access, etc.</p>
1608. <p>TI distributes wifi drivers and all the hardware acceleration you could possibly want:      <a href="http://omappedia.org/wiki/WiLink_Connectivity_Project">http://omappedia.org/wiki/WiLink_Connectivity_Project</a> <a href="http://www.omappedia.org/wiki/Android_DSP_Codecs">http://www.omappedia.org/wiki/Android_DSP_Codecs</a></p>
1609. <p>This all would have taken me a great deal longer without [mbm]'s assistance and advice.</p>
1610. <p>My next steps will (probably) be to try to build a modern kernel from source and see what that does for driver support.</p>
1611. <p>Please note that I don't plan to build a distributable ROM or to port Cyanogenmod, though I'd be thrilled to see someone pick up the torch and do so.</p>
1612. <p>I can't distribute the OS image I have, as it contains a mix of free stuff and proprietary stuff pulled off of my nookcolor's system partitions.</p>
1613. <p>If you're looking to chatter with folks about development for the nookcolor, I'd recommend #nookcolor on chat.freenode.net</p>
1614. </content>
1615. </entry>
1617. <entry>
1618. <title>On privacy</title>
1619. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2010/09/03/on-privacy-2/"/>
1620. <updated>2010-09-04T03:45:00Z</updated>
1621. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2010/09/03/on-privacy-2/</id>
1622. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Not that I&#39;m really posting here much these days, but I don&#39;t expect you to limit your responses to me to LJ. If you want to spam your tweeps and faces with your replies to my posts, be my guest.&lt;/p&gt;
1623. </content>
1624. </entry>
1626. <entry>
1627. <title>OSI Model of the Internet - circa 2010</title>
1628. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2010/07/06/osi-model-of-the-internet-circa-2010/"/>
1629. <updated>2010-07-06T17:24:26Z</updated>
1630. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2010/07/06/osi-model-of-the-internet-circa-2010/</id>
1631. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/4767343913/&quot; title=&quot;OSI Model of the Internet circa 2010 by jesse, on Flickr&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2010/07/4767343913_5a5de477f4.jpg&quot; width=&quot;466&quot; height=&quot;500&quot; alt=&quot;OSI Model of the Internet circa 2010&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
1632. <p><em style="font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;"><br></em></p>
1633. <p>(With apologies to Evi Nemeth.)</p>
1634. </content>
1635. </entry>
1637. <entry>
1638. <title>Pixel Qi</title>
1639. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2010/07/02/pixel-qi/"/>
1640. <updated>2010-07-02T21:04:52Z</updated>
1641. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2010/07/02/pixel-qi/</id>
1642. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Last weekend at foo camp, I got the opportunity to see a Pixel Qi display in person. Yesterday morning, they went up for sale on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.makershed.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MKPQ01&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Maker Shed&lt;/a&gt;. I clicked buy. I bit the bullet and paid for overnight shipping. Last night I popped over to Microcenter and picked up a Samsung N135.&lt;/p&gt;
1643. <p>This morning, FedEx delivered a box from Sebastapol.</p>
1644. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/4754897725/" title="P7021954 by jesse, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2010/07/4754897725_191a096438.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="P7021954"></a></p><p></p>
1645. <p>8 screws and some fiddly plastic bits later, I have a netbook I can use outside. The display is Wow. Just Wow.</p>
1646. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/4754897709/" title="P7021960 by jesse, on Flickr"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2010/07/4754897709_f418bcc4c2.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="P7021960"></a></p>
1647. <p>Inside, it's a normal laptop display. Outside, it's almost as bright as a Kindle (eInk) screen. Yes, it plays video just fine.<br>
1648.  
1649. </p><p class="asset asset-video" style="display:block;margin:0 auto;" align="center"></p>
1650. <p></p>
1651. </content>
1652. </entry>
1654. <entry>
1655. <title>Mixapp</title>
1656. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2010/06/04/mixapp/"/>
1657. <updated>2010-06-04T20:48:38Z</updated>
1658. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2010/06/04/mixapp/</id>
1659. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Some friends of mine have been hard at work on a social music app called &lt;a href=&quot;http://mixapp.com/#r=271&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;;MixApp&lt;/a&gt; for...a good long time now. They&#39;ve recently made the jump from desktop clients to a completely in-browser experience. This makes it a lot easier for new users to get started with it.&lt;/p&gt;
1660. <p>Since the new UI is all-HTML, it means I can mess around with it using javascript bookmarklets.  If you're a mixapp user and you want a "mini" desktop player, just drag this link to your bookmarks bar. When you're logged into MixApp and click it, the player will minimise.</p>
1661. <p>      <a href="javascript:jQuery('#player-left-column').hide();jQuery('#client-footer-container').hide();jQuery('#client').css('min-width',0);jQuery('#client').css('min-height',0);jQuery('#player-container').css('min-height',0);jQuery('#player-container').css('min-width',0);jQuery('#client-container').css('min-height',0);jQuery('#client-container').css('width','auto');jQuery('#player-main-column').css('left','13em');jQuery('#client-container').css('height','inherit');jQuery('#client-container').css('position','static');jQuery('#client-header').hide();jQuery('#uservoice-feedback').hide();jQuery('#client-header-container').hide();jQuery('#client').css('border',0);jQuery('#client').css('padding','0');jQuery('#room-list-container').hide();jQuery('#room-detail-container').hide();jQuery('#bottom-bar-container').hide();jQuery('#player-title').css('max-height','1.2em');jQuery('#player-title').css('overflow','hidden');jQuery('#player-title').css('text-overflow','ellipsis');jQuery('#player-title').css('white-space','nowrap');">Mixapp Miniplayer</a></p>
1662. </content>
1663. </entry>
1665. <entry>
1666. <title>Perl 5.12.1</title>
1667. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2010/05/18/perl-5121/"/>
1668. <updated>2010-05-18T18:35:43Z</updated>
1669. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2010/05/18/perl-5121/</id>
1670. <content type="html">&lt;blockquote&gt;&quot;Now suppose,&quot; chortled Dr. Breed, enjoying himself, &quot;that there were&lt;br&gt;
1671. many possible ways in which water could crystallize, could freeze.<br>
1672. Suppose that the sort of ice we skate upon and put into highballs—<br>
1673. what we might call ice-one—is only one of several types of ice.<br>
1674. Suppose water always froze as ice-one on Earth because it had never<br>
1675. had a seed to teach it how to form ice-two, ice-three, ice-four<br>
1676. ... And suppose," he rapped on his desk with his old hand again,<br>
1677. "that there were one form, which we will call ice-nine—a crystal as<br>
1678. hard as this desk—with a melting point of, let us say, one-hundred<br>
1679. degrees Fahrenheit, or, better still, a melting point of one-hundred-<br>
1680. and-thirty degrees."<p></p></blockquote>
1681. <div align="right">-- Kurt Vonnegut, <i>Cat's Cradle</i></div>
1682. <p>It gives me great pleasure to announce Perl 5.12.1, the second stable<br>
1683. release of Perl 5.12.</p>
1684. <p>You can download Perl 5.12.1 from your favorite CPAN mirror or from:</p>
1685. <p><a href="http://search.cpan.org/~jesse/perl-5.12.1/">http://search.cpan.org/~jesse/perl-5.12.1/</a></p>
1686. <p>SHA1 digests for this release are:</p>
1687. <pre>
1688. 75a8a17cec15d68c6bb959b0aa9879d2ded6f90d  perl-5.12.1.tar.bz2
1689. 83b99f08379782dc06594a85eeb279edc5b0ca44  perl-5.12.1.tar.gz
1690. </pre>
1691. <p>This release contains minor bug fixes and updates of several core modules, as well as minor documentation updates.  It should be fully backward compatible with Perl 5.12.0.</p>
1692. <p>Perl 5.12.1 is a recommended upgrade for all users of Perl 5.12.</p>
1693. <p>You can find a full list of changes in the file "perl5121delta.pod" located in the "pod" directory inside the release and on the web at:</p>
1694. <p><a href="http://search.cpan.org/~jesse/perl-5.12.1/pod/perl5121delta.pod">http://search.cpan.org/~jesse/perl-5.12.1/pod/perl5121delta.pod</a></p>
1695. <p>Perl 5.12.1 represents approximately four weeks of development since Perl 5.12.0 and contains approximately 4,000 lines of changes across 142 files from 28 authors.</p>
1696. <p>Perl continues to flourish into its third decade thanks to a vibrant community of users and developers.  The following people are known to have contributed the improvements that became Perl 5.12.1:</p>
1697. <p>Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason, Chris Williams, chromatic, Craig A. Berry,<br>
1698. David Golden, Father Chrysostomos, Florian Ragwitz, Frank Wiegand,<br>
1699. Gene Sullivan, Goro Fuji, H.Merijn Brand, James E Keenan, Jan Dubois,<br>
1700. Jesse Vincent, Josh ben Jore, Karl Williamson, Leon Brocard, Michael<br>
1701. Schwern, Nga Tang Chan, Nicholas Clark, Niko Tyni, Philippe Bruhat,<br>
1702. Rafael Garcia-Suarez, Ricardo Signes, Steffen Mueller, Todd Rinaldo,<br>
1703. Vincent Pit and Zefram.</p>
1704. <p>We expect to release Perl 5.12.2 in mid-August 2010, followed by Perl<br>
1705. 5.12.3 in mid-November.  The next major release of Perl 5, 5.14.0 should<br>
1706. appear in spring 2011.</p>
1707. </content>
1708. </entry>
1710. <entry>
1711. <title>Goodbye, old friend.</title>
1712. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2010/03/22/goodbye-old-friend/"/>
1713. <updated>2010-03-23T04:13:28Z</updated>
1714. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2010/03/22/goodbye-old-friend/</id>
1715. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;Broadcast message from root@diesel (pts/1) (Mon Mar 22 21:04:25 2010):
1716. diesel.bestpractical.com is being decommissioned.
1717. The system is going down for system halt NOW!
1718. Shared connection to diesel.bestpractical.com closed.
1719. </pre>
1720. </content>
1721. </entry>
1723. <entry>
1724. <title>K-9 Mail 2.400 for Android</title>
1725. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2010/01/23/k9-mail-2400-for-android/"/>
1726. <updated>2010-01-24T02:25:51Z</updated>
1727. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2010/01/23/k9-mail-2400-for-android/</id>
1728. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;It gives me great pleasure to announce K-9 Mail 2.400. &amp;#160;This release&amp;#160;represents a significant improvement on K-9 Mail 2.000, released in&amp;#160;early December.&lt;/p&gt;
1729. <p>
1730. </p><p>K-9 Mail is an open-source email client for Android-powered devices. Originally based on the client shipped with Android 1.0, K-9 Mail has seen extensive development by a community of developers around the world over the past 15 months.</p>
1731. <p>
1732. </p><p>Major new features in this release include full-text search of mail, "starring" of messages, the ability to perform actions on multiple messages at once, a much more robust and efficient IMAP push mail implementation, significant performance improvements and a new icon designed by Vincent Lum.</p>
1733. <p>
1734. </p><p>You can download K-9 Mail 2.400 from k9mail.googlecode.com or from the Android Market.</p>
1735. <p>
1736. </p><p>Other user-visible changes include:</p>
1737. <p>
1738. </p><p>  * Guess mime type (when not specified) of attachments of received messages using file name extension so that we can open them - baolongnt</p>
1739. <p>  * Headers in Accounts, Folder List and Message List now show unread count and background processing activity -- danapple0</p>
1740. <p>  * Added a new "touch friendly" style with message previews - jessev</p>
1741. <p>  * Made it possible to enable or disable "stars" for flagged messages - jessev</p>
1742. <p>  * Added swipe-to-select for operations on multiple messages - jessev</p>
1743. <p>  * There is now an Expunge action in the option menu. - danapple0</p>
1744. <p>  * A new "Batch ops" option menu in Message List.  Provides star/unstar, mark as read/unread and delete and select/deselect all.  Move and copy are partially implemented, but disabled. -danapple0</p>
1745. <p>  * The "Sort by..." menu now toggles ascending/descending when the currently selected sort mode is clicked. -danapple0</p>
1746. <p>  * Eliminate carriage returns from reply and forward text.  (Fixes Issue 518) - danapple0</p>
1747. <p>  * Add a global preference for enabling animations, beyond those that are necessary.  Defaults to "enabled." -danapple0</p>
1748. <p>  * 250, 500 and 1000 messages may now be synced per folder. - jessev</p>
1749. <p>  * Allow user to set a limit on the number of folders to be handled with push technology. - danapple0</p>
1750. <p>  * Initial implementation of CRAM-MD5 support for IMAP and SMTP. (Patch contributed by Russ Weeks <rweeks@gmail.com> ) - jessev</p>
1751. <p>  * For IMAP accounts, it is now possible to disable the copying of deleted messages to the Trash folder, by setting the Trash folder to -NONE-. - danapple0</p>
1752. <p>  * Each IMAP account can be set to expunge messages in a folder as soon as a move or delete is performed on the folder ("immediately"), each time the folder is polled, or only when executed manually. - danapple0</p>
1753. <p>  * For WebDAV accounts, the user can now choose the server-side equivalents of the special folders, just like for IMAP. - danapple0</p>
1754. <p>  * Implemented delete intent broadcast using a modified patch from stephane.lajeunesse - baolongnt</p>
1755. <p>  * Implementation of a Receiver and Service to provide for the capability to accept control from other Android applications.  Allows for changing both Account-level and global settings.  Account-level settings can be applied to a single Account or to all Accounts. - danapple0</p>
1756. <p>  * Overhaul our setup wizard to have a more reasonable bottom bar and to reuse that layout code where possible; standardize the id of the 'next' button - jessev</p>
1757. <p>  * "Starred" messages in MessageList and Message views - jessev</p>
1758. <p>  * Bulk-star, delete and "mark as read" for messages - baolongnt,danapple0,jessev</p>
1759. <p>  * Implement References/In-Reply-To/X-User-Agent headers. Patch from e.w.stemle - jessev</p>
1760. <p>  * You can now "swipe" left or right in the Message view to go to the previous or next message, respectively - jessev</p>
1761. <p>  * First pass at stopping the "Sending messages" notification when there's nothing to send. - jessev</p>
1762. <p>  * fix the header background color to not ignore theme in horizontal mode - jessev</p>
1763. <p>  * Add double-tap at top or bottom of a message to jump to the top or bottom of the message - jessev</p>
1764. <p>  * Improvements to render quality of plaintext messages. - jessev</p>
1765. <p>  * Added a message-flip animation. - jessev</p>
1766. <p>  * New sort-by and reverse-sort icons by Vincent Lum - jessev</p>
1767. <p>  * Deleting messages in messageView now preserves the direction the user was "travelling" in before the delete - jessev</p>
1768. <p>  * Provide additional date format display options in Preferences - danapple0</p>
1769. <p>
1770. </p><p>For a full set of release notes, please visit:</p>
1771. <p>    <a href="http://code.google.com/p/k9mail/wiki/ReleaseNotes">http://code.google.com/p/k9mail/wiki/ReleaseNotes</a></p>
1772. </content>
1773. </entry>
1775. <entry>
1776. <title>Learn from my misery: Don&#39;t buy a nook.</title>
1777. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2010/01/22/dont-buy-a-nook/"/>
1778. <updated>2010-01-23T03:33:18Z</updated>
1779. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2010/01/22/dont-buy-a-nook/</id>
1780. <content type="html">&lt;h3&gt;The short version&lt;/h3&gt;
1781. <p>Barnes & Noble have, without a doubt, the worst customer service of<br>
1782. any company I have dealt with in the past decade.</p>
1783. <p>They've made repeated promises to me that they've failed to keep and<br>
1784. told me that it's my fault. They've put out _press releases_ about how<br>
1785. generously they were taking care of the customers whose nooks failed to<br>
1786. arrive for Christmas and then turned around and flatly refused to honor<br>
1787. that promise.</p>
1788. <p>If you want a hackable linux-based ebook reader with a great user experience and great customer support, <a href="http://bit.ly/no-nooks">buy a Kindle</a>.</p>
1789. <p><strong>Update - January 26:</strong> It took the Internet four days to do what B&N never managed - Y'all have bought enough stuff from amazon after clicking that "buy a kindle" link above to net me $100 in referral fees (That's 3 kindles and some assorted other stuff.) Thank you! In turn, I'll be making a $100 donation to the EFF.</p>
1790. <p><strong>Update - Feb 2: </strong>Last Monday, around lunchtime, I got voicemail from Melanie at B&N.  We didn't manage to actually connect on the phone until Wednesday. She was friendly and apologetic.  Somewhat differently than all my previous interactions, she told me that the reason I didn't the promised compensation was that she had denied the request. And that she and made a mistake. She said she was sorry. The gift card showed up a few hours later and the shipping charges were refunded on Friday. All told, still not exactly the smoothest shopping experience. But it's over.</p><p></p>
1791. <h3>The long, ranty version</h3>
1792. <p>On <strong>November 9th</strong>, I ordered a nook from Barnes & Noble. It<br>
1793. promised to be the most awesomest ebook-reading experience ever. With<br>
1794. Wifi and 3G connectivity, it was clearly going to be better than the<br>
1795. Kindle I had to <a href="http://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/tethering-your-kindle.html">hack to network overseas</a>. With native support for ePub<br>
1796. and PDF, I wasn't going to need to go and <a href="http://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/root.html">gain root on the device</a> and<br>
1797. then <a href="http://blog.fsck.com/2009/04/savory.html">spend weeks creating document conversion software like I did for the Kindle</a>. Best of all, it was going to run Android, so I'd be able to <a href="http://k9mail.googlecode.com">write custom software for it</a> with relative ease.</p>
1798. <p>When I placed my order on <strong>November 9th</strong>, Barnes & Noble promised<br>
1799. me a ship date of <strong>December 11th</strong>. Oof. I waited patiently...</p>
1800. <p>On <strong>December 11th</strong>, no nook arrived. Instead, I got email from<br>
1801. Barnes & Noble:</p>
1802. <blockquote><pre>From: Barnes & Noble <BarnesandNoble_GiftCards@email.bn.com>
1803. To: jesse@fsck.com
1804. Subject: Here Comes Your nook
1805. This is to confirm that your nook is about to ship. Although your
1806. shipment has been slightly delayed, we've upgraded you to overnight
1807. shipping to ensure you'll receive your nook by December 18.
1808. </pre>
1809. </blockquote>
1810. <p>On <strong>December 13th</strong>, I was warned that accessories might hold up my order and that if I really wanted my nook, I should cancel the light and warranty I'd ordered along with my nook. In reply to my clicks, I got email from Barnes & Noble confirming that I had cancelled the booklight and warranty they sold me and that my nook had already entered the shipping process and was not cancelled.</p>
1811. <p>On <strong>December 17th</strong>, I spoke to Barnes & Noble customer<br>
1812. service. They confirmed that my nook had not shipped yet and that I would<br>
1813. not receive it on the 18th. In fact, she told me that it would ship <strong>on</strong><br>
1814. <strong>December 21st</strong> and that it hadn't been upgraded to overnight shipping - that<br>
1815. it would show up on Christmas Eve. This was somewhat frustrating to me<br>
1816. as this was now the _second_ missed ship date for my order. I wrote to<br>
1817. customer service that night. Their autoreply told me they'd get back<br>
1818. to me within 48 hours. They didn't.</p>
1819. <p>On <strong>December 21st</strong>, I called up Barnes & Noble to ask when my nook might<br>
1820. ship. The first tier customer service rep was....actively hostile until<br>
1821. after he put me on hold and read through my order. When he came back on<br>
1822. the line, he said "Oh. You're on a third delay. Hold please." I believe<br>
1823. that it was at this point that I was first told that if they blew their<br>
1824. <strong>December 24th</strong> delivery date, they were going to give me a $100 gift card.</p>
1825. <p>Later in the day on <strong>December 21st</strong>, I got this mail from Barnes & Noble:</p>
1826. <blockquote><pre>From: service <service@barnesandnoble.com>
1827. To: jesse <jesse@fsck.com>
1828. Subject: Re: Help! multiple nook delays and broken promises
1829. Dear Customer,
1830. We apologize for any confusion. You are set to receive the order on
1831. 12/24.
1832. </pre>
1833. </blockquote>
1834. <p>On <strong>December 24th</strong>, I got this mail from Barnes & Noble:</p>
1835. <blockquote><pre>Date: Thu, 24 Dec 2009 10:34:23 -0500 (EST)
1836. From: service <service@barnesandnoble.com>
1837. To: jesse <jesse@fsck.com>
1838. Subject: Re: Help! multiple nook delays and broken promises
1839. Dear Jesse Vincent,
1840. Thank you for shopping with us.
1841. Despite our efforts, we are unable to ship your order #xxxxxxxx in the
1842. expected timeframe. We sincerely apologize for the multiple delays with
1843. you item. We see that you have made contact with our customer service
1844. center and you have been provided of the steps we are taking with your
1845. order. We thank you for your patience and appreciate you working with us
1846. in this matter.
1847. </pre>
1848. </blockquote>
1849. <p>The "steps" the customer service rep alluded to were, of course,<br>
1850. the promise made by Barnes & Noble the previous day - If I didn't get<br>
1851. my nook by Christmas, they were going to give me a $100 gift card.</p>
1852. <p>I replied to this mail within a few hours and heard nothing back by email for a week.</p>
1853. <p>On <strong>December 28th</strong>, while waiting for a flight from Boston to San<br>
1854. Francisco, I called Barnes & Noble's customer service line again to<br>
1855. ask when I might, you know, see my nook and the $100 they'd promised<br>
1856. me. I was immediately transferred to a supervisor. The supervisor was<br>
1857. friendly and apologetic. (Everyone I've spoken to at Barnes & Noble has<br>
1858. been personally friendly and apologetic. Their call-center staff have<br>
1859. _excellent_ empathy training.) The supervisor put me on hold and read<br>
1860. over my order. When he came back on the line, he apologized again and<br>
1861. confirmed that yes, something was wrong and that yes, Barnes & Noble owed<br>
1862. me $100. He told me that I would receive email with a $100 Barnes & Noble<br>
1863. gift card within 24 hours and that he was personally starting an inquiry<br>
1864. into what the heck happened to my nook. He promised I'd get email back<br>
1865. from him within a day. At that point, I was pretty happy that someone was<br>
1866. finally being responsive and that this was basically all sorted out. </p>
1867. <p>About <strong>6 hours later</strong>, I got off the plane at SFO and checked<br>
1868. my email. I had mail from Barnes & Noble! It was not the mail I<br>
1869. expected:</p>
1870. <blockquote>
1871. <pre>Dear jesse vincent ,
1872. As you requested, your order #xxxxxxxxxx been canceled.
1873. </pre>
1874. </blockquote>
1875. <p>At this point, Barnes & Noble customer service was closed for the<br>
1876. night. Some friends joked that perhaps Barnes & Noble felt so bad about<br>
1877. how badly they'd jerked me around that they'd cancelled the order because<br>
1878. they were sending me a free nook. That would have been nice. Sadly,<br>
1879. it was not what had happened.</p>
1880. <p>I called the next day (<strong>December 29</strong>) and related the<br>
1881. newly updated tale of woe. I was put on hold and transferred to a<br>
1882. supervisor. The supervisor was friendly and apologetic. She told<br>
1883. me that the only thing she could do was to start an inquiry into my<br>
1884. order with operations and that it would take up to three business days.<br>
1885. Someone would get back to me before those three days were out and tell<br>
1886. me what happened.</p>
1887. <p>Three business days came and went. No call from Barnes & Noble.</p>
1888. <p>Meanwhile, on <strong>January 1st</strong>, I got email back from Barnes & Noble<br>
1889. in reply to the email I sent them on <strong>December 24th</strong>. It read:</p>
1890. <blockquote>
1891. <pre>Dear Customer,
1892. Thank you for your e-mail.
1893. We recently received an email from you. However, the email did not
1894. include a text message. Kindly re-send your inquiry with a text message
1895. so that we may respond to your request.
1896. </pre>
1897. </blockquote>
1898. <p>...followed by <em>the full text of the message I'd sent them.</em></p>
1899. <p>A day later, on <strong>January 2nd</strong>, they sent me another reply to the same message:</p>
1900. <blockquote>
1901. <pre>Dear Customer,
1902. Thank you for inquiring about your order with BarnesandNoble.com. We've
1903. changed our order inquiry policy to futher strengthen the privacy and
1904. security needs of our customers.
1905. To respond to your request, we must ask you to provide your order
1906. number, which you can find in the subject line of your order
1907. confirmation email or shipping confirmation email.
1908. </pre>
1909. </blockquote>
1910. <p>...followed by <em>the full text of the mail I'd sent them, including the exchange I'd had with Barnes & Noble customer service staff dating back to <strong>December 21st</strong>.</em> This included the ticket number we'd been corresponding on throughout this time, as well as my name, address, phone number, email address and, of course, the order number.</p>
1911. <p>On <strong>January 3rd</strong>, I called up Barnes & Noble customer service<br>
1912. again. Once I provided my order number and an abbreviated sob story, I<br>
1913. was transferred to Regillio, a supervisor. He was polite and apologetic.<br>
1914. He put me on hold and read through the notes on my order. When he got<br>
1915. back on the phone, he told me that he was going to have to research this<br>
1916. issue and get back to me.</p>
1917. <p>On <strong>January 4th</strong>, he called me back. The man deserves a medal.<br>
1918. He told me that yes, something had cancelled my order, but that it<br>
1919. was clearly in error. Unfortunately, there was no way to resurrect<br>
1920. the order. He could, however, enter a new order and bump it to the<br>
1921. front of the queue. Regillio did assure me that he was waiving the<br>
1922. shipping charges on this new order and that I should ignore any shipping<br>
1923. charges on the invoice. With shipping and tax, the order totalled out<br>
1924. at <strong>$278.19</strong>.</p>
1925. <p>On <strong>January 5th</strong>, my nook shipped...via some sort of process that<br>
1926. involved an off-brand delivery service from New Jersey shipping my nook to<br>
1927. a USPS depot in Massachusetts and then having the postal service deliver<br>
1928. my nook. It took 3 or 4 days to arrive. No, they didn't honor their previous promise to upgrade my<br>
1929. order to overnight shipping. It was only a few more days of delay,<br>
1930. but it was another broken promise.</p>
1931. <p>As of <strong>January 22nd</strong>, my credit card statement shows that Barnes<br>
1932. & Noble charged me <strong>$278.19</strong>. No, Barnes & Noble did't refund the<br>
1933. shipping charges like they'd promised. It's not a lot of money in the<br>
1934. grand scheme of things, but it was yet another broken promise.</p>
1935. <p>On <strong>January 7th</strong>, Angie from Barnes & Noble emailed me to say<br>
1936. they needed another 24-48 hours before they could tell me what happened<br>
1937. to my gift card.</p>
1938. <p>On <strong>January 15th</strong>, I called up Barnes & Noble's customer<br>
1939. service line to see if they'd managed to figure out why they hadn't<br>
1940. yet sent me the gift card they'd promised or called me back to explain<br>
1941. what had gone wrong. I read my order number to the first-tier customer<br>
1942. service rep. She told me that she was transferring me to a supervisor.<br>
1943. The supervisor, Wendy, was polite and apologetic. She told me that my<br>
1944. order's notes showed that Barnes & Noble corporate had rescinded their<br>
1945. promise to send me a $100 gift card because I'd cancelled my order.<br>
1946. She then commented that this must clearly be in error because the notes<br>
1947. also indicated that for weeks after I'd purportedly cancelled my order I'd<br>
1948. been told, every several days, that my nook would ship in several days.<br>
1949. She told me that she would petition management to un-rescind their<br>
1950. promise to me. She promised to get back to me by the <strong>end of the day<br>
1951. or the following Monday</strong>.</p>
1952. <p>Nobody called me on Monday, <strong>January 18th</strong>.</p>
1953. <p>On <strong>January 20th</strong>, I called Barnes & Noble to ask what had<br>
1954. ever happened to that $100 they promised me. The first-tier customer<br>
1955. service rep spent a few minutes reading the notes on my order before<br>
1956. telling me that "oh, yeah. I see here we said we'd get back to you by<br>
1957. Monday. And I don't see any notation that we ever got back to you."<br>
1958. I waited on hold for a supervisor for 15 or so minutes. The supervisor<br>
1959. was friendly and apologetic. She told me that they would investigate<br>
1960. what happened and get back to me in 3 business days. I explained to her<br>
1961. (politely, I promise!) why that wasn't going to be ok. She transferred<br>
1962. me to her supervisor, Tiffany. Tiffany was even more friendly and even<br>
1963. more apologetic. Tiffany promised to call me back on Friday to tell me<br>
1964. what had really happened and how Barnes & Noble was going to fix it.</p>
1965. <p>Today is <strong>January 22nd</strong>. Tiffany called me back about an hour<br>
1966. ago and told me that <strong>Melanie, a Vice President of<br>
1967. Customer Care</strong> had instructed her to tell me that, despite repeated<br>
1968. assurances to the contrary, Barnes & Noble wasn't going to be able to<br>
1969. honor their promise to me because their computers showed that my order<br>
1970. had been cancelled.</p>
1971. <h3>Where do I go from here?</h3>
1972. <p>At this point, I have little hope of ever seeing any sort of<br>
1973. compensation from Barnes & Noble. They've strung me out past the limit<br>
1974. of their 14-day return policy, so I couldn't even return the device.</p>
1975. <p>I don't really know what's next for me and the nook. I can tell you<br>
1976. that Barnes & Noble are never getting another dime of my money. I hope<br>
1977. you think twice before giving them any of yours.</p>
1978. <p>Somewhat coincidentally, Amazon announced the Official Kindle SDK this week. If you want a hackable linux-based ebook reader with a great user experience and great customer support, <a href="http://bit.ly/no-nooks">buy a Kindle</a>. (Yes, I make money if you click that link. Actually, if just four people buy Kindles because of this post, I end up with the $100 Barnes & Noble stiffed me.)</p><p></p>
1979. <p><strong>Update - January 26: </strong>It took the Internet four days to do what B&N never managed - Y'all have bought enough stuff from amazon after clicking that "buy a kindle" link above to net me $100 in referral fees. (That's 3 kindles and some assorted other stuff.) Thank you! In turn, I'll be making a $100 donation to the EFF.</p>
1980. <p><strong><span style="font-weight:normal;"><strong>Update - Feb 2: </strong>Last Monday, around lunchtime, I got voicemail from Melanie at B&N.  We didn't manage to actually connect on the phone until Wednesday. She was friendly and apologetic.  Somewhat differently than all my previous interactions, she told me that the reason I didn't the promised compensation was that she had denied the request. And that she and made a mistake. She said she was sorry. The gift card showed up a few hours later and the shipping charges were refunded on Friday. All told, still not exactly the smoothest shopping experience. But it's over.</span><br></strong></p><p></p>
1981. </content>
1982. </entry>
1984. <entry>
1985. <title>Tentative 2009 travel</title>
1986. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2010/01/01/tentative-2009-travel/"/>
1987. <updated>2010-01-01T23:02:00Z</updated>
1988. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2010/01/01/tentative-2009-travel/</id>
1989. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://gc.kls2.com/cgi-bin/gc?PATH=+bos-lhr-bos%2C%0D%0Abos-ord-nrt-tpe-nrt-jfk-bos%2C%0D%0Abos-dfw-hnl-dfw-hnl%2C%0D%0Abos-ord-cmi-ord-bos%2C%0D%0Abos-ord-pit-ord-bos%2C%0D%0Abos-sfo-lax-bos%2C%0D%0Abos-lhr-lis-lhr-bos%2C%0D%0Abos-sfo-bos%2C%0D%0Abos-jfk-nrt-jfk-bos%0D%0Abos-lhr-mad-lhr-bos&amp;amp;RANGE=&amp;amp;PATH-COLOR=red&amp;amp;PATH-UNITS=mi&amp;amp;PATH-MINIMUM=&amp;amp;SPEED-GROUND=&amp;amp;SPEED-UNITS=kts&amp;amp;RANGE-STYLE=best&amp;amp;RANGE-COLOR=navy&amp;amp;MAP-STYLE=&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2010/01/gcmap?PATH=bos-lhr-bos,bos-ord-nrt-tpe-nrt-jfk-bos,bos-dfw-hnl-dfw-hnl,bos-ord-cmi-ord-bos,bos-ord-pit-ord-bos,bos-sfo-lax-bos,bos-lhr-lis-lhr-bos,bos-sfo-bos,bos-jfk-nrt-jfk-bos,bos-lhr-mad-lhr-bos&amp;amp;PATH-COLOR=red&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
1990. <p>Exceedingly tentative 2009 travel schedule.</p>
1991. <p>Initial estimate: 75736 miles</p>
1992. <p>Current total estimate: 82264</p>
1993. <p>Miles flown to date: 36228</p>
1994. </content>
1995. </entry>
1997. <entry>
1998. <title>NYE at 23i</title>
1999. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/12/27/nye-at-23i-2/"/>
2000. <updated>2009-12-27T22:10:00Z</updated>
2001. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/12/27/nye-at-23i-2/</id>
2002. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Hi! &lt;/p&gt;
2003. <p>As we get ever-better at just-in-time party planning, we're able to defer planning, announcing or even inviting people to parties until the last minute. This year, we've managed a new record - New Year's Eve is less than a week away and this is the first you're hearing about our party. That doesn't mean we don't want to see you, just that we're VERY good at procrastination.</p>
2004. <p>If you find yourself in the Western hemisphere on December 31, we'd love to see you. </p>
2005. <p>We'll have the requisite snacks, booze and non-booze. We also have a limited amount of crash space. If you know you'll want a place to sleep, please don't hesitate to ask.</p>
2006. <p>23 Ibbetson St, Somerville MA<br>
2007. +1 617 319 5823</p>
2008. </content>
2009. </entry>
2011. <entry>
2012. <title>An untitled post</title>
2013. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/12/22/say-im-going-in-a-swimming-i-am-dont-you-wish-you-could-but-of-course-youd-druther-work-wouldnt-you-course-you-wo/"/>
2014. <updated>2009-12-22T22:16:41Z</updated>
2015. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/12/22/say-im-going-in-a-swimming-i-am-dont-you-wish-you-could-but-of-course-youd-druther-work-wouldnt-you-course-you-wo/</id>
2016. <content type="html">&lt;blockquote&gt;Say -- I&amp;#039;m going in a swimming, I am. Don&amp;#039;t you wish you could? But of&lt;br&gt;
2017. course you'd druther work -- wouldn't you? Course you would!"<br>
2018. Tom contemplated the boy a bit, and said: "What do you call work?"<br>
2019. "Why ain't that work?"<br>
2020. Tom resumed his whitewashing, and answered carelessly: "Well, maybe it<br>
2021. is, and maybe it aint. All I know, is, it suits Tom Sawyer."<br>
2022. "Oh come, now, you don't mean to let on that you like it?"<br>
2023. The brush continued to move. "Like it? Well I don't see why I oughtn't<br>
2024. to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?"<br>
2025. That put the thing in a new light. Ben stopped nibbling his apple. Tom<br>
2026. swept his brush daintily back and forth—stepped back to note the effect<br>
2027. -- added a touch here and there-criticised the effect again -- Ben<br>
2028. watching every move and getting more and more interested, more and more<br>
2029. absorbed. Presently he said: "Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little."
2030. <p></p></blockquote>
2031. <p style="text-align:right;">Mark Twain, <em>The Adventures of Tom Sawyer</em></p>
2032. <p>It gives me great pleasure to announce the release of Perl 5.11.3.</p>
2033. <p>This is the fourth DEVELOPMENT release in the 5.11.x series leading to a<br>
2034. stable release of Perl 5.12.0. You can find a list of high-profile changes<br>
2035. in this release in the file "perl5113delta.pod" inside the distribution.</p>
2036. <p>Perl 5.11.3 is, hopefully, the last release of Perl 5.11.x before<br>
2037. code freeze for Perl 5.12.0. At that point, we will only make changes<br>
2038. which fix regressions from previous released versions of Perl or which<br>
2039. resolve issues we believe would make a stable release of Perl 5.12.0<br>
2040. inadvisable.</p>
2041. <p>You can (or will shortly be able to) download the 5.11.3 release from:</p>
2042. <p>
2043. <a href="http://search.cpan.org/~jesse/perl-5.11.3/">http://search.cpan.org/~jesse/perl-5.11.3/</a></p>
2044. <p>The release's SHA1 signatures are:<br>
2045. <br>
2046. <font face="Courier">MD5: 0051020f8ae2a89c9d624e01ed56b02c   perl-5.11.3.tar.bz2<br>
2047. SHA1: 7fe87005437002f0b515d983429d0bfba36398ac perl-5.11.3.tar.bz2<br>
2048. </font></p>
2049. <p>
2050. This release corresponds to commit 9c3f2640bc in Perl's git repository.<br>
2051. It is tagged as 'v5.11.3'.</p>
2052. <p>We welcome your feedback on this release. If you discover issues<br>
2053. with Perl 5.11.3, please use the 'perlbug' tool included in this<br>
2054. distribution to report them. If Perl 5.11.3 works well for you, please<br>
2055. use the 'perlthanks' tool included with this distribution to tell the<br>
2056. all-volunteer development team how much you appreciate their work.</p>
2057. <p>If you write software in Perl, it is particularly important that you test<br>
2058. your software against development releases. While we strive to maintain<br>
2059. source compatibility with prior stable versions of Perl wherever possible,<br>
2060. it is always possible that a well-intentioned change can have unexpected<br>
2061. consequences. If you spot a change in a development version which breaks<br>
2062. your code, it's much more likely that we will be able to fix it before the<br>
2063. next stable release. If you only test your code against stable releases<br>
2064. of Perl, it may not be possible to undo a backwards-incompatible change<br>
2065. which breaks your code.</p>
2066. <p>Perl 5.11.3 represents approximately one month of development since<br>
2067. Perl 5.11.2 and contains 61407 lines of changes across 396 files<br>
2068. from 40 authors and committers:</p>
2069. <p>Abigail, Alex Davies, Alexandr Ciornii, Andrew Rodland, Andy<br>
2070. Dougherty, Bram, brian d foy, Chip Salzenberg, Chris Williams, Craig<br>
2071. A. Berry, Daniel Frederick Crisman, David Golden, Dennis Kaarsemaker,<br>
2072. Eric Brine, Father Chrysostomos, Gene Sullivan, Gerard Goossen, H.<br>
2073. Merijn Brand, Hugo van der Sanden, Jan Dubois, Jerry D. Hedden,<br>
2074. Jesse Vincent, Jim Cromie, Karl Williamson, Leon Brocard, Max<br>
2075. Maischein, Michael Breen, Moritz Lenz, Nicholas Clark, Rafael<br>
2076. Garcia-Suarez, Reini Urban, Ricardo Signes, Stepan Kasal, Steve<br>
2077. Hay, Steve Peters, Tim Bunce, Tony Cook, Vincent Pit and Zefram.</p>
2078. <p>Many of the changes included in this version originated in the CPAN<br>
2079. modules included in Perl's core. We're grateful to the entire CPAN<br>
2080. community for helping Perl to flourish.</p>
2081. <p>Notable changes in this release:</p>
2082. <ul>
2083. <li>Perl is shipped with Unicode version 5.2, itself released in October<br>
2084. 2009.
2085. </li>
2086. <li>Perl can now handle every Unicode character property.
2087. </li>
2088. <li>The experimental 'legacy' pragma, introduced with Perl 5.11.2 has been<br>
2089. removed. Its functionality has been replaced with the 'feature' pragma.
2090. </li>
2091. <li>Numerous CPAN "toolchain" modules have been updated to what we hope<br>
2092. are the final release versions for Perl 5.12.0.
2093. </li>
2094. <li>Many crashing bugs or regressions from earlier releases of Perl were fixed<br>
2095. for this release.
2096. </li>
2097. </ul>
2098. <p>Development versions of Perl are released monthly on or about the 20th<br>
2099. of the month by a monthly "release manager". You can expect following<br>
2100. upcoming releases:</p>
2101. <ul>
2102. <li>January 20  - Ricardo Signes
2103. </li>
2104. <li>February 20 - Steve Hay
2105. </li>
2106. <li>March 20 - Ask Bjørn Hansen
2107. </li>
2108. </ul>
2109. </content>
2110. </entry>
2112. <entry>
2113. <title>Buy for Free?</title>
2114. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/12/07/buy-for-free/"/>
2115. <updated>2009-12-08T01:02:33Z</updated>
2116. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/12/07/buy-for-free/</id>
2117. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I got to play with a nook today.&lt;/p&gt;
2118. <p>
2119. </p><p>At lunch, I called the local B&N-operated college book store and asked if they had a nook. They confirmed that they had one and that I could take a bit of time to play with it.</p>
2120. <p>
2121. </p><p>Showing up, I saw a nook on its stand and second nook just headed off into the back room with a manager.  The display nook was just powering up. </p>
2122. <p>
2123. </p><p>Boot time felt a little longer than the Kindle, but I didn't have mine around for comparison.</p>
2124. <p>
2125. </p><p>First up. The UI.  Aside from paging, all your interaction takes place on the touch display...and it's a little weird. In about 20 minutes of playing around, I didn't feel like I "got" the user interaction paradigm. Sometimes scrolling lists were in the UI. Sometimes they were on the eInk display.  I found myself really missing the Kindle's joystick.</p>
2126. <p>
2127. </p><p>Wifi bookstore browsing was a little spotty. I didn't get a good feel for how the experience is "supposed" to feel.</p>
2128. <p>
2129. </p><p>I decided to try to "share" one of the books that the demo nook had "bought" with myself. Adding contacts is really easy. You just type in a username and an email address on the touchscreen.  I didn't make a single typo. The keyboard isn't quite the standard Android keyboard - there's actually _less_ visual feedback. But it worked pretty well.</p>
2130. <p>
2131. </p><p>When I couldn't find any way to "loan" me one of the demo unit's books, I asked the B&N staffer. He told me that for now, "only a very limited number of books are actually available to loan."  We tried to find one we could loan me. We couldn't.</p>
2132. <p>
2133. </p><p>It was at about this time that I casually asked if it might be possible to "try one of the ebooks from my laptop."  I was dispatched to the Information Desk to ask permission.  The local staff weren't aware of a policy, but decided that it was too risky for now and told me to check back in a day or two after they talk to corporate.</p>
2134. <p>
2135. </p><p>So, dear readers, no "adb logtrace" output for you...yet. </p>
2136. <p>
2137. </p><p>While I was there, a couple 20-something guys came in and chatted up the B&N staffer for a bit. One of them said to the other - "Man, when my girlfriend gets hers, I' am so hacking it." They went on to mention that it looked like it would be a lot easier to hack than the Kindle.  I kept my mouth shut.</p>
2138. <p>
2139. </p><p>Next, the PDF reader.  It came as a surprise to the B&N staffer that there were already a couple PDFs on the Nook.  The good news: Reflow is there. Font size and typeface are user-selectable.  The bad news - Zoom and Pan-n-Scan were nowhere to be found.</p>
2140. <p>
2141. </p><p>Random tidbits:  the back is removable. The B&N staffer claimed that nooks will come with several covers in different hues.  I wasn't allowed to see the user-changeable battery.  Every nook has an email address @nook.com - Presumably that works the same way as Amazon's "mail your docs here" service. </p>
2142. <p>
2143. </p><p>The B&N staffer kept trying to push me to coverflow mode and away from "list the titles and authors of your books on the big, easily readable screen" mode.  I'm not really a fan of the coverflow UI for "pick between my 10 books."</p>
2144. <p>
2145. </p><p>The book-buying experience was pretty seamless, though it felt like there was less discoverability in the bookstore compared to Amazon's on-device store.  Maybe I was just doing it wrong.  I did find and download several free books that came from Google Books.  They warned that they were uncorrected scans, but the quality was pretty reasonable.  They contained a mix of text and images and were quite readable.  The weirdest bit was trying to download a free book from the Google Books corpus: I had to click a big "Buy for free?" button and then confirm that I really wanted the book.</p>
2146. </content>
2147. </entry>
2149. <entry>
2150. <title>K-9 Mail 2.000 for Android</title>
2151. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/12/03/k9-mail-2000-for-android/"/>
2152. <updated>2009-12-04T04:37:05Z</updated>
2153. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/12/03/k9-mail-2000-for-android/</id>
2154. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial;line-height:normal;&quot;&gt;I&amp;#039;m pleased to announce the release of K-9 Mail version 2.000. This release represents several months of development and about 7000 lines of code changes.
2155. <p>The biggest "exciting new thing" in this release is Dan Applebaum's work to bring us true Push Mail using IMAP IDLE. I've been using it for about a month now and can no longer live without it. On top of that, we've closed about 50 bugs across all aspects of the application.  I've included a list of bugs known to be resolved, as well as an abbreviated change list below. </p>
2156. <p>
2157. </p><p>You can download K-9 2.0 from the Android market. (There's a good chance that you're already using a 2.0 release candidate if you've been regularly updating K-9 from the market.)</p>
2158. <p>
2159. </p><p>As always, we welcome your feedback. The best place to report issues is at http://k9mail.googlecode.com. The best place to discuss K-9 is the k-9-mail mailinglist at http://groups.google.com/group/k-9-mail</p>
2160. <p>
2161. </p><p>Changes in K-9 2.000 (since 1.011)</p>
2162. <p>
2163. </p><p>    * *Push mail for IMAP accounts* using IMAP IDLE - danapple0</p>
2164. <p>    * Accelerated message list loading using pipelined architecture - danapple0</p>
2165. <p>    * More efficient background queue processing - danapple0</p>
2166. <p>    * Improved unread-count tracking - danapple0</p>
2167. <p>    * Improved threading model in MessagingController for higher efficiency and better responsiveness - danapple0</p>
2168. <p>    * Disable polling and pushing when no network is available - danapple0</p>
2169. <p>    * Provide explicit menu items to send messages from the Outbox - danapple0</p>
2170. <p>    * Restore operation of hot keys and zoom when viewing a message - danapple0</p>
2171. <p>    * Restore detection of hard keyboard to control display of navigation buttons when viewing a message - danapple0</p>
2172. <p>    * Persist a copy of the message list when rotating for faster response - danapple0</p>
2173. <p>    * Better deletion of IMAP messages and logging when deletion failures occur - danapple0</p>
2174. <p>    * WebDAV / MS Exchange improvements: move, copy, delete and mark as unread now work. - danapple0</p>
2175. <p>    * Fixes for WebDAV connection problems. - danapple0</p>
2176. <p>    * Fixed bug where wrong messages is displayed after screen rotation (issue 556) - baolongnt</p>
2177. <p>    * Respect global 'Background data' preference and provide ability to turn of all synchronization. - danapple0</p>
2178. <p>    * Fixes for running on Android 2.0 - danapple0, jessev</p>
2179. <p>    * SMTP and IMAP protocol fixes - danapple0</p>
2180. <p>    * "Delete from server" is now the default for IMAP andxzz WebDAV accounts - danapple0</p>
2181. <p>    * New sort-by and reverse-sort icons by Vincent Lum</p>
2182. <p>    * Made the date column a bit wider to fully view time timestamp and view more of the date in landscape mode - baolongnt</p>
2183. <p>    * We now accept all mime types when handling the android.intent.action.SEND intent - baolongnt</p>
2184. <p>    * Normalize padding in setup widgets; turn off "fading edges" in setup widgets - jessev</p>
2185. <p>    * Added content-type detection using file name extension (This adds better integration with OI File Manager which implements the ACTION_GET_CONTENT intent) - baolongnt</p>
2186. <p>    * Remove duplicated "make this account the default" option during setup - jessev</p>
2187. <p>    * Give the user the choice of whether to enable Push as they create a new IMAP account. - jessev</p>
2188. <p>    * Make the status messages for folders that are being synced with push a bit prettier - jessev</p>
2189. <p>    * Don't show folder choosers before we have a working account -jessev</p>
2190. <p>    * Reorganize the Account Settings page, regrouping options by "what a reasonable user might want to change at the same time" - jessev</p>
2191. <p>    * Make our use of email/mail consistent. It's "mail" except for "Email address" - jessev</p>
2192. <p>    * Rephrase a number of unclear or oddly phrased messages (many dating from AOSP) - jessev</p>
2193. <p>    * Slightly better MessageView fit-to-screen and scrollbar flow - jessev</p>
2194. <p>    * First pass attempt at fixing the "Android 2.0 breaks contacts lookup" issue</p>
2195. <p>    * K-9 now targets Android 1.6 (with 1.5 support) to support QVGA devices - jessev    </p>
2196. <p>    * K-9 now  provides 2 - 24 poll check periods - danapple0</p>
2197. <p>    * Account setup UI overhaul - jessev </p>
2198. <p>    * Record permanent failures into K9mail-errors -danapple0</p>
2199. <p>    * K-9 now detects "Aw:" as being the same as "Re:" - jessev</p>
2200. <p>    * Enable fast scroll in message view, list view and "pick a folder" dialogs -jessev</p>
2201. <p>    * Sort the "NONE" folder to the top of the "auto-expand folder" list -jessev</p>
2202. <p>    * All our layouts now use dip instead of px, for great weird-resolution weird-screen-size justice - jessev</p>
2203. <p>    * Better italian translation - tauromenion</p>
2204. <p>    * Fixed issue with reply icon in subject in message view screen not being set properly when navigating around using up and down arrows - baolongnt</p>
2205. <p>    * Displays a warning and allows K-9 to continue in some situations that otherwise cause a crash.  -danapple0</p>
2206. <p>    * Eliminate secret debug preferences activity.  Add debug preferences to global preferences. - danapple0</p>
2207. <p>    * WebDAV: Automatically add / separators if not supplied by user.  -danapple0</p>
2208. <p>    * WebDAV: Set authentication header for downloading and sending messages, so that those functions work with sites using Basic authentication. -danapple0</p>
2209. <p>    * WebDAV: Don't swallow log Exceptions.  Instead, allow Exceptions to percolate up to higher levels so that they can be logged into K9mail-errors. - danapple0</p>
2210. <p>    * WebDAV: Provide appendMessages function, so that Drafts get stored on the server - danapple0</p>
2211. <p>    * Prevent a crash and put up a Toast when invalid data is entered early in the new-account setup workflow - danapple0</p>
2212. <p>    * MessageListener.synchronizeMailboxNewMessage() does not requires a context to be passed anymore. -baolongnt</p>
2213. <p>    * We use the application as context when broadcasting message received intents - baolongnt</p>
2214. <p>    * Refactored intent constant classes - baolongnt</p>
2215. <p>    * Better icon for the About menu item - baolongnt</p>
2216. <p>    * Added intent for viewing individial messages - baolongnt</p>
2217. <p>    * Issues fixed in since 1.0x:</p>
2218. <p>      * Issue 4 - danapple0</p>
2219. <p>      * Issue 44 - baolongnt</p>
2220. <p>      * Issue 59 - danapple0</p>
2221. <p>      * Issue 133 - danapple0</p>
2222. <p>      * Issue 290 - danapple0</p>
2223. <p>      * Issue 448 - danapple0</p>
2224. <p>      * Issue 482 - danapple0</p>
2225. <p>      * Issue 538 - danapple0</p>
2226. <p>      * Issue 551 - danapple0</p>
2227. <p>      * Issue 556 - baolongnt</p>
2228. <p>      * Issue 573 - mpredo<br>
2229. sin</p>
2230. <p>      * Issue 574 - danapple0</p>
2231. <p>      * Issue 577 - danapple0</p>
2232. <p>      * Issue 587 - danapple0</p>
2233. <p>      * Issue 587 - danapple0</p>
2234. <p>      * Issue 589 - baolongnt</p>
2235. <p>      * Issue 589 - baolongnt</p>
2236. <p>      * Issue 606 - mark.himsley</p>
2237. <p>      * Issue 607 - baolongnt</p>
2238. <p>      * Issue 628 - danapple0</p>
2239. <p>      * Issue 650 - danapple0</p>
2240. <p>      * Issue 651 - danapple0</p>
2241. <p>      * Issue 654 - danapple0</p>
2242. <p>      * Issue 656 - danapple0</p>
2243. <p>      * Issue 657 - danapple0</p>
2244. <p>      * Issue 668 - danapple0</p>
2245. <p>      * Issue 673 - danapple0</p>
2246. <p>      * Issue 675 - danapple0</p>
2247. <p>      * Issue 682 - danapple0</p>
2248. <p>      * Issue 696 - danapple0</p>
2249. <p>      * Issue 708 - themaninthesuitcase (updated by danapple0)</p>
2250. <p>      * Issue 710 - baolongnt</p>
2251. <p>      * Issue 712 - danapple0</p>
2252. <p>      * Issue 722 - danapple0</p>
2253. <p>      * Issue 733 - danapple0</p>
2254. <p>      * Issue 737 - danapple0</p>
2255. <p>      * Issue 738 - danapple0</p>
2256. <p>      * Issue 742 - danapple0</p>
2257. <p>      * Issue 742 - danapple0</p>
2258. <p>      * Issue 744 - jesse</p>
2259. <p>      * Issue 747 - danapple0</p>
2260. <p>      * Issue 752 - danapple0</p>
2261. <p>      * Issue 753 - baolongnt</p>
2262. <p>      * Issue 761 - baolongnt</p>
2263. <p>      * Issue 762 - baolongnt</p></span></p><p></p>
2264. <p></p>
2265. </content>
2266. </entry>
2268. <entry>
2269. <title>Kindle 2 users - HEADS UP!</title>
2270. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/11/24/kindle-2-users-heads-up/"/>
2271. <updated>2009-11-24T23:31:11Z</updated>
2272. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/11/24/kindle-2-users-heads-up/</id>
2273. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Today, Amazon shipped an update for your Kindle 2 (and for the DX and The Kindle 2 International). It adds PDF support. With reflow. &amp;#160;This is awesome and obsoletes a big part of what I was trying to do with savory.&lt;/p&gt;
2274. <p>Now for the bad news. It looks like today's firmware update locks down your device such that it will only take signed firmware updates.  I'm sure some enterprising haxx0r over at mobileread.com will homebrew up an alternate version of the updater that doesn't screw you over. But you might want to leave your wireless turned off if the latest update hasn't already been pushed on you.</p>
2275. </content>
2276. </entry>
2278. <entry>
2279. <title>Odds and ends</title>
2280. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/11/09/odds-and-ends/"/>
2281. <updated>2009-11-10T06:22:11Z</updated>
2282. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/11/09/odds-and-ends/</id>
2283. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#039;s been a while since I&amp;#039;ve blogged about Kindle stuff. I just pushed up the little bit of custom code from my cobbled together Ubuntu/X11 on Kindle hack.&amp;#160; You can find it at &lt;a href=&quot;http://code.google.com/p/savory/source/browse/trunk/x11-on-kindle/&quot;&gt;http://code.google.com/p/savory/source/browse/trunk/x11-on-kindle/ &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
2284. <p>Making use of that is still a bit of work. You need to install a copy of Jaunty Jackalope (or possibly Karmic) for ARM into a QEmu emulator. Then grab that ext2 filesystem image, copy it over to your kindle (2, DX, etc) and mount it somewhere locally and then chroot into it.  From there, you can use the x.org patch at the google code link above to build a copy of x.org that will actually work on the Kindle's display (and doesn't depend on having a tty).  The various support scripts I used for my various demos are all up there as well.  This isn't nearly as polished as Savory, but, well, it's not really an end-user thing at this point ;)</p>
2285. <p>I don't think I'm going to spend a whole lot more time on this, but you never know.</p>
2286. <p>I've been spending a bunch of my time on this "Perl" thing of late. Apparently,<a href="http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2009/10/msg152913.html"> I volunteered myself to get Perl 5.12 out</a>. Now I'm responsible for it or something.</p>
2287. <p>-j</p>
2288. </content>
2289. </entry>
2291. <entry>
2292. <title>Oops! I did it again - Perl 5.11.1</title>
2293. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/10/20/oops-i-did-it-again-perl-5111/"/>
2294. <updated>2009-10-20T22:48:29Z</updated>
2295. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/10/20/oops-i-did-it-again-perl-5111/</id>
2296. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;background-color:#ffffff;&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
2297. <blockquote><p>Milo had been caught red-handed in the act of plundering his countrymen, and, as a result, his stock had never been higher. He proved good as his word when a rawboned major from Minnesota curled his lip in rebellious disavowal and demanded his share of the syndicate Milo kept saying everybody owned. Milo met the challenge by writing the words "A Share" on the nearest scrap of paper and handing it away with a virtuous disdain that won the envy and admiration of almost everyone who knew him. His glory was at a peak, and Colonel Cathcart, who knew and admired his war record, was astonished by the deferential humility with which Milo presented himself at Group Headquarters and made his fantastic appeal for more hazardous assignment.</p></blockquote>
2298. <p><span style="background-color:#ffffff;"><br></span></p><p></p>
2299. <p style="text-align:right;"><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">- Joseph Heller, <em>Catch-22</em> </span></p>
2300. <p><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">
2301. <p style="text-align:right;"> </p>
2302. <p></p></span></p>
2303. <p><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">It gives me great pleasure to announce the release of Perl 5.11.1.</span></p>
2304. <p><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">This is the second DEVELOPMENT release in the 5.11.x series leading to a stable release of Perl 5.12.0. You can find a list of high-profile changes in this release in the file "perl5111delta.pod" inside the distribution.</span></p>
2305. <p><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">You can (or will shortly be able to) download the 5.11.1 release from:</span></p>
2306. <p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre;"><span style="background-color:#ffffff;"> </span></span><span style="background-color:#ffffff;"><a href="http://search.cpan.org/~jesse/perl-5.11.1/" target="_blank">http://search.cpan.org/~jesse/perl-5.11.1/</a></span></p>
2307. <p><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">The release's SHA1 signatures are:</span></p>
2308. <p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre;"><span style="background-color:#ffffff;"> </span></span><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">4eb796d28849ea21466166cea0b580d98163564f  perl-5.11.1.tar.bz2</span></p>
2309. <p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre;"><span style="background-color:#ffffff;"> </span></span><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">aa4ca3b0cffa1bbcbcdb09e81c6ece759112ce14  perl-5.11.1.tar.gz</span></p>
2310. <p><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">We welcome your feedback on this release. If you discover issues with Perl 5.11.1, please use the 'perlbug' tool included in this distribution to report them. If Perl 5.11.1 works well for you, please use the 'perlthanks' tool included with this distribution to tell the all-volunteer development team how much you appreciate their work.</span></p>
2311. <p><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">If you write software in Perl, it is particularly important that you test your software against development releases. While we strive to maintain source compatibility with prior stable versions of Perl wherever possible, it is always possible that a well-intentioned change can have unexpected consequences. If you spot a change in a development version which breaks your code, it's much more likely that we will be able to fix it before the next stable release. If you only test your code against stable releases of Perl, it may not be possible to undo a backwards-incompatible change which breaks your code.</span></p>
2312. <p><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">In the release announcement for 5.11.0, I asked readers to test the new version of Perl with their in-house applications and CPAN modules.  Among other things, that testing turned up previously undiscovered issues in a change to Perl's Regular Expression semantics which we were able to defang in time for 5.11.1.</span></p>
2313. <p><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">\Notable changes in this release:</span></p>
2314. <p><a href="http://www.typepad.com/site/blogs/6a00d83456074b69e2010536d82956970b/post/compose#"></a></p>
2315. <ul>
2316. <li><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">Package declarations can now include a version number. </span></li>
2317. <li><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">suidperl is no longer available as part of perl. If your code depends on suidperl, you need to find an alternate solution. (This was actually true as of 5.11.0)</span></li>
2318. <li><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">Over the years a number of language constructs and interpreter features have been deprecated and will eventually be removed. As of this release, Perl enables deprecation warnings by default.</span></li>
2319. <li><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">Perl's tests are now aware of (and work around) a bug in Mac OS X 10.6 locales.</span></li>
2320. <li><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">Support for Windows 95, 98, ME and NT4 has officially ended. </span></li>
2321. </ul>
2322. <p><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">This release represents approximately 3 weeks development since Perl 5.11.0, containing 22,000 lines of changes across 396 files from 26 authors and committers:</span></p>
2323. <p><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">Abigail, Alex Vandiver, brian d foy, Chris Williams, Craig A. Berry, David Fifield, David Golden, demerphq, Eric Brine, Geoffrey T. Dairiki, George Greer, H.Merijn Brand, Jan Dubois, Jerry D. Hedden, Jesse Vincent, Josh ben Jore, Max Maischein, Nicholas Clark, Rafael Garcia-Suarez, Simon Schubert, Sisyphus, Smylers, Steve Hay, Steve Peters, Vincent Pit and Yves Orton.</span></p>
2324. <p><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">Many of the changes included in this version originated in the CPAN modules included in Perl's core. We're grateful to the entire CPAN community for helping Perl to flourish.</span></p>
2325. <p><span style="background-color:#ffffff;"><br></span></p>
2326. <p><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">Yves Orton will release Perl 5.11.2 on November 20, 2009.</span></p>
2327. <p><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">Leon Brocard will release Perl 5.11.3 on December 20, 2009.</span></p>
2328. <p><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">Ricardo Signes will release Perl 5.11.4 on January 20, 2010.</span></p>
2329. </content>
2330. </entry>
2332. <entry>
2333. <title>Perl 5.11.0</title>
2334. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/10/05/perl-5110/"/>
2335. <updated>2009-10-05T17:29:44Z</updated>
2336. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/10/05/perl-5110/</id>
2337. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I played hooky from work for a few days last week to help get Perl 5.11.0 released. I did a little bit of cat-herding, a few hours of copy-editing and some test building. The end result was that we now have an unstable (&amp;quot;blead&amp;quot;) release of the next major version of Perl and a plan to keep making them happen.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
2338. <hr>
2339. <p style="font-size:11px;">
2340. </p><p style="font-size:11px;">    Whispers of an "evil power" were heard in lines at dairy shops, in streetcars, stores, arguments, kitchens, suburban and long-distance trains, at stations large and small, in dachas and on beaches.  Needless to say, truly mature and cultured people did not tell these stories about an evil power's visit to the capital. In fact, they even made fun of them and tried to talk sense into those who told them. Nevertheless, facts are facts, as they say, and cannot simply be dismissed without explanation: somebody had visited the capital. The charred cinders of Griboyedov alone, and many other things besides, confirmed it.  Cultured people shared the point of view of the investigating team: it was the work of a gang of hypnotists and ventriloquists magnificently skilled in their art.</p>
2341. <p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre;"> </span>- M. Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita </p><p></p>
2342. <p>It gives me great pleasure to announce the release of Perl 5.11.0. </p><p></p>
2343. <p>Perl 5.11.0 is a DEVELOPMENT release. We're making it available to you today to make it easy for you to test your software on what will eventually become Perl 5.12.</p><p></p>
2344. <p>This release is the result of over two years of development by a global community of developers. You can find a list of high-profile changes in this release in the file "perl5110delta.pod" inside the release.</p><p></p>
2345. <p>You can download the 5.11.0 tarball from: http://search.cpan.org/~jesse/perl-5.11.0/</p><p></p>
2346. <p>The release's SHA1 signatures are:</p><p></p>
2347. <p> 0d436577386c668161e3dad385d233c383bf4c9d  perl-5.11.0.tar.bz2</p>
2348. <p> 3137486cfe00094d1cd9a00e6e61f152f8fdb26e  perl-5.11.0.tar.gz</p><p></p>
2349. <p>We welcome your feedback on this release. If you discover issues with Perl 5.11.0, please use the 'perlbug' tool included in this distribution to report them. If Perl 5.11.0 works well for you, please use the 'perlthanks' tool included with this distribution to tell the all-volunteer development team how much you appreciate their work.</p><p></p>
2350. <p>If you write software in Perl, it is particularly important that you test your software against development releases. While we strive to maintain source compatibility with prior releases wherever possible, it is always possible that a well-intentioned change can have unexpected consequences. If you spot a change in a development release which breaks your code, it's much more likely that we will be able to fix it before the next stable release. If you only test your code against stable releases of Perl, it may not be possible to undo a backwards-incompatible change which breaks your code.</p><p></p>
2351. <p>Today marks a major change in how we'll be releasing development versions of Perl.</p><p></p>
2352. <p>Historically, a single individual, the Perl "pumpking" has been personally responsible for all aspects of the Perl development process - ranging from direction setting, dispute resolution and deep hacking to mentoring, patch application and release engineering.</p><p></p>
2353. <p>Over the years, we've been blessed with a series of extraordinary leaders. These hackers have eschewed fame, fortune and many nights' sleep for the good of Perl.</p><p></p>
2354. <p>To help ensure that we don't burn out our best diplomats and brightest coders, our release process is changing. I have recruited the first few volunteer release managers. Each month, on the 20th, the next release engineer in rotation will cut a new development release.</p><p></p>
2355. <p>Today's release of 5.11.0 is a transitional release to test our release machinery and process. The schedule for the near future is as follows:</p><p></p>
2356. <p>    2009</p>
2357. <p>    ====</p><p></p>
2358. <p>    October 2       -  5.11.0  -   Jesse Vincent</p>
2359. <p>    October 20      -  5.11.1  -   Jesse Vincent</p>
2360. <p>    November 20     -  5.11.2  -   Yves Orton</p>
2361. <p>    December 20     -  5.11.3  -   Leon Brocard</p><p></p>
2362. <p>    2010</p>
2363. <p>    ====</p><p></p>
2364. <p>    January 20      -  5.11.4  -   Ricardo Signes</p><p></p>
2365. <p>If you're interested in volunteering to join the release-engineer rotation, please contact me off-list and I'll add you to our talent pool. It's not a particularly lucrative job - The only perks are your name in perlhist, the chance to choose the epigram for a release announcement and the warm feeling you get from bringing a new version of Perl into the world.</p><p></p>
2366. </content>
2367. </entry>
2369. <entry>
2370. <title>Prophet and SD 0.7 (Cavil) are now available (What I&#39;ve been up to at work)</title>
2371. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/08/26/prophet-and-sd-07-cavil-are-now-available-what-ive-been-up-to-at-work/"/>
2372. <updated>2009-08-26T21:54:51Z</updated>
2373. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/08/26/prophet-and-sd-07-cavil-are-now-available-what-ive-been-up-to-at-work/</id>
2374. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;background-color:#ffffff;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/3113e-6a00d83456074b69e20120a578093c970c-320wi.png&quot; style=&quot;float:right;&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;Picture 11&quot; class=&quot;at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e20120a578093c970c &quot; src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2009/08/3113e-6a00d83456074b69e20120a578093c970c-320wi.png&quot; style=&quot;margin:0 0 5px 5px;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Prophet is a lightweight schemaless database designed for peer to peer replication and disconnected operation. Prophet keeps a full copy of your data and (history) on your laptop, desktop or server. Prophet syncs when you want it to, so you can use Prophet-backed applications whether or not you have network.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
2375. <p><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">SD (Simple Defects) is a peer-to-peer issue tracking system built on top of Prophet. In addition to being a full-fledged distributed bug tracker, SD can also bidirectionally sync with your RT, Hiveminder, Trac, GitHub or Google Code issue tracker. </span></p>
2376. <p><span style="background-color:#ffffff;">To learn more about Prophet and SD, visit <a href="http://syncwith.us">http://syncwith.us</a> or read the <a href="http://blog.bestpractical.com/2009/08/prophet-and-sd-07-cavil-are-now-available.html">full announcement</a> over on the corporate blog</span></p>
2377. </content>
2378. </entry>
2380. <entry>
2381. <title>Boston - Sunday - Dim Sum - China Pearl - 11:30AM</title>
2382. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/08/15/boston-sunday-dim-sum-china-pearl-1130am/"/>
2383. <updated>2009-08-16T00:23:00Z</updated>
2384. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/08/15/boston-sunday-dim-sum-china-pearl-1130am/</id>
2385. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Come have dimsum :)&lt;/p&gt;
2386. </content>
2387. </entry>
2389. <entry>
2390. <title>Things I ought to be blogging about</title>
2391. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/07/27/things-i-ought-to-be-blogging-about/"/>
2392. <updated>2009-07-28T01:07:10Z</updated>
2393. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/07/27/things-i-ought-to-be-blogging-about/</id>
2394. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I just got back from OSCON. &amp;#160;I gave &lt;a href=&quot;http://blip.tv/file/2391051&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;an Ignite talk about my Kindle hacking&lt;/a&gt;, a &amp;quot;regular&amp;quot; 45 minute talk about &lt;a href=&quot;http://syncwith.us&quot;&gt;SD, the p2p bug tracker that I work on&lt;/a&gt; and a half-day talk on &lt;a href=&quot;http://bestpractical.com/rt&quot;&gt;RT&lt;/a&gt;. &amp;#160;OSCON, as always, was amazing. I think I only made it to a half-dozen actual sessions - the hallway track kept me that busy.&lt;/p&gt;
2395. <p>About a dozen people yelled at me for not doing more to publicize some of the projects I'm involved with. Each and every one of these deserves a whole series of blog posts. Maybe by listing them here, I'll embarass myself into writing a bit more.  </p>
2396. <p>I've had a busy year.  I didn't realize how busy until I wrote this post.  Below are some of the projects I've been involved with / instigated. In almost every case, I've had fantastic collaborators who have helped make the tools a reality. But the projects are all my fault ;)</p>
2397. <p><a href="http://syncwith.us/sd">SD</a> is a peer to peer bug tracker (think git for bugs) that can also sync to RT, Hiveminder, Google Code, GitHub, Trac. Read-only support for syncing with RedMine is available today, with full two-way sync coming soon. Sync plugins are only a few hundred lines of code once you have a CPAN module to talk to an app.  For now, you can check out <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/obrajesse/sd-a-peer-to-peer-issue-tracking-system">the talk I gave at OSCON</a>.</p>
2398. <p><a href="http://k9mail.googlecode.com">K-9</a> is an opensource email client for Android.  I founded the project when I forked the core android "Email" app to get some needed bugfixes onto user devices quickly. Since then, K-9 has added features and fixes at a pretty rapid pace. Best of all, other folks do a lot of the work :)</p>
2399. <p><a href="http://search.cpan.org/dist/Shipwright">Shipwright</a> is a build and distribution system for applications. It has special features designed to tame Perl's CPAN, but it works well for non-Perl apps too.  It lets you build a versioned source archive of your application and all its dependencies. It comes with tools to help you distribute buildable source archives with an app and all its dependencies (down to libc if you swing that way) with a single installation tool.  The resulting binary packages have a bit of magic to make them magically relocatable. Just recently, we also released support for multi-architecture binary distributions.</p>
2400. <p><a href="http://github.com/bestpractical/App-Changeloggr/tree/master">Changelogger</a> is a tool we've been working on at Best Practical to ease the ordinarily tedious process of creating a human-readable changelog for your software package out of the version control system's commit log.  It lets you open the change categorization and tidying process to a community of developers who can vote on rephrasings and categorization of changelog entries. The tool let Nicholas Clark slice through the 2500 changes included in Perl 5.10.1 in about 7 hours.  Once we get a few more issues cleaned up, we'll be running a changelogger as a public service.</p>
2401. <p>Kindle hacking.  At this point, I have an ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope chroot with working X server, Keyboard and 5-pad.  I need to fix an X server bug, then I'll build a downloadable installer and let the rest of the world start playing around.</p>
2402. <p>I've done a bit of minor javascript hacking to make Twitter's web view more palatable to me: <a href="http://fsck.com/~jesse/spyhunter/">http://fsck.com/~jesse/spyhunter/</a> and <a href="http://fsck.com/~jesse/narrow-twitter.user.js">http://fsck.com/~jesse/narrow-twitter.user.js</a>.</p><p></p>
2403. <p><a href="http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/348e8-6a00d83456074b69e201157148f303970c-120wi.png" style="float:left;"><img alt="Picture 22" class="at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e201157148f303970c " src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2009/07/348e8-6a00d83456074b69e201157148f303970c-120wi.png" style="margin:0 5px 5px 0;"></a> </p><p></p>
2404. <p>At YAPC::US last month, I came up with a pair of 20 line scripts which let me read twitter in Mutt. I get keyboard bindings, proper threading, lightning fast searching AND I can keep it running in screen ;) It's actually just a replacement for /usr/bin/sendmail and some goo to turn tweets into maildir messages.  My plan with this is to clean it up and add RSS feeds, Facebook and a few other activity streams. I may then try to package it up or set it up as a service. The code's all in <a href="http://github.com/obra/twittermail/tree/master">my github account</a>.
2405. </p><p>A half-dozen other things I tried out died on the vine: A postgres-based email archival tool, A ground-up rewrite of RT (don't worry, RT4 is alive and well, but that's another post), cleanup of MobiPerl and...well, I've blocked out my memories of the rest of them.</p>
2406. </content>
2407. </entry>
2409. <entry>
2410. <title>A new definition of wrong</title>
2411. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/07/08/new-kindle-features/"/>
2412. <updated>2009-07-09T04:43:22Z</updated>
2413. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/07/08/new-kindle-features/</id>
2414. <content type="html">&lt;p style=&quot;margin:0;line-height:15px;font:13px Trebuchet MS;&quot;&gt;I haven&#39;t been blogging about the Kindle for a while...mostly because I haven&#39;t hacked on the Kindle in a while. &amp;nbsp;The release of the DX got me excited about what&#39;s possible with a device like the Kindle. I spent a bunch of time trying to get native framebuffer applications working on my Kindle 2. Yesterday, I struck upon an awful, awful idea.&lt;/p&gt;
2415. <p style="margin:0;line-height:15px;font:13px Trebuchet MS;min-height:15px;">
2416. </p><p style="margin:0;line-height:15px;font:13px Trebuchet MS;">Ubuntu Jaunty has an ARM target.  It's a fairly similar linux to the OS shipped on the Kindle 2 and the Kindle DX. A little bit of fiddling and an NFS export later, I was able to <span style="font:13px Courier;">chroot</span> into an Ubuntu environment on my Kindle. </p>
2417. <p style="margin:0;line-height:15px;font:13px Trebuchet MS;min-height:15px;">
2418. </p><p style="margin:0;line-height:15px;font:13px Trebuchet MS;">That was when I discovered that Lab126 have built the Kindle's kernel without <span style="font:13px Courier;">CONFIG_VT</span>...and X.org <em>really</em> wants a tty or virtual terminal, but not for any particularly good reason.</p>
2419. <p style="margin:0;line-height:15px;font:13px Trebuchet MS;min-height:15px;">
2420. </p><p style="margin:0;line-height:15px;font:13px Trebuchet MS;">This evening, I managed to bludgeon X.org into submission and found myself face to face with everybody's favorite checkerboard background.</p>
2421. <p style="margin:0;line-height:15px;font:13px Trebuchet MS;min-height:15px;">
2422. </p><p style="margin:0;line-height:15px;font:13px Trebuchet MS;">After that, it was just a hop, skip and an apt-get until I was watching the mesmerizing transitions of <span style="font:13px Courier;">xdaliclock.</span></p>
2423. <p style="margin:0;line-height:15px;font:13px Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-family:Courier, Verdana, sans-serif;"><br></span></p>
2424. <p style="margin:0;line-height:15px;font:13px Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-family:Courier, Verdana, sans-serif;"><br></span></p>
2425. <p style="margin:0;line-height:15px;font:13px Trebuchet MS;min-height:15px;">
2426. </p><div style="text-align:center;">[flickr video=3702221011 show_info=true secret=8959480e1e w=400 h=327]</div>
2427. <p style="text-align:center;line-height:15px;font:normal normal normal 13px/normal 'Trebuchet MS';margin:0;">
2428. </p><p style="margin:0;line-height:15px;font:13px Trebuchet MS;"></p>
2429. <p>(Yes, I know it's incredibly blurry. I haven't managed to get the pinhole camera on my DX calibrated yet)</p>
2430. <p style="margin:0;line-height:15px;font:13px Trebuchet MS;">Clearly this is <span style="text-decoration:line-through;">the killer app for the Kindle</span> just a stepping stone. I still don't have the Keyboard or 5way hooked up and what I do have working is incredibly brittle.  But <span style="font:13px Courier;">xpdf</span> (and lots of other stuff) runs unmodified.</p>
2431. </content>
2432. </entry>
2434. <entry>
2435. <title>Boston - China Pearl - Sunday - 11am</title>
2436. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/06/19/boston-china-pearl-sunday-11am/"/>
2437. <updated>2009-06-20T06:20:00Z</updated>
2438. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/06/19/boston-china-pearl-sunday-11am/</id>
2439. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So, Sunday&#39;s my birthday.  I&#39;m traveling enough that I failed to sort out a birthday party.  Instead, come have dimsum on Sunday!&lt;/p&gt;
2440. <p>Drop me a line if you think you might be coming, so I can keep a vague count.</p>
2441. </content>
2442. </entry>
2444. <entry>
2445. <title>Improved PDF rendering for Savory</title>
2446. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/04/10/improved-pdf-rendering-for-savory/"/>
2447. <updated>2009-04-11T06:06:26Z</updated>
2448. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/04/10/improved-pdf-rendering-for-savory/</id>
2449. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Now with better default fonts (Google&amp;#039;s free Droid fonts) and border cropping.&lt;/p&gt;
2450. <p><a href="http://savory.googlecode.com/files/savory-image-2009-04-10.zip">http://savory.googlecode.com/files/savory-image-2009-04-10.zip</a></p>
2451. </content>
2452. </entry>
2454. <entry>
2455. <title>Savory Screenshots</title>
2456. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/04/06/savory-screenshots/"/>
2457. <updated>2009-04-07T05:29:19Z</updated>
2458. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/04/06/savory-screenshots/</id>
2459. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:15px;font-family:Trebuchet MS;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:13px;font-family:Trebuchet MS;&quot;&gt;Over the past day, a few readers have asked me what converted PDFs look like on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00154JDAI?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=fsck-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;creativeASIN=B00154JDAI&quot;&gt;Kindle 2&lt;/a&gt; and how readable they are. (One of you even said you&amp;#039;ll &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00154JDAI?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=fsck-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;creativeASIN=B00154JDAI&quot;&gt;buy a Kindle 2&lt;/a&gt; if I post some screenshots.) And yes, Amazon pays me a referral fee for every Kindle 2 I sell. So far, I&amp;#039;ve lured two of you in ;)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
2460. <p><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-size:13px;font-family:Trebuchet MS;">All the screenshots below have been reduced. Click on them to see full-size versions.<br></span></span></p>
2461. <p><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Trebuchet MS;"><br>The Savory conversion process</span></p>
2462. <p> 
2463. </p><p><a href="http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/4dd48-6a00d83456074b69e201156ff71099970b-pi.gif" style="display:inline;"><img alt="Screen_shot-20144" border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e201156ff71099970b " src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2009/04/4dd48-6a00d83456074b69e201156ff71099970b-pi.gif?w=225" title="Screen_shot-20144"></a>  <br>
2464. <a href="http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/44e95-6a00d83456074b69e201156f000718970c-pi.gif" style="display:inline;"><img alt="Screen_shot-20145" border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e201156f000718970c " src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2009/04/44e95-6a00d83456074b69e201156f000718970c-pi.gif?w=225" title="Screen_shot-20145"></a></p>
2465. <p><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Trebuchet MS;">A scientific paper, converted from PDF</span></p>
2466. <p><strong>Fit to screen:</strong><br><a href="http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/a9e9a-6a00d83456074b69e201156ff7137b970b-pi.gif" style="display:inline;"><img alt="Screen_shot-20146" border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e201156ff7137b970b " src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2009/04/a9e9a-6a00d83456074b69e201156ff7137b970b-pi.gif?w=225" title="Screen_shot-20146"></a><br><strong><br>Fit to height (yeah, height. It's rotated)</strong>:<br><a href="http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/0545f-6a00d83456074b69e201156ff71732970b-pi.gif" style="display:inline;"><img alt="Screen_shot-20149" border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e201156ff71732970b " src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2009/04/0545f-6a00d83456074b69e201156ff71732970b-pi.gif?w=300" title="Screen_shot-20149"></a> </p>
2467. <p><a href="http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/2c2ff-6a00d83456074b69e201156ff71670970b-pi.gif" style="display:inline;"><img alt="Screen_shot-20148" border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e201156ff71670970b " src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2009/04/2c2ff-6a00d83456074b69e201156ff71670970b-pi.gif?w=300" title="Screen_shot-20148"></a></p>
2468. <p><strong><span style="font-size:13px;font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span></strong></p>
2469. <p></p>
2470. <table border="0">
2471. <tbody>
2472. <tr>
2473. <td valign="top">
2474. Fit to screen<p></p>
2475. <p><a href="http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/05a30-6a00d83456074b69e201156f001163970c-pi.gif" style="display:inline;"></a><a href="http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/05a30-6a00d83456074b69e201156f001163970c-pi.gif" style="display:inline;"><img alt="Screen_shot-25732" border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e201156f001163970c " src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2009/04/05a30-6a00d83456074b69e201156f001163970c-pi.gif?w=225" title="Screen_shot-25732"></a> 
2476. </p></td>
2477. <td valign="top">
2478. Full size:<p></p>
2479. <p><a href="http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/3a715-6a00d83456074b69e201156ff72755970b-pi.gif" style="display:inline;"><img alt="Screen_shot-25733" border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e201156ff72755970b " src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2009/04/3a715-6a00d83456074b69e201156ff72755970b-pi.gif?w=300" title="Screen_shot-25733"></a>
2480. </p></td>
2481. </tr>
2482. </tbody>
2483. </table>
2484. <p><strong><br>Fit to height:</strong></p>
2485. <p><a href="http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/38a4e-6a00d83456074b69e201156f000dca970c-pi.gif"><img alt="Screen_shot-25734" border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e201156f000dca970c " src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2009/04/38a4e-6a00d83456074b69e201156f000dca970c-pi.gif?w=300" title="Screen_shot-25734"></a><br>
2486. <a href="http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/7fa8c-6a00d83456074b69e201156ff71bca970b-pi.gif"><img alt="Screen_shot-25735" border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e201156ff71bca970b " src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2009/04/7fa8c-6a00d83456074b69e201156ff71bca970b-pi.gif?w=300" title="Screen_shot-25735"></a></p>
2487. </content>
2488. </entry>
2490. <entry>
2491. <title>Playing to the crowd</title>
2492. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/04/06/playing-to-the-crowd/"/>
2493. <updated>2009-04-06T16:40:44Z</updated>
2494. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/04/06/playing-to-the-crowd/</id>
2495. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;From the bits of feedback I&amp;#039;ve gotten on Savory&amp;#039;s initial release on Friday, it seems pretty clear that people want to be able to view rendered PDFs that look &amp;quot;like they&amp;#039;re supposed to&amp;quot;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;
2496. <p>
2497. </p><div>Savory's initial release used a PDF-to-HTML converter that extracts the text from a PDF and turns it into a reflowable ebook.  If your PDFs are generated from text by modern tools. this is great.  Most PDFs aren't.</div>
2498. <p>
2499. </p><div>Over the weekend, I put together a PDF renderer for Savory build on Poppler and the Kindle's built in Manga support (If you have a .zip or .cbz file full of images, the Kindle will display the images like a book)</div>
2500. <p>
2501. </p><div>For now, every PDF is converted twice. Once to text and once to a set of rendered images. So far, it's working pretty well for me. I'd love some feedback on <a href="http://savory.googlecode.com/files/savory-image-beta-2009-04-06.zip">savory-image-beta-2009-04-06.zip</a> from anyone who's game.  Just replace your regular savory image with it and reboot the kindle.</div>
2502. </content>
2503. </entry>
2505. <entry>
2506. <title>What&#39;s next for Savory</title>
2507. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/04/04/whats-next-for-savory/"/>
2508. <updated>2009-04-05T00:48:44Z</updated>
2509. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/04/04/whats-next-for-savory/</id>
2510. <content type="html">&lt;ul&gt;
2511. <li><strong>Good</strong> conversions of image-heavy or image-based PDFs. (I just need to build Ghostscript on the )</li>
2512. <li>A revised installer/uninstaller based on some suggestions from the folks at Blog Kindle (Who have a Unicode font mod for the K2 up at <a href="http://www.blogkindle.com">http://www.blogkindle.com</a>)</li>
2513. <li>Tracking down slightly a few unreliable ebook conversions/installations I've noticed.</li>
2514. </ul>
2515. </content>
2516. </entry>
2518. <entry>
2519. <title>Savory</title>
2520. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/04/03/savory/"/>
2521. <updated>2009-04-04T00:00:14Z</updated>
2522. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/04/03/savory/</id>
2523. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;UPDATED 5 April 2009 - 11:16 EDT&lt;/b&gt;: Pointers changed to Savory installer and uninstaller 0.06 which provide minor run-time reliability and book-detection fixes. If you are running 0.05, you should uninstall the old version and install 0.06.&lt;/p&gt;
2524. <p><b>UPDATED 6 April 2009 - 9:41 EDT</b>: I put together beta-quality support for picture-perfect PDF production. <a href="http://blog.fsck.com/2009/04/playing-to-the-crowd.html">You can try it out if you promise to report back</a></p>
2525. <p><b>UPDATED 6 April 2009 - 22:44 EDT</b>:<a href="http://blog.fsck.com/2009/04/savory-screenshots.html">Screenshots of savory's improved PDF converter</a>.</p>
2526. <hr>
2527. <p>Over the past few weeks, I've spent much of my spare time with my new Kindle2...When I bought it, I was excited to have a gorgeous, solidly built ebook reader backed by Amazon's catalog. I figured I'd end up reading a bit more than I already did and spending a bit more money on books than I already did. Both turned out to be true. What I didn't count on was finding a new hobby.</p>
2528. <p>Hi, I'm Jesse and I have a software problem.</p>
2529. <p>When I get a new bit of hardware, I often end up writing software for it. In 2001, when I got one of Canon's first Digital SLRs, I found myself writing code to extract usable images from the "RAW" image files the camera produced. This fall, I picked up a new T-Mobile G1 to replace an iPhone...and found the email client lacking. The Android platform that the G1 runs on is free and open. So I dusted off some long-unused Java experience and created <a href="http://code.google.com/p/k9mail">K9</a>, an enhanced version of Android's email client.</p>
2530. <p>I really didn't think this would happen with the Kindle. I was wrong.</p>
2531. <h2>What is Savory?</h2>
2532. <p>Savory is a native ebook conversion package for the Kindle 2.<br>
2533. It lets you download and read PDFs and ePubs on the Kindle without<br>
2534. a manual conversion step. </p>
2535. <h2>So, you hacked the Kindle?</h2>
2536. <p>No. There have actually been a number of other user-generated<br>
2537. Kindle updates. <a href="http://igorsk.blogspot.com">igorsk</a><br>
2538. created the toolset which generates Kindle and Kindle2 updates.<br>
2539. Other members of the Kindle community have created Kindle2 updates<br>
2540. which change the Kindle's fonts to support books in non-western<br>
2541. language, let you set your own screensavers and a bunch more. These<br>
2542. packages already contain everything a technically savvy user would<br>
2543. need to install software on the Kindle. What I did was to port an<br>
2544. ebook-conversion package to run reasonably efficiently on a 500mhz<br>
2545. ARM with 128 megabytes of system memory and to write a small program<br>
2546. which watches for new ebooks in a few chosen formats and run those<br>
2547. through the conversion tool.</p>
2548. <h2>Does Savory let me decrypt books Amazon has protected with DRM?</h2>
2549. <p>No</p>
2550. <h2>So this is like KindlePid?</h2>
2551. <p>Nope. Not at all. KindlePid is a tool for reverse-engineering<br>
2552. your Kindle's "Mobipocket Pid." KindlePid lets you buy DRM-protected<br>
2553. ebooks from providers other than Amazon. Savory converts PDFs and<br>
2554. ePubs that you download to your Kindle over WhisperNet or 3G into<br>
2555. unprotected .mobi documents. There are web-based and desktop tools<br>
2556. which can do everything Savory can do. Savory just brings these<br>
2557. features directly to your Kindle 2.</p>
2558. <h2>Does Savory let me read DRMed ebooks?</h2>
2559. <p><strong>No. Savory does not include support for ebooks protected by<br>
2560. DRM.</strong> DRM is an incredibly "hot" topic in the ebook world right<br>
2561. now. There are varying opinions on its efficacy. My opinions on the<br>
2562. matter aren't relevant, except to say that I am not touching the<br>
2563. topic with a 10 foot pole. It will not convert DRM-protected ebooks<br>
2564. into a format the Kindle will read. It will not add or remove DRM<br>
2565. from any ebook.</p>
2566. <h2>Does Savory let me do anything Amazon didn't already let me do for free?</h2>
2567. <p>No. It just makes some things that are a little cumbersome out<br>
2568. of the box simple and transparent. It's already possible to use<br>
2569. desktop and web based services to transcode ePub and PDF documents<br>
2570. into the Kindle-compatible Mobipocket format. Amazon also provides<br>
2571. both free and for-pay email-based conversion services you can<br>
2572. use.</p>
2573. <h2>Does Savory work with the Kindle 1?</h2>
2574. <p>No.</p>
2575. <h2>Why did you create Savory?</h2>
2576. <p>I'm in love with my Kindle. I've been reading ebooks on screens<br>
2577. of various sorts for many years, but the Kindle2 is the first device<br>
2578. that I actually <strong>enjoy</strong> reading as much as I enjoy reading<br>
2579. paper books. I've tried other ebook readers, but for a variety of<br>
2580. reasons, they just don't work for me. My goal is to make it easier<br>
2581. for readers to read more free content on the Kindle.</p>
2582. <p>I got the idea after reading Tim O'Reilly's <a href="http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/22/kindle-oreilly-ebooks-technology-breakthroughs_oreilly.html">editorial<br>
2583. in Forbes</a> about why the Kindle platform will be more successful<br>
2584. if it's more open. My first experiments were actually in server-based<br>
2585. transcoders to convert PDFs and epubs to Kindle-compatible Mobipocket<br>
2586. books, but I quickly realized that running the converter locally<br>
2587. on the Kindle would result in a much better user experience and<br>
2588. make the Kindle more useful. And yeah, it seemed like an interesting<br>
2589. project.</p>
2590. <h2>What document formats does Savory let me read?</h2>
2591. <p>Savory allows you to read .epub and .pdf files on your Kindle.<br>
2592. It does this by converting these documents to Mobipocket format<br>
2593. ebooks using <a href="http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net">Calibre</a>.<br>
2594. <strike>You should note that the version of Calibre Savory uses only works<br>
2595. with text-based PDFs. If you have image-based or scanned PDFs,<br>
2596. conversion will fail. (Images <em>in</em> your PDFS are ok. There<br>
2597. just needs to be some text to extract.)</strike> Updated: <a href="http://blog.fsck.com/2009/04/savory-screenshots.html">Screenshots</a> of the <a href="http://blog.fsck.com/2009/04/playing-to-the-crowd.html">new and improved PDF converter</a>.</p>
2598. <h2>How does Savory work?</h2>
2599. <h3>Plain-english version</h3>
2600. <p>Savory installs a small program which runs on your Kindle and<br>
2601. watches for new files in the 'Documents' directory with names ending<br>
2602. in '.epub' and '.pdf'. When the system notifies Savory that a<br>
2603. document has shown up, it wakes up and runs an open-source file<br>
2604. conversion program called <a href="http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net">Calibre</a>. Savory also updates<br>
2605. your Kindle2's browser configuration file to tell it that the Kindle<br>
2606. can now handle .pdf and .epub documents.</p>
2607. <h3>Technical version</h3>
2608. <p>Savory changes the browser configuration file to allow download of pdf<br>
2609. and epub documents. It adds a new "init" script which tries to mount<br>
2610. savory-image.ext3 on boot. If that succeeds, it runs bin/savory_daemon<br>
2611. from within the image mentioned above. savory_daemon is a Python<br>
2612. script that watches the documents/ directory and invokes a converter based on Calibre when it sees something that looks right.</p>
2613. <h2>Is Savory supported by Amazon?</h2>
2614. <p><strong>No. If you have a problem with Savory, DO NOT CONTACT AMAZON.</strong> This isn't software they wrote. They're not responsible for it. Please don't bother them about it.</p>
2615. <p>If the nice folks at Amazon contact me (you can find my email<br>
2616. address at the bottom of this FAQ) and ask me to stop distributing<br>
2617. Savory, I will do so. My goal isn't to "hack" the Kindle, deprive<br>
2618. Amazon of revenue or place an increased support burden on Amazon's<br>
2619. Kindle team. I just want to make the Kindle2 an even more useful<br>
2620. reader than it already is.</p>
2621. <h2>Does Savory void my warranty?</h2>
2622. <p>I don't know. If you're not comfortable with the possibility, <strong>do not install Savory</strong>.</p>
2623. <h2>Does Savory come with any guarantee or warranty?</h2>
2624. <p>I guarantee that Savory will not give you the ability to fly or<br>
2625. to see through walls. Past that, no. Savory comes with no warranty<br>
2626. or guarantee OF ANY KIND. If it causes your Kindle to burst into<br>
2627. flames or gives your pets the ability to read, you are ENTIRELY ON<br>
2628. YOUR OWN. By downloading and installing Savory, you accept full<br>
2629. responsibility for anything it does.</p>
2630. <p>Savory is distributed under the MIT license:</p><p></p>
2631. <p>Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person<br>
2632. obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files<br>
2633. (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction,<br>
2634. including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge,<br>
2635. publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software,<br>
2636. and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so,<br>
2637. subject to the following conditions:</p>
2638. <p>The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be<br>
2639. included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.</p>
2640. <p>THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,<br>
2641. EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF<br>
2642. MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.<br>
2643. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR<br>
2644. ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF<br>
2645. CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION<br>
2646. WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.</p>
2647. <h2>What do I do if Savory breaks my Kindle?</h2>
2648. <p>Head on over to the <a href="http://mobileread.com/">MobileRead</a> Kindle forums and post your sob story. Hopefully, someone there can help figure out what went wrong and help you get back to a working state. Remember that Savory comes with <strong>absolutely no warranty</strong> and everybody on MobileRead who might help you out is a volunteer.</p>
2649. <h2>How do I install Savory?</h2>
2650. <p><font color="red">Installing Savory or any other third-party update on your Kindle may destroy your Kindle. If that happens, you will have a $360 paper weight. <strong>DO NOT INSTALL SAVORY UNLESS YOU'RE WILLING TO END UP WITH A DEAD KINDLE.</strong></font></p>
2651. <p>You'll need to download three files:</p>
2652. <p><a href="http://savory.googlecode.com/files/savory-image.zip">savory-image.zip</a></p>
2653. <p>This file contains Savory's file-conversion system and assorted tools.</p>
2654. <p>Download and unzip this file. Then, mount your Kindle2 on your desktop with USB and drag savory-image.ext3 into the "system" folder on your Kindle2.</p>
2655. <p><a href="http://savory.googlecode.com/files/update_RemoveSavory-0.06.bin">update_RemoveSavory-0.06.bin</a></p>
2656. <p>This file is a Kindle update which will remove an installed copy of Savory from your Kindle. Please keep a copy of this file handy in case you ever need it.</p>
2657. <p><a href="http://savory.googlecode.com/files/update_Savory-0.06.bin">update_Savory-0.06.bin</a></p>
2658. <p>This file is a Kindle update.</p>
2659. <p>You should copy this file to the root directory of your Kindle. After you do that, unmount the kindle and click the "Menu" button, select "Settings", click the "Menu" button and click "Update Your Kindle" This will apply the update. </p>
2660. <p>If "Update Your Kindle" is greyed out, mount the Kindle on your desktop again and <strong>DELETE the update file</strong>. Then, unmount the Kindle. If you're not already on the Settings page, click "Menu" and select "Settings".<br>
2661. Make sure your Kindle is plugged into your computer with the USB cable.<br>
2662. Click "Menu" and select "Restart". The Kindle will boot up and immediately enter USB mode. Copy the update file to the Kindle again and follow the instructions above.</p>
2663. <p>I've found that the Kindle is much happier recognizing update files if you<br>
2664. reboot the Kindle while it's connected to your computer with USB and copy the update to the Kindle before the Kindle's UI comes up at all</p>
2665. <p>If you copy the file to your kindle and reboot<br>
2666. without applying the update, it will end up in a reboot loop - I haven't<br>
2667. figured out why yet. If that happens, hold down the "Home" button while<br>
2668. booting to get into recovery mode. From there, you can mount the Kindle<br>
2669. on your desktop with USB, delete the .bin file and try again.</p>
2670. <h2>How do I turn Savory off temporarily?</h2>
2671. <p>Mount your Kindle on your computer with USB. Rename the<br>
2672. savory-image.ext3 file in the Kindle's "System" folder. Then, unmount<br>
2673. your Kindle, click "Menu", select "Settings", click "Menu" and click<br>
2674. "Restart your Kindle." When you later want to re-enable Savory,<br>
2675. repeat the process, naming the file back to "savory-image.ext3"</p>
2676. <h2>How do I remove Savory completely?</h2>
2677. <p>If you've decided that Savory isn't for you or you need to remove<br>
2678. Savory to perform an Amazon-provided system update, it's a two step process.<br>
2679. First, you'll need to follow the instructions above about how to temporarily turn off Savory. Then, download and run the "<a href="http://savory.googlecode.com/files/update_RemoveSavory-0.06.bin">update_RemoveSavory-0.06.bin</a>" system update and<br>
2680. apply it just like you applied the original system update.</p>
2681. <p><strong>Amazon's system updates very carefully check each and every file<br>
2682. they're about to update to make sure that they are exactly as Amazon<br>
2683. left them. This ensures that a system update doesn't unexpectedly<br>
2684. corrupt an "important" file.</strong> Savory updates the Kindle's browser<br>
2685. configuration to allow download of pdf and epub files, adds an "init<br>
2686. script" to start up the savory daemon which watches for new files<br>
2687. to convert and modifies the Kindle's "version.txt" file. This way,<br>
2688. anyone doing support for your Kindle will know it's not running a<br>
2689. stock system image and <strong>NOT ELIGIBLE FOR SUPPORT FROM AMAZON.</strong></p>
2690. <p>Savory copies each file it modifies before making changes. All files Savory modifies are saved with the file suffix "-beforesavory". When you uninstall Savory, it restores the pristine versions of these files.</p>
2691. <h2>What does Savory do to my battery life?</h2>
2692. <p>It makes it shorter. So far, it doesn't feel like it makes it <em>much</em> shorter. Comparisons and benchmarks would be appreciated</p>
2693. <h2>What does Savory do with the "originals" of ebooks it converts?</h2>
2694. <p>You'll find the originals of any book Savory converts (or fails to convert) in the savory-archive folder on your Kindle when you browse it from your computer.</p>
2695. <h2>Where can I get the source code to Savory?</h2>
2696. <p>Savory is hosted on Google Code: <a href="http://code.google.com/p/savory">code.google.com/p/savory</a></p>
2697. <h2>What software does Savory use?</h2>
2698. <p>Savory wouldn't have been possible without kindle-update-maker, created by <a href="http://igorsk.blogspot.com">Igor Skochinsky</a>.</p>
2699. <p>Savory is about 200 lines of Bourne Shell and Python, built to drive a modified copy of Kovid Goyal's open-source Calibre ebook conversion and management suite.</p>
2700. <p>The disk image containing the Savory daemon and the modified version of Calibre contains a number of dependencies, listed below. You can download <a href="http://code.google.com/p/savory/downloads/">all of these source tarballs from code.google.com/p/savory</a>.</p>
2701. <p>The patches to Calibre are available in the same source repository as the rest of Savory. All other packages are unmodified.</p>
2702. <pre>http://bazaar.launchpad.net/%7Ekovid/calibre/trunk Revision 2689<br>http://unladen-swallow.googlecode.com/svn/branches/release-2009Q1-maint Revision: 370<br>ftp://ftp.qtsoftware.com/qt/source/qt-embedded-linux-opensource-src-4.4.3.tar.gz<br>http://www.rarlab.com/rar/unrarsrc-3.7.5.tar.gz<br>http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk/static/Downloads/sip4/sip-4.7.9.tar.gz<br>http://sourceforge.net/project/downloading.php?group_id=68617&use_mirror=voxel&filename=rtf2xml-1.33.tar.gz&a=75791959<br>ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/readline/readline-6.0.tar.gz<br>http://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/ncurses/ncurses-5.7.tar.gz<br>http://xmlsoft.org/sources/libxslt-1.1.24.tar.gz<br>http://xmlsoft.org/sources/libxml2-2.7.3.tar.gz<br>ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/gdbm/gdbm-1.8.3.tar.gz<br>http://savannah.inetbridge.net/freetype/freetype-2.3.9.tar.gz<br>http://effbot.org/media/downloads/elementtree-1.2.7-20070827-preview.zip<br>http://www.openssl.org/source/openssl-0.9.8j.tar.gz<br>http://git.dbzteam.org/?p=pyinotify.git;a=snapshot;h=HEAD;sf=tgz as of 2009-03-30 - pyinotify-0.8.1-py2.6.egg-info<br>http://sourceforge.net/project/downloading.php?group_id=45839&use_mirror=voxel&filename=pdftohtml-0.39.tar.gz&a=40219524<br>http://effbot.org/downloads/Imaging-1.1.6.tar.gz<br>ftp://ftp.imagemagick.org/pub/ImageMagick/ImageMagick-6.5.0-9.tar.gz<br>http://www.crummy.com/software/BeautifulSoup/download/3.x/BeautifulSoup-3.1.0.tar.gz<br>http://wwwsearch.sourceforge.net/ClientForm/src/ClientForm-0.2.10.tar.gz<br>http://labix.org/download/python-dateutil/python-dateutil-1.4.1.tar.gz<br>http://wwwsearch.sourceforge.net/mechanize/src/mechanize-0.1.11.tar.gz<br>http://sourceforge.net/project/downloading.php?group_id=68617&use_mirror=voxel&filename=rtf2xml-1.33.tar.gz&a=50591281<br>http://pypi.python.org/packages/source/s/setuptools/setuptools-0.6c9.tar.gz#md5=3864c01d9c719c8924c455714492295e<br>http://pypi.python.org/packages/source/l/lxml/lxml-2.2.tar.gz#md5=b3f12344291aa0d393915e7d8358b480<br>http://www.imagemagick.org/download/python/PythonMagick-0.9.tar.gz<br>http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk/static/Downloads/PyQt4/PyQt-x11-gpl-4.4.4.tar.gz<br></pre>
2703. <h2>How much code is Savory?</h2>
2704. <p>The unique parts of Savory are about 85 lines of shell script and 135 lines of Python.</p>
2705. <h2>Why's the Savory disk image nearly 90 megabytes uncompressed?</h2>
2706. <p>Savory uses Calibre, a free and open ebook conversion suite. In turn, Calibre uses Python, Qt and some other libraries. While I've slimmed down the requirements by hand, we have a long way to go before Savory fits in 5 or 10 megabytes.</p>
2707. <h2>What license is Savory under?</h2>
2708. <p>The original code in Savory is available under the terms of the <a href="http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php">MIT License</a>. The various components bundled with Savory are all free or open software, but they're not all released under the same license.</p>
2709. <h2>I want to be able to use my Kindle to read books in some other format. How do I make that happen?</h2>
2710. <p>Savory supports a subset of the conversions provided by <a href="http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/">Calibre</a>. If you contribute<br>
2711. to Calibre, Savory should be able to take advantage of those<br>
2712. improvements.</p>
2713. <h2>Can I run other software on my Kindle?</h2>
2714. <p>I don't know. Can you?</p>
2715. <h2>Can you help me run other software on my Kindle?</h2>
2716. <p>No.</p>
2717. <h2>The Kindle has a 3G modem in it. Can I use that to get free internet access for my laptop?</h2>
2718. <p><strong>Don't even think about it.</strong> The Kindle's 3G internet access is currently provided gratis to all Kindle users for the purpose of browsing the web and downloading ebooks. Amazon could choose to start charging for this "experimental" feature at any time. On top of that, Amazon knows where you live, has your credit card number and, thanks to the Kindle's GPS, knows where you are <em>right now</em>.</p>
2719. <h2>Where can I get support for Savory?</h2>
2720. <p>The <a href="http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=140">MobileRead forums</a> are probably the right place to start.</p>
2721. <h2>So, why is it called Savory?</h2>
2722. <p>When I first got a my Kindle2, I experimented with a web-based transcoding proxy which lets you download ePub and PDF files to the Kindle using a tool running on a server. I called the project an "unsavory ePub hack." This new tool is a good deal more elegant and easier to use. It's no longer unsavory. That must mean it's Savory</p>
2723. <h2>Savory is awesome! Now I want a Kindle!</h2>
2724. <p>Great! That's the kind of thing I like to hear. Savory is (and will always be) 100% free. BUT!<br>
2725. <strong>Shameless plug warning</strong><br>
2726. If you <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00154JDAI?ie=UTF8&tag=fsck-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00154JDAI">buy a kindle (or anything else) from Amazon</a><img alt="" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2009/04/ir?t=fsck-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00154JDAI" style="border:medium none !important;margin:0!important;display:none;" border="0" height="1" width="1">, I'll earn a referral fee which goes to feed my ebook habit. Buying a Kindle 2 from Amazon through this site helps us tell Amazon that we want the Kindle to support open formats. If more than a few of you buy a Kindle through this blog, I'll post a running tally.</p>
2727. <h2>Who created Savory?</h2>
2728. <p>I'm Jesse Vincent. You can reach me at jesse - at - fsck.com. Please don't contact me directly for help with Savory, even if it sets your dog on fire or you're sure that I'll make an exception for you.</p>
2729. <p>If you need help with Savory, I refer you to the forums at mobileread.com. (See above)</p><p></p>
2730. </content>
2731. </entry>
2733. <entry>
2734. <title>Yes, I am teasing you. But why am I building Qt on my Kindle?</title>
2735. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/23/yes-i-am-teasing-you-but-why-am-i-building-qt-on-my-kindle/"/>
2736. <updated>2009-03-24T06:28:38Z</updated>
2737. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/23/yes-i-am-teasing-you-but-why-am-i-building-qt-on-my-kindle/</id>
2738. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;USER    PID %CPU %MEM  VSZ  RSS TTY   STAT START  TIME COMMAND&lt;br&gt;root     1 0.0 0.2  1484  300 ?    Ss  Mar22  0:03 init [5]   &lt;br&gt;root     2 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar22  0:00 [kthreadd]&lt;br&gt;root     3 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    SN  Mar22  0:00 [ksoftirqd/0]&lt;br&gt;root     4 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar22  0:00 [watchdog/0]&lt;br&gt;root     5 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar22  0:24 [events/0]&lt;br&gt;root     6 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar22  0:00 [khelper]&lt;br&gt;root    37 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar22  0:00 [kblockd/0]&lt;br&gt;root    38 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar22  0:00 [cqueue/0]&lt;br&gt;root    40 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar22  0:11 [mxc_spi.1]&lt;br&gt;root    58 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar22  0:00 [kmmcd]&lt;br&gt;root    76 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S  Mar22  0:12 [pdflush]&lt;br&gt;root    77 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S  Mar22  0:05 [pdflush]&lt;br&gt;root    78 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar22  0:24 [kswapd0]&lt;br&gt;root    79 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar22  0:00 [aio/0]&lt;br&gt;root    101 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar22  0:01 [mtdblockd]&lt;br&gt;root    136 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar22  0:00 [kondemand/0]&lt;br&gt;root    146 0.1 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar22  3:33 [mmcqd]&lt;br&gt;root    156 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar22  0:00 [kjournald]&lt;br&gt;root    190 0.0 0.1  1520  208 ?    S&amp;lt;s Mar22  0:06 udevd --daemon&lt;br&gt;root    384 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar22  0:02 [eink_fb_bt]&lt;br&gt;root    386 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar22  0:00 [eink_fb_pt]&lt;br&gt;root    390 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar22  0:00 [eink_fb_sst]&lt;br&gt;root    394 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar22  0:00 [pnlcd_animate]&lt;br&gt;root    583 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar22  0:01 [kjournald]&lt;br&gt;root    696 0.0 0.4  1948  616 ?    Ss  Mar22  1:02 /usr/sbin/syslog-ng&lt;br&gt;root   1023 0.1 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar22  1:57 [loop0]&lt;br&gt;root   1043 2.7 4.5 205616 5832 ?    Ssl Mar22 52:00 fsp /mnt/base-us /mnt/us -o rw&lt;br&gt;92    1332 0.0 0.3  2236  504 ?    Ss  Mar22  0:04 /usr/bin/dbus-daemon --system&lt;br&gt;root   1367 7.9 0.4 19080  520 ?    Ssl Mar22 147:54 /usr/bin/powerd&lt;br&gt;root   1466 0.0 0.0  1468  120 ?    Ss  Mar22  0:00 /usr/sbin/tphserver&lt;br&gt;root   1526 0.0 0.1 19012  244 ?    Ssl Mar22  0:00 /usr/sbin/volumd -d /dev/mmcblk0p4&lt;br&gt;root   1605 0.0 0.1  2652  140 ?    Ss  Mar22  0:00 /bin/sh /usr/bin/aserver.sh&lt;br&gt;root   1644 0.0 0.3  2648  396 ?    Ss  Mar22  0:00 /usr/sbin/crond -c /etc/crontab/&lt;br&gt;root   1757 0.0 0.1  2648  188 ?    S  Mar22  0:00 /bin/sh /opt/amazon/ebook/bin/start.sh&lt;br&gt;root   1793 0.0 0.1  2652  188 ?    S  Mar22  0:00 /bin/sh /opt/amazon/ebook/bin/start.sh&lt;br&gt;root   1795 0.0 0.1  2652  152 ?    S  Mar22  0:00 logger -p local2.debug&lt;br&gt;root   1821 2.8 22.2 390176 28280 ?    SLl Mar22 52:31 /usr/java/bin/cvm -Xmx16m -Xbootclasspath/a:/usr/java/lib/localedata.jar:/usr/java/lib/charsets.jar -Dsun.boot.library.path=/usr/java/lib:/usr/java/lib -cp :/opt/amazon/ebook/lib/MobiCore-impl.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/lib/MobipocketCoreReader.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/lib/ReaderSDK.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/lib/SearchSDK.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/lib/booklet.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/lib/cd.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/lib/framework-api.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/lib/framework-impl.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/lib/jdbm.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/lib/json.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/lib/kxml2.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/lib/xyml.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/booklet/AudiblePlayer.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/booklet/AudioPlayer.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/booklet/Browser.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/booklet/Demo.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/booklet/Experimental.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/booklet/Home.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/booklet/MobiReader.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/booklet/PictureViewer.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/booklet/Search.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/booklet/TestSwitches.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/booklet/XymlBooklet.jar:/opt/amazon/ebook/booklet/msp.jar:/usr/java/lib/libjnisystem.jar -Ddebug=1 -Dcheck_comm_stack=true -Dhttp.keepalive.timeout=60000 -Dhttp.maxConnections=16 -Dallow_demo=false -Dawt_fb_enable=0 -Dextkeyboard=false -Dconfig=/opt/amazon/ebook/config/framework.mario.conf -DPLATFORM_CLASS_FILE=/opt/amazon/ebook/config/platform.conf -DENABLE_SEARCH_INDEXING_THREAD=true com.amazon.ebook.framework.Main&lt;br&gt;root   1892 0.0 0.1  2100  188 ?    Ss  Mar22  0:19 /usr/local/bin/telnetd -p 2323 -l /bin/sh&lt;br&gt;root   1929 0.0 0.1  1056  176 ?    Ss  Mar22  0:00 /opt/local/unsavory/sbin/dropbear -d /opt/local/unsavory/etc/dropbear_dss_host_key -p 22&lt;br&gt;root   1959 0.0 0.1  2652  148 ttymxc/0 Ss+ Mar22  0:00 /sbin/getty -L 115200 ttymxc0 -l /bin/login&lt;br&gt;root   2365 0.1 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar23  0:29 [rpciod/0]&lt;br&gt;root   5155 0.0 0.4  2652  584 pts/5  Ss  00:54  0:00 /bin/sh&lt;br&gt;root   6826 0.2 0.6  2824  880 pts/5  S+  02:40  0:05 /bin/sh ./configure --prefix=/opt/savory -qt-freetype -no-cups -no-nis -qt-libjpeg -qt-libpng -qt-libtiff -no-opengl -depths 1,4 -no-qt3support -no-webkit&lt;br&gt;root   7707 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar23  0:05 [loop5]&lt;br&gt;root   7708 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar23  0:00 [kjournald]&lt;br&gt;root   8503 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar23  0:00 [loop3]&lt;br&gt;root   8617 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar23  0:00 [loop4]&lt;br&gt;root   11603 0.1 1.0 28336 1392 ?    Ssl 02:57  0:02 /usr/bin/monit -Ic /etc/monitrc&lt;br&gt;root   11856 0.0 0.3  1460  408 ?    Ss  02:58  0:00 /usr/sbin/watchdogd&lt;br&gt;root   12366 0.0 0.9 84160 1188 ?    Sl  Mar22  0:01 audioServer -I&lt;br&gt;root   12484 0.1 0.7  3656  956 ?    Ss  02:59  0:01 /opt/local/unsavory/sbin/dropbear -d /opt/local/unsavory/etc/dropbear_dss_host_key -p 22&lt;br&gt;root   12485 0.0 0.5  2652  720 pts/0  Ss  02:59  0:00 -sh&lt;br&gt;root   12489 0.0 0.7  3668  924 pts/0  S+  02:59  0:00 /mnt/us/unsavory/bin/screen-4.0.3 -x&lt;br&gt;root   12490 0.0 0.5  2652  712 pts/1  Ss  02:59  0:00 /bin/sh&lt;br&gt;root   15956 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar22  0:09 [charger/0]&lt;br&gt;root   23310 0.0 0.5  2652  712 pts/2  Ss+ 03:09  0:00 /bin/sh&lt;br&gt;root   23469 0.0 0.5  2652  720 pts/3  Ss  03:09  0:00 /bin/sh&lt;br&gt;root   23598 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar23  0:00 [loop1]&lt;br&gt;root   24135 0.0 0.0   0   0 ?    S&amp;lt;  Mar23  0:00 [loop2]&lt;br&gt;root   25652 0.0 0.5  2652  716 pts/4  Ss  03:14  0:00 /bin/sh&lt;br&gt;root   26479 0.2 0.7  2532  960 pts/4  S+  03:15  0:00 make&lt;br&gt;root   26482 0.0 0.4  2648  584 pts/4  S+  03:15  0:00 /bin/sh -c cd src/tools/bootstrap/ &amp;amp;&amp;amp; make -f Makefile &lt;br&gt;root   26483 0.1 0.8  2572 1068 pts/4  S+  03:15  0:00 make -f Makefile&lt;br&gt;root   28838 0.0 0.4  1888  628 pts/4  S+  03:21  0:00 g++ -c -pipe -g -fno-exceptions -O2 -fPIC -Wall -W -DQT_BOOTSTRAPPED -DQT_LITE_UNICODE -DQT_NO_CAST_FROM_ASCII -DQT_NO_CAST_TO_ASCII -DQT_NO_CODECS -DQT_NO_DATASTREAM -DQT_NO_GEOM_VARIANT -DQT_NO_LIBRARY -DQT_NO_QOBJECT -DQT_NO_STL -DQT_NO_SYSTEMLOCALE -DQT_NO_TEXTSTREAM -DQT_NO_THREAD -DQT_NO_UNICODETABLES -DQT_NO_USING_NAMESPACE -D_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE -D_LARGEFILE_SOURCE -I../../../mkspecs/qws/linux-generic-g++ -I. -I../../../include -I../../../include/QtCore -I../../../include/QtXml -I../../3rdparty/zlib -I.uic/release-shared-emb-generic -o .obj/release-static-emb-generic/qiodevice.o ../../corelib/io/qiodevice.cpp&lt;br&gt;root   28839 49.5 24.5 36116 31160 pts/4  R+  03:21  0:09 /mnt/us/savory-toolchain-4.1.2/bin/../libexec/gcc/arm-unknown-linux-gnueabi/4.1.2/cc1plus -quiet -I../../../mkspecs/qws/linux-generic-g++ -I. -I../../../include -I../../../include/QtCore -I../../../include/QtXml -I../../3rdparty/zlib -I.uic/release-shared-emb-generic -iprefix /mnt/us/savory-toolchain-4.1.2/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-unknown-linux-gnueabi/4.1.2/ -D_GNU_SOURCE -DQT_BOOTSTRAPPED -DQT_LITE_UNICODE -DQT_NO_CAST_FROM_ASCII -DQT_NO_CAST_TO_ASCII -DQT_NO_CODECS -DQT_NO_DATASTREAM -DQT_NO_GEOM_VARIANT -DQT_NO_LIBRARY -DQT_NO_QOBJECT -DQT_NO_STL -DQT_NO_SYSTEMLOCALE -DQT_NO_TEXTSTREAM -DQT_NO_THREAD -DQT_NO_UNICODETABLES -DQT_NO_USING_NAMESPACE -D_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE -D_LARGEFILE_SOURCE ../../corelib/io/qiodevice.cpp -quiet -dumpbase qiodevice.cpp -mcpu=arm1136jf-s -auxbase-strip .obj/release-static-emb-generic/qiodevice.o -g -O2 -Wall -W -fno-exceptions -fPIC -o -&lt;br&gt;root   28840 0.5 3.5  5828 4536 pts/4  S+  03:21  0:00 /mnt/us/savory-toolchain-4.1.2/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-unknown-linux-gnueabi
2739. /4.1.2/../../../../arm-unknown-linux-gnueabi/bin/as -mcpu=arm1136jf-s -meabi=4 -o .obj/release-static-emb-generic/qiodevice.o<br>root   28994 0.0 1.7  7404 2248 pts/5  R+  03:21  0:00 /var/tmp/maemo-build/src/qt-embedded-linux-opensource-src-4.5.0/bin/qmake -spec /var/tmp/maemo-build/src/qt-embedded-linux-opensource-src-4.5.0/mkspecs/qws/linux-generic-g++ -o /var/tmp/maemo-build/src/qt-embedded-linux-opensource-src-4.5.0/./examples/network/fortuneserver /var/tmp/maemo-build/src/qt-embedded-linux-opensource-src-4.5.0/examples/network/fortuneserver/fortuneserver.pro<br>root   28995 0.0 0.7  2644  992 pts/1  R+  03:21  0:00 ps auxwww<br>root   32292 0.2 1.0  3896 1272 ?    Ss  Mar23  1:15 /mnt/us/unsavory/bin/SCREEN-4.0.3<br></pre>
2740. </content>
2741. </entry>
2743. <entry>
2744. <title>More fascinating Kindle 2 tidbits</title>
2745. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/15/more-fascinating-kindle-2-tidbits/"/>
2746. <updated>2009-03-16T00:25:47Z</updated>
2747. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/15/more-fascinating-kindle-2-tidbits/</id>
2748. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;There appear to be on-board PPP configurations for both Sprint and AT&amp;amp;T (though of course the Kindle&amp;#039;s EVDO modem will only talk to Sprint).&lt;/p&gt;
2749. <p>As indicated by a previous anonymous commenter, it's not actually that hard to turn on the 3G modem while USB networking is on.</p>
2750. <p><strong>Sorry, kids. It's my sad duty to report that Amazon and Lab126 are neither inept nor stupid. You can't get much of anywhere except for Amazon or their web proxies. Your dreams of a magic, free internet dongle the size of a paperback book that works anywhere in the US will have to wait. </strong></p>
2751. <p>One slightly terrifying thing I noted in the NetFront configuration file on the Kindle 2 - All traffic is proxied through fints-g7g.amazon.com, Amazon's Kindle web proxy. HTTP and HTTPS alike are proxied on port 80. <strong>Amazon can see what you're downloading, even if you "use SSL."</strong> (As could anybody who could sniff your EVDO traffic, but I'm told that's something that's only easy if the attacker is running MovieOS).  I know there are solid technical reasons for this decision on Amazon's part. It doesn't exactly make me comfortable.</p>
2752. <p>What else did I discover during my week away? This is a rough first pass at a list.</p>
2753. <p>There's code infrastructure for iphone-esque orientation switching, though I'm not seeing anything that suggests that the backend for that exists...yet.</p>
2754. <p>Building an entire GCC toolchain that can run natively on the Kindle (don't ask why just yet) is a real pain in the ass, but thanks to the Fedora ARM nfs-root instructions, the Ubuntu ARM root filesystem and crosstool-ng, I think I may have something stable and reproducible soon.</p>
2755. <p>I'd previously cross-compiled gcc, binutils, glibc and coreutils by-hand, but it's turned out not so stable.  Getting somewhat desperate before I managed to find the right incantation to overcome Q-emu/ARM's weird SCSI lockup problems, I actually got enough of a dev environment up on my N810 to build an ARM-native Perl linked against the ~right glibc such that it runs ok on the Kindle.</p>
2756. </content>
2757. </entry>
2759. <entry>
2760. <title>Gone Fishin&#39;</title>
2761. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/07/gone-fishin/"/>
2762. <updated>2009-03-07T11:17:11Z</updated>
2763. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/07/gone-fishin/</id>
2764. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;As a heads up, I&amp;#039;m going to be in the UK for the next week for work, so you shouldn&amp;#039;t expect to hear much out of me on the Kindle front.&lt;/p&gt;
2765. <p>I have a plan, but don't really want to say anything until I can prove to myself that the plan will work. Maybe if you corner me in an epub over a pint.</p>
2766. </content>
2767. </entry>
2769. <entry>
2770. <title>The most interesting content I&#39;ve found on my Kindle 2 so far...</title>
2771. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/06/the-most-interesting-content-ive-found-on-my-kindle-2-so-far/"/>
2772. <updated>2009-03-06T08:35:36Z</updated>
2773. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/06/the-most-interesting-content-ive-found-on-my-kindle-2-so-far/</id>
2774. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;from rcS.d/S05video_primary_init:&lt;/p&gt;
2775. <div style="margin-left:40px;">_PANEL_SIZE_6_0_INCH=6<br>_PANEL_SIZE_9_7_INCH=9</div>
2776. <p></p>
2777. </content>
2778. </entry>
2780. <entry>
2781. <title>root</title>
2782. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/05/root/"/>
2783. <updated>2009-03-06T07:13:02Z</updated>
2784. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/05/root/</id>
2785. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So yes, I have a root shell on the Kindle 2. No, I&amp;#039;m not going to post a step-by-step HOWTO. (See my post from earlier today if you&amp;#039;re wondering why.) &lt;/p&gt;
2786. <p>My next step is the armel virtual machine to make cross-compilation a breeze.</p>
2787. <p>If you're interested in voiding the warranty on your Kindle 2, my writeup about USB Networking,  igorsk's posts from 2007, the Kindle 2.0.1 update, a copy of the right build of busybox and a little bit of hackery will get you your very own login on a cute little ARM Linux box with 128 megs of RAM.</p>
2788. </content>
2789. </entry>
2791. <entry>
2792. <title>PSA</title>
2793. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/05/psa/"/>
2794. <updated>2009-03-06T06:22:00Z</updated>
2795. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/05/psa/</id>
2796. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;ve moved my technical blogging over to &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.fsck.com&quot;&gt;http://blog.fsck.com&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;
2797. <p>Right now, I'm going on and on about getting a shell on my Kindle 2</p>
2798. </content>
2799. </entry>
2801. <entry>
2802. <title>A productive evening so far.</title>
2803. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/05/a-productive-evening-so-far/"/>
2804. <updated>2009-03-06T05:14:26Z</updated>
2805. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/05/a-productive-evening-so-far/</id>
2806. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;First, the bad news: the busybox Amazon ships the Kindle with doesn&#39;t have telnetd compiled in.&lt;/p&gt;
2807. <p>And now for the good news: Linux ARM binaries work just fine. Like the nice static build of busybox for Android I had laying around.</p>
2808. <p>As of about 2 hours ago, I was treated to this lovely sight:</p>
2809. <pre>
2810. # telnet 192.168.15.244 2323
2811. Trying 192.168.15.244...
2812. Connected to 192.168.15.244.
2813. Escape character is '^]'.
2814. kindle login:
2815. </pre>
2816. <p>By now, the utility of USB networking to the Kindle should be clear to most readers</p>
2817. </content>
2818. </entry>
2820. <entry>
2821. <title>An ethical quandary</title>
2822. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/05/an-ethical-quandary/"/>
2823. <updated>2009-03-05T20:00:54Z</updated>
2824. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/05/an-ethical-quandary/</id>
2825. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;It looks like I&amp;#039;m pretty close to being able to start a telnetd on the Kindle2 and build an update package so that others could do the same.&amp;#160; From comments on engadget, hackaday and other news sites reporting on me showing users how to type a few debug commands, it&amp;#039;s become really clear that many users want to try to get free 3G broadband using their Kindle as a modem.&lt;/p&gt;
2826. <p>That's not a behavior I want to encourage or be responsible for.</p>
2827. <p>How can I help advance the state of the Kindle homebrew ecosystem without encouraging/enabling behaviour that will cause Amazon to lock the Kindle down like an iPhone?   </p>
2828. </content>
2829. </entry>
2831. <entry>
2832. <title>A couple quick updates</title>
2833. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/04/a-couple-quick-updates/"/>
2834. <updated>2009-03-05T06:24:33Z</updated>
2835. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/04/a-couple-quick-updates/</id>
2836. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;When I said the K2 wasn&amp;#039;t listening on any TCP ports, I was somewhat mistaken.&lt;/p&gt;
2837. <p><span style="font-family:Courier;">PORT      STATE SERVICE</span><br><span style="font-family:Courier;">2812/tcp  open  unknown</span><br><span style="font-family:Courier;">28082/tcp open  unknown</span><br><span style="font-family:Courier;">40317/tcp open  unknown</span></p>
2838. <p>2812 is monit. And 192.168.15.200 isn't in the list of  addresses authorized to connect. I can connect to port 40317 and spew at it all I want, but the Kindle doesn't acknowledge my input.</p>
2839. <p>I only got it listening on 40317 after I...did some stuff I'm not going to talk about yet. That currently hands me an "ACCESS DENIED" upon connect.</p>
2840. <p>I've also got the Kindle 2 accepting my hand-rolled firmware updates, not that I've managed anything useful with them yet. (Hint to interested parties: igorsk's tools are still useful on the Kindle 2, but unlike the K1, it actually cares about some of the metadata his header writer skips)</p>
2841. </content>
2842. </entry>
2844. <entry>
2845. <title>Tethering your Kindle 2</title>
2846. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/03/tethering-your-kindle/"/>
2847. <updated>2009-03-04T02:24:52Z</updated>
2848. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/03/tethering-your-kindle/</id>
2849. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UPDATE: There&amp;#039;s now a bunch more at &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.fsck.com&quot;&gt;http://blog.fsck.com&lt;/a&gt;, including bits about how you might get yourself a telnetd, root shell and other fun bits.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
2850. <p>As I mentioned in my previous post, I've spent far too much of the past week playing with my lovely new <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00154JDAI?ie=UTF8&tag=bestpractical-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00154JDAI">Kindle 2</a>.</p>
2851. <p>As I've been exploring the device, I ran across <a href="http://igorsk.blogspot.com/2007/12/hacking-kindle-part-3-root-shell-and.html" target="_blank">igorsk's blog post</a> about the debugging commands on the first Kindle.  They're still there....with a few additions. One of those additions is a command to enable USB networking.  It seems fairly clear to me that it's there as a debugging and development aid.</p>
2852. <p>If you follow the steps outlined below, you should be be able to set up your Kindle to use your laptop or desktop computer's internet connection. Please don't be surprised if Amazon remove this feature (or make it more easily accessible) in a future Kindle firmware update. If you follow my instructions and your Kindle bursts into flames or shatters into a million pieces, please accept my condolences, but don't think for even a moment that I'm responsible for you breaking your new toy. ;)  </p>
2853. <p><strong>This is not a tutorial about how to use the Kindle 2's Sprint connection from your computer</strong>. I don't know that it's possible to do so without making changes to the Linux installation on the Kindle. I do know that abusing the Kindle's Sprint modem like that would upset Amazon a great deal.  Bear in mind also that Amazon know where you live. They know your Kindle's serial number and thanks to the built in GPS, they know where you are right now. </p>
2854. <p>Now that I have the cranky-sounding warnings out of the way, it's time to get down to business.</p>
2855. <p>For today's experiment, you will need:</p>
2856. <ul>
2857. <li>One Amazon Kindle 2</li>
2858. <li>One computer (the instructions assume you're using a mac)</li>
2859. <li>One Amazon Kindle MicroUSB cable</li>
2860. </ul>
2861. <p>Make sure your Kindle is not connected to your computer.</p>
2862. <p>Reboot your Kindle:</p>
2863. <p>    First, Click "Menu", then pick "Settings"<br>    Now, Click "Menu", then pick "Restart"</p>
2864. <p>Enable debug mode:</p>
2865. <p>    From the Kindle's home screen, type something to get the search box to pop up.<br>    Hit the <strong>DEL</strong> key to clear the content of the search box.<br>    Hit <strong>Sym</strong> and select the Semicolon (;) using the 5-pad.<br>    Type <strong>debugOn</strong><br>    (You should now see ;debugOn)<br>     Click the enter key.</p>
2866. <p>Congratulations. You've turned on Debug mode. From here on in, you can probably do all sorts of things to render your Kindle 2 useless.</p>
2867. <p>To verify that debug mode is on, run the private debug tools "help" command.</p>
2868. <p>    From the Kindle's home screen, type something to get the search box to pop up.<br>
2869.     Hit the <strong>DEL</strong> key to clear the content of the search box.<br>
2870.     Hit <strong>Sym</strong> and select the ` using the 5-pad. (It's the next-to-last thing on the middle row)<br>
2871.     Type <strong>help<br></strong>    (You should now see `help)<br>    Hit the enter key</p>
2872. <p>You should now see a list of commands. We're interested in two of them: `usbNetwork and `usbQa.<br>Click to close the menu.<strong></strong></p>
2873. <p>    From the Kindle's home screen, type something to get the search box to pop up.<br>
2874.     Hit the <strong>DEL</strong> key to clear the content of the search box.<br>
2875.     Hit <strong>Sym</strong> and select the ` using the 5-pad. (It's the next-to-last thing on the middle row)<br>
2876.     Type <strong>usbNetwork<br>
2877. </strong>    (You should now see `usbNetwork)<br>
2878.     Hit the enter key<br><strong><br><em>If you were to stop here, the Kindle would be in USB network mode but wouldn't be set up to try to talk to the Internet over that interface</em></strong></p>
2879. <p>    Type something to get the search box to pop up.<br>
2880.     Hit the <strong>DEL</strong> key to clear the content of the search box.<br>
2881.     Hit <strong>Sym</strong> and select the ` using the 5-pad. (It's the next-to-last thing on the middle row)<br>
2882.     Type <span style="font-weight:bold;">usbQa</span><strong><br>
2883. </strong>    (You should now see `usbQa)<br>
2884.     Hit the enter key</p>
2885. <p>Now it's time to plug your Kindle 2 into your Computer. If I have to talk you through plugging in a USB cable, you should probably stop reading here.</p>
2886. <p>Once you plug in your Kindle 2, you should see something like this:<br><a href="http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/d0fc4-6a00d83456074b69e2011168a7fd4e970c-pi.png" style="display:inline;"><img alt="Picture 1" border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e2011168a7fd4e970c " src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2009/03/d0fc4-6a00d83456074b69e2011168a7fd4e970c-pi.png?w=300" title="Picture 1"></a></p>
2887. <p>Click Network Preferences. (Adjust accordingly for Linux or Windows)</p>
2888. <p>Next, you should see something like this:</p>
2889. <p><a href="http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/17e6e-6a00d83456074b69e2011168a7fe94970c-pi.png" style="display:inline;"><img alt="Picture 2" border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e2011168a7fe94970c image-full " src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2009/03/17e6e-6a00d83456074b69e2011168a7fe94970c-pi.png" title="Picture 2"></a><br>
2890. <br>Configure your computer with a static (manual) IP Address:<br>    Type <strong>192.168.15.200</strong> into the IP Address field.<br>    Click "Apply" in the lower right-hand corner.</p>
2891. <p>Congratulations. You've set up a network connection between your computer and your Kindle 2.</p>
2892. <p>You can test the local network connection by popping up a terminal and using <strong>ping</strong><br>    Type ping <strong>192.168.15.244</strong></p>
2893. <p>If things are working right, you should see something like this:<br><a href="http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/9d5fb-6a00d83456074b69e20112791c72fe28a4-pi.png" style="display:inline;"><img alt="Picture 3" border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e20112791c72fe28a4 image-full " src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2009/03/9d5fb-6a00d83456074b69e20112791c72fe28a4-pi.png" title="Picture 3"></a><br>
2894. <br>Assuming that's working right for you, the last step is to set up Internet Sharing so that the Kindle can use your computer's network connection to talk to the outside world.  On a Mac, that's pretty straight forward. Open up <strong>System Preferences</strong> and click on <strong>Sharing</strong>. You'll want to set up a config something like this:</p>
2895. <p><a href="http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/ad83d-6a00d83456074b69e2011168a8021c970c-pi.png" style="display:inline;"><img alt="Picture 4" border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e2011168a8021c970c image-full " src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2009/03/ad83d-6a00d83456074b69e2011168a8021c970c-pi.png" title="Picture 4"></a></p>
2896. <p>And that's about it. If you open up the Kindle Store, you'll be able to browse and buy books. (You'll also note that the Kindle's wireless indicator shows empty boxes. The EVDO is turned off automatically as you bring up USB networking).</p>
2897. <p>When you want to use the Kindle 2 in disk mode again, you'll need to get it out of USB Network mode. There's likely a way to get the device back onto wireless without restarting, but restarting is easy enough that I haven't gone exploring.</p>
2898. <p>    First, Click "Menu", then pick "Settings"<br>
2899.     Now, Click "Menu", then pick "Restart"<br><strong><br></strong>Good luck!</p>
2900. </content>
2901. </entry>
2903. <entry>
2904. <title>Notes on the Kindle 2</title>
2905. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/03/notes-on-the-kindle-2/"/>
2906. <updated>2009-03-03T20:27:19Z</updated>
2907. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/03/notes-on-the-kindle-2/</id>
2908. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;As I&amp;#039;ve been playing around with the Kindle 2, I&amp;#039;ve discovered a few interesting things that I haven&amp;#039;t yet found documented elsewhere. (That&amp;#039;s not to say they&amp;#039;re not documented elsewhere, just that I haven&amp;#039;t found them).&lt;/p&gt;
2909. <p>Table support - The K2 supports basic HTML Tables in mobipocket ebooks. I haven't done extensive testing. But, unlike the Kindle 1, the support is there.</p>
2910. <p>Proxies - Amazon proxies all web traffic for your Kindle and restricts which ports on remote servers you can connect to.</p>
2911. <p>USB Networking - <a href="http://igorsk.blogspot.com/">http://igorsk.blogspot.com/</a> is the place to go to learn about Kindle reverse engineering. One of the things that Igor mentions is the "extra" shortcuts baked into the Kindle.<br>One of the commands Igor mentions is ";debugOn" - This turns on the Kindle's extra commands. This works the same on the K2.  Once you've done that '`help' will show you a list of private commands.  There are a couple private commands which appear to be new for the K2:  '`usbNetwork' and '`usbQa'.  Being the sort of guy I am, my eyes lit up when I saw these commands. So I plugged my K2 into my trusty Macbook Air and ran them. ...and got nothing.</p>
2912. <p>As you can see from my previous post, I've been a bit busy on other K2 related hackery. I moved on and mentally filed the `qa command away for later.</p>
2913. <p>The next day, I plugged the K2 into the MacBook to download a test book. The Kindle didn't go into disk mode. Just as I started to wonder what had gone wrong, the MacBook popped up a dialog telling me that a new USB Ethernet device had been detected and would I like to configure it now.</p>
2914. <p>A few minutes with tcpdump later, I'd set up the MacBook as 192.168.15.200 and could ping the Kindle on 192.168.15.244. No, the Kindle is not listening on any ports out of the box.</p>
2915. <p>Since I know a few of you are asking, no, the Kindle is not acting as a gateway to the outside world. You can't (and shouldn't) use it as a 3G modem for your laptop.  Amazon is almost certainly paying by the byte for your traffic. If you figure out how to start abusing the Kindle's network, 1) it will be very easy for Amazon to catch you and 2) Amazon knows who you are and where you live. (and where you are right now thanks to the Kindle's GPS) </p>
2916. <p>It's pretty clear to me that this USB networking mode is primarily intended for testing, debugging and development. I look forward to seeing some interesting testing, debugging and development.</p>
2917. </content>
2918. </entry>
2920. <entry>
2921. <title>Kindle 2</title>
2922. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/03/kindle-2/"/>
2923. <updated>2009-03-03T20:09:26Z</updated>
2924. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/03/kindle-2/</id>
2925. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;A couple months ago, I bought a Sony 700-series reader.&amp;#160; I returned it after about an hour of use. It was unreadably bad.&amp;#160; Last Tuesday, UPS delivered a Kindle 2 to my house. &lt;/p&gt;
2926. <p>The first night, I stayed up until 4am reading a novel in its entirety.</p>
2927. <p>Over the course of the past year, I read a fair bit on an iPhone with Stanza. I thought it was pretty good. I really like my new Kindle. It actually makes a pretty good reading device. I can read things much more quickly on the e-Ink screen than I could on the iPhone.</p>
2928. <p>Unfortunately, when I get new hardware, I tend to pick up new hobbies.  When I got an Android phone last fall, I discovered just how awful the built in IMAP client was. I ended up learning some Java and <a href="http://k9mail.googlecode.com">forking the mail client</a>.</p>
2929. <p>I thought I'd be safe this time. The Kindle is ostensibly a closed platform. I was...wrong.</p>
2930. <p>The first thing I went reaching for was a way to get .<a href="http://bookworm.oreilly.com">epubs</a> onto the Kindle wirelessly.  Pretty much all the available options involved transcoding on the desktop and tethering or sending the epubs through Amazon's closed conversion service.</p>
2931. <p>There's lovely a opensource desktop app called <a href="http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/" target="_blank">Calibre</a> which can autofetch feeds and do conversion to the .mobi (mobipocket) format the Kindle speaks, but it's a big heavy ball of Python which I found near-impossible to build on OSX.  Their .mobi output has been improving by leaps and bounds recently, but it was still a little not-right for me.</p>
2932. <p>mobiperl is a set of libraries for generating .mobi ebooks. It's not really designed for library use and it's  early-90s perl. I started playing with and tidying up the code.</p>
2933. <p>As far as I could tell, there was no reasonable ePub reader in perl.  So I spent about a day over the course of the past week reverse engineering an ePub parser from sample books. Yes. It's an open standard. Yes, I could have read the spec. (And yes, I did end up referring to the docs here and there.)  Before I started, I looked at Threepress Consulting's <a href="http://code.google.com/p/threepress/" target="_blank">Bookworm</a>.   One thing became abundantly clear: Tools don't actually author books that meet ePub spec.   I don't want to validate ePubs, I want to get at  their content. Which means that a proper reader for compliant books was 100% out of the question.</p>
2934. <p>It was probably only 4-5 hours hacking to get something that could take a zip file that purports to be an ePub, dig through it for metadata, extract the content and build out a document with a table of contents and a reasonably well rendered body. I grabbed Bookworm's test corpus of strangely-broken ePubs. After an hour or two, I managed to get the toolchain to turn all of them into readable HTML.</p>
2935. <p>As I mentioned before, the Kindle reads .mobi. (Amazon's proprietary .azw format is a slightly extended .mobi.  If you subscribe to an unencrypted periodical on your Kindle -- something like BoingBoing -- you'll find that any reader that reads .mobis can read it just fine once you rename it from .azw to .mobi.) Conveniently .mobi is based around an extended subset of HTML 3.2.  It only took a little bit of digging to downconvert things like XHTML entities to something reasonable for the Kindle, add metadata to make the Kindle understand where the Table of Contents, Cover and start of content were.</p>
2936. <p>And as if by magic, I had reinvented epub2mobi...and had the start of a useful toolchain for further publishing hackery.</p>
2937. <p>The next step was to wire it up to a trivial webapp.  http://kindle.fsck.com/ is that trivial webapp.<br>If you visit  <strong>http://kindle.fsck.com/epub/http://some.ebook.site/my.epub</strong> from your Kindle's browser, it will download a copy of that ePub converted to the .mobi format so the Kindle can read it.</p>
2938. <p><em>Please note that http://kindle.fsck.com is a quick hack that has had minimal testing and is currently "a quick hack for me and my friends."  Don't expect support. Don't expect it to work. Don't expect it to stick around. Please do feel free to play with it and leave me comments here.  I expect to keep working on it, as I rather enjoy reading on my Kindle.</em></p><p></p>
2939. <p><em><strong>For the moment, I am archiving ALL CONTENT passed through this system. Do NOT use it for anything sensitive or private. I reserve the right to add any difficult-to-transcode .epubs to my test suite.</strong></em></p>
2940. <p>There's a second tool I'm working on. The current version is similar to a trivial version of Instapaper. I think Instapaper is a fantastic tool, but wanted something that was opensource with better Kindle integration. (Of course, now that I have something working, I've discovered that Marco is working to add Kindle support to Instapaper.)</p>
2941. <p>Right now, the service lets you generate an account id by visiting <a href="http://kindle.fsck.com/new_account" target="_blank">http://kindle.fsck.com/new_account</a>. Once you've done that, you'll see a .mobi you can download to your Kindle (either OTA or by downloading it to your desktop and copying it across) and a bookmarklet you can use to save webpages to a personal library for later download to the Kindle.</p>
2942. <p>Once you have the .mobi on your Kindle, just pop it open and click the link to open up your library.  Click to download any of the content you've saved for easy offline reading.</p>
2943. <p>Right now, I'm not doing _anything_ to make the web pages you download more readable. Instapaper is a good deal cleverer.  But now I can click a button in my bookmark bar and read a copy on my Kindle later.</p>
2944. <p>The next set of features for this toy are probably: </p>
2945. <ul>
2946. <li>Improved HTML transcoding</li>
2947. <li>One-click download of all new content to Kindle</li>
2948. <li>Ability to delete articles from your library</li>
2949. <li>Support for additional content-types in your library (starting with .ePub)</li>
2950. </ul>
2951. <p>While I've been messing around, I've learned some interestingish things about the Kindle 2, but this post has grown long enough. I'll post those seperately.</p>
2952. </content>
2953. </entry>
2955. <entry>
2956. <title>Kindle owners?</title>
2957. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/02/kindle-owners/"/>
2958. <updated>2009-03-02T21:45:00Z</updated>
2959. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/03/02/kindle-owners/</id>
2960. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Are you a Kindle owner? Do you have any interest in reading ePub books on your Kindle?&lt;br&gt;
2961. Ping me.</p>
2962. <p>(Update made friends only because I'm not posting the URL publicly)</p>
2963. </content>
2964. </entry>
2966. <entry>
2967. <title>Down to 82 deps.</title>
2968. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/02/21/down-to-82-deps/"/>
2969. <updated>2009-02-22T07:38:31Z</updated>
2970. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/02/21/down-to-82-deps/</id>
2971. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/2e186-6a00d83456074b69e20111688e6e97970c-pi.png&quot; style=&quot;display:inline;&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;Sd-deps&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e20111688e6e97970c image-full&quot; src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2009/02/2e186-6a00d83456074b69e20111688e6e97970c-pi.png&quot; title=&quot;Sd-deps&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
2972. </content>
2973. </entry>
2975. <entry>
2976. <title>An hour of hacking later, SD&#39;s down 22% of its recursive dependencies</title>
2977. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/02/19/an-hour-of-hacking-later-sds-down-22-of-its-recursive-dependencies/"/>
2978. <updated>2009-02-20T06:41:34Z</updated>
2979. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/02/19/an-hour-of-hacking-later-sds-down-22-of-its-recursive-dependencies/</id>
2980. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/083c9-6a00d83456074b69e2011278fd867128a4-pi.png&quot; style=&quot;display:inline;&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;Swdeps&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e2011278fd867128a4 image-full&quot; src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2009/02/083c9-6a00d83456074b69e2011278fd867128a4-pi.png&quot; title=&quot;Swdeps&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
2981. </content>
2982. </entry>
2984. <entry>
2985. <title>Dependency Discovery and Management</title>
2986. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/02/19/dependency-discovery-and-management/"/>
2987. <updated>2009-02-19T23:53:08Z</updated>
2988. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/02/19/dependency-discovery-and-management/</id>
2989. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;One of the more common complaints about deploying software written in Perl is the occasionally tangled nest of dependencies one must install from CPAN. Given the complexity of the system and the incredibly tenuous level of collaboration between various CPAN module authors, the system works astonishingly well.&lt;/p&gt;
2990. <p>
2991. </p><div>That being said, I want to be able to ship software to clients and other users without worrying about an author uploading a new, untested version of a module next week or a user having to recurse through dependencies 10 deep to be able to get my software installed.</div>
2992. <p>
2993. </p><div>I really want to be able to ship one big tarball with a single install command which I know will do the right thing.  To that end, we've built <a href="http://search.cpan.org/dist/Shipwright" target="_blank">Shipwright</a>.  I've talked about Shipwright before, but I've spent a big chunk of the past week working with <a href="http://search.cpan.org/%7Esunnavy" target="_blank">Sunnavy</a> to smooth out many rough edges and to deal with all sorts of fun edge and corner cases in the code we use to ensure isolated, reproducible builds.</div>
2994. <p>
2995. </p><div>Once you untangle the dependency graph, you'll discover <a href="http://syncwith.us" target="_blank">SD</a> currently has 123 dependencies which weren't core in Perl 5.8.5. They clock in as 8 MB of gzipped distribution files including source code, tests and documentation.  Shipwright knows <span class="at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e201116887bdbc970c"><a href="http://bestpractical.typepad.com/files/order-2.yml"><span class="at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e201116887bf6d970c">the exact order</span></a> they need to be installed in, how to build them and how to wrap them so that the compiled package can be installed in any directory the user wants.  The Shipwright "vessel" is built from a script <a href="http://bestpractical.typepad.com/files/scripted-ship-2"><span class="at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e2011278fcb92d28a4">a script</span></a> on OSX and builds and passes all of SD's tests, as well as the tests for each of those 123 dependencies on an older version on Debian Linux. </span></div>
2996. <p>
2997. </p><div>123 dependencies is too many, even if it's relatively straight forward to install them with a single command. Over the past few days, I've poked at the vessel's order files to try to see what I might be able to pare away with a bit of coding or tweaking.  It...wasn't easy or pleasant work. I made some progress, but only because I know far too much about many of the libraries we depend on and made some good guesses.</div>
2998. <p>
2999. </p><div>I spent a bit of this afternoon hacking up Shipwright to output a graph of all dependencies in a format that GraphViz understands. Now I have pretty pictures.</div>
3000. <p>
3001. </p><div><a href="http://tempexport1.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/886f8-6a00d83456074b69e201116887bcc5970c-pi.png" style="display:inline;"><img alt="Swdeps" border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e201116887bcc5970c image-full " src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2009/02/886f8-6a00d83456074b69e201116887bcc5970c-pi.png" title="Swdeps"></a><br>
3002. </div>
3003. <p>
3004. </p><div>I now understand SD's dependency tree much better and have some good ideas about how to dramatically reduce its dependency graph.</div>
3005. <p>
3006. </p><div>Just for kicks, I ran Shipwright against <a href="http://search.cpan.org/dist/MojoMojo">MojoMojo</a>. The graph is <span class="at-xid-6a00d83456074b69e201116887c368970c"><a href="http://bestpractical.typepad.com/files/mojodeps.pdf">a bit bigger</a>. ;)</span></div>
3007. </content>
3008. </entry>
3010. <entry>
3011. <title>Rantings about The Cloud</title>
3012. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/01/29/rantings-about-the-cloud/"/>
3013. <updated>2009-01-30T02:02:57Z</updated>
3014. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/01/29/rantings-about-the-cloud/</id>
3015. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I ran into &lt;a href=&quot;http://nathan.torkington.com&quot;&gt;Nat&lt;/a&gt; on my way to OSCON this summer and he asked me what was new and exciting in my world, which gave me the perfect opening for my rant about why cloud-hosted services are essentially modern sharecropping.&lt;br&gt;
3016. I ended up typing up a copy of my rantings for him, but never got around to publishing it. (If you'd rather listen to me rant than read me rant, <a href="http://syncwith.us/talks">syncwith.us has links to slides and a video of roughly the same material</a>.<br>
3017. </em><br>
3018. Social computing is a good thing. Being able to share data easily has led to astounding advances in what we all think of as the web over the past few years. It's unlikely that I'd need to tell anyone in the greater O'Reilly Media sphere about all the cool stuff Web 2.0 has brought with it. What's been worrying me is how the current generation of Internet technology has increasingly centralized control of just about everything into very few hands. What we've seen is essentially a return to a sharecropping model where users neither own their tools nor the computers those tools run on.<br>
3019. Back in the "bad old days," access to computing resources was tightly controlled. A small cadre of acolytes made decisions about who could use computing resources, which programs could be run and how much computing time a given user had access to. If a user were particularly unlucky, the entire system would be managed by an outside provider who took care of all the upgrades, whether a user wanted them or not.<br>
3020. In the 1980s, things started to get better. Desktop computers meant that users could make their own decisions about what software they used, when they upgraded it, how carefully they protected their data and so on. As the open source ecosystem matured, things got even rosier. Users gained the freedom to fix their own bugs, add their own features. Not many people took advantage of that freedom directly, but having it at all gave users more flexibility and control.<br>
3021. We've stepped back into the mainframe era. Users are encouraged to use hosted services for even the most sensitive of tasks with very little control over what actually happens to their data once the providers get ahold of it. It's not unheard of for a provider to start charging for access, change or remove features, stop accepting new signups or even sell out their users to the secret police. And users have no recourse. Open APIs are one of the scarier forms of seduction. APIs give users nominal access to their data without actually giving them a way to make use of that data. An API isn't going to help users unless they actually have applications which can use the data and provide the highly networked features the users have grown accustomed to.<br>
3022. For the past couple months [Since April 2008], I've been working on a peer-to-peer database called Prophet. It's designed to allow "offline" replication of databases between people who want or need to share data. There don't need to be any servers, though you can share databases over HTTP as easily as over sneakernet. A user can publish all the changes he's made to a database and his peers can choose if and when to incorporate his updates.<br>
3023. The first app we've built is a peer-to-peer bug tracker which can sync to RT and Hiveminder (and shortly to trac and google code). You can find out more about SD and Prophet at <a href="http://syncwith.us">http://syncwith.us</a><br>
3024. <em>I'll be posting more about SD and Prophet in the nearish future.</em></p>
3025. </content>
3026. </entry>
3028. <entry>
3029. <title>First Post</title>
3030. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/01/29/first-post/"/>
3031. <updated>2009-01-29T18:22:47Z</updated>
3032. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/01/29/first-post/</id>
3033. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Right then. Maybe if I try using a local blog-posting client, rather than using a textarea on a web page, I&#39;ll have better luck at actually writing a blog.&lt;br&gt;
3034. Don't count on it, though.<br>
3035. -jesse</p>
3036. </content>
3037. </entry>
3039. <entry>
3040. <title>If LJ goes under...</title>
3041. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2009/01/06/if-lj-goes-under/"/>
3042. <updated>2009-01-06T22:19:00Z</updated>
3043. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2009/01/06/if-lj-goes-under/</id>
3044. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I will be more productive.&lt;/p&gt;
3045. </content>
3046. </entry>
3048. <entry>
3049. <title>2008 Travel</title>
3050. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2008/12/31/2008-travel/"/>
3051. <updated>2008-12-31T09:01:00Z</updated>
3052. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2008/12/31/2008-travel/</id>
3053. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://gc.kls2.com/cgi-bin/gc?PATH=opo-mad-lhr-bos%0D%0Abos-sfo-ord-bos%0D%0Abos-ord-day-ord-bos%0D%0Abos-ord-iah-dfw-bos%0D%0Abos-lax-hnl-dfw-bos%0D%0Abos-lhr-ams-lhr-bos%0D%0Abos-jfk-nrt-tpe-nrt-jfk-bos%0D%0Abos-dfw-nrt-icn-hkg-lhr-ist-bud-fra-lhr-bos%0D%0Abos-dfw-pdx-dfw-bos%0D%0Abos-lhr-cph-lhr-bos%0D%0Abos-lax-ord-bos%0D%0Abos-mia-mex-mia-bos%0D%0Abos-lhr-cph-lhr-bos%0D%0Abos-sfo-bos%0D%0Abos-jfk-nrt-pek-nrt-ord-bos%0D%0Abos-lhr-mad-lhr-bos,bos-sfo-ord-bos,bos-iad-bos%0D%0A&amp;amp;RANGE=&amp;amp;PATH-COLOR=red&amp;amp;PATH-UNITS=mi&amp;amp;PATH-MINIMUM=&amp;amp;MARKER=1&amp;amp;SPEED-GROUND=&amp;amp;SPEED-UNITS=kts&amp;amp;RANGE-STYLE=best&amp;amp;RANGE-COLOR=navy&amp;amp;MAP-STYLE=&amp;amp;MAP-CENTER=OPO&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;
3054. <img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2008/12/gcmap?PATH=opo-mad-lhr-bos,bos-sfo-ord-bos,bos-ord-day-ord-bos,bos-ord-iah-dfw-bos,bos-lax-hnl-dfw-bos,bos-lhr-ams-lhr-bos,bos-jfk-nrt-tpe-nrt-jfk-bos,bos-dfw-nrt-icn-hkg-lhr-ist-bud-fra-lhr-bos,bos-dfw-pdx-dfw-bos,bos-lhr-cph-lhr-bos,bos-lax-ord-bos,bos-mia-mex-mia-bos,bos-lhr-cph-lhr-bos,bos-sfo-bos,bos-jfk-nrt-pek-nrt-ord-bos,bos-lhr-mad-lhr-bos,bos-sfo-ord-bos,bos-iad-bos&MAP-CENTER=OPO&PATH-COLOR=red&MARKER=1"></a></p>
3055. <p>As currently planned: 140657 miles. Updated 12/12/08.</p>
3056. </content>
3057. </entry>
3059. <entry>
3060. <title>K-9 - An android mutt</title>
3061. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2008/10/28/k-9-an-android-mutt/"/>
3062. <updated>2008-10-28T10:03:00Z</updated>
3063. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2008/10/28/k-9-an-android-mutt/</id>
3064. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I swore to myself that I wouldn&#39;t get a T-Mobile G1.  That..didn&#39;t work so well.  I picked mine up after lunch on release day.&lt;/p&gt;
3065. <p>I knew I wasn't going to be happy with the stock mail client, but I had no idea how....not ready it was.</p>
3066. <p>The total dealbreaker for me was that it didn't have keybindings for simple things like delete. </p>
3067. <p>"No problem. I'll just build a patched copy and submit the changes upstream," I thought.  So, I dusted off my Java, hauled down the SDK and the source for the core Email application.  Once I got it to build, it was really only about 15 minutes of fiddling around until I could reliably crash the application on the emulator by hitting the delete key.  5 more minutes and I had what I wanted. </p>
3068. <p>...and then I discovered that the Email application doesn't yet know how to propagate message deletion back to an IMAP server.</p>
3069. <p>15 more minutes of hacking and that, too, was sorted out.</p>
3070. <p>The moment of truth arrived. I tried to install it on my phone. </p>
3071. <p>No go.  </p>
3072. <p>It turns out you can't replace system applications.</p>
3073. <p>So, I did what any self-respecting hacker would. <a href="http://twitter.com/obra/status/978252972" target="_blank">I complained about it on twitter</a>....and then I registered for the Android Marketplace.  It took 5 minutes and cost $25.</p>
3074. <p>I set up a google code project, checked in the 'Email' app's original source code and started in with a regex-shaped chainsaw.  When I was done <a href="http://code.google.com/p/k9mail">K-9 was born</a>. </p>
3075. <p>While I hope to eventually get some fixes contributed back to the core Android 'Email' app, I want to get a bit of active development going on a more usable mail application <i>right now</i>.  And yeah, there's a bit of me that's curious about how the community is going to handle forked bits of the core Android platform.  If you'd like a commit bit, just ask.</p>
3076. <p>Right now, K-9 has reasonable keybindings for message lists and individual messages as well as the delete fixes I mentioned. I've released 3 versions in the span of 6 hours.  It's been downloaded by about 200 people.</p>
3077. <p>Tomorrow, I expect to add a setting to let me set an always-Bcc address....unless one of you beat me to it.</p>
3078. </content>
3079. </entry>
3081. <entry>
3082. <title>San Francisco People - Dinner Thursday or Friday?</title>
3083. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2008/10/22/san-francisco-people-dinner-thursday-or-friday/"/>
3084. <updated>2008-10-23T00:32:00Z</updated>
3085. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2008/10/22/san-francisco-people-dinner-thursday-or-friday/</id>
3086. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;m in SF for work on Friday. I&#39;d love to see folks for dinner on Thursday and/or Friday night.&lt;/p&gt;
3087. <p>If you're free, drop me a line and we'll figure out plans.</p>
3088. </content>
3089. </entry>
3091. <entry>
3092. <title>London, Copenhagen, Lund</title>
3093. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2008/10/08/london-copenhagen-lund/"/>
3094. <updated>2008-10-08T22:24:00Z</updated>
3095. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2008/10/08/london-copenhagen-lund/</id>
3096. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;If you are in London, we should have breakfast on Monday. (And, possibly, you should let me sleep on your spare bed Sunday night)&lt;/p&gt;
3097. <p>If you are in Copenhagen, we should have a beer at the Globe on Monday evening.</p>
3098. <p>If you are in Lund, Sweden, I'll be there next tuesday, wednesday and thursday. We should hang out.</p>
3099. </content>
3100. </entry>
3102. <entry>
3103. <title>This is CNN</title>
3104. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2008/09/15/this-is-cnn/"/>
3105. <updated>2008-09-15T20:32:00Z</updated>
3106. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2008/09/15/this-is-cnn/</id>
3107. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://pics.livejournal.com/obra/pic/00002c65/&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2008/09/s320x240&quot; width=&quot;193&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
3108. <p>So. 4 counts Palin. 4 counts Ike. 4 counts Lehman. 2 counts Bush. 1 count telephone dog. 1 count dancing stormtrooper. (Not shown: 1 count OJ. <small>Ok. one count armed robbery</small>).</p>
3109. <p>I'd like my news cycle back. Perhaps even some good news.</p>
3110. </content>
3111. </entry>
3113. <entry>
3114. <title>European Travel Early Warning System</title>
3115. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2008/09/15/european-travel-early-warning-system/"/>
3116. <updated>2008-09-15T08:26:00Z</updated>
3117. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2008/09/15/european-travel-early-warning-system/</id>
3118. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So, I need to be in Madrid on 24 and 25 November.&lt;/p&gt;
3119. <p>It appears that it's a good deal cheaper and more comfortable for me to leave the US on Friday, 21 November.</p>
3120. <p>My time on the 22nd and 23rd is entirely unscheduled at the moment.</p>
3121. <p>It appears that it would cost about the same to:</p>
3122. <p>Spend two nights in the UK<br>
3123. Spend a night in the UK and an night day in Madrid<br>
3124. Spend a night in the UK and a night in Lisbon<br>
3125. Spend a night in the UK and a night in Barcelona </p>
3126. <p>...and probably cost about the same to spend a night elsewhere in Europe on my way to Madrid.</p>
3127. <p>So. Where shall I go?</p>
3128. </content>
3129. </entry>
3131. <entry>
3132. <title>Boston - Saturday - Birthday Dimsum</title>
3133. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2008/06/18/boston-saturday-birthday-dimsum/"/>
3134. <updated>2008-06-19T05:31:00Z</updated>
3135. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2008/06/18/boston-saturday-birthday-dimsum/</id>
3136. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;This Saturday (June 21) is my birthday.  I&#39;m turning 32. Kaia and I are getting on an airplane at 6am on Sunday, so I can&#39;t quite quite pull off a proper party on Saturday night.  Instead, please join me for &lt;b&gt;Dim Sum&lt;/b&gt; at &lt;b&gt;China Pearl&lt;/b&gt; at &lt;b&gt;11:30 AM&lt;/b&gt; on &lt;b&gt;Saturday&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
3137. <p>There's no need to bring presents or anything and I'd rather you show up than not, but if you can RSVP by Friday morning, I can do my best to make sure we don't have to wait for a table.</p>
3138. <p>See you Saturday!</p>
3139. </content>
3140. </entry>
3142. <entry>
3143. <title>I&#39;m voting republican because...</title>
3144. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2008/06/11/im-voting-republican-because/"/>
3145. <updated>2008-06-11T21:35:00Z</updated>
3146. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2008/06/11/im-voting-republican-because/</id>
3147. <content type="html">
3148. </content>
3149. </entry>
3151. <entry>
3152. <title>Web 2.0 is Sharecropping</title>
3153. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2008/05/29/web-2-0-is-sharecropping/"/>
3154. <updated>2008-05-30T05:33:00Z</updated>
3155. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2008/05/29/web-2-0-is-sharecropping/</id>
3156. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I gave a 5 minute talk at Ignite Boston this evening. The basic premise, for those of you who don&#39;t do flash or don&#39;t feel like clicking through is this: &lt;b&gt;If you don&#39;t own your tools, you&#39;re going to be in a whole mess of trouble.&lt;/b&gt; Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But one day, you&#39;re going to be very, very unhappy with the fact that you&#39;ve given up your right to software self-determination.&lt;/p&gt;
3157. <div id="__ss_436358" style="width:425px;text-align:left;">
3158. <div style="font-size:11px;font-family:tahoma, arial;height:26px;padding-top:2px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/?src=embed"><img alt="SlideShare" style="border:0 none;margin-bottom:-5px;" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2008/05/logo_embd.png"></a> | <a title="View Web 2.0 is Sharecropping on SlideShare" href="https://blog.fsck.com/2008/05/29/web-2-0-is-sharecropping/embed">View</a></div>
3159. </div>
3160. </content>
3161. </entry>
3163. <entry>
3164. <title>An untitled post</title>
3165. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2008/05/07/368/"/>
3166. <updated>2008-05-08T01:35:00Z</updated>
3167. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2008/05/07/368/</id>
3168. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;m looking to get a quick read of what folks are using for bug tracking. I&#39;m NOT looking for advocacy and this has nothing to do with getting anybody to &#39;switch&#39; bug trackers.&lt;/p&gt;
3169. </content>
3170. </entry>
3172. <entry>
3173. <title>My t-shirt runs your company.</title>
3174. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2008/04/24/my-t-shirt-runs-your-company/"/>
3175. <updated>2008-04-24T15:01:00Z</updated>
3176. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2008/04/24/my-t-shirt-runs-your-company/</id>
3177. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;See photo: &lt;a href=&quot;http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/entry/freedom_s_choice&quot;&gt;http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/entry/freedom_s_choice&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
3178. </content>
3179. </entry>
3181. <entry>
3182. <title>Earth Day!</title>
3183. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2008/04/22/earth-day/"/>
3184. <updated>2008-04-23T04:35:00Z</updated>
3185. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2008/04/22/earth-day/</id>
3186. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Today is Earth Day. I did my part by flying from Amsterdam to Boston, burning approximately 1 ton of CO2.&lt;/p&gt;
3187. </content>
3188. </entry>
3190. <entry>
3191. <title>London, Amsterdam: Breakfast?</title>
3192. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2008/04/15/london-amsterdam-breakfast/"/>
3193. <updated>2008-04-16T06:02:00Z</updated>
3194. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2008/04/15/london-amsterdam-breakfast/</id>
3195. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;m going to be in London for breakfast on Friday. If you&#39;re free, ping me in comments and I&#39;ll shoot you mail with details.&lt;/p&gt;
3196. <p>I'm going to be in Amsterdam for the weekend. If you're interested in Dim Sum on Sunday, leave me a comment and I'll make sure to tell you what the plan is. </p>
3197. <p>If you're in London or Amsterdam (or will be this weekend) and feel like meeting up, but neither of these quite works, tell me and we'll figure something else out.</p>
3198. </content>
3199. </entry>
3201. <entry>
3202. <title>Spring break</title>
3203. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2008/04/06/spring-break/"/>
3204. <updated>2008-04-06T12:03:00Z</updated>
3205. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2008/04/06/spring-break/</id>
3206. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;CL and I went to Hawaii for spring break. We spent 10 hours a day sitting in a cafe coding, averaging about one thousand lines of code per day for a week. It was, without a doubt, the best spring break ever.  And I&#39;m bringing home the best souvenir ever:  a peer-to-peer replicated database with near-magical conflict resolution.&lt;/p&gt;
3207. </content>
3208. </entry>
3210. <entry>
3211. <title>pseudotweet</title>
3212. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2008/04/06/pseudotweet/"/>
3213. <updated>2008-04-06T11:59:00Z</updated>
3214. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2008/04/06/pseudotweet/</id>
3215. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I can use livejournal as if it were Twitter!&lt;/p&gt;
3216. </content>
3217. </entry>
3219. <entry>
3220. <title>ENOTWITTER</title>
3221. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2008/04/06/enotwitter/"/>
3222. <updated>2008-04-06T11:58:00Z</updated>
3223. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2008/04/06/enotwitter/</id>
3224. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Oh no! Twitter is down. However will I post my one-line life updates?&lt;/p&gt;
3225. </content>
3226. </entry>
3228. <entry>
3229. <title>ISO Office Manager</title>
3230. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2008/03/10/iso-office-manager/"/>
3231. <updated>2008-03-10T23:49:00Z</updated>
3232. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2008/03/10/iso-office-manager/</id>
3233. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;4&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;2&quot;&gt;(This goes to craigslist tomorrow, but I&#39;d rather end up with a referral from a friend than with a total stranger)&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
3234. <p><br>ABOUT US</p>
3235. <p>We're a small software company located in Somerville, Mass. Our primary product is RT (Request Tracker), an open-source issue tracking system.  It's used by thousands of organizations around the world.  We also make a distributed version control system called SVK and a web-based todo list system called Hiveminder (http://hiveminder.com) We make software and sell support, training, consulting and custom development. </p>
3236. <p>We've been around since fall of 2001 and are entirely bootstrap funded. Things just keep getting busier.</p>
3237. <p><font size="4">ABOUT THE JOB</font></p>
3238. <p>Our beloved office manager is leaving us this spring to pursue a career in massage therapy. We're looking for a bright, talented individual to help keep us organized. It's very important that you be able to keep on top of both long-term projects and day-to-day details without someone looking over your shoulder. On the other hand, you need to know when to ask for help or direction.</p>
3239. <p>You'll report directly to the corporate boss-type-person. As his assistant, you'll be responsible for making sure that things get dealt with - everything from making sure the office stays clean and well stocked with copy-paper and free snacks to doing payroll.</p>
3240. <p>Day-to-day, you'll be dealing with staff (not all of whom are local or even in the country), vendors and customers. You need excellent written and verbal communications skills (for dealing with customers) even if most of the time you're slumming with the rest of us who aren't so hot with our capitalization and punctuation.</p>
3241. <p>We're a small company and the boss is typically overextended. He travels a fair bit and when he's not traveling, he can be pretty busy. You should be comfortable working independently, prioritizing tasks on your own, and juggling tasks & projects. We know that we're not going to find an office manager who reads minds, but if you can fake it well enough to make sure that things get done before they become crises, we'll be thrilled (that means you should be proactive).</p>
3242. <p>You need to be comfortable using a computer running Mac OS X or some variant of Unix. You should know how to use an email client, a web browser, a spreadsheet, a word processor and Quickbooks.   We do just about everything online and on the phone. You should be comfortable using email and instant messaging systems to collaborate and get work done.</p>
3243. <p>You shouldn't be frustrated by computers or computer geeks. Just about everyone here is a computer geek (though we all have other interests). You don't need to know how to program in Perl or have a shelf full of O'Reilly books, but it's helpful if you already know that Perl is a programming language and that O'Reilly books are the ones with animals on the cover.</p>
3244. <p>Most of the time, you'll be working from our office in lovely Davis Sq, Somerville, though you'll end up swinging by the boss's house in Porter once or twice a week to deal with bills and other minor home-office arcana.</p>
3245. <p><font size="4">RESPONSIBILITIES</font></p>
3246. <p>Below, you'll find a rough breakdown of what the job entails. This breakdown is over the course of the year, not what you'll have to do every week. Being a small company, things do shift around and new things will come up, but this should be a pretty good snapshot.</p>
3247. <p><b>Financial Management - about a third of your time</b></p>
3248. <p>* Accounts Payable - pay vendor bills<br>* Accounts Receivable - invoice customers; process incoming payments<br>* Payroll – submit payroll to specialists & pay independent contractors<br>* Bank account reconciliation<br>* Maintenance of records<br>* Tax preparation for accountant</p>
3249. <p><b>Office Management - maybe a third of your time</b></p>
3250. <p>* Pick up mail from post office box in Davis Sq.<br>* Open and organize mail<br>* Correspondence - email, fax, and letters<br>* Mail/ship correspondence & packages<br>* Order office/computer supplies<br>* Keep Office and Bathroom Clean<br>* Stock Office with drinks, snacks and necessities<br>* Oversee all non-sales contracts</p>
3251. <p><b>Special Projects - a small bit</b></p>
3252. <p>* Research<br>* Setting up new employees<br>* Assist the Sales Team</p>
3253. <p><b>Event Planning - less than a quarter of your time</b></p>
3254. <p>* Research and select hotels for training sessions around the world<br>* Coordinate with hotels<br>* Communicate with attendees<br>* Invoice attendees, track payments, issue receipts<br>* Order books</p>
3255. <p><b>Household Management - little bits here and there</b></p>
3256. <p>* Open and organize mail<br>* Pay bills<br>* Collect rent </p>
3257. <p><b>Other - as needed</b></p>
3258. <p>* Arrange travel for the boss-type person<br>* Manage relationships with independent contractors<br>* Deal with things that need dealing with</p>
3259. <p><font size="4">BENEFITS AND COMPENSATION</font></p>
3260. <p>The position is full-time.<br>Salary: $30,000 - $35,000 per year, depending on experience<br>Health, dental from day 1. <br>Fairly liberal vacation policy.<br>MacBook. Work cellphone.<br>Flexible hours & a little bit of telecommuting.<br>Relaxed office atmosphere - No dress code. </p>
3261. <p><font size="4">HOW TO APPLY FOR THE JOB</font></p>
3262. <p>Please send a cover letter and resume to: resumes@bestpractical.com</p>
3263. <p>Real people will read your cover letter. We'd love to know a bit about who you are, where you went to college, where you've worked and what sorts of things you're interested in, rather than just that you've seen our job posting and are sure that you'd be a fine match for the position. If you have a website or blog you'd like to share with us, please send a link.</p>
3264. <p>While we can probably read any resume format you can throw at us, we'd appreciate it a lot if you can send it as plain text or HTML. If you can't do that, PDF. If you can't generate a PDF, Word is okay.</p>
3265. </content>
3266. </entry>
3268. <entry>
3269. <title>Perlish goodness</title>
3270. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2008/02/08/perlish-goodness/"/>
3271. <updated>2008-02-08T10:14:00Z</updated>
3272. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2008/02/08/perlish-goodness/</id>
3273. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;We have a new build and distribution tool called &#39;Shipwright.&#39; It basically takes the pain out of distributing perl applications with all their dependencies. (It also lets you version the dependencies, build relocatable binary distributions with one command and actually imports packages and their dependencies into version control with a single command).&lt;/p&gt;
3274. <p><!--more So, this is what Hiveminder's Shipwright repository looks like. It took me 3 commands to check all of these into version control:--></p>
3275. <p>So, this is what Hiveminder's Shipwright repository looks like. It took me 3 commands to check all of these into version control</p>
3276. <p>AnyEvent/<br>
3277. App-CLI/<br>
3278. Archive-Tar/<br>
3279. Array-Compare/<br>
3280. BTDT/<br>
3281. Bit-Vector/<br>
3282. Business-CreditCard/<br>
3283. Business-OnlinePayment/<br>
3284. Business-OnlinePayment-AuthorizeNet/<br>
3285. Business-OnlinePayment-AuthorizeNet-AIM-ErrorCodes/<br>
3286. CGI-Cookie-Splitter/<br>
3287. CGI-Simple/<br>
3288. CGI.pm/<br>
3289. CSS-Squish/<br>
3290. Cache-Cache/<br>
3291. Cache-Simple-TimedExpiry/<br>
3292. Calendar-Simple/<br>
3293. Carp-Assert/<br>
3294. Carp-Assert-More/<br>
3295. Carp-Clan/<br>
3296. Chatbot-Eliza/<br>
3297. Class-Accessor/<br>
3298. Class-Accessor-Chained/<br>
3299. Class-Container/<br>
3300. Class-Data-Inheritable/<br>
3301. Class-Factory-Util/<br>
3302. Class-InsideOut/<br>
3303. Class-Inspector/<br>
3304. Class-ReturnValue/<br>
3305. Class-Singleton/<br>
3306. Class-Trigger/<br>
3307. Clone/<br>
3308. Color-Calc/<br>
3309. Color-Library/<br>
3310. Compress-PPMd/<br>
3311. Compress-Raw-Zlib/<br>
3312. Compress-Zlib/<br>
3313. Config-General/<br>
3314. Coro/<br>
3315. Crypt-Blowfish/<br>
3316. Crypt-CBC/<br>
3317. Crypt-Rijndael/<br>
3318. DBD-Pg/<br>
3319. DBD-SQLite/<br>
3320. DBI/<br>
3321. DBIx-DBSchema/<br>
3322. DBM-Deep/<br>
3323. Data-Denter/<br>
3324. Data-ICal/<br>
3325. Data-OptList/<br>
3326. Data-Page/<br>
3327. Data-Serializer/<br>
3328. Data-Taxi/<br>
3329. Data-UUID/<br>
3330. Date-Calc/<br>
3331. Date-Extract/<br>
3332. Date-ICal/<br>
3333. Date-Leapyear/<br>
3334. Date-Manip/<br>
3335. DateTime/<br>
3336. DateTime-Format/<br>
3337. DateTime-Format-Builder/<br>
3338. DateTime-Format-Mail/<br>
3339. DateTime-Format-Natural/<br>
3340. DateTime-Format-Strptime/<br>
3341. DateTime-Locale/<br>
3342. DateTime-TimeZone/<br>
3343. Devel-StackTrace/<br>
3344. Devel-Symdump/<br>
3345. Digest/<br>
3346. Digest-SHA/<br>
3347. EV/<br>
3348. Email-Abstract/<br>
3349. Email-Address/<br>
3350. Email-Date-Format/<br>
3351. Email-Folder/<br>
3352. Email-FolderType/<br>
3353. Email-LocalDelivery/<br>
3354. Email-MIME/<br>
3355. Email-MIME-Attachment-Stripper/<br>
3356. Email-MIME-ContentType/<br>
3357. Email-MIME-CreateHTML/<br>
3358. Email-MIME-Creator/<br>
3359. Email-MIME-Encodings/<br>
3360. Email-MIME-Modifier/<br>
3361. Email-MessageID/<br>
3362. Email-Reply/<br>
3363. Email-Send/<br>
3364. Email-Simple/<br>
3365. Email-Simple-Creator/<br>
3366. Error/<br>
3367. Event/<br>
3368. Exception-Class/<br>
3369. Exporter-Lite/<br>
3370. ExtUtils-CBuilder/<br>
3371. ExtUtils-Command/<br>
3372. ExtUtils-MakeMaker/<br>
3373. ExtUtils-ParseXS/<br>
3374. File-Find-Rule/<br>
3375. File-MMagic/<br>
3376. File-Path-Expand/<br>
3377. File-Policy/<br>
3378. File-ShareDir/<br>
3379. File-Slurp/<br>
3380. FileHandle-Fmode/<br>
3381. FreezeThaw/<br>
3382. GD/<br>
3383. Graphics-ColorNames/<br>
3384. Graphics-ColorNames-WWW/<br>
3385. HTML-Lint/<br>
3386. HTML-Mason/<br>
3387. HTML-Parser/<br>
3388. HTML-Scrubber/<br>
3389. HTML-TagCloud/<br>
3390. HTML-Tagset/<br>
3391. HTML-TokeParser-Simple/<br>
3392. HTML-Truncate/<br>
3393. HTTP-Server-Simple/<br>
3394. HTTP-Server-Simple-Recorder/<br>
3395. Hash-Merge/<br>
3396. Hook-LexWrap/<br>
3397. IO-AIO/<br>
3398. IO-All/<br>
3399. IO-Compress-Base/<br>
3400. IO-Compress-Zlib/<br>
3401. IO-Socket-SSL/<br>
3402. IO-String/<br>
3403. IO-Tee/<br>
3404. IO-Zlib/<br>
3405. IO-stringy/<br>
3406. IPC/<br>
3407. IPC-Cmd/<br>
3408. IPC-PubSub/<br>
3409. JSON/<br>
3410. JSON-Any/<br>
3411. Jifty/<br>
3412. Jifty-DBI/<br>
3413. Lingua-EN-Inflect/<br>
3414. Lingua-EN-Numbers-Ordinate/<br>
3415. List-MoreUtils/<br>
3416. Locale-Maketext-Lexicon/<br>
3417. Locale-Maketext-Simple/<br>
3418. Log-Log4perl/<br>
3419. Log-Trace/<br>
3420. MIME-Types/<br>
3421. Module-Build/<br>
3422. Module-CoreList/<br>
3423. Module-Load/<br>
3424. Module-Load-Conditional/<br>
3425. Module-Loaded/<br>
3426. Module-Pluggable/<br>
3427. Module-Refresh/<br>
3428. Module-ScanDeps/<br>
3429. Module-Signature/<br>
3430. Net-IMAP-Server/<br>
3431. Net-IMAP-Simple/<br>
3432. Net-IMAP-Simple-SSL/<br>
3433. Net-SSLeay/<br>
3434. Net-Server/<br>
3435. Net-Server-Coro/<br>
3436. Net-Twitter/<br>
3437. Number-Compare/<br>
3438. Number-RecordLocator/<br>
3439. Object-Declare/<br>
3440. PHP-Serialization/<br>
3441. PadWalker/<br>
3442. Params-Check/<br>
3443. Params-Util/<br>
3444. Params-Validate/<br>
3445. PathTools/<br>
3446. Pod-Coverage/<br>
3447. Pod-Escapes/<br>
3448. Pod-Readme/<br>
3449. Pod-Simple/<br>
3450. Pod-Strip/<br>
3451. Proc-ProcessTable/<br>
3452. Regexp-Common/<br>
3453. Regexp-Common-Email-Address/<br>
3454. Return-Value/<br>
3455. SQL-ReservedWords/<br>
3456. Scalar-Defer/<br>
3457. Spiffy/<br>
3458. String-Koremutake/<br>
3459. Sub-Exporter/<br>
3460. Sub-Install/<br>
3461. Sub-Override/<br>
3462. Sub-Uplevel/<br>
3463. Task-Weaken/<br>
3464. Template-Declare/<br>
3465. TermReadKey/<br>
3466. Test-Assertions/<br>
3467. Test-Base/<br>
3468. Test-Deep/<br>
3469. Test-Dependencies/<br>
3470. Test-Distribution/<br>
3471. Test-Exception/<br>
3472. Test-HTTP-Server-Simple/<br>
3473. Test-Log4perl/<br>
3474. Test-LongString/<br>
3475. Test-Manifest/<br>
3476. Test-Mock-LWP/<br>
3477. Test-MockObject/<br>
3478. Test-MockTime/<br>
3479. Test-NoWarnings/<br>
3480. Test-Pod/<br>
3481. Test-Pod-Coverage/<br>
3482. Test-Portability-Files/<br>
3483. Test-Simple/<br>
3484. Test-Tester/<br>
3485. Test-WWW-Mechanize/<br>
3486. Test-WWW-Selenium/<br>
3487. Test-Warn/<br>
3488. Test-use-ok/<br>
3489. Text-Autoformat/<br>
3490. Text-CSV_XS/<br>
3491. Text-FixEOL/<br>
3492. Text-Glob/<br>
3493. Text-Markdown/<br>
3494. Text-Password-Pronounceable/<br>
3495. Text-Quoted/<br>
3496. Text-Reform/<br>
3497. Text-Tags/<br>
3498. Text-vFile-asData/<br>
3499. Tie-IxHash/<br>
3500. Tie-Sub/<br>
3501. Time-Duration/<br>
3502. Time-Piece/<br>
3503. Time-modules/<br>
3504. Tree-DAG_Node/<br>
3505. UNIVERSAL-can/<br>
3506. UNIVERSAL-isa/<br>
3507. UNIVERSAL-require/<br>
3508. URI/<br>
3509. WWW-Mechanize/<br>
3510. XML-Atom/<br>
3511. XML-Dumper/<br>
3512. XML-LibXML/<br>
3513. XML-LibXML-Common/<br>
3514. XML-NamespaceSupport/<br>
3515. XML-Parser/<br>
3516. XML-SAX/<br>
3517. XML-Simple/<br>
3518. XML-Writer/<br>
3519. XML-XPath/<br>
3520. YAML/<br>
3521. YAML-Syck/<br>
3522. libwww-perl/<br>
3523. parent/<br>
3524. podlators/<br>
3525. rpm-build-perl/<br>
3526. version/</p>
3527. <p>And this is the order they need to be built in: (It took 0  manual commands to work that out)<br>
3528. ---<br>
3529. - ExtUtils-MakeMaker<br>
3530. - EV<br>
3531. - AnyEvent<br>
3532. - Event<br>
3533. - IO-AIO<br>
3534. - Coro<br>
3535. - Net-Server<br>
3536. - Net-Server-Coro<br>
3537. - Tree-DAG_Node<br>
3538. - Test-Simple<br>
3539. - Module-Signature<br>
3540. - Pod-Escapes<br>
3541. - Pod-Simple<br>
3542. - podlators<br>
3543. - Regexp-Common<br>
3544. - Test-Pod<br>
3545. - Test-Portability-Files<br>
3546. - Devel-Symdump<br>
3547. - Pod-Coverage<br>
3548. - Test-Pod-Coverage<br>
3549. - Pod-Readme<br>
3550. - version<br>
3551. - ExtUtils-CBuilder<br>
3552. - IO-Compress-Base<br>
3553. - Compress-Raw-Zlib<br>
3554. - IO-Compress-Zlib<br>
3555. - Compress-Zlib<br>
3556. - IO-Zlib<br>
3557. - Archive-Tar<br>
3558. - ExtUtils-ParseXS<br>
3559. - Module-Build<br>
3560. - Sub-Uplevel<br>
3561. - Test-Exception<br>
3562. - Array-Compare<br>
3563. - Test-Warn<br>
3564. - Net-SSLeay<br>
3565. - IO-Socket-SSL<br>
3566. - Email-MIME-ContentType<br>
3567. - Class-Accessor<br>
3568. - Email-Simple<br>
3569. - Email-Address<br>
3570. - Email-MIME-Encodings<br>
3571. - MIME-Types<br>
3572. - Email-MIME<br>
3573. - Net-IMAP-Server<br>
3574. - Params-Validate<br>
3575. - DateTime-Locale<br>
3576. - Class-Singleton<br>
3577. - DateTime-TimeZone<br>
3578. - DateTime<br>
3579. - IO-stringy<br>
3580. - Class-Trigger<br>
3581. - Sub-Override<br>
3582. - Object-Declare<br>
3583. - Clone<br>
3584. - Hash-Merge<br>
3585. - Cache-Simple-TimedExpiry<br>
3586. - UNIVERSAL-require<br>
3587. - Lingua-EN-Inflect<br>
3588. - DBI<br>
3589. - DBD-SQLite<br>
3590. - Exporter-Lite<br>
3591. - Class-InsideOut<br>
3592. - Scalar-Defer<br>
3593. - Class-Accessor-Chained<br>
3594. - Data-Page<br>
3595. - Devel-StackTrace<br>
3596. - Class-ReturnValue<br>
3597. - YAML-Syck<br>
3598. - Task-Weaken<br>
3599. - Class-Factory-Util<br>
3600. - DateTime-Format-Strptime<br>
3601. - DateTime-Format-Builder<br>
3602. - Module-CoreList<br>
3603. - Text-Glob<br>
3604. - Number-Compare<br>
3605. - File-Find-Rule<br>
3606. - Test-Distribution<br>
3607. - DateTime-Format<br>
3608. - FreezeThaw<br>
3609. - DBIx-DBSchema<br>
3610. - Class-Data-Inheritable<br>
3611. - Jifty-DBI<br>
3612. - YAML<br>
3613. - Locale-Maketext-Lexicon<br>
3614. - Module-Pluggable<br>
3615. - Locale-Maketext-Simple<br>
3616. - App-CLI<br>
3617. - Sub-Install<br>
3618. - Params-Util<br>
3619. - Data-OptList<br>
3620. - Sub-Exporter<br>
3621. - SQL-ReservedWords<br>
3622. - Email-MessageID<br>
3623. - Email-MIME-Modifier<br>
3624. - Exception-Class<br>
3625. - Error<br>
3626. - Digest<br>
3627. - Cache-Cache<br>
3628. - Class-Container<br>
3629. - HTML-Tagset<br>
3630. - HTML-Parser<br>
3631. - HTML-Mason<br>
3632. - ExtUtils-Command<br>
3633. - URI<br>
3634. - HTTP-Server-Simple<br>
3635. - Crypt-CBC<br>
3636. - Module-Refresh<br>
3637. - Data-UUID<br>
3638. - FileHandle-Fmode<br>
3639. - DBM-Deep<br>
3640. - IPC-PubSub<br>
3641. - File-Path-Expand<br>
3642. - Email-FolderType<br>
3643. - Email-LocalDelivery<br>
3644. - Log-Trace<br>
3645. - Email-Date-Format<br>
3646. - Email-Simple-Creator<br>
3647. - Email-MIME-Creator<br>
3648. - HTML-TokeParser-Simple<br>
3649. - Digest-SHA<br>
3650. - Data-Taxi<br>
3651. - Compress-PPMd<br>
3652. - XML-NamespaceSupport<br>
3653. - XML-SAX<br>
3654. - XML-Simple<br>
3655. - Crypt-Blowfish<br>
3656. - JSON<br>
3657. - libwww-perl<br>
3658. - XML-Parser<br>
3659. - XML-Dumper<br>
3660. - PHP-Serialization<br>
3661. - Config-General<br>
3662. - Data-Denter<br>
3663. - Data-Serializer<br>
3664. - Test-Assertions<br>
3665. - File-Slurp<br>
3666. - File-Policy<br>
3667. - Email-MIME-CreateHTML<br>
3668. - Date-Manip<br>
3669. - HTML-Lint<br>
3670. - Template-Declare<br>
3671. - UNIVERSAL-can<br>
3672. - UNIVERSAL-isa<br>
3673. - Test-MockObject<br>
3674. - Test-Mock-LWP<br>
3675. - Test-WWW-Selenium<br>
3676. - Calendar-Simple<br>
3677. - Class-Inspector<br>
3678. - File-ShareDir<br>
3679. - Test-LongString<br>
3680. - XML-XPath<br>
3681. - IPC<br>
3682. - WWW-Mechanize<br>
3683. - String-Koremutake<br>
3684. - Log-Log4perl<br>
3685. - File-MMagic<br>
3686. - XML-Writer<br>
3687. - IO-Tee<br>
3688. - Test-HTTP-Server-Simple<br>
3689. - HTTP-Server-Simple-Recorder<br>
3690. - Return-Value<br>
3691. - Email-Send<br>
3692. - Email-Folder<br>
3693. - PathTools<br>
3694. - Lingua-EN-Numbers-Ordinate<br>
3695. - Test-Log4perl<br>
3696. - Module-ScanDeps<br>
3697. - Spiffy<br>
3698. - Test-Base<br>
3699. - PadWalker<br>
3700. - Carp-Assert<br>
3701. - Carp-Assert-More<br>
3702. - Test-WWW-Mechanize<br>
3703. - Test-Manifest<br>
3704. - Crypt-Rijndael<br>
3705. - Hook-LexWrap<br>
3706. - CSS-Squish<br>
3707. - CGI-Simple<br>
3708. - Test-use-ok<br>
3709. - CGI-Cookie-Splitter<br>
3710. - CGI.pm<br>
3711. - Jifty<br>
3712. - Number-RecordLocator<br>
3713. - Net-IMAP-Simple<br>
3714. - GD<br>
3715. - Business-OnlinePayment-AuthorizeNet-AIM-ErrorCodes<br>
3716. - Module-Loaded<br>
3717. - Module-Load<br>
3718. - Color-Library<br>
3719. - Tie-Sub<br>
3720. - Graphics-ColorNames<br>
3721. - Graphics-ColorNames-WWW<br>
3722. - Color-Calc<br>
3723. - List-MoreUtils<br>
3724. - Text-Markdown<br>
3725. - HTML-Truncate<br>
3726. - Net-IMAP-Simple-SSL<br>
3727. - Regexp-Common-Email-Address<br>
3728. - HTML-TagCloud<br>
3729. - Time-modules<br>
3730. - Proc-ProcessTable<br>
3731. - DateTime-Format-Mail<br>
3732. - Business-OnlinePayment<br>
3733. - Text-Password-Pronounceable<br>
3734. - Time-Piece<br>
3735. - Test-MockTime<br>
3736. - TermReadKey<br>
3737. - Text-Reform<br>
3738. - Text-Autoformat<br>
3739. - Email-MIME-Attachment-Stripper<br>
3740. - XML-LibXML-Common<br>
3741. - XML-LibXML<br>
3742. - XML-Atom<br>
3743. - Date-Leapyear<br>
3744. - Date-ICal<br>
3745. - Text-Quoted<br>
3746. - Test-Tester<br>
3747. - Test-NoWarnings<br>
3748. - Text-vFile-asData<br>
3749. - Data-ICal<br>
3750. - Email-Abstract<br>
3751. - Email-Reply<br>
3752. - parent<br>
3753. - Carp-Clan<br>
3754. - Bit-Vector<br>
3755. - Date-Calc<br>
3756. - DateTime-Format-Natural<br>
3757. - Date-Extract<br>
3758. - Business-CreditCard<br>
3759. - HTML-Scrubber<br>
3760. - Text-Tags<br>
3761. - Text-FixEOL<br>
3762. - Time-Duration<br>
3763. - Pod-Strip<br>
3764. - rpm-build-perl<br>
3765. - Params-Check<br>
3766. - Module-Load-Conditional<br>
3767. - IPC-Cmd<br>
3768. - Test-Dependencies<br>
3769. - IO-String<br>
3770. - IO-All<br>
3771. - Tie-IxHash<br>
3772. - Text-CSV_XS<br>
3773. - Business-OnlinePayment-AuthorizeNet<br>
3774. - DBD-Pg<br>
3775. - Test-Deep<br>
3776. - JSON-Any<br>
3777. - Net-Twitter<br>
3778. - Chatbot-Eliza<br>
3779. - BTDT</p>
3780. </content>
3781. </entry>
3783. <entry>
3784. <title>Hiveminder Pro launches today!</title>
3785. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2008/01/16/hiveminder-pro-launches-today/"/>
3786. <updated>2008-01-16T22:56:00Z</updated>
3787. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2008/01/16/hiveminder-pro-launches-today/</id>
3788. <content type="html">&lt;h1&gt;Hiveminder Pro launches today&lt;/h1&gt;
3789. <p>Today, we're releasing Hiveminder Pro, a major update to our online task management system. Here at Best Practical, we're addicted to Hiveminder's slick, simple task tracking and sharing, but that's not too surprising-- we built Hiveminder to be the shared todo list we always wanted.You don't have to take it from us, though.  Sarah Linder of the Austin American-Statesman writes:</p>
3790. <blockquote><p>"I am crazy about Hiveminder. I started using the online to-do list a little more than a year ago, and we're very content together. I had been lost, adrift -- trying different ways to track my stuff, but never settling down. Hiveminder made me less flaky, less absent-minded, less likely to wake up at 3 a.m. realizing I had forgotten something important. Hiveminder, you complete me." </p></blockquote>
3791. <div class="ljcut">If you've never used Hiveminder, let me take a moment to run through some of what I think are its most interesting features:<p></p>
3792. <h2>Braindump</h2>
3793. <p>You've got a lot on your mind. Getting all the stuff you need to do out of your head and into a trusted tool like Hiveminder can make the difference between a good day and a day struggling to get anything done. With Braindump, you can just type out a list of what you need to do - just like writing it up on paper or in Notepad. Hiveminder will turn your notes into a todo list, looking for email addresses, due dates, categories and hints that something might be important. There's a braindump box on every page, but you can focus in on braindump at <a href="http://hiveminder.com/braindump">http://hiveminder.com/braindump</a><br>
3794. </p><h2>Task Review</h2>
3795. <p>If you're like me, you have a few hundred items on your todo list. Some of them are work tasks that I really need to get to today and some are little home repair tasks that I can put off for another few months. Task Review walks you through everything on your todo list one at a time. You get to make some simple decisions about each task: Is it done? Can I do it today? Can I get someone else to do it? How long should I hide it away for? At the end of the review, you're left with a pared down list of things you can get done today. Do a review and declutter your list:<a href="http://hiveminder.com/review"> http://hiveminder.com/review</a><br>
3796. </p><h2>History</h2>
3797. <p>Just as important as knowing what you do is knowing what you've already done. Hiveminder keeps track of all the changes you make to your tasks, so you can get a full history of an individual task later. That means we can also show you what's happened to your tasks today, yesterday or any day in the past. You can get a peek of what your tasks have been up to today at: <a href="http://hiveminder.com/on/today">http://hiveminder.com/on/today</a><br>
3798. </p><h2>Sharing</h2>
3799. <p>One of the strengths of any web-based application is how easy it becomes to share things. Hiveminder is no exception. We built it from the ground up to make it easy to share one task or thousands. You can easily assign a task to another person just by setting the task's owner field to their email address. Hiveminder will make sure they get email telling them that you need them to do something. They don't even have to be a Hiveminder user. We'll send them a URL which lets them access their task without signing up. Once you have a few more tasks to share or a few people you regularly share tasks with, you can create a group and invite other users to join you. Everybody in the group can see all the group's tasks (though you can control who can edit them), you can assign tasks to individual users and everybody can share a list of what needs doing.<br>
3800. </p><h2>Hiveminder integrates with everything</h2>
3801. <p>Whether you're a Googleista using the iGoogle and Google Calendar widgets, a Mac user browsing your todos with our iCal feeds or reading a feed of tasks in Bloglines or Google Reader, your tasks are always at your fingertips. If you live in your IM client, HMTasks is always around to chat with. The friendly little bot can tell you about what you need to do today and take notes when something new comes to mind. Browser search box integration for Firefox and IE7 lets you search Hiveminder and even braindump new tasks, no matter where on the web you are. I haven't even gotten into our commandline tools or Web API, but if that's what you're into, you can find out more at <a href="http://hiveminder.com/tools">http://hiveminder.com/tools</a><br>
3802. </p><h2>...and more</h2>
3803. <p>I haven't mentioned tags, our innovative "but first...and then" organizational system, printing support, incoming email addresses, the mobile and mini user interfaces or any of a host of other features, but if you visit <a href="http://hiveminder.com">http://hiveminder.com</a> today, you can find out more about them.<br>Last February, PC World Magazine ranked Hiveminder as one of the best Todo list apps on the web. Since then, we've been hard at work to make Hiveminder even better:
3804. </p><ul>
3805. <li> We've improved performance across the board </li>
3806. <li> We've added new Google Calendar and iGoogle integrations </li>
3807. <li> We've added new AOL IM and Jabber chat interfaces </li>
3808. <li> We've significantly improved the API (more on that in the next few weeks) </li>
3809. <li> We've added integrations with Firefox and IE7 </li>
3810. <li> We've cleaned up and streamlined the interface </li>
3811. <li> We've made repeating tasks easier to use ...and a whole bunch more</li>
3812. </ul>
3813. <p>Today, we're launching Hiveminder Pro. It's $30/year (but read on to find out how to save a few bucks.) For your money, you get:<br>
3814. </p><h2>Reports</h2>
3815. <p>Pretty charts and graphs are a great motivator and they can provide useful input about how you work. One of the folks here at Best Practical found out that he tends to get more work done on Wednesday than on every other day of the week combined and that his most productive times are when everyone else is out of the office at lunch. Of course, Hiveminder Pro reports are also available for your groups, so you can see who's overloaded, who's slacking off and whether you're getting ahead or falling behind. To turn on graphs and charts, visit <a href="https://hiveminder.com/account/upgrade">https://hiveminder.com/account/upgrade</a><br>
3816. </p><h2>Attachments</h2>
3817. <p>Many of you who use Hiveminder to collaborate with team members both inside and outside your organization have told us that you'd really like to use Hiveminder to share documents related to your tasks. The wait is over. As of today, each Pro user has a 500MB task attachment quota. You can work with attachments through the Web UI or simply attach them to tasks you create by email. Attachments you sent in before we created Pro accounts will magically appear when you upgrade at <a href="https://hiveminder.com/account/upgrade">https://hiveminder.com/account/upgrade</a> <br>
3818. </p><h2>Saved lists</h2>
3819. <p>Hiveminder makes it easy to search and sort your task list. But until today, you needed to redo your searches day after day. Hiveminder Pro gives you a "Save list" link on every task list. It's easy to build a list of all items tagged "shopping" or everything you need to do for your boss. We have a bunch more things you'll be able to do with your saved lists soon, too! To start saving your lists, visit <a href="https://hiveminder.com/account/upgrade">https://hiveminder.com/account/upgrade</a><br>
3820. </p><h2>SSL Security</h2>
3821. <p> On today's wider web, protecting your information from prying eyes is increasingly important to many of you. Hiveminder has always protected your password when you log in, but today we've enabled SSL (https) encrypted logins for ALL Hiveminder users. Pro users can choose to protect all their interactions with Hiveminder by visiting <a href="https://hiveminder.com">https://hiveminder.com</a> to log in. To protect your account with SSL, visit <a href="https://hiveminder.com/account/upgrade">https://hiveminder.com/account/upgrade</a><br>
3822. </p><h2>with.hm</h2>
3823. <p>I've saved my favorite for last. Hiveminder has always made it easy for you to create incoming addresses so others can send you tasks by email, but until today it was still hard to assign a task to someone else from your email client. Today, we're introducing a never-before-seen way to talk to an application from any email client.<br> Once you set up your secret code in your Hiveminder Pro settings, you can send a task to anyone on the planet by appending ".mysecret.with.hm" to their email address. You don't need to do anything to configure your email client.<br> If I wanted to ask the president to give me a balanced budget, I'd open up my email client and dash off a note like this:<br>
3824. </p><blockquote>
3825. <pre>To: president@whitehouse.gov.mysecret.with.hm <br>Subject: Balanced budget, please?<br><br>It would be great if you could take care of this next week!<br><br>Thanks, <br>Jesse</pre>
3826. </blockquote>
3827. <p> Hiveminder Pro will make a task and notify the President that I've assigned him a task. If he's an existing Hiveminder user, the task will pop into his todo list. If not, he'll get an email with a URL to view and reply to the task I assigned him. To get started assigning<br> tasks by email, just visit <a href="https://hiveminder.com/account/upgrade">https://hiveminder.com/account/upgrade</a></p>
3828. <h2>It's time to go Pro!</h2>
3829. <p><b>Hiveminder Pro accounts are just $30/year</b>, but since you're a friend of ours (or a friend of a friend), we'd like to offer you (and your friends) <b>an additional $5 discount</b>. Just enter <b>LAUNCHCODE</b> at <a href="https://hiveminder.com/account/upgrade">https://hiveminder.com/account/upgrade</a>. The coupon is good through February 1.</p>
3830. <p>If you know someone (or many someones) who could use the gift of productivity, you can use your coupon to give them Hiveminder Pro at <a href="https://hiveminder.com/account/gift">https://hiveminder.com/account/gift</a></p>
3831. <p>In the coming weeks and months, we'll be adding a number of other really cool features to Hiveminder and Hiveminder Pro. We'd love to hear your feature suggestions. Just drop them in the "feedback" box on the left-hand side of every page on the site.</p>
3832. <p>Be Productive,<br>Jesse, for Hiveminder</p></div>
3833. </content>
3834. </entry>
3836. <entry>
3837. <title>The MacBook Air</title>
3838. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2008/01/15/the-macbook-air/"/>
3839. <updated>2008-01-16T07:52:00Z</updated>
3840. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2008/01/15/the-macbook-air/</id>
3841. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;The last time I saw the blogosphere slinging crap about an apple keynote-announced product like this...well, &lt;a href=&quot;http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=500&quot;&gt;it wasn&#39;t pretty&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
3842. </content>
3843. </entry>
3845. <entry>
3846. <title>eichin, on the acquisition of LJ by SUP</title>
3847. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/12/02/eichin-on-the-acquisition-of-lj-by-sup/"/>
3848. <updated>2007-12-03T06:37:00Z</updated>
3849. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/12/02/eichin-on-the-acquisition-of-lj-by-sup/</id>
3850. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I think this makes a wonderful privacy-cautionary-tale example. &#39;Suppose your diary...was *bought* by the KGB?&#39;&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;--&lt;a href=&quot;http://eichin.livejournal.com/&quot; class=&quot;lj-user&quot;&gt;eichin&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
3851. </content>
3852. </entry>
3854. <entry>
3855. <title>An open letter to the studios and the writers</title>
3856. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/11/13/an-open-letter-to-the-studios-and-the-writers/"/>
3857. <updated>2007-11-14T07:47:00Z</updated>
3858. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/11/13/an-open-letter-to-the-studios-and-the-writers/</id>
3859. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;The last time there was a WGA strike, we got &quot;America&#39;s Funniest Home Videos&quot; and &quot;Cops.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
3860. <p>I can't begin to imagine what horrors this strike will unleash if allowed to continue.</p>
3861. <p>End the strike now...or the terrorists will have won.</p>
3862. </content>
3863. </entry>
3865. <entry>
3866. <title>I hate Web 2.0</title>
3867. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/10/30/i-hate-web-2-0/"/>
3868. <updated>2007-10-31T06:42:00Z</updated>
3869. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/10/30/i-hate-web-2-0/</id>
3870. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Google Calendar is down. But only for me. I log in and get a 404. Nobody else I know gets a 404.&lt;/p&gt;
3871. <p>I want my software local, damn it.  And sync. I want sync.</p>
3872. </content>
3873. </entry>
3875. <entry>
3876. <title>LONDON - Saturday - Dim Sum</title>
3877. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/10/19/london-saturday-dim-sum/"/>
3878. <updated>2007-10-19T18:31:00Z</updated>
3879. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/10/19/london-saturday-dim-sum/</id>
3880. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Join me and other assorted trouble-makers for Dim Sum at Royal China (Queensway) at noon on Saturday.&lt;/p&gt;
3881. <p><a href="http://www.london-eating.co.uk/maps/22797.asp">Map, if you need it</a>.</p>
3882. <p>RSVPs aren't required but can be kind of useful.</p>
3883. </content>
3884. </entry>
3886. <entry>
3887. <title>London cafes</title>
3888. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/10/18/london-cafes/"/>
3889. <updated>2007-10-18T08:05:00Z</updated>
3890. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/10/18/london-cafes/</id>
3891. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I find myself in need of a good cafe for sitting in and hacking in London. Something like a Diesel or a Ritual. Where do I want to go?&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
3892. </content>
3893. </entry>
3895. <entry>
3896. <title>Dim Sum. China Pearl. Noon. Saturday</title>
3897. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/09/28/dim-sum-china-pearl-noon-saturday/"/>
3898. <updated>2007-09-29T00:19:00Z</updated>
3899. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/09/28/dim-sum-china-pearl-noon-saturday/</id>
3900. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;RSVP so I know you&#39;re coming. &lt;/p&gt;
3901. <p><font size="1">But come even if you don't RSVP.<br></font></p>
3902. </content>
3903. </entry>
3905. <entry>
3906. <title>Looking for a web designer</title>
3907. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/09/27/looking-for-a-web-designer/"/>
3908. <updated>2007-09-27T19:31:00Z</updated>
3909. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/09/27/looking-for-a-web-designer/</id>
3910. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I have a small web app I&#39;m putting together which could _really_ use some designer help. We&#39;re no venture-backed startup, but I could likely swing a bit of cash or a couple working dinners or something. And you&#39;d get your name in lights.&lt;/p&gt;
3911. <p>Anybody interested?</p>
3912. </content>
3913. </entry>
3915. <entry>
3916. <title>Hey! We&#39;re having a party (cuz we got married) on August 11 in Somerville, MA</title>
3917. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/08/03/hey-were-having-a-party-cuz-we-got-married-on-august-11-in-somerville-ma/"/>
3918. <updated>2007-08-03T22:04:00Z</updated>
3919. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/08/03/hey-were-having-a-party-cuz-we-got-married-on-august-11-in-somerville-ma/</id>
3920. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So! Kaia and I ran off and got married about a month ago. &lt;/p&gt;
3921. <p>We're having a party on Saturday, August 11 from about 7pm onwards. </p>
3922. <pre><br>    7pm until late on Saturday, August 11<br>    -------------------------------------<br><br>    23 Ibbetson St, Somerville MA 02143<br>    ===================================<br></pre>
3923. <p>If you'd like you're welcome to consider this party our wedding<br>reception. However, you should be aware that it's just a good excuse to<br>have a party.  There's no need to dress up, bring gifts. There won't be <br>any cake-in-face antics (well, not any that Jesse or Kaia will<br>participate in) and we're fairly confident there won't be tables with<br>namecards or a live band playing bad covers of popular wedding music.</p>
3924. <p>All that being said, it's a party! Parties are fun. There will be cake.<br>There will be snack food. There will be booze. There wil be neat people<br>(at least as long as you show up).</p>
3925. <p>How to get here:</p>
3926. <p>Ibbetson is off of Somerville Ave, conveniently located near the "Porter<br>Square" Red Line stop. If you're coming from Porter Square, it's just<br>a few blocks down on the left. There's a "Pet Spa" on the corner.</p>
3927. <p>#23 is about half way up the street on the right. It's the only house<br>with a pine tree in first.</p>
3928. <p>If you get lost, you can call Jesse at +1 617 319 5823 or Kaia at +1 857<br>928 8332.</p>
3929. <p>Limited crash space is available. Some of it even comes with pillows and<br>blankets. All of it comes with towels.</p>
3930. <p>RSVPs are not required, but would be appreciated.</p>
3931. <p>We're looking forward to seeing you!</p>
3932. <p>    Jesse and Kaia</p>
3933. </content>
3934. </entry>
3936. <entry>
3937. <title>New experience today...</title>
3938. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/06/23/new-experience-today/"/>
3939. <updated>2007-06-24T01:15:00Z</updated>
3940. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/06/23/new-experience-today/</id>
3941. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;...I got married in a Catholic church.&lt;/p&gt;
3942. <p><img alt="" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2007/06/604344995_1c22542346_d.jpg"></p>
3943. </content>
3944. </entry>
3946. <entry>
3947. <title>Dim Sum. China Pearl. Sunday. Noon.</title>
3948. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/05/25/dim-sum-china-pearl-sunday-noon/"/>
3949. <updated>2007-05-26T03:33:00Z</updated>
3950. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/05/25/dim-sum-china-pearl-sunday-noon/</id>
3951. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;You know you want to.&lt;/p&gt;
3952. </content>
3953. </entry>
3955. <entry>
3956. <title>The definition of hubris</title>
3957. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/05/11/the-definition-of-hubris/"/>
3958. <updated>2007-05-12T05:48:00Z</updated>
3959. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/05/11/the-definition-of-hubris/</id>
3960. <content type="html">&lt;blockquote&gt;This page can be found by searching the Web for the 23-letter string alllamportspubsontheweb.  Please do not put this string in any document that might appear on the Web-including email messages and Postscript, PDF, and Word documents.  One way to refer to it in Web documents is &quot;the string obtained by removing the - characters from the string alllam-portspu-bsonth-eweb.&quot;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
3961. </content>
3962. </entry>
3964. <entry>
3965. <title>PSA: lolz are not just for cats.</title>
3966. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/05/09/psa-lolz-are-not-just-for-cats/"/>
3967. <updated>2007-05-09T21:10:00Z</updated>
3968. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/05/09/psa-lolz-are-not-just-for-cats/</id>
3969. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Remember the &lt;a href=&quot;http://fallenpegasus.livejournal.com/583269.html&quot;&gt;LJ mojo meme&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;
3970. <p><a href="http://d1rtyf1lthy.livejournal.com/257310.html?mode=reply">Part two</a> is up.</p>
3971. <p>All, I can say is: </p>
3972. <h1><a href="http://obra.livejournal.com/54725.html">Ha. Ha. Ha. Told you so.</a></h1>
3973. <p><i>Also, not all of you who claim to have dated me actually did.</i></p>
3974. <p>
3975. (Repeated here, so you don't need to click)</p>
3976. <h1>
3977. <br><b>Anything you ever type into a web browser will be read by your:</b><br>parents, grandparents, children (I don't care if they won't exist for the next 20 years), teachers, students, bosses, coworkers, direct reports, doctors, lawyers, accountants, grocers, pharmacists, drug dealers, bookmakers, boyfriends, girlfriends, spouses and the random guy you meet next week.<p></p>
3978. <p> Unless, of course, it's important to you that they see whatever it is that you've written. Then they'll never see it.</p>
3979. <p>This includes anything you post to Livejournal. I don't care if it's a friends-only post. I don't care if it's locked down to a friends group containing only you and your cat. SixApart does have a financial incentive to not violate your trust, but well, it is the internet. Anything could happen.<br>
3980. </p></h1>
3981. </content>
3982. </entry>
3984. <entry>
3985. <title>lolquinn</title>
3986. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/05/03/lolquinn/"/>
3987. <updated>2007-05-04T02:35:00Z</updated>
3988. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/05/03/lolquinn/</id>
3989. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I blame &lt;a href=&quot;http://lolgeeks.com&quot;&gt;gnat and joshua&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
3990. <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/yog/336741304/"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2007/05/quinn.jpg"></a><br>
3991. (Image from yog's flickrstream)</p>
3992. </content>
3993. </entry>
3995. <entry>
3996. <title>Chiropractor in Camberville?</title>
3997. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/04/29/chiropractor-in-camberville/"/>
3998. <updated>2007-04-30T05:34:00Z</updated>
3999. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/04/29/chiropractor-in-camberville/</id>
4000. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Can anyone recommend a chiropractor in camberville? I think my time in airplane seats is catching up with me.&lt;/p&gt;
4001. </content>
4002. </entry>
4004. <entry>
4005. <title>Flights planned for the next 30 days</title>
4006. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/04/26/flights-planned-for-the-next-30-days/"/>
4007. <updated>2007-04-27T02:40:00Z</updated>
4008. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/04/26/flights-planned-for-the-next-30-days/</id>
4009. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;!--more--&gt;None&lt;/p&gt;
4010. <p><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/cgi-bin/gc?PATH=bos-msp-ywg-msp-bos-lhr-bcn-dbv-lhr-bos-lax-bos-pdx-bos&RANGE=&PATH-COLOR=&PATH-UNITS=mi&SPEED-GROUND=&SPEED-UNITS=kts&RANGE-STYLE=best&RANGE-COLOR=&MAP-STYLE=">But this is May-July.</a></p>
4011. </content>
4012. </entry>
4014. <entry>
4015. <title>Car.</title>
4016. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/04/13/car/"/>
4017. <updated>2007-04-13T20:25:00Z</updated>
4018. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/04/13/car/</id>
4019. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;!-- You can write your own intro after this line --&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
4020. <p>It's time for a new car. (Ok, That time is well past. But I'm actually in the country this weekend).</p>
4021. <p><!-- WARNING: Leave everything after this line alone --></p>
4022. <blockquote><p>I need to buy a car</p>
4023. </blockquote>
4024. <div class="hidden"></div>
4025. <p style="border-top:1px dashed #999;margin-top:15px;padding-bottom:5px;padding-top:5px;">
4026. </p><div align="center" class="choice">
4027. <div style="position:relative;width:100%;overflow:hidden;">
4028. <div style="width:49%;float:left;padding-bottom:1em;border-right:1px dashed #999;">
4029. <p style="margin-left:5px;">Prius, even though it has a horrible rear window
4030.        </p>
4031. <p><span class="preamble  "></span></p></div>
4032. <div style="width:50%;float:right;padding-bottom:1em;">
4033. <p style="margin-left:5px;">Civic. Maybe a hybrid, even though it doesn't get great gas mileage for a hybrid.
4034.        </p>
4035. <p><span class="preamble  "></span></p></div>
4036. <p></p></div>
4037. <p></p></div>
4038. <div class="single_button">
4039. <p style="margin-top:10px;"><span class="preamble  "></span></p>
4040. <p></p></div>
4041. <p style="border-top:1px dashed #999;margin-top:15px;padding-top:5px;">
4042. </p><div class="form_field argument-comments">
4043. <span class="preamble  argument-comments"></span><br>
4044. Comments?<p></p>
4045. <p><span class="hints  argument-comments"></span><br>
4046. <span class="error  argument-comments" id="errors-J:A:F-comments-vote"></span><br>
4047. <span class="warning  argument-comments" id="warnings-J:A:F-comments-vote"></span><br>
4048. <span class="canonicalization_note  argument-comments" id="canonicalization_note-J:A:F-comments-vote"></span>
4049. </p></div>
4050. <p>Before you click, give us some idea of <i>why</i> you feel that way.
4051.      </p><p></p>
4052. <p style="margin-top:0;">[<a href="http://doxory.com/choice/994">Comments</a>]</p>
4053. <div style="text-align:right;">
4054. <a href="http://doxory.com/"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2007/04/logo-badge-purple.png" alt="Doxory" style="border:0;"></a>
4055. </div>
4056. </content>
4057. </entry>
4059. <entry>
4060. <title>Help me choose!</title>
4061. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/04/08/help-me-choose/"/>
4062. <updated>2007-04-08T12:36:00Z</updated>
4063. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/04/08/help-me-choose/</id>
4064. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;!-- You can write your own intro here --&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
4065. <p><!-- WARNING: Leave the rest of this post alone to post your question --></p>
4066. <blockquote>
4067. <p>I've got one night left at the YAPC::Asia hackathon</p>
4068. </blockquote>
4069. <div class="hidden"></div>
4070. <p style="border-top:1px dashed #999;margin-top:15px;padding-bottom:5px;padding-top:5px;">
4071.      <strong>Help me choose!<br>
4072.      </strong>
4073.     </p>
4074. <div align="center" class="choice">
4075. <div style="position:relative;width:100%;overflow:hidden;">
4076. <div style="width:49%;float:left;padding-bottom:1em;border-right:1px dashed #999;">
4077. <p style="margin-left:5px;">Hack on Doxory
4078.        </p>
4079. <p><span class="preamble  "></span></p></div>
4080. <div style="width:50%;float:right;padding-bottom:1em;">
4081. <p style="margin-left:5px;">Hack on syncable databases
4082.        </p>
4083. <p><span class="preamble  "></span></p></div>
4084. <p></p></div>
4085. <p></p></div>
4086. <div class="single_button">
4087. <p style="margin-top:10px;"><span class="preamble  "></span></p>
4088. <p></p></div>
4089. <p style="border-top:1px dashed #999;margin-top:15px;padding-top:5px;">
4090. </p><div class="form_field argument-comments">
4091. <span class="preamble  argument-comments"></span><br>
4092. Comments?<p></p>
4093. <p><span class="hints  argument-comments"></span><br>
4094. <span class="error  argument-comments" id="errors-J:A:F-comments-vote"></span><br>
4095. <span class="warning  argument-comments" id="warnings-J:A:F-comments-vote"></span><br>
4096. <span class="canonicalization_note  argument-comments" id="canonicalization_note-J:A:F-comments-vote"></span>
4097. </p></div>
4098. <p>Before you click, give us some idea of <i>why</i> you feel that way.
4099.      </p><p></p>
4100. <p style="margin-top:0;">
4101. [<a href="http://doxory.com/choice/956">Comments</a>]
4102.            </p>
4103. <div style="text-align:right;">
4104. <a href="http://doxory.com/"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2007/04/logo-badge-purple.png" alt="Doxory" style="border:0;"></a>
4105. </div>
4106. </content>
4107. </entry>
4109. <entry>
4110. <title>Doxory can post to LJ!</title>
4111. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/04/07/doxory-can-post-to-lj/"/>
4112. <updated>2007-04-07T11:48:00Z</updated>
4113. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/04/07/doxory-can-post-to-lj/</id>
4114. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;!-- You can write your own intro here --&gt;&lt;br&gt;In celebration, I need some help making a decision:&lt;!-- You can write your own intro after this line --&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
4115. <p><!-- WARNING: Leave everything after this line alone --></p>
4116. <blockquote><p>Time to do something to my hair</p>
4117. </blockquote>
4118. <div class="hidden"></div>
4119. <p style="border-top:1px dashed #999;margin-top:15px;padding-bottom:5px;padding-top:5px;">
4120.      <strong>Help me choose!<br>
4121.      </strong>
4122.     </p>
4123. <div align="center" class="choice">
4124. <div style="position:relative;width:100%;overflow:hidden;">
4125. <div style="width:49%;float:left;padding-bottom:1em;border-right:1px dashed #999;">
4126. <p style="margin-left:5px;">Cut it
4127.        </p>
4128. <p><span class="preamble  "></span></p></div>
4129. <div style="width:50%;float:right;padding-bottom:1em;">
4130. <p style="margin-left:5px;">Turn it purple
4131.        </p>
4132. <p><span class="preamble  "></span></p></div>
4133. <p></p></div>
4134. <p></p></div>
4135. <div class="single_button">
4136. <p style="margin-top:10px;"><span class="preamble  "></span></p>
4137. <p></p></div>
4138. <p style="border-top:1px dashed #999;margin-top:15px;padding-top:5px;">
4139. </p><div class="form_field argument-comments">
4140. <span class="preamble  argument-comments"></span><br>
4141. Comments?<p></p>
4142. <p><span class="hints  argument-comments"></span><br>
4143. <span class="error  argument-comments" id="errors-J:A:F-comments-vote"></span><br>
4144. <span class="warning  argument-comments" id="warnings-J:A:F-comments-vote"></span><br>
4145. <span class="canonicalization_note  argument-comments" id="canonicalization_note-J:A:F-comments-vote"></span>
4146. </p></div>
4147. <p>Before you click, give us some idea of <i>why</i> you feel that way.
4148.      </p><p></p>
4149. <p style="margin-top:0;">[<a href="http://doxory.com/choice/783">Comments</a>]</p>
4150. <div style="text-align:right;">
4151. <a href="http://doxory.com/"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2007/04/logo-badge-purple.png" alt="Doxory" style="border:0;"></a>
4152. </div>
4153. </content>
4154. </entry>
4156. <entry>
4157. <title>Off to Japan in the morning.</title>
4158. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/04/01/off-to-japan-in-the-morning/"/>
4159. <updated>2007-04-01T07:59:00Z</updated>
4160. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/04/01/off-to-japan-in-the-morning/</id>
4161. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Madrid next week.&lt;br&gt;
4162. Calgary the week after that.</p>
4163. <p>I wish I were kidding.</p>
4164. </content>
4165. </entry>
4167. <entry>
4168. <title>SF: Saturday, 3/31 - 11:30 AM - Dim Sum in SOMA</title>
4169. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/03/29/sf-saturday-331-1130-am-dim-sum-in-soma/"/>
4170. <updated>2007-03-29T21:31:00Z</updated>
4171. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/03/29/sf-saturday-331-1130-am-dim-sum-in-soma/</id>
4172. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Canton Dim Sum &amp;amp; Seafood Restaurant&lt;/p&gt;
4173. <p>http://www.yelp.com/biz/GNjQKG-Satm0HjwpWXWoPQ</p>
4174. <p>RSVPs appreciated, so we know to save a seat for you.</p>
4175. </content>
4176. </entry>
4178. <entry>
4179. <title>SF: Saturday, 3/31 - Dim Sum</title>
4180. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/03/17/sf-saturday-331-dim-sum/"/>
4181. <updated>2007-03-18T03:50:00Z</updated>
4182. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/03/17/sf-saturday-331-dim-sum/</id>
4183. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Lunchish. Probably somewhere in Chinatown. Details forthcoming. Rough RSVPs appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;
4184. </content>
4185. </entry>
4187. <entry>
4188. <title>In search of: The GBBS Pro ACOS manual.</title>
4189. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/03/05/in-search-of-the-gbbs-pro-acos-manual/"/>
4190. <updated>2007-03-05T08:17:00Z</updated>
4191. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/03/05/in-search-of-the-gbbs-pro-acos-manual/</id>
4192. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Lazyweb, help me re-live my youth!&lt;/p&gt;
4193. </content>
4194. </entry>
4196. <entry>
4197. <title>Too Much Joy. Live Show. Early May.</title>
4198. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/02/27/too-much-joy-live-show-early-may/"/>
4199. <updated>2007-02-27T18:31:00Z</updated>
4200. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/02/27/too-much-joy-live-show-early-may/</id>
4201. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sayhername.com&quot;&gt;Details are here&lt;/a&gt;, but Tommy Vinton is retiring from the police.  TMJ haven&#39;t played live in. Well, a VERY LONG TIME.  And I don&#39;t know if we&#39;ll ever get to hear them live again. &lt;/p&gt;
4202. <p>I wouldn't miss it for the world.</p>
4203. </content>
4204. </entry>
4206. <entry>
4207. <title>Thursday. BPS HQ. Hackathon.</title>
4208. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/02/19/thursday-bps-hq-hackathon/"/>
4209. <updated>2007-02-20T01:26:00Z</updated>
4210. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/02/19/thursday-bps-hq-hackathon/</id>
4211. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Come hang out at our glorious headquarters from ~7pm to ~Midnight this thursday evening and hack on your favorite project. We&#39;ll provide net, music and a bit of food. You should bring something exciting to hack on.&lt;/p&gt;
4212. <p>If you want to hack on a BPS project, like Jifty or SVK or our Object Pony, so much the better. But whatever you want to hack on is fair game.</p>
4213. <p>If you need the address or directions, ping me. RSVPs by mail or comment are appreciated.</p>
4214. </content>
4215. </entry>
4217. <entry>
4218. <title>Travel. January-July (as currently scheduled)</title>
4219. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/02/16/travel-january-july-as-currently-scheduled/"/>
4220. <updated>2007-02-17T04:34:00Z</updated>
4221. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/02/16/travel-january-july-as-currently-scheduled/</id>
4222. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://gc.kls2.com/cgi-bin/gc?PATH=bos-sfo-tpe-hkg-akl-lax-bos%0D%0Abos-lhr-mad-lhr-bos%0D%0Abos-dfw-yvr-dfw-bos%0D%0Abos-lhr-ams-lhr-bos%0D%0Abos-ywg-bos%0D%0Abos-san-bos%0D%0Abos-dfw-nrt-dfw-bos%0D%0Abos-lon-bcn-lon-bos%0D%0Abos-ord-pdx-ord-bos%0D%0A&amp;amp;PATH-UNITS=mi&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2007/02/gcmap?PATH=bos-sfo-tpe-hkg-akl-lax-bos,bos-lhr-mad-lhr-bos,bos-dfw-yvr-dfw-bos,bos-lhr-ams-lhr-bos,bos-ywg-bos,bos-san-bos,bos-dfw-nrt-dfw-bos,bos-lon-bcn-lon-bos,bos-ord-pdx-ord-bos&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
4223. <p><!--more Cut for 83,000 odd miles of itinerary--></p>
4224. <table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0">
4225. <tbody>
4226. <tr valign="top">
4227. <td>
4228. <p>
4229. </p><table border="0">
4230. <tbody>
4231. <tr valign="bottom">
4232. <th colspan="2"><u>From</u></th>
4233. <td width="8" rowspan="999"> </td>
4234. <th><u>To</u></th>
4235. <td width="8" rowspan="999"> </td>
4236. <th colspan="2">Initial<br>
4237. <u>Heading</u></th>
4238. <td width="8" rowspan="999"> </td>
4239. <th><u>Distance</u></th>
4240. <td width="8" rowspan="999"> </td>
4241. </tr>
4242. <tr>
4243. <td nowrap="nowrap" colspan="2">6 segment path:</td>
4244. <td nowrap="nowrap"> </td>
4245. <td colspan="2"> </td>
4246. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">24478 mi</td>
4247. </tr>
4248. <tr>
4249. <td width="8"> </td>
4250. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/BOS">BOS</a> (<span class="smaller">42°21'47"N 71°00'23"W</span>)</td>
4251. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/SFO">SFO</a> (<span class="smaller">37°37'08"N 122°22'30"W</span>)</td>
4252. <td align="right">280°</td>
4253. <td> (W)</td>
4254. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">2704 mi</td>
4255. </tr>
4256. <tr>
4257. <td width="8"> </td>
4258. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/SFO">SFO</a> (<span class="smaller">37°37'08"N 122°22'30"W</span>)</td>
4259. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/TPE">TPE</a> (<span class="smaller">25°04'40"N 121°13'58"E</span>)</td>
4260. <td align="right">305°</td>
4261. <td> (NW)</td>
4262. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">6469 mi</td>
4263. </tr>
4264. <tr>
4265. <td width="8"> </td>
4266. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/TPE">TPE</a> (<span class="smaller">25°04'40"N 121°13'58"E</span>)</td>
4267. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/HKG">HKG</a> (<span class="smaller">22°18'32"N 113°54'53"E</span>)</td>
4268. <td align="right">249°</td>
4269. <td> (W)</td>
4270. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">501 mi</td>
4271. </tr>
4272. <tr>
4273. <td width="8"> </td>
4274. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/HKG">HKG</a> (<span class="smaller">22°18'32"N 113°54'53"E</span>)</td>
4275. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/AKL">AKL</a> (<span class="smaller">37°00'29"S 174°47'30"E</span>)</td>
4276. <td align="right">135°</td>
4277. <td> (SE)</td>
4278. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">5688 mi</td>
4279. </tr>
4280. <tr>
4281. <td width="8"> </td>
4282. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/AKL">AKL</a> (<span class="smaller">37°00'29"S 174°47'30"E</span>)</td>
4283. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/LAX">LAX</a> (<span class="smaller">33°56'33"N 118°24'29"W</span>)</td>
4284. <td align="right">50°</td>
4285. <td> (NE)</td>
4286. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">6504 mi</td>
4287. </tr>
4288. <tr>
4289. <td width="8"> </td>
4290. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/LAX">LAX</a> (<span class="smaller">33°56'33"N 118°24'29"W</span>)</td>
4291. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/BOS">BOS</a> (<span class="smaller">42°21'47"N 71°00'23"W</span>)</td>
4292. <td align="right">62°</td>
4293. <td> (NE)</td>
4294. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">2611 mi</td>
4295. </tr>
4296. <tr>
4297. <td nowrap="nowrap" colspan="2">4 segment path:</td>
4298. <td nowrap="nowrap"> </td>
4299. <td colspan="2"> </td>
4300. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">8076 mi</td>
4301. </tr>
4302. <tr>
4303. <td width="8"> </td>
4304. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/BOS">BOS</a> (<span class="smaller">42°21'47"N 71°00'23"W</span>)</td>
4305. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/LHR">LHR</a> (<span class="smaller">51°28'39"N 00°27'41"W</span>)</td>
4306. <td align="right">53°</td>
4307. <td> (NE)</td>
4308. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">3265 mi</td>
4309. </tr>
4310. <tr>
4311. <td width="8"> </td>
4312. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/LHR">LHR</a> (<span class="smaller">51°28'39"N 00°27'41"W</span>)</td>
4313. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/MAD">MAD</a> (<span class="smaller">40°29'37"N 03°34'00"W</span>)</td>
4314. <td align="right">192°</td>
4315. <td> (S)</td>
4316. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">773 mi</td>
4317. </tr>
4318. <tr>
4319. <td width="8"> </td>
4320. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/MAD">MAD</a> (<span class="smaller">40°29'37"N 03°34'00"W</span>)</td>
4321. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/LHR">LHR</a> (<span class="smaller">51°28'39"N 00°27'41"W</span>)</td>
4322. <td align="right">10°</td>
4323. <td> (N)</td>
4324. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">773 mi</td>
4325. </tr>
4326. <tr>
4327. <td width="8"> </td>
4328. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/LHR">LHR</a> (<span class="smaller">51°28'39"N 00°27'41"W</span>)</td>
4329. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/BOS">BOS</a> (<span class="smaller">42°21'47"N 71°00'23"W</span>)</td>
4330. <td align="right">288°</td>
4331. <td> (W)</td>
4332. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">3265 mi</td>
4333. </tr>
4334. <tr>
4335. <td nowrap="nowrap" colspan="2">4 segment path:</td>
4336. <td nowrap="nowrap"> </td>
4337. <td colspan="2"> </td>
4338. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">6630 mi</td>
4339. </tr>
4340. <tr>
4341. <td width="8"> </td>
4342. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/BOS">BOS</a> (<span class="smaller">42°21'47"N 71°00'23"W</span>)</td>
4343. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/DFW">DFW</a> (<span class="smaller">32°53'49"N 97°02'17"W</span>)</td>
4344. <td align="right">253°</td>
4345. <td> (W)</td>
4346. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">1562 mi</td>
4347. </tr>
4348. <tr>
4349. <td width="8"> </td>
4350. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/DFW">DFW</a> (<span class="smaller">32°53'49"N 97°02'17"W</span>)</td>
4351. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/YVR">YVR</a> (<span class="smaller">49°11'38"N 123°11'04"W</span>)</td>
4352. <td align="right">317°</td>
4353. <td> (NW)</td>
4354. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">1754 mi</td>
4355. </tr>
4356. <tr>
4357. <td width="8"> </td>
4358. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/YVR">YVR</a> (<span class="smaller">49°11'38"N 123°11'04"W</span>)</td>
4359. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/DFW">DFW</a> (<span class="smaller">32°53'49"N 97°02'17"W</span>)</td>
4360. <td align="right">120°</td>
4361. <td> (SE)</td>
4362. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">1754 mi</td>
4363. </tr>
4364. <tr>
4365. <td width="8"> </td>
4366. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/DFW">DFW</a> (<span class="smaller">32°53'49"N 97°02'17"W</span>)</td>
4367. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/BOS">BOS</a> (<span class="smaller">42°21'47"N 71°00'23"W</span>)</td>
4368. <td align="right">57°</td>
4369. <td> (NE)</td>
4370. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">1562 mi</td>
4371. </tr>
4372. <tr>
4373. <td nowrap="nowrap" colspan="2">4 segment path:</td>
4374. <td nowrap="nowrap"> </td>
4375. <td colspan="2"> </td>
4376. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">6991 mi</td>
4377. </tr>
4378. <tr>
4379. <td width="8"> </td>
4380. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/BOS">BOS</a> (<span class="smaller">42°21'47"N 71°00'23"W</span>)</td>
4381. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/LHR">LHR</a> (<span class="smaller">51°28'39"N 00°27'41"W</span>)</td>
4382. <td align="right">53°</td>
4383. <td> (NE)</td>
4384. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">3265 mi</td>
4385. </tr>
4386. <tr>
4387. <td width="8"> </td>
4388. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/LHR">LHR</a> (<span class="smaller">51°28'39"N 00°27'41"W</span>)</td>
4389. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/AMS">AMS</a> (<span class="smaller">52°18'31"N 04°45'50"E</span>)</td>
4390. <td align="right">73°</td>
4391. <td> (E)</td>
4392. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">231 mi</td>
4393. </tr>
4394. <tr>
4395. <td width="8"> </td>
4396. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/AMS">AMS</a> (<span class="smaller">52°18'31"N 04°45'50"E</span>)</td>
4397. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/LHR">LHR</a> (<span class="smaller">51°28'39"N 00°27'41"W</span>)</td>
4398. <td align="right">257°</td>
4399. <td> (W)</td>
4400. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">231 mi</td>
4401. </tr>
4402. <tr>
4403. <td width="8"> </td>
4404. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/LHR">LHR</a> (<span class="smaller">51°28'39"N 00°27'41"W</span>)</td>
4405. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/BOS">BOS</a> (<span class="smaller">42°21'47"N 71°00'23"W</span>)</td>
4406. <td align="right">288°</td>
4407. <td> (W)</td>
4408. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">3265 mi</td>
4409. </tr>
4410. <tr>
4411. <td nowrap="nowrap" colspan="2">2 segment path:</td>
4412. <td nowrap="nowrap"> </td>
4413. <td colspan="2"> </td>
4414. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">2709 mi</td>
4415. </tr>
4416. <tr>
4417. <td width="8"> </td>
4418. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/BOS">BOS</a> (<span class="smaller">42°21'47"N 71°00'23"W</span>)</td>
4419. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/YWG">YWG</a> (<span class="smaller">49°54'36"N 97°14'24"W</span>)</td>
4420. <td align="right">301°</td>
4421. <td> (NW)</td>
4422. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">1354 mi</td>
4423. </tr>
4424. <tr>
4425. <td width="8"> </td>
4426. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/YWG">YWG</a> (<span class="smaller">49°54'36"N 97°14'24"W</span>)</td>
4427. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/BOS">BOS</a> (<span class="smaller">42°21'47"N 71°00'23"W</span>)</td>
4428. <td align="right">102°</td>
4429. <td> (E)</td>
4430. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">1354 mi</td>
4431. </tr>
4432. <tr>
4433. <td nowrap="nowrap" colspan="2">2 segment path:</td>
4434. <td nowrap="nowrap"> </td>
4435. <td colspan="2"> </td>
4436. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">5175 mi</td>
4437. </tr>
4438. <tr>
4439. <td width="8"> </td>
4440. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/BOS">BOS</a> (<span class="smaller">42°21'47"N 71°00'23"W</span>)</td>
4441. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/SAN">SAN</a> (<span class="smaller">32°44'01"N 117°11'23"W</span>)</td>
4442. <td align="right">270°</td>
4443. <td> (W)</td>
4444. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">2588 mi</td>
4445. </tr>
4446. <tr>
4447. <td width="8"> </td>
4448. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/SAN">SAN</a> (<span class="smaller">32°44'01"N 117°11'23"W</span>)</td>
4449. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/BOS">BOS</a> (<span class="smaller">42°21'47"N 71°00'23"W</span>)</td>
4450. <td align="right">61°</td>
4451. <td> (NE)</td>
4452. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">2588 mi</td>
4453. </tr>
4454. <tr>
4455. <td nowrap="nowrap" colspan="2">4 segment path:</td>
4456. <td nowrap="nowrap"> </td>
4457. <td colspan="2"> </td>
4458. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">15978 mi</td>
4459. </tr>
4460. <tr>
4461. <td width="8"> </td>
4462. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/BOS">BOS</a> (<span class="smaller">42°21'47"N 71°00'23"W</span>)</td>
4463. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/DFW">DFW</a> (<span class="smaller">32°53'49"N 97°02'17"W</span>)</td>
4464. <td align="right">253°</td>
4465. <td> (W)</td>
4466. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">1562 mi</td>
4467. </tr>
4468. <tr>
4469. <td width="8"> </td>
4470. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/DFW">DFW</a> (<span class="smaller">32°53'49"N 97°02'17"W</span>)</td>
4471. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/NRT">NRT</a> (<span class="smaller">35°45'53"N 140°23'11"E</span>)</td>
4472. <td align="right">316°</td>
4473. <td> (NW)</td>
4474. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">6427 mi</td>
4475. </tr>
4476. <tr>
4477. <td width="8"> </td>
4478. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/NRT">NRT</a> (<span class="smaller">35°45'53"N 140°23'11"E</span>)</td>
4479. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/DFW">DFW</a> (<span class="smaller">32°53'49"N 97°02'17"W</span>)</td>
4480. <td align="right">45°</td>
4481. <td> (NE)</td>
4482. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">6427 mi</td>
4483. </tr>
4484. <tr>
4485. <td width="8"> </td>
4486. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/DFW">DFW</a> (<span class="smaller">32°53'49"N 97°02'17"W</span>)</td>
4487. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/BOS">BOS</a> (<span class="smaller">42°21'47"N 71°00'23"W</span>)</td>
4488. <td align="right">57°</td>
4489. <td> (NE)</td>
4490. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">1562 mi</td>
4491. </tr>
4492. <tr>
4493. <td nowrap="nowrap" colspan="2">4 segment path:</td>
4494. <td nowrap="nowrap"> </td>
4495. <td colspan="2"> </td>
4496. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">7978 mi</td>
4497. </tr>
4498. <tr>
4499. <td width="8"> </td>
4500. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/BOS">BOS</a> (<span class="smaller">42°21'47"N 71°00'23"W</span>)</td>
4501. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/LON">LON</a> (<span class="smaller">51°30'N 00°10'W</span>)</td>
4502. <td align="right">53°</td>
4503. <td> (NE)</td>
4504. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">3276 mi</td>
4505. </tr>
4506. <tr>
4507. <td width="8"> </td>
4508. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/LON">LON</a> (<span class="smaller">51°30'N 00°10'W</span>)</td>
4509. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/BCN">BCN</a> (<span class="smaller">41°17'49"N 02°04'42"E</span>)</td>
4510. <td align="right">170°</td>
4511. <td> (S)</td>
4512. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">713 mi</td>
4513. </tr>
4514. <tr>
4515. <td width="8"> </td>
4516. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/BCN">BCN</a> (<span class="smaller">41°17'49"N 02°04'42"E</span>)</td>
4517. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/LON">LON</a> (<span class="smaller">51°30'N 00°10'W</span>)</td>
4518. <td align="right">352°</td>
4519. <td> (N)</td>
4520. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">713 mi</td>
4521. </tr>
4522. <tr>
4523. <td width="8"> </td>
4524. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/LON">LON</a> (<span class="smaller">51°30'N 00°10'W</span>)</td>
4525. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/BOS">BOS</a> (<span class="smaller">42°21'47"N 71°00'23"W</span>)</td>
4526. <td align="right">288°</td>
4527. <td> (W)</td>
4528. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">3276 mi</td>
4529. </tr>
4530. <tr>
4531. <td nowrap="nowrap" colspan="2">4 segment path:</td>
4532. <td nowrap="nowrap"> </td>
4533. <td colspan="2"> </td>
4534. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">5212 mi</td>
4535. </tr>
4536. <tr>
4537. <td width="8"> </td>
4538. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/BOS">BOS</a> (<span class="smaller">42°21'47"N 71°00'23"W</span>)</td>
4539. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/ORD">ORD</a> (<span class="smaller">41°58'43"N 87°54'17"W</span>)</td>
4540. <td align="right">273°</td>
4541. <td> (W)</td>
4542. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">867 mi</td>
4543. </tr>
4544. <tr>
4545. <td width="8"> </td>
4546. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/ORD">ORD</a> (<span class="smaller">41°58'43"N 87°54'17"W</span>)</td>
4547. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/PDX">PDX</a> (<span class="smaller">45°35'19"N 122°35'51"W</span>)</td>
4548. <td align="right">290°</td>
4549. <td> (W)</td>
4550. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">1739 mi</td>
4551. </tr>
4552. <tr>
4553. <td width="8"> </td>
4554. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/PDX">PDX</a> (<span class="smaller">45°35'19"N 122°35'51"W</span>)</td>
4555. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/ORD">ORD</a> (<span class="smaller">41°58'43"N 87°54'17"W</span>)</td>
4556. <td align="right">85°</td>
4557. <td> (E)</td>
4558. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">1739 mi</td>
4559. </tr>
4560. <tr>
4561. <td width="8"> </td>
4562. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/ORD">ORD</a> (<span class="smaller">41°58'43"N 87°54'17"W</span>)</td>
4563. <td nowrap="nowrap"><a href="http://gc.kls2.com/airport/BOS">BOS</a> (<span class="smaller">42°21'47"N 71°00'23"W</span>)</td>
4564. <td align="right">82°</td>
4565. <td> (E)</td>
4566. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">867 mi</td>
4567. </tr>
4568. <tr>
4569. <td nowrap="nowrap" height="8"> </td>
4570. </tr>
4571. <tr>
4572. <td nowrap="nowrap" colspan="2">Total:</td>
4573. <td nowrap="nowrap"> </td>
4574. <td colspan="2"> </td>
4575. <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">83226 mi</td>
4576. </tr>
4577. </tbody>
4578. </table>
4579. </td>
4580. </tr>
4581. </tbody>
4582. </table>
4583. </content>
4584. </entry>
4586. <entry>
4587. <title>London. Breakfast. This Friday.</title>
4588. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/02/14/london-breakfast-this-friday/"/>
4589. <updated>2007-02-15T02:35:00Z</updated>
4590. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/02/14/london-breakfast-this-friday/</id>
4591. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Anyone up for breakfast in London at, say 9am somewhere in central london?&lt;/p&gt;
4592. <p>(I'll post with a final location. But ping me with interest) </p>
4593. <p><b>UPDATE</b>: <a href="http://www.thewolseley.com/">The Wolseley. 160 Piccadilly.</a> 9am.</p>
4594. </content>
4595. </entry>
4597. <entry>
4598. <title>I&#39;ve got 12 Hours in Hong Kong...</title>
4599. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/01/30/ive-got-12-hours-in-hong-kong/"/>
4600. <updated>2007-01-31T02:12:00Z</updated>
4601. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/01/30/ive-got-12-hours-in-hong-kong/</id>
4602. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;...tomorrow.&amp;nbsp; What should I do? What should I eat? Where should I go? &lt;/p&gt;
4603. <p>Help me Livejournal, you're my only hope.  </p>
4604. </content>
4605. </entry>
4607. <entry>
4608. <title>Little green chickens</title>
4609. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/01/27/little-green-chickens/"/>
4610. <updated>2007-01-28T03:46:00Z</updated>
4611. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/01/27/little-green-chickens/</id>
4612. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Huh. They really do taste like chicken.&lt;/p&gt;
4613. </content>
4614. </entry>
4616. <entry>
4617. <title>A global truth</title>
4618. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/01/24/a-global-truth/"/>
4619. <updated>2007-01-25T01:23:00Z</updated>
4620. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/01/24/a-global-truth/</id>
4621. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;m in Taipei hanging out with Audrey at her new apartment. One of today&#39;s activities was furniture assembly. And, well. Now I know.&amp;nbsp; The instructions aren&#39;t any better in the native Chinese.&lt;/p&gt;
4622. </content>
4623. </entry>
4625. <entry>
4626. <title>Now with more LJ</title>
4627. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2007/01/05/now-with-more-lj/"/>
4628. <updated>2007-01-05T10:54:00Z</updated>
4629. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2007/01/05/now-with-more-lj/</id>
4630. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://doxory.com&quot;&gt;Doxory.com&lt;/a&gt; got OpenId authentication today. That means that you can log in and ask questions or vote on others&#39; life decisions using your livejournal username. You don&#39;t have to create another password or verify your email address. C&#39;mon. help us run our lives.&lt;/p&gt;
4631. <p><b>If you already have an account, log in normally and click <i>Preferences</i> to tie your openid to your account. Don't go create a second account</b></p>
4632. </content>
4633. </entry>
4635. <entry>
4636. <title>Doxory</title>
4637. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/12/30/doxory/"/>
4638. <updated>2006-12-31T06:12:00Z</updated>
4639. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/12/30/doxory/</id>
4640. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;A couple plane flights and a couple evenings later, I&#39;m ready to subject my greater-friendslist community to Doxory, the latest web app from Best Practical.&amp;nbsp; Doxory is a tool that helps you &quot;live by committee.&quot;&amp;nbsp; That is to say that it&#39;s a tool to let your friends run your life. Please, go play:&lt;/p&gt;
4641. <div align="center"><font size="6"><a href="http://doxory.com">http://doxory.com</a></font></div>
4642. </content>
4643. </entry>
4645. <entry>
4646. <title>Winter travel?</title>
4647. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/12/29/winter-travel/"/>
4648. <updated>2006-12-30T03:32:00Z</updated>
4649. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/12/29/winter-travel/</id>
4650. <content type="html">&lt;table width=&quot;100%&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;2&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;dkblue&quot;&gt;
4651. <tbody>
4652. <tr valign="middle" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);">
4653. <td align="center" id="border_right">
4654. <div class="modTxt"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2006/12/AAL.gif"></div>
4655. <div class="modTxt">AMERICAN AIRLINES</div>
4656. </td>
4657. <td align="center" id="border_right">
4658. <div class="modTxt">183</div>
4659. </td>
4660. <td id="border_right">
4661. <div class="modTxt">BOS Boston</div>
4662. </td>
4663. <td id="border_right">
4664. <div class="modTxt">01/21/2007 08:35 AM</div>
4665. </td>
4666. <td id="border_right">
4667. <div class="modTxt">SFO San Francisco</div>
4668. </td>
4669. <td id="border_right">
4670. <div class="modTxt">01/21/2007 12:15 PM</div>
4671. </td>
4672. <td align="center" id="border_right">
4673. <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0">
4674. <tbody>
4675. <tr>
4676. <td align="center">
4677. <div class="regularText">Economy</div>
4678. </td>
4679. </tr>
4680. <tr class="dkblue">
4681. <td align="center"> </td>
4682. </tr>
4683. <tr>
4684. <td align="center">
4685. <div class="regularText">S</div>
4686. </td>
4687. </tr>
4688. </tbody>
4689. </table>
4690. </td>
4691. </tr>
4692. <tr valign="middle" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);">
4693. <td align="center" id="border_right">
4694. <div class="modTxt"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2006/12/AAL.gif"></div>
4695. <div class="modTxt">AMERICAN AIRLINES</div>
4696. <div style="padding-top:0;" class="modTxt">OPERATED BY EVA AIRWAYS</div>
4697. </td>
4698. <td align="center" id="border_right">
4699. <div class="modTxt">7961</div>
4700. </td>
4701. <td id="border_right">
4702. <div class="modTxt">SFO San Francisco</div>
4703. </td>
4704. <td id="border_right">
4705. <div class="modTxt">01/23/2007 12:10 AM</div>
4706. </td>
4707. <td id="border_right">
4708. <div class="modTxt">TPE Taipei</div>
4709. </td>
4710. <td id="border_right">
4711. <div class="modTxt">01/24/2007 06:00 AM</div>
4712. </td>
4713. <td align="center" id="border_right">
4714. <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0">
4715. <tbody>
4716. <tr>
4717. <td align="center">
4718. <div class="regularText">Economy</div>
4719. </td>
4720. </tr>
4721. <tr class="dkblue">
4722. <td align="center"> </td>
4723. </tr>
4724. <tr>
4725. <td align="center">
4726. <div class="regularText">K</div>
4727. </td>
4728. </tr>
4729. </tbody>
4730. </table>
4731. </td>
4732. </tr>
4733. <tr valign="middle" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);">
4734. <td align="center" id="border_right_bottom">
4735. <div class="modTxt"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2006/12/CPA.gif"></div>
4736. <div class="modTxt">CATHAY PACIFIC</div>
4737. </td>
4738. <td align="center" id="border_right_bottom">
4739. <div class="modTxt">403</div>
4740. </td>
4741. <td id="border_right_bottom">
4742. <div class="modTxt">TPE Taipei</div>
4743. </td>
4744. <td id="border_right_bottom">
4745. <div class="modTxt">01/31/2007 09:25 AM</div>
4746. </td>
4747. <td id="border_right_bottom">
4748. <div class="modTxt">HKG Hong Kong</div>
4749. </td>
4750. <td id="border_right_bottom">
4751. <div class="modTxt">01/31/2007 11:20 AM</div>
4752. </td>
4753. <td align="center" id="border_right_bottom">
4754. <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0">
4755. <tbody>
4756. <tr>
4757. <td align="center">
4758. <div class="regularText">Business</div>
4759. </td>
4760. </tr>
4761. <tr class="dkblue">
4762. <td align="center"> </td>
4763. </tr>
4764. <tr>
4765. <td align="center">
4766. <div class="regularText">J</div>
4767. </td>
4768. </tr>
4769. </tbody>
4770. </table>
4771. </td>
4772. </tr>
4773. <tr valign="middle" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);">
4774. <td align="center" id="border_right">
4775. <div class="modTxt"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2006/12/CPA.gif"></div>
4776. <div class="modTxt">CATHAY PACIFIC</div>
4777. </td>
4778. <td align="center" id="border_right">
4779. <div class="modTxt">107</div>
4780. </td>
4781. <td id="border_right">
4782. <div class="modTxt">HKG Hong Kong</div>
4783. </td>
4784. <td id="border_right">
4785. <div class="modTxt">01/31/2007 09:05 PM</div>
4786. </td>
4787. <td id="border_right">
4788. <div class="modTxt">AKL Auckland</div>
4789. </td>
4790. <td id="border_right">
4791. <div class="modTxt">02/01/2007 01:05 PM</div>
4792. </td>
4793. <td align="center" id="border_right">
4794. <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0">
4795. <tbody>
4796. <tr>
4797. <td align="center">
4798. <div class="regularText">Business</div>
4799. </td>
4800. </tr>
4801. <tr class="dkblue">
4802. <td align="center"> </td>
4803. </tr>
4804. <tr>
4805. <td align="center">
4806. <div class="regularText">J</div>
4807. </td>
4808. </tr>
4809. </tbody>
4810. </table>
4811. </td>
4812. </tr>
4813. <tr valign="middle" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);">
4814. <td align="center" id="border_right_bottom">
4815. <div class="modTxt"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2006/12/AAL.gif"></div>
4816. <div class="modTxt">AMERICAN AIRLINES</div>
4817. <div style="padding-top:0;" class="modTxt">OPERATED BY QANTAS AIRWAYS</div>
4818. </td>
4819. <td align="center" id="border_right_bottom">
4820. <div class="modTxt">7315</div>
4821. </td>
4822. <td id="border_right_bottom">
4823. <div class="modTxt">AKL Auckland</div>
4824. </td>
4825. <td id="border_right_bottom">
4826. <div class="modTxt">02/07/2007 07:40 PM</div>
4827. </td>
4828. <td id="border_right_bottom">
4829. <div class="modTxt">LAX Los Angeles</div>
4830. </td>
4831. <td id="border_right_bottom">
4832. <div class="modTxt">02/07/2007 10:30 AM</div>
4833. </td>
4834. <td align="center" id="border_right_bottom">
4835. <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0">
4836. <tbody>
4837. <tr>
4838. <td align="center">
4839. <div class="regularText">Economy</div>
4840. </td>
4841. </tr>
4842. <tr class="dkblue">
4843. <td align="center"> </td>
4844. </tr>
4845. <tr>
4846. <td align="center">
4847. <div class="regularText">V</div>
4848. </td>
4849. </tr>
4850. </tbody>
4851. </table>
4852. </td>
4853. </tr>
4854. <tr valign="middle" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);">
4855. <td align="center" id="border_right">
4856. <div class="modTxt"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2006/12/AAL.gif"></div>
4857. <div class="modTxt">AMERICAN AIRLINES</div>
4858. </td>
4859. <td align="center" id="border_right">
4860. <div class="modTxt">264</div>
4861. </td>
4862. <td id="border_right">
4863. <div class="modTxt">LAX Los Angeles</div>
4864. </td>
4865. <td id="border_right">
4866. <div class="modTxt">02/07/2007 12:50 PM</div>
4867. </td>
4868. <td id="border_right">
4869. <div class="modTxt">BOS Boston</div>
4870. </td>
4871. <td id="border_right">
4872. <div class="modTxt">02/07/2007 09:15 PM</div>
4873. </td>
4874. <td align="center" id="border_right">
4875. <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0">
4876. <tbody>
4877. <tr>
4878. <td align="center">
4879. <div class="regularText">Economy</div>
4880. </td>
4881. </tr>
4882. <tr class="dkblue">
4883. <td align="center"> </td>
4884. </tr>
4885. <tr>
4886. <td align="center">
4887. <div class="regularText">S</div>
4888. </td>
4889. </tr>
4890. </tbody>
4891. </table>
4892. </td>
4893. </tr>
4894. </tbody>
4895. </table>
4896. </content>
4897. </entry>
4899. <entry>
4900. <title>Agressively not-even-beta</title>
4901. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/12/26/agressively-not-even-beta/"/>
4902. <updated>2006-12-26T08:35:00Z</updated>
4903. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/12/26/agressively-not-even-beta/</id>
4904. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://doxory.com&quot;&gt;Doxory&lt;/a&gt; is the new toy I mentioned the other day. It&#39;s basically a tool to help you make the hard decisions in life...by letting your friends dictate your actions. The flipside, of course, is that you get to run the show for your friends (and total strangers).&amp;nbsp; Sign up now to get a good username ;)&lt;/p&gt;
4905. </content>
4906. </entry>
4908. <entry>
4909. <title>Our next project</title>
4910. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/12/22/our-next-project/"/>
4911. <updated>2006-12-23T07:44:00Z</updated>
4912. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/12/22/our-next-project/</id>
4913. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Doxory.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/p&gt;
4914. <p>Current beta users are sworn to secrecy.</p>
4915. </content>
4916. </entry>
4918. <entry>
4919. <title>NYE at 23i</title>
4920. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/12/18/nye-at-23i/"/>
4921. <updated>2006-12-19T06:34:00Z</updated>
4922. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/12/18/nye-at-23i/</id>
4923. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Jesse, Kaia, Jennifer and Chris would like to invite you to join us to celebrate New Year&#39;s Eve...So, please join us to celebrate New Year&#39;s Eve!&lt;/p&gt;
4924. <p>We'll provide snacks, likker, non-likker beverages, and lots of people, of both the "attractive" sort and the "interesting" sort.</p>
4925. <p>You can find us at 23 Ibbetson St, Somerville. (Ibbetson is off Somerville Ave across from the car wash. The Pet Spa is on the corner. Our house has a big pine tree in lieu of a front yard.)</p>
4926. <p>The party will run from 7pm until...Well, let's just say that the last guests usually get a home-cooked brunch. If you're really lucky, you'll get mimosas. The first guests will likely be drafted to help with last-minute setup. In exchange, we'll ply you with snacks and good alcohol.</p>
4927. <p>Please feel free to bring your date, entourage, harem or kid brother, but be aware that our house isn't child-proof and is home to a fluffy ball of allergens.</p>
4928. <p>While we have many comfortable horizontal surfaces, crash space will be allocated on a best plea or story basis, so be sure to be clever when reserving.</p>
4929. <p>RSVPs are much appreciated but are by no means necessary.</p>
4930. </content>
4931. </entry>
4933. <entry>
4934. <title>San Francisco: Tapas. 8pm. Tonight</title>
4935. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/12/15/san-francisco-tapas-8pm-tonight/"/>
4936. <updated>2006-12-15T22:08:00Z</updated>
4937. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/12/15/san-francisco-tapas-8pm-tonight/</id>
4938. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Come meet me at &lt;a href=&quot;http://sanfrancisco.citysearch.com/profile/889424/san_francisco_ca/cha_cha_cha.html&quot;&gt;Cha cha cha&lt;/a&gt; (on Mission). Come have tapas. And Sangria.&lt;/p&gt;
4939. </content>
4940. </entry>
4942. <entry>
4943. <title>Been away so long I hardly knew the place...</title>
4944. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/12/13/been-away-so-long-i-hardly-knew-the-place/"/>
4945. <updated>2006-12-14T07:06:00Z</updated>
4946. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/12/13/been-away-so-long-i-hardly-knew-the-place/</id>
4947. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Last night I did something not atypical for someone of my age. I bought some music online. I used an online merchant of some notoriety and slightly ill repute. They&#39;re called &quot;allofmp3.com&quot; and they&#39;re located in Russia.&amp;nbsp; Because they operate slightly outside of US law (for the moment), they get to do things that the the more online players don&#39;t get to do. One of these things is to distribute music that the rights-holders haven&#39;t&amp;nbsp; explicitly agreed to.&amp;nbsp; That means they&#39;re able to offer me music that others can&#39;t. Like the Beatles&#39; catalog. &lt;/p&gt;
4948. <p>Last night, I paid for and downloaded "Love", the new Beatles mashup album. It cost me half of what it would have cost to get the album from amazon.com and less than a third of what the chain cafe was selling it for down the street.  25 years ago, people in Russia were quietly distributing illegal home-made "samizdat" recordings of the White Album on repurposed chest X-rays. Now they're actively  and publicly flaunting the law and the international business community. They take credit cards. </p>
4949. <p>MP3 downloads aren't quite as stylish as proof that Dima has been slowly smoking himself to death, but Russia sure has come a long way. </p>
4950. </content>
4951. </entry>
4953. <entry>
4954. <title>San Francisco, Friday Night.</title>
4955. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/12/13/san-francisco-friday-night/"/>
4956. <updated>2006-12-13T22:57:00Z</updated>
4957. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/12/13/san-francisco-friday-night/</id>
4958. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Would people be up for doing something. Maybe dinner? Maybe something after dinner?&lt;/p&gt;
4959. </content>
4960. </entry>
4962. <entry>
4963. <title>First Post. Fear.</title>
4964. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/12/03/first-post-fear/"/>
4965. <updated>2006-12-03T12:37:00Z</updated>
4966. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/12/03/first-post-fear/</id>
4967. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://groups.google.com/group/rec.music.phish/msg/e5ec59b0ccfb902b&quot;&gt;my first usenet post&lt;/a&gt;. I was only 16. I didn&#39;t know any better!&lt;/p&gt;
4968. </content>
4969. </entry>
4971. <entry>
4972. <title>An untitled post</title>
4973. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/11/18/317/"/>
4974. <updated>2006-11-18T14:11:00Z</updated>
4975. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/11/18/317/</id>
4976. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;http://crucially.livejournal.com/&quot; class=&quot;lj-user&quot;&gt;crucially&lt;/a&gt;, I ended up at dinner with Quinn Norton and Danny O&#39;Brien (and Ada, their little one).  Danny mentioned an absolutely fantastic feature I must add to Hiveminder, but this textarea is too small to adequately describe it.&lt;/p&gt;
4977. </content>
4978. </entry>
4980. <entry>
4981. <title>If it happens, the Linden IPO is going to be the Apex of Boom 2.0.</title>
4982. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/10/16/if-it-happens-the-linden-ipo-is-going-to-be-the-apex-of-boom-2-0/"/>
4983. <updated>2006-10-16T21:05:00Z</updated>
4984. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/10/16/if-it-happens-the-linden-ipo-is-going-to-be-the-apex-of-boom-2-0/</id>
4985. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&quot;A friend of mine comes home every night from her job as a waitress and then logs on to Second Life to work her job as a Second Life waitress.&quot; -source witheld.&lt;/p&gt;
4986. </content>
4987. </entry>
4989. <entry>
4990. <title>What you should be doing tonight</title>
4991. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/10/07/what-you-should-be-doing-tonight/"/>
4992. <updated>2006-10-08T05:11:00Z</updated>
4993. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/10/07/what-you-should-be-doing-tonight/</id>
4994. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sayhitoyourmom.com&quot;&gt;Say hi to your mom&lt;/a&gt; is playing at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.paslounge.com/&quot;&gt;PA&#39;s Lounge&lt;/a&gt; in Union Square.&lt;/p&gt;
4995. <p>I'd never heard of them 72 hours. I've basically had them on repeat for the last 71 hours.</p>
4996. <p>Doors at 8:30. 18+.</p>
4997. </content>
4998. </entry>
5000. <entry>
5001. <title>Dim Sum?</title>
5002. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/09/02/dim-sum-4/"/>
5003. <updated>2006-09-02T19:03:00Z</updated>
5004. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/09/02/dim-sum-4/</id>
5005. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Would people be up for Dim Sum tomorrow? Maybe Noon at China Pearl?&lt;/p&gt;
5006. </content>
5007. </entry>
5009. <entry>
5010. <title>Pony: Obtained</title>
5011. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/08/23/pony-obtained/"/>
5012. <updated>2006-08-24T04:40:00Z</updated>
5013. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/08/23/pony-obtained/</id>
5014. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;8:30 PM: From jesse:  I think what I want is.  hm.  I want a new lemonheads album&lt;/p&gt;
5015. <p>8:31 PM: From rax: I don't think I can give you another Lemonheads album.</p>
5016. <p>8:36 PM: [ "What the hell, I'll google for it again" ]</p>
5017. <p>8:37 PM: I find http://aolradio.podcast.aol.com/aolmusic/mp3s/The_Lemonheads_NoBackbone.mp3</p>
5018. <p>The new album comes out September 26.</p>
5019. <p>Since I don't know well enough to quit while I'm ahead, I'll take a new Sleeper, Elastica or Too Much Joy album too.</p>
5020. </content>
5021. </entry>
5023. <entry>
5024. <title>Ponie: Dead</title>
5025. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/08/23/ponie-dead/"/>
5026. <updated>2006-08-24T00:23:00Z</updated>
5027. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/08/23/ponie-dead/</id>
5028. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I now actually feel like the Perl 6 project manager. I&#39;ve just axed a project that antedated me.&lt;/p&gt;
5029. </content>
5030. </entry>
5032. <entry>
5033. <title>London, Brussels</title>
5034. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/08/21/london-brussels/"/>
5035. <updated>2006-08-22T05:49:00Z</updated>
5036. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/08/21/london-brussels/</id>
5037. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;ll be in London from 8 Sept to 17 Sept, in Brussels from 17 Sept to 21 Sept and back in London until the 24th. I&#39;ll be working all this time, but aside from 18-21 September, have few client commitments.  What should I be doing whilst there?&lt;/p&gt;
5038. </content>
5039. </entry>
5041. <entry>
5042. <title>Did I loan you my IBM Portable Keyboard?</title>
5043. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/08/16/did-i-loan-you-my-ibm-portable-keyboard/"/>
5044. <updated>2006-08-16T22:30:00Z</updated>
5045. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/08/16/did-i-loan-you-my-ibm-portable-keyboard/</id>
5046. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;It&#39;s missing. I have a sneaking suspicion I loaned it to someone.&lt;/p&gt;
5047. <p>Thanks</p>
5048. </content>
5049. </entry>
5051. <entry>
5052. <title>So I got a blackberry.</title>
5053. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/08/16/so-i-got-a-blackberry/"/>
5054. <updated>2006-08-16T07:55:00Z</updated>
5055. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/08/16/so-i-got-a-blackberry/</id>
5056. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Yesterday, I spent O(2 hours) on the phone with them to figure out why I couldn&#39;t ssh out. Turns out that the default APN isn&#39;t set to wap.voicestream.com, so non mail/http connections fail.  What T-Mobile told me was &quot;RIM blocked port 22 because end-users were using that port to download third party software that voided the device warranty.&quot;  RIM set me straight (and claims that they&#39;d never block a port on customers. Especially not SSH, which their customers _use_.) &lt;/p&gt;
5057. <p>Tonight, I've spent 4.5 hours on the phone with T-Mobile and RIM because the device...stopped being able to send or receive email. After three first-tier T-Mobile engineers and two second-tier T-Mobile engineers, I finally got bounced to RIM. Their first tier technician seems to be focusing on "oh. it must be your mail server" although it worked until 6:30 this evening just fine. And other IMAP clients work fine. The latest gem:</p>
5058. <blockquote><p><tt><br>
5059. Hello Jesse,                                                                                                                                            </tt></p>
5060. <p>Thank you for contacting BlackBerry Technical Support. In order to determine<br>
5061. why the integrated account is unable to receive email messages, I will<br>
5062. require additional information:                                                                                                                         </p>
5063. <p>1) Please provide the login information for the integrated account  for us to further investigate the issue.                  </p>
5064. <p>Account type: (Example: POP, IMAP or Outlook Web Access 2000 account)<br>
5065. Mail Server name: (Example: mail.servername.com)<br>
5066. Username:<br>
5067. Password:                                                                                                                                               </p>
5068. <p>2) How many messages are in the Inbox folder of the account ?                                                                 </p>
5069. <p>If the message count is greater than 1000 messages, the end user would need to move messages to<br>
5070. a subfolder.                                            </p>
5071. <p>Please reply to this message, including your Service Request number as it appears above..                                                               </p>
5072. <p>I am looking forward for your reply.                                                                                                                    </p>
5073. <p>Sincerely,                                                                                                                                              </p>
5074. <p>Mohamad<br>
5075. BlackBerry Technical Support<br>
5076. Research In Motion Limited<br>
5077. Tel: 1-877-255-2377<br>
5078. Email: help@blackberry.net<br>
5079. Web: www.blackberry.com<br>
5080. </p></blockquote>
5081. </content>
5082. </entry>
5084. <entry>
5085. <title>Hiveminder Launch Party [Friday 9pm!]</title>
5086. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/08/08/hiveminder-launch-party-friday-9pm/"/>
5087. <updated>2006-08-08T08:20:00Z</updated>
5088. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/08/08/hiveminder-launch-party-friday-9pm/</id>
5089. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;It&#39;s Alive! After um. more than a year of on-and-off development, we&#39;re quite pleased to announce the public debut of http://hiveminder.com.&lt;/p&gt;
5090. <p>And, well, what would a Launch be without a Launch Party.  This Friday evening, please join us at Best Practical Solutions Total World Domination Headquarters in scenic Davis Sq, Somerville to celebrate. We're located on the scond floor of 408 Highland Ave near the end of the hall.</p>
5091. <p>Best Practical will be providing a bit to eat and drink, but we're not venture funded, so we're not going to be able to offer you gold-plated tshirts or complimentary Hiveminder MacBook Pros.</p>
5092. <p>This event isn't open to the public, but if you're a friend of someone at Best Practical (or part of a friend's entourage), we'd love to see you on Friday evening.</p>
5093. <p>RSVPs aren't necessary, but sending a note to party@bestpractical.com would be much appreciated so we know how food and beer to buy.</p>
5094. <p>Your friends at Best Practical</p>
5095. </content>
5096. </entry>
5098. <entry>
5099. <title>Get busy!</title>
5100. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/08/07/get-busy/"/>
5101. <updated>2006-08-07T19:56:00Z</updated>
5102. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/08/07/get-busy/</id>
5103. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2006/08/splash.png&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
5104. <p>We've just launched <a href="http://hiveminder.com">Hiveminder</a>, a shared todo list service.  Hiveminder makes it easy to keep track of everything you need to do and to share tasks with the people you love (and those you just need to do things for you.) You can assign tasks to anyone who has an email address. They don't even have to sign up for an account.</p>
5105. <p>You can defer tasks until tomorrow, next week or next year, with a click of your mouse. "But first" and "and then" links on every task make it easy to procrastinate...er, to model complex projects.</p>
5106. <p>We wouldn't be Web 2.0™ compliant if we didn't let you tag each task with useful keywords.</p>
5107. <p>Groups let you share tasks with a set of friends or coworkers (and help keep work out of your way when you're getting stuff done at home).</p>
5108. <p>We'll be rolling out paid premium services later this year, but basic accounts will always be free.</p>
5109. <p>Come <a href="http://hiveminder.com/tour">take a tour and sign up for an account</a></p>
5110. </content>
5111. </entry>
5113. <entry>
5114. <title>It&#39;s Alive.</title>
5115. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/08/04/its-alive/"/>
5116. <updated>2006-08-05T03:13:00Z</updated>
5117. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/08/04/its-alive/</id>
5118. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;We launched &lt;a href=&quot;http://hiveminder.com&quot;&gt;Hiveminder&lt;/a&gt; today. We&#39;ll start making noise on Monday, but if you&#39;ve been wondering about what I&#39;ve been working on, then by all means check it out.&lt;/p&gt;
5119. <p>In the words of Jason, who's been doing some of our marketing:</p>
5120. <p>Best Practical Solutions is proud to announce the debut of its most recent step in their plans for world domination, Hiveminder.  Hiveminder is a webservice that helps you keep track of all of your to do lists in one convenient place. It's easy to make new lists quickly or to share tasks with anyone in your hive of friends, family, and co-workers. Hiveminder makes it easy to see only the tasks you're looking for and to sync your lists with your life. Whether you're planning your honeymoon, streamlining your business, or just trying to make it through the semester, Hiveminder has the tools you need to get busy!</p>
5121. </content>
5122. </entry>
5124. <entry>
5125. <title>Getting tshirts printed _quickly_ in Portland OR?</title>
5126. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/07/22/getting-tshirts-printed-_quickly_-in-portland-or/"/>
5127. <updated>2006-07-22T19:11:00Z</updated>
5128. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/07/22/getting-tshirts-printed-_quickly_-in-portland-or/</id>
5129. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Anybody out there have a resource for getting 20-50 single-color printed tshirts turned around in 3-4 days? I have...something I have to do.&lt;/p&gt;
5130. </content>
5131. </entry>
5133. <entry>
5134. <title>Posted using LJTalk...</title>
5135. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/07/10/posted-using-ljtalk/"/>
5136. <updated>2006-07-10T17:53:00Z</updated>
5137. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/07/10/posted-using-ljtalk/</id>
5138. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I suspect &quot;post by bot&quot; is going to lead to an awful lot of 1 line posts.&lt;/p&gt;
5139. </content>
5140. </entry>
5142. <entry>
5143. <title>Hiveminder</title>
5144. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/07/04/hiveminder/"/>
5145. <updated>2006-07-04T07:43:00Z</updated>
5146. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/07/04/hiveminder/</id>
5147. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;We&#39;re getting close to launching Hiveminder, our new hosted service. I&#39;ve got 5 beta accounts waiting for the first five people to comment on this post. I&#39;ll need your email address, either in the comment or in private mail to me.&lt;/p&gt;
5148. </content>
5149. </entry>
5151. <entry>
5152. <title>30</title>
5153. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/06/22/30-2/"/>
5154. <updated>2006-06-22T22:06:00Z</updated>
5155. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/06/22/30-2/</id>
5156. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So,&lt;/p&gt;
5157. <p>I've just turned 30.</p>
5158. <p>The weird thing is that it <em>does</em> feel a bit different.</p>
5159. </content>
5160. </entry>
5162. <entry>
5163. <title>Best Practical Solutions Announces SVK Acquisition - Total World Domination Plan Proceeding Apace</title>
5164. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/06/05/best-practical-solutions-announces-svk-acquisition-total-world-domination-plan-proceeding-apace/"/>
5165. <updated>2006-06-05T23:14:00Z</updated>
5166. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/06/05/best-practical-solutions-announces-svk-acquisition-total-world-domination-plan-proceeding-apace/</id>
5167. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Best Practical Solutions Announces SVK Acquisition - Total World Domination Plan Proceeding Apace&lt;/p&gt;
5168. <p>Every ticketing system sucks. Here at Best Practical, we're really proud of the fact that RT sucks less than everything else out there and helps many thousands of organizations around the world get their work done with less pain and suffering.</p>
5169. <p>We're a small software development shop. Between the publicly available versions of RT available and our customer projects, we maintain at least half a dozen active lines of development at any one time.  When we first started to do this sort of thing, each merge took about six hours to integrate. That was ok when we were merging two branches once a month....and totally failed when we were trying to merge changes across six branches.</p>
5170. <p>In 2003, Chia-liang Kao (clkao) took a year off work to create a version control system that  would let him hike and explore hot springs in Taiwan's mountains and still be able to be a productive software developer. He ended up creating SVK, an advanced distributed version control system which runs atop Subversion, the industry standard enterprise version control system. SVK let clkao mirror remote Subversion repositories, create local branches, hack while offline and later resynchronize his changes with the upstream Subversion servers. SVK is the best version control system for getting your work done while you're hiking in the mountains. It just so happens that what makes SVK wonderful when you're soaking in the hot springs makes it an excellent platform for getting your work done halfway around the world, on an airplane, in a cafe or in your office.</p>
5171. <p>SVK's advanced branching and merging revolutionized our development process here at Best Practical. What used to take us days now takes minutes. We can get more work done faster than ever before.  We've been rabid supporters of SVK since its birth. When clkao and I started talking about how I bootstrapped RT into a business and how Best Practical might be able to do something similar for SVK, I literally jumped at the opportunity to help. (And by that, I mean that I jumped on a plane to London on a day's notice to talk face to face about SVK's future.)</p>
5172. <p>I'm pleased to announce that as of today, Chia-liang Kao has joined me as a partner at Best Practical Solutions and we're pleased to announce that SVK is now a Best Practical product.  We remain 100% committed to keeping both RT and SVK open source and are excited about about all the cool new functionality we'll be able to offer users of both products.</p>
5173. <p>Over the next couple months, we'll be announcing new support, consulting and custom development services related to SVK and software revision control. You'll also see SVK's website, mailing list and repository move to Best Practical, where we can offer a higher level of service for all users.</p>
5174. </content>
5175. </entry>
5177. <entry>
5178. <title>Party.</title>
5179. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/06/03/party/"/>
5180. <updated>2006-06-03T23:17:00Z</updated>
5181. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/06/03/party/</id>
5182. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;From now until late. My place in somerville. Come hang out. Grill things.&lt;/p&gt;
5183. </content>
5184. </entry>
5186. <entry>
5187. <title>3 June 2006 - Birthday Party</title>
5188. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/05/23/3-june-2006-birthday-party/"/>
5189. <updated>2006-05-24T04:52:00Z</updated>
5190. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/05/23/3-june-2006-birthday-party/</id>
5191. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;m turning 30 in...a bit less than a month. For the past couple years, I&#39;ve been a bit remiss in party scheduling. But not this year.&lt;/p&gt;
5192. <h1>June 3rd.</h1>
5193. <h2>From 4pm.</h2>
5194. <h2>Until late.</h2>
5195. <h3> Porter Sq.</h3>
5196. <h3>My place.</h3>
5197. <p>Come, hang out. Eat, Drink, Be Social.</p>
5198. <p>I'll have some food and drink, but certainly wouldn't mind if folks brought more. If it's nice out and we manage to buy a grill we'll be grilling stuff. Otherwise, we'll figure out some other way to make food appear.</p>
5199. <p>While RSVP's aren't strictly necessary, it'd be convenient to know that you're coming so that I can make sure to have enough food and drink.</p>
5200. <p>If you don't know where I live, drop me email. (Since this is a public post, I'd kinda rather not post that info).</p><p></p><p></p>
5201. </content>
5202. </entry>
5204. <entry>
5205. <title>Date Grab 3 June 2006</title>
5206. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/04/07/date-grab-3-june-2006/"/>
5207. <updated>2006-04-07T18:15:00Z</updated>
5208. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/04/07/date-grab-3-june-2006/</id>
5209. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;30th Birthday party, (also 29th and 28th, since I failed to do so then.) And possibly my housewarming, since, well, I swore I wouldn&#39;t have a housewarming until the initial bit of construction was completed. And it looks like it&#39;ll be done in May. Only 2 years late. But mostly 30th birthday party.&lt;/p&gt;
5210. </content>
5211. </entry>
5213. <entry>
5214. <title>obDrama</title>
5215. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/03/18/obdrama/"/>
5216. <updated>2006-03-19T05:15:00Z</updated>
5217. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/03/18/obdrama/</id>
5218. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I did a little bit of friends list pruning. Nothing personal, folks. Just trying to keep LJ down to a dull roar.&lt;/p&gt;
5219. </content>
5220. </entry>
5222. <entry>
5223. <title>Travel</title>
5224. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/03/01/travel/"/>
5225. <updated>2006-03-02T06:05:00Z</updated>
5226. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/03/01/travel/</id>
5227. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;BOS -&amp;gt; SFO - 3/3/06 ( Work, pretty busy, Dim Sum sunday, possibly? )&lt;/p&gt;
5228. <p>SFO -> BOS - 3/5/06</p>
5229. <p>BOS -> LAX - 3/12/06 ( Work, evenings free )</p>
5230. <p>LAX -> BOS - 3/15/06</p>
5231. <p>BOS -> NRT - 3/25/06 ( Tokyo! For YAPC::Asia )</p>
5232. <p>NRT -> BOS - 4/4/06</p>
5233. </content>
5234. </entry>
5236. <entry>
5237. <title>San francisco recommendations</title>
5238. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/03/01/san-francisco-recommendations/"/>
5239. <updated>2006-03-02T01:48:00Z</updated>
5240. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/03/01/san-francisco-recommendations/</id>
5241. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;What&#39;s the best Dim Sum in San Francisco?&lt;/p&gt;
5242. </content>
5243. </entry>
5245. <entry>
5246. <title>News flash: I now have an office job.</title>
5247. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/02/27/news-flash-i-now-have-an-office-job/"/>
5248. <updated>2006-02-28T04:59:00Z</updated>
5249. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/02/27/news-flash-i-now-have-an-office-job/</id>
5250. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;...because we just got corporate office space. My god is the list of stuff we need to do long. Once we have *gasp* the requisite insurance, paint and furniture, we&#39;ll be having an officewarming party.&lt;/p&gt;
5251. </content>
5252. </entry>
5254. <entry>
5255. <title>Dimsum.</title>
5256. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/02/24/dimsum/"/>
5257. <updated>2006-02-25T03:15:00Z</updated>
5258. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/02/24/dimsum/</id>
5259. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://bloodstones.livejournal.com/&quot; class=&quot;lj-user&quot;&gt;bloodstones&lt;/a&gt; and I are arranging Dimsum at China Pearl at Noon on Sunday.&lt;br&gt;
5260. China Pearl is in Chinatown, for more specific instructions ask the internet.</p>
5261. <p>You know you want to.</p>
5262. </content>
5263. </entry>
5265. <entry>
5266. <title>Psst, buddy, want a job?</title>
5267. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/02/24/psst-buddy-want-a-job/"/>
5268. <updated>2006-02-24T08:11:00Z</updated>
5269. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/02/24/psst-buddy-want-a-job/</id>
5270. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;We&#39;ll be posting this publicly within the next couple days. But you, my friends, get first crack ;)&lt;/p&gt;
5271. <p><!--more--><br>
5272. ABOUT US</p>
5273. <p>We're Best Practical Solutions, a small software company located<br>
5274. in Somerville, Mass. We build software and sell support, training,<br>
5275. consulting and custom development. Our main product, RT (Request Tracker)<br>
5276. is the premiere opensource issue tracking system, downloaded by about<br>
5277. 3000 new organizations every month. We've been around since the fall of<br>
5278. 2001 and are entirely self-funded. O'Reilly Media published our first book,<br>
5279. /RT Essentials/, last fall. This winter, we unveiled Jifty,<br>
5280. our next-generation web application toolkit. We're currently hard at<br>
5281. work on our next new product. Things just keep getting busier.</p>
5282. <p>ABOUT YOU</p>
5283. <p>You should be a self-starter who has some experience with Perl, as well<br>
5284. as at least a few of the following:</p>
5285. <p>    * Test driven development<br>
5286.    * User interface design<br>
5287.    * HTML::Mason templating<br>
5288.    * Documentation<br>
5289.    * Web Services<br>
5290.    * Cascading Style Sheets<br>
5291.    * Javascript / AJAX<br>
5292.    * SQL databases<br>
5293.    * MVC frameworks<br>
5294.    * Optimization and Profiling<br>
5295.    * Subversion and SVK</p>
5296. <p>It's ok if you don't know everything out of the gate, but you should be<br>
5297. able to learn on the fly and be comfortable asking questions when you<br>
5298. get in over your head.  RT is a large codebase to dive into (47000 lines<br>
5299. of libraries, 27000 of templates) so you should be prepared to work with<br>
5300. a project that's too big to hold in your head at once.  If you want to<br>
5301. see what sort of trouble you're getting yourself into, download a copy<br>
5302. of RT's source code from:</p>
5303. <p>   http://download.bestpractical.com/pub/rt/release/rt.tar.gz</p>
5304. <p>ABOUT THE JOB</p>
5305. <p>We're looking for a mid-level Perl Hacker to help us enhance and refine RT,<br>
5306. Jifty, and our Next Big Thing. You'll be responsible for everything from<br>
5307. implementing new features across all our products to testing and applying<br>
5308. user-contributed patches to our released software. In a typical week, you'll<br>
5309. probably spend about half your time working on customer projects and half<br>
5310. working on internal and opensource projects. </p>
5311. <p>The hours are flexible and we all telecommute some of the time...though we're<br>
5312. just about to move into new office space in the heart of Davis Sq, Somerville.<br>
5313. We do just about EVERYTHING online and on the phone. You should be comfortable<br>
5314. using email and instant messaging systems to collaborate and get work done.<br>
5315. This job doesn't formally require your full-time presence in Boston, though it<br>
5316. would certainly be an advantage.</p>
5317. <p>We're a small company and the boss is typically overextended. You should be<br>
5318. comfortable working independently or in small teams, prioritizing tasks on<br>
5319. your own, and juggling tasks and projects. You need to be able to tell when<br>
5320. you're out of your depth and ask for help.</p>
5321. <p>COMPENSATION:</p>
5322. <p>DOE - This is a full-time salaried position, but the details are negotiable.<br>
5323. We're a small, self funded company. The standard benefits apply, of course:<br>
5324. health insurance, dental insurance and junk food to make that dental insurance<br>
5325. worthwhile.</p>
5326. <p>HOW TO APPLY:</p>
5327. <p>Send a something approximating a cover letter, a resume in<br>
5328. plain text, HTML or PDF form and a sample of your Perl code to<br>
5329. resumes@bestpractical.com. If you're involved in opensource development of<br>
5330. one kind or another, please tell us about it. If you have a CPAN ID, tell<br>
5331. us what it is. We won't consider applications without a code sample. We'll<br>
5332. be paying particular attention to the readability, comments and tests.</p>
5333. </content>
5334. </entry>
5336. <entry>
5337. <title>Great Circle Meme</title>
5338. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/02/17/great-circle-meme/"/>
5339. <updated>2006-02-18T02:30:00Z</updated>
5340. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/02/17/great-circle-meme/</id>
5341. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Currently booked travel 1 Jan 2006 - 2 April 2006: 43555 miles&lt;br&gt;
5342. <a href="http://gc.kls2.com/cgi-bin/gc?PATH=bcn-ams-lhr-bos-lhr-ham-lhr-bos-lax-bos-sfo-bos-lax-bos-dfw-nrt-dfw-bos&PATH-UNITS=mi"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2006/02/gcmap?PATH=bcn-ams-lhr-bos-lhr-ham-lhr-bos-lax-bos-sfo-bos-lax-bos-dfw-nrt-dfw-bos"><br>
5343. </a></p>
5344. </content>
5345. </entry>
5347. <entry>
5348. <title>Anyone for dinner?</title>
5349. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2006/01/29/anyone-for-dinner/"/>
5350. <updated>2006-01-30T07:19:00Z</updated>
5351. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2006/01/29/anyone-for-dinner/</id>
5352. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Somewhere in the greater Somerville metro area.&lt;br&gt;
5353. Maybe sometime between now and 9pm?</p>
5354. </content>
5355. </entry>
5357. <entry>
5358. <title>I asked Kaia to marry me.</title>
5359. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/12/31/i-asked-kaia-to-marry-me/"/>
5360. <updated>2006-01-01T06:15:00Z</updated>
5361. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/12/31/i-asked-kaia-to-marry-me/</id>
5362. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;!--more Of _course_ I&#39;m going to make you click through for the answer--&gt;&lt;br&gt;
5363. She said yes.</p>
5364. </content>
5365. </entry>
5367. <entry>
5368. <title>An astonishing percentage of what I&#39;ve been up to for the last six months</title>
5369. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/12/25/an-astonishing-percentage-of-what-ive-been-up-to-for-the-last-six-months/"/>
5370. <updated>2005-12-26T01:50:00Z</updated>
5371. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/12/25/an-astonishing-percentage-of-what-ive-been-up-to-for-the-last-six-months/</id>
5372. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;It gives me great pleasure to announce the first release of Jifty, a&lt;br&gt;
5373. new web application framework in Perl.  Jifty is designed to help you<br>
5374. write clean, maintainable applications quickly and easily. Actually,<br>
5375. it was designed to help _us_ write clean, maintainable applications<br>
5376. quickly and easily. We very much hope that you'll find it as great to<br>
5377. work with as we do.</p>
5378. <p>As we built Jifty, we talked to many, many folks about what they wanted in<br>
5379. a web framework. They told us that they didn't want to mess with database<br>
5380. schema.  They wanted AJAX to "just work." They wanted their code to be<br>
5381. clean and simple.  They wanted the power of CPAN. They wanted infinite<br>
5382. choices about the way their apps were built. They wanted "one good way"<br>
5383. to make applications built into the framework.  From what we could tell,<br>
5384. they were basically all saying the same thing: "I want a pony."</p>
5385. <p>In addition to being a pleasure to work with, Jifty is a<br>
5386. veritable treasure trove of buzzwords.  At its core is Jifty::DBI,<br>
5387. an object-relational mapping system with a clean, declarative<br>
5388. syntax. Jifty::DBI is based on DBIx::SearchBuilder, which has powered<br>
5389. uncountable thousands of RT instances for the better part of a decade<br>
5390. but adds a few new twists. Jifty::DBI handles _all_ your SQL. No INSERTs,<br>
5391. no DELETES, no SELECTs, no CREATE TABLEs and no ALTER TABLEs. Jifty will<br>
5392. set up your database schema when you first deploy your application and<br>
5393. upgrade it as you update your model classes.</p>
5394. <p>Jifty's core web framework follows the Model-View-Controller pattern<br>
5395. -- with a twist. Rather than the standard URL-based controller, Jifty<br>
5396. uses a new argument-name-based dispatcher that makes Web Services and<br>
5397. AJAX/AHAH easy.</p>
5398. <p>As one might expect, these days, Jifty comes with built in AJAX support,<br>
5399. based on Prototype.js and Script.aculo.us.  It only takes a few seconds<br>
5400. to set your pages up with rich dynamic interaction...that seamlessly<br>
5401. degrades in non-AJAX browsers.</p>
5402. <p>Jifty's application-level continuations make it a breeze to let a user<br>
5403. pop off to a login page or a wizard and get back to where they came from,<br>
5404. complete with the results of the their excursion.</p>
5405. <p>Out of the box, every new Jifty application comes with a built in<br>
5406. documentation browser, database administration interface. And a pony.</p>
5407. <p>Find out more about Jifty at <a href="http://jifty.org">http://jifty.org</a>.  Download a copy from<br>
5408. CPAN today. Join us on #jifty on irc.freenode.net.</p>
5409. </content>
5410. </entry>
5412. <entry>
5413. <title>What I want for $HOLIDAY</title>
5414. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/12/19/what-i-want-for-holiday/"/>
5415. <updated>2005-12-20T06:19:00Z</updated>
5416. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/12/19/what-i-want-for-holiday/</id>
5417. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;...is an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hi-ho.ne.jp/vine/keyboard/13h6689/&quot;&gt;IBM/Lexmark M15 ergonomic keyboard.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
5418. <p>You will earn my undying love.</p>
5419. </content>
5420. </entry>
5422. <entry>
5423. <title>Dim Sum - Saturday - 12:30PM - China Pearl</title>
5424. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/11/25/dim-sum-saturday-1230pm-china-pearl/"/>
5425. <updated>2005-11-26T00:59:00Z</updated>
5426. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/11/25/dim-sum-saturday-1230pm-china-pearl/</id>
5427. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Yesterday, you gorged on turkey and ham. Today you&#39;re too stuffed to eat anything. By 12:30 tomorrow, you&#39;ll be ravenously hungry. Come have dimsum!&lt;/p&gt;
5428. <p>Jesse</p>
5429. </content>
5430. </entry>
5432. <entry>
5433. <title>Too Early? Too Often?</title>
5434. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/11/22/too-early-too-often/"/>
5435. <updated>2005-11-22T08:51:00Z</updated>
5436. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/11/22/too-early-too-often/</id>
5437. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So. We have this new application. It&#39;s not done yet. It&#39;s agressively not done yet.&lt;/p&gt;
5438. <p>That's not to say we don't have users. We do. And they're giving us good feedback. There's lots we want to do with this application. It has a bright future. It may or may not displace Google as the epiecenter of the internet. (Ok. we know it won't displace Google. That's not even something we're trying to do.)</p>
5439. <p>But there are other things in the same space as our application. Some of them are better (for now). Most of them are abysmally bad.</p>
5440. <p>What we have isn't polished. There are still rough edges here and there. And it's far from feature complete. But it is useful. (Either that or it's so bad that our users take pity on us and lie about it being useful. )</p>
5441. <p>This thing we're doing is hosted, so it's not a problem to grow it day by day and feature by feature. We've got a nice comprehensive test suite. We aren't afraid to roll new releases every day until it's right.</p>
5442. <p>So. do we throw open the doors, invite the world in to see what we've got, possibly laugh at us and walk away before we're ready with something we think is great?</p>
5443. <p>Or do we wait and let the space get even yet more crowded while we hide in our bat-cave with our not-quite-there-but-still-neat application?</p>
5444. </content>
5445. </entry>
5447. <entry>
5448. <title>If I held a party...</title>
5449. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/11/21/if-i-held-a-party/"/>
5450. <updated>2005-11-22T00:25:00Z</updated>
5451. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/11/21/if-i-held-a-party/</id>
5452. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;If I had a party on December 17, what would I conflict with?&lt;/p&gt;
5453. </content>
5454. </entry>
5456. <entry>
5457. <title>Toughbooks?</title>
5458. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/10/05/toughbooks/"/>
5459. <updated>2005-10-05T18:59:00Z</updated>
5460. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/10/05/toughbooks/</id>
5461. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Does anyone in my greater social circle have a Panasonic Toughbook Y2 or Y4?&lt;/p&gt;
5462. </content>
5463. </entry>
5465. <entry>
5466. <title>Anybody want late dinner?</title>
5467. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/09/28/anybody-want-late-dinner/"/>
5468. <updated>2005-09-29T03:34:00Z</updated>
5469. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/09/28/anybody-want-late-dinner/</id>
5470. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Say sometime in the next hour?&lt;/p&gt;
5471. </content>
5472. </entry>
5474. <entry>
5475. <title>The Lemonheads. 10/1 Providence</title>
5476. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/09/16/the-lemonheads-101-providence/"/>
5477. <updated>2005-09-16T07:35:00Z</updated>
5478. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/09/16/the-lemonheads-101-providence/</id>
5479. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;No. I&#39;m not looking for an old Lemonheads bootleg. They&#39;re playing in two weeks. At Lupo&#39;s in Providence. &lt;/p&gt;
5480. <p>Who's coming with me?</p>
5481. <p><small>The best part is that I won't need to sneak in because I'm underage</small></p>
5482. </content>
5483. </entry>
5485. <entry>
5486. <title>We&#39;re hiring again: SALES PERSON</title>
5487. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/09/15/were-hiring-again-sales-person/"/>
5488. <updated>2005-09-16T01:25:00Z</updated>
5489. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/09/15/were-hiring-again-sales-person/</id>
5490. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;ABOUT US&lt;/p&gt;
5491. <p>We're Best Practical Solutions, a small software company located<br>
5492. in Somerville, Mass. We build software and sell support, training,<br>
5493. consulting and custom development. Our main product, RT (Request Tracker)<br>
5494. is the premiere opensource issue tracking system, downloaded by about<br>
5495. 3000 organizations every month. We've been around since the fall of<br>
5496. 2001 and are entirely self-funded. O'Reilly and Associates published<br>
5497. our first book, /RT Essentials/, this summer. We're currently hard at<br>
5498. work on our next new product. Things just keep getting busier.</p>
5499. <p>ABOUT THE JOB</p>
5500. <p>We're looking for a new sales and marketing person to help make<br>
5501. sure we're getting our message across to potential customers, generate leads,<br>
5502. handle the ever-increasing tide of incoming sales inquiries, work with<br>
5503. the engineering team to spec and cost projects and ultimately convince<br>
5504. our potential customers and customers that they want to hand us big sacks<br>
5505. of cash to do work for them. And then to make sure they're happy with<br>
5506. the work we've done.</p>
5507. <p>Most, but not all of our customers are fairly technically savvy and have<br>
5508. a good idea of what they want from us. A large part of your role will<br>
5509. be working with customers to get their requirements written down so that<br>
5510. we can figure out the best way to get them what they want, how much<br>
5511. work it will take and how much it will cost.</p>
5512. <p>We're a small shop and have been very much engineering focused up to this<br>
5513. point. We care a lot about the software we produce and how it works for<br>
5514. our users whether or not they pay us. This means that we've tended to<br>
5515. focus a lot more on technical information than on florid prose extolling<br>
5516. our virtues and our competition's inadequecies. That's just who we are.<br>
5517. But our commercial side could always use more attention. You will help<br>
5518. lead us toward a more polished, but still open and honest corporate brand.<br>
5519. We don't expect you to walk in on your first day, announce a new slogan, logo,<br>
5520. color scheme and set of corporate values. (In fact if you did, that would<br>
5521. probably be your only day.) But yes, you will have a big hand in helping<br>
5522. to define the face we present to the corporate world.</p>
5523. <p>Day-to-day, you'll be dealing with customers, engineers and the boss. You<br>
5524. need excellent written and verbal communications skills (for dealing with<br>
5525. customers) even if most of the time you're slumming with the rest of us who<br>
5526. aren't so hot with our capitalization and punctuation.</p>
5527. <p>ABOUT YOU</p>
5528. <p>You shouldn't be frustrated by computers or computer geeks.<br>
5529. Just about everyone here is a computer geek (though we all have other<br>
5530. interests). You'd be working closely with the main developers of RT, who<br>
5531. are a very bright and dedicated team. You'll be able to set your own hours<br>
5532. (though they will need to overlap largely with US business hours) and for<br>
5533. the most part telecommute from wherever you'd like to work. We do just<br>
5534. about EVERYTHING online and on the phone. You should be comfortable using<br>
5535. email and instant messaging systems to collaborate and get work done.</p>
5536. <p>We're a small company and the boss is typically overextended.<br>
5537. He travels a fair bit and when he's not traveling, his schedule can<br>
5538. be fairly erratic. You should be comfortable working independently,<br>
5539. prioritizing tasks on your own, and juggling tasks & projects. You need to<br>
5540. be able to tell when you're out of your depth and ask for help.</p>
5541. <p>We are a "virtual" office, with folks scattered around the US and around<br>
5542. the world though increasingly, we're mostly clustered in the Boston area.<br>
5543. This job doesn't formally require your presence in Boston, though it would<br>
5544. certainly be seen as an asset.</p>
5545. <p>Required Skills:</p>
5546. <p>You need strong written and verbal communications skills. We mean<br>
5547. it. Really. That BA in English _is_ good for something. You must have<br>
5548. prior sales and/or marketing experience. You need to be comfortable<br>
5549. asking questions, researching, reading documentation and experimenting<br>
5550. with software to better understand possibilities and to offer options<br>
5551. to customers.</p>
5552. <p>Desired Skills:</p>
5553. <p>We're not looking for a software engineer (not for this role anyway),<br>
5554. but if you've written a bit of code, that would certainly be an asset.</p>
5555. <p>Compensation:</p>
5556. <p>DOE - This is a full-time salaried position, but the details are negotiable.</p>
5557. <p>How to apply:</p>
5558. <p>Send a something approximating a cover letter, a resume<br>
5559. in plain text, HTML or PDF form and a writing sample to<br>
5560. resumes@bestpractical.com. Ideally the writing sample would be something<br>
5561. business-technical like a sales proposals you've written, but really<br>
5562. anything that demonstrates you can string words together should be fine.</p>
5563. </content>
5564. </entry>
5566. <entry>
5567. <title>Portugal!</title>
5568. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/08/27/portugal/"/>
5569. <updated>2005-08-28T04:45:00Z</updated>
5570. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/08/27/portugal/</id>
5571. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;m about to head to a conference in Braga, Portugal. Then I have a week&#39;s vacation, ending up in Lisbon on 10 September. What do I need to see in Portugal? What should I do on my week off?&lt;/p&gt;
5572. <p>Jesse</p>
5573. </content>
5574. </entry>
5576. <entry>
5577. <title>book!</title>
5578. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/08/21/book/"/>
5579. <updated>2005-08-22T00:51:00Z</updated>
5580. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/08/21/book/</id>
5581. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I got some neat swag at foo camp. (Tim O&#39;Reilly had the first copy of my&lt;br&gt;
5582. book sitting on his desk. Now it's in my hands. More copies are winging<br>
5583. their ways to bookstores as I type.)<br>
5584. <a href="http://pics.livejournal.com/obra/pic/00001125/"><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2005/08/s320x240" alt="Photo_082105_001.jpg" border="0"></a></p>
5585. </content>
5586. </entry>
5588. <entry>
5589. <title>An untitled post</title>
5590. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/07/22/276/"/>
5591. <updated>2005-07-22T21:50:00Z</updated>
5592. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/07/22/276/</id>
5593. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;If we tell the terrorists that they&#39;ve won, will they fuck off and leave us alone?&lt;/p&gt;
5594. </content>
5595. </entry>
5597. <entry>
5598. <title>London</title>
5599. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/07/01/london/"/>
5600. <updated>2005-07-02T03:37:00Z</updated>
5601. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/07/01/london/</id>
5602. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;ll be in the UK from late on the night of 19 July to sometime late on the 26th. I have business out of town on the 21st and 22nd. But other than that, it&#39;s just another working trip. So, where should I be? When should I be there?&lt;/p&gt;
5603. </content>
5604. </entry>
5606. <entry>
5607. <title>Tuesday. 6pm until late.</title>
5608. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/06/20/tuesday-6pm-until-late/"/>
5609. <updated>2005-06-21T01:34:00Z</updated>
5610. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/06/20/tuesday-6pm-until-late/</id>
5611. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;m turning 29 on June 21st. That&#39;s tomorrow. &lt;/p&gt;
5612. <p>I've failed to plan anything so far. But, all hope is not lost. I have a house. And it's going to be a gorgeous evening. And there are both supermarkets and liquor stores near by. </p>
5613. <p>So, there will likely be cake. There will definitely be people. We'll figure out dinner -- either ordering food in or finding a grill and some charcoal. </p>
5614. <p>Come by and hang out for a while. Presents are, of course, not needed. RSVPs are also not needed, but are definitely welcome.</p>
5615. <p>If you don't know where I live, send me email and ask.</p>
5616. </content>
5617. </entry>
5619. <entry>
5620. <title>Office Manager / Personal Assistant - Small Software Co. in Porter Sq.</title>
5621. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/06/08/office-manager-personal-assistant-small-software-co-in-porter-sq/"/>
5622. <updated>2005-06-08T21:24:00Z</updated>
5623. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/06/08/office-manager-personal-assistant-small-software-co-in-porter-sq/</id>
5624. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Location: Somerville, MA&lt;/p&gt;
5625. <p>ABOUT US</p>
5626. <p>We're a small software company located in Somerville, Mass.  Our primary<br>
5627. released product is RT (Request Tracker), an opensource issue tracking<br>
5628. system.  It's used by thousands of organizations around the world.  We<br>
5629. build software and sell support, training, consulting and custom<br>
5630. development.  We've been around since fall of 2001 and are entirely<br>
5631. bootstrap funded.  Things just keep getting busier.</p>
5632. <p>ABOUT THE JOB</p>
5633. <p>Our beloved office manager is leaving us this summer to pursue a career in<br>
5634. the arts.  We're looking for a bright, talented individual to help keep us<br>
5635. organized.  It's very important that you be able to keep on top of both<br>
5636. long-term projects and day-to-day details without someone looking over<br>
5637. your shoulder.  On the other hand, you need to know when to ask for help<br>
5638. or direction.</p>
5639. <p><!--more--><br>
5640. You'll report directly to the corporate head honcho.  As his assistant,<br>
5641. you'll be responsible for making sure that things get dealt with -<br>
5642. everything from ordering office supplies to making sure contracts get<br>
5643. signed on time to doing payroll.</p>
5644. <p>Day-to-day, you'll be dealing with staff (not all of whom are local or<br>
5645. even in this country), vendors and customers. You need excellent written<br>
5646. and verbal communications skills (for dealing with customers) even if most<br>
5647. of the time you're slumming with the rest of us who aren't so hot with our<br>
5648. capitalization and punctuation.</p>
5649. <p>We're a small company and the boss is typically overextended.  He travels<br>
5650. a fair bit and when he's not traveling, his schedule can be fairly<br>
5651. erratic.  You should be comfortable working independently, prioritizing<br>
5652. tasks on your own, and juggling tasks & projects.  We know that we're not<br>
5653. going to find an office manager who reads minds, but if you can fake it<br>
5654. well enough to make sure that things get done before they become crises,<br>
5655. we'll be thrilled (that means you should be proactive).</p>
5656. <p>You need to be comfortable using a computer running Mac OS X or some<br>
5657. variant of Unix.  You should know how to use an email client, a web<br>
5658. browser, a spreadsheet and a word processor.  Bonus skill: experience<br>
5659. creating or editing webpages.</p>
5660. <p>You shouldn't be frustrated by computers or computer geeks.  Just about<br>
5661. everyone here is a computer geek (though we all have other interests).<br>
5662. You don't need to know how to program in Perl or have a shelf full of<br>
5663. O'Reilly books, but you should know that Perl is a programming language<br>
5664. and that O'Reilly books are the ones with animals on the cover.</p>
5665. <p>About half the time you'll work from a home office that's walking distance<br>
5666. from the Porter Sq. Red Line T stop.  The rest of the time, you'll<br>
5667. telecommute.  We do just about everything online and on the phone.  You<br>
5668. should be comfortable using email and instant messaging systems to<br>
5669. collaborate and get work done.</p>
5670. <p>RESPONSIBILITIES</p>
5671. <p>Below, you'll find a rough breakdown of what the job entails.  This<br>
5672. breakdown is over the course of the year, not what you'll have to do every<br>
5673. week.  Being a small company, things do shift around and new things will<br>
5674. come up, but this should be a pretty good snapshot.</p>
5675. <p>Financial Management 40%</p>
5676. <p>* Accounts Payables - pay vendor bills<br>
5677. * Accounts Receivables - invoice customers; process incoming payments<br>
5678. * Payroll - pay employees & independent contractors<br>
5679. * Bank account reconciliation<br>
5680. * Maintenance of records<br>
5681. * Travel expense reports<br>
5682. * Tax preparation for accountant</p>
5683. <p>Project Management & Sales  20%</p>
5684. <p>* Keep track of projects and schedules<br>
5685. * Manage relationships with independent contractors<br>
5686. * Answer basic sales inquiries via email and phone<br>
5687. * Ride shotgun over our salesperson</p>
5688. <p>Office Management  10%</p>
5689. <p>* Pick up mail from post office box in Davis Sq.<br>
5690. * Open and organize mail<br>
5691. * Correspondence - email, fax, and letters<br>
5692. * Mail/ship correspondence &  packages<br>
5693. * Order office/computer supplies</p>
5694. <p>Event Planning  10%</p>
5695. <p>* Research and select hotels for training sessions around the world<br>
5696. * Coordinate with hotels<br>
5697. * Communicate with attendees<br>
5698. * Invoice attendees, track payments, issue receipts<br>
5699. * Order books<br>
5700. * Assist trainer with travel arrangements</p>
5701. <p>Household Management  5%</p>
5702. <p>* Open and organize mail<br>
5703. * Pay bills<br>
5704. * Invoice tenants, issue receipts<br>
5705. * Purchase of goods</p>
5706. <p>Special Projects  5%</p>
5707. <p>* Research</p>
5708. <p>Other 10%</p>
5709. <p>* Arrange travel<br>
5710. * Deal with things that need dealing with</p>
5711. <p>BENEFITS AND COMPENSATION</p>
5712. <p>     Position is full-time.<br>
5713.     Salary: $30,000 - $35,000 per year, depending on experience<br>
5714.     Health insurance.  We're looking into dental.<br>
5715.     Flexible hours & some telecommuting.</p>
5716. <p>HOW TO APPLY FOR THE JOB</p>
5717. <p>Please send a cover letter and resume to:                                                       </p>
5718. <p>    resumes at bestpractical.com                                                                </p>
5719. <p>Real people will read your cover letter.  We'd love to know a bit about<br>
5720. who you are, where you went to college, where you've worked and what sorts<br>
5721. of things you're interested in, rather than just that you've seen our job<br>
5722. posting and are sure that you'd be a fine match for the position.  If you<br>
5723. have a website or blog you'd like to share with us, please send a link.<br>
5724. While we can probably read any resume format you can throw at us, we'd<br>
5725. appreciate it a lot if you can send it as plain text or HTML. If you can't<br>
5726. do that, PDF. If you can't generate a PDF, Word is okay.</p>
5727. </content>
5728. </entry>
5730. <entry>
5731. <title>Harrier Book</title>
5732. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/06/07/harrier-book/"/>
5733. <updated>2005-06-08T02:02:00Z</updated>
5734. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/06/07/harrier-book/</id>
5735. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596006683/ref=nosim/bestpractical-20&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2005/06/harrier_book.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
5736. </content>
5737. </entry>
5739. <entry>
5740. <title>How weird is that.</title>
5741. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/05/27/how-weird-is-that/"/>
5742. <updated>2005-05-27T08:58:00Z</updated>
5743. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/05/27/how-weird-is-that/</id>
5744. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://obra.livejournal.com/59209.html&quot;&gt;A year ago today&lt;/a&gt;, I bought a house. Today I set up payroll. I have 5 people on the corporate payroll. &lt;/p&gt;
5745. <p>At some point, I think I might have become a <small>grownup</small> without anybody telling me.</p>
5746. </content>
5747. </entry>
5749. <entry>
5750. <title>Anybody want to be Serene?</title>
5751. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/05/24/anybody-want-to-be-serene/"/>
5752. <updated>2005-05-25T05:05:00Z</updated>
5753. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/05/24/anybody-want-to-be-serene/</id>
5754. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Looks like I still have two Serenity tickets for Thursday night at 10pm in Boston.  Best request in the next 12 hours gets them. (Hint, interstate or international travel to see a movie is best. Oh. If you&#39;re coming from far away, you can crash on my couch.)&lt;/p&gt;
5755. </content>
5756. </entry>
5758. <entry>
5759. <title>London. This weekend.</title>
5760. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/05/09/london-this-weekend/"/>
5761. <updated>2005-05-10T01:47:00Z</updated>
5762. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/05/09/london-this-weekend/</id>
5763. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;AMERICAN AIRLINES&lt;br&gt;
5764. 156 BOS Boston 05/11/2005 09:00 AM LHR London 05/11/2005 08:25 PM Economy<br>
5765. 155 LHR London 05/14/2005 06:05 PM BOS Boston 05/14/2005 08:15 PM Economy </p>
5766. <p>Oh. yeah. and it's not for work. And not for a conference. Just for the hell of it. Get that? I'm travelling and it has nothing to do with work.</p>
5767. <p>clkao released svk 1.0. There's a small party on Thursday night at the Mitre.</p>
5768. </content>
5769. </entry>
5771. <entry>
5772. <title>Serenity tix</title>
5773. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/05/09/serenity-tix/"/>
5774. <updated>2005-05-09T20:48:00Z</updated>
5775. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/05/09/serenity-tix/</id>
5776. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So. I have at least a couple &lt;i&gt;Serenity&lt;/i&gt; tickets up for grabs for the evening of May 26. I don&#39;t actually know how many yet. If you want one, reply to this post or email me and I&#39;ll see what I can do.&lt;/p&gt;
5777. </content>
5778. </entry>
5780. <entry>
5781. <title>more serenity</title>
5782. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/05/09/more-serenity/"/>
5783. <updated>2005-05-09T20:09:00Z</updated>
5784. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/05/09/more-serenity/</id>
5785. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;DC http://www.fandango.com/MoviePage.aspx?date=5/26/2005&amp;amp;mid=91276&amp;amp;location=washington,%20dc&lt;br&gt;
5786. Seattle http://www.fandango.com/MoviePage.aspx?date=5/26/2005&mid=91276&location=seattle,%20wa</p>
5787. <p>Where else?</p>
5788. </content>
5789. </entry>
5791. <entry>
5792. <title>BOSTON FIREFLY FANS</title>
5793. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/05/09/boston-firefly-fans/"/>
5794. <updated>2005-05-09T19:40:00Z</updated>
5795. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/05/09/boston-firefly-fans/</id>
5796. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;CLICK THIS NOW.&lt;/p&gt;
5797. <p>http://www.fandango.com/MoviePage.aspx?date=5/26/2005&mid=91276</p>
5798. </content>
5799. </entry>
5801. <entry>
5802. <title>Serenity</title>
5803. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/05/05/serenity/"/>
5804. <updated>2005-05-06T04:15:00Z</updated>
5805. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/05/05/serenity/</id>
5806. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Yeah. It was all that and more.&lt;/p&gt;
5807. </content>
5808. </entry>
5810. <entry>
5811. <title>Corporate swag</title>
5812. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/04/28/corporate-swag/"/>
5813. <updated>2005-04-29T06:52:00Z</updated>
5814. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/04/28/corporate-swag/</id>
5815. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Conference season approaches. It&#39;s time to get corporate-wear made. I&#39;m looking for a limited-run upper-body covering for me and my staff. We&#39;ll end up getting them silkscreened or embroidered.  We want something a bit more fun than t-shirts.   Polos are too stuffy.  Lab-coats are a bit cliche. Don&#39;t wanna do fleeces.   Bowling shirts are a bit too...bowling league. &lt;/p&gt;
5816. <p>Gas-station attendant jackets are a possibility. </p>
5817. <p>Anybody got ideas?</p>
5818. </content>
5819. </entry>
5821. <entry>
5822. <title>Alpha Delts: Initiation?</title>
5823. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/04/27/alpha-delts-initiation/"/>
5824. <updated>2005-04-28T06:16:00Z</updated>
5825. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/04/27/alpha-delts-initiation/</id>
5826. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;m headed down Friday evening. Back Sunday afternoon. Anybody want a ride?&lt;/p&gt;
5827. </content>
5828. </entry>
5830. <entry>
5831. <title>Since I should be working</title>
5832. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/02/23/since-i-should-be-working/"/>
5833. <updated>2005-02-23T09:24:00Z</updated>
5834. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/02/23/since-i-should-be-working/</id>
5835. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;10 things I&#39;ve done that you probably haven&#39;t.&lt;/p&gt;
5836. <p>10. Had somebody punch me in the face for my political beliefs.</p>
5837. <p>9.  Scratched my cornea. Twice.</p>
5838. <p>8.  Met people who'd been to my house (but I had never met or even seen before) on the subway in a city in another country.</p>
5839. <p>7. Had a New York cop try to sneak me into a bar. (He failed).</p>
5840. <p>6. Written an IETF Working Group charter.</p>
5841. <p>5. Convinced a major-label artist to release a single on the internet before anyone had heard of mp3</p>
5842. <p>4. Started a company that earns me and others a decent living giving away software that we make.</p>
5843. <p>3. Been swept out to see by the undertow and only lived to tell the tale because there was a kind surfer nearby.</p>
5844. <p>2. Been on a heroin buy in a country where drug trafficking gets you locked up for life.</p>
5845. <p>1. Convinced thousands of people trust me with lists of their crushes, so that I could get them laid. </p>
5846. <p>(Friends locked for #2)</p>
5847. </content>
5848. </entry>
5850. <entry>
5851. <title>Hunter S Thompson</title>
5852. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/02/21/hunter-s-thompson/"/>
5853. <updated>2005-02-21T22:06:00Z</updated>
5854. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/02/21/hunter-s-thompson/</id>
5855. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Actually, Hunter S Thompson is still alive and living in hiding. I just saw him in a 7-11.&lt;/p&gt;
5856. </content>
5857. </entry>
5859. <entry>
5860. <title>An untitled post</title>
5861. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/02/17/260/"/>
5862. <updated>2005-02-17T08:05:00Z</updated>
5863. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/02/17/260/</id>
5864. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Orbitz would die, just after I discovered that they had pricing to Taiwan that beat everyone else by $400.&lt;/p&gt;
5865. <div id="parent">
5866. <div id="content">We're sorry. Our site is unavailable.<p></p>
5867. <p> We are aware of the problem and are working to correct it.</p>
5868. <p> Please try again later.
5869. </p></div>
5870. </div>
5871. </content>
5872. </entry>
5874. <entry>
5875. <title>(PARTY) The software isn&#39;t old enough to drink, but that doesn&#39;t mean you can&#39;t.</title>
5876. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/02/10/party-the-software-isnt-old-enough-to-drink-but-that-doesnt-mean-you-cant/"/>
5877. <updated>2005-02-11T06:13:00Z</updated>
5878. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/02/10/party-the-software-isnt-old-enough-to-drink-but-that-doesnt-mean-you-cant/</id>
5879. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Nine years ago this Saturday, I announced my first open source perl project, a tool called &quot;WebReq.&quot; It was a web frontend to a ticketing system called &quot;req&quot;.&lt;br&gt;
5880. Later on, a manager made me ditch the "req" part and write my own code to replace it. That eventually became RT 1.0.  </p>
5881. <p>So. RT is essentially <b>nine</b> years old this Saturday.</p>
5882. <p>Which seems like a good excuse for a party.  </p>
5883. <p>My Place. Feb 12. 9pm until late.  </p>
5884. <p>Ping me for directions, if you don't have 'em already.</p>
5885. <p>RSVPs would be kinda nice, but aren't necessary.</p>
5886. </content>
5887. </entry>
5889. <entry>
5890. <title>Pictures</title>
5891. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/01/22/pictures/"/>
5892. <updated>2005-01-23T01:42:00Z</updated>
5893. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/01/22/pictures/</id>
5894. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I gave in and started to use Flickr.&lt;/p&gt;
5895. <p>Here's the contents of my cameraphone:</p>
5896. <p>http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/</p>
5897. </content>
5898. </entry>
5900. <entry>
5901. <title>Where to, next?</title>
5902. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2005/01/17/where-to-next/"/>
5903. <updated>2005-01-17T21:48:00Z</updated>
5904. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2005/01/17/where-to-next/</id>
5905. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So. I&#39;m in Geneva for work. And, aside from the work bit, not really having a great time, due to a combination of&lt;br&gt;
5906. poor weather, the fact that everything closes soon after I'm done with work for the day and that my hotel's near the customer, a shopping mall, the airport and not much else.  I'm here through the night of the 19th and due in Amsterdam on the  21st. Which means that I've got a day to be somewhere that's not Geneva. Probably best if it's somewhere on the way to Amsterdam.  Where should I go?</p>
5907. </content>
5908. </entry>
5910. <entry>
5911. <title>cry</title>
5912. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/12/26/cry/"/>
5913. <updated>2004-12-27T02:31:00Z</updated>
5914. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/12/26/cry/</id>
5915. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;i am in virginia. There is a snow emergency. My car is on the even side of the street. I have the keys with me. Sigh.&lt;/p&gt;
5916. </content>
5917. </entry>
5919. <entry>
5920. <title>Friday evening?</title>
5921. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/12/24/friday-evening/"/>
5922. <updated>2004-12-24T09:19:00Z</updated>
5923. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/12/24/friday-evening/</id>
5924. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;What are folks who aren&#39;t doing familyish things friday evening up to?&lt;/p&gt;
5925. </content>
5926. </entry>
5928. <entry>
5929. <title>New Year&#39;s Eve</title>
5930. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/12/11/new-years-eve-2/"/>
5931. <updated>2004-12-12T03:45:00Z</updated>
5932. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/12/11/new-years-eve-2/</id>
5933. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Hi!  &lt;/p&gt;
5934. <p>I'm having a party. I always have a NYE party. Even when I ditch my<br>
5935. birthday. And fail to schedule a housewarming party. But I'm Not<br>
5936. Skipping NYE.</p>
5937. <p>It's the standard deal:</p>
5938. <p>  23 Ibbetson St, Somerville MA (+1 617 319 5823)</p>
5939. <p>  8pm until early 2005. (Our record for last arrival is sometime<br>
5940.  around sunrise.)</p>
5941. <p>  Some food and alcohol (and non-alcoholic beverages) will be here for<br>
5942.  you, but the bar could use some stocking.  More food and drink<br>
5943.  certainly won't be refused.</p>
5944. <p>You're welcome to bring SOs and roomates, etc with you, but if you're<br>
5945. bringing your hockey team or a crowd of hipsters you met on the T with<br>
5946. you, run it by me first, so I can be ready for them.</p>
5947. <p>Crash space is available, but a tad limited. It's worth reserving now if<br>
5948. you think you might like something soft to sleep on.</p>
5949. <p>RSVPs by email are encouraged, but I'm not about to kick you out if you<br>
5950. fail to tell me you're coming. </p>
5951. <p>You should be aware that I've moved since last year, so I won't be able<br>
5952. to offer the fabulous Basement Screen to watch the ball descend at<br>
5953. midnight, but I've got a projector and at least a few white walls, so I<br>
5954. suspect we'll be able to work something out. I don't have nearly so many<br>
5955. housemates as I used to, so if you feel like showing up a bit early to<br>
5956. help out, your help certainly won't be refused.</p>
5957. <p>23 Ibbetson St is located about 10 minutes walk from the Porter Sq. T<br>
5958. stop.  Take a right turn out of the main exit from Porter station.<br>
5959. That'll put you on Somerville Ave.  Follow Somerville Ave. past the<br>
5960. Starbucks and the intersection with Elm St.   On your right, you'll see<br>
5961. a Car wash.  Ibbetson St is across from the "self-serve" part of the car<br>
5962. wash.  You'll see "Pet Spa" (666 PETS) on the corner of Ibbetson St.<br>
5963. We're number 23. It's a grey house on the left with a pine tree in the<br>
5964. front "yard".</p>
5965. <p>Jesse</p>
5966. </content>
5967. </entry>
5969. <entry>
5970. <title>Q1 Travel</title>
5971. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/12/01/q1-travel/"/>
5972. <updated>2004-12-02T04:10:00Z</updated>
5973. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/12/01/q1-travel/</id>
5974. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Ok. So it looks like I&#39;m going to be &lt;i&gt;busy&lt;/i&gt; this winter.&lt;/p&gt;
5975. <ul>
5976. <li>Geneva, Switzerland  (16 Jan - 21 Jan)
5977. </li>
5978. <li>Amsterdam, Netherlands (21 Jan - 24 Jan)
5979. </li>
5980. <li>London, UK (24 Jan - 27 Jan)
5981. </li>
5982. <li> San Francisco, CA, USA (6-8 March) (Maybe)
5983. </li>
5984. <li> Sydney, Australia ( March 12-20?)
5985. </li>
5986. <li> Taipei, Taiwan (March 21-28 or so)
5987. </li>
5988. </ul>
5989. <p>Anyone feel like grabbing coffee, beer, sushi, etc?</p>
5990. </content>
5991. </entry>
5993. <entry>
5994. <title>Recount Meme</title>
5995. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/11/13/recount-meme/"/>
5996. <updated>2004-11-13T21:28:00Z</updated>
5997. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/11/13/recount-meme/</id>
5998. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.votecobb.org/&quot;&gt;The greens and the libertarians are teaming up to demand (and pay for) a recount in Ohio&lt;/a&gt; They need to raise 150k by Monday. They&#39;re at 70k now.&lt;br&gt;
5999. If you support the Ohio recount, paste this paragraph into your blog (Along with the hyperlink). And donate! They take Paypal, so you can give just a couple bucks if you want. Or you can give more if you believe in free and fair elections and happen to to have some cash lying around or a credit card you haven't managed to max out on eBay.</p>
6000. </content>
6001. </entry>
6003. <entry>
6004. <title>How weird.</title>
6005. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/11/11/how-weird/"/>
6006. <updated>2004-11-12T07:10:00Z</updated>
6007. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/11/11/how-weird/</id>
6008. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;m at Taipei CKS airport, waiting to board my flight home. After a bit of fiddling, one of the wireless networks gave me an almost open pipe. Connections are a bit flaky. And SSH hangs after successfully negotiating a collection, either just before or just after printing my system&#39;s banner. Every time.&lt;/p&gt;
6009. <p>But hey, at least I've got IMAPS, SMTP, IRC, HTTP and HTTPS to entertain me.</p>
6010. </content>
6011. </entry>
6013. <entry>
6014. <title>Where I&#39;m hacking this week:</title>
6015. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/11/05/where-im-hacking-this-week/"/>
6016. <updated>2004-11-05T18:35:00Z</updated>
6017. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/11/05/where-im-hacking-this-week/</id>
6018. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2004/11/3.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;
6019. <img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2004/11/2.jpg"><br>
6020. <img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2004/11/4.jpg"></p>
6021. </content>
6022. </entry>
6024. <entry>
6025. <title>An untitled post</title>
6026. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/11/02/249/"/>
6027. <updated>2004-11-02T20:32:00Z</updated>
6028. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/11/02/249/</id>
6029. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;i didn&#39;t vote today.&lt;/p&gt;
6030. </content>
6031. </entry>
6033. <entry>
6034. <title>Code Month (NanoWriMo for Coders)</title>
6035. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/11/01/code-month-nanowrimo-for-coders/"/>
6036. <updated>2004-11-01T08:10:00Z</updated>
6037. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/11/01/code-month-nanowrimo-for-coders/</id>
6038. <content type="html">&lt;blockquote&gt;
6039. Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book,<br>
6040. it took me years to write, will you take a look?<br>
6041. Based on a novel by a man named Lear.<br>
6042. and I need a job, so I want to be a paperback writer,<br>
6043. paperback writer.<p></p>
6044. <p>It's the dirty story of a dirty man,<br>
6045. and his clinging wife doesn't understand.<br>
6046. His son is working for the Daily Mail,<br>
6047. it's a steady job but he wants to be a paperback writer,<br>
6048. paperback writer.</p>
6049. <p>Paperback writer.</p>
6050. <p>It's a thousand pages, give or take a few,<br>
6051. I'll be writing more in a week or two.<br>
6052. I can make it longer if you like the style,<br>
6053. I can change it round and I want to be a paperback writer,<br>
6054. paperback writer.</p>
6055. <p>If you really like, it you can have the rights,<br>
6056. it could make a million for you overnight.<br>
6057. If you must return it, you can send it here,<br>
6058. but I need a break and I want to be a paperback writer,<br>
6059. <a href="http://www.iqm.ro/beatles/beatles/paperbac.wav">paperback writer</a>.
6060. </p></blockquote>
6061. <p>Happy <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org">NaNoWriMo</a>. Nope. I'm not writing a novel. But I am going to attempt to take part in <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/community/codemonth">Code Month</a>.</p>
6062. </content>
6063. </entry>
6065. <entry>
6066. <title>New Year&#39;s Eve.</title>
6067. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/10/25/new-years-eve/"/>
6068. <updated>2004-10-25T08:29:00Z</updated>
6069. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/10/25/new-years-eve/</id>
6070. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;m having a party. I &lt;i&gt;always&lt;/i&gt; have a NYE party. Even when I ditch my birthday. And fail to schedule a housewarming party. But I&#39;m Not Skipping NYE.&lt;/p&gt;
6071. <p>It's the standard deal:</p>
6072. <p>    23 Ibbetson St, Somerville MA (No, it doesn't have a name, yet)<br>
6073.    8pm until sometime in 2005.<br>
6074.    Some food and alcohol (and non-alcoholic beverages) will be here for you, but more certainly won't be refused.</p>
6075. <p>You should be aware that I've moved since last year, so I won't be able to offer the fabulous Basement Screen to watch the ball descend at midnight, but I've got a projector and at least a few white walls, so I suspect we'll be able to work something out. I don't have nearly so many housemates as I used to, so if you feel like showing up a bit early to help out, your help certainly won't be refused.</p>
6076. <p>Crash space is available, but a tad limited. It's worth reserving now if you think you might like something soft to sleep on.</p>
6077. <p>RSVPs (either here or by email) are encouraged, but I'm not about to kick you out if you fail to tell me you're coming.</p>
6078. <p>An email invite will go out sometime later.</p>
6079. </content>
6080. </entry>
6082. <entry>
6083. <title>Eit</title>
6084. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/10/18/eit/"/>
6085. <updated>2004-10-18T23:38:00Z</updated>
6086. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/10/18/eit/</id>
6087. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;The book got cancelled because we failed to produce. I&#39;m bummed out by how it went down, but not surprised.&lt;/p&gt;
6088. </content>
6089. </entry>
6091. <entry>
6092. <title>An untitled post</title>
6093. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/10/12/245/"/>
6094. <updated>2004-10-12T10:23:00Z</updated>
6095. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/10/12/245/</id>
6096. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Should I go to Taiwan for a week in November for a working holiday?  Hm.&lt;/p&gt;
6097. </content>
6098. </entry>
6100. <entry>
6101. <title>An untitled post</title>
6102. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/10/02/244/"/>
6103. <updated>2004-10-02T19:45:00Z</updated>
6104. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/10/02/244/</id>
6105. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.aairpass.com/christmasbook/&quot;&gt;Want&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
6106. </content>
6107. </entry>
6109. <entry>
6110. <title>Vote W in 2004</title>
6111. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/09/19/vote-w-in-2004/"/>
6112. <updated>2004-09-20T05:46:00Z</updated>
6113. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/09/19/vote-w-in-2004/</id>
6114. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2004/09/vc67.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;
6115. <br>
6116. Vote Witch/Henchmonkeys in 2004. They'll get that nasty terrorist. <b>And her little dog, too.</b></p>
6117. </content>
6118. </entry>
6120. <entry>
6121. <title>Concerts! Hmmm.</title>
6122. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/09/18/concerts-hmmm/"/>
6123. <updated>2004-09-18T09:11:00Z</updated>
6124. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/09/18/concerts-hmmm/</id>
6125. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;09/18/04 - TMBG - Avalon&lt;br&gt;
6126. 09/30/04 - Supergrass - Paradise Rock Club<br>
6127. 10/09/04 - P.J. Harvey - Avalon<br>
6128. 10/11/04 - Interpol - Avalon<br>
6129. 10/16/04 - Camper Van Beethoven - Middle East Club (With Bars, The Dwarves, Stereo 360)<br>
6130. 10/30/04 - The Dresden Dolls - Avalon<br>
6131. 11/16-19/04 - Arlo Guthrie - Club Passim<br>
6132. 12/01/04 - Pixies - Paul E. Tsongas Arena</p>
6133. </content>
6134. </entry>
6136. <entry>
6137. <title>An untitled post</title>
6138. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/09/02/241/"/>
6139. <updated>2004-09-02T09:26:00Z</updated>
6140. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/09/02/241/</id>
6141. <content type="html">&lt;blockquote&gt;
6142. <tt><br>
6143. From:  admin@ljmeme.com<br>
6144. Subject: LJMeme.com Sells Out<br>
6145. Date: September 2, 2004 1:35:16 AM EDT<p></p>
6146. <p>Hi, obra.<br>
6147. Due to popular demand, we've decided to offer a couple new features for more small donations to the beer fund. To wit, for two dollars and fifty cents you can get the following:<br>
6148. * Anyone who is currently listing you as a crush.<br>
6149. * Everyone who has ever listed you as a crush.</p>
6150. <p>In addition, for just five bucks, you can all that plus:<br>
6151. * Everyone ANY USER has ever listed as a crush.<br>
6152. * Everyone who has EVER listed a crush on ANY USER.</p>
6153. <p>Pretty cool, huh? Not just any ONE user, ANY user, period. For those of you who've got something there that you may not want other users to see, a privacy option is also available. See? There's something for everyone. Just makes you feel all gooey inside, don't it?</p>
6154. <p>For more info, log in at the usual place: http://www.ljmeme.com and check out the two new links on bottom of the main page.</p>
6155. <p>Thanks!<br>
6156. The LJMeme.com Team</p>
6157. <p>P.S.: The site may be a little slow for the next 24 hours, if you have any problems just check back a few hours later.<br>
6158. </p></tt>
6159. <p></p></blockquote>
6160. <p>*laugh* Why am I not surprised?</p>
6161. </content>
6162. </entry>
6164. <entry>
6165. <title>Back in town. Time for Dim Sum.</title>
6166. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/08/28/back-in-town-time-for-dim-sum/"/>
6167. <updated>2004-08-28T09:05:00Z</updated>
6168. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/08/28/back-in-town-time-for-dim-sum/</id>
6169. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;+1&quot;&gt;Sunday.&lt;br&gt;
6170. China Pearl.<br>
6171. Noon.</font></p>
6172. <p>Comment or email if you intend to show.</p>
6173. </content>
6174. </entry>
6176. <entry>
6177. <title>London! Netherlands</title>
6178. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/08/05/london-netherlands/"/>
6179. <updated>2004-08-05T07:31:00Z</updated>
6180. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/08/05/london-netherlands/</id>
6181. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Kaia and I will be in London from the 12th to the 15th.  We&#39;re staying somewhere reasonably nice in Kensington.  &lt;/p&gt;
6182. <p>We were vaguely pondering B-Movie or Slimelight the night of the 13th.</p>
6183. <p>Kaia heads back to the US the night of the 15th. After that, I sort of intend to spend the week hacking and hanging out with folks. I've got <b>no</b> explicit plans for my week just yet. That includes no particular places to stay just yet. This has all been arranged on rather short notice, so I haven't quite managed to start harassing my friends for a place to stay yet.</p>
6184. <p>Then I'll be sticking around until the 19th or so, when I'll be headed to the Netherlands for EuroFoo.  I can pull off thursday night in amsterdam if there will be folks around. Likewise, It'd be neat to catch up with folks in Amsterdam the night of August 22.</p>
6185. <p>Anyone feel like helping to fill in my schedule? ;)</p>
6186. </content>
6187. </entry>
6189. <entry>
6190. <title>PDX</title>
6191. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/07/23/pdx/"/>
6192. <updated>2004-07-24T01:18:00Z</updated>
6193. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/07/23/pdx/</id>
6194. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So. I&#39;m going to portland for OSCon tomorrow. If you&#39;re in Portland and not going to be at OSCon, leave me a note here or email me. We should catch up.&lt;/p&gt;
6195. <p>I need to bring</p>
6196. <p>Power book<br>
6197. AC Adaptor<br>
6198. Extension cord<br>
6199. iPod<br>
6200. iPod cable<br>
6201. headphones<br>
6202. MS Natural Keyboard<br>
6203. keychain</p>
6204. <p>Moleskine<br>
6205. pens</p>
6206. <p>phone<br>
6207. phone charger cable<br>
6208. Business cards</p>
6209. <p>2-3 decent buttondowns<br>
6210. 4 tshirts.<br>
6211. underpands<br>
6212. 3x pants<br>
6213. Sandals.<br>
6214. No socks.</p>
6215. <p>Novels x 1 or 2.<br>
6216. Visit to Powells' x 2 or 3</p>
6217. <p>Phone<br>
6218. Ethernet cable<br>
6219. mac->video cable</p>
6220. <p>Mini camera, if I can find the charger.<br>
6221. SD->CF adaptor<br>
6222. Camera charger</p>
6223. <p>NOT Bringing:<br>
6224. Tablet PC (It's getting returned)<br>
6225. Airport Express</p>
6226. </content>
6227. </entry>
6229. <entry>
6230. <title>Sunday. China Pearl. 11am</title>
6231. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/07/17/sunday-china-pearl-11am/"/>
6232. <updated>2004-07-18T00:31:00Z</updated>
6233. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/07/17/sunday-china-pearl-11am/</id>
6234. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;My friends autrijus and whiteg are in from Taiwan. We&#39;ll be going to China Pearl for Dim Sum. Meeting there at 11am.  Comment here or mail me if you plan to join us.&lt;/p&gt;
6235. </content>
6236. </entry>
6238. <entry>
6239. <title>An untitled post</title>
6240. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/06/24/236/"/>
6241. <updated>2004-06-25T05:26:00Z</updated>
6242. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/06/24/236/</id>
6243. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I own a house. I live in it.&lt;/p&gt;
6244. </content>
6245. </entry>
6247. <entry>
6248. <title>Yes, Have some.</title>
6249. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/06/21/yes-have-some/"/>
6250. <updated>2004-06-22T00:26:00Z</updated>
6251. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/06/21/yes-have-some/</id>
6252. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Three gmail invites. If you&#39;ve already got an account, please don&#39;t use these invites.&lt;/p&gt;
6253. <p>If you haven't yet got an account, please take only one.</p>
6254. <p>If you take one of these, gmail should give you a couple invites within a few days. Post one or two of them to your blog for someone else.</p>
6255. <p>Oh. and gmail will tell me who uses these. If that bothers you....</p>
6256. <p>http://gmail.google.com/gmail/a-5b0154beaa973e9d-92dd8ecedb<br>
6257. http://gmail.google.com/gmail/a-5b0154beaa973e9d-a28ecad6cc<br>
6258. http://gmail.google.com/gmail/a-5b0154beaa973e9d-b4167ef445</p>
6259. </content>
6260. </entry>
6262. <entry>
6263. <title>gmail</title>
6264. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/06/16/gmail/"/>
6265. <updated>2004-06-16T07:54:00Z</updated>
6266. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/06/16/gmail/</id>
6267. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;anyone need an invite?&lt;/p&gt;
6268. </content>
6269. </entry>
6271. <entry>
6272. <title>23 Ibbetson - Preheating</title>
6273. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/05/25/23-ibbetson-preheating/"/>
6274. <updated>2004-05-26T03:56:00Z</updated>
6275. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/05/25/23-ibbetson-preheating/</id>
6276. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;In 12 hours, I&#39;ll own a house.&lt;br&gt;
6277. In 18 hours (6:30 pm or so), you should come by and see the place.<br>
6278. The house is at 23 Ibbetson St in Somerville.  Ibbetson is off of Somerville Ave, just past Elm St, if you're coming from Porter Sq.<br>
6279. #23 is big and grey and on the right side of the street.  There's a decapitated pine tree in the front "yard".  I don't currently have parking passes. Or furniture.<br>
6280. I expect to hang around until 10:30 or so and then go back to the place that I still sleep at ;)<br>
6281. There's a vague "let's order dinner" plan, but I've just given you all the details I know.</p>
6282. </content>
6283. </entry>
6285. <entry>
6286. <title>2004-05-26 - House Preheating</title>
6287. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/05/16/2004-05-26-house-preheating/"/>
6288. <updated>2004-05-16T09:00:00Z</updated>
6289. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/05/16/2004-05-26-house-preheating/</id>
6290. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So. I should own 23 Ibbetson St in Somerville by about 4pm on the 26th. &lt;/p&gt;
6291. <p>I'm going to spend that evening at the new house getting a start on minor destruction projects, eating pizza and maybe watching the Money Pit projected onto an interior wall. There are no tables. There are no chairs. There are no couches. We do have a couple fridges.  We'll probably have a whole bunch of post-its and markers for a fun game of <i>Living by Committee</i>. I expect to wander around  the next morning to find a bunch of notes along the lines of "here, there should be a couch" or "make this room MAUVE."</p>
6292. <p>But wander around sometime between 6:30 and 10 to see the new place.</p>
6293. <p>RSVP if you can manage it. If nobody says they're coming, I may not be around ;)</p>
6294. </content>
6295. </entry>
6297. <entry>
6298. <title>RIP Wescam</title>
6299. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/05/07/rip-wescam/"/>
6300. <updated>2004-05-07T23:55:00Z</updated>
6301. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/05/07/rip-wescam/</id>
6302. <content type="html">&lt;blockquote&gt;
6303. <p>Dearest ____________,</p>
6304. <p>WeScam started in 1998 as a distraction from a final project for Professor Hope Weissman's <i>Pornography</i> class. That first year, it ended up satisfying the final project requirement for that class, as well as satisfying a large number of Wesleyan students. In the past five years, we've been written up in <i>The Argus</i>, <i>Playboy</i> and <i>The New York Times</i>. When we started, just about nobody was doing online matchmaking, at Wes or anywhere else.  Today, there are more matchmaking sites on the net than there are prospective matches. </p>
6305. <p>We've had a good run and we're happy to have made so many people *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge* happy, but right now, I think it's best that we see other people. All the time.</p>
6306. <p>   Best,<br>
6307. <br>   <b><a href="mailto:jesse@wescam.org">Jesse Vincent</a></b>
6308. </p></blockquote>
6309. </content>
6310. </entry>
6312. <entry>
6313. <title>Voicemail from the mortgage broker.</title>
6314. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/05/04/voicemail-from-the-mortgage-broker/"/>
6315. <updated>2004-05-04T09:14:00Z</updated>
6316. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/05/04/voicemail-from-the-mortgage-broker/</id>
6317. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;My loan has been approved. No further questions or due dilligence required. Now to try to move up the closing date.&lt;/p&gt;
6318. </content>
6319. </entry>
6321. <entry>
6322. <title>An untitled post</title>
6323. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/04/22/229/"/>
6324. <updated>2004-04-22T09:39:00Z</updated>
6325. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/04/22/229/</id>
6326. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Today, I met with my mortgage broker and signed my name about thirty times. I know I agreed to hand over my firstborn, whenever I have one to hand over. That&#39;s so they can sell the baby on the black market if I default, right? And there was something about giving my consent for them to take out a life insurance policy on me and have me killed if I don&#39;t pay promptly.&lt;/p&gt;
6327. <p>And then I dropped the P&S off at the Listing Broker's office, signed. Along with a check for more money than I've ever written a check for.</p>
6328. <p>The mortgage broker thinks we might be able to move up the closing by a couple weeks. I could own a house in three weeks.</p>
6329. </content>
6330. </entry>
6332. <entry>
6333. <title>Home Inspection</title>
6334. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/04/12/home-inspection/"/>
6335. <updated>2004-04-12T20:01:00Z</updated>
6336. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/04/12/home-inspection/</id>
6337. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;The home inspection turned up nothing major.  Some water damage that appears to have been fixed at the source without the resulting interior cleanup. The upper porch wants to be shored up. But on the whole, good.&lt;/p&gt;
6338. <p>Dude. House.</p>
6339. </content>
6340. </entry>
6342. <entry>
6343. <title>House</title>
6344. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/04/10/house-2/"/>
6345. <updated>2004-04-11T01:48:00Z</updated>
6346. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/04/10/house-2/</id>
6347. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;The house pictured in my last post is 23 Ibbetson St in Somerville, MA. It&#39;s a 4br Victorian with 2800+ square feet of space.  It needs a bit of work, but not a major renovation. It&#39;s just off Somerville Ave, across from the car wash.&lt;/p&gt;
6348. <p>The home inspection is Monday morning. The Closing is May 26.</p>
6349. <p>I _am_ currently looking for two housemates, starting sometime this summer. (Not likely before July 1).</p>
6350. </content>
6351. </entry>
6353. <entry>
6354. <title>It&#39;s been a busy week.</title>
6355. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/04/09/its-been-a-busy-week/"/>
6356. <updated>2004-04-10T02:03:00Z</updated>
6357. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/04/09/its-been-a-busy-week/</id>
6358. <content type="html">&lt;h1&gt;:(&lt;/h1&gt;
6359. <p><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2004/04/server.jpg"><br>
6360. <b>0wnz0red</b></p>
6361. <h1>:)</h1>
6362. <p><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2004/04/house.jpg"><br>
6363. <b>0wnz0red</b></p>
6364. </content>
6365. </entry>
6367. <entry>
6368. <title>An untitled post</title>
6369. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/03/09/225/"/>
6370. <updated>2004-03-09T20:20:00Z</updated>
6371. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/03/09/225/</id>
6372. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Didn&#39;t get the house.&lt;/p&gt;
6373. </content>
6374. </entry>
6376. <entry>
6377. <title>Pix</title>
6378. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/02/28/pix/"/>
6379. <updated>2004-02-29T02:01:00Z</updated>
6380. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/02/28/pix/</id>
6381. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Took a second look at the house today.&lt;/p&gt;
6382. <p>Took <a href="http://ivy.fsck.com/frames.html?dir=http://pix.fsck.com/~jesse/35School/">lots of pictures</a>.</p>
6383. <p>Next step is getting a home inspector in there.</p>
6384. </content>
6385. </entry>
6387. <entry>
6388. <title>House</title>
6389. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/02/27/house/"/>
6390. <updated>2004-02-28T07:50:00Z</updated>
6391. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/02/27/house/</id>
6392. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So. There&#39;s this house. it&#39;s in Union Sq. (on school st). There&#39;s no T stop in Union.&lt;/p&gt;
6393. </content>
6394. </entry>
6396. <entry>
6397. <title>An untitled post</title>
6398. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/02/21/222/"/>
6399. <updated>2004-02-22T01:58:00Z</updated>
6400. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/02/21/222/</id>
6401. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;The Sounds are playing Monday at Axis. All ages. you know you want to.&lt;/p&gt;
6402. </content>
6403. </entry>
6405. <entry>
6406. <title>Dim Sum, Sunday, Noon at China Pearl</title>
6407. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/02/07/dim-sum-sunday-noon-at-china-pearl/"/>
6408. <updated>2004-02-07T21:31:00Z</updated>
6409. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/02/07/dim-sum-sunday-noon-at-china-pearl/</id>
6410. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;RSVP here or by email. If it&#39;s actually sunday morning, call me.&lt;/p&gt;
6411. </content>
6412. </entry>
6414. <entry>
6415. <title>Orkut</title>
6416. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/01/24/orkut/"/>
6417. <updated>2004-01-24T08:04:00Z</updated>
6418. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/01/24/orkut/</id>
6419. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Anyone want an orkut invite?&lt;/p&gt;
6420. </content>
6421. </entry>
6423. <entry>
6424. <title>A meme for leon and tara.</title>
6425. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2004/01/19/a-meme-for-leon-and-tara/"/>
6426. <updated>2004-01-20T07:35:00Z</updated>
6427. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2004/01/19/a-meme-for-leon-and-tara/</id>
6428. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2004/01/colormap?visited=CACNCRDEEEESFRHNJPLTLVMXNLPLRUSESIUAUKUS&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;
6429. <a href="http://douweosinga.com/projects/visitedcountries">create your own visited country map</a></p>
6430. </content>
6431. </entry>
6433. <entry>
6434. <title>Dim Sum - Sunday - China Pearl - Noon</title>
6435. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/10/18/dim-sum-sunday-china-pearl-noon/"/>
6436. <updated>2003-10-18T22:39:00Z</updated>
6437. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/10/18/dim-sum-sunday-china-pearl-noon/</id>
6438. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;You know you want to. And tell me you&#39;re coming, so I&#39;ll expect you.&lt;/p&gt;
6439. </content>
6440. </entry>
6442. <entry>
6443. <title>More on memes</title>
6444. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/10/18/more-on-memes/"/>
6445. <updated>2003-10-18T22:31:00Z</updated>
6446. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/10/18/more-on-memes/</id>
6447. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So. ljmatch.com has a new sexual compatibility meme. You answer 76 somewhat invasive questions and they tell you who on your friends list you&#39;re compatible with. I&#39;m impressed that the meme is getting traction so soon after CrushMeme2.  Then again, what do you care if your mom knows you enjoy getting fisted and that you prefer to have rough sex with virgins while high?&lt;/p&gt;
6448. <p><!--more The Questions--><br>
6449. 1.) Do you like to have sex with women?<br>
6450. 2.) Do you like to have sex with men?<br>
6451. 3.) Do you like hugging?<br>
6452. 4.) Do you like holding hands?<br>
6453. 5.) Do you like kissing?<br>
6454. 6.) Do you like french (tongue) kissing?<br>
6455. 7.) Do you like making out in general?<br>
6456. 8.) Do you enjoy flirting?<br>
6457. 9.) Do you like giving backrubs?<br>
6458. 10.) Do you like receiving backrubs?<br>
6459. 11.) Are your pubes shaved?<br>
6460. 12.) Do you like shaved pubes?<br>
6461. 14.) Do you like playing with breasts?<br>
6462. 15.) Do you like having your nipples played with?<br>
6463. 16.) Do you like playing with nipples?<br>
6464. 17.) Do you like having your testicles played with?<br>
6465. 18.) Do you like playing with testicles?<br>
6466. 19.) Do you like licking or sucking ears?<br>
6467. 20.) Do you like having your ears licked or sucked?<br>
6468. 21.) Do you enjoy mutual masturbation with a partner?<br>
6469. 22.) Please rank the following positions in order of preference (1 being most preferred, 4 being the least):<br>
6470. 23.) Do you like performing oral sex on men?<br>
6471. 24.) Do you like performing oral sex on women?<br>
6472. 25.) Do you like receiving oral sex?<br>
6473. 26.) Do you like 69ing (mutual oral sex)?<br>
6474. 27.) Do you like anal sex (penetrating)?<br>
6475. 28.) Do you like anal sex (being penetrated)?<br>
6476. 29.) Do you like enemas?<br>
6477. 30.) Do you like biting?<br>
6478. 31.) Do you like being bitten?<br>
6479. 32.) Do you like your sex gentle?<br>
6480. 33.) Do you like your sex rough?<br>
6481. 34.) Do you like cumming on your partner's face?<br>
6482. 35.) Do you like cumming on your partner's breasts?<br>
6483. 36.) Do you like cumming on your partner's ass?<br>
6484. 37.) Do you like cumming on your partner in general?<br>
6485. 38.) Do you like cum on your face?<br>
6486. 40.) Do you like cum on your ass?<br>
6487. 41.) Do you like cum on you in general?<br>
6488. 42.) Do you like swallowing cum?<br>
6489. 43.) Do you like it when your partner swallows your cum?<br>
6490. 44.) Are you a virgin?<br>
6491. 45.) Do you prefer virgins?<br>
6492. 46.) Do you like threesomes with another man?<br>
6493. 47.) Do you like threesomes with another woman?<br>
6494. 48.) Do you like group (4 or more) sex?<br>
6495. 49.) Do you like watching pornography?<br>
6496. 50.) Do you like making pornography?<br>
6497. 51.) Are you an exhibitionist?<br>
6498. 52.) Do you like having sex outdoors?<br>
6499. 53.) Do you like having sex in "risky" places?<br>
6500. 54.) Are you polyamorous or prefer an open relationship?<br>
6501. 55.) Do you enjoy using sex toys?<br>
6502. 56.) Do you like breast fucking?<br>
6503. 57.) Do you like fist fucking (penetration)?<br>
6504. 58.) Do you like fist fucking (being penetrated)?<br>
6505. 59.) Do you like inflicting pain?<br>
6506. 60.) Do you like having pain inflicted on you?<br>
6507. 61.) Are you dominant?<br>
6508. 62.) Are you submissive?<br>
6509. 63.) Do you like tying people up (or otherwise restraining them, e.g. handcuffs)?<br>
6510. 64.) Do you like being tied up (or otherwise restrained)?<br>
6511. 65.) Do you like leather (in a sexual context)?<br>
6512. 66.) Do you like rubber/latex (in a sexual context)?<br>
6513. 67.) Do you like piercings?<br>
6514. 68.) Do you like having sex while high?<br>
6515. 69.) Do you like having sex while drunk?<br>
6516. 70.) Ideally, how often would you like to have sex (on a sustained basis over a long period of time)?<br>
6517. 71.) Do you like dirty talk?<br>
6518. 72.) Do you prefer to have sex with the lights on or off?<br>
6519. 73.) Do you like using food in sex play?<br>
6520. 74.) Do you like fursuit play ("furries")?<br>
6521. 75.) Do you like having your feet worshipped?<br>
6522. 76.) Do you like to worship feet [given that they are attractive]?</p>
6523. </content>
6524. </entry>
6526. <entry>
6527. <title>On Privacy</title>
6528. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/10/14/on-privacy/"/>
6529. <updated>2003-10-15T04:59:00Z</updated>
6530. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/10/14/on-privacy/</id>
6531. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I know everyone&#39;s upset that the trusted third party twit who created &quot;The Crush Meme.&quot; But. It&#39;s a webform. You told some random person on the internet who you were attracted to. This is rather foolish.   &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wescam.org&quot;&gt;I&#39;ve been that third party.&lt;/a&gt; Thankfully, I&#39;m not that fucking mercenary.&lt;/p&gt;
6532. <p><font size="+2"><br>
6533. <b>Anything you ever type into a web browser will be read by your:</b><br>
6534. parents, grandparents, children (I don't care if they won't exist for the next 20 years), teachers, students, bosses, coworkers, direct reports, doctors, lawyers, accountants, grocers, pharmacists, drug dealers, bookmakers, boyfriends, girlfriends, spouses and the random guy you meet next week.<br>
6535. </font></p>
6536. <p> Unless, of course, it's important to you that they see whatever it is that you've written. Then they'll never see it.</p>
6537. <p>This includes anything you post to Livejournal. I don't care if it's a friends-only post. I don't care if it's locked down to a friends group containing only you and your cat. Danga does have a financial incentive to not violate your trust, but well, it is the internet. Anything could happen.</p>
6538. </content>
6539. </entry>
6541. <entry>
6542. <title>An untitled post</title>
6543. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/10/11/214/"/>
6544. <updated>2003-10-11T08:26:00Z</updated>
6545. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/10/11/214/</id>
6546. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I am so ready to be home. I am not liking this one bit. *sigh*&lt;/p&gt;
6547. </content>
6548. </entry>
6550. <entry>
6551. <title>Two years ago today</title>
6552. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/10/08/two-years-ago-today/"/>
6553. <updated>2003-10-08T18:53:00Z</updated>
6554. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/10/08/two-years-ago-today/</id>
6555. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I pulled out my mastercard and googled for &quot;Form LLC Delaware.&quot; An hour later, I had started a company. &lt;/p&gt;
6556. <p>Two years later, we've got three products. We have 8 folks working part time for us. Oh and we're in the black. </p>
6557. <p>Right now, I'm working from a cafe in Oxford,  England</p>
6558. <p>And the next quarter looks to be our best yet.</p>
6559. <p>I'm kind of shocked. But in a really good way.</p>
6560. </content>
6561. </entry>
6563. <entry>
6564. <title>Boston shows I want to be at</title>
6565. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/09/26/boston-shows-i-want-to-be-at/"/>
6566. <updated>2003-09-27T04:30:00Z</updated>
6567. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/09/26/boston-shows-i-want-to-be-at/</id>
6568. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;saturday, october 25- Freezepop CD release show at the middle east upstairs,          with mono and all the way from amsterdam, zea! $9, 18+.&lt;br&gt;
6569. Thu<br>
6570. 10/16/03  Interpol at Avalon<br>
6571. 10/17/03  Interpol at Avalon<br>
6572. 10/17/03 Evan Dando at the Paradise<br>
6573. Tue 10/21/03  Barenaked Ladies at the Orpheum.  Do I really wanna?<br>
6574. Wed 10/22/03  The Cruxshadows at Manray (Told I can't miss it)<br>
6575. Thu 10/30/03  Vienna Teng at Passim<br>
6576. Sat 11/1/03  Vienna Teng at MIT<br>
6577. Fri 11/21/03  The White Stripes at the Tsongas Arena</p>
6578. <p>Well. some of these. anyone? anything?</p>
6579. </content>
6580. </entry>
6582. <entry>
6583. <title>Naming</title>
6584. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/09/25/naming/"/>
6585. <updated>2003-09-25T16:33:00Z</updated>
6586. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/09/25/naming/</id>
6587. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I need a name for my new 15&quot; G4 powerbook. Ideas?&lt;/p&gt;
6588. </content>
6589. </entry>
6591. <entry>
6592. <title>London - Concerts</title>
6593. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/09/22/london-concerts/"/>
6594. <updated>2003-09-23T03:50:00Z</updated>
6595. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/09/22/london-concerts/</id>
6596. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;The Wannadies are playing on 2 October at the Mean Fiddler.&lt;br&gt;
6597. Liz Phair is plaing on 7 October at the Institute For Contemporary Art.</p>
6598. <p>Anyone interested?</p>
6599. </content>
6600. </entry>
6602. <entry>
6603. <title>All the things I lost</title>
6604. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/09/17/all-the-things-i-lost/"/>
6605. <updated>2003-09-17T09:03:00Z</updated>
6606. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/09/17/all-the-things-i-lost/</id>
6607. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So. There&#39;s this Russian pop duo, &#39;Tatu.&#39; You know, the ones who make&lt;br&gt;
6608. out on stage and are contractually prohibited from revealing whether<br>
6609. they're lesbians.  Their big hit in the west was "All The Things She<br>
6610. Said." Track #3 on the original Russian version of the album was "Ya<br>
6611. Soshla S Uma" (I've gone crazy.)  They're the same length. And have many<br>
6612. of the same vocal "sounds" even though the words are really quite<br>
6613. different.                                                                                                                                                      </p>
6614. <p>        I ripped.<br>
6615.        I mixed.<br>
6616.        I burned. (Fine, I _encoded_.)                                                                                                                          </p>
6617. <p>        http://pallas.eruditorum.org/~jesse/soshla_things.mp3</p>
6618. </content>
6619. </entry>
6621. <entry>
6622. <title>Also broadcasting on</title>
6623. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/09/12/also-broadcasting-on/"/>
6624. <updated>2003-09-12T10:06:00Z</updated>
6625. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/09/12/also-broadcasting-on/</id>
6626. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;ve got a new blog. (Powered by RT Journals, go figure).&lt;br&gt;
6627. It lives at <a href="http://pallas.eruditorum.org/">http://pallas.eruditorum.org</a>.</p>
6628. <p>If you do the RSS aggregation thing, http://pallas.eruditorum.org/RSS is the URL you want.</p>
6629. <p>I'll still post here as well, though I suspect that the geeky stuff will end up on pallas and less-geeky stuff will end up here.</p>
6630. <p>Of course, since I can post from the treo, pallas will likely be rather higher traffic.</p>
6631. <p>Oh,  and yes, I know comments don't work there yet. Give it a day or two. Same goes for the Blogger API and photos ;)</p>
6632. </content>
6633. </entry>
6635. <entry>
6636. <title>Upcoming shows in boston/cambridge</title>
6637. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/08/28/upcoming-shows-in-bostoncambridge/"/>
6638. <updated>2003-08-28T23:51:00Z</updated>
6639. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/08/28/upcoming-shows-in-bostoncambridge/</id>
6640. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;The Sounds. Tuesday at the middle east.&lt;br&gt;
6641. Jill Sobule  Saturday and Sunday (9/6 - 9/7 at the House of Blues)<br>
6642. Turbonegro  Wed 9/17 at the middle east<br>
6643. Juliana Hatfield Wed 9/17 at the paradise.<br>
6644. Delerium Sat 9/21 at avalon (maybe)<br>
6645. Mira from Ladytron DJ set 9/28 at the kells.</p>
6646. </content>
6647. </entry>
6649. <entry>
6650. <title>Can make it to the playa?</title>
6651. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/08/27/can-make-it-to-the-playa/"/>
6652. <updated>2003-08-27T23:31:00Z</updated>
6653. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/08/27/can-make-it-to-the-playa/</id>
6654. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Can&#39;t make it to the desert this year? Here&#39;s how to enjoy the Burning Man Experience from the Comfort of your  Own Home:&lt;br&gt;
6655. (from http://daveola.com/History/Pages/Virtual_Burning_Man.html)<br>
6656. <i>And yes, I tried to stick this in an lj-cut. It won't cut. Maybe livejournal likes burning man</i></p>
6657. <p>Read "Dhalgren" by Samuel R. Delany. Read "The City Not Long After" by  Pat Murphy. Cut off the bindings, throw all the pages up in the air, and  shuffle them back together. Reread "The City After Dhalgren" by Samuel Murphy.  Burn it. Read the ashes. </p>
6658. <p>Pay an escort of your affectional preference subset to not bathe for  five days, cover themselves in glitter, dust, and sunscreen, wear a skanky  neon wig, dance close naked, then say they have a lover back home at the end  of the night. </p>
6659. <p>Tear down your house. Put it in a truck. Drive 10 hours in any  direction. Put the house back together. Invite everyone you meet to come over and party. When everyone leaves, follow them back to their homes, drink all their  booze, and break things. </p>
6660. <p>Buy a new set of expensive camping gear. Break it. </p>
6661. <p><!--more--><br>
6662. Stack all your fans in one corner of your living room. Put on your most fabulous outfit. Turn the fans on full blast. Dump a vacuum cleaner bag  in front of them. </p>
6663. <p>Pitch your tent next to the wall of speakers in a crowded, noisy club.  Go to sleep. </p>
6664. <p>Lean back in a chair until that point where you're just about to fall  over, but you catch yourself at the lastmoment. Hold that position for 9  hours. </p>
6665. <p>Only use the toilet in a house that is at least 3 blocks away. Drain  all the water from the toilet. Only flush it every 4 days. Hide all the toilet paper. </p>
6666. <p>Visit a restaurant and pay them to let you alternate lying in the  walk-in freezer and sitting in the oven. </p>
6667. <p>Don't sleep for 5 days. Take a wide variety of hallucinogenic/emotion altering drugs. Pick a fight with your boyfriend/girlfriend. </p>
6668. <p>Cut, burn, electrocute, bruise, and sunburn various parts of your body. Forget how you did it. Don't go to a doctor. </p>
6669. <p>Buy a new pair of favorite shoes. Throw one shoe away. </p>
6670. <p>Spend a whole year rummaging through thrift stores for the perfect, most outrageous costume. Forget to pack it. </p>
6671. <p>Listen to music you hate for 168 hours straight, or until you think you  are going to scream. Scream. Realize you'll love the music for the rest of  your life. </p>
6672. <p>Bust your ass for a "community." See all the attention get focused on  the drama queen crybaby. </p>
6673. <p>Get so drunk you can't recognize your own house. Walk slowly around the block for 5 hours. </p>
6674. <p>Sprinkle dirty sand in all your food. </p>
6675. <p>Mail $200 to the Reno casino of your choice. </p>
6676. <p>Go to a museum. Find one of Salvador Dali's more disturbing but  beautiful paintings. Climb inside it. </p>
6677. <p>Spend thousands of dollars on a deeply personal art work. Hide it in a funhouse on the edge of the city. Blow it up. </p>
6678. <p>Set up a DJ system downwind of a three alarm fire. Play a short loop of drum'n'bass until the embers are cold. </p>
6679. <p>Have a 3 a.m. soul baring conversation with a drag nun in platforms, a crocodile, and Bugs Bunny. Be unable to tell if you're hallucinating.  Lust after Bugs Bunny.</p>
6680. </content>
6681. </entry>
6683. <entry>
6684. <title>An untitled post</title>
6685. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/08/25/205/"/>
6686. <updated>2003-08-26T06:38:00Z</updated>
6687. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/08/25/205/</id>
6688. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2003/08/0824_212240X.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
6689. </content>
6690. </entry>
6692. <entry>
6693. <title>Queer Eye</title>
6694. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/08/24/queer-eye/"/>
6695. <updated>2003-08-24T23:54:00Z</updated>
6696. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/08/24/queer-eye/</id>
6697. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;If I lived in the City, I&#39;d &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bravotv.com/Queer_Eye_for_the_Straight_Guy/Contact_Us/QEQuestionnaire.txt&quot;&gt;fill this out&lt;/a&gt; in a heartbeat.&lt;/p&gt;
6698. </content>
6699. </entry>
6701. <entry>
6702. <title>My evening</title>
6703. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/08/16/my-evening/"/>
6704. <updated>2003-08-16T11:38:00Z</updated>
6705. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/08/16/my-evening/</id>
6706. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Driving home and having somebody make a left turn into the rear driver&#39;s side door: $500-1500 in damage&lt;br&gt;
6707. Getting drunk on 20 year port after I get home: $30<br>
6708. Having two friends come over to watch a movie, find out that they've brought someone with them and end up disappearing off for a menage a trois halfway through the movie: priceless</p>
6709. </content>
6710. </entry>
6712. <entry>
6713. <title>Saturday the 16th. Swim and Grill in suburbia</title>
6714. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/08/10/saturday-the-16th-swim-and-grill-in-suburbia/"/>
6715. <updated>2003-08-10T10:00:00Z</updated>
6716. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/08/10/saturday-the-16th-swim-and-grill-in-suburbia/</id>
6717. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Saturday. Swim and Grill. In Newton at my parents place. 4pm onwards.&lt;br&gt;
6718. You know you want to.<br>
6719. I'm not going to be doing the insane costco run this time, so bringing food or drink would be cool.<br>
6720. RSVPs appreciated.</p>
6721. </content>
6722. </entry>
6724. <entry>
6725. <title>Tara and Robynne</title>
6726. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/08/03/tara-and-robynne/"/>
6727. <updated>2003-08-03T09:54:00Z</updated>
6728. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/08/03/tara-and-robynne/</id>
6729. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2003/08/0802_194724X.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
6730. </content>
6731. </entry>
6733. <entry>
6734. <title>Tara</title>
6735. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/08/02/tara-2/"/>
6736. <updated>2003-08-03T02:52:00Z</updated>
6737. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/08/02/tara-2/</id>
6738. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;and Robynne&lt;br&gt;
6739. Mime-Version: 1.0<br>
6740. Content-Type: multipart/mixed;<br>
6741. boundary="----=_Part_97835_7280600.1059868293757"<br>
6742. X-Mms-Delivery-Report: no<br>
6743. X-Mms-Delivery-Time: Sat, 2 Aug 03 04:51:33 PDT<br>
6744. X-Mms-MMS-Version: 1.0<br>
6745. X-Mms-Message-Class: Personal<br>
6746. X-Mms-Message-Type: m-send-req<br>
6747. X-Mms-Message-Size: 35173<br>
6748. X-Mms-Read-Reply: no<br>
6749. X-Mms-Transaction-ID: 1059871820_11@mms.siemens.com<br>
6750. X-Mms-Message-ID: 6414324@tmomail.net<br>
6751. X-Priority: 3<br>
6752. X-Mojo-Operator: T-Mobile</p>
6753. </content>
6754. </entry>
6756. <entry>
6757. <title>Dim sum</title>
6758. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/08/02/dim-sum-3/"/>
6759. <updated>2003-08-03T00:42:00Z</updated>
6760. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/08/02/dim-sum-3/</id>
6761. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Sunday noon. China pearl. Rsvp here.&lt;/p&gt;
6762. </content>
6763. </entry>
6765. <entry>
6766. <title>An untitled post</title>
6767. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/29/198/"/>
6768. <updated>2003-07-30T02:28:00Z</updated>
6769. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/29/198/</id>
6770. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;On &lt;a href=&quot;http://latemodel.livejournal.com/&quot; class=&quot;lj-user&quot;&gt;latemodel&lt;/a&gt;&#39;s suggestion, I ended up at the Prids shwo last night. It was quite good, even if my ear drums haven&#39;t yet recovered. Just before the show started &lt;a href=&quot;http://heresiarch.livejournal.com/&quot; class=&quot;lj-user&quot;&gt;heresiarch&lt;/a&gt; encouraged me to attempt to tape it.  It came out well enough that I&#39;m going to need to do a CD transfer. :)&lt;/p&gt;
6771. </content>
6772. </entry>
6774. <entry>
6775. <title>Liz Phair 8/17 at avalon</title>
6776. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/19/liz-phair-817-at-avalon/"/>
6777. <updated>2003-07-19T07:13:00Z</updated>
6778. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/19/liz-phair-817-at-avalon/</id>
6779. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Who&#39;s in?&lt;/p&gt;
6780. </content>
6781. </entry>
6783. <entry>
6784. <title>On top of it all...</title>
6785. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/17/on-top-of-it-all/"/>
6786. <updated>2003-07-18T05:09:00Z</updated>
6787. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/17/on-top-of-it-all/</id>
6788. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I almost missed my flight because i for got to set my watch to mountain time&lt;/p&gt;
6789. </content>
6790. </entry>
6792. <entry>
6793. <title>Well, that was unexpected.</title>
6794. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/17/well-that-was-unexpected/"/>
6795. <updated>2003-07-17T07:06:00Z</updated>
6796. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/17/well-that-was-unexpected/</id>
6797. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;The world works in very, very strange ways. And is clearly smoking crack. More in a few months.&lt;/p&gt;
6798. </content>
6799. </entry>
6801. <entry>
6802. <title>Why I won&#39;t live in the bay area</title>
6803. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/15/why-i-wont-live-in-the-bay-area/"/>
6804. <updated>2003-07-16T05:15:00Z</updated>
6805. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/15/why-i-wont-live-in-the-bay-area/</id>
6806. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Hostile crazies assault me for money&lt;br&gt;
6807. Public places all smell like urine<br>
6808. The nice cafes are all so hippie-granola that 95% of the food they serve is completely inedible</p>
6809. </content>
6810. </entry>
6812. <entry>
6813. <title>Why I could live in the bay area</title>
6814. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/15/why-i-could-live-in-the-bay-area/"/>
6815. <updated>2003-07-16T05:14:00Z</updated>
6816. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/15/why-i-could-live-in-the-bay-area/</id>
6817. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Great bookstores&lt;br&gt;
6818. Great record stores<br>
6819. Lots of good food<br>
6820. Plenty of cafes<br>
6821. Lots of friendly people<br>
6822. Lots of ambient wireless<br>
6823. BART</p>
6824. </content>
6825. </entry>
6827. <entry>
6828. <title>Tara</title>
6829. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/15/tara/"/>
6830. <updated>2003-07-15T08:11:00Z</updated>
6831. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/15/tara/</id>
6832. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2003/07/0714_220858x.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
6833. </content>
6834. </entry>
6836. <entry>
6837. <title>An untitled post</title>
6838. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/12/191/"/>
6839. <updated>2003-07-13T02:32:00Z</updated>
6840. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/12/191/</id>
6841. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Powell&#39;s is bigger than blackwells and has a wider selection. The collection isn&#39;t as academic though. That probably saved me a lot of money. ;)&lt;/p&gt;
6842. </content>
6843. </entry>
6845. <entry>
6846. <title>For coraline</title>
6847. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/12/for-coraline/"/>
6848. <updated>2003-07-13T01:21:00Z</updated>
6849. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/12/for-coraline/</id>
6850. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2003/07/0712_151029x.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
6851. </content>
6852. </entry>
6854. <entry>
6855. <title>Powell&#39;s books</title>
6856. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/12/powells-books/"/>
6857. <updated>2003-07-13T01:08:00Z</updated>
6858. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/12/powells-books/</id>
6859. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;The scifi section is bigger than some bookstores.&lt;/p&gt;
6860. <p><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2003/07/0712_150408x.jpg"></p>
6861. </content>
6862. </entry>
6864. <entry>
6865. <title>Portland</title>
6866. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/10/portland/"/>
6867. <updated>2003-07-10T07:18:00Z</updated>
6868. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/10/portland/</id>
6869. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2003/07/0709_211432x.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
6870. </content>
6871. </entry>
6873. <entry>
6874. <title>Big conference news</title>
6875. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/09/big-conference-news/"/>
6876. <updated>2003-07-10T05:09:00Z</updated>
6877. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/09/big-conference-news/</id>
6878. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;perl on parrot. And more acme.&lt;/p&gt;
6879. <p><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2003/07/0709_190404x.jpg"></p>
6880. </content>
6881. </entry>
6883. <entry>
6884. <title>Mac stack</title>
6885. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/08/mac-stack/"/>
6886. <updated>2003-07-09T04:17:00Z</updated>
6887. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/08/mac-stack/</id>
6888. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;You may not be able to see it but we had a stack of ten mac laptops&lt;/p&gt;
6889. <p><img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2003/07/0708_181211x.jpg"></p>
6890. </content>
6891. </entry>
6893. <entry>
6894. <title>Robert and Ask</title>
6895. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/06/robert-and-ask/"/>
6896. <updated>2003-07-07T04:11:00Z</updated>
6897. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/06/robert-and-ask/</id>
6898. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2003/07/0706_181007.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
6899. </content>
6900. </entry>
6902. <entry>
6903. <title>An untitled post</title>
6904. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/06/184/"/>
6905. <updated>2003-07-06T17:49:00Z</updated>
6906. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/06/184/</id>
6907. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2003/07/0706_104837.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
6908. </content>
6909. </entry>
6911. <entry>
6912. <title>Bridge club</title>
6913. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/06/bridge-club/"/>
6914. <updated>2003-07-06T07:41:00Z</updated>
6915. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/06/bridge-club/</id>
6916. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2003/07/0102_072957.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
6917. </content>
6918. </entry>
6920. <entry>
6921. <title>Portland July 6-14; SF July 14-17</title>
6922. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/05/portland-july-6-14-sf-july-14-17/"/>
6923. <updated>2003-07-06T01:26:00Z</updated>
6924. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/05/portland-july-6-14-sf-july-14-17/</id>
6925. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;All flights are on United.&lt;/p&gt;
6926. <p>1457 bos 11:15 on jul 6 arrive den: 1:31 pm<br>
6927. 523 den 2:35 on july 6 arrive portland: 4:06 pm</p>
6928. <p>In portland, I'm at O'Reilly's OSCon. But I'd love to see people. And I've only got hotel through friday night, so I'll need to figure that out too. I wouldn't object to going up to Seattle saturday night and coming back monday morning.</p>
6929. <p>704 portland 1:30pm on july 14 arrive sfo:3:09 pm</p>
6930. <p>No specific plans in SF, but I think I'm going to crash with Tara's friends (since it involves an actual bed and my girlfriend instead of a couch to myself). So. do people want to do things in SF? I should spend a _bit_ of time working, but this is a pure vacation trip. Let's Do Things.</p>
6931. <p>720 sfo 2:10pm jul 17 -> denver 5:38pm<br>
6932. 364 den 6:20pm jul 17 -> bos 12:03am</p>
6933. </content>
6934. </entry>
6936. <entry>
6937. <title>An untitled post</title>
6938. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/04/181/"/>
6939. <updated>2003-07-04T20:44:00Z</updated>
6940. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/07/04/181/</id>
6941. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3001182.stm&quot;&gt;The roads must roll&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
6942. </content>
6943. </entry>
6945. <entry>
6946. <title>I&#39;m calling from the car</title>
6947. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/06/27/im-calling-from-the-car/"/>
6948. <updated>2003-06-28T02:51:00Z</updated>
6949. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/06/27/im-calling-from-the-car/</id>
6950. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Thanks to the magic of GPRS and Bluetooth, I&#39;m posting from the car, headed south on 93 en route home from Canadia. (Tara&#39;s driving).&lt;br&gt;
6951. Next stop, dinner, then KK.</p>
6952. </content>
6953. </entry>
6955. <entry>
6956. <title>An untitled post</title>
6957. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/06/21/179/"/>
6958. <updated>2003-06-21T11:24:00Z</updated>
6959. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/06/21/179/</id>
6960. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;ve just spent 12 of the past 14 hours attempting, and failing to fix a deep caching bug in RT that&#39;s a show-stopper for the release that really, really, really needs to go out this weekend.&lt;/p&gt;
6961. <p>This is so not how I wanted to spend my friday night and the first chunk of my birthday.</p>
6962. <p>Perhaps it would have been clever if I'd planned to do SOMETHING on my birthday, rather than going to someone else's party.</p>
6963. </content>
6964. </entry>
6966. <entry>
6967. <title>An untitled post</title>
6968. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/06/10/178/"/>
6969. <updated>2003-06-10T22:34:00Z</updated>
6970. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/06/10/178/</id>
6971. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Nineteen dollars for copy of whip smart.no wonder kids pirate music.&lt;/p&gt;
6972. </content>
6973. </entry>
6975. <entry>
6976. <title>Quicksilver</title>
6977. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/06/10/quicksilver/"/>
6978. <updated>2003-06-10T11:20:00Z</updated>
6979. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/06/10/quicksilver/</id>
6980. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;In this wonderfully inventive follow-up to his bestseller Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson brings to life a cast of unforgettable characters in a time of breathtaking genius and discovery, men and women whose exploits defined an age known as the Baroque.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
6981. <p>Daniel Waterhouse possesses a brilliant scientific mind -- and yet knows that his genius is dwarfed by that of his friends Isaac Newton, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, and Robert Hooke. He rejects the arcane tradition of alchemy, even as it is giving birth to new ways of understanding the world.</p>
6982. <p>Jack Shaftoe began his life as a London street urchin and is now a reckless wanderer in search of great fortune. The intrepid exploits of Half-Cocked Jack, King of the Vagabonds, are quickly becoming the stuff of legend throughout Europe.</p>
6983. <p>Eliza is a young woman whose ingenuity is all that keeps her alive after being set adrift from the Turkish harem in which she has been imprisoned since she was a child.</p>
6984. <p>Daniel, Jack, and Eliza will traverse a landscape populated by mad alchemists, Barbary pirates, and bawdy courtiers, as well as historical figures including Samuel Pepys, Ben Franklin, and other great minds of the age. Traveling from the infant American colonies to the Tower of London to the glittering courts of Louis XIV, and all manner of places in between, this magnificent historical epic brings to vivid life a time like no other, and establishes its author as one of the preeminent talents of our own age.</p>
6985. <p><br>
6986. Amazon, on Stephenson's yet-to-be-released <i>Quicksilver</i></p>
6987. </content>
6988. </entry>
6990. <entry>
6991. <title>An untitled post</title>
6992. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/06/07/176/"/>
6993. <updated>2003-06-07T10:30:00Z</updated>
6994. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/06/07/176/</id>
6995. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Went and saw Freezepop&#39;s tennis-themed show tonight. Despite an early fuckup that caused me to lose all of Science Genius Girl, I didn&#39;t screw up the recording nearly as badly this time. (I had microphones, instead of having to do the Macguyver thing and use a pair of earbuds.) I played with the recording levels on the two stereo tracks to be sure I got something that wasn&#39;t too soft and wasn&#39;t too loud. The right track clipped all to hell, but the left track was just about right. And a scant 4 hours after the show ended, I&#39;ve got three CDs of &lt;b&gt;Freezepop - June 6 2003&lt;/b&gt;. If you want one, leave a comment  telling me why I should pick &lt;i&gt;you&lt;/i&gt; over everyone else. You have 24 hours.&lt;/p&gt;
6996. </content>
6997. </entry>
6999. <entry>
7000. <title>Portability</title>
7001. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/06/06/portability/"/>
7002. <updated>2003-06-06T23:44:00Z</updated>
7003. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/06/06/portability/</id>
7004. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&amp;amp;cid=569&amp;amp;ncid=578&amp;amp;e=4&amp;amp;u=/nm/20030606/tc_nm/telecoms_portability_dc&quot;&gt;Finally, I get to dump verizon.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
7005. </content>
7006. </entry>
7008. <entry>
7009. <title>An untitled post</title>
7010. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/31/174/"/>
7011. <updated>2003-06-01T05:30:00Z</updated>
7012. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/31/174/</id>
7013. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Do I want to go live in London for a year?&lt;br&gt;
7014. <b>For those of you freaking out:</b> At this time, I have no plans to move out, leave the country, leave the state or even leave the Davis Square area.</p>
7015. <p>But at some point in my life, I want to try living outside the US for a while. Maybe starting in fall of 2004?</p>
7016. </content>
7017. </entry>
7019. <entry>
7020. <title>An untitled post</title>
7021. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/30/173/"/>
7022. <updated>2003-05-31T06:41:00Z</updated>
7023. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/30/173/</id>
7024. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Um. this seems to be an awful lot of matches.&lt;/p&gt;
7025. <pre>
7026. <table border="0" style="width:auto;" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
7027. <tr><td bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="padding:0;">
7028. <table border="0" style="margin:0;">
7029. <tr>
7030. <td style="padding:0;">
7031. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7032. <tr>
7033. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/pir/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">pir</font></a></b></td>
7034. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7035. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>106%</b></font></td>
7036. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7037. <td bgcolor="#4654F7" style="padding:0;width:212px;"></td>
7038. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:8px;"></td>
7039. </tr>
7040. </table>
7041. </td>
7042. </tr>
7043. <tr>
7044. <td style="padding:0;">
7045. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7046. <tr>
7047. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/jbsegal/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">jbsegal</font></a></b></td>
7048. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7049. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>106%</b></font></td>
7050. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7051. <td bgcolor="#4654F7" style="padding:0;width:212px;"></td>
7052. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:8px;"></td>
7053. </tr>
7054. </table>
7055. </td>
7056. </tr>
7057. <tr>
7058. <td style="padding:0;">
7059. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7060. <tr>
7061. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/chrysaphi/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">chrysaphi</font></a></b></td>
7062. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7063. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>102%</b></font></td>
7064. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7065. <td bgcolor="#4663F0" style="padding:0;width:204px;"></td>
7066. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:16px;"></td>
7067. </tr>
7068. </table>
7069. </td>
7070. </tr>
7071. <tr>
7072. <td style="padding:0;">
7073. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7074. <tr>
7075. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/gothfru/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">gothfru</font></a></b></td>
7076. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7077. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>102%</b></font></td>
7078. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7079. <td bgcolor="#4663F0" style="padding:0;width:204px;"></td>
7080. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:16px;"></td>
7081. </tr>
7082. </table>
7083. </td>
7084. </tr>
7085. <tr>
7086. <td style="padding:0;">
7087. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7088. <tr>
7089. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/jon3/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">jon3</font></a></b></td>
7090. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7091. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>102%</b></font></td>
7092. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7093. <td bgcolor="#4663F0" style="padding:0;width:204px;"></td>
7094. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:16px;"></td>
7095. </tr>
7096. </table>
7097. </td>
7098. </tr>
7099. <tr>
7100. <td style="padding:0;">
7101. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7102. <tr>
7103. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/bratling/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">bratling</font></a></b></td>
7104. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7105. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>102%</b></font></td>
7106. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7107. <td bgcolor="#4663F0" style="padding:0;width:204px;"></td>
7108. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:16px;"></td>
7109. </tr>
7110. </table>
7111. </td>
7112. </tr>
7113. <tr>
7114. <td style="padding:0;">
7115. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7116. <tr>
7117. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/shimmeringjemmy/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">shimmeringjemmy</font></a></b></td>
7118. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7119. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>102%</b></font></td>
7120. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7121. <td bgcolor="#4663F0" style="padding:0;width:204px;"></td>
7122. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:16px;"></td>
7123. </tr>
7124. </table>
7125. </td>
7126. </tr>
7127. <tr>
7128. <td style="padding:0;">
7129. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7130. <tr>
7131. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/bouncingleaf/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">bouncingleaf</font></a></b></td>
7132. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7133. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>102%</b></font></td>
7134. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7135. <td bgcolor="#4663F0" style="padding:0;width:204px;"></td>
7136. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:16px;"></td>
7137. </tr>
7138. </table>
7139. </td>
7140. </tr>
7141. <tr>
7142. <td style="padding:0;">
7143. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7144. <tr>
7145. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/adrianconte/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">adrianconte</font></a></b></td>
7146. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7147. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>98%</b></font></td>
7148. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7149. <td bgcolor="#4672E8" style="padding:0;width:196px;"></td>
7150. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:24px;"></td>
7151. </tr>
7152. </table>
7153. </td>
7154. </tr>
7155. <tr>
7156. <td style="padding:0;">
7157. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7158. <tr>
7159. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/awfief/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">awfief</font></a></b></td>
7160. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7161. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>98%</b></font></td>
7162. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7163. <td bgcolor="#4672E8" style="padding:0;width:196px;"></td>
7164. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:24px;"></td>
7165. </tr>
7166. </table>
7167. </td>
7168. </tr>
7169. <tr>
7170. <td style="padding:0;">
7171. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7172. <tr>
7173. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/wlonkly/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">wlonkly</font></a></b></td>
7174. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7175. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>98%</b></font></td>
7176. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7177. <td bgcolor="#4672E8" style="padding:0;width:196px;"></td>
7178. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:24px;"></td>
7179. </tr>
7180. </table>
7181. </td>
7182. </tr>
7183. <tr>
7184. <td style="padding:0;">
7185. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7186. <tr>
7187. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/mizmoose/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">mizmoose</font></a></b></td>
7188. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7189. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>98%</b></font></td>
7190. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7191. <td bgcolor="#4672E8" style="padding:0;width:196px;"></td>
7192. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:24px;"></td>
7193. </tr>
7194. </table>
7195. </td>
7196. </tr>
7197. <tr>
7198. <td style="padding:0;">
7199. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7200. <tr>
7201. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/purple_terror/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">purple_terror</font></a></b></td>
7202. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7203. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>98%</b></font></td>
7204. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7205. <td bgcolor="#4672E8" style="padding:0;width:196px;"></td>
7206. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:24px;"></td>
7207. </tr>
7208. </table>
7209. </td>
7210. </tr>
7211. <tr>
7212. <td style="padding:0;">
7213. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7214. <tr>
7215. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/ghudson/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">ghudson</font></a></b></td>
7216. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7217. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>98%</b></font></td>
7218. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7219. <td bgcolor="#4672E8" style="padding:0;width:196px;"></td>
7220. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:24px;"></td>
7221. </tr>
7222. </table>
7223. </td>
7224. </tr>
7225. <tr>
7226. <td style="padding:0;">
7227. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7228. <tr>
7229. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/coraline/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">coraline</font></a></b></td>
7230. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7231. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>98%</b></font></td>
7232. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7233. <td bgcolor="#4672E8" style="padding:0;width:196px;"></td>
7234. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:24px;"></td>
7235. </tr>
7236. </table>
7237. </td>
7238. </tr>
7239. <tr>
7240. <td style="padding:0;">
7241. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7242. <tr>
7243. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/kilroi/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">kilroi</font></a></b></td>
7244. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7245. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>98%</b></font></td>
7246. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7247. <td bgcolor="#4672E8" style="padding:0;width:196px;"></td>
7248. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:24px;"></td>
7249. </tr>
7250. </table>
7251. </td>
7252. </tr>
7253. <tr>
7254. <td style="padding:0;">
7255. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7256. <tr>
7257. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/q_skud_/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">q_skud_</font></a></b></td>
7258. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7259. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>98%</b></font></td>
7260. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7261. <td bgcolor="#4672E8" style="padding:0;width:196px;"></td>
7262. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:24px;"></td>
7263. </tr>
7264. </table>
7265. </td>
7266. </tr>
7267. <tr>
7268. <td style="padding:0;">
7269. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7270. <tr>
7271. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/mathilde/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">mathilde</font></a></b></td>
7272. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7273. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>95%</b></font></td>
7274. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7275. <td bgcolor="#467DE3" style="padding:0;width:190px;"></td>
7276. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:30px;"></td>
7277. </tr>
7278. </table>
7279. </td>
7280. </tr>
7281. <tr>
7282. <td style="padding:0;">
7283. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7284. <tr>
7285. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/mizarchivist/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">mizarchivist</font></a></b></td>
7286. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7287. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>95%</b></font></td>
7288. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7289. <td bgcolor="#467DE3" style="padding:0;width:190px;"></td>
7290. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:30px;"></td>
7291. </tr>
7292. </table>
7293. </td>
7294. </tr>
7295. <tr>
7296. <td style="padding:0;">
7297. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7298. <tr>
7299. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/mstevens/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">mstevens</font></a></b></td>
7300. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7301. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>95%</b></font></td>
7302. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7303. <td bgcolor="#467DE3" style="padding:0;width:190px;"></td>
7304. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:30px;"></td>
7305. </tr>
7306. </table>
7307. </td>
7308. </tr>
7309. <tr>
7310. <td style="padding:0;">
7311. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7312. <tr>
7313. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/claerwen/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">claerwen</font></a></b></td>
7314. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7315. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>95%</b></font></td>
7316. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7317. <td bgcolor="#467DE3" style="padding:0;width:190px;"></td>
7318. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:30px;"></td>
7319. </tr>
7320. </table>
7321. </td>
7322. </tr>
7323. <tr>
7324. <td style="padding:0;">
7325. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7326. <tr>
7327. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/sauergeek/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">sauergeek</font></a></b></td>
7328. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7329. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>93%</b></font></td>
7330. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7331. <td bgcolor="#4684DF" style="padding:0;width:186px;"></td>
7332. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:34px;"></td>
7333. </tr>
7334. </table>
7335. </td>
7336. </tr>
7337. <tr>
7338. <td style="padding:0;">
7339. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7340. <tr>
7341. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/kimberlogic/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">kimberlogic</font></a></b></td>
7342. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7343. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>91%</b></font></td>
7344. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7345. <td bgcolor="#468CDB" style="padding:0;width:182px;"></td>
7346. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:38px;"></td>
7347. </tr>
7348. </table>
7349. </td>
7350. </tr>
7351. <tr>
7352. <td style="padding:0;">
7353. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7354. <tr>
7355. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/queue/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">queue</font></a></b></td>
7356. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7357. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>91%</b></font></td>
7358. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7359. <td bgcolor="#468CDB" style="padding:0;width:182px;"></td>
7360. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:38px;"></td>
7361. </tr>
7362. </table>
7363. </td>
7364. </tr>
7365. <tr>
7366. <td style="padding:0;">
7367. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7368. <tr>
7369. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/laura47/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">laura47</font></a></b></td>
7370. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7371. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>91%</b></font></td>
7372. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7373. <td bgcolor="#468CDB" style="padding:0;width:182px;"></td>
7374. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:38px;"></td>
7375. </tr>
7376. </table>
7377. </td>
7378. </tr>
7379. <tr>
7380. <td style="padding:0;">
7381. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7382. <tr>
7383. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/dr_memory/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">dr_memory</font></a></b></td>
7384. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7385. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>89%</b></font></td>
7386. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7387. <td bgcolor="#4693D8" style="padding:0;width:178px;"></td>
7388. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:42px;"></td>
7389. </tr>
7390. </table>
7391. </td>
7392. </tr>
7393. <tr>
7394. <td style="padding:0;">
7395. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7396. <tr>
7397. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/moominmolly/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">moominmolly</font></a></b></td>
7398. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7399. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>87%</b></font></td>
7400. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7401. <td bgcolor="#469BD4" style="padding:0;width:174px;"></td>
7402. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:46px;"></td>
7403. </tr>
7404. </table>
7405. </td>
7406. </tr>
7407. <tr>
7408. <td style="padding:0;">
7409. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7410. <tr>
7411. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/blk/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">blk</font></a></b></td>
7412. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7413. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>87%</b></font></td>
7414. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7415. <td bgcolor="#469BD4" style="padding:0;width:174px;"></td>
7416. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:46px;"></td>
7417. </tr>
7418. </table>
7419. </td>
7420. </tr>
7421. <tr>
7422. <td style="padding:0;">
7423. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7424. <tr>
7425. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/tcb/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">tcb</font></a></b></td>
7426. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7427. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>87%</b></font></td>
7428. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7429. <td bgcolor="#469BD4" style="padding:0;width:174px;"></td>
7430. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:46px;"></td>
7431. </tr>
7432. </table>
7433. </td>
7434. </tr>
7435. <tr>
7436. <td style="padding:0;">
7437. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7438. <tr>
7439. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/geekosaur/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">geekosaur</font></a></b></td>
7440. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7441. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>87%</b></font></td>
7442. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7443. <td bgcolor="#469BD4" style="padding:0;width:174px;"></td>
7444. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:46px;"></td>
7445. </tr>
7446. </table>
7447. </td>
7448. </tr>
7449. <tr>
7450. <td style="padding:0;">
7451. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7452. <tr>
7453. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/mycroft/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">mycroft</font></a></b></td>
7454. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7455. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>87%</b></font></td>
7456. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7457. <td bgcolor="#469BD4" style="padding:0;width:174px;"></td>
7458. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:46px;"></td>
7459. </tr>
7460. </table>
7461. </td>
7462. </tr>
7463. <tr>
7464. <td style="padding:0;">
7465. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7466. <tr>
7467. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/broken_gizmo/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">broken_gizmo</font></a></b></td>
7468. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7469. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>87%</b></font></td>
7470. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7471. <td bgcolor="#469BD4" style="padding:0;width:174px;"></td>
7472. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:46px;"></td>
7473. </tr>
7474. </table>
7475. </td>
7476. </tr>
7477. <tr>
7478. <td style="padding:0;">
7479. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7480. <tr>
7481. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/cos/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">cos</font></a></b></td>
7482. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7483. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>86%</b></font></td>
7484. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7485. <td bgcolor="#469ED2" style="padding:0;width:172px;"></td>
7486. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:48px;"></td>
7487. </tr>
7488. </table>
7489. </td>
7490. </tr>
7491. <tr>
7492. <td style="padding:0;">
7493. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7494. <tr>
7495. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/mangosteen/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">mangosteen</font></a></b></td>
7496. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7497. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>86%</b></font></td>
7498. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7499. <td bgcolor="#469ED2" style="padding:0;width:172px;"></td>
7500. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:48px;"></td>
7501. </tr>
7502. </table>
7503. </td>
7504. </tr>
7505. <tr>
7506. <td style="padding:0;">
7507. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7508. <tr>
7509. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/oonh/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">oonh</font></a></b></td>
7510. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7511. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>85%</b></font></td>
7512. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7513. <td bgcolor="#46A2D0" style="padding:0;width:170px;"></td>
7514. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:50px;"></td>
7515. </tr>
7516. </table>
7517. </td>
7518. </tr>
7519. <tr>
7520. <td style="padding:0;">
7521. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7522. <tr>
7523. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/jnala/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">jnala</font></a></b></td>
7524. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7525. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>83%</b></font></td>
7526. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7527. <td bgcolor="#46A9CD" style="padding:0;width:166px;"></td>
7528. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:54px;"></td>
7529. </tr>
7530. </table>
7531. </td>
7532. </tr>
7533. <tr>
7534. <td style="padding:0;">
7535. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7536. <tr>
7537. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/fidgetmonster/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">fidgetmonster</font></a></b></td>
7538. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7539. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>82%</b></font></td>
7540. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7541. <td bgcolor="#46ADCB" style="padding:0;width:164px;"></td>
7542. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:56px;"></td>
7543. </tr>
7544. </table>
7545. </td>
7546. </tr>
7547. <tr>
7548. <td style="padding:0;">
7549. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7550. <tr>
7551. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/roozle/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">roozle</font></a></b></td>
7552. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7553. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>79%</b></font></td>
7554. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7555. <td bgcolor="#46B8C5" style="padding:0;width:158px;"></td>
7556. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:62px;"></td>
7557. </tr>
7558. </table>
7559. </td>
7560. </tr>
7561. <tr>
7562. <td style="padding:0;">
7563. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7564. <tr>
7565. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/crs/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">crs</font></a></b></td>
7566. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7567. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>79%</b></font></td>
7568. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7569. <td bgcolor="#46B8C5" style="padding:0;width:158px;"></td>
7570. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:62px;"></td>
7571. </tr>
7572. </table>
7573. </td>
7574. </tr>
7575. <tr>
7576. <td style="padding:0;">
7577. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7578. <tr>
7579. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/tikva/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">tikva</font></a></b></td>
7580. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7581. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>76%</b></font></td>
7582. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7583. <td bgcolor="#46C3C0" style="padding:0;width:152px;"></td>
7584. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:68px;"></td>
7585. </tr>
7586. </table>
7587. </td>
7588. </tr>
7589. <tr>
7590. <td style="padding:0;">
7591. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7592. <tr>
7593. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/stuntviolist/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">stuntviolist</font></a></b></td>
7594. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7595. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>76%</b></font></td>
7596. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7597. <td bgcolor="#46C3C0" style="padding:0;width:152px;"></td>
7598. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:68px;"></td>
7599. </tr>
7600. </table>
7601. </td>
7602. </tr>
7603. <tr>
7604. <td style="padding:0;">
7605. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7606. <tr>
7607. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/pantsie/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">pantsie</font></a></b></td>
7608. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7609. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>74%</b></font></td>
7610. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7611. <td bgcolor="#46CBBC" style="padding:0;width:148px;"></td>
7612. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:72px;"></td>
7613. </tr>
7614. </table>
7615. </td>
7616. </tr>
7617. <tr>
7618. <td style="padding:0;">
7619. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7620. <tr>
7621. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/solipsistnation/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">solipsistnation</font></a></b></td>
7622. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7623. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>72%</b></font></td>
7624. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7625. <td bgcolor="#46D2B8" style="padding:0;width:144px;"></td>
7626. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:76px;"></td>
7627. </tr>
7628. </table>
7629. </td>
7630. </tr>
7631. <tr>
7632. <td style="padding:0;">
7633. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7634. <tr>
7635. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/hepkitten/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">hepkitten</font></a></b></td>
7636. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7637. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>67%</b></font></td>
7638. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7639. <td bgcolor="#46E5AF" style="padding:0;width:134px;"></td>
7640. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:86px;"></td>
7641. </tr>
7642. </table>
7643. </td>
7644. </tr>
7645. <tr>
7646. <td style="padding:0;">
7647. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7648. <tr>
7649. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/octal/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">octal</font></a></b></td>
7650. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7651. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>67%</b></font></td>
7652. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7653. <td bgcolor="#46E5AF" style="padding:0;width:134px;"></td>
7654. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:86px;"></td>
7655. </tr>
7656. </table>
7657. </td>
7658. </tr>
7659. <tr>
7660. <td style="padding:0;">
7661. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0;">
7662. <tr>
7663. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:120px;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/chuckm/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC">chuckm</font></a></b></td>
7664. <td style="padding:0;width:20px;"></td>
7665. <td style="padding:0;text-align:right;width:40px;"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#000000"><b>60%</b></font></td>
7666. <td style="padding:0;width:5px;"></td>
7667. <td bgcolor="#46FF46" style="padding:0;width:120px;"></td>
7668. <td bgcolor="white" style="padding:0;width:100px;"></td>
7669. </tr>
7670. </table>
7671. </td>
7672. </tr>
7673. <tr><td colspan="6" align="center" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="padding:0;text-align:center;"><b><a target="_new" href="http://www.ljmatch.com/index.php?r=eC2LTIIKD+q7i8kOfN7+uQIijMraanwQ"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#0033CC"><u>How compatible with me are YOU?</u></font></a></b></td></tr>
7674. </table>
7675. </td></tr>
7676. </table>
7677. </pre>
7678. </content>
7679. </entry>
7681. <entry>
7682. <title>June 14 - Boston - Birthday Party</title>
7683. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/29/june-14-boston-birthday-party/"/>
7684. <updated>2003-05-30T03:28:00Z</updated>
7685. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/29/june-14-boston-birthday-party/</id>
7686. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Hi!&lt;br&gt;
7687.        So. My birthday is again approaching. I'm sure you're all<br>
7688. terribly surprised that I'm going to have a party. Like last year,<br>
7689. it's going to be out in suburbia at my mom's place, which has several<br>
7690. distinct advantages over my house in somerville:                                                                                                                          </p>
7691. <p>        * There's a yard<br>
7692.        * There's a grill<br>
7693.        * There's a swimming pool.                                                                                                                                        </p>
7694. <p>        Date: Saturday 14 June 2003<br>
7695.        Time: 3PM to 3AM or so<br>
7696.        Location: 22 Kirkstall Rd, Newton, MA 02460 [<a href="http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?country=US&address=22+Kirkstall+Rd&city=Newton&state=MA&zipcode=02460">MAP</a>]</p>
7697. <p>        Phone: My cell is +1 617 319 5823. The house phone, which is<br>
7698.               reasonable to use day-of is +1 617 965 1008                                                                                                                </p>
7699. <p>There will be some food on hand, but it would be delightful if folks could<br>
7700. bring things to drink or grill.  If you want to swim, you should bring<br>
7701. along a bathing suit. We've got enough towels to dry everybody off.                                                                                                       </p>
7702. <p>RSVPs to jesse+party@fsck.com are encouraged, but by no means required. SOs, roomates and other<br>
7703. hangers-on are definitely welcome, but a heads up would be good. If you<br>
7704. think I've accidentally left someone off the list, send me mail and I'll<br>
7705. forward the invite to them. There are two sweet, young Gordon Setters<br>
7706. who will likely be around. They're friendly, but at least one of them<br>
7707. barks a bit.                                                                                                                                                              </p>
7708. <p>        See you in a couple weeks,                                                                                                                                        </p>
7709. <p>        Jesse</p>
7710. </content>
7711. </entry>
7713. <entry>
7714. <title>An untitled post</title>
7715. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/24/171/"/>
7716. <updated>2003-05-24T21:55:00Z</updated>
7717. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/24/171/</id>
7718. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;ve been feeling subtly &#39;off&#39; since I got home from Europe. This can stop any time now.&lt;/p&gt;
7719. </content>
7720. </entry>
7722. <entry>
7723. <title>mmmm</title>
7724. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/16/mmmm/"/>
7725. <updated>2003-05-17T06:55:00Z</updated>
7726. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/16/mmmm/</id>
7727. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;lj from my siemens&lt;/p&gt;
7728. </content>
7729. </entry>
7731. <entry>
7732. <title>An untitled post</title>
7733. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/15/169/"/>
7734. <updated>2003-05-15T11:28:00Z</updated>
7735. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/15/169/</id>
7736. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Yipe. A twenty two thousand pound bottle of scotch. Without VAT.&lt;/p&gt;
7737. </content>
7738. </entry>
7740. <entry>
7741. <title>An untitled post</title>
7742. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/15/168/"/>
7743. <updated>2003-05-15T10:23:00Z</updated>
7744. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/15/168/</id>
7745. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&#39;Two free tickets if you sleep with us&#39; -- British Airways&lt;/p&gt;
7746. </content>
7747. </entry>
7749. <entry>
7750. <title>An untitled post</title>
7751. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/14/167/"/>
7752. <updated>2003-05-14T18:05:00Z</updated>
7753. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/14/167/</id>
7754. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So. A train behind us on the underground. &#39;to avoid gaps in service&#39; they held us in station for 5 minutes. What about the gap in front of us?&lt;/p&gt;
7755. </content>
7756. </entry>
7758. <entry>
7759. <title>An untitled post</title>
7760. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/14/166/"/>
7761. <updated>2003-05-14T13:10:00Z</updated>
7762. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/14/166/</id>
7763. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Damn it. 140 pounds for a bottle of springbank 1965. So tempted. Can&#39;t quite justify that. Sigh (that&#39;s after VAT refund)&lt;/p&gt;
7764. </content>
7765. </entry>
7767. <entry>
7768. <title>His hair isn&#39;t purple....</title>
7769. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/14/his-hair-isnt-purple/"/>
7770. <updated>2003-05-14T10:39:00Z</updated>
7771. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/14/his-hair-isnt-purple/</id>
7772. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;..but tonight, I met &lt;a href=&quot;http://dr_memory.livejournal.com/&quot; class=&quot;lj-user&quot;&gt;dr_memory&lt;/a&gt;&#39;s opposite number in the British service.&lt;/p&gt;
7773. </content>
7774. </entry>
7776. <entry>
7777. <title>An untitled post</title>
7778. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/13/164/"/>
7779. <updated>2003-05-13T14:50:00Z</updated>
7780. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/13/164/</id>
7781. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;It&#39;s disconcerting when a gorgeous lawn ornament duck turns, looks at you and quacks.&lt;/p&gt;
7782. </content>
7783. </entry>
7785. <entry>
7786. <title>Shows.</title>
7787. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/13/shows/"/>
7788. <updated>2003-05-13T09:53:00Z</updated>
7789. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/13/shows/</id>
7790. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;ll be home soon. So many shows coming up. Including both bands that I missed seeing in europe.&lt;/p&gt;
7791. <p>5/25 - BCN river rave - Interpol, Blur - Tweeter center...but do I really want to cope with the tweeter center?<br>
7792. 5/28 - Mary Prankster - Harper's Ferry.<br>
7793. 6/3 - The Sounds at the Paradise.  Up and coming swedish pop<br>
7794. 6/6 - freezepop at tt the bear's. with a.r.e. weapons. we go on at 10:30. $10, 18+<br>
7795. 6/24 - Vienna Teng - Harper's Ferry - sad that I'll be out of town</p>
7796. </content>
7797. </entry>
7799. <entry>
7800. <title>An untitled post</title>
7801. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/12/162/"/>
7802. <updated>2003-05-12T15:34:00Z</updated>
7803. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/12/162/</id>
7804. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wow. The UK is very...grey and rainy.&lt;/p&gt;
7805. </content>
7806. </entry>
7808. <entry>
7809. <title>An untitled post</title>
7810. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/11/160/"/>
7811. <updated>2003-05-11T13:15:00Z</updated>
7812. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/11/160/</id>
7813. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Remember the deutsch telecom kiosks I mentioned last week? There&#39;s one here with a note saying they were all shut down &#39;in May 2003&#39;  sigh. Nice idea.&lt;/p&gt;
7814. </content>
7815. </entry>
7817. <entry>
7818. <title>An untitled post</title>
7819. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/11/159/"/>
7820. <updated>2003-05-11T12:35:00Z</updated>
7821. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/11/159/</id>
7822. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I didn&#39;t know that the VW beetle was designed under orders from the German government in 1934&lt;/p&gt;
7823. </content>
7824. </entry>
7826. <entry>
7827. <title>An untitled post</title>
7828. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/11/158/"/>
7829. <updated>2003-05-11T12:02:00Z</updated>
7830. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/11/158/</id>
7831. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;m at the Deutsch Museum. In an exhibit on the history of the bicycle. An Austrian bike frim 1904 came with a handlebar-attached whip to ward off dogs.&lt;/p&gt;
7832. </content>
7833. </entry>
7835. <entry>
7836. <title>An untitled post</title>
7837. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/11/157/"/>
7838. <updated>2003-05-11T11:26:00Z</updated>
7839. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/11/157/</id>
7840. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Found lunch at the San Francisco Coffee Company. Their summer menu is decorated with penguins saying &#39;Foo Foo!&lt;/p&gt;
7841. </content>
7842. </entry>
7844. <entry>
7845. <title>An untitled post</title>
7846. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/10/156/"/>
7847. <updated>2003-05-10T22:08:00Z</updated>
7848. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/10/156/</id>
7849. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So last night I got taken out by the folks at Netways.de.&lt;/p&gt;
7850. <p>I got told that we'd be going to see 'Punk Rock Karaoke.'<br>
7851. Somehow, I expected a bunch of 30 something 'I was punk once' types getting drunk and belting out clash tunes. </p>
7852. <p>The room was um. maybe half the size of the Middle East upstairs. It was filled with punk kids from maybe 15 to 25. Lo and behold, it was Punks doing karaoke, not Karaoke of old punk tunes. The sound was _awful_. The PA was so underpowered and overdriven  that it was the rare moment when it wasn't clipping. Kids would get up on stage and start screaming into the microphone.  It was tons of fun, even if there'S no way in hell <b>I</b> was getting on that stage. A couple of the kids could sort of sing, but most didn't even really try. After about an hour, we headed out to a stylish basement club playing what was translated for me as 'Chill House.' Kind of a contrast. Pretty people sipping mixed drinks and occasionally venturing out onto the dance floor. At this point, it was probably 2:30 AM and I was dead tired. But we 'had to' go to one more club. This one turned out to be a tiny dance club in another basement, mostly playing dancy remixes of 60s and 70s tunes. . . And it turned out my friends knew the bartender. In fact, he used to work at one of their clients. And used to use RT there. At this point, I figured I should start mixing stimulants and depressants (always a good idea, you know), so I ordered a Vodka Red Bull.  Except the bartender poured us shots of something. I'm pretty sure it was Jagermeister, but I don't actually know. Then our drinks arrived. The Red Bull did actually pick me up some, which is good, because otherwise I couldn't have actually stayed awake to answer the barrage of questoins I started to get from Nick about where in Europe I thought the girls were prettiest and what did I 'think of Nürnberg girls? Answer me honestly. I won't be offended. Just tell me the truth.' Nick and Julian had been smoking all night. Just then, Nick pulls out another cigarette and, rather than use his own lighter, runs over to a girl he's been eyeing and asks if he can bum a light. At this point, I decided I'd had enough to drink and it was getting to be time to go home. The bartender, however, decided we needed to do another shot with him. Vodka this time. I told Julian it was getting on to bedtime for me. Julian told this to Nick. Nick leaned over to tell the bartender....that we needed another round of Vodka Red Bull. I asked for a water. The bartender told me they didn't have any. And then got me one. I downed it in a single gulp. We toasted. I touched it to my lips. Nick drained 1/2 inch from his and ran out onto the dance floor. I took the opportunity to top up Nick's drink from my own. He comes back and we proceed to toast a few more times. (With me basically pretending to drink. I'm way too far gone to want to keep drinking.)  I tell Julian 'ok. let's get out of here.' Julian tells Nick and nick pulls out a 50 euro note to pay the bartender. Before he hands it over, he raises it to his mouth and bites a chunk off the end.</p>
7853. </content>
7854. </entry>
7856. <entry>
7857. <title>An untitled post</title>
7858. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/09/155/"/>
7859. <updated>2003-05-10T01:35:00Z</updated>
7860. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/09/155/</id>
7861. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wow. Dragged out clubbing by a couple of wild germans. I can&#39;t report coherently at this point. I&#39;ll give it a shot tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;
7862. </content>
7863. </entry>
7865. <entry>
7866. <title>An untitled post</title>
7867. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/09/154/"/>
7868. <updated>2003-05-09T14:51:00Z</updated>
7869. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/09/154/</id>
7870. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&#39;If you want to learn more about the SS, press 3008&#39;&lt;/p&gt;
7871. </content>
7872. </entry>
7874. <entry>
7875. <title>An untitled post</title>
7876. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/09/153/"/>
7877. <updated>2003-05-09T09:30:00Z</updated>
7878. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/09/153/</id>
7879. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;A store here has put up a portable climbing wall ~50 feet tall and are challenging pedestrians to climb it.  Then they turn on a fake &#39;rain storm&#39;&lt;/p&gt;
7880. </content>
7881. </entry>
7883. <entry>
7884. <title>An untitled post</title>
7885. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/09/152/"/>
7886. <updated>2003-05-09T09:04:00Z</updated>
7887. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/09/152/</id>
7888. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;This is bad. I think I&#39;m getting used to premade Iced Tea. It would be crazy to buy loose tea, lemons and sugar and abuse the coffemaker and minibar.&lt;/p&gt;
7889. </content>
7890. </entry>
7892. <entry>
7893. <title>An untitled post</title>
7894. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/08/151/"/>
7895. <updated>2003-05-08T13:35:00Z</updated>
7896. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/08/151/</id>
7897. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;ve seen crucifixes before. But, before today, I don&#39;t think I&#39;ve ever seen one on a chain so long that it dangled by the wearer&#39;s crotch.&lt;/p&gt;
7898. </content>
7899. </entry>
7901. <entry>
7902. <title>An untitled post</title>
7903. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/07/150/"/>
7904. <updated>2003-05-07T22:13:00Z</updated>
7905. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/07/150/</id>
7906. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Now that&#39;s just petty. My glasses just broke. (only a lost screw). Guess I get to explore the world of german glasses shops tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;
7907. </content>
7908. </entry>
7910. <entry>
7911. <title>An untitled post</title>
7912. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/07/149/"/>
7913. <updated>2003-05-07T16:46:00Z</updated>
7914. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/07/149/</id>
7915. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;One of the things I wanted to discover on this trip was how well I travelled alone for long periods of time. Next time, I&#39;m going with someone.&lt;/p&gt;
7916. </content>
7917. </entry>
7919. <entry>
7920. <title>An untitled post</title>
7921. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/07/148/"/>
7922. <updated>2003-05-07T14:49:00Z</updated>
7923. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/07/148/</id>
7924. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So it appears that I&#39;ll soon have a german reseller for RT support and hosting. Neat!&lt;br&gt;
7925. And I'm now sitting in a 'Mr Bleck' coffeshop.</p>
7926. </content>
7927. </entry>
7929. <entry>
7930. <title>An untitled post</title>
7931. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/06/147/"/>
7932. <updated>2003-05-06T21:37:00Z</updated>
7933. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/06/147/</id>
7934. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;The hotel is 2x as far from the station as they claimed. They stopped serving food for the night 5min before I arrived. It is not my day. I give up.&lt;/p&gt;
7935. </content>
7936. </entry>
7938. <entry>
7939. <title>An untitled post</title>
7940. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/06/146/"/>
7941. <updated>2003-05-06T16:54:00Z</updated>
7942. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/06/146/</id>
7943. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;And the CD ROM won&#39;t accept disks. Somehow, I think the issues are related and that perhaps the TiBook doesn&#39;t fit my Digital Lifestyle.&lt;/p&gt;
7944. </content>
7945. </entry>
7947. <entry>
7948. <title>An untitled post</title>
7949. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/06/145/"/>
7950. <updated>2003-05-06T16:31:00Z</updated>
7951. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/06/145/</id>
7952. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;And now the fucking discharged battery on my tibook is stuck un tthe machine. The fucking latch is broken shut. I AM SO NOT HAPPY&lt;/p&gt;
7953. </content>
7954. </entry>
7956. <entry>
7957. <title>An untitled post</title>
7958. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/06/144/"/>
7959. <updated>2003-05-06T14:02:00Z</updated>
7960. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/06/144/</id>
7961. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;t-mobile.de insists the 3650 doesn&#39;t work because it&#39;s a 2 band phone and my SIM needs a tri-band phone. &#39;um&#39; I&#39;m pretty sure both facts are wrong.&lt;/p&gt;
7962. </content>
7963. </entry>
7965. <entry>
7966. <title>An untitled post</title>
7967. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/06/143/"/>
7968. <updated>2003-05-06T11:40:00Z</updated>
7969. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/06/143/</id>
7970. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Deutsch Nokia 3650 nicht geworken mit mein SIMkart. So I returned the fucker. And they paid out in cash rather than crediting my amex.&lt;/p&gt;
7971. </content>
7972. </entry>
7974. <entry>
7975. <title>An untitled post</title>
7976. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/05/142/"/>
7977. <updated>2003-05-06T05:06:00Z</updated>
7978. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/05/142/</id>
7979. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So today, I met Florian, an RT user/hacker who lives in Berlin. He took the day to show me around town and then show me one of his RT implementations.&lt;/p&gt;
7980. <p>They (http://www.lambda-bb.de/) are a local peer-counselling service for gay and lesbian teenagers. They use RT to track all correspondence with the kids they're counselling. They've made some neat changes to comply with German privacy laws and ease things for client interactions.</p>
7981. <p>And some things that were really, really important but still sort of terrifying. If an email message includes certain keywords like 'rape' or 'suicide', it bumps up the priority and sends out extra alert mail.</p>
7982. <p>Looks like the interview for iX is going to be done by email sometime later.</p>
7983. <p>There was a concert I wanted to go to tonight, but I was running late, it was in a part of town I haven't yet dealt with and my feet hurt like hell. So. I'll have to wait until The Sounds break in the US and go see them at a stadium ;)</p>
7984. <p>Oh, and I bought a toy today.  A new nokia 3650. From a nokia shop in Berlin. It was the least satisfying medium-big purchase I've made in a looong time. I got treated like dirt, they ignored my request to try the phone before they rang me up, the sales guy attempted to assert that the reason the phone didn't work was because my SIM was 'old',<br>
7985. he said that if it didn't work, he wouldn't take it back (In german. to the friend I was with, after it was too late (I didn't tell him that if he fucked me, I'd walk out of the shop, call AmEx and initiate a fraud investigation ;)). He eventually figured out that there's a firmware bug with that version of the phone and that the SIM _needs_ to be pin-locked. And then when I asked why the hell the firmware was loaded with vodaphone customization, he told me I could take it to any Nokia service point and have it flashed up to a current generic firmware. I decided I'd be happier walking out and going to a nokia shop in Britian to have them flash the phone. And he lied about the tax-free stuff going in, claiming that they had everything I needed to present to customs to get the VAT refund at the airport. Except they claimed at the end to not have any VAT refund forms and that I'd be fine without one. Which I'm 99% sure is a load of crap. *sigh* I really should have walked out at the beginning.</p>
7986. </content>
7987. </entry>
7989. <entry>
7990. <title>An untitled post</title>
7991. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/05/141/"/>
7992. <updated>2003-05-05T13:40:00Z</updated>
7993. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/05/141/</id>
7994. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Apparently there&#39;s a community of web sites of pix of porn shot in the Reichstag&#39;s bathrooms.&lt;/p&gt;
7995. </content>
7996. </entry>
7998. <entry>
7999. <title>An untitled post</title>
8000. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/04/140/"/>
8001. <updated>2003-05-04T18:34:00Z</updated>
8002. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/04/140/</id>
8003. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;It&#39;s amazing how hunger can mess with you. I passed up good food for stupid reasons. When I finally gave up, the only nearby food was quite mediocre.&lt;/p&gt;
8004. </content>
8005. </entry>
8007. <entry>
8008. <title>An untitled post</title>
8009. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/04/139/"/>
8010. <updated>2003-05-04T17:45:00Z</updated>
8011. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/04/139/</id>
8012. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Short on sleep and food and feeling kinda lonely isn&#39;t the best combination when you&#39;re in a city where you neither know anyone nor speak the language&lt;/p&gt;
8013. </content>
8014. </entry>
8016. <entry>
8017. <title>An untitled post</title>
8018. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/04/138/"/>
8019. <updated>2003-05-04T10:39:00Z</updated>
8020. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/04/138/</id>
8021. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Deutsche telecom has replaced payphones with pods that make calls, send SMS, sell web access and provide free access to sponsored sites like amazon.de&lt;/p&gt;
8022. </content>
8023. </entry>
8025. <entry>
8026. <title>An untitled post</title>
8027. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/04/137/"/>
8028. <updated>2003-05-04T08:40:00Z</updated>
8029. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/04/137/</id>
8030. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Standing at checkpoint charlie, it&#39;s amazing how much more vibrant the East looks. Oh, and there&#39;s a cop blocking the road.&lt;/p&gt;
8031. </content>
8032. </entry>
8034. <entry>
8035. <title>An untitled post</title>
8036. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/04/136/"/>
8037. <updated>2003-05-04T07:24:00Z</updated>
8038. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/04/136/</id>
8039. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Damn it. I was supposed to meet up with a girl I met on the train. It took 30 min for the subway to come. I missed her. Damn it.&lt;/p&gt;
8040. </content>
8041. </entry>
8043. <entry>
8044. <title>An untitled post</title>
8045. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/04/135/"/>
8046. <updated>2003-05-04T07:02:00Z</updated>
8047. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/04/135/</id>
8048. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I lucked out. I had a sleeper to berlin to myself. At some point, the train motion stopped and boat motion started. We were on a ferry for &amp;gt; an hour.&lt;/p&gt;
8049. </content>
8050. </entry>
8052. <entry>
8053. <title>An untitled post</title>
8054. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/03/134/"/>
8055. <updated>2003-05-04T06:40:00Z</updated>
8056. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/03/134/</id>
8057. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Hint to ATM designers: when internationalizing,  translation of error messages is not optional.&lt;/p&gt;
8058. </content>
8059. </entry>
8061. <entry>
8062. <title>An untitled post</title>
8063. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/03/133/"/>
8064. <updated>2003-05-04T05:18:00Z</updated>
8065. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/03/133/</id>
8066. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I know that VW bought and rehabilitated them years ago, but the concept of the Skoda &#39;Superb&#39; luxury sedan really amuses me.&lt;/p&gt;
8067. </content>
8068. </entry>
8070. <entry>
8071. <title>An untitled post</title>
8072. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/03/132/"/>
8073. <updated>2003-05-03T19:23:00Z</updated>
8074. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/03/132/</id>
8075. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Those jeans with the bleached ass and legs seem to be popular with guys in europe&lt;/p&gt;
8076. <p>good: public wifi hotspots in train stations</p>
8077. <p>bad: no online signup</p>
8078. </content>
8079. </entry>
8081. <entry>
8082. <title>An untitled post</title>
8083. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/03/131/"/>
8084. <updated>2003-05-03T16:26:00Z</updated>
8085. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/03/131/</id>
8086. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;The weather&#39;s improving as the train heads south from Stockholm to Malmo. It was grey, raining and 40. It&#39;s sunny now. Tomorrow in Berlin: 77 &amp;amp; sunny.&lt;/p&gt;
8087. </content>
8088. </entry>
8090. <entry>
8091. <title>An untitled post</title>
8092. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/03/130/"/>
8093. <updated>2003-05-03T15:30:00Z</updated>
8094. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/03/130/</id>
8095. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Spent yesterday working. Went CD shopping afterwards. Two CDs claimed they were copy protected. Had the tibook with me. They ripped fine, so I bought e+&lt;/p&gt;
8096. </content>
8097. </entry>
8099. <entry>
8100. <title>An untitled post</title>
8101. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/03/129/"/>
8102. <updated>2003-05-03T12:30:00Z</updated>
8103. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/03/129/</id>
8104. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;We just ran into some Raelians on the street. Nikki&#39;s asking them about their clone baby. They say they have 5 now. In the US and Asia.&lt;/p&gt;
8105. </content>
8106. </entry>
8108. <entry>
8109. <title>An untitled post</title>
8110. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/03/128/"/>
8111. <updated>2003-05-03T11:17:00Z</updated>
8112. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/03/128/</id>
8113. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Today I got up, packed and left some stuff that Nikki volunteered to mail me. Threw my now-lighter pack in a cab and headed for S&#39;holm &amp;amp; a veggie lunch.&lt;/p&gt;
8114. </content>
8115. </entry>
8117. <entry>
8118. <title>An untitled post</title>
8119. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/02/127/"/>
8120. <updated>2003-05-02T19:50:00Z</updated>
8121. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/02/127/</id>
8122. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;m sitting on top of a viking burial mound. This may the most gorgeous view I&#39;v ever seen. Even better than the train through mountains in japan. Wow.+&lt;/p&gt;
8123. </content>
8124. </entry>
8126. <entry>
8127. <title>An untitled post</title>
8128. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/01/126/"/>
8129. <updated>2003-05-01T21:41:00Z</updated>
8130. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/01/126/</id>
8131. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Just saw an X Men 2 sneak preview. It was lots of fun. &lt;/p&gt;
8132. <p>Swedes don't clap at the end of movies.</p>
8133. </content>
8134. </entry>
8136. <entry>
8137. <title>An untitled post</title>
8138. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/01/125/"/>
8139. <updated>2003-05-01T18:11:00Z</updated>
8140. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/01/125/</id>
8141. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;It&#39;s snowing. It&#39;s May.&lt;/p&gt;
8142. </content>
8143. </entry>
8145. <entry>
8146. <title>An untitled post</title>
8147. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/01/124/"/>
8148. <updated>2003-05-01T12:36:00Z</updated>
8149. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/05/01/124/</id>
8150. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Novel word of the day: antism?rg?s.&lt;/p&gt;
8151. </content>
8152. </entry>
8154. <entry>
8155. <title>An untitled post</title>
8156. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/30/123/"/>
8157. <updated>2003-05-01T00:19:00Z</updated>
8158. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/30/123/</id>
8159. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;There&#39;s a Swedish company called &#39;locum&#39;. Their logotype is lowercase. For valentines day they ran an ad replacing the o with a red heart. &#39;Oops.&#39;&lt;/p&gt;
8160. </content>
8161. </entry>
8163. <entry>
8164. <title>An untitled post</title>
8165. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/30/122/"/>
8166. <updated>2003-04-30T10:45:00Z</updated>
8167. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/30/122/</id>
8168. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;m sitting on the Uppsala castle lawn eating lunch and drinking beer with hundreds of students. Life could be far worse. So far, I approve of valborg.&lt;/p&gt;
8169. </content>
8170. </entry>
8172. <entry>
8173. <title>An untitled post</title>
8174. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/29/121/"/>
8175. <updated>2003-04-29T17:59:00Z</updated>
8176. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/29/121/</id>
8177. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;We had dinner at the &#39;Swedish Pizza Kitchen.&#39;  I had a duck mushroom and tomato pizza. It was actually quite tasty.&lt;/p&gt;
8178. </content>
8179. </entry>
8181. <entry>
8182. <title>An untitled post</title>
8183. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/29/120/"/>
8184. <updated>2003-04-29T13:42:00Z</updated>
8185. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/29/120/</id>
8186. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Oh. And its symbol is a big black block-letter T in a white circle with a black border....Looks kinda familiar.&lt;/p&gt;
8187. </content>
8188. </entry>
8190. <entry>
8191. <title>An untitled post</title>
8192. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/29/119/"/>
8193. <updated>2003-04-29T13:22:00Z</updated>
8194. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/29/119/</id>
8195. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;The subway in stockholm is called the T. It has red, blue and green lines.&lt;/p&gt;
8196. </content>
8197. </entry>
8199. <entry>
8200. <title>You get to keep both pieces</title>
8201. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/29/you-get-to-keep-both-pieces/"/>
8202. <updated>2003-04-29T08:17:00Z</updated>
8203. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/29/you-get-to-keep-both-pieces/</id>
8204. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Today I gave a talk on Open Source in business and government called &quot;You Get to Keep Both Pieces&quot; for prosa.dk, the Danish IT workers union. 50-60 people showed up.&lt;br&gt;
8205. It seemed to go off fairly well. Then dinner and beer with some prosa folks and some other locals. Over dinner, they interviewed me for their magazine. Apparently, they think that I'm a net.r0kstar. I'm not quite sure I understand, but I guess I'll just keep doing what I'm doing.</p>
8206. <p>Tomorrow, (ok, today. it's 1:25 AM and the train leaves at 8:15) I'm off to sweden. With luck, I'll be picking up a nokia 3650. And then I get to start blogging with pictures.</p>
8207. </content>
8208. </entry>
8210. <entry>
8211. <title>An untitled post</title>
8212. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/28/117/"/>
8213. <updated>2003-04-28T20:55:00Z</updated>
8214. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/28/117/</id>
8215. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I woke up 3 hours after I meant to. Today, lunch consists of a loaf of bread, a hunk of brie and a strawberry juice.&lt;br&gt;
8216. (jordbaærdrik)<br>
8217. Soon, I'm off to give a talk to prosa.dk about open source in business</p>
8218. </content>
8219. </entry>
8221. <entry>
8222. <title>An untitled post</title>
8223. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/27/116/"/>
8224. <updated>2003-04-27T19:02:00Z</updated>
8225. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/27/116/</id>
8226. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I think that I&#39;m about two days away from buying a Nokia 3650. It fits nicely in my hand and seems very hackable.&lt;/p&gt;
8227. </content>
8228. </entry>
8230. <entry>
8231. <title>An untitled post</title>
8232. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/27/115/"/>
8233. <updated>2003-04-27T18:58:00Z</updated>
8234. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/27/115/</id>
8235. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;There&#39;s something really nice about spending an evening at a  cafe  where they bring me good tea and coffee. Just wish I&#39;d known the kitchen closed at +&lt;/p&gt;
8236. </content>
8237. </entry>
8239. <entry>
8240. <title>An untitled post</title>
8241. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/27/114/"/>
8242. <updated>2003-04-27T10:32:00Z</updated>
8243. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/27/114/</id>
8244. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Ok. The new copenhagen metro is quite neat. Driverless trains with big picture windows.&lt;/p&gt;
8245. </content>
8246. </entry>
8248. <entry>
8249. <title>An untitled post</title>
8250. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/27/113/"/>
8251. <updated>2003-04-27T08:57:00Z</updated>
8252. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/27/113/</id>
8253. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I just passed a couple in the hall. It took me a moment to realize that they weren&#39;t speaking Swedish Chef but actual Swedish.&lt;/p&gt;
8254. </content>
8255. </entry>
8257. <entry>
8258. <title>An untitled post</title>
8259. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/26/112/"/>
8260. <updated>2003-04-26T20:18:00Z</updated>
8261. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/26/112/</id>
8262. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;They all call it lie-nux here. It feels like it&#39;s 1996 again.&lt;/p&gt;
8263. </content>
8264. </entry>
8266. <entry>
8267. <title>An untitled post</title>
8268. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/26/111/"/>
8269. <updated>2003-04-26T19:37:00Z</updated>
8270. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/26/111/</id>
8271. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;We&#39;re sitting in an irish pub in Copenhagen. Claes seems to have sucked me into a project to replace SOAP::Lite with something that actually works&lt;/p&gt;
8272. </content>
8273. </entry>
8275. <entry>
8276. <title>An untitled post</title>
8277. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/26/110/"/>
8278. <updated>2003-04-26T17:07:00Z</updated>
8279. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/26/110/</id>
8280. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;m sitting at a greek restaurant in denmark with swedes,  danes a russian, a finn, and a brit. International travel is no longer Magic.&lt;/p&gt;
8281. </content>
8282. </entry>
8284. <entry>
8285. <title>An untitled post</title>
8286. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/25/109/"/>
8287. <updated>2003-04-26T06:41:00Z</updated>
8288. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/25/109/</id>
8289. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;There&#39;s something so much more compelling about a hotel breakfast including a danish when 1) that&#39;s not all it includes and 2) it&#39;s a Danish danish.&lt;/p&gt;
8290. </content>
8291. </entry>
8293. <entry>
8294. <title>An untitled post</title>
8295. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/25/108/"/>
8296. <updated>2003-04-25T20:56:00Z</updated>
8297. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/25/108/</id>
8298. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;applet for a mobile phone that takes a picture and turns on the mic and does a BlueTooth  when it gets a ping over gprs. I see a great need.&lt;/p&gt;
8299. </content>
8300. </entry>
8302. <entry>
8303. <title>An untitled post</title>
8304. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/25/107/"/>
8305. <updated>2003-04-25T20:28:00Z</updated>
8306. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/25/107/</id>
8307. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&#39;Oh, so you dilute the absinthe with Gin?&#39; -- Nicholas Clark&lt;/p&gt;
8308. </content>
8309. </entry>
8311. <entry>
8312. <title>An untitled post</title>
8313. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/25/106/"/>
8314. <updated>2003-04-25T19:14:00Z</updated>
8315. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/25/106/</id>
8316. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Not quite sure what I&#39;d expect from a mexican/italian restaurant in Copenhagen. It wasn&#39;t bad per se. But not as good as Azteka in Moscow.&lt;/p&gt;
8317. </content>
8318. </entry>
8320. <entry>
8321. <title>An untitled post</title>
8322. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/25/105/"/>
8323. <updated>2003-04-25T17:30:00Z</updated>
8324. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/25/105/</id>
8325. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Ok. Local mobile phones actively display your location as the cell info, wherever you happen to be.&lt;/p&gt;
8326. </content>
8327. </entry>
8329. <entry>
8330. <title>An untitled post</title>
8331. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/25/104/"/>
8332. <updated>2003-04-25T16:48:00Z</updated>
8333. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/25/104/</id>
8334. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Talk went well. I was spot-on for timing; I got told the depth was just right and that I am a very dynamic speaker. Feels kinda weird.&lt;/p&gt;
8335. </content>
8336. </entry>
8338. <entry>
8339. <title>An untitled post</title>
8340. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/25/103/"/>
8341. <updated>2003-04-25T16:41:00Z</updated>
8342. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/25/103/</id>
8343. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;At the hotel in copenhagen, a man just walked into the bar in diaper, baby bonnet, tippy cup and sqeaky toys. Um.&lt;/p&gt;
8344. </content>
8345. </entry>
8347. <entry>
8348. <title>An untitled post</title>
8349. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/24/102/"/>
8350. <updated>2003-04-24T20:59:00Z</updated>
8351. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/24/102/</id>
8352. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Getting on the plane in Brussels and off in Copenhagen, all the Europeans kept their passports in hand, though we never had to show them.&lt;/p&gt;
8353. </content>
8354. </entry>
8356. <entry>
8357. <title>An untitled post</title>
8358. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/24/101/"/>
8359. <updated>2003-04-24T18:53:00Z</updated>
8360. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/24/101/</id>
8361. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I think I could definitely spend a LOT more time in Barcelona. Perhaps next spring I´ll just come here for a month.&lt;/p&gt;
8362. <p>Last night, I ended up ditching the Interpol show in favor of a fantastic 4 and a half hour Spanish dinner. Lots of fun. Lots of sangria. And now I´m off to copenhagen for perlworkshop.dk.</p>
8363. </content>
8364. </entry>
8366. <entry>
8367. <title>An untitled post</title>
8368. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/23/100/"/>
8369. <updated>2003-04-24T00:07:00Z</updated>
8370. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/23/100/</id>
8371. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Never made it to the interpol show. Had a 4 hour spanish dinner. Turns out valerie and I have a fair number of friends in common.&lt;/p&gt;
8372. </content>
8373. </entry>
8375. <entry>
8376. <title>An untitled post</title>
8377. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/23/99/"/>
8378. <updated>2003-04-23T18:30:00Z</updated>
8379. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/23/99/</id>
8380. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;FNAC is a dangerous place with wacky genre breakdowns. But I have new music...&lt;/p&gt;
8381. </content>
8382. </entry>
8384. <entry>
8385. <title>An untitled post</title>
8386. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/23/98/"/>
8387. <updated>2003-04-23T17:16:00Z</updated>
8388. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/23/98/</id>
8389. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Cool: ATMs that will sell me concert tickets.&lt;br&gt;
8390. Uncool: that they don't sell same day tickets.</p>
8391. </content>
8392. </entry>
8394. <entry>
8395. <title>An untitled post</title>
8396. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/23/97/"/>
8397. <updated>2003-04-23T14:11:00Z</updated>
8398. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/23/97/</id>
8399. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Y&#39;all shouldn&#39;t bother to correct my spelling, etc. Writing 160 char msgs on a 2&quot; keyboard sucks. And the times of all these posts are 5h off.&lt;/p&gt;
8400. </content>
8401. </entry>
8403. <entry>
8404. <title>An untitled post</title>
8405. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/23/96/"/>
8406. <updated>2003-04-23T13:17:00Z</updated>
8407. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/23/96/</id>
8408. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;ve never seen a cop with candy apple red hair before. But now I must eat my flan.&lt;/p&gt;
8409. </content>
8410. </entry>
8412. <entry>
8413. <title>An untitled post</title>
8414. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/23/95/"/>
8415. <updated>2003-04-23T10:26:00Z</updated>
8416. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/23/95/</id>
8417. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Gaudi. I can&#39;t spell. I lose.&lt;/p&gt;
8418. </content>
8419. </entry>
8421. <entry>
8422. <title>An untitled post</title>
8423. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/23/94/"/>
8424. <updated>2003-04-23T10:24:00Z</updated>
8425. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/23/94/</id>
8426. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Sagrada Familia.&lt;/p&gt;
8427. </content>
8428. </entry>
8430. <entry>
8431. <title>An untitled post</title>
8432. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/23/93/"/>
8433. <updated>2003-04-23T10:20:00Z</updated>
8434. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/23/93/</id>
8435. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Goudy&#39;s sigrara familia is absolutely amazing. An immense cathedral still being actively built. And it&#39;s gorgeous&lt;/p&gt;
8436. </content>
8437. </entry>
8439. <entry>
8440. <title>An untitled post</title>
8441. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/23/92/"/>
8442. <updated>2003-04-23T09:17:00Z</updated>
8443. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/23/92/</id>
8444. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Today&#39;s holiday here is a second valentines daym Guys buy girls roses and girls buy guys books. The streets are lined with booksellers.&lt;/p&gt;
8445. </content>
8446. </entry>
8448. <entry>
8449. <title>An untitled post</title>
8450. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/23/91/"/>
8451. <updated>2003-04-23T08:59:00Z</updated>
8452. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/23/91/</id>
8453. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Thanks to the power of the internet, I just foud out that interpol is playing barcelona tonight&lt;/p&gt;
8454. </content>
8455. </entry>
8457. <entry>
8458. <title>An untitled post</title>
8459. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/22/90/"/>
8460. <updated>2003-04-22T23:02:00Z</updated>
8461. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/22/90/</id>
8462. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;At the show, some kid was using his cameraphone to send pictures in realtime. I&#39;m jealous. Poll time: should I get a cameraphone to blog with?&lt;/p&gt;
8463. </content>
8464. </entry>
8466. <entry>
8467. <title>An untitled post</title>
8468. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/22/89/"/>
8469. <updated>2003-04-22T23:00:00Z</updated>
8470. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/22/89/</id>
8471. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wow. Ladytron&#39;s stage presence has really improved in the past 90 days. That was FUN, but my feet hate me. Oh, and cute Spanish girls are cute.&lt;/p&gt;
8472. </content>
8473. </entry>
8475. <entry>
8476. <title>An untitled post</title>
8477. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/22/88/"/>
8478. <updated>2003-04-22T16:39:00Z</updated>
8479. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/22/88/</id>
8480. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Bah. Stuck amid a teenage british soccer team for the whole flight..now I&#39;ve got a splitting headache. But I&#39;m in Barcelona. Ladytron tonight!&lt;/p&gt;
8481. </content>
8482. </entry>
8484. <entry>
8485. <title>An untitled post</title>
8486. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/22/87/"/>
8487. <updated>2003-04-22T13:16:00Z</updated>
8488. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/22/87/</id>
8489. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;There&#39;s something really wrong with the idea of a &#39;Chicken Tikka Baguette&#39; but it tastes so good. (Hi from London Luton airport)&lt;/p&gt;
8490. </content>
8491. </entry>
8493. <entry>
8494. <title>An untitled post</title>
8495. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/22/86/"/>
8496. <updated>2003-04-22T10:39:00Z</updated>
8497. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/22/86/</id>
8498. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;When they say &#39;Paris is for lovers&#39; what they mean is &#39;Paris is for kids who like to stop and block the sidewalk and suck face.&#39;&lt;/p&gt;
8499. </content>
8500. </entry>
8502. <entry>
8503. <title>An untitled post</title>
8504. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/22/85/"/>
8505. <updated>2003-04-22T10:13:00Z</updated>
8506. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/22/85/</id>
8507. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;*wave* time to fly to london. At least I found a net kiosk at CDG&lt;/p&gt;
8508. </content>
8509. </entry>
8511. <entry>
8512. <title>An untitled post</title>
8513. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/22/84/"/>
8514. <updated>2003-04-22T07:33:00Z</updated>
8515. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/22/84/</id>
8516. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Missed our flight from CDG which means we miss our cxn to Barcelona. EasyJet rebooked us no questions. On the flight that we wanted original+&lt;/p&gt;
8517. </content>
8518. </entry>
8520. <entry>
8521. <title>An untitled post</title>
8522. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/21/83/"/>
8523. <updated>2003-04-21T19:15:00Z</updated>
8524. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/21/83/</id>
8525. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Mmm. Nothing like raw steak and raw egg for dinner. If you never hear from me again, you know why.&lt;/p&gt;
8526. </content>
8527. </entry>
8529. <entry>
8530. <title>An untitled post</title>
8531. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/21/82/"/>
8532. <updated>2003-04-21T17:47:00Z</updated>
8533. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/21/82/</id>
8534. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;m standing at the telescope Amiles sent her photo-collector beau to.&lt;/p&gt;
8535. </content>
8536. </entry>
8538. <entry>
8539. <title>An untitled post</title>
8540. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/21/81/"/>
8541. <updated>2003-04-21T15:02:00Z</updated>
8542. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/21/81/</id>
8543. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;And of course there&#39;s one that disproves my point. I just found a small bronze with the big hand halfway between 12 and 1&lt;/p&gt;
8544. </content>
8545. </entry>
8547. <entry>
8548. <title>An untitled post</title>
8549. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/21/80/"/>
8550. <updated>2003-04-21T14:55:00Z</updated>
8551. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/21/80/</id>
8552. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;The Dali Museum is amazing. Why does every melted clock show the impossible time half-past and exactly 12 at the same time?&lt;/p&gt;
8553. </content>
8554. </entry>
8556. <entry>
8557. <title>An untitled post</title>
8558. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/21/79/"/>
8559. <updated>2003-04-21T13:07:00Z</updated>
8560. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/21/79/</id>
8561. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;it&#39;s amazing how hard it is to find a netcafe when you need one  and how many pop up once you finally find one (10 in the last 10 minutes)&lt;/p&gt;
8562. </content>
8563. </entry>
8565. <entry>
8566. <title>An untitled post</title>
8567. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/21/78/"/>
8568. <updated>2003-04-21T12:41:00Z</updated>
8569. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/21/78/</id>
8570. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;i&#39;s amazing how hard it is to find a netcafe when you need one (none yesterday) and how many pop up once you finally find one (5 in the last+&lt;/p&gt;
8571. </content>
8572. </entry>
8574. <entry>
8575. <title>An untitled post</title>
8576. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/21/77/"/>
8577. <updated>2003-04-21T08:47:00Z</updated>
8578. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/21/77/</id>
8579. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Apparently this seaon&#39;s hot Paris fashion statement is being a candy raver. Lots of BRIGHT colors and silk cargo pants&lt;/p&gt;
8580. </content>
8581. </entry>
8583. <entry>
8584. <title>An untitled post</title>
8585. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/20/76/"/>
8586. <updated>2003-04-20T17:40:00Z</updated>
8587. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/20/76/</id>
8588. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Woo. 10 minutes hacking in a netcafe in paris and I can moblog from the treo via sms.&lt;/p&gt;
8589. </content>
8590. </entry>
8592. <entry>
8593. <title>An untitled post</title>
8594. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/20/75/"/>
8595. <updated>2003-04-20T16:26:00Z</updated>
8596. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/20/75/</id>
8597. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;And now off into the wilds of paris I go secure in the knowledge that I can taunt you all mobilly.&lt;/p&gt;
8598. </content>
8599. </entry>
8601. <entry>
8602. <title>An untitled post</title>
8603. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/20/74/"/>
8604. <updated>2003-04-20T16:18:00Z</updated>
8605. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/20/74/</id>
8606. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;This is a test of jesse&#39;s livejournal moblog client, so he can sms journal updates from europe&lt;/p&gt;
8607. </content>
8608. </entry>
8610. <entry>
8611. <title>gare du nord</title>
8612. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/19/gare-du-nord/"/>
8613. <updated>2003-04-20T01:45:00Z</updated>
8614. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/19/gare-du-nord/</id>
8615. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;m sitting at a cafe in Paris Gare du Nord train station. Iv&#39;e got 20 minutes to kill. Hey! There&#39;s a kiosk that says &quot;WIFI&quot; in big letters. And they&#39;ve got the centrino brand all over them. And laptops. &quot;Can I use a laptop?&quot;&lt;br&gt;
8616. "It doesn't work"<br>
8617. "What if I have my own?"<br>
8618. "Um. come with me"<br>
8619. Whereupon I got signed up for sfr.fr hotspot service. It appears to still be in demo mode....so it's FREE.</p>
8620. <p>I'm sitting at a cafe in a major european trainstation with my powerbook. Logged in. Life is good.</p>
8621. <p>Except for the fact taht I lost my ipod this morning. I'm pretty sure I left it at simon's.<br>
8622. I really _hope_ I left it at Simon's.</p>
8623. <p>And then I left my mobile on the coach from oxford to Heathrow. Luckily I managed to track the bus down. The driver had found it and hung onto it. I then narrowly avoided missing the bus from Heathrow to Luton. And discovered that the "free" wireless internet service on my 02 SIM (British mobile #) was actually being deducted from my account. So I'm now out of credit on that account. Grrr.<br>
8624. The work part of Oxford was productive. The fun part of Oxford was fun. And there were a wide variety of ciders on tap. </p>
8625. <p>Jeffw should be arriving any moment. Then we're off to contend with Paris for Easter weekend.</p>
8626. </content>
8627. </entry>
8629. <entry>
8630. <title>An untitled post</title>
8631. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/16/72/"/>
8632. <updated>2003-04-17T00:43:00Z</updated>
8633. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/16/72/</id>
8634. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Made it to Oxford. Been up for 32+ hours straight.&lt;br&gt;
8635. I've got a UK SIM card on O2. My number here is<br>
8636. +44 77 426 130 63</p>
8637. </content>
8638. </entry>
8640. <entry>
8641. <title>Europe, In excruciating detail</title>
8642. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/15/europe-in-excruciating-detail/"/>
8643. <updated>2003-04-15T08:04:00Z</updated>
8644. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/15/europe-in-excruciating-detail/</id>
8645. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;At least as much as I&#39;ve got right now ;)&lt;/p&gt;
8646. <p>Virgin Atlantic.<br>
8647. Boston (BOS) to London (LHR)  Flight VS012<br>
8648. Depart 20:20 Tue., 15 Apr, 2003  Arrive 07:50 Wed., 16 Apr, 2003  </p>
8649. <p>Easyjet.<br>
8650. Saturday 19 April,  flight 2557  departs London Luton at 16:20,<br>
8651. arrives Paris Charles de Gaulle (Terminal 3) at 18:40</p>
8652. <p>In paris:<br>
8653. hotel des st peres<br>
8654. 65, rue des St Peres </p>
8655. <p>Tel. 01 45 44 50 00<br>
8656. fax 01 45 44 90 83</p>
8657. <p>http://www.reveland.com/notre_selection/rubrique_liste.asp?rubrique=hotel&arrond<br>
8658. nt=6<br>
8659. In spain and france, I'll be with Jeff Wasilko. his<br>
8660. # will be +49 163-5275656  </p>
8661. <p>Easyjet<br>
8662. Your outbound flight:  Tuesday 22 April, flight 2552<br>
8663. departs Paris Charles de Gaulle (Terminal 3) at 08:20,<br>
8664. arrives London Luton  at 08:40</p>
8665. <p>Easyjet.<br>
8666. Your outbound flight: Tuesday 22 April flight 2265<br>
8667. departs London Luton at 10:45, arrives Barcelona at 13:55</p>
8668. <p>Virgin Express Reservation number : </p>
8669. <p>LEG 1 24/04/2003TV 809  STD 15:00 - BCN TO BRU - STA 17:10<br>
8670. MR VINCENT JESSE  MBCNCPH  </p>
8671. <p>LEG 2 24/04/2003TV 288  STD 20:50 - BRU TO CPH - STA 22:25<br>
8672. MR VINCENT JESSE  MBCNCPH  </p>
8673. <p>Easyjet.<br>
8674. Your outbound flight: Monday 12 May, flight  3412<br>
8675. departs Munich at 12:00, arrives London  Stansted at 13:00  </p>
8676. <p>Virgin Atlantic:.<br>
8677. London (LHR) to Boston (BOS)Flight VS011<br>
8678. Depart 14:30 Thu., 15 May, 2003  Arrive 16:40 Thu., 15 May, 2003</p>
8679. </content>
8680. </entry>
8682. <entry>
8683. <title>Packing list</title>
8684. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/12/packing-list/"/>
8685. <updated>2003-04-13T02:31:00Z</updated>
8686. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/12/packing-list/</id>
8687. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;m about to flee the country to spend a month wandering around Western Europe for Work and Vacation.&lt;br&gt;
8688. I know this list is short.</p>
8689. <h1>footwear</h1>
8690. <p>Sandals<br>
8691. Walking shoes<br>
8692. Boots?</p>
8693. <h2>clothes</h2>
8694. <p>2 pair jeans<br>
8695. MAYBE 1 pair slacks.<br>
8696. 1 pair shorts<br>
8697. 8 pair boxers<br>
8698. 8 pair socks<br>
8699. 3 button down shirts<br>
8700. 6 tshirts<br>
8701. 1 sweater<br>
8702. 1 raincoat</p>
8703. <h2>toiletries</h2>
8704. <p>razor+blades<br>
8705. shaving cream<br>
8706. shampoo<br>
8707. hair stuff<br>
8708. toothpaste<br>
8709. toothpaste<br>
8710. moleskin<br>
8711. advil<br>
8712. sudafed<br>
8713. nyquil<br>
8714. bandaids<br>
8715. claritin</p>
8716. <h2>laptop</h2>
8717. <p>laptop<br>
8718. keyboard (yes, that's an actual requirement)<br>
8719. 2nd battery<br>
8720. CF adaptor<br>
8721. AC adaptor<br>
8722. euro-plug for AC adaptor<br>
8723. backup media<br>
8724. treo sync cable<br>
8725. treo charger<br>
8726. firewire cable<br>
8727. earbuds<br>
8728. ipod<br>
8729. video out cable<br>
8730. extra 802.11 card</p>
8731. <h2>Camera</h2>
8732. <p>camera<br>
8733. 28-135 lens<br>
8734. lens paper<br>
8735. small charger<br>
8736. 2 batteries<br>
8737. pdf manual<br>
8738. flash? prolly not</p>
8739. <h2>misc</h2>
8740. <p>Paper notebook<br>
8741. pens 2-3</p>
8742. <p>Guidebook or two</p>
8743. <p>two novels</p>
8744. <h2>travel docs</h2>
8745. <p>paper itinerary<br>
8746. passport<br>
8747. travellers checks<br>
8748. credit cards<br>
8749. copies of the above</p>
8750. <h2>Towel</h2>
8751. <p>Towel</p>
8752. </content>
8753. </entry>
8755. <entry>
8756. <title>I am *so* letting them have it in my Livejournal when I get home</title>
8757. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/10/i-am-so-letting-them-have-it-in-my-livejournal-when-i-get-home/"/>
8758. <updated>2003-04-11T06:15:00Z</updated>
8759. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/10/i-am-so-letting-them-have-it-in-my-livejournal-when-i-get-home/</id>
8760. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I went to the Fischerspooner show tonight. I guess that I had mis-set expectations. They&#39;re not exactly the first synthesizer and tape loop based band I&#39;ve ever seen live. I expected that the powerbook would be on the stage. Or maybe hidden away. I &lt;b&gt;knew&lt;/b&gt; that most tracks would have a heavy pre-recorded component. I knew that the music was supposed to be a vehicle for their floor show. I did, however expect that we&#39;d get live vocals and/or live synthesizer. Boy was I wrong. It was a dance show with snarky commentary.&lt;/p&gt;
8761. <p>I'm pondering cutting a disc with the album tracks on one stereo channel and the live show on the other. I'm not quite sure why. But at least I've got a number of samples of snarky commentary from the between-song banter to chop up and play with.</p>
8762. </content>
8763. </entry>
8765. <entry>
8766. <title>An untitled post</title>
8767. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/09/68/"/>
8768. <updated>2003-04-10T03:25:00Z</updated>
8769. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/09/68/</id>
8770. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Itinerary&lt;/p&gt;
8771. <p>15 April - Boston -> London Virgin flight #12 BOS 20:20 07:50 LHR Economy (Q)</p>
8772. <p>Weds 16 April - London -> Oxford</p>
8773. <p>Saturday 19 April, Oxford -> Lundon Luton /<br>
8774. flight 2257 departs London Luton at 16:20,<br>
8775. arrives Paris Charles de Gaulle (Terminal 3) at 18:40</p>
8776. <p>Monday, 21 April - Train #477 Paris Austerlitz -To- Barcelona Sants at 20:32-08:24 </p>
8777. <p>Tuesday 22 April - Ladytron Show in Barcelona if I can get tickets</p>
8778. <p>Thursday, 24 April - Virgin Express flight #### Barcelona to Brussels to Copenhagen</p>
8779. <p>Friday 25 April - Speak at perlworkshop.dk</p>
8780. <p>Monday 28 April - Speak at PROSA.dk about use of Open Source software in business/government/etc</p>
8781. <p>Tuesday 29 April - Beer with Stockholm.pm in stockholm, Sweden?</p>
8782. <p>Weds 30 April through 2 May  - Hang out in Uppsala, Sweden</p>
8783. <p>Saturday 3 May, 2003 - Uppsala -> Berlin (Transit TBD)</p>
8784. <p>Tuesday 6 May 2003 - Berlin -> Nuremberg (Transit TBD)</p>
8785. <p>Friday, 9 May - Nuremberg -> Munich (Transit TBD)</p>
8786. <p>Saturday, 10 May - Presentation to Munich.pm</p>
8787. <p>Monday 12 May, flight 3412 departs Munich  at 12:00, arrives London Stansted  at 13:00<br>
8788. London -> Cambridge</p>
8789. <p>Thursday, 15 May Cambridge -> London; Virgin flight 11 LHR 14:30 16:40 BOS Economy (Q)</p>
8790. </content>
8791. </entry>
8793. <entry>
8794. <title>So. Much. New. Music.</title>
8795. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/03/so-much-new-music/"/>
8796. <updated>2003-04-04T06:56:00Z</updated>
8797. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/03/so-much-new-music/</id>
8798. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;In the past 96 hours, I seem to have just kept obtaining new music.&lt;/p&gt;
8799. <p>Solvent "Solvent City"<br>
8800. Empire State Human "Pop Robot"<br>
8801. t.A.T.u. "200 km/h in the wrong lane"<br>
8802. Freezepop http://www.souvenirrecords.com/mp%2006%20freezepop.mp3<br>
8803. Some random Magnetic Fields mp3s<br>
8804. Vienna Teng "Waking Hour"<br>
8805. Liz Phair "Liz Phair"</p>
8806. <p>"Ya Soshla C Uma" (Roughly, I've gone crazy) by tatu is today's constant-repeat track. I've had mp3s of it for a while that I picked up from a Russian FTP site 3 months ago, but I didn't actually remember the band's name or realize the band was "Those two Russian teenaged girls who are making a big deal out of being lovers on stage")  The american release of the album seems to include a number of tracks that have been rerecorded in English. So now I need to go out and buy the Russian import as well.</p>
8807. <p>Ya Soshla C Uma and Liz Phair's 'White Hot Cum' seem to be the tracks that have captured my attention the most. So. Damn. Catchy.</p>
8808. </content>
8809. </entry>
8811. <entry>
8812. <title>Europe</title>
8813. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/03/europe/"/>
8814. <updated>2003-04-03T08:04:00Z</updated>
8815. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/03/europe/</id>
8816. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So. I&#39;ve got this europe trip coming up. I&#39;d just decided to bail on going to Barcelona and go to Portugal instead. I just found out that Ladytron are playing in Barcelona when I&#39;d be there. I wonder if I should just ditch portugal and go to spain.&lt;/p&gt;
8817. </content>
8818. </entry>
8820. <entry>
8821. <title>An untitled post</title>
8822. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/02/65/"/>
8823. <updated>2003-04-02T23:07:00Z</updated>
8824. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/02/65/</id>
8825. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;The new Liz Phair album is... different. It&#39;s very much more mainstream. I don&#39;t dislike it (and I am only 2/3 through a first listen) but it&#39;s going to take some getting used to.&lt;br&gt;
8826. The first third of the album sounds an awful lot like Avril Lavigne.</p>
8827. </content>
8828. </entry>
8830. <entry>
8831. <title>Goodnight Weasel</title>
8832. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/01/goodnight-weasel/"/>
8833. <updated>2003-04-01T23:56:00Z</updated>
8834. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/04/01/goodnight-weasel/</id>
8835. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;
8836. <img src="https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2003/04/jehovah.jpg"><br>
8837. Jehovah - 1997-2003</p>
8838. </content>
8839. </entry>
8841. <entry>
8842. <title>Bored friday night discovery.</title>
8843. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/28/bored-friday-night-discovery/"/>
8844. <updated>2003-03-29T06:27:00Z</updated>
8845. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/28/bored-friday-night-discovery/</id>
8846. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://lizenthusiasm.livejournal.com/&quot; class=&quot;lj-user&quot;&gt;lizenthusiasm&lt;/a&gt; shares my birthday. &lt;/p&gt;
8847. <p>Hm. I wonder if I'd run into anybody I know at the Middle East tonight. Some band called "Atom and his Package" is headlining. The mp3s sound amusing.</p>
8848. </content>
8849. </entry>
8851. <entry>
8852. <title>Dim Sum.</title>
8853. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/28/dim-sum-2/"/>
8854. <updated>2003-03-29T05:39:00Z</updated>
8855. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/28/dim-sum-2/</id>
8856. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Dim Sum. Sunday. Noon. China Pearl. Be there. (but reply to this post so I know to expect you.)&lt;/p&gt;
8857. </content>
8858. </entry>
8860. <entry>
8861. <title>Sucker</title>
8862. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/28/sucker/"/>
8863. <updated>2003-03-28T10:44:00Z</updated>
8864. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/28/sucker/</id>
8865. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;The file sharing networks have failed me. I got &lt;a href=&quot;http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&amp;amp;item=2519350657&amp;amp;category=1572&quot;&gt;what I wanted&lt;/a&gt; on ebay. No waiting for June for me.&lt;/p&gt;
8866. </content>
8867. </entry>
8869. <entry>
8870. <title>Liz Phair</title>
8871. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/27/liz-phair/"/>
8872. <updated>2003-03-28T07:56:00Z</updated>
8873. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/27/liz-phair/</id>
8874. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;It appears that Liz Phair now &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/03-03/20.shtml&quot;&gt;owns the masters for Exile in Guyville&lt;/a&gt;...and intends to re-release it with more material. Oh. and the new album, titled &quot;Liz Phair&quot; will be out in June. But &lt;a href=&quot;http://suprnova.lunamorena.net/&quot;&gt;some folks&lt;/a&gt; appear to have their hands on review copies as of Wednesday. I suppose that until I can scrounge a copy, I&#39;ll be content with &lt;a href=&quot;http://suprnova.lunamorena.net/takealook.mp3&quot;&gt;Take a Look&lt;/a&gt; (track 6)&lt;/p&gt;
8875. </content>
8876. </entry>
8878. <entry>
8879. <title>An untitled post</title>
8880. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/27/59/"/>
8881. <updated>2003-03-27T10:31:00Z</updated>
8882. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/27/59/</id>
8883. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;m not quite sure why it surprised me, but William Gibson &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/blog/blog.asp&quot;&gt;has a blog&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
8884. </content>
8885. </entry>
8887. <entry>
8888. <title>Sometimes I play childish games.</title>
8889. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/27/sometimes-i-play-childish-games/"/>
8890. <updated>2003-03-27T10:07:00Z</updated>
8891. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/27/sometimes-i-play-childish-games/</id>
8892. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.livejournal.com/~stellanor&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; is only likely to be amusing if you&#39;ve read &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/books/pattern.asp&quot;&gt;Gibson&#39;s latest&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
8893. </content>
8894. </entry>
8896. <entry>
8897. <title>Why don&#39;t I feel elated?</title>
8898. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/25/why-dont-i-feel-elated/"/>
8899. <updated>2003-03-25T10:36:00Z</updated>
8900. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/25/why-dont-i-feel-elated/</id>
8901. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I just released RT 3.0, after over a year of work. This has been my primary driving goal for over 12 months. And I can&#39;t muster anything more than &quot;enh.&quot; I got a lot more satisfaction out of a one hour hack on Friday night. I don&#39;t feel like celebrating. I don&#39;t hate the product so much that I want to walk away. It&#39;s just a total and complete emotional void. I need a vacation. I wonder if the trip to Europe will actually &lt;i&gt;be a vacation&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
8902. <p>The Mary Prankster show was fun at least. And I got to <a href="http://ivy.fsck.com/index.html?goto=http://pix.fsck.com/2003/March/Mary_Prankster/">play with my new toy</a>. (All shots taken with ISO1600 bits, handholding my new EOS 10D.) My god is the autofocus fast in low light. It's <b>so much better</b> than the D30 ever was.</p>
8903. </content>
8904. </entry>
8906. <entry>
8907. <title>RT 3.0.0 Released</title>
8908. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/24/rt-3-0-0-released/"/>
8909. <updated>2003-03-24T21:15:00Z</updated>
8910. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/24/rt-3-0-0-released/</id>
8911. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;It gives me great pleasure to announce the immediate availability of&lt;br&gt;
8912. RT 3.0.0.  This release represents over a year of work extending and<br>
8913. enhancing RT 2.0 by Best Practical staff and volunteers. </p>
8914. <p><!--more More details about the release than you really care about--></p>
8915. <p>You can download this release at:<br>
8916. <br>
8917. <a href="http://bestpractical.com/pub/rt/release/rt-3-0-0.tar.gz">http://bestpractical.com/pub/rt/release/rt-3-0-0.tar.gz</a></p>
8918. <p>This is a significant new release with major new features, including:</p>
8919. <ul>
8920. <li> The new web interface is prettier, easier to use and also<br>
8921.  more standards compliant.<p></p>
8922. </li>
8923. <li> RT now includes a flexible "approvals" system that lets you<br>
8924.  define site-specific policies to require approval before certain<br>
8925.  classes of ticket can be resolved.<p></p>
8926. </li>
8927. <li> The mail gateway has been rebuilt to use an RPC mechanism to<br>
8928.          talk to your RT server, rather than needing to run setgid on<br>
8929.  your RT server.
8930. </li>
8931. <li> Groups and access control have been completely reworked.
8932. </li>
8933. <li> Group membership is now recursive, so you can create groups<br>
8934.  which contain other groups.<p></p>
8935. </li>
8936. <li> The installation process has been overhauled. Autoconf<br>
8937.  (./configure) make installation easier than ever before.<p></p>
8938. </li>
8939. <li> Users can now delegate their rights to other users.
8940. </li>
8941. <li> Full "custom field" support has replaced RT 2.0's "keywords".
8942. </li>
8943. <li>  Custom fields can now contain arbitrary text, as well as<br>
8944.  "Select from list".<p></p>
8945. </li>
8946. <li> RT now stores all data as Unicode internally, so it's much<br>
8947.  easier to work with multiple languages.<p></p>
8948. </li>
8949. <li> RT's core and web interface has been fully internationalized.<br>
8950.  RT now speaks: English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese,<br>
8951.  Dutch, Finnish, Czech, Russian, Japanese, Traditional Chinese,<br>
8952.  and Simplified Chinese.<p></p>
8953. </li>
8954. <li> RT even easier to extend than ever before: The API is much<br>
8955.  better documented, the web interface includes a new "Callbacks"<br>
8956.  mechanism to let you embed your own components without touching<br>
8957.  a line of RT's source code. The core libraries include a new<br>
8958.  "Overlay" system to let you override RT's core functionality<br>
8959.  at the subroutine level.<p></p>
8960. </li>
8961. <li> The 'scrips' system is even more powerful. Now administrators<br>
8962.  can create custom scrips right from RT's web interface.<p></p>
8963. </li>
8964. <li> RT 3.0 is much better tested than any previous release of RT.<br>
8965.  Each release must pass a suite of over 750 tests before being<br>
8966.  released to the public.<p></p>
8967. </li>
8968. <li> There's a full manual (currently available in draft form at<br>
8969.  <a href="http://bestpractical.com/rt/docs.html">http://bestpractical.com/rt/docs.html</a>)<p></p>
8970. </li>
8971. <li> And, of course, there's lots more.
8972. </li>
8973. </ul>
8974. <p>
8975. A beta-quality tool to import data from an RT 2.0 instance into<br>
8976. fresh RT instance is available at:<br>
8977. <br>
8978. <a href="http://bestpractical.com/pub/rt/devel/rt2-to-rt3-v1.6.tar.gz">http://bestpractical.com/pub/rt/devel/rt2-to-rt3-v1.6.tar.gz</a></p>
8979. <p>More comprehensive versions of this import tool will become available in<br>
8980. the coming weeks.</p>
8981. <p>And I thought I'd get a break now. But no. at least two more releases in the next three weeks. AIEEEEEE.</p><p></p><p></p>
8982. </content>
8983. </entry>
8985. <entry>
8986. <title>Hacktivism</title>
8987. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/23/hacktivism/"/>
8988. <updated>2003-03-23T09:02:00Z</updated>
8989. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/23/hacktivism/</id>
8990. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wow. Hacktivism is really draining. But it feels really good to have built something that&#39;s actually making a social difference again.&lt;/p&gt;
8991. </content>
8992. </entry>
8994. <entry>
8995. <title>An untitled post</title>
8996. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/22/53/"/>
8997. <updated>2003-03-23T07:56:00Z</updated>
8998. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/22/53/</id>
8999. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;tt&gt;&lt;br&gt;
9000. 18:13:25  sf: 15 bikers arrested on turk @ market.-hk<br>
9001. 18:15:07  sf: 500+ police in streets from 6th to civic ctr on market. bikers arrested were pushed off there bikes.<br>
9002. 18:47:37  sf: 100s have taken streets on market at 5th. heading toward powell-hk<br>
9003. 19:01:08  sf: arrests being made at powell and mrkt. reports that powell bart is closed.<br>
9004. 19:11:04  sf: 200+ marching up market from 3rd-hk<br>
9005. 19:18:53  sf: sfpd reports people using bart tunnels to dissappear and popup elsewhere<br>
9006. 19:24:06  sf: 1000s of people on market at 5th in the streets heading west-hk<br>
9007. 19:27:52  sf: 100s arrested at 5th and market. disperse order given on sidewalks. people being beaten and running in panic<br>
9008. 20:06:12  sf: police saying its ok to encircle and arrest anyone in the streets now without a warning<br>
9009. 20:06:16  sf: SFPD says any protestors in the street, encircle &arrest withoutwarning them ANYWHERE IN SF.<br>
9010. 20:10:57  sf: sfpd radio Man wearing a grey hooded Gap sweatshirt may be armednear 900 block of Market St.  Said to want to kill protestors<br>
9011. .  May be<br>
9012. 20:11:11  sf: black man 25 year old grey hooded gap sweatshirt on 900 block of market. says he wants to kill protestors. may be armed<br>
9013. 20:18:44  sf: 300+ people congregating in dolores park for 8 pm reconvergence-hk<br>
9014. 20:21:17  sf: SFPD now sending units to Dolores Park<br>
9015. 20:29:08  sf: several thousand marching up market to dolores park, confirmedpolice deployment to delores park -- 300 in park at moment<br>
9016. 20:32:09  sf: About 50 protestors are South Bound on Dolores from 16th Street<br>
9017. 20:32:38  sf: SFPD report possible protest at 16th and Delores<br>
9018. 20:35:45  sf: SFPD report Group of 300 protestors now at 5th & Market<br>
9019. 20:38:14  sf: reminder: if u want off this crazy ride, just send "quiet" without the quotes. <3<br>
9020. 20:50:02  sf:  SFPD: 75 protestors in front of Old Navy on Market street<br>
9021. </tt></p>
9022. </content>
9023. </entry>
9025. <entry>
9026. <title>An untitled post</title>
9027. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/22/52/"/>
9028. <updated>2003-03-23T04:58:00Z</updated>
9029. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/22/52/</id>
9030. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;tt&gt;&lt;br&gt;
9031. 17:21 - sf: mass arrests imminent at jones and market-hk<br>
9032. 17:30 - sf: chaos up taylor, 50 cycle cops on the way to break it up-hk<br>
9033. 17:30 - sf: 200+ coming down to support arrestees on jones + market-hk<br>
9034. 17:34 - sf: jones and market is now ground zero for imminent mass arrest. if you are inside get out NOW!!<br>
9035. 17:41 - sf: order 2 disperse at jones and market. 100+ people in streets-hk<br>
9036. 17:42 - sf: 150+ forced out of street at jones. one arrest.-hk<br>
9037. 17:50 - sf: police have streets from 7th to 6th on market. no traffic foot or car.<br>
9038. 17:50 - sf: people retaking streets at jones on market. police threatening arrests.<br>
9039. 17:52 - sf: 150+ cops at 7th and market in formation. cops running up market from 6th.<br>
9040. 17:52 - sf: 200+ cops running west on market-hk<br>
9041. </tt></p>
9042. </content>
9043. </entry>
9045. <entry>
9046. <title>Not your typical SMSes</title>
9047. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/22/not-your-typical-smses/"/>
9048. <updated>2003-03-23T04:11:00Z</updated>
9049. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/22/not-your-typical-smses/</id>
9050. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;The first 3 hours of messages being broadcast through the new tool are. um. wow.&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
9051. <pre>
9052. 14:24 - sf: thousands marching down market street to Justin Herman from Civic Ctr.
9053. 14:27 - sf: send news to 415XXXXXX to send over wire re police or protest
9054. 15:15 - sf: police making arrests at market and 8th
9055. 16:41 - sf: 100s of cops on market between 7th and 8th
9056. 16:42 - sf: reconvergence 5pm at powell and market
9057. 16:45 - sf: 500 in breakaway march on 7th heading south past mission. need=20
9058. 16:55 - sf: breakaway march at 10th and market headed to rainbow grocery
9059. 16:56 - sf: police arresting bb protestors at 7th and howard for crossing on a=20
9060. 17:06 - sf: arrests at 7th and market
9061. 17:13 - sf: 300+ blocking market at jones-hk
9062. 17:15 - sf: 100+ police waiting at 7th and market.-h
9063. </pre>
9064. </content>
9065. </entry>
9067. <entry>
9068. <title>Unexpected applications of technology.</title>
9069. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/22/unexpected-applications-of-technology/"/>
9070. <updated>2003-03-22T23:28:00Z</updated>
9071. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/22/unexpected-applications-of-technology/</id>
9072. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So. Last night, a friend in SF mailed me asking if I could put together a tool&lt;br&gt;
9073. to help protestors keep in contact with each other via SMS. It took about an<br>
9074. hour to beat the BoredNow code into submission and make it do the right thing.<br>
9075. Still not sure how I feel about this application of technology, but everybody<br>
9076. should have reliable communications.</p>
9077. </content>
9078. </entry>
9080. <entry>
9081. <title>Obligatory Live Journal Semi-meaningful song lyrics post</title>
9082. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/20/obligatory-live-journal-semi-meaningful-song-lyrics-post/"/>
9083. <updated>2003-03-20T22:48:00Z</updated>
9084. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/20/obligatory-live-journal-semi-meaningful-song-lyrics-post/</id>
9085. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;(Unless you do this once every couple months, they take your account away, right?&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;
9086. <font size="-1"><br>
9087. I finally learned that the market's righteous holler<br>
9088. Comes from a pale face on a paper dollar<br>
9089. And I betcha got few bucks in your hemp wallet<br>
9090. So throw a tiny wrench in the fiber optic wires<br>
9091. Morals are cheap and you can be the buyers<br>
9092. We can let 'em poison and perish foreign lands<br>
9093. Or we can play the greed right into our hands</font></p>
9094. <p>Oh, woah - oh, woah<br>
9095. Everybody says it can't happen here<br>
9096. Everybody says it can't happen here<br>
9097. Things'll turn around just as sure as they said it<br>
9098. Hell, things change and they all take credit</p>
9099. <p>So ask why there's only forty songs on a station<br>
9100. And ask your cafe about their coffee's plantation<br>
9101. And why is it Arizona hasn't gone solar?<br>
9102. And tell your print shop that hemp grows faster<br>
9103. And it doesn't mean a back room clear cut disaster<br>
9104. The market doesn't care but it wants to understand<br>
9105. And you can play the greed right into your hands</p>
9106. <p>Oh, woah - oh, woah<br>
9107. Smiling man says it can't happen here<br>
9108. Channel 4 says it can't happen here<br>
9109. Things'll turn around just as sure as they said it<br>
9110. Hell, the change comes and they all take credit</p>
9111. <p>So roll up your pennies and do your battle<br>
9112. The chairman will start quoting Chief Seattle and<br>
9113. Put little tree frogs on their letterhead<br>
9114. 'Cause the market resists and the market absorbs<br>
9115. With a five-pointed leaf on the cover of Forbes<br>
9116. The very same people turned valleys to dams<br>
9117. These are the ones that drain prairies to sand<br>
9118. And they'd just as soon you didn't know this land is your land<br>
9119. But we can play the world back into our hands</p>
9120. <p>Oh, woah - oh, woah<br>
9121. Malcom's gonna say it can't happen here<br>
9122. Rupert's gonna say it can't happen here<br>
9123. Things'll turn around just as sure as they said it<br>
9124. Hell, things change and they'll always take the credit</p>
9125. <p>Oh, woah - oh, woah<br>
9126. Oh, woah - oh, woah<br>
9127. Oh, woah - oh, woah</p>
9128. <p>Hell the change comes<br>
9129. Let's let 'em take the credit<br>
9130. </p>
9131. </content>
9132. </entry>
9134. <entry>
9135. <title>CAMERA CAMERA CAMERA</title>
9136. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/19/camera-camera-camera/"/>
9137. <updated>2003-03-19T18:58:00Z</updated>
9138. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/19/camera-camera-camera/</id>
9139. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.neptunephoto.com/&quot;&gt;Neptune Photo&lt;/a&gt; had the 10D in stock. UPS willing, it will be &lt;b&gt;in my hot little hands&lt;/b&gt; on Friday. *bounce*&lt;/p&gt;
9140. </content>
9141. </entry>
9143. <entry>
9144. <title>EOS 10D</title>
9145. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/18/eos-10d/"/>
9146. <updated>2003-03-18T20:37:00Z</updated>
9147. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/18/eos-10d/</id>
9148. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;At this point, the EOS 10D seems to be basically unobtainable. Any time someone gets a shipment in, some helpful person posts this fact on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dpreview.com&quot;&gt;DPRreview&#39;s message boards&lt;/a&gt; and they&#39;re gone within minutes, with a 20-50 person waiting list. And it&#39;s Purim, so most of the big photo shops are closed. No new camera for me today.&lt;/p&gt;
9149. </content>
9150. </entry>
9152. <entry>
9153. <title>Goodbye Kerberos 4</title>
9154. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/17/goodbye-kerberos-4/"/>
9155. <updated>2003-03-17T08:12:00Z</updated>
9156. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/17/goodbye-kerberos-4/</id>
9157. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://lists.netsys.com/pipermail/full-disclosure/2003-March/004525.html&quot;&gt;Kerberos 4&#39;s fatal flaw&lt;/a&gt; means that fsck.com users can no-longer use MIT Zephyr. Sorry.&lt;/p&gt;
9158. </content>
9159. </entry>
9161. <entry>
9162. <title>An untitled post</title>
9163. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/15/45/"/>
9164. <updated>2003-03-16T02:40:00Z</updated>
9165. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/15/45/</id>
9166. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;*whee* Dave, Shaula and I have tickets to Fischerspooner.&lt;/p&gt;
9167. </content>
9168. </entry>
9170. <entry>
9171. <title>An untitled post</title>
9172. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/13/44/"/>
9173. <updated>2003-03-13T09:35:00Z</updated>
9174. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/13/44/</id>
9175. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Today&#39;s new BoredNow feature is fairly minor. When someone friends you (or disses you by yanking you off their friends list, like the poor sod you are) you&#39;ll get a note from BoredNow.&lt;/p&gt;
9176. </content>
9177. </entry>
9179. <entry>
9180. <title>Cameras</title>
9181. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/12/cameras/"/>
9182. <updated>2003-03-13T05:47:00Z</updated>
9183. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/12/cameras/</id>
9184. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I think I want an EOS10D to replace my EOS D30. *lust*&lt;br&gt;
9185. But will it come out before I go to europe on april 15?</p>
9186. </content>
9187. </entry>
9189. <entry>
9190. <title>BoredNow update</title>
9191. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/12/borednow-update/"/>
9192. <updated>2003-03-12T10:32:00Z</updated>
9193. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/12/borednow-update/</id>
9194. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Two newly functioning commands (or four, depending on how you count)&lt;/p&gt;
9195. <dl>
9196. <dt>friends</dt>
9197. <dd>Will list your friends</dd>
9198. <dt>friends <b>username</b></dt>
9199. <dd>Will list <b>username</b>'s friends</dd>
9200. <dt>friendof</dt>
9201. <dd>Will list people who have listed you as <i>their</i> friend.</dd>
9202. <dt>friendof <b>username</b></dt>
9203. <dd>Will list people who have listed <b>username</b> as their friend</dd>
9204. </dl>
9205. <p>So. I spent all day trying to crank through work and getting distracted by new web-toys. But I got the basics of clickable traceroute and whois into RT for Incident Response and I rolled the first beta of RTFM, the RT FAQ Manager. And, of course, another patch release of RT. And then it was 1am. I spent some time hacking on BoredNow (see above). Now it's 2:36 and I'm feeling sleepy. maybe I'll fall asleep by 3:15 and wake up at 11. and then I'll be one more hour dayshifted. I wonder when I'll next see 8am.</p>
9206. </content>
9207. </entry>
9209. <entry>
9210. <title>Friendster</title>
9211. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/11/friendster/"/>
9212. <updated>2003-03-11T10:42:00Z</updated>
9213. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/11/friendster/</id>
9214. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Ok. so this friendster thing is actually a fairly clever thing. Any of y&#39;all who are playing with it and don&#39;t yet have me added should feel free to add jesse@fsck.com&lt;/p&gt;
9215. </content>
9216. </entry>
9218. <entry>
9219. <title>An untitled post</title>
9220. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/11/40/"/>
9221. <updated>2003-03-11T10:26:00Z</updated>
9222. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/11/40/</id>
9223. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Ok, ok. I went out. I just wish I wasn&#39;t to shy to dance at a club when I don&#39;t know most of the people on the dance floor. Well, it&#39;s something to work on, I suppose.&lt;/p&gt;
9224. </content>
9225. </entry>
9227. <entry>
9228. <title>Living By Committee</title>
9229. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/10/living-by-committee/"/>
9230. <updated>2003-03-11T04:37:00Z</updated>
9231. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/10/living-by-committee/</id>
9232. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Bah. And now Shaula&#39;s not going. Hm. Do I still want to go out?&lt;/p&gt;
9233. </content>
9234. </entry>
9236. <entry>
9237. <title>An untitled post</title>
9238. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/10/38/"/>
9239. <updated>2003-03-11T01:09:00Z</updated>
9240. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/10/38/</id>
9241. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I really should stay home and work, but I think that Shaula just talked me into going to Ceremony tonight&lt;/p&gt;
9242. </content>
9243. </entry>
9245. <entry>
9246. <title>Mundane update about my life.</title>
9247. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/10/mundane-update-about-my-life/"/>
9248. <updated>2003-03-10T12:01:00Z</updated>
9249. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/10/mundane-update-about-my-life/</id>
9250. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Wow. 4am. Again. I see 4am a hell of a lot more often than I see 8am. I had a fun weekend. Went out to dinner with Dave and Shaula at Tsunami on Friday. Shaula headed home and Dave and I headed for the Middle East to see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sovietmusic.net&quot;&gt;Soviet&lt;/a&gt; play. We got there....early. I got to see an opening act. We could have spent more time at dinner. Soviet was good. Saw a few people I knew at the show. Met some neat new people. Went home and fell asleep&lt;/p&gt;
9251. <p>Saturday, I got up, sat around for a while trying to wake up and finally headed out to the Diesel, where I hung out for. uh. *blush* about 10 hours. I actually got lots of work done and lots of cool people drifted in and out all afternoon and evening. Then I came home and (can you guess) got more work done. And I searched for airfares to London. And still failed to find anything cheap that doesn't route me through detroit. </p>
9252. <p>At about 3am, I got a desperate craving for a nice rare pepper-crusted tuna steak. I live in Boston. There is nowhere in boston to get a nice rare pepper-crusted tuna steak at 3am.</p>
9253. <p>Today, I met monty at Carberry's for lunch and hacked on BoredNow a bit.  I gave up on finding a cheaper server for my new colo box and plunked down the $377 to get a 2.4Ghz Dell *mumble*Server 600SC with a pair of 40 gig disks and all the standard servery bitys. Sometime around five Leon popped up and wanted to have dinner. It didn't actually take much to talk him into having dinner at the East Coast Grill, where I got my pepper-crusted tuna steak.</p>
9254. <p>After dinner, I cranked out a patch release to <a href="http://www.bestpractical.com/rt/">rt</a>. I finally stopped procrastinating and sent out a bio and talk abstract for the <a href="http://perlworkshop.dk">Scandinavian Perl Workshop</a>.</p>
9255. <p>Now that I read this over, I think it may be time for another attempt at "work doesn't happen on the weekend." But after this set of deadlines. You believe me, right? I'm serious. I mean it. Why are you giggling at me?</p>
9256. </content>
9257. </entry>
9259. <entry>
9260. <title>BoredNow. (Well, except for that whole lack of time to be bored)</title>
9261. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/10/borednow-well-except-for-that-whole-lack-of-time-to-be-bored/"/>
9262. <updated>2003-03-10T11:09:00Z</updated>
9263. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/10/borednow-well-except-for-that-whole-lack-of-time-to-be-bored/</id>
9264. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So. It works. at least a little bit. I suppose I should explain what &quot;BoredNow&quot; is since I&#39;ve been dropping hints for weeks.&lt;/p&gt;
9265. <p>These days, everybody has a cell phone. All of them can exchange text messages and email. BoredNow is a system to let you and your friends plan to get together without resorting to a dozen phone calls. You've never used BoredNow before, so you txt to borednow@sms.wescam.org. The text message should read <b>signup <i>nickname</i></b>.<br>
9266. Assuming nobody got to that name before you did, BoredNow will text you back telling you that you've got an account and are logged in. Hold onto this text message. You can create events and add to your friends list just by replying to it.</p>
9267. <p>Now you've got a BoredNow account. It comes with a nice empty friends list.  Each of your friends has a BoredNow account. It also comes with a nice empty friends list. Send a message to BoredNow that reads <b>add <i>friend's nickname</i></b>. (If you ever need to remove a friend, just send <b>drop <i>ex-friend's nickname</i></b>.  </p>
9268. <p>So anyway, the whole point is to be able to plan events with your friends. Send a message to BoredNow that reads <b>event tuesday 7pm Let's go out for sushi at Ginza</b>. Everybody who's on your friends list <i>who also has you on their friends list</i> will get an invitation to dinner from you. If they want to come, they just reply <b>YES</b> and BoredNow will send you a text message with their RSVP.    </p>
9269. <p>Sending <b>help</b> to BoredNow will give you a summary of commands, including some that I didn't explain here.</p>
9270. <p><font size="+1">BoredNow is not the final name for this thing. And it won't live at sms.wescam.org once it gets named. And it's just barely usable at this point. And it might eat your messages. And it might eat your children.</font> But I'm at least going to try to keep it running from here on in.</p>
9271. </content>
9272. </entry>
9274. <entry>
9275. <title>An untitled post</title>
9276. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/06/35/"/>
9277. <updated>2003-03-07T05:48:00Z</updated>
9278. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/06/35/</id>
9279. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Cheap air travel around europe:&lt;/p&gt;
9280. <p>opodo.com - the orbitz of europe</p>
9281. <p>Discount airfares:</p>
9282. <p>ryanair.com<br>
9283. www.buzzaway.com<br>
9284. easyjet.co.uk<br>
9285. skyeurope.com<br>
9286. basiqair.com</p>
9287. <p>Many of the airports these folks fly to middle of nowhere airports:<br>
9288. http://toandfromtheairport.tripod.com</p>
9289. <p>Now I just need to figure out where I want to go.</p>
9290. </content>
9291. </entry>
9293. <entry>
9294. <title>Bah</title>
9295. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/03/bah/"/>
9296. <updated>2003-03-03T11:15:00Z</updated>
9297. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/03/03/bah/</id>
9298. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Four more hours of hacking tonight and the code does...exactly what it did when I started. But it&#39;s much better designed and it&#39;s going to be easier to add functionality. And it turned up more hairy design problems. But now it&#39;s 3:15 am. I shoud probably get to bed.&lt;/p&gt;
9299. <p>Today I finally got around to writing my orbitz-agent. It'll mail me every morning to tell me what the current cheapest BOSLON flights for 4/15-5/15 will cost me.  And I rolled a new release of RT with some important bug fixes.</p>
9300. <p>Maybe tomorrow, I'll make BoredNow process replies properly.</p>
9301. </content>
9302. </entry>
9304. <entry>
9305. <title>An untitled post</title>
9306. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/02/28/33/"/>
9307. <updated>2003-02-28T10:16:00Z</updated>
9308. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/02/28/33/</id>
9309. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Today, I actually basically worked on work stuff for 13 or 14 hours. This is Really Good. and a lot of stuff got done. But a lot more would have gotten done if I&#39;d gotten sleep last night, rather than using a pot of tea, a 20oz of coke and two cans of red bull to keep me awake.  So. It&#39;s 2:15. If I go to bed now, I might be asleep by 3. and might not wake up until 11. that&#39;s 8 hours. I&#39;m going to feel really lucky if I pull that off.&lt;/p&gt;
9310. <p>No BoredNow today. (or tomorrow, since I'm off to CT.) Maybe I'll get some time on Sunday.</p>
9311. </content>
9312. </entry>
9314. <entry>
9315. <title>An untitled post</title>
9316. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/02/27/32/"/>
9317. <updated>2003-02-27T11:44:00Z</updated>
9318. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/02/27/32/</id>
9319. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;BoredNow progresses apace. Tonight, core functionality works. Ok. it&#39;s not tonight anymore. And I&#39;ve come into some thorny problems. How do you handle the fact that users might be in all sorts of different timezones and you want to present things to them in their native timezone? It&#39;d be easy _if_ you could tell when DST start or ended based on the Date headers of email they send. but you can&#39;t. But after a couple more nights, I might have enough done to make it worth sharing with a small fraction of the world. I need to write more text and clean up the basic code a little bit. And I suppose I should add one or two more &quot;Convenience&quot; features. and the all-important reminders cronjob.  but that should get me to soft launch.&lt;/p&gt;
9320. </content>
9321. </entry>
9323. <entry>
9324. <title>An untitled post</title>
9325. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/02/26/31/"/>
9326. <updated>2003-02-26T11:52:00Z</updated>
9327. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/02/26/31/</id>
9328. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Building applications for a platform where the&lt;br&gt;
9329. latency is O(30 seconds) and you have 160 char to<br>
9330. work with from each direction is really quite<br>
9331. interesting. Every single interaction needs to be <b>easy</b>. You have to try really hard to predict how the user might fuck up and just do what they mean. And you aren't going to get to refer them to a 4 page FAQ. And even if you do, "4 pages" gets you about 100 words.</p>
9332. </content>
9333. </entry>
9335. <entry>
9336. <title>An untitled post</title>
9337. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/02/25/30/"/>
9338. <updated>2003-02-25T10:25:00Z</updated>
9339. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/02/25/30/</id>
9340. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So. I know I said I&#39;d have BoredNow running by this evening. I got kind of sidetracked by actually going to &lt;a&gt;Ceremony&lt;/a&gt;&#39;s Synthpop/ElectroClash night, with DJ&#39;s Cipher and &lt;a href=&quot;http://heresiarch.livejournal.com/&quot; class=&quot;lj-user&quot;&gt;heresiarch&lt;/a&gt;. But the core engine is running. The authentication system works. and the first cut at the friends list system works. And it&#39;s on the net. But without the application that runs on this framework, it&#39;s not quite ready for the unveiling. And of course my hands hurt tonight. So it&#39;s off to bed with me. maybe tomorrow morning, I&#39;ll finally be rid of the last vestiges of this cold.&lt;/p&gt;
9341. </content>
9342. </entry>
9344. <entry>
9345. <title>footage</title>
9346. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/02/24/footage/"/>
9347. <updated>2003-02-24T18:51:00Z</updated>
9348. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/02/24/footage/</id>
9349. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Subject: footage&lt;br&gt;
9350. From: Eric Suquet<br>
9351. To:                                                                                                                                                   </p>
9352. <p>are you the maker?</p>
9353. </content>
9354. </entry>
9356. <entry>
9357. <title>Bored Now</title>
9358. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/02/24/bored-now/"/>
9359. <updated>2003-02-24T09:06:00Z</updated>
9360. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/02/24/bored-now/</id>
9361. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;In the past 3 hours, I&#39;ve put together most of the core functionality of my latest bad idea. (Right now, it&#39;s called &lt;i&gt;Bored Now&lt;/i&gt;, but it&#39;ll get a new name before launch). I suspect that if I&#39;m diligent about getting my $DAYJOB work done tomorrow, I can find enough time to put the rest of the core bits together before and after Synth-Pop Ceremony tomorrow. And maybe actually launch the sucker on Tuesday. It&#39;ll need a little bit of web design (though it&#39;s not a web project) and a bit of expository writing explaining &lt;i&gt;why&lt;/i&gt; it might be worth your time to use.&lt;/p&gt;
9362. </content>
9363. </entry>
9365. <entry>
9366. <title>An untitled post</title>
9367. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/02/22/28/"/>
9368. <updated>2003-02-22T09:11:00Z</updated>
9369. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/02/22/28/</id>
9370. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I just got back from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://ladytron.com&quot;&gt;Ladytron&lt;/a&gt; show with Dave and Shaula. It was the first time I&#39;d been back to the Paradise since &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sayhername.com&quot;&gt;Too Much Joy&#39;s&lt;/a&gt; last tour in 1997. Ladytron was lots of fun. Nice and loud. I&#39;m impressed with how well their synth-sound worked out live. And there was a really cute girl standing next to me all night. Not that I&#39;m forward enough to say anything.&lt;/p&gt;
9371. </content>
9372. </entry>
9374. <entry>
9375. <title>An untitled post</title>
9376. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/02/16/27/"/>
9377. <updated>2003-02-16T23:15:00Z</updated>
9378. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/02/16/27/</id>
9379. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Oh. Looks like I&#39;m single again.&lt;/p&gt;
9380. </content>
9381. </entry>
9383. <entry>
9384. <title>An untitled post</title>
9385. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/02/08/26/"/>
9386. <updated>2003-02-08T14:06:00Z</updated>
9387. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/02/08/26/</id>
9388. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;God damn, was that a good novel. Wow. And I might have a fun &lt;i&gt;Pattern Recognition&lt;/i&gt; related goodie as early as tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;
9389. </content>
9390. </entry>
9392. <entry>
9393. <title>Pattern Recognition</title>
9394. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/02/06/pattern-recognition/"/>
9395. <updated>2003-02-06T10:47:00Z</updated>
9396. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/02/06/pattern-recognition/</id>
9397. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;ve just read the first three chapter&#39;s of Gibson&#39;s new novel, &quot;Pattern Recognition.&quot; I really like it. It&#39;s not as gritty as his Cyberpunk stuff. Somehow, it seems to have completely captured the post-&#39;90s, post-cyberpunk gestalt in under 20 pages.  Somehow, it&#39;s turned my desire to become location-independent on in a way that&#39;s going to stop me from sleeping for a good few hours and keep me scheming how to go nomadic without cashing in any of the things I care about for a good long while.&lt;/p&gt;
9398. </content>
9399. </entry>
9401. <entry>
9402. <title>LA Packing list</title>
9403. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/01/25/la-packing-list/"/>
9404. <updated>2003-01-25T12:19:00Z</updated>
9405. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/01/25/la-packing-list/</id>
9406. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;m there Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.&lt;br&gt;
9407. I need 4 days clothes:</p>
9408. <p>leather jacket<br>
9409. sweatshirt<br>
9410. 1 pair jeans<br>
9411. 1 pair shorts<br>
9412. 4x boxers<br>
9413. 4x socks<br>
9414. Sandals<br>
9415. 3x tshirts<br>
9416. 1x real shirts</p>
9417. <p>toothbrush, toothpaste<br>
9418. hair stuff.<br>
9419. no razor. I'll shave tomorrow and look scruffy in LA.</p>
9420. <p>laptop<br>
9421. laptop charger<br>
9422. two batteries<br>
9423. ipod<br>
9424. phone<br>
9425. phone charger<br>
9426. novel<br>
9427. CSS book<br>
9428. notebook<br>
9429. folder with travel docs<br>
9430. cash. but I can get that on the way to the airport.</p>
9431. </content>
9432. </entry>
9434. <entry>
9435. <title>I just love it when...</title>
9436. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/01/25/i-just-love-it-when/"/>
9437. <updated>2003-01-25T09:11:00Z</updated>
9438. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/01/25/i-just-love-it-when/</id>
9439. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Someone attacks my ISP and takes my machine off the net.&lt;/p&gt;
9440. </content>
9441. </entry>
9443. <entry>
9444. <title>LAX</title>
9445. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/01/22/lax/"/>
9446. <updated>2003-01-23T07:10:00Z</updated>
9447. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/01/22/lax/</id>
9448. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So. it looks like &lt;a href=&quot;http://cfox.livejournal.com/&quot; class=&quot;lj-user&quot;&gt;cfox&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://zacheiss.livejournal.com/&quot; class=&quot;lj-user&quot;&gt;zacheiss&lt;/a&gt; and I are ending up in LA for the weekend. (1 AM Sunday until noon on Wednesday.) Whee.&lt;/p&gt;
9449. </content>
9450. </entry>
9452. <entry>
9453. <title>An untitled post</title>
9454. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/01/20/21/"/>
9455. <updated>2003-01-20T12:26:00Z</updated>
9456. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/01/20/21/</id>
9457. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I absolutely love &lt;a href=&quot;http://maddog.weblogs.com/stories/storyReader$68&quot;&gt;good interface design&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
9458. </content>
9459. </entry>
9461. <entry>
9462. <title>Dim Sum</title>
9463. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/01/11/dim-sum/"/>
9464. <updated>2003-01-11T08:08:00Z</updated>
9465. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/01/11/dim-sum/</id>
9466. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&#39;m going to be making a *reservation* for dimsum. if you haven&#39;t told me, either as an lj comment or by email, that you&#39;re coming, you won&#39;t be counted. and that will suck.&lt;/p&gt;
9467. <p>(I'll be calling sometime on saturday, early afternoon)</p>
9468. </content>
9469. </entry>
9471. <entry>
9472. <title>Dim Sum this Sunday</title>
9473. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/01/09/dim-sum-this-sunday/"/>
9474. <updated>2003-01-09T08:33:00Z</updated>
9475. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/01/09/dim-sum-this-sunday/</id>
9476. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;China Pearl.&lt;br&gt;
9477. Noon.<br>
9478. You know you want to.</p>
9479. <p>Leave me a comment or email me if you think you might be coming, so I can get a sense of scale. ;)</p>
9480. </content>
9481. </entry>
9483. <entry>
9484. <title>An untitled post</title>
9485. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/01/06/18/"/>
9486. <updated>2003-01-06T09:10:00Z</updated>
9487. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/01/06/18/</id>
9488. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I bootlegged my first concert in something like 8 years. The recording technology has increased immeasurably since last time. I&#39;ve traded in (well, not literally) my D3 &quot;Pro&quot; walkman for an MD-Z1. It&#39;s about as big as my walkman. Of course, I hadn&#39;t gotten around to picking up a set of mics yet...so I ended up with the same trick I used in high school. I took the cheap-ass headphones that came with the MD recorder and plugged them into the mic jack. I turned the gain ALL the way up....and then I stood near the speaker. Of course, I had to do an analog transfer to get the data off them MD. (Thanks, Sony.) And then I had to hunt around to find tools to record and split the tracks on my mac.  But now I&#39;ve got a shiny new Freezepop CD. And mp3s to go along with it. (And the band has the mp3s, too).&lt;/p&gt;
9489. <p>*bounce*</p>
9490. </content>
9491. </entry>
9493. <entry>
9494. <title>An untitled post</title>
9495. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/01/04/17/"/>
9496. <updated>2003-01-05T02:25:00Z</updated>
9497. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/01/04/17/</id>
9498. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I really want to doctor one of the &lt;b&gt;SANTA IS REAL&lt;/b&gt; stencils in Davis Sq to read &lt;b&gt;SANTA IS RAEL&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
9499. </content>
9500. </entry>
9502. <entry>
9503. <title>Freezepop Saturday. TT The Bear&#39;s Place</title>
9504. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2003/01/03/freezepop-saturday-tt-the-bears-place/"/>
9505. <updated>2003-01-03T23:36:00Z</updated>
9506. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2003/01/03/freezepop-saturday-tt-the-bears-place/</id>
9507. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;
9508. saturday, january 4 - at tt the bear's, in cambridge, ma
9509. the mime crime benefit
9510. with skating club, dirty doctors 2600, and ad frank.
9511. we're going on at 11, but you really should come early and stay late,
9512. because it's going to be an amazing evening of eclectic music. and warm fuzzies.
9513. and maybe even a kissing booth. 18+, $8, doors at 8:30.
9514. </pre>
9515. <p>I'm going. You are too, right?</p>
9516. </content>
9517. </entry>
9519. <entry>
9520. <title>An untitled post</title>
9521. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2002/12/26/15/"/>
9522. <updated>2002-12-26T09:08:00Z</updated>
9523. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2002/12/26/15/</id>
9524. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I didn&#39;t win the PowerBall jackpot. Neither did you.&lt;/p&gt;
9525. </content>
9526. </entry>
9528. <entry>
9529. <title>An untitled post</title>
9530. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2002/12/10/14/"/>
9531. <updated>2002-12-11T04:38:00Z</updated>
9532. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2002/12/10/14/</id>
9533. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Does it make me a bad person that the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.darpa.mil/iao/&quot;&gt;Information Awareness Office&lt;/a&gt; sounds like the most technically interesting project I&#39;ve heard about in a long time? I disagree with the motives and the applications. But my god. That would be such an incredibly cool project to work on.&lt;/p&gt;
9534. </content>
9535. </entry>
9537. <entry>
9538. <title>An untitled post</title>
9539. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2002/12/09/13/"/>
9540. <updated>2002-12-10T06:11:00Z</updated>
9541. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2002/12/09/13/</id>
9542. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Any of y&#39;all know much about modern hardware for bootlegging concerts? I think it&#39;s time to get a minidisc recorder and a pair of decent mics.&lt;/p&gt;
9543. </content>
9544. </entry>
9546. <entry>
9547. <title>An untitled post</title>
9548. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2002/11/18/12/"/>
9549. <updated>2002-11-19T07:59:00Z</updated>
9550. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2002/11/18/12/</id>
9551. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;(now that I have all 12 duplicates deleted, let&#39;s try again)&lt;/p&gt;
9552. <p>Date: Mon, 18 Nov 2002 22:27:09 -0500<br>
9553. From: Jesse Vincent<br>
9554. To: rt-announce@fsck.com<br>
9555. Subject: RT 3.0 alpha 1</p>
9556. <p>I'm pleased to announce the first "alpha" test release of RT 3.0, RT 2.1.48.</p>
9557. <p>This release contains the complete new isntallation system complete with<br>
9558. autoconf support and rewritten testdeps and database setup tools.</p>
9559. <p>This release is NOT ready for production use (hence the "alpha" designation.)<br>
9560. Do not deploy this system for mission critical data. We can not guarantee that<br>
9561. things won't change incompatibly before 3.0.0, though at this point, the schema<br>
9562. and API are largely frozen.</p>
9563. <p>RT 3.0 is a major new release of RT which adds too many new features to list<br>
9564. here. A few hilights include:</p>
9565. <p>* Completely redesigned ACL system that's faster and more flexible<br>
9566. * Rights granted to a user can be redelegated to another user<br>
9567. * The "scrips" system is a good deal more flexible<br>
9568. * Groups can now contain other groups, in addition to containing users<br>
9569. * RT now speaks: Traditional Chinese, German,<br>
9570. French, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Russian and Finnish in addition<br>
9571. to English. (Simplified Chinese was not included in this<br>
9572. release, due to a last minute error.)</p>
9573. <p>We know that not everything is done yet. Particularly:</p>
9574. <p>* The new CLI isn't yet complete.<br>
9575. * The new mail gateway isn't yet complete.<br>
9576. * The commandline admin tool hasn't yet been updated for all of<br>
9577. 3.0's new features.<br>
9578. * Some edges are still rough<br>
9579. * Not all bug fixes from the 2.0 branch have been "pulled up" into<br>
9580. the RT 3.0 branch yet.<br>
9581. You can pick up the release from:</p>
9582. <p>http://fsck.com/pub/rt/devel/rt-3-0-alpha-1.tar.gz</p>
9583. <p>As you work with RT 3.0 alpha 1, we'd like to ask that you send questions,<br>
9584. comments and issues to rt-devel@lists.fsck.com. If you've isolated a specific<br>
9585. bug, please send mail to rt-3.0-bugs@fsck.com containing as detailed a report<br>
9586. as you can manage, along with any resolution you're aware of. (We like diff -u)</p>
9587. <p>Best,</p>
9588. <p>Jesse</p>
9589. </content>
9590. </entry>
9592. <entry>
9593. <title>An untitled post</title>
9594. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2002/11/07/11/"/>
9595. <updated>2002-11-08T05:17:00Z</updated>
9596. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2002/11/07/11/</id>
9597. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://blog.fsck.com/assets/2002/11/CRW_8394.CRW.jpg&amp;amp;type=midsize&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
9598. <p>(<a href="http://ivy.fsck.com/frames.html?dir=http://fsck.com/~jesse/shorn/">I got a haircut</a>)</p>
9599. </content>
9600. </entry>
9602. <entry>
9603. <title>An untitled post</title>
9604. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2002/11/06/10/"/>
9605. <updated>2002-11-06T08:19:00Z</updated>
9606. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2002/11/06/10/</id>
9607. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Oh. And I&#39;m getting a &lt;b&gt;haircut&lt;/b&gt; on Thursday. (As in &quot;I won&#39;t need these elastics or this conditioner any more.&quot;)&lt;/p&gt;
9608. </content>
9609. </entry>
9611. <entry>
9612. <title>Sick. Wrong. Lather, rinse, repeat.</title>
9613. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2002/11/06/sick-wrong-lather-rinse-repeat/"/>
9614. <updated>2002-11-06T08:09:00Z</updated>
9615. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2002/11/06/sick-wrong-lather-rinse-repeat/</id>
9616. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I haven&#39;t perpetrated a bogus hack in too long. Today&#39;s line of reasoning:&lt;/p&gt;
9617. <p>I want to be able to zephyr people from my phone.</p>
9618. <p>Oh. I suppose I can write a proxy script.</p>
9619. <p>Cool. now I can send mail to <b>addr</b>+username@fsck.com and it'll get zephyred to them.  (for @people, it's username%domain) [1]</p>
9620. <p>Oh. better lock that down, so it can't get trivially spammed.</p>
9621. <p>There. only from me and anyone with a tmobile phone.</p>
9622. <p>That was easy. what about zephyring classes? </p>
9623. <p>Oh. Um. There we go. <b>addr</b>+class+instance @fsck.com or <b>addr</b>+class+ @fsck.com will blast them out.</p>
9624. <p>But I'm definitely not doing the reverse.</p>
9625. <p>*an hour or two pass*</p>
9626. <p>Oh. I guess I could twist owl into doing my bidding.</p>
9627. <p>So, now you can zwrite szs@fsck.com -i <b>address</b> and it'll get emailed out with the correct return address.</p>
9628. <p>Now I just wish I could get my personal messages SMSed to me when I'm away from the computer.</p>
9629. <p>Oh, my evil plans amuse you, <a href="http://avacon.livejournal.com/" class="lj-user">avacon</a>?</p>
9630. <p>*10 minutes pass*</p>
9631. <p>Thanks to erik, owl now has the features I need to get my personals smsed to me when I've got a zaway running including the word "phone"</p>
9632. <p>I made something today. Even if it's arguably the worst collection of duct tape and chewing gum I've put together in years.</p>
9633. <p>[1] Ask me privately and I'll point you at the address.</p>
9634. </content>
9635. </entry>
9637. <entry>
9638. <title>Packing</title>
9639. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2002/10/21/packing/"/>
9640. <updated>2002-10-22T03:48:00Z</updated>
9641. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2002/10/21/packing/</id>
9642. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I leave for Amsterdam in about 18 hours. Time to put together the list of stuff to shove into the backpack.&lt;/p&gt;
9643. <p>Oh, and yeah, what do I have to not miss in Amsterdam or Rotterdam?<br>
9644. I've been to Amsterdam twice briefly, so the first-cut "go to a coffeeshop and lose a week" isn't top on my list. </p>
9645. <p><!--more What am I missing?--><br>
9646. ibook<br>
9647. ibook SVGA Cable<br>
9648. ibook AC adaptor<br>
9649. euro-plug converter for electronics<br>
9650. 1 cat5 cable</p>
9651. <p>keyboard (either the natural, or the <a href="http://www.fingerworks.com">fingerworks</a> if it shows up tuesday morning.)</p>
9652. <p>tripod</p>
9653. <p>phone<br>
9654. phone charger<br>
9655. hotsync cable for phone</p>
9656. <p>ipod<br>
9657. earbuds<br>
9658. firewire cable for charging the ipod</p>
9659. <p>"The other ibook", with AC adaptor, ipod, headphones, ipod ac adaptor, firewire cable</p>
9660. <p>Camera<br>
9661. Camera charger<br>
9662. usb -> cf adaptor for camera<br>
9663. 28-135mm lens.<br>
9664. If I feel like I've actually got room, I may bring the 100-300mm lens.</p>
9665. <p>food stuffs for ann:<br>
9666.  wondra<br>
9667.  maple candy<br>
9668.  estee  sour citrus<br>
9669.  estee peppermint swirl<br>
9670.   arm and hammer unscented dryer sheets<br>
9671.   sorbee peppermint patties<br>
9672.   theraflu cinnamon  </p>
9673. <p>Clothes:<br>
9674.  2 pair pants<br>
9675.   Boxers<br>
9676.   socks<br>
9677.   3 shirts, buttondown<br>
9678.   3 tshirts<br>
9679.   umbrella<br>
9680.   scarf<br>
9681.    jacket<br>
9682.    jacket liner</p>
9683. <p>Toiletries<br>
9684.  razor<br>
9685.  blades<br>
9686.  shaving cream<br>
9687.   toothbrush<br>
9688.   toothpaste<br>
9689.   shampoo<br>
9690.   conditioner<br>
9691.   elastics<br>
9692.   hairbrush<br>
9693.   advil</p>
9694. <p>novel or two<br>
9695. passport (with free bonus leftover travellers checks)<br>
9696. netherlands guide<br>
9697. notepad (mmm. paper)<br>
9698. pens<br>
9699. plane ticket.</p>
9700. <p>Todo:<br>
9701.  buy the rest of the food for ann<br>
9702.  pick up drycleaning<br>
9703.   coordinate contact information with <a href="http://chrysaphi.livejournal.com/" class="lj-user">chrysaphi</a>, who's showing up in Amsterdam while I'm there.</p>
9704. <p>   email a couple of customers<br>
9705.   mail ibook documentation to Jos.<br>
9706.    deposit my paycheck.</p>
9707. <p>   sleep.  </p>
9708. <p>So yeah. That's about what I'm packing. So much for "pack light."  At least the foodstuffs and one of the ibooks are on one-way trip</p>
9709. </content>
9710. </entry>
9712. <entry>
9713. <title>An untitled post</title>
9714. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2002/10/07/7/"/>
9715. <updated>2002-10-07T13:12:00Z</updated>
9716. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2002/10/07/7/</id>
9717. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Today, I went back to the T-Mobile store in Harvard Square, with my second deficient T-68.&lt;/p&gt;
9718. <p>Me: Hi. This is my second T-68. The signal strength at my house is intolerably bad.</p>
9719. <p>Rep: What do you want to do about it?</p>
9720. <p>Me: I'd like to return the phone. Ideally, I'd like to replace it with something that has a color screen and gets better signal strength.</p>
9721. <p>Rep: They all get exactly the same signal strength.</p>
9722. <p>Me: That's not true.  Different phones have different RF units, which result in some phones getting better signal than others.</p>
9723. <p>Rep: They all get exactly the same signal strength.</p>
9724. <p>Me: Well, then I'd like to return my phone and void out my service contract.</p>
9725. <p>Rep: Are you still within the trial period?</p>
9726. <p>Me: Yes.</p>
9727. <p>Rep: Ok. this will take a couple minutes.</p>
9728. <p>[ I wander over to look at the new Sidekick ]</p>
9729. <p>Rep: Sir, I'd like you to try this for a couple days first.</p>
9730. <p>Me: Hmm?</p>
9731. <p>Rep: This sticker is an antenna booster and will increase your signal by a couple bars.</p>
9732. <p>Me: Um. Ok.</p>
9733. <p>Rep: I've never had a complaint about one of these stickers. they're magic.</p>
9734. <p>Me: So, when are you going to get the T68i?</p>
9735. <p>Rep: Oh, those are only available in Europe.</p>
9736. <p>Me: But AT&T Wireless has them and amazon is selling them with your service.</p>
9737. <p>Rep: Yes, but that's amazon and not t-mobile. AT&T isn't a GSM provider. We are the ONLY GSM provider in the US.</p>
9738. <p>Me: One of my friends has a T68i from AT&T in Boston. He gets great coverage in my house.</p>
9739. <p>Rep2: Oh. You've seen AT&T's GSM commercials? We get much better coverage than they do.</p>
9740. <p>Rep: Your friend has a GSM handset from AT&T with a sim card? I don't think so.</p>
9741. <p>Me: I've seen it.</p>
9742. <p>Rep: AT&T hasn't rolled out GSM yet.</p>
9743. <p>[At this point, I politely thanked him, took my phone, and left the store. I went home and ordered a handspring treo 270 from amazon. It's no javaphone, and it's a lot bigger, but It actually happens to be both a PDA and a cell phone.]</p>
9744. </content>
9745. </entry>
9747. <entry>
9748. <title>An untitled post</title>
9749. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2002/10/02/6/"/>
9750. <updated>2002-10-03T06:14:00Z</updated>
9751. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2002/10/02/6/</id>
9752. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Technology has vanquished yet another moment of social unease: declaring&lt;br&gt;
9753. one's lust only to find that it's unrequited. During the final weeks of<br>
9754. the school year at Wesleyan University, students can sign up, gratis,<br>
9755. for the web-based WeScam, "an automated system that allows you to figure<br>
9756. out if people you're interested in hooking up with are interested<br>
9757. in hooking up with you without making a fool of yourself by getting<br>
9758. drunk enough to pour your heart out to them or stick you tongue down<br>
9759. their throats." Sponsored by Alpha Delta Phi, WeScam provides a list<br>
9760. of classmates so students can check of the names of those they like.<br>
9761. (Seniors can choose anyone; others can choose only seniors. Rank does<br>
9762. have its privileges.) As Senior Week approaches, you get an e-mail<br>
9763. listing your matches. If interest in that special someone is unmatched,<br>
9764. she'll never know. But if it's mutual--bingo! And, yes, there is a<br>
9765. threesome option. This year 644 students made selections, and three<br>
9766. fifths got a match (or, in one lucky senior's case, 17 matches). One<br>
9767. senior reports that she checked off 15 names and ended up with five<br>
9768. matches. But, she tells us, "Most of the people I hooked up with that<br>
9769. week weren't from my list." Happily, spontaneity lives on.</p>
9770. <p><cite>pp 24-25, Playboy, November 2002<br>
9771. </cite></p>
9772. </content>
9773. </entry>
9775. <entry>
9776. <title>An untitled post</title>
9777. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2002/08/12/5/"/>
9778. <updated>2002-08-12T07:05:00Z</updated>
9779. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2002/08/12/5/</id>
9780. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;There&#39;s this band &quot;Ladytron&quot;. They have this album &quot;604&quot;. It&#39;s synthpop. It&#39;s really fantastic. You need to go out and buy it.&lt;/p&gt;
9781. </content>
9782. </entry>
9784. <entry>
9785. <title>An untitled post</title>
9786. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/2002/08/02/4/"/>
9787. <updated>2002-08-03T05:17:00Z</updated>
9788. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/2002/08/02/4/</id>
9789. <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;So, I&#39;m moving into a new living situation this fall. One of my new roomies is incredibly allergic to ferrets. I have to give up my ferrets. Not happy. Anyone have a good home for a pair of sweet, cute, healthy ferrets? *sigh*&lt;/p&gt;
9790. </content>
9791. </entry>
9793. <entry>
9794. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
9795. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/12/04/a-letter-home/"/>
9796. <updated>1996-12-04T00:00:00Z</updated>
9797. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/12/04/a-letter-home/</id>
9798. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;Well, it&#39;s the 4th of december and I&#39;ve slacked off and not written for a
9799. while.  It's come to my attention that there are some people at utopia who
9800. aren't interested in receiving my journals....Well, I've got two
9801. suggestions: 1) As the messages are BCCed to junk, you might set your copy
9802. of eudora to trash mail sent both from and to me. or 2) you can bear with
9803. me for 2 more weeks...during which I doubt i'll write more than twice...
9804.  
9805.  
9806. Well, today we had an excursion to the KGB museum...it was sort of
9807. interesting. they had a series of displays of spy stuff they'd confiscated
9808. from western agents... I've got new-found respect for the CIA's tech
9809. people....Afterwards, leslie, jocelyn and I went off in search of fresh
9810. salmon as we're planning to make sushi on thursday. (don't laugh....we did
9811. it last week with tuna and it was great)  We found a supermarket near the
9812. KGB building that didn't have fresh salmon, but they did have all sorts of
9813. great western things like LIMES..This was the first time since august that
9814. I'd seen a lime..They also had all sorts of name-brand western goods that
9815. I hadn't found here before.  After that, we headed to a bookstore, where I
9816. purchased my very on copy of the russian translation of "The New Hackers'
9817. Dictionary."
9818.  
9819. This evening, jerry, emily and I grabbed dinner at mcdonalds
9820. before heading home.  Once we got home, a Korean girl who lives next door
9821. came over to hang out....At some point, she asked us if we wanted some
9822. kim-chi..Well, of course we did....So, we ended up in her room slurping
9823. kim-chi and rice.....that was some seriously good and spicy food.....
9824.  
9825. I tried to give a friend back home a ring, but discovered that my
9826. calling-card was no good....and so I got switched through to the ATT
9827. calling card center....who called my mom to verify that I was me....Well,
9828. after my mom told them that I was her son, they hung up and my mom hung up
9829. and I waited on the line for the ATT operator who didn't pick up
9830. again....but my mom did...so we talked for a few.  I'm 99 percent sure
9831. that we weren't being charged for talking, as I never dialed my mom and
9832. they were calling her to verify that I was me.
9833.  
9834. Well, that's it for today...what's happened in the past few
9835. weeks...well, lots of things....my dad and brother have come and gone
9836. again, taking home about 1/2 my stuff.  Oh, yesterday, I finally mailed
9837. off some chocolate to a friend studying in italy.  I'd tried to mail it on
9838. monday...I waited in line for 20 minutes at my local post office:
9839.  
9840. Jesse: Hi, I'd like to mail this to italy.
9841. Disgruntled Postal Worker:To where?
9842. J: Italy
9843. DPW: Oh, Italy...you can't do that here.
9844. J: Well, where can I do it?
9845. DPW: Only at the central post office.
9846. J:Please?
9847. DPW: What's in it?
9848. J:Chocolate..it's a gift
9849. DPW:Well, come back later.
9850. (At this point, I realized that it would be a bad idea to mail it there.
9851.  
9852. So, on tuesday, I went to the central post office and waited in line for
9853. 10 minutes
9854. J:Hi, I'd like to send this to italy
9855. DPW2:You can't do that here
9856. J:But my post office said i could do it her
9857. DPW2:No. You have to go to Clean Ponds metro stop. you can only mail
9858. letters here.
9859. J:But this isn't very big
9860. DPW2:this isn't a letter. this is a small parcel.  You can't mail small
9861. parcels from here, only letters.
9862. J:But my post office said that I could only mail this from here
9863. DPW2: You can't mail this here.  Go to clean ponds metro
9864.  
9865.  
9866. Later that evening at the post office clean ponds metro, I waited in line
9867. for 20 minutes, only to be scolded for sealing my parcel. I opened it up
9868. and the DPW scolded me for not sealing the box of chocolates.  I just
9869. couldn't win.  She took the box of chocolates and wrapped it in
9870. twine..then stuck it back in my padded mailer...then she wrapped my padded
9871. mailer in brown paper.  I was then told that I had to fill out a customs
9872. declaration in quadruplicate.  The only thing I really messed up on the
9873. declaration was that I merely wrote "chocolate" under "contents" instead
9874. of "chocolate, one box."  After paying about 8 bucks for airmail, I was
9875. told that I was done.  I asked when I might expect my package to arrive.
9876. The DPW refused to answer....I asked a number of variations on the
9877. question which she also refused to answer.
9878. </pre>
9879. </content>
9880. </entry>
9882. <entry>
9883. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
9884. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/11/21/a-letter-home/"/>
9885. <updated>1996-11-21T00:00:00Z</updated>
9886. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/11/21/a-letter-home/</id>
9887. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;
9888. </pre>
9889. </content>
9890. </entry>
9892. <entry>
9893. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
9894. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/11/20/a-letter-home/"/>
9895. <updated>1996-11-20T00:00:00Z</updated>
9896. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/11/20/a-letter-home/</id>
9897. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;So, on wednesday, I got up at about 7 am.  you see, I was going to talk
9898. to 5th and 10th graders at a moscow school about the american way of
9899. life.  It was way to early for me.  I had to be there at about 9 and it
9900. took an hour to get there....but it was worth it.
9901. I started off talking to a classroom full of 5th graders...the
9902. deal was that they asked me questions..here are the first several...in
9903. order:
9904.  
9905. "What's your name?"
9906. jesse
9907.  
9908. "Do you have any pets?"
9909. a dog and a cat
9910.  
9911. "How old are you?"
9912. twenty
9913.  
9914. "Do you have any children?"
9915. no
9916.  
9917. "Are you married?"
9918. no
9919.  
9920. I'll chalk it up to cultural differences or the fact that I
9921. didn't shave that morning or something.  They were really sweet over all.
9922. I told them to ask me strange questions....and one kid took me up on it
9923. "What do you know about aliens?" "Real aliens or movie aliens?" i asked.
9924. "Real aliens."  and then I tried to explain the mars rock to them.  Then
9925. two of them read stories about their imaginary friends to me.  One of
9926. them had gone so far as to make a model of his imaginary friend. (one of
9927. those pompom dolls) He presented me with it as a gift after class...it's
9928. sitting on my desk.
9929.  
9930. The second class asked more normal questions.  Several of them
9931. were excited about the fact that I was into computers....One asked me if
9932. I'm a "hecker" (russian pronunciation of hacker.)  I was somewhat taken
9933. aback....but said yes.  He said that he was too.  After class, one kid
9934. brought a notebook up to me and asked for my autograph.  Before I knew
9935. what was happening, I was being mobbed by fifth graders who wanted my
9936. autograph.  so I gave it to them.  Then several wanted my email
9937. address...I'll see if any of them actually write me. (Could one of you
9938. wes people look to see if my homepage has any hits from .ru?)  One
9939. of the girls asked me if I had any russian money.  When I said yes,
9940. she tried to offer me 300 rubles (about 5 cents)...I refused....i
9941. just couldn't take money from a little kid.  After that, it was off to
9942. the 10th grade.  The 10th graders weren't nearly as interested or
9943. interesting.
9944.  
9945. Afterwards, olga fed me and then I got payed for october (150 000
9946. rubles.)  Then I went on my merry way home....where I immediately
9947. collapsed for a 2 hour nap.  After that, I did some homework and headed
9948. out to meet Sara for dinner at Baku Livan, a middle-eastern
9949. cafeteria....
9950. On my way out of the dorm, I walked past a number of soilders
9951. unloading wooden crates and coils of wire in the lobby.  I have no idea
9952. why they were there or what's in the crates....and i'm not about to open
9953. one of them up.  Who knows, maybe my dorm's a new artillery dump.
9954.  
9955. it was really good and cheap... .although it appears that
9956. the restaurant was being renovated and that we were eating in what was
9957. normally the restaurant's kitchen.
9958.  
9959. Once I got home, I studied for my Chekov test (it got postponed
9960. till thursday) and napped for a bit and hung out in cath's room....
9961. At about 11:30, the lights went out, but only in the rooms on my
9962. side of the hall.  We decided that there wasn't any point in even
9963. _TRYING_ to get it fixed then.
9964.  
9965.  
9966. ps  the vote on russian domains (gu vs kanga) was pretty much neck and
9967. neck...so I've decided to go ahead and register them both once secondary
9968. dns gets set up.  Most "programmer types"  seemed to prefer kanga while
9969. almost everybody else seemed to go for guru.
9970.  
9971. </pre>
9972. </content>
9973. </entry>
9975. <entry>
9976. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
9977. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/11/18/a-letter-home/"/>
9978. <updated>1996-11-18T00:00:00Z</updated>
9979. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/11/18/a-letter-home/</id>
9980. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;well, once again, it&#39;s been several days since i last wrote....at this point, it&#39;s not laziness
9981. (really!) but lack of content.  Life here is pretty much
9982. routine....hmmm...what happened today that was interesting....oh, yeah...I
9983. got home from class today at about 2:30 to discover that I must not have
9984. turned the faucet all the way off when I left for class this morning...it
9985. seems as if the shower was dripping just a tiny bit...ordinarily, this
9986. wouldn't be such a problem...but, our showerhead is one of those hand-held
9987. jobs that I just happened lie down above the faucet this morning...the exact
9988. direction that I lay it in apparently put the dripping part of the shower
9989. head over the floor....where I was surprised to see about 2 inches of water
9990. when I got home this afternoon.
9991.  
9992. Well, I quickly discovered that the mop wouldn't do much good...so I
9993. looked around for other things to soak water up with...no dice. "If I only
9994. had a wet-vac" I thought... (A wet-vac is a vacuum cleaner for sucking up
9995. water)  Well, I didn't, but I had something almost as good....a 2 liter coke
9996. bottle.  By punching a few holes in the bottom of the bottle and sucking
9997. through the top, I was able to generate enough of a vacuum to fill the bottle
9998. with water, which i then dumped in the sink...I'm glad nobody walked into the
9999. room while I was cleaning...I must have looked like a complete fool.  but
10000. hey, it worked....ten minutes and about 8 bottles of water later (no, I don't
10001. need one of you to compute the volume of water in a bottle and tell me how
10002. big my bathroom is.) the floor was only damp...and I was only a bit
10003. woozy....but hey, it worked.  score one for desperation...and the ceiling
10004. under me didn't even give way (I hope)  Tonight has been kinda calm....I've
10005. got a killer test on "Lady with a dog" (A Chekov) tomorrow...apparently the
10006. idea is that she'll give us a sheet of paper with a bunch of sentences from
10007. the story with about 50 missing words...we've got to fill in the exact words
10008. from the story.  (Don't try this at home, Wesleyan profs.)  Several of my
10009. friends who have already taken the test tell me not to worry...there's no way
10010. anybody could pass.
10011.  
10012.  
10013. As some of you know, I've been toying with the idea of registering
10014. the internet domain kanga.ru (so my email address could be (for example)
10015. hoppy@kanga.ru)  It just occurred to me last night that gu.ru isn't taken.
10016. (If this is all gibberish to you, mom and dad, just ignore it...it means
10017. something to computer geeks)
10018.  
10019. So, I'm conducting an informal vote....
10020.  
10021. Should I register:
10022. kanga.ru (and have machine names like dont.feed.the.kanga.ru)
10023.  
10024. OR
10025.  
10026. gu.ru (and have machine names like dont.feed.the.unix.gu.ru)
10027.  
10028. </pre>
10029. </content>
10030. </entry>
10032. <entry>
10033. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
10034. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/11/15/a-letter-home/"/>
10035. <updated>1996-11-15T00:00:00Z</updated>
10036. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/11/15/a-letter-home/</id>
10037. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;yep...i&#39;ve been bad again...it&#39;s the 15th and the last time I wrote was
10038. the fourth...well, i've only got a month left...let's see if i can be good
10039. and not skip any more entries.
10040.  
10041. Since you last read, my mom has come and gone....she took me to
10042. petersburg and treated me to lots of expensive things....but that's in the
10043. past and i'm just going to write about today (or yesterday....it's already
10044. 12:30)
10045.  
10046. Class today was horrible.....nobody could speak russian...and
10047. about 1/3 of the program ditched class.  
10048. this evening, emily and i were supposed to make cookies, so I
10049. spent the afternoon combing the western and western-style supermarkets for
10050. baking-soda, eggs, sugar, chocolate, flour and so on.  (My mom brought the
10051. brown sugar...which is the hard part...they simply don't have it here)
10052.  
10053. Emily called at about 6 and said "why don't we make them at my
10054. house rather than in your dorm....it'll be more comfortable"  more
10055. comfortable for her, sure....she also mentioned that she was inviting
10056. sara.  So, sara and I headed over to emily's house....i ended up leaving
10057. the eggs and my cookie sheet at home...i didn't really want to risk
10058. another ride on the metro with them.
10059.  
10060. Emily's host mom is something else...a truely sweet lady...with a
10061. very warped world view......basically, she thinks that men should be men
10062. and women should be women....she can't really cope with the fact that I
10063. like to cook or the fact that emily "acts like a boy."  She keeps telling
10064. emily that it's no wonder she doesn't have a boyfriend.....(For those of
10065. you who don't know emily:  she likes girls but doesn't really want to
10066. tell her old russian host mom that..)  We're pretty sure that she thinks
10067. that emily and I would make a good couple....
10068. Emily's host mom spent the evening spouting words of wisdom about
10069. gender relations.  The cookies came out great....even if there wasn't
10070. enough chocolate.
10071.  
10072. On the metro home, sara and I sat next to 3 skinheads...really
10073. scary looking people...they were putting up stickers.  I decided to be
10074. bold and get up to read one of them...it read something about the
10075. "...church of the white race  Meetings at suchandsuch a Metro Station.
10076. Saturday at 8:30 pm"  I was utterly incredulous...so I asked them for one
10077. of the stickers....well, now I've got one of these scary stickers....and
10078. I've got absolutely no idea what to do with it.  
10079.  
10080.  
10081. jesse
10082. </pre>
10083. </content>
10084. </entry>
10086. <entry>
10087. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
10088. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/11/04/a-letter-home/"/>
10089. <updated>1996-11-04T00:00:00Z</updated>
10090. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/11/04/a-letter-home/</id>
10091. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;So, today in grammar class, the professor asked us why we were so nervous...i
10092. explained that for tomorrow we're to have learned a 2 page story. (as several of my
10093. professors from wes may remember, my memorization skills just aren't very good..)
10094. she asked to see the text....jocelyn showed her a copy of it.  The professor looked
10095. at it and explained that it was actually taken from a text she wrote several
10096. years ago.  she spent some time going over it with us and asked us where we needed
10097. help.  i explained that it wasn't that there was any part of it that was
10098. particularly difficult, but that i was having trouble memorizing it.  she couldn't
10099. believe us....she didn't understand why anybody should have to memorize that
10100. text...she didn't see what it would teach us.  she was completely blown away by the
10101. sheer stupidity of the idea....and for phonetics no less.
10102.  
10103. After class, I headed off to intourtrans (InTourist Transport or
10104. something) to attempt to price out my tickets to kiev and from kiev to munich. (I'm
10105. going to try to write this with dialogue...nothing is an exact quote...but it's all
10106. pretty close)
10107.  
10108. [enters and walks to "international train tickets" booth]
10109. [stands and clears throat while travel agent plays tetris]
10110. [walks to "international plane tickets"]
10111. Jesse:Hi, i'd like prices on tickets to kiev and from kiev to munich
10112. Agent:You need to go to booth 16 [marked information]
10113. [walks to 16...there's nobody there...returns to #12]
10114. J:There's nobody there
10115. A:Go to desk 16
10116. [walks to 16...waits....goes to desk 8...there's someone there]
10117. J:Hi, i'd like prices for tickets to kiev and from kiev to munich
10118. A2:Go to desk 16
10119. j: but there's nobody there
10120. a2: just go there and wait
10121. [just goes there and waits]
10122. a3:can i help you?
10123. j:yes, i'd like to find out the price of a plane ticket from kiev to munich
10124. [agent 3 types]
10125. a3:there are no flights from kiev to munich
10126. j:ok...how about to kiev from moscow
10127. a3:that'll be $140
10128. j: and by train?
10129. a3:you'll have to go to the international train desk over there
10130. [walks to International Train Desk]
10131. j:um...can you help me
10132. [a4 looks up from playing tetris]
10133. a4:what do you need?
10134. j: how much does a train from kiev to munich cost
10135. a4:i don't think we have that information...but i'll check
10136. A4 CHECKS
10137. a4:we don't know...but you can call the international train office and find out
10138. A4 writes the phone # down for me
10139. j: thanks....how about a ticket to kiev from moscow
10140. a4: you'll have to talk to the within-cis-but-outside-russia desk over there
10141. [walks to the aforementioned desk]
10142. j: hi...i'd like to find out how much a train ticket to kiev costs
10143. a5:um...i'm not sure...we don't really have that information but you can call the
10144. within-cis-but-outside-russia train information line...here let me write the number
10145. down for you...or you could walk down the block to Intourist Travel and they can
10146. help you out...they could probably tell you right away.
10147. [exits, stage right]
10148. (now that's the russia I know and love ;)
10149.  
10150.  
10151. Well, she was right, intourist travel told me how much a train to kiev
10152. cost...250,000 rubles...with the caveat that the price would be completely
10153. different next month and that there was no way to predict what my ticket would cost
10154. then...they had no idea about kiev-munich.....and i got plane info....to kiev it's
10155. 500,000 rubles...and from kiev to munich, the one flight available has tourist
10156. class seats at about $650 US.  I was told that it would be "completely another
10157. matter if i tried to buy them in kiev"  No shit! they'd be a reasonable price.
10158.  
10159.  
10160. This evening, I just hung out at home....tried to study the thing i'm supposed to
10161. know by heart for tomorrow...i spent a long time working at it...but don't know it
10162. much better...i think it's simply time to give up.  I helped some german guy
10163. downstairs out with his powerbook...it seems that he didn't know how to use email
10164. on it....luckily, all i had to do was set up his comm program and spend about an
10165. hour getting it to behave...i should charge for things like that.  After that, I
10166. hung out with my friend Martina and her roommate...listened to them read some
10167. german feminist propaganda and drank tea.
10168.  
10169.  
10170.  
10171. </pre>
10172. </content>
10173. </entry>
10175. <entry>
10176. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
10177. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/11/03/a-letter-home/"/>
10178. <updated>1996-11-03T00:00:00Z</updated>
10179. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/11/03/a-letter-home/</id>
10180. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;Well, on sunday, I got up at about 11 and met my friend Sara for lunch at about
10181. 1....as we had no better ideas, we ended up at russkoe bistro...their piroshki
10182. with mushrooms are pretty good....we walked around for a while and eventually
10183. ended back at my dorm where we hung out and talked.  At some point my
10184. sometimes-roomate george showed up.  I argued with george about religion for a
10185. while before he left.  
10186. In the evening, sara and I decided to go out for indian
10187. food...unfortunately, the place listed as the most reasonably priced indian in town
10188. was about $20 per dish...so we walked to a chinese place that was supposed to be
10189. close....it looked really low quality...for middletown residents, this means tiny
10190. portions of sub-fortune wok quality food at triple the price...with a fifth of the
10191. selection.....so we ended up at the starlight diner.....The Starlight is a "diner"
10192. that was physically imported from the US.  The atmosphere is very western....the
10193. portions are big, the prices are reasonable, the food is GOOD and the place is
10194. staffed by teenagers and 20somethings...all of whom are apparently only allowed to
10195. speak english, even though they are all russians....(i spoke in russian to her, yet
10196. she persisted in responding only in english)
10197. The guys at the next table were obnoxious american journalists...one of
10198. whom apparently was a reporter for the NY Times...he kept himself busy telling his
10199. friend all about how he almost went bezerk after the challenger explosion....it
10200. seems he was covering the story for the times and asked NASA's Information Officer
10201. what the temperature at Cape Canaveral was at the time of launch.  The response was
10202. that that information was classified.  The reporter "had to be bodily dragged away
10203. by other reporters."  As they were leaving, the reporter made a point of explaining
10204. that the meal was on the times and that he hadn't actually used his own AmEx card
10205. in 17 years.  My Western Omlette was really good...as was the vanilla coke.
10206. </pre>
10207. </content>
10208. </entry>
10210. <entry>
10211. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
10212. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/11/02/a-letter-home/"/>
10213. <updated>1996-11-02T00:00:00Z</updated>
10214. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/11/02/a-letter-home/</id>
10215. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;November 2, 1996
10216. Today, Jerry and I went to the pirate CD and CDROM
10217. market...imagine...if you can hundreds of vendors lining up to sell you
10218. any computer program you could imagine for between 6 and 20 dollars.  I
10219. picked up a copy of Oracle 7.2 (a database) and a CD full of office
10220. programs for macs (including a few russian ones...i think i got a spell
10221. checker or two (in russian, that is)  The most exotic thing I saw was a CD
10222. of software for the Commodore Amiga....I would have purchased it for my
10223. friend dave, but it was $40 and I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a CD-ROM
10224. on his amiga.  the only bad thing about the whole experience was that we
10225. thought that there was a computer hardware market....and we were unable to
10226. find it...although we did see tons of people entering the metro with VCRs
10227. and microwaves.
10228. After the market, it was back to the dorm, where we found liz and
10229. leslie and shiloh and jocelyn recovering from the previous night's
10230. festivities.  Apparently, Liz fell UP the stairs in the metro while trying
10231. to stumble home and got a nasty gash on the knee.
10232. At some point, leslie decided that she wanted to brave the snow
10233. (it was snowing heavily, but none of it was sticking..) and go to the
10234. american bar and grill for dinner.  Somehow, I got roped into going...then
10235. again, so did everybody else in the room.  I've been to the american bar
10236. and grill twice before.  Both times it was quite good....This time I had a
10237. bannana shake and a medium-rare burger with salsa and guacamole.  The
10238. shake was about the 2nd best milkshake I have EVER had.....the burger was
10239. not so wonderful....it was HUGE...to huge to eat with my hands, in fact,
10240. and it was _RAW_ in the middle....I don't mean pink...i mean cold.
10241. Ordinarily, I like my meat on the rare side, but this was a bit silly.
10242. Aside from that, it was a lazy saturday evening...I spent a couple
10243. of hours working on my Request Tracker program.....you kids at utopia can
10244. look forward to a newer version of the web interface soon.
10245.  
10246. jesse
10247. </pre>
10248. </content>
10249. </entry>
10251. <entry>
10252. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
10253. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/11/01/a-letter-home/"/>
10254. <updated>1996-11-01T00:00:00Z</updated>
10255. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/11/01/a-letter-home/</id>
10256. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;November 1, 1996
10257. Well, today was Liz's birthday and I intended to pop off after
10258. class to get her a present...except I ended up waiting around till we got
10259. our monthly stipends so I wouldn't have to cash a travellers' check to buy
10260. it.  Leslie convinced me to make guacamole.... (I already had the
10261. avocado...i found it at a fruits and vegetables kiosk a few days ago) We
10262. went out to buy the lemon and got a plate of chopped tomatoes and onions
10263. from the stolovaya.  katya lent us some chili powder and a clove of
10264. garlic....to our surprise, it tasted pretty good.
10265. Once we finally got our stipends, Jerry and I headed off to locate
10266. a computer market that we'd been told about...On the way there, jerry
10267. convinced me to get some shwarma...mine was ok...but his was
10268. excellent...it seems that he paid with a 50,000 ruble bill and got 90,000
10269. rubles in change.
10270.  
10271. jerry had been told that it ran on fridays, saturdays and
10272. sundays...after about 1/2 an hour of wandering, we found the right spot
10273. but it turns out that the market only runs on saturdays and sundays...so
10274. we headed off to liz's for the party...stopping at kievsky market on the
10275. way for me to find liz's present....well, they didn't have it there, so I
10276. ended up deciding to try again later....well, as we were walking from the
10277. metro to liz's apartment, i saw the walkman speakers i wanted to get her
10278. in a kiosk window...but everybody was walking way too fast and if i'd
10279. stopped, i would have been seperated from the group and gotten lost.....
10280.  
10281. The party was um...interesting....there was a snarling yapping
10282. puppy dog running around all evening and jocelyn and I were the only ones
10283. there who didn't get completely wasted.  I stopped drinking afer about 5
10284. toasts...but between about 8 people we polished off 10 bottles of beer,
10285. 4 bottles of vodka and three bottles of champagne.  By the end of the
10286. evening, shiloh was running around screaming about how leslie bit her and
10287. leslie was just rolling on the floor.  liz was telling everyone that she
10288. loved them and jerry just kept falling over into things.  It was quite a
10289. scene.  Jocelyn and Jerry and I decided to cut out of the plan to go to
10290. the "Hungry Duck" later, as we weren't really up for _more_ drinking.  it
10291. appears that by the time they got to the metro later, everybody else
10292. realized that they weren't either...i think it had something to do with
10293. the fact that they couldn't stand up anymore. ;)
10294.  
10295. jesse
10296. </pre>
10297. </content>
10298. </entry>
10300. <entry>
10301. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
10302. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/31/a-letter-home/"/>
10303. <updated>1996-10-31T00:00:00Z</updated>
10304. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/31/a-letter-home/</id>
10305. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;October 31, 1996
10306. Halloween.
10307.  
10308. Well, happy halloween, kids.  Today was a remarkably normal
10309. day...nobody came to class in costume...nobody knocked on my door asking
10310. for candy, etc.  Too bad.  It seems that halloween here is really just an
10311. excuse for a bunch of expats to get together and go clubbing....which is
10312. just what they do every saturday night anyway.  I think the real problem
10313. is that there aren't enough american children here...ho-hum.
10314.  
10315. Classes were unremarkable but terribly painful. (It was our first
10316. day back in class after our excursion to the baltics.)  I'm amazed at how
10317. quickly this semester's been flying past......I guess this is best
10318. demonstrated by the following calendar of the days of class I've got left.
10319.  
10320.    November 1996    December 1996
10321. S  M  T  W  T  F  S S  M  T  W  T  F  S
10322.                1          2  3     5  6
10323.    4  5                   9 10    12 13
10324.            14 15
10325.   18 19    21 22
10326.   25 26    
10327.  
10328.  
10329. that's taking out the days i'll be with my mom in petersburg and with my
10330. dad and prother here.  wednesdays, as you have probably surmised by now,
10331. are excursion days.  It's really not all that much school...the last week
10332. will probably be taken up with exams...which means i've got about 3.5
10333. weeks of class left.  The semester has gone by remarkably fast.
10334.  
10335. Oh, yeah, today....that's what this entry is about, isn't it ;)
10336. So, after class, we had to stick around till about 3 for a meeting....I
10337. killed the 45 minutes by reading a recent copy of the Moscow Tribune.  You
10338. can all breath easier now...the Mayonaisse Mafia has been been arrested.
10339. Apparently, some guy was running a bootleg Mayo bottling operation and
10340. selling his wares at a public market at an extremely low cost.  As far as
10341. I can tell from the story, the real issue was that he didn't have a
10342. license and that his mayo "only consisted of 25% fat rather than the
10343. requisite 65%" and contained no milk or egg products.  The other gem of
10344. news was that at least one russian phone company has dropped weekend rates
10345. to the states to about $.60 per minute.  If I can find a way to take
10346. advantage of this, some of you might get a call from me at some bizzare
10347. hour this weekend.
10348.  
10349. After the meeting, I headed out to try to get my dad and brother
10350. official invitations for visas.  So, I called the Travelers' Guest House
10351. and got their address and prices.  (TGH has the ability to fax them out
10352. the same day....pricy ($35) but convenient.)  I hopped on the metro and
10353. got off at prospect mira.  After about 15 minutes of walking, i found
10354. building #5 on the apropriate street....they'd never heard of the
10355. travellers' guest house...although a nice young woman had come by looking
10356. for just such a place this morning...i'm glad that my friend grant also
10357. gave me directions.....i'd been confused as he'd said "#50" and the lady
10358. on the phone had said #5....after a brief trolleybus ride, i found #50 and
10359. chided the woman behind the desk about getting me lost.  By the time I
10360. left, it was already 5:15 and total darkness was rapidly approaching.
10361. It's been tending to get dark here at about 5:30....that's just _wrong_ at
10362. least unless one has a nice fireplace to curl up in front of.
10363.  
10364. Tomorrow is my friend Liz's birthday and I headed off to Progress
10365. (a western supermarket/department store) to get her a pair of little
10366. speakers for her discman as a gift....alas, progress doesn't sell such
10367. things, so I treated myself to a window-shopping spree in the supermarket.
10368. I was amazed to see a woman giving away free samples of ice-cream -- just
10369. like in a western supermarket.  Another thing that caught my eye was
10370. Kellogg's Frosted Flakes....which was an exciting discovery as they're
10371. called "frosties" all over europe.  Upon closer inspection, I discovered
10372. that they were canadian.  I'm dubious of the economy of shipping breakfast
10373. cereal over from the states.
10374.  
10375. At the end of half an hour of browsing, my shopping cart contained the
10376. following items:
10377.  
10378. 1 Slim Jim
10379. 1 Can of Cherry Coke
10380. 2 Cans of Lemon Crush
10381. 1 Package of Cheddar Cheese
10382.  
10383. All these wonderful things came to a grand total of $6.66.  (Yes,
10384. exactly.)
10385.  
10386. From there, I came home.....After about an hour of hanging out, I
10387. fell asleep.....I got about 2 hours of sleep before I was able to rouse
10388. myself enough to write a journal entry for today.  I think I might spend
10389. some more time hacking at "What I did on my trip to the Baltics"...but
10390. that's another story.
10391.  
10393. </pre>
10394. </content>
10395. </entry>
10397. <entry>
10398. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
10399. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/30/a-letter-home/"/>
10400. <updated>1996-10-30T00:00:00Z</updated>
10401. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/30/a-letter-home/</id>
10402. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;Well, I&#39;m back from my trip to the baltics...got back yesterday morning in
10403. fact.....as expected, I slacked off and didn't write a single journal
10404. entry while i was there....so here's a quick summary of the highlights.
10405.  
10406. 18 October 1996
10407.  
10408. After dropping my computer at ACTR's office for safekeeping (in a
10409. safe, no less!)  I ran around to pick up a loaf of bread and several
10410. cup-a-noodles'  At about 3:30 i headed off to the train station to meet
10411. the rest of my group and the group from international.  It turned out that
10412. I ended up in a train car with most of the crowd from international while
10413. most of linugistics was in another....which suited me...Linguistics'
10414. collective plan seemed to be to get as plastered as possible for the
10415. entirety of the train ride.
10416. Well, once we got on the train, everybody started to pull out the
10417. food they brought...we must have had 3 jars of nutella, 4 loaves of bread,
10418. 3 hunks of cheese and 2 bunches of banannas...and emily's host-mom baked
10419. her a pie for the train.......
10420. Sometime later that evening, a guy from down the train askes if we
10421. wouldn't mind talking to a young girl (16) from his coupe, as she wants to
10422. practise her english...no problem we say...after about an hour, he returns
10423. to give us some candy....kevin and i are each handed a single piece of
10424. candy, while each of the four women in the coupe has a handful dropped in
10425. her lap....then the guy sits down and starts to chat with us...he askes us
10426. about our blood types...then goes on to explain that he's got normal
10427. blood....and makes a joke about royal blue-blood which he turns into a
10428. joke about gays (using the slang word goluboi) and tries to get into a
10429. discussion about homosexuality (and how wrong and disgusting and
10430. sub-human it is) with us...At this point, kevin basically told him that we
10431. weren't interested in talking about such things and that he better leave
10432. right then.
10433.  
10434. Our first stop was tallinn...which felt really cool and really
10435. western....we spent about four days there exploring the nooks and crannies
10436. of the old town.  In tallinn, I found my favorite type of bubbles in the
10437. whole world...a german brand called "Pustefix."  Tallinn felt like a very
10438. western city...there were lots of reasonalbly priced restaurants...people
10439. were friendly...they smiled at you on the street....The other thing I
10440. bought in tallinn was a CD by The Lemonheads....who broke up 2-3 years
10441. ago...but they've got a new CD out...I won't ask questions...i'll just
10442. listen to my new CD.  
10443. On our last full day in tallinn, I found net access at the local
10444. EUnet franchisee...apparently they only sell access to dialup or leased
10445. line customers, but took pity on me after I explained my plight and they
10446. told me that there were no cyber-cafes in tallinn.  So, at about 8 bucks
10447. an hour, I was able to check my mail and chat with my friend rachel.  I
10448. also can now add estonia to the list of countries I've logged in from.
10449. </pre>
10450. </content>
10451. </entry>
10453. <entry>
10454. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
10455. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/17/a-letter-home/"/>
10456. <updated>1996-10-17T00:00:00Z</updated>
10457. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/17/a-letter-home/</id>
10458. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;Once again, it&#39;s two am on a school night and I&#39;m just getting around
10459. to writing my journal entry...i should learn better habits..but I
10460. procrastinated for a while by cleaning my room tonight...My friend
10461. Martina helped me by writing some email on my notebook while I
10462. cleaned...in this way,I wasn't even tempted to take a break to play
10463. around..
10464.  
10465. Today, during the break between first and second classes, I
10466. called Todd at CCI. (the place I'm contracting with)  He told me that
10467. Renault (the guy in charge of IT at Renissance Capital (the place I
10468. was yesterday) was really impressed with me and that he had
10469. encouraged Todd not to let me leave the country in december, but to
10470. stay on full time.  Renault apparently went on to say that if
10471. Todd/CCI didn't do this, he/RenCap would.  I'm quite flattered, but
10472. I'm quite returning to the states in december.
10473.  
10474. After class today, I headed off to visit Olga Aleksandrovna
10475. and her new school again.. I thought that today was going to be the
10476. day when I talked to 10th graders about the american educational
10477. system....But no...I got to chat with the teachers....they want to
10478. pick up american slang....so I got to explain such wonderful
10479. expressions as "to be into something" and "hip and trendy."  The
10480. session ran for about an hour.  Apparently the deal is that I'll do a
10481. total of 5 such sessions and get paid 300,000 rubles total at the
10482. end.  Not such bad money...obviously not as good as consulting...but
10483. I can cope...I'm only really doing this as a favor to olga, anyway.
10484. After the discussion, I helped olga translate a letter to a school in
10485. the states into english.  
10486.  
10487. This evening, I've just been hanging around...packing,
10488. sweeping, etc.  See y'all in two weeks.
10490. </pre>
10491. </content>
10492. </entry>
10494. <entry>
10495. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
10496. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/16/a-letter-home/"/>
10497. <updated>1996-10-16T00:00:00Z</updated>
10498. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/16/a-letter-home/</id>
10499. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;Wow...today was certainly an action-packed day.  It all started at about 9
10500. am when I slammed the alarm clock.  It started all over again at about 10
10501. when I finally realized that the alarm clock wasn't simply taunting me.  I
10502. showered.  (We've had hot water for over a week now...I don't get it.)  I
10503. threw on some clothing and headed out to Leningradsky Vokzal to pick up my
10504. tickets to Petersburg.  My Russian was so bad that the travel agent
10505. commented on how much better it had been the first time.  Then he tried to
10506. get me to arrange a hotel stay for my mom through Intourist.  I thanked
10507. him politely, scooped my tickets up and returned to the metro.  When I got
10508. home, I looked at my tickets.  It's interesting...They required both
10509. passport numbers, but they don't appear anywhere on our tickets.  *shrug*
10510. At home, I shaved and brushed my hair and sat around for an hour
10511. killing time.  It was about 12:30 and Todd Labaugh was showing up with a
10512. car to whisk me away to a job interview at 2:30.  At about 1:30 I gave in
10513. and put on slacks, a shirt, tie and jacket.  The effect was a little
10514. disconcerting.  You see, I promised myself long ago that I'd never take a
10515. job where I had to wear a tie.  (The tie itself doesn't bother me....it's
10516. that top button and the fact that I have to wear slacks AND button the top
10517. button AND that I have to be sure to pull my hair back AND that I look
10518. like a suit.  But, I guess that's fairly normal for your average computer
10519. geek.
10520. I ended up watching TV downstairs for about 45 minutes to kill
10521. time before heading up to Park Kultury metro to meet Todd.  Rachel (one
10522. of the Brits) came in with a computer magazine.  She was astounded at the
10523. advertised price for a 16Mb EDO simm--$100.  I honestly can't remember
10524. what it is at home.
10525.  
10526. Well, in the car over to our client's (Renissance Capital
10527. [rencap.com]) office, Todd started telling me about them...apparently they
10528. handle 60% of the Venture Capital in Russia at the moment.  Quite a
10529. staggering figure.  Apparently, they're buying new Compaq PentiumPro 200
10530. Workstations at the rate of 15 per month.  The consulting I'll be doing is
10531. Mac consulting....and it will probably be on an as-needed basis.  Todd
10532. started to talk about CCI (his company) springing for a pager for me.
10533. When he heard that I'd done work w/ e-commerce, he said that he might have
10534. other work for me--apparently CCI just fired the last guy who was working
10535. on commerce-enabling their web site.  
10536. Anyway, RenCap is in a really spiffy modern building...everybody
10537. there has magnetic ID badges...not even swipe...just proximity--they open
10538. when you wave your badge at the lock...pretty cool.  They've got a really
10539. nice setup...except they're running NT almost everywhere...except on their
10540. two macs---an 8100 and a 9500 w/ a 17" screen and 64 megs of RAM.  The
10541. powermacs are meant to be desktop publishing stations.  Apparently,
10542. they've got a copy of Quark Xpress 3.31 and a copy of 3.32 and they want
10543. to run 3.32 on both, but the serial #s aren't interchangable...and quark
10544. does one of those network licensing things...it polls for other running
10545. copies.  Well, I tried to ftp an updater...but they're behind a firewall
10546. and the techie assigned to me insisted that they didn't have any form of a
10547. bastion host....instead, he opted to reconfigure their firewall to let the
10548. mac FTP out.   It only took 15 minutes once I showed him how to find the
10549. mac's IP address (he insisted that TCP/IP wasn't installed on the macs...i
10550. thought this was a bizzare claim as I'd already gotten out using
10551. Netscape...)  While we were in the machine room (it puts anything I've
10552. ever seen to shame...except for the conspicuious absence of blinkenlights)
10553. the tech who was reconfiguring the firewall telnetted into a
10554. unix box "slon" (elephant) and telnetting to the outside world....It's
10555. funny...that's kind of what I'd meant before. *shrug*  My time--their
10556. money.  In the end, it turned out that the tech didn't really want to buy
10557. an upgrade to 3.32 (which, i believe, is payware) and asked me about
10558. ways of tricking the programs into not telling each other that they
10559. existed.  I opted for a solution that would be pretty unthinkable in the
10560. states--I showed him where to find a "Cracks & Serial #s" file.  He was
10561. generally very defensive...he didn't think I'd need to show up
10562. again....then again, care and feeding of the two macs is (part of) his
10563. job.  He and I had tea and he called a car to deliver me to the metro.
10564.  
10565. I took the metro to Universitet--where I met my contact family.
10566. They took me to see Twelfth Night at the "Blue Bird" children's
10567. theater...except it was an opera...I understood just about nothing.  As we
10568. were leaving, my contact mom gave me a packet with a pair, two pieces of
10569. pie and a chicken sandwich.  I'd never seen a chicken sandwich w/ the
10570. chicken still on the bone before...
10571. Once I got home, I discovered that Olya and Tanya (the girls who
10572. live across the hall) had decided that I'd been kidnapped, as I hadn't
10573. come home from my "Interview".  Later, Jerry and I hung out and geeked out
10574. for a while (chatted about programming languages, hardware, RFCs, etc)  He
10575. read me entries from a russian translation of "The Jargon File" that he
10576. picked up today...quite amusing.  I verified that it was the real thing by
10577. asking him to read the entry for Hobbit...which does indeed mention
10578. *hobbit* as the keeper (literally: landlord) of lasers.  I think I'll
10579. probably get one more journal entry off before I surrender my computer to
10580. the ACTR main office for the duration of our trip to the baltics.  We
10581. leave friday afternoon.  If I don't get another journal entry off before I
10582. take off, I'll talk to y'all in november. (Barring the discovery of a
10583. cyber-cafe in the baltics...Jerry and I have decided to try to find one.)
10584.  
10585. </pre>
10586. </content>
10587. </entry>
10589. <entry>
10590. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
10591. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/15/a-letter-home/"/>
10592. <updated>1996-10-15T00:00:00Z</updated>
10593. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/15/a-letter-home/</id>
10594. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;Tuesday&#39;s classes started with phonetics...where I, once again, hadn&#39;t
10595. been able to memorize the story she wanted us to memorize.  We finally got
10596. out of classes at 2:30 and ran down to the stolovaya for a snack before
10597. our group meeting.
10598. At the meeting, we learned that we're leaving for the baltics on
10599. friday at 5:30.  We still haven't recieved visas to get back into russia
10600. once we leave.  It seems that the local visa office is the only one in
10601. town that has heard of a new rule that foreigners studying in moscow
10602. aren't allowed to leave the country during their stay....so we're hoping
10603. that we can get new visas in estonia.  If not, future dispatches might be
10604. coming to you from the baltics.  (Don't worry, mom...i'll be back in time
10605. for your visit)
10606.  
10607. After the meeting, I logged in for the first time in several days
10608. to discover that Utopia's new sendmail configuration is apparently
10609. bouncing at least some of my mail.  So, I set up forwarding to Wes for the
10610. duration.  (It's also easier to telnet to wes, in the even that I find a
10611. cyber-cafe in the baltics.)  After that, it was off to the bank, in order
10612. to change $350 in travellers checks into rubles so I can go buy train
10613. tickets tomorrow.  On the way, I passed several women in green and white
10614. jumpsuits passing out free cigarettes.  I swear the girl in the bank kassa
10615. must have counted my checks 20 times...but she didn't give me any hassle
10616. about cashing the checks themselves.  
10617. For the moment, at least, I'm a ruble multi-millionaire.  It's
10618. only a little disconcerting knowing that I have two million of anything in
10619. my wallet. But, it will get much lighter tomorrow.  
10620. On the way back from the money changer, I stopped to pick up a
10621. kilo of ponchiki (a cross between doughnuts and fried dough) for several
10622. people on the program.  While I was waiting, a beggar hit me up for money
10623. several times.  (You'd think he'd take a hint afer I said "No! Go away!")
10624. When I got back, I discovered a game of hearts in mid-trick.
10625. Within moments, I'd taken jocelyn's spot.  (Matt, you'd be proud of me:  I
10626. took about 4 points over 4 hands...)  Well, after several hands, everybody
10627. else got disgusted by my winning streak and I bowed out to log back in.  I
10628. got to talk to my friends rachel and jen and kate....who happen to
10629. be so net-addicted that they were logged in at 10 am. ;) (through iowa no
10630. less!)  God, I love the internet.
10631. Later, my hall-mates olya and tanya invited me to tanya's "7000
10632. days" party.  Apparently it's her 7000th day alive....it was really just
10633. an excuse to have a party....we played silly party games, drank chai, ate
10634. cookies and told stories...it was quite silly and a lot of fun all
10635. around...now I'm just typing silly journal entries and dreading my job
10636. interview tomorrow.
10637. </pre>
10638. </content>
10639. </entry>
10641. <entry>
10642. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
10643. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/14/a-letter-home/"/>
10644. <updated>1996-10-14T00:00:00Z</updated>
10645. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/14/a-letter-home/</id>
10646. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;Monday&#39;s classes proceeded without incident.  After class...gosh...what
10647. did I do on monday...oh, yeah, Catherine (one of the brits) and I went off
10648. in search of Tolstoy's estate...which happens to be located about a block
10649. from our dorm...well, I now know that it's closed on mondays...and it's
10650. closed after four pm...so we were doubly out of luck.  Afterward, I had
10651. tea with a bunch of the Brits.  One of them was going on about how he was
10652. "going to see a man about a dog."  He's apparently decided to take the
10653. plunge into the wonderful world of Russian drugs.  It's not the brightest
10654. thing I've ever heard, but if that's what he wants to do, he's welcome to.
10655.  
10656. At about 9 pm, I got hungry again...but, since the stolovaya
10657. closes at about 6:30.  (When they run out of "food" is another matter
10658. entirely) So, I ran out to one of the kiosks on the street and bought a
10659. box of frozen "pilmeni" (russian dumplings)  They are sold with names like
10660. "russian pilmeni" and "georgian pilmeni"  I asked for russian pilmeni as
10661. they were featured prominently in the list.  "We don't have russian
10662. pilmeni today...but we've got..." and then a torrent of the names of
10663. various types of pilemeni ensued.  I had no idea what to choose...so i
10664. made the shopkeeper pick for me.  I believe I got "Pilmeni for putting on
10665. the table"  which had beef, pork, several meats I'd never heard of and
10666. "bird meat."  They were tasty and filling...I'm not really going to ponder
10667. what's in them any more.  
10668. </pre>
10669. </content>
10670. </entry>
10672. <entry>
10673. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
10674. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/13/a-letter-home/"/>
10675. <updated>1996-10-13T00:00:00Z</updated>
10676. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/13/a-letter-home/</id>
10677. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;On sunday, I woke up at about 2 with the intent of meeting nancy at 5:30
10678. to go have vietnamise food. Well, I got to the metro station at about
10679. 5:15...she showed up at about 5:40...slightly tipsy.  She tried to
10680. convince me that I didn't want to have vietnamise food and that we should
10681. have a party at her house instead.  I insisted that I did want to have
10682. vietnamise food.  We compromised--after going out for vietnamise, we'd
10683. invite people over to her house. Unfortunately, the vietnamise complex
10684. which usually closes at 7 closes at 6 on sundays.  So, we headed back to
10685. the metro where she proceeded to call as many people as she could think of
10686. to invite to her house.  In the end, Shelly and Nancy's friend Dima showed
10687. up.  Shelly and I hung out for about 1/2 an hour before heading
10688. home.....in general a sort of disappointing day.
10689.  
10690. jesse
10691. </pre>
10692. </content>
10693. </entry>
10695. <entry>
10696. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
10697. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/12/a-letter-home/"/>
10698. <updated>1996-10-12T00:00:00Z</updated>
10699. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/12/a-letter-home/</id>
10700. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;On Saturday, I rolled out of bed at about 10:25 for a 10:30 meeting with
10701. Tim O'Conner, some ACTR bigwig.  He was in town and wanted to have a
10702. meeting with all of us to make sure we were happy, etc.  Essentially,
10703. we're all happy.  This made Tim happy.
10704. At about 1, Rachel (one of the brits) and I went out CD-ROM
10705. hunting.  It seems that she'd been having trouble finding an inexpensive
10706. copy of Windows NT Server 4.0.  I told her that I had a couple of ideas.
10707. We found one on Arbat, though she decided not to buy it.  They were also
10708. selling copies of Windows "96" and "beta" copies of MS Office "97."  All
10709. of this for between 5 and 16 dollars per CD.  Not too shabby.  
10710. Rachel and I had to be back at the dorm by four because a bunch of
10711. people were going out to dinner at "Santa Fe" before going to see Swan
10712. Lake at the Kremlin.
10713. As we left the dorm, I was informed that we were not in fact going
10714. to Santa Fe, but to Pizza Hut.  The plan was to go to Pizza Hut on
10715. Tverskaya, where there would be no chance in hell of getting 20 people in.
10716. I convinced them that we should go to the Pizza Hut by Kievsky Vokzal.
10717. When we got there, we discovered a line about 40 people long.  The next
10718. suggestion was to try "Chinese Take Away" down the street at the John Bull
10719. Pub.  (Incidentally, this pub is located in Kutuzovsky Prospekt 4, which
10720. some of you may recognise as the building I lived in the first time I was
10721. in moscow.)
10722. It wasn't too bad.  It was greasy, poorly prepared and the menu
10723. didn't have much on it.  In short, it's everything crap chinese is
10724. supposed to be....except cheap.  An order of pan fried dumplings was about
10725. $5.  Not outrageous...but not wonderful.  Since we opted for takeout
10726. rather than eating in the pub itself, the only place we could find to sit
10727. was on the edge of the building itself which was almost wide enough to sit
10728. on.  It must have been the best advertisement the restaurant could have
10729. asked for--20 western kids sitting outside shoveling food into their
10730. mouths as fast as their chopsticks could carry it.
10731. From there, I showed the brits how to get to the kremlin to see
10732. their play and headed home to veg and write letters.  I ended up having
10733. tea with Carrie and Jeff and not writing so many letters...Well, that's
10734. life.  Carrie and Jeff had just returned from dinner at the Vietnamise
10735. place that I'd been trying to get people to go to all week.  Well, that's
10736. where I'm headed in about an hour...so I guess I can't complain too much.  
10737.  
10738. Wow, this is the first time in about a week that I've been caught
10739. up on journal entries....neat...now  I can slack off for four days again
10740. ;)
10741.  
10742.  
10743. </pre>
10744. </content>
10745. </entry>
10747. <entry>
10748. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
10749. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/11/a-letter-home/"/>
10750. <updated>1996-10-11T00:00:00Z</updated>
10751. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/11/a-letter-home/</id>
10752. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;On friday, we had a birthday party for Alicia between classes.  Nothing
10753. special, really...just a cake.  After classes, I headed off to buy train
10754. tickets to Petersburg for me and my mom. (She's visiting next month)
10755. Since we wanted to get "first class" tickets, I figured I'd have to go to
10756. intourist's main office.  Intourist is the former "official" soviet travel
10757. service for foriegners.  When I arrived at Intourist, I was told that I
10758. could only buy tickets to Petersburg at the train station.  
10759.  
10760. I hopped off the Metro at Komsomolskaya and started to scout
10761. around for Leningradsky Vokzal ("Leningrad Train Station")  I had no
10762. problem finding Yaroslavsky Vokzal and Kazansky Vokzal..but Leningradsky
10763. Vokzal was nowhere to be found.  I asked several people who all pointed me
10764. in vastly different directions.  After walking up and down the same
10765. stretch of road several times, I looked at the facade of a huge builing
10766. that was covered in scaffolding and green netting.  There was a single
10767. sign no bigger than 1x2 feet reading "Entrance to the train station is
10768. around the corner to the right."  Well, I went around the corner to the
10769. right and found an unmarked door that luckily opened onto the concourse of
10770. a train station that I could only assume to be Leningradsky.
10771.  
10772. Well, I was in luck...there was a huge sign reading "Intourist
10773. Office" at the top of a staircase....Upon opening the only door at the
10774. top of the staircase, I was informed that I was in the wrong room and that
10775. there was nothing I could possibly want there.  It wasn't the intourist
10776. office.  I closed the door and walked down the stairs and realized that I
10777. hadn't said a word to the woman who told me I was in the wrong place.
10778. Wandering through the train station, I finally found another door marked
10779. "Intourist." This one actually opened into  a small intourist office.
10780. In the office was a man who actually said that he could sell me tickets to
10781. St. Petersburg.  Then he said, "Not for today?  You can't get tickets for
10782. today.  Besides, today's trains are bad."  I reassured him.   It turned
10783. out that I couldn't get tickets without both my and my mother's passport
10784. numbers.  Tickets also have to be purchased in cash..in roubles....So, I
10785. get to bring 1.7 Million roubles to a train station sometime next week.
10786. Oh, joy.
10787.  
10788. After that, I bought a hot dog on the street.  Some guy was
10789. looking at the drinks being sold by the hotdog vendor. "Do you have any
10790. vodka?" he asked.  "No, they're all juices."  The man went away.  I ran in
10791. to him again several minutes later asking the same question at another
10792. hotdog vendor.  He then turned to me and asked the same question.  I told
10793. him that I thought he might be able to purchase some vodka "over there."
10794. He went happily on his way to find the vodka and I went happily on my way
10795. to the metro.
10796. </pre>
10797. </content>
10798. </entry>
10800. <entry>
10801. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
10802. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/10/a-letter-home/"/>
10803. <updated>1996-10-10T00:00:00Z</updated>
10804. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/10/a-letter-home/</id>
10805. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;On thursday, I visited my old Russian teacher, Olga Karp at her new
10806. school.  Apparently, she's somewhere between being a teacher and an
10807. administrator there.  The school building is the same as most other
10808. schools in moscow, but it's got a completely different atmosphere.
10809. Even though it's a public school, the place just screams MONEY!
10810. The director's got beautiful wood paneled office with leather couches, a
10811. video phone, a spiffy new computer, etc.  There are plants (admittedly,
10812. most of them are plastic) throughout the building.  They've got modern
10813. textbooks, teachers who care (and who speak good english), a modern
10814. computer lab and other such things.  Students learn english from the first
10815. grade on and pick up german and french later on.  Oh, and this is all free
10816. to the students.
10817. Olga asked me to come in to meet people and to talk to them about
10818. giving lessons to the english teachers in American English.  (Apparently,
10819. they just want me to chat with them.)  Once I arrived, Olga brought me
10820. into a teachers' lounge with big puffy leather couches and sat me down to
10821. chat with several administrators.  The asked if I was hungry.  I
10822. said..."well, maybe just a little bit..."
10823. Five minutes later, a girl showed up with a platter of meats and
10824. salmon and caviar and other such things....I was introduced to her, she
10825. stood there for a moment and then she left.  As soon as she was out the
10826. door, i was asked what I thought of her and whether I liked her.
10827. Sometimes, this culture is just bizzare.
10828. Afterward, I was introduced to their computer teacher, who had
10829. apparently been a student at the school and gone on to get a degree in
10830. engineering and was back to teach at the school.  As soon as we left the
10831. room, I was asked if I liked her.  Then I was given a tour of the rest of
10832. the school and invited to their 30th anniversary festivities some time in
10833. november.  Afterward, I helped Olga to correct the english version of the
10834. school's brochure.  It's now saturday...i don't really remember going out
10835. thursday night...I'm pretty sure that I just came out and hung around for
10836. a bit...
10837.  
10838.  
10839.  
10840. </pre>
10841. </content>
10842. </entry>
10844. <entry>
10845. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
10846. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/09/a-letter-home/"/>
10847. <updated>1996-10-09T00:00:00Z</updated>
10848. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/09/a-letter-home/</id>
10849. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;Wednesday October 9, 1996
10850.  
10851. Wednesday was once again excursion day.  This time we took the
10852. elektrichka (electric trains to the countryside) to Sergeev Passad.  I
10853. took a nap on the train.  Sergeev Passad is a town, formerly known as
10854. Zagorsk, which is the home of a famousish monastary.  The monastary is
10855. actually really cool.  Our tour finished at about 1:30 and some of us
10856. headed home.  We missed our train (although we didn't know this at the
10857. time) by about 3 minutes because I ended up having to go to the bathroom.
10858. The next train didn't come for about 45 minutes so we just walked around
10859. and checked out what gets sold at a provincial train station.  The most
10860. interesting thing is that a lot of products were labeled with their city
10861. of origin. (Dumplings from C. or Chocalate from Moscow...)  I bought a
10862. Nestle bar that said it's recipe had been adapted from a tradition swiss
10863. recipe.  I hadn't realized how much I missed milk chocolate.  Russians are
10864. very into dark chocolate and consider milk chocolate to be children's
10865. chocolate. Well, we made it home at about 5.  I tried, to no avail, to get
10866. in touch with my friend Nadia before calling my contact family to arrange
10867. to meet them at the circus. (where they were taking me this week.)
10868.  
10869. The circus was cool...much better than the one on red square.  My
10870. contact-mom got us tickets in the third row...really great seats.  One
10871. curious feature of the building is that the floor of the ring drops out.
10872. They have several floors, one for regular circus acts, a dirtlike floor
10873. for some animal acts (might actually be the regular floor) and an ICE
10874. floor for the circus on ice.  The acts at the circus ranged from Clowns on
10875. ice to Chechens on horses.  At the circus, I bought a PEZ dispenser.  I
10876. read the sign and thought it said "20 T.R. for a pez dispenser."  I was
10877. wrong...what it said was "20 T.R. for a pez dispenser with clothing."  The
10878. babushka who sold me the dispenser called me back after I walked away and
10879. asked me if I took two dispensers.  "Of course not!" I replied.  She then
10880. explained the pez pricing structure to me.  I thanked her and selected a
10881. set of green pez-clothing to go with my purple pez dispenser.  She told me
10882. that I'd have to pick another color of clothing, as it didn't match that
10883. of my dispenser.  So, now I've got a Ducktales pez dispenser wearing a
10884. purple dress.
10885.  
10886.  
10887. jesse
10888.  
10889. </pre>
10890. </content>
10891. </entry>
10893. <entry>
10894. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
10895. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/08/a-letter-home/"/>
10896. <updated>1996-10-08T00:00:00Z</updated>
10897. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/08/a-letter-home/</id>
10898. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;Well, tuesday was a kind of blah day too.  I did my laundry...that took
10899. pretty much all afternoon.  It started after class at about 3.  I'd
10900. decided that I absolutely needed to find a laundromat this week.  (I've
10901. been told that there _is_ one.  They've even got driers...Nobody knows
10902. where it is though.) I was getting down to my last few pairs of underwear
10903. (i'd done laundry once before...when i was living with my host family.)
10904. At about 3, i gave in and decided to wash a few tshirts in the sink.
10905. After I did that, I realized what a waste it was to only do a little bit
10906. of laundry at a time...So, I filled the bathtub with water, poured in a
10907. bunch of woolite and threw most of my clothes in. At first I tried to mash
10908. them about by hand, but it was way too awkward....So I put on a pair of
10909. shorts and started to do the wine-making thing....I jumped up and down on
10910. them till the water turned black.  At that point, I realized that I didn't
10911. own a clothesline...So I emptied the tub and filled it with fresh water
10912. and poured in some more woolite.  I mashed for a bit and put on my last
10913. reasonably clean pair of pants for the trip to progress.  I figured i'd at
10914. least be able to find some twine at one of the kisoks on the way...no
10915. dice.  Progress didn't have twine either...but they did have clothespins.
10916. So, I headed home with my task at least half completed....I figured I
10917. could improvise and come up with clothesline, even if it were made up of a
10918. serial or 10Base-T line.  Luckily, jerry had some extra clothesline which
10919. he gave me.  I returned to the stomping, changing the water twice more.
10920. At this point it was about 8:30 and I was exhausted.  I spent the rest of
10921. the evening vegging and coping with the fact that my dripping clothes had
10922. poured enough water on the ground for me to observe that my floor is not
10923. indeed flat, but inclined....the lowest part just happens to be where I've
10924. got my bed.  So, my towel was sacrificed to the gods of the floor.  That
10925. was about all I did on tuesday.  I definately appreciate washing machines
10926. more than I used to.
10927.  
10928. </pre>
10929. </content>
10930. </entry>
10932. <entry>
10933. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
10934. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/07/a-letter-home/"/>
10935. <updated>1996-10-07T00:00:00Z</updated>
10936. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/07/a-letter-home/</id>
10937. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;Monday was a pretty ordinary day....classes...george moved to a new
10938. homestay, so I've got the room to myself again.  After class, I pretty
10939. much just hung out.  On Sunday night, I'd been assigned to get crackers
10940. for wine and cheese in Carrie's room at about midnight.  At 10, I realized
10941. that I didn't have any crackers, so I threw on a coat and started off
10942. toward Progress (supermarket) looking for crackers...well, progress closed
10943. at 9:30.  I realized that I didn't know the russian word for crackers as I
10944. went into one of the small shops between my dorm and Progress.  I tried
10945. explaining crackers--"Well, they're sort of like cookies...but they taste
10946. different...people often have them with cheese."  I was asked if I wanted
10947. cheese flavored cookies....I gave up hope of trying to figure it out and
10948. sort of blurted out the word "Crackers." "Ohhh..you want 'krakersi' the
10949. shopkeeper said" (it would figure that the word would be a cognate."  I
10950. got excited--"yes, I want krakersi."  "Well, we don't have any."  
10951. Dejected, I set off for home...luckily, I tried another small shop
10952. which had some form of "cream crackers" which were good enough.  The party
10953. was amusing...if a bit smoky. (Everyone in this damn country smokes.  Even
10954. people who claim they don't.)  At about 2, i decided that I needed to get
10955. at least a few hours of sleep.
10956.  
10957. jesse
10958. </pre>
10959. </content>
10960. </entry>
10962. <entry>
10963. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
10964. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/06/a-letter-home/"/>
10965. <updated>1996-10-06T00:00:00Z</updated>
10966. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/06/a-letter-home/</id>
10967. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;Sunday started at about 1 pm, as a good sunday should.  I lounged around
10968. for several hours, enjoyed a scalding shower and got dressed.  I met Nancy
10969. at 4:00 at pushkinskaya metro.  While I was waiting for her, I spotted a
10970. _very_ tall gentleman wearing a sweater but no coat.  I quickly surmised
10971. that he was an american tourist who was at least slightly lost.  So, I
10972. pointed him in the right direction.  About then, Nancy showed up and we
10973. set off to find "Fuji" a japanese restaurant that was reputed to have good
10974. sushi.  Well, we took a wrong turn or two and were definately going in the
10975. wrong direction when we realized that it was 4:30 and we needed to call
10976. the friends we had invited to the circus.  We found a payphone and I tried
10977. the trick Alyosha had taught me....To my surprise, it worked.  Actually,
10978. it worked a bit too well..the plastic cover of the phone fell off. (I
10979. didn't break it...it just fell)  Anyway, we found the restaurant...it
10980. wasn't the best sushi i've ever had and it was by far the most expensive,
10981. but it was damn good for moscow...and they gave us extra ginger and
10982. wasabi.  After that, we headed off to red square to meet my friend emily.
10983. (Nancy's friend bailed on us as he had just done his laundry and had no
10984. clean pants.)  We were about 20 minutes late, but it all worked out
10985. because she was too.
10986.  
10987. We decided to grab a snack (we did not fill up on sushi...just
10988. don't have that kind of money) at one of several Pepsi Mobile-Cafes parked
10989. by the circus.  The first one we approached had a longish line while one
10990. 20 meters away had no line.  Emily and I started to walk toward the empty
10991. one and tried to convince nancy to do the same.  She protested, "but there
10992. must be a reason why there's a line here and none there..."  I came very
10993. close to blurting out that Russians just wait in lines because other
10994. people are waiting in lines...but I thought better of it."  Once we got
10995. our food at the cafe w/ no line, a line had formed behind us...proving my
10996. unspoken point.
10997.  
10998. Nancy needed to go to the bathroom and a guard directed us to an
10999. area near lenin's mausoleum....imagine my surprise when we found _clean_
11000. _free_ public toilets right on red square.  The circus was kind of
11001. cool...it was very poorly rehearsed.  The hilights for me would have to be
11002. an obscene mime act (don't ask) and a troupe of skateboarding acrobats. .
11003. . oh and there were the typical acrobats on horses...except they were
11004. riding on camels. (two humps if it matters)
11005.  
11006. The circus let out at about 11:00 and we headed home.  When I got
11007. home, I was roped into hanging out with Carrie and several brits until
11008. about 4 am.  conversation ranged from bizzare british slang to whom we
11009. hated on our program to linguistics.
11010.  
11011.  
11012. </pre>
11013. </content>
11014. </entry>
11016. <entry>
11017. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
11018. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/05/a-letter-home/"/>
11019. <updated>1996-10-05T00:00:00Z</updated>
11020. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/05/a-letter-home/</id>
11021. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;Ok, so i&#39;ve lapsed..again...it&#39;s monday night and i&#39;m just writing about
11022. saturday.
11023.  
11024. Saturday started about two hours after friday ended, when Carrie
11025. and Shelly crawled over me to get to the door.  They decided that they
11026. needed to go home as soon as the metro opened....(at 6 am)  I, on the
11027. other hand decided to sleep as long as I could.  I finally got up at about
11028. 9:40 and Nancy suggested that we have breakfast at the American Bar and
11029. Grill....Now, mind you, I was supposed to call my friend Nadia between 10
11030. and 11 because I was supposed to spend the day at her family's
11031. dacha...Well, I called four times and got an answering machine every time.
11032. It's really too bad.. I've been here for about 5 weeks and I have yet to
11033. see her.
11034. At least breakfast was good.  I had a western omlette and
11035. coffee..for seven dollars.  that's not too bad for this town, these days.
11036. The coffee was bottomless...and it was real...not this instant shit that
11037. russians are so into.  The omlette (obviously) couldn't compare to
11038. O'Rourkes, but it was quite tasty. (So, of the Middletown contingent,
11039. who's up for O'Rourkes the first Sunday I'm back in town?)  
11040. It was such a beautiful day that we decided to walk the several
11041. miles from Pushkin metro to Kievsky Market.  On the way, we stopped in
11042. several stores looking for brown sugar, as i'd gotten it into my head that
11043. I wanted to bake chocolate chip cookies.  Unfortunately, russians have
11044. never heard of "brown sugar"...it's just a foreign concept to them.  As we
11045. passed through red square, we noticed a large circus tent....yep the
11046. "World Festival of Circus Arts" was in town.  So, we bought tickets for
11047. sunday and made plans to meet after dinner, try out this sushi place I'd
11048. heard of and go to the circus...but that's another day's story.
11049.  
11050. When we finally got to kievsky market, we wer kinda hungry, so we
11051. started to accept the samples of various salads that numerous korean women
11052. told us that we "needed to try"  Most of them were pretty good and we
11053. actually bought a bag of carrot salad to munch on.  After sampling one
11054. salad, I made the mistake of asking what it was..."Calamari"...i'd just
11055. eaten squid that was being sold on the street....but, it's three days
11056. later and i'm still alive.  At the market, I got a jar of fresh honey and
11057. a small sickly aloe plant that was desparate to be transplanted..the jar
11058. of honey cost about 6 bucks and the aloe plant cost about 30 cents.
11059.  
11060. After that, (it was about 5 pm) it was onto the metro and home to
11061. vegetate...Somehow, I don't think I got to bed too early....but i didn't
11062. do anything really interesting.
11063.  
11064.  
11065.  
11066. </pre>
11067. </content>
11068. </entry>
11070. <entry>
11071. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
11072. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/04/a-letter-home/"/>
11073. <updated>1996-10-04T00:00:00Z</updated>
11074. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/04/a-letter-home/</id>
11075. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;Well, friday started innocently enough.  I got up at about 10 in
11076. order to meet Nikita (the husband of an ACTR research scholar) at 11 to go
11077. to "Netcom 96" a computer and networking trade show.  After locating the
11078. exposition center and presenting our complimentary tickets, we got to
11079. wander around inside.  It felt like every trade show i've been to in the
11080. states...except nobody was giving away any tchotchkes....and for an
11081. internet trade show (among other things) there was surprisingly little
11082. connectivity (I spent a bunch of time trying [and failing] to locate a
11083. machine with a net connection....well, there were several, but those were
11084. "hands off") I did, however, find that lots of pavilions had unix boxen
11085. (mostly suns) out to play with.  Almost all were demoing net traffic
11086. analysis software.  All had shells open.  All but two were logged in as
11087. "root."  I think a security consulting gig could make a lot of money here.
11088. As we walked around, I discovered that Nikita is terribly interested in
11089. the field of e-commerce.  So, I spent a lot of time chatting with him
11090. about various systems. [No, Utopians, I didn't violate any NDA we may or
11091. may not be under ;)] Toward the end, we were in a booth of a fairly big
11092. reseller/consulting company toying with their hardware.  Some guy comes up
11093. to us and askes us if he can help us...we get to talking...i ask them if
11094. they have any programming gigs open.  He shakes his head.  I pipe up that
11095. I can also do Mac, PC and Unix support. "Macs?!?!? You know Macs?  One of
11096. our biggest clients has been having trouble with their macs.  What's your
11097. phone number?  Can you call me on monday?  You'd probably be needed over
11098. there about three times a week...How much do you charge?  Well, we're
11099. charging them $50 per hour...you and I can work something out on monday."
11100. At this point, I grinned and asked him about the work environment.  I
11101. swore that I was never going to take a shirt and tie job, but since it
11102. appears to be the only game in town at the moment, I'll try it once and
11103. see how it goes.  If I like it and they like me, I'll grab another
11104. permanent press shirt or two and invest in a second tie.
11105.  
11106. I was very amused.  I headed back to the dorm to hang out until
11107. 8:30 when Carrie was supposed to show up with some friends to go out to
11108. the cafe Margarita (Named for the character in Bulgakov's _Master and
11109. Margarita_)  Well, we went to the wrong metro by the wrong pond.  When we
11110. figured this out, we wet to the first cafe we saw and were told that they
11111. didn't have any food, wouldn't we like a drink instead.  After briefly
11112. toying with attempting to obtain their 4-foot long inflatable tube
11113. of Mentos, we continued our quest for food.  Seconds later, we
11114. narrowly avoided being struck down by a tram by diving aside.  Upon closer
11115. inspection, we discovered that it wasn't just a tram but a
11116. tram-restaurant.  Prices wer high, but not terribly high.
11117.  
11118. At about 11, we returned to the dorm to take a breather before
11119. going off to meet Carrie's friend Nancie to go to some form of "Native
11120. African Music Festival" which started at 12.  George decided to tag along.
11121. When we got there, we discovered that the price wasn't 60 T.R (minus
11122. student discount) as advertised but was 80 T.R.  16 bucks....for music
11123. till dawn.  George took this opportunity to bail....he decided it wasn't
11124. worth it......but it was...it turned out to be a disco/rave.  We danced
11125. for about 3 hours straight.  Everything from an R&B band to white russian
11126. rap.  Definately not "traditional african music" but perhaps something got
11127. lost in the translation.  Smoke machines, A great light show, some weird
11128. music, russian rave kids and some very bizzare individuals on a variety of
11129. mind-altering substances made this one hell of an interesting
11130. people-watching venue....Finally, at about 3:30, the real acts had gone
11131. home and were replaced with a string of Russian kids with
11132. synthesizers...each of whom seemed to sound like what one might imagine
11133. Depeche Mode to have sounded like before they learned how to
11134. play....Shelly and I each played one game of $1 pinball in the basement of
11135. the venue before deciding that it was definately out of out price range.
11136. Returning upstairs, we found Carrie and Nancy fast asleep. We decided to
11137. go to the Starlight diner for some coffee and something to eat.  The
11138. Starlight is supposed to be open all night, but we realized that we had no
11139. idea where it was.  (As it turned out, I'm pretty sure it was a block from
11140. where we were, but we had no idea) We hopped a cab to nancy's appartment
11141. where we all piled in and promptly fell asleep.
11142.  
11143. </pre>
11144. </content>
11145. </entry>
11147. <entry>
11148. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
11149. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/03/a-letter-home/"/>
11150. <updated>1996-10-03T00:00:00Z</updated>
11151. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/03/a-letter-home/</id>
11152. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;October 3
11153.  
11154.  
11155. I woke up at about 8:20 after about 4 hours of sleep and, in a fit
11156. of whimsy, turned on the hot water in the shower.   Why bother with such
11157. things any more?  I knew there was no hot water.  I grabbed a glass of tea
11158. in the dorm's stolovaya and threw on a jacket and boots.   Today was our
11159. trip to the Red October candy factory!
11160.  
11161. Once we got there, we had to change into slippers for our trip
11162. through the factory museum.  The focus of the curator's talk was on how
11163. well the workers have always been treated at Red October, even before the
11164. revolution, when it was called the Elenim chocolate factory.  At various
11165. times, they've had specials schools, choirs, a symphony and lots of
11166. special benefits for the workers.  Some current workers are third
11167. generation employees!  Apparently, since becoming a private factory, Red
11168. October has been tremendously profitable.  
11169. Before being allowed in the factory proper, we were required to
11170. don long white lab-coat like affairs (halati) and little white hats.
11171. I assumed that the instruction: "Girls, if you've got long hair, you
11172. should tuck it up inside your hat" applied to me and attempted (to
11173. several people's great amusement) to do so...but I couldn't get my hair
11174. into the tiny hat.  so, I just put it up in a bun.
11175.  
11176. To get to the factory, we had to walk through a maze of corridors,
11177. many of which featured really nice stained-glass windows.  We passed the
11178. factory shoe repair center and an advertisement stating that sugar could
11179. be purchased inside the factory in 50 kilo bags for 250T.R. (50 bucks)
11180. The first room we visited was the caramel room, where our guide literally
11181. scooped up several handfuls of wrapped caramels from a moving conveyor
11182. belt.  They were still warm!  Throughout the half-hour, enough candy was
11183. forced on us to make just about every one of us sick.  
11184.  
11185. At the end of the tour, we took off our white coats and were shown
11186. to a huge conference table set with tea for twenty and more candy and
11187. chocolate.  Our entrance was filmed by a TV crew from a local station.
11188. Supposedly, we'll be on tuesday at 9 pm.  After we through the remainder
11189. of the candy in our bookbags, we headed home.
11190.  
11191. I spent the afternoon vegetating and hacking and reading and
11192. generally doing nothing.  In the evening, I did more of the same...except
11193. I took a break to watch a chunk of Desperately Seeking Susan on TV.
11194. </pre>
11195. </content>
11196. </entry>
11198. <entry>
11199. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
11200. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/02/a-letter-home/"/>
11201. <updated>1996-10-02T00:00:00Z</updated>
11202. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/02/a-letter-home/</id>
11203. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;Today, I was awakened by a knock on my door at the ungodly hour of
11204. 10:45 am.  It was Jeff, the Canadian from next door who'd been having
11205. trouble getting his Win95 notebook to talk to GlasNet.  More exactly, he'd
11206. been having trouble following the step by step instructions glasnet gave
11207. him.  They left off the first step: "Make sure you have installed the
11208. Dialup Networking Software before attempting to use dialup networking."
11209. Unfortunately, at about 1 am last night I suggested that I might be able
11210. to help him if he brought his machine by at a bit before 11 today.  Well,
11211. I accidentally stayed up till about 4:30 and was none too pleased to see
11212. him.  After having him place his computer at my bedside, I read the
11213. instructions he recieved and decided that Dialup Networking software would
11214. make a good addition to the silly video games he keeps on his machine.  By
11215. 11:15 I had roused myself enough to swig back a bit of coca-cola and
11216. stumble into the bathroom for a nice hot shower.  Unfortunately, the hot
11217. water has not yet decided to grace us with its presence.  I gave in and
11218. washed my hair...damn that was cold.
11219.  
11220. After getting dressed, I wandered down the hall to find Jocelyn.
11221. Yesterday, she and I decided to go to the market at "Sportivnaya" metro.
11222. Jocelyn politely informed me that her host family had warned her that the
11223. market was "full of theives" and that "the lower classes shop there" -- in
11224. short, that she was bailing on me. However, I convinced george and adrian
11225. that they wanted to come with me.  The market cost about $.60 to get into
11226. and was really neat and really crowded...we only saw about a sixth of it.
11227. It's mainly clothes with a bunch of other random things thrown in for good
11228. measure.  Adrian and I got fried-dough filled with meat for lunch, while
11229. george opted to stick with a sprite.  I had a coke in a glass bottle to
11230. drink....I'd forgotten that it really does taste better.
11231.  
11232.  
11233. We came home and I hung out and programmed for a while.  Several
11234. people in the group were going to see Giselle at the Bolshoi tonight and
11235. made me take their pictures....they were really quite overdressed.
11236.  
11237. At some point in the afternoon, olga alexandrovna karp (the
11238. russian teacher from my highschool exchange) called me.  She wanted to
11239. know whether I'd be willing to talk to a class of 10th graders about the
11240. american educational system...so i'm doing that sometime next week.  She
11241. also wanted to know whether i'd be interested in giving some lessons on
11242. American English to teachers at her school.  According to her, the latter
11243. would be a paying gig.  I said yes to the former and told her I'd think
11244. about the latter.  The only real problem is that I don't know the first
11245. thing about teaching english.  It could be amusing though.
11246.  
11247. At about 6:30 I took off to meet my new "Contact Family."  A
11248. contact family is a family that ACTR pays a small sum of money to be
11249. friends with you.  You meet with them once a week and either hang out and
11250. talk or go out or some such thing.  The family consists of a mother, a
11251. father, a 14 year old daughter, a tiny dog and one of the largest cats
11252. I've ever seen.  The 14 year old spent the evening whining at her parents
11253. (as any self-respecting teenager is obligated to do when there's company)
11254. and flying around the apartment on roller-blades.
11255. I'm not exaggerating when I say that the parents are rocket
11256. scientists.  Ok, so I am...but just a little.  They're mathemeticians who
11257. work for the Academy of Sciences and worked on stuff for the soviet space
11258. program when there was a soviet space program to work on.  When he found
11259. out I work with computers, the father spent about an hour telling me about
11260. the computers they used to have....all the homebrew stuff they built
11261. before the iron curtain fell.  Apparently, he also works as a delivery
11262. truck driver in the evenings to earn extra cash.  All in all, they're
11263. really nice people.  
11264. Dinner was great...it started off as meat and potatos, but,
11265. mushrooms were quickly brought out...then homemade pickles and tomatos and
11266. then pasta.  Once I couldn't eat anything else, desert was brought
11267. out....chocolate, cookies and a really good homemade apple pie.  After we
11268. had tea, they asked me what I wanted to do next week.  We agreed on the
11269. circus, so I'm supposed to call them on monday to see what the plan is.
11270. Then, I got a ride home in the delivery truck.
11271.  
11272. Tonight, I was treated to the very amusing scene of Carrie and
11273. Jeff each slowly working a bottle of champagne.  It wouldn't have been
11274. quite so funny if we hadn't started to argue about: Western Society,
11275. linguistic theory, the nature of ideas, whether language is a tool or an
11276. end in itself, multiculturalism and whether the Queen's English or
11277. American English is more correct.  Eventually, I couldn't take it any more
11278. and retreated to my room to write in my journal (type in my
11279. journal...whatever) and read the Hunter S Thompson collection that my
11280. roommate Jerry loaned me.
11281.  
11282. </pre>
11283. </content>
11284. </entry>
11286. <entry>
11287. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
11288. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/01/a-letter-home/"/>
11289. <updated>1996-10-01T00:00:00Z</updated>
11290. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/10/01/a-letter-home/</id>
11291. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;Tuesday, october 10, 1996
11292.  
11293. Once again, there was no hot water...this is getting to be less
11294. than amusing...maybe tomorrow.  Breakfast today was tea, as I really
11295. didn't feel like meat and potatos and didn't want to bother the cafeteria
11296. ladies about making eggs.  Our first prof was about 15 minutes late.  She
11297. explained that she's coming in from the country in the mornings right now
11298. and that we didn't have to come to class until 9:45 (instead of 9:35) This
11299. would mean that our lunch break after this class would only be 15 minutes.
11300. This was a less than thrilling idea...but i wasn't about to say anything,
11301. you see, I hadn't quite done my homework.  Luckily, Leslie spoke up and
11302. got the teacher to agree to let us start late but to still let us out on
11303. time.  
11304.  
11305. After classes, we had a group meeting.  Nothing special...we did,
11306. however get our monthly stipends today. I'm no longer ruble-broke.  George
11307. and I were hanging out in my room after the meeting when a middle-aged man
11308. knocked and came in.  "Do you need lightbulbs?" he asked.  I explained
11309. that our hall light didn't work and that two of my five light fixtures
11310. were broken.  He spent about 20 minutes pulling apart the light fixture in
11311. the hall occasionally checking to see whether various connections were
11312. live by touching them.  It was just a bit scary.  But, in the end he got
11313. it working.  As he was cleaning up, he dropped one lightbulb...commenting
11314. afterward, "It was bad, anyway."  Then I asked him about the lights in my
11315. room.  He was able to get one of the two working by scavenging parts from
11316. the other.
11317. As I may have mentioned yesterday, I visited my professor Suzanne
11318. and her friends last night.  It was suggested that I bring a bottle of
11319. vodka.  Circumstances led to me buying both a big expensive bottle and a
11320. smaller cheap bottle.  I didn't end up giving the smaller bottle away
11321. yesterday.  As you may also know, I'm not a big drinker.  So, I had a
11322. $2.50 bottle of vodka sitting in my cupboard.  "What a perfect
11323. opportunity!" i thought.  After explaining the circumstances that led to
11324. me having an extra bottle of vodka, I was able to convince the handyman to
11325. take it.  He cleared out and I basked in the glory of a fourth lightbulb.
11326.  
11327. About five minutes later, I saw the handyman coming back down the
11328. hall.  "I just happened to find an extra lightbulb and this other
11329. part you need to get it working," he said to me.  I thanked him and ran
11330. back to my room to see if it was really true that I might have *every*
11331. light in my room working.  And Jesse flipped the switch and there was
11332. light.  And the light in the room did illuminate certain fragments of
11333. glass on the floor and jesse did track down a broom and mop and cause the
11334. floor to attain a state of cleanliness.  And jesse did realize that he
11335. must be getting rather tired because he saw that he had absolutely no
11336. business attempting to write in a pseudo-biblical style.
11337.  
11338. Ok...i'm better now, really.  So, after that amusing incident, I
11339. took a walk down the block to get myself some bread and soda.  $.50 can
11340. buy you a very nice loaf of bread in this town.  Then, I sat by the phone
11341. for about 45 minutes waiting for my friend nadia to call me....we were
11342. supposed to go out this evening....but alas, she didn't call.  I tried her
11343. at work and was told that she left early.  I'll call her tomorrow to see
11344. what happened.
11345.  
11346. Tonight they aired the pilot episode of Babylon-5 on TV-6.
11347. (Sorry, dave, I got the name wrong before.)  The translation wasn't so
11348. bad....and it sounds like there will be at least one epsiode on every day
11349. this week.  
11350.  
11351. I think that's really about it for today.
11352. </pre>
11353. </content>
11354. </entry>
11356. <entry>
11357. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
11358. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/30/a-letter-home/"/>
11359. <updated>1996-09-30T00:00:00Z</updated>
11360. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/30/a-letter-home/</id>
11361. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;Monday, September 30
11362.  
11363. Today, I got up to discover that there was not hot water...so no
11364. shower :( I'll cope.  For breakfast, I had fried eggs....sometime in the
11365. past week, I made the wonderful discovery that you can ask them to fry
11366. you eggs or find you a cup of yogurt....yay...real food.  
11367. Classes were ok....today in "culture" we learned about how lenin
11368. came to power....basically by making empty promises to a desperate
11369. populace.  Oh yeah, last week the culture prof was telling us about how he
11370. recently read dianetics and how it was a personal revolution....scary.
11371.  
11372. After class, I hung out for about an hour and a half before
11373. meeting up with my friend emily to visit our professor Suzanne Fusso
11374. (she's here for a few weeks because she's on sabbatical for the semester)
11375. As we were actually going over suzanne's friends' house, emily asked if we
11376. should bring a gift....Suzanne suggested a bottle of vodka. Unfortunately,
11377. we were unable to find a bottle of the appropriate brand in a reasonable
11378. size...so I ended up buying a smaller bottle of Stolichnaya and a larger
11379. bottle of Zolotoye Koltso (golden ring)  on the principle that if we ended
11380. up drinking it, it would be better to have to consume less.  (I'm not a
11381. big vodka person)  When I met up with emily, she countered with the advice
11382. that if we had to drink one, we'd come out better drinking the good stuff.
11383. She further suggested that if she presented it, the message would be more
11384. along the lines of "here's a gift for you." and if I did so, the message
11385. would be "here's a bottle of vodka, shall we bother with cups or not?"
11386. She gave it to suzanne's friend's father who happened to be the only man
11387. who was home.  He went out shortly thereafter and we only ended up having
11388. a little bit of vodka and grapefruit juice sitting around with suzanne and
11389. her friend.  
11390. It turns out that her friends are really cool artists.  The
11391. woman's a great sculptress/illustrator and the man's illustrations are
11392. really cool--one that we saw was a grotesque alphabet along the lines of
11393. Edward Gorey (is that his name?) but much sicker and much cooler.  We were
11394. presented with illustrated editions of the first translation of kipling
11395. into russian.  Their 12 year-old daughter did the illustrations 3 years
11396. ago..wow.
11397. We were treated to all sorts of fun stories including one about
11398. how the apartment had been bugged in the 80s because they had foriegn
11399. friends (suzanne.)  Apparently they found out some time ago when a workman
11400. showed up to remove the very expensive mic implanted over their kitchen
11401. table.  weird.
11402.  
11403. When I got home, I decided to make that occasional call
11404. home..Unfortunately, my friends with phones weren't home and I didn't have
11405. any telephone tokens....so i tried a penny...it didn't work...nor did a
11406. dime.  So, I slammed the reciever on the coin insertion slot.  that
11407. worked.  Now I can make free phone calls.
11408.  
11409. A while after I got home, my friend Carrie came by and offered me
11410. pasta.  When we got to the kitchen, we discovered that somebody had
11411. spilled something in the oven.  This girl was rather upset as she
11412. was about to cook chicken.  She had decided to deal with it by turning the
11413. oven up to max heat and burning the crap out of whatever was inside.
11414.  
11415. After that, I hung out and did homework for a while...then I got
11416. online...then I read a bit of a hunter s thompson book jerry lent me.
11417. i'd forgotten how funny he is.  it's about 1:30 and I've just gotta be up
11418. by 8.  g'nite kids.
11419.  
11420.  
11421. </pre>
11422. </content>
11423. </entry>
11425. <entry>
11426. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
11427. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/29/a-letter-home/"/>
11428. <updated>1996-09-29T00:00:00Z</updated>
11429. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/29/a-letter-home/</id>
11430. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;September 29, 1996
11431.  
11432. Hello my faithful readers.  I'm sorry i've been silent
11433. the past week and a half...I can't even offer the excuse that
11434. I've been too busy....i'm just a slacker.  Classes are...well,
11435. classes.  One day in class, I decided to pull off my sweater
11436. becuase I was really hot.  Much to my surprise, the professor
11437. stopped class and ordered me to put my sweater back on.  I was
11438. informed that if I didn't wear my sweater I'd end up in the
11439. hospital and I didn't want to end up in the hospital, did I?
11440. So, I meekly put my sweater back on.  In the past week and a
11441. half, life has become routine.  After class, I tend to run a
11442. few errands.  Now I've got a teapot, a frying pan and a big
11443. pot...unfortunately, I don't have a fridge.  The other day, I
11444. located several avocados and we made guacamole.  It made
11445. several people very happy.  In an effort to do something with
11446. myself, I've sent a letter to GlasNet, the local ISP asking
11447. about work opportunities.  The response I got was positive,
11448. but I'm still waiting for a more concrete answer.  I've
11449. finally gotten back in touch with my friend nadia and I think
11450. i'm going to get to see her sometime this week.
11451.  
11452. Several of you will be happy to know that the
11453. Babylon-5 pilot is on tuesday at 9:30.  It should be fairly
11454. amusing--it was actually listed as one of the three most
11455. interesting things on tuesday night in the local equivalent of
11456. TV-Guide.
11457.  
11458. Last night, my friend Carrie treated me to dinner at
11459. Azteca, a mexican restaurant.  My burritos were more like
11460. enchiladas, but the portions were big and the prices ($25 per
11461. person incl. appetizers, drinks) weren't too bad.  The waiters
11462. were spanish, as far as we could tell....but the food was
11463. definately mexican.  
11464.  
11465. God, I'm appalled at how bad my english is getting.
11466. I can hardly put a grammatically correct sentence together
11467. anymore.  It's almost comical.
11468.  
11469. Take care.
11470.  
11471. jesse
11472. </pre>
11473. </content>
11474. </entry>
11476. <entry>
11477. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
11478. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/18/a-letter-home/"/>
11479. <updated>1996-09-18T00:00:00Z</updated>
11480. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/18/a-letter-home/</id>
11481. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;18 September 1996
11482.  
11483. So, today was excursion day.  Today's excursion was a scavenger hunt.  Alicia, Adrian
11484. and I headed off at about 10:30.  First, we headed to Kievsky Vokzal (train station) to find
11485. out the price of a ticket to Odessa.  We were informed that only intourist could give us
11486. prices for foreigners....but the intourist office at the train station was closed...so, we
11487. continued on our way. (By the way, I'm being really brief because it's already late on
11488. thursday night and i've forgotten a lot and i'm tired...and I'm a slacker...so sue me)
11489. </pre>
11490. </content>
11491. </entry>
11493. <entry>
11494. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
11495. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/17/a-letter-home/"/>
11496. <updated>1996-09-17T00:00:00Z</updated>
11497. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/17/a-letter-home/</id>
11498. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;September 17, 1996
11499.  
11500. Today started out as a normal school day...I slid out of bed at
11501. about 8:30 and showered and got dressed in time to run downstairs and
11502. discover that the food was inedible.  I had a cup of tea and spent the
11503. last several minutes before class desperately trying to memorise a poem.
11504. (Yes, i pulled it off.)  The most interesting thing that happened in class
11505. was during Conversation class: I took my sweater off because I was getting
11506. hot.  Within five seconds, Nadezhda, our professor, noticed and started to
11507. tell me that I had to put my sweater back on _INSTANTLY_ or I would end up
11508. in the hospital and how would i feel about taking my sweater off, then?  I
11509. put my sweater back on.
11510. After class, several of us started joking about going to the
11511. Michael Jackson concert. (We'd been toying with the idea for weeks)  So,
11512. we decided to go out and try to get tickets.  Katya told us that the
11513. cheapest tickets we'd be likely to find would cost $50.  We weren't
11514. discouraged.....of course, we couldn't find tickets at any of the ticket
11515. offices we came across in out travels.  So, we decided to check out Dynamo
11516. stadium, where the concert was going to take place.  Lo and behold, there
11517. were scalpers....but these weren't your typical scalpers...most of them
11518. were middle-aged women.  It was now five-thirty and the concert started at
11519. seven.  Most of the tickets were in the 40 dollar range.  I told Shiloh
11520. that i heard one woman only wanted 120K R. and was promptly told that
11521. there was no way they'd sell tickets to foreigners that cheap.  We got 4
11522. "Standing Room"  tickets for a total of about 85 dollars.  Not too bad.
11523. Now, the other three, (Leslie, Liz and Shiloh) had at one time or another
11524. been into Jackson's music...but not me.  I was in this simply for the
11525. novelty.  Once we had our tickets, I was informed that Leslie needed to
11526. buy some designer jeans before the concert.  Liz and I went back to the
11527. dorm to get ready and chill out.  If Shiloh and Leslie didn't show, we
11528. were just going to go without them.  Well, they appeared at about 6:25
11529. carrying 1 pair of black Versacci (sp?) jeans and a six pack.  They were
11530. finally ready to go at about 6:45.  When we got off the metro at Dynamo
11531. station, there were tons of military personnel in riot gear.  Several were
11532. repeating "Do not congregate in the station. Proceed directly outside."
11533. We did.
11534. At the entrance to the stadium was a crowd of people about 20
11535. deep.  A line of police in riot gear was letting people in two or three at
11536. a time.  There were occasional surges forward as people strained to get
11537. through.  We made it through by about 7:20 without losing anybody.
11538. Inside, we joined the huge mass trying to force its way through the gate
11539. onto the floor of the stadium.  We met a nice young Russian woman who had
11540. come alone.  Apparently, her boyfriend plays for "Dynamo" and got two free
11541. tickets.  There was an old woman cowering in the corner who had apparently
11542. saved her nickles and dimes (or their rouble equivalents) because she
11543. desperately wanted to see Michael Jackson.  Unforutnately, she lost her
11544. ticket.  After going nowhere for about 10 minutes, we discovered that we
11545. weren't at the right entrance.
11546. Wandering in the direction in which we had been pointed, we came
11547. across a human chain of Militsia in riot gear holding back yet another
11548. crowd trying to get into the stadium.  One man was, in broken english,
11549. trying to explain to a cop that he had lost two girls-one twelve and one
11550. thirteen- somewhere in the crowd and that they spoke no russian and that
11551. he was frantic, etc.  Unfortunately, the cop's russian was worse than the
11552. german's...so we translated for a bit.  We finally found the right
11553. gate...it was the one with the crowd that was an order of magnitude bigger
11554. than any we'd seen so far.  We worked our way up to the front, where there
11555. was yet another line of militsia in riot gear.  Here, there was a lot of
11556. shoving..and the militsia shoved back.  At one point, they came at us with
11557. billy clubs.  My head hit against something, but I think it was only
11558. somebody else's head.  I was moving away from the front of the crowd too
11559. fast to be sure.  Three of us got through the militsia's blockade, but liz
11560. didn't make it.  So, I went up to the officer nearest her and explained
11561. that she was with us and that she spoke no russian.  He let her pop under
11562. the barricade.  It was only one more frantic press through the crowds
11563. before they checked our tickets and permitted us to be patted down.  They
11564. used one of those "Metal Scanner" batons on my backpack and I had to pull
11565. out the flask and bag of makeup that leslie had given me to hold.  
11566. The concert:
11567.  
11568. When we got into the park, the opening act was on...they were _REALLY_ bad.
11569. We only heard like two songs before they diappeared.  They were replaced with _good_
11570. oldies that I could have listened to all night.  Soon, a booming voice announced
11571. "History will begin in 45 minutes" in six languages. 40 minutes later, they announced
11572. "1/2 hour till history." At "5 minutes till history" fireworks went off and a huge
11573. video screen came on.  Michael came out on stage in some form of a rocket ship.  He
11574. made the removal of his "space suit" a strip-show-esque affair.  It went downhill
11575. from there.  I left at about 10:45...i just couldn't cope...The walk from the stadium
11576. to the metro was flanked with two rows of militsia in riot gear with locked arms.
11577. The only thing one could do upon leaving the park was go into the metro...where there
11578. were more militsia making sure everyone got on the first train they could.  All in
11579. all, it was worth it, only to see russian crowd control at its best.
11580.  
11581. </pre>
11582. </content>
11583. </entry>
11585. <entry>
11586. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
11587. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/16/a-letter-home/"/>
11588. <updated>1996-09-16T00:00:00Z</updated>
11589. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/16/a-letter-home/</id>
11590. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;        September 16, 1996
11591.  
11592. I've been quiet for the past several days, as I've had the cold from hell
11593. and basically stayed in bed. (Except today, when I went to classes and
11594. took a trip to the metro station)
11595.  
11596.        Friday morning, I woke up and promptly decided that classes were
11597. not worth it.  My throat hurt, my nose was stuffed up and i was generally
11598. woozy.  I told katya that I was taking the day off and that I'd see her in
11599. the morning.  At about noon, I got up the energy to brave the pouring rain
11600. outside to buy myself some orange juice.  I drank orange juice and read
11601. and slept.  Saturday, I read and slept and programmed and looked out the
11602. window at the pouring rain and gusts of wind....I was very glad that I  
11603. hadn't felt up to the trip to Boris Pasternak's dacha.  When everybody
11604. else got back, it was even more apparent how lucky I was that I opted to
11605. sleep rather than brave the storm.  That night, a bunch of people cooked
11606. us chicken stir-fry.  There was pork, too, but most people decided that
11607. they weren't daring enough to eat it.  Sunday, there was more lounging
11608. around and looking out the window...but I got a bunch of programming done.
11609.  
11610.        Today, we had classes from 11:30 to 2:30 (I don't have a first
11611. class on monday or a last class on friday....such a deal!)  Nothing
11612. particularly special.  This evening, I decided to head down to the metro
11613. station to get burritos from "MetroExpress" (A PepsiCo venture...it used
11614. to be called TacoBell, but now they sell hot dogs too)  They also sell
11615. some form of dessert named "Pigeon Toed Mouse"  Someday,I'll try it...on
11616. the way back to the dorm, some guy walks over to me, grabs my arm and says
11617. "I don't want your ice cream" which, i assume, was a reference to the
11618. three taco-bell packets I was carrying.  Then, he asked me for 1000
11619. roubles. (I think.) I say "NYET" and pull free of him.  He said something
11620. like "Why not?" as I walk away... truly bizzare.  The burritos were
11621. mediocre....certainly not up to Taco Bell's high standards, but there was
11622. no question of what they were.  Now I have to do far too much homework.
11623. </pre>
11624. </content>
11625. </entry>
11627. <entry>
11628. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
11629. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/10/a-letter-home/"/>
11630. <updated>1996-09-10T00:00:00Z</updated>
11631. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/10/a-letter-home/</id>
11632. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;10, 11, 12 sept 96.
11633.  
11634. Well, I've been busy doing nothing in particular for the past several
11635. days.  on the 10th, shiloh and I went on an expedition to return the phone
11636. she'd bought as it turned out to be broken.  They gave her money back and
11637. we went off to find a phone elsewhere.  After an hour searching, we gave
11638. up and went back to the kiosk we'd returned the phone to.  For an
11639. additional two dollars, we got a nicer phone that turned out to work.
11640. Yesterday we went on an excursion to Novydevochy Monastary.  It's a female
11641. monastary in moscow that's got a lot of important historical associations.
11642. The tour was in russian, most of which I probably could have understood if
11643. I'd tried, but I can't even really pay attention to such things in
11644. english.  
11645. After Novydevochy, Shiloh, George, Leslie and I decided to get
11646. food.  The only problem was that most of us were ruble-broke.  Before we
11647. were even able to get back to the street, we came upon a guy and his son
11648. playing soccer.  Les _needed_ to ask where to buy a soccer ball and
11649. somehow, we got roped in to playing a game of soccer with them. It ended
11650. being les and george vs the russians.   The older russian guy was a _much_
11651. better player than george....it was almost comical.
11652. Later that day, I found out that I actually _can_ take money out
11653. on russian ATMS.
11654.  
11655. Today, we had classes...nothing special...(can you tell I'm
11656. tired?)  Afterward, I headed off to meet Alyosha at the university.  This
11657. time, he showed up on time.  I was amused to find out that he hadn't
11658. gotten the message I'd left for him.  I hung out with him and his friends
11659. for a while.  He was psyched because he'd just gotten a pager.  He also
11660. showed me how to make a payphone work for free.  Apparently, all you have
11661. to do is slam the receiver down on the top of the phone at just the right
11662. moment.  Right now, we're watching some silly sci-fi movie that nobody
11663. really understands.  But, I won't bore you.
11664.  
11665. At this point, I've pretty much decided to live in the dorm.
11666. Shiloh, Katya and Jerry are living here too.  The food's edible.  It's
11667. cold, but I'm going to go out and attempt to find myself a down blanket.
11668. It'll be an adventure.
11669.  
11671. jesse
11672. </pre>
11673. </content>
11674. </entry>
11676. <entry>
11677. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
11678. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/09/a-letter-home/"/>
11679. <updated>1996-09-09T00:00:00Z</updated>
11680. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/09/a-letter-home/</id>
11681. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;Monday, September 9, 1996
11682.  
11683. Well, I woke up again today to find that everybody else was still asleep.  It was
11684. pouring rain and, in fact, it hasn't stopped all day.  I gathered my stuff for school and
11685. headed to the dorm to do the homework I neglected over the weekend.  I got it done really
11686. quickly and killed some time hanging out before class.  Classes were uneventful.  Afterward, I
11687. talked to Katya about moving out of my host family. She was really agreeable and even offered
11688. to come with me to run interference in case they gave me any trouble while packing.  On the way
11689. over, she actually offered to do the talking for me.  I took her up on her offer because I
11690. wasn't really sure how to handle the situation in English--let alone in russian.  The situation
11691. turned out the one way I wouldn't have expected.  They didn't show _any_ emotion...or even say
11692. goodbye.  The mother only took a moment out from the private lesson she was teaching to talk to
11693. Katya and the Kids (Oleg sr. and Anya) didn't even really look away from their TV set.  So, for
11694. the moment, I'm living in the dorm.  The plan is for me to find out if my friend Alyosha was
11695. serious about wanting me to live with his family and to take him up on it.  If not, ACTR will
11696. find me another homestay....one where my hosts don't smoke upwards of two packs a day at home.
11697. For the time being, I can be reached at 011 (7 095) 245 28 61  which is the party line that
11698. katya shares.  
11699.  
11700.  
11701. After getting all my stuff back here and doing some homework,  Katya, Jerry and I went
11702. to Gorya. (The georgian restaurant across the street)  None of us had jackets on and I was the
11703. only one with sense enough to bring an umbrella.  Well, we waited for about 10 minutes and the
11704. line grew and grew.  The 8 british people who had been in line when we came in were still
11705. in front of us, even though there were about 4 empty tables and the restaurant closed at 9 and
11706. it was already 8:30.  Two separate pairs of well dressed men came in and simply sat down at
11707. tables and got served.  I'll let you draw your own conclusions...you're probably right.  Katya
11708. talked to the hostess and was told that since there were only three of us, they could probably
11709. find us space.  Since that felt wrong to her, katya decided that we should go elsewhere.  Her
11710. destination of choice was "U Mama Zoya" (At Mama Zoya's)  This restaurant serves food that's
11711. quite similar to Gorya...at similar prices...with a similar looking menu...in fact, it's owned
11712. by the same people and tastes the same.  The only difference is that it was a 15 minute walk
11713. through the driving rain without a jacket.  When we were through, we asked for the check and
11714. were told that the total came to 110,000 rubles.  Since that seemed a bit high to us, katya
11715. asked for a written check.  I jokingly told her that they were going to bring us a piece of
11716. paper with the number 110000 written on it.  We were _almost_ amused when she came back several
11717. minutes later carrying a piece of paper with the number 110 000 written on it.  We didn't leave
11718. a tip.  All in all, it was an amusing and thoroughly Russian experience.
11719.  
11720.  
11721.  
11722. gnite
11723.  
11724.  
11725. oh...something from yesterday that I forgot to mention:  While "melki" and I were playing
11726. basketball, I got fed up with him tugging me everywhichway, so I started to stand perfectly
11727. still.  He bumped into something and I let out a giggle.   He turned to me and said--in his
11728. most grown up voice "If you're going to act like that, the friendship is over!"
11729. </pre>
11730. </content>
11731. </entry>
11733. <entry>
11734. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
11735. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/08/a-letter-home/"/>
11736. <updated>1996-09-08T00:00:00Z</updated>
11737. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/08/a-letter-home/</id>
11738. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;sunday the eighth of september, 1996
11739.  
11740. At about 10 this morning, my host mother popped her head into my
11741. room and asked "You're coming to the dacha with me, right?"  I stumbled
11742. out of bed, pulled on a shirt and pants and went out onto the balcony to
11743. see if any of my clothing had recovered from last night's downpour. Half
11744. an hour later, I found myself getting out of a taxi[1] with her in front
11745. of Byelorusski Vogzal (train station)
11746.  
11747. I'm sure that my host-mom told me that tomorrow's the younger
11748. oleg's birthday and that's why we bought flowers.  We waited around for
11749. about 20 minutes before they posted the track for our "Electrichka"
11750. (A local electric train)  Once the train was underway, no less than two
11751. newspaper vendors, two booksellers, one lady selling ice cream, three
11752. sets of singing children asking for money and one accordian player
11753. walked through our car.  
11754. The family's dacha is about a 10 minute walk from the
11755. electrichka station, which is about 25 minutes from moscow.  When we got
11756. there, I was told to give the flowers to the babushka.  It turns out
11757. that today was _her_ birthday and not "melki's" (melki is the family's
11758. nickname for the younger oleg.  it's an adjective meaning little)  Melki
11759. invited me to play checkers...which he proceeded to teach me the rules
11760. for.  Then we started to play.  He started to cheat horribly and to lie
11761. about the rules.  Because he was losing, he decided we'd switch sides.
11762. After he "won," he wanted to play a game called "Auto" that's something
11763. like bingo with a car race theme.  He proceeded to eat the game pieces.
11764. Then he told me we were going for a walk.  "Why not?" i mused...after
11765. all, he was the first member of the family that was really paying any
11766. attention to me.
11767.  
11768. The walk was interesting...the dacha's in a really nice area of
11769. the country...lots of green.  While we were walking, I asked melki if
11770. he remembered any of the other americans they'd hosted.  He said that
11771. he didn't remember any of them.  When pressed, he admitted that he
11772. remembered building a fort with one of them.  I asked him if he'd
11773. remember me after I left.  He said no.  On the way home,  I started to
11774. hum the theme to the pink panther, which he recognised and was able to
11775. identify.  When we got home, he showed me his chinese nintendo clone,
11776. although he refused to let me play.  Then he said that we were going to
11777. play "war."  War, as it turns out, is the same game most six year old
11778. boys play with army figurines.  Basically, we just hung out for the
11779. afternoon.  They fed me various pastries and tea.  I watched some dubbed
11780. mexican soap with the babushka.  They fed me again.  This time, it was
11781. soup with mushrooms (called gribnoi soup and not soup s gribami.  go
11782. fig.) followed by tounge.  Since the soup was homemade, I was able to
11783. gain face by asking for a second bowl and had a perfect excues when they
11784. wanted me to eat tounge....Sorry, it's just one of those things I don't
11785. want to try.  It didn't even look like cow tounge...it looked like
11786. people tounge.  After I explained that I had eaten too much soup to be
11787. able to eat anything else for the third time, they left me alone and got
11788. into a discussion about how americans have never experienced good
11789. mushrooms and are always wowwed by them when they get to russia.  The
11790. babushka's friend who was visiting knew where boston is.  It seems that
11791. once, when she was in the states, Delta had misdirected her luggage
11792. there.  After dinner, the babushki sat around and told war stories.
11793. (Literally!  they talked about how there was no sugar at times during WW
11794. II and how they compensated)  
11795. Oh, yeah, they're really big on feeding the dog and cat from the
11796. table.  The dog will actually sit at the table if there's an empty seat.
11797. They throw _everything_ to the animals....even things with little bones.
11798. I've seen dogs beg at the table before, but this is the first time I've
11799. seen a _CAT_ sit by the table and beg for food.
11800.  
11801. They sent me and some other guy (the son of the babushka's
11802. friend) out to pick the plums in their back yard.  We probably got about
11803. a bushel of plums from the two trees.  (No, I don't know how big a
11804. bushel is either, but if I did, we would have filled one)  Melki had
11805. just gotten a toy basketball set and wanted me to play with him.
11806. Eventually, I gave in.  He got very upset with me when I tried to play.
11807. He explained the rules to me.  His version of basketball is very
11808. different from any I've ever heard of.  The first thing that comes to
11809. mind is that it's called baseball.  The second is that play consists of
11810. trying to rip the ball from your opponent's hands and then trying to get
11811. the ball within a two foot radius of the hoop.
11812.  
11813. We got a ride back to the city from the son of the babushka's
11814. friend. (he's called dimavanya)  As we got into moscow, it started to
11815. pour.  So much for the clothes i'd left out to dry.  I got home and saw
11816. a note to call alyosha...I tried...his mom said he's out walking around
11817. with some friends...It's pouring out...poor boy...I tried nadia...she's
11818. at the dacha till tomorrow...I'm never gonna get a chance to see these
11819. people :( ....my back hurts like hell...it has for most of the
11820. evening...I must have pulled something swinging melki around.  It was
11821. better for a while after I took some advil.  I think that brings y'all
11822. about up to date.
11823.  
11824.  
11825. stay tuned for the next exciting episode of
11826.        <i>Moscow 119021</i>
11827.   (yes, that really is our zipcode)
11828.  
11829.  
11830. jesse
11831.  
11832. [1] In moscow, few taxis are "Taxis" per se, but ordinary drivers who
11833. want to make a few extra dollars by going out of their way to drive
11834. people places.  I've been advised never to try to negotiate a taxi fair
11835. myself.
11836. </pre>
11837. </content>
11838. </entry>
11840. <entry>
11841. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
11842. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/07/a-letter-home/"/>
11843. <updated>1996-09-07T00:00:00Z</updated>
11844. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/07/a-letter-home/</id>
11845. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;7 sept 96
11846.  
11847. I woke up at about 11 and decided that I needed to shower.
11848. After about 20 minutes of fiddling with the water heater thing, I was
11849. able to get 30 second spurts of tolerably warm water.  I was actually
11850. able to wash my hair! Anyway, after I dried off, I checked the clothing
11851. I hung out to dry last night.  A bit better, but still soaked.  I
11852. decided to give it another day.  After that, I started making the rounds
11853. on the phone.  I was determined to find something to do.  Unfortunately,
11854. I couldn't track down a single person.  Having resigned myself to a day
11855. at home, I sat down to type.  After about half an hour, Shiloh called
11856. asking if I wanted to go to GUM with her and Leslie.  (GUM is a huge
11857. soviet department store turned mall)  I figured a shopping trip was
11858. better than no trip at all.  I was told that I had to get over there
11859. right away, as they were about to head out.  When I arrived 20 minutes
11860. later, Leslie was painting her nails and Shiloh and Liz were sitting
11861. around chatting.  Shiloh asked me to take a shot at hooking up her new
11862. phone, but I just couldn't get it to work.  An hour and about 3 outfits
11863. apiece later, we finally headed out.  (Perhaps I should take this moment
11864. to mention that Shiloh and Leslie were shopping for outfits to wear
11865. clubbing, as they had "nothing" to wear.)
11866.  
11867. Stepping out of the metro, we were greeted by hordes of people.
11868. It was "Den Goroda" (The Day of the City) and dozens of streets were
11869. blocked off for the biggest street fair I've ever seen.  Shiloh and
11870. Leslie were more interested in shopping, so Liz and I agreed to meet
11871. them later.  I'm not really sure how to describe the den goroda...It was
11872. neat. We walked around.  It looked like it was about to rain.  We walked
11873. around faster. It looked like it was about to pour.  We walked to GUM.
11874. It started to pour.  GUM's glass roof is in need of some serious
11875. work.  Liz and I tried to meet the shoppers at the appointed time, but
11876. they were nowhere to be found.  We got on the
11877. more-overcrowded-than-usual metro and went our seperate ways home.  I
11878. spent the evening inside reading and teaching myself to program in C.
11879. At seven or eight, the rain started up again.  At nine or ten, five
11880. seperate fireworks displays started all along the river.  After one
11881. particularly loud one, some guy's car alarm went off.  I fell asleep
11882. around midnight.
11883.  
11884. ---------------------------------------------------------------------
11885. Yesterday's reply of the day came from dave barker (dabarker@vassar.edu)
11886.  
11887. Jesse, thanks for clearing that up for me.  I am going to name
11888. all of my 40 sea monkeys "Oleg."  After all, I wouldn't want
11889. them to feel left out.
11890.                                                                -dave.
11891.  
11892.  
11893. ---------------------------------------------------------------------
11894. (and yes, he really does have sea monkeys)
11895. </pre>
11896. </content>
11897. </entry>
11899. <entry>
11900. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
11901. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/06/a-letter-home/"/>
11902. <updated>1996-09-06T00:00:00Z</updated>
11903. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/06/a-letter-home/</id>
11904. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;September 6, 1996
11905.  
11906.  
11907. Well, I woke up at about 8:30 and didn't want to deal with the shower
11908. (scald...freeze...scald...freeze)  Nobody was up yet...Nothing had changed
11909. by the time I left the house at 9.  Classes were uneventful. On fridays, I
11910. only have 2 classes, so I was able to escape at about 1.  I hopped on the
11911. metro and headed over to the school I studied at 2 years ago in search of
11912. my old teacher, olga alexandrovna.  I was lucky to find her.  It seems
11913. she's going to be starting work at some other school in about a week.
11914. After a short conversation, it was back on the metro to the dorm.  
11915. Katya and I decided to head out to a bookshop we'd heard about
11916. that actually let you browse through all the books.  (Traditional russian
11917. shops keep everything behind the counter and you have to ask to see
11918. anything you're interested in.)  I found the 3 volume collection of Yuz's
11919. works for 65 TR (thousand rubles)  I decided that I couldn't get a much
11920. better price than this, as it was being sold on the street for about
11921. 100/110 TR.  Opening my wallet, I realized I was out of rubles.  "No
11922. problem" I thought...I'll just go to an exchange office and get some
11923. rubles.  (In moscow, there's typically an currency exchange on every
11924. block.)  Well, not on this block...or the next one.  I finally found one.
11925. It was up a flight of stairs in a building that was undergoing major
11926. renovation.  The 5 person line only took 15 or 20 minutes to get through.
11927. It seems that some lady in front of me had a $100 bill that the teller
11928. insisted was fake.  The lady insisted that she'd gotten the bill from that
11929. very bank and they couldn't have given her fake money.  She insisted that
11930. another teller look at it.  After several minutes of this, I think they
11931. just gave up and let her exchange the bill to shut her up.  The only
11932. problem I had was that they wanted my passport, which I don't tend to
11933. carry.  My student ID wasn't good enough for them, so I ended up using my
11934. driver's license.  The upshot of this was that I got my name printed on
11935. the receipt in english...which is more amusing than anything else.  So, I
11936. was able to buy my books, then we headed back to the dorm.
11937.  
11938. That evening, I went out with my friend emily from wes who's on
11939. the ACTR program at International.  It sounds like she's having fun.
11940. First, we went to her dorm, where I learned a few things about my family
11941. from emily's group leader.  It seems that the reason both male children
11942. are named Oleg is that the mother has been married several times and that
11943. she didn't want to slight the younger one by not naming him Oleg.  (No, I
11944. don't think there is any cultural significance to this.  I think it's just
11945. her.)
11946.  
11947. Emily and I decided to check out the street scene on Arbat.
11948. Formerly, Arbat was really touristy and really expensive.  Now it's just
11949. really expensive.  I guess it's really similar to Newbury Street in
11950. boston, except there are a lot of street vendors selling everything from
11951. pirozhki and shwarma to matryoshki and photographs of you holding a
11952. monkey.
11953.  
11954. The first thing Emily and I came across on Arbat was a gathering
11955. of "alternateens" (you know, the ones who wear nothing but black and do
11956. _anything_ to look different like all the other different people)  They
11957. were hanging out, smoking, drinking beer and listening to a truely
11958. horrible rock band.  We hung out for about 5 minutes before they finally
11959. started to play.  "What could that kid need that recorder for?" I asked.
11960. Emily didn't know.  Unfortunately, we soon found out the answer.  I've
11961. heard some pretty bad highschool bands in my time, but I've _never_ heard
11962. a worse cover of Stairway to Heaven.  It was  all we could do to keep from
11963. cracking up.  A kid was standing right in front of us with a tabby cat
11964. draped overr his shoulders.  Wrapped around the cat's neck was one of
11965. those Glo-Stick[tm] necklaces.  It was really kind of cool, although two
11966. really evil boys kept poking and prodding the poor cat.
11967.  
11968. When we were about three blocks from the end of Arbat, I decided
11969. that I was absolutely famished.  I warned emily that if we didn't find
11970. something good to eat by the end of those three blocks, she was going to
11971. have to suffer the consequences--I would actually give in and buy a Beeg
11972. Mak.  She screamed.  I reassured her.   Luckily, we found a shwarma vendor
11973. on the street.  I asked for chicken shwarma in russian.  He answered "one
11974. chicken shwarma."  Emily asked him (in Russian) "Does he speak Russian
11975. that badly?"  The guy didn't understand her.  Apparently, he doesn't speak
11976. russian. I was thirsty and they were out of coke, so I decided to see if I
11977. could cope with a beer.  (For those of you who don't know, I really don't
11978. like the taste of most beers.)  So, I asked her for a small beer (.3 L)
11979. and was told that they were out of small beers, so I'd have to get a large
11980. one (.5 L)  Well, it quenched my thirst and I was able to swallow a few
11981. gulps more.  By that time, we had reached the metro station and it was
11982. getting late.  I had no idea whether they allow open containers of alcohol
11983. on the metro and decided that this was a perfect opportunity to ditch the
11984. big green bottle.
11985.  
11986. From Park Kultury, I hopped on the first trolleybus that came
11987. along.  As soon as I sat down, the driver bolted off the bus.  "Where's he
11988. going?" I wondered.  It turned out that he was just running to the first
11989. kiosk that he saw to buy a bottle of water.  When I first saw him waiting
11990. in line at the kiosk, I half though he was going to buy himself a beer.
11991.  
11992. Walking home, I realized that my street is really well lit and
11993. just down the street from a very flashy expensive restaurant.  I don't
11994. think I have to worry about street crime on the way home....shootouts with
11995. police maybe, but not muggings or pickpockets.
11996.  
11997. When I got home, I curled up and fell asleep within 15 minutes.
11998.  
11999. Things that didn't happen:
12000.  
12001. My family didn't give me a key.  I got a key the first time I
12002. got home, but it didn't work.  Even though I ask every day, they have yet
12003. to make me a new one.  I keep being worried that I'll get home some time
12004. and there'll be nobody home to let me in.  I think the reason they ignore
12005. me so much of the time is that they've had students living with them every
12006. semester for about the last 6-7 years.   And they smoke--at home.  I've
12007. decided to give the situation until wednesday.  If it gets _a lot_ better,
12008. then I may consent to stay, but as it stands, I think I might move out.
12009. There's no real advantage to living here over living in the dorm.  The
12010. food's not even better.
12011.  
12012. (Don't get me wrong: I'm not unhappy here in moscow...It's just
12013. that I got a bit of a bummer of a family.)
12014. </pre>
12015. </content>
12016. </entry>
12018. <entry>
12019. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
12020. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/05/a-letter-home/"/>
12021. <updated>1996-09-05T00:00:00Z</updated>
12022. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/05/a-letter-home/</id>
12023. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;5 september 96
12024.  
12025. well, the first thing that happened to me after I got off-line
12026. last night was that I discovered that my journal entry for the 2nd had
12027. gotten eaten by the damned machine.  It's too bad too.  Here's the really
12028. short version:  We had placement tests in the morning.  in the afternoon,
12029. we were given a tour of the university's main building.  As we were
12030. entering the building, I ran into Alyosha, whom I hadn't seen in about a
12031. year and a half.  I had called his house, but somebody else answered and
12032. said that nobody by that name lived there.  He was rather surprised to
12033. bump into me at his university.  On to today...
12034.  
12035. I woke up at about 8...to discover that nobody else was up yet.  I
12036. didn't know whether to wake people or not.  I opted for not.  Nobody was
12037. up by 9 when I had to leave to walk to school.  It took about 20 minutes
12038. to walk.  there's a trolleybus (called an electric bus in the states) that
12039. runs most of the way, but I didn't feel like waiting.  Besides, it was a
12040. nice walk.  I ran into several classmates as I was entering the building.
12041. We all headed up together.  Today's first class was "Film" -- taught by
12042. the literature prof.  After waiting for about 10 minutes, we found out
12043. that Film takes place in another room....one with a television.  It sorta
12044. makes sense now that i think about it.  Well, just like in junior high,
12045. the teacher didn't know how to use the VCR.  (Note: explaining how to use
12046. a VCR in Russian is a bit easier than explaining how to use a mouse and
12047. microsoft word in russian.  I just wouldn't want to explain how to set the
12048. clock on the VCR)  In the end, the professor handed me the remote and told
12049. me when to play, when to rewind, etc.  It turns out that I've already seen
12050. the first film we're watching in class.  I feel so bad for the poor
12051. professor..I've already read the story she chose for us to start with
12052. _and_ I've seen the movie she picked.  Both are worth doing again, but she
12053. seemed disappointed.
12054.  
12055. After Film, we had a brief break before conversational hour. I
12056. had what might be the best meal I've had at the stolovaya so far:  Tea
12057. and a piroshok c yaitsom (with egg).  We were a few minutes early for
12058. Conversation and passed the time debating which of us speaks the worst
12059. russian.  As in:
12060.  
12061. "I don't understand half of what the professor says to me!"
12062. "Hell, I don't understand half of what _I'm_ saying."
12063.  
12064. The prof is a very funny middle-aged lady.  She accused several of us of
12065. being sadists, because we talk to softly and she has to strain to hear us.
12066. I'm told that the other class spent the time talking about beer.
12067.  
12068. After classes, alicia, george, adrian and I went off in search of
12069. food.  Before I knew what was going on, they had settled on McDonalds.  I
12070. kicked and screamed and Alicia caved in and admitted that she had another
12071. idea....she knew about some woman who makes "really great hot dogs...So we
12072. hopped on the metro....She was right...for 3000 rubles, you can get a
12073. hotdog with a steamed bun and either ketchup or mustard and parsely.  Most
12074. of us ended up having two.  And then it was back on the metro to the dorm.
12075. As we left the metro, we saw Katya...she handed us our "yedinij billeti"
12076. (public transit passes) for the month.   Now we don't have to spend 30
12077. cents every time we get on the metro..
12078.  
12079. Back at the dorm, we found a bunch of people hanging out.
12080. Somebody had decided to put together an expedition to BDNX.  BDNX stands
12081. for something that translates roughly as "Exposition of Soviet Economic
12082. Achievements."  Now, it's a huge amusement park/electronics emporium.  In
12083. at least one hall, there is a huge steel bust of lenin looking out over a
12084. vast hall full of off-brand japanese TVs.  It is truly a sight that must
12085. be seen to be believed.  Shiloh insisted that jerry had told her that she
12086. could buy her chekhov book there.  I told her I doubted it, but would come
12087. along for the ride.
12088.  
12089. When we got to BDNX (that's actually a mix of russian and english
12090. spellings....it's pronounced VaDinHah)  Shiloh immediately gravitated to a
12091. bakery kiosk and spent about 10 minutes trying to decide which of 20
12092. really good looking pastries she wanted.  Every bakery cart we saw was
12093. swarming with bees.  I'm amazed that the women working in them weren't
12094. covered with welts.  BDNX was sorta neat.  Shiloh and Liz split a
12095. Shashlik.  The man who sold it to them said something and refused to take
12096. their money.  They were under the impression that he had given it to them.
12097. Actually, what he had said was that he wouldn't take their money unless
12098. they were completely satisfied.  They were a bit surprised when they
12099. complemented him on how good it tasted and he asked for their money.  
12100.  
12101. Unfortunately, I had to head home at about 5, because I was
12102. supposed to meet Alyosha at 6.  I waited for him until about 6:30, but he
12103. never showed.  I still haven't heard from him...I guess I'll call him.
12104. After that, I went home.  As I was walking up the street toward my house,
12105. I saw a tiny grey and white kitten cowering in an alcove outside a shop.
12106. The poor thing looked tired, scared and defenseless as hell.  It was all I
12107. could do not to take it home with me.  
12108. The evening was fairly uneventful.  About half an hour after I got
12109. home, my host mother went out.  Half an hour after that, my host-sister
12110. told me it was dinner time...Yum!  Cold chicken, a tomato and instant
12111. potatos...:(  Not terribly tasty.  She told me that she'd be leaving for
12112. work in about an hour and wouldn't be home till about 6 am.  She said I
12113. could have her key if I wanted.  The only catch was that I'd have to wake
12114. up to let her in at 6.  I declined.  She said she didn't know where her
12115. brother was.  
12116.  
12117. I had about an hour to myself before Oleg showed up.  He's nicer
12118. than I thought.  The only annoying thing is that once he saw my computer,
12119. he wanted to play doom on it.  I should have explained to him that you
12120. can't really play games on it.  Instead, I admitted that I had a newer
12121. game that was similar called Quake.  Now all he wants to do is play quake.
12122. About 10 minutes into his first game, something happened and my machine
12123. got really horked. :(  I had to spend the rest of the evening fscking with
12124. it.
12125.  
12126. jesse
12127. </pre>
12128. </content>
12129. </entry>
12131. <entry>
12132. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
12133. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/04/a-letter-home/"/>
12134. <updated>1996-09-04T00:00:00Z</updated>
12135. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/04/a-letter-home/</id>
12136. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;
12137. From jrvincent@wesleyan.edu Sun Sep  8 15:20:40 1996
12138. Date: Wed, 4 Sep 1996 17:03:44 -0400 (EDT)
12139. From: Jesse Vincent <jrvincent@wesleyan.edu>
12140. To: jesse@utopia.com
12141. Subject: september 4
12142. Resent-Date: Wed, 04 Sep 1996 17:19:26 -0400
12143. Resent-From: "Lauren P. Burka (The Heresiarch)" <lpb@utopia.com>
12144. Resent-To: junk@utopia.com
12145.  
12146. September 4, 1996
12147.  
12148.  
12149. Today wasn't a school day.  We got our first day off after one full day of
12150. school.  Two excursions were planned:  We got to visit meditsina (a
12151. hospital) and we got to take a cruise down the moskva river.
12152.  
12153.  
12154. I woke up a bit before nine, but tried to sleep until my alarm
12155. went off.  It didn't really work.  My host mother had told me to wake her
12156. when I got up.  since neither my alarm nor the telephone did anything to
12157. get her up, I had to resort to pounding on her door...oy...well, she was
12158. up within about 2 minutes and making me breakfast.  We had some sort of
12159. bean and onion paste (slightly better than it sounds)  It was pretty
12160. filling and had an interesting taste.  As far as I can tell, all I'm going
12161. to drink at home for the next four months is tea or nescafe.
12162. I thought I had enough time to pop by the dorm before meeting at
12163. myakovsky station for the trip to meditsina.  Alas, this was not the case.
12164. by the time I had walked from my house to the metro station, I only had
12165. about 15 minutes to get to myakovsky. Meditsina is an western-style
12166. hospital in downtown Moscow.  Our program has a contract with them--just
12167. about anything besides plastic surgery or a stay of > 3 days is completely  
12168. free to us.  We have been specifically prohibited from faking injuries to
12169. get massage. :(  (They were _very_ proud of their massage department.)
12170.  
12171. After meditsina, we took the metro to kievsky station.  On the way
12172. from kievsky to the docks, I finally saw a street vendor selling Mona
12173. brand raspberry soda.  When I came two years ago, this was my favorite
12174. brand of soda.  Upon tasting it, I noticed that it tasted a bit funny.
12175. I didn't realize what it was until I read the label carefully.  It's now
12176. made with nutrasweet.  oy.  The boat ride was fine....nothing special to
12177. report there.  I cut my finger on the bottle cap opening my soda.  The
12178. boat docked about 2 blocks from our dorm and we decided to get off.  By
12179. the time we had all picked up our stuff and started ambling toward the
12180. exit, the boat was already underway again.  We ended up getting off near
12181. "kitai gorod." (It means china town, although no Chinese community has
12182. ever lived there)  Several of us were more adept at crossing the street
12183. than the rest of our compatriots.  We decided to keep walking.  We made it
12184. back to the dorm almost an hour before them.  It turns out they went to
12185. lunch.  
12186.  
12187. Alicia and I realized that we needed to get a collection of
12188. Chekhov's short stories.  Rather than get the collection from the school's
12189. library as our professor suggested, jerry had already gone out and bought
12190. the six-volume "Complete Works of A. P. Chekhov" for about $20.  Alicia
12191. and I decided to see if we could do something similar.  We went to the
12192. same book store that jerry had, but rather than just buying the complete
12193. set, we asked about a shorter collection.  We were in luck!  they had a
12194. book with all the stories we need for about $3.  
12195.  
12196. Alicia and I parted company at the Park Kultury metro station.
12197. She went off to visit friends and I went back to the dorm to pack up some
12198. more stuff to lug over to my family's house.  On my way our, I tried to
12199. help katya with the phone again....but to no avail.  We have now
12200. determined that the phone wiring in her room simply isn't capable of
12201. supporting a modem or western telephone.  (I've probably spent four hours
12202. hacking jacks and adaptors at this point...feh.....
12203.  
12204. When I got home, I tried the key my host sister gave me yesterday,
12205. but to no avail.  It apparently was duplicated on the wrong type of key.
12206. It simply won't fit in the lock.  My host mother made me sausage and eggs
12207. with some sort of georgian sauce that her mother made.  It was pretty
12208. good.  My host mother invited me to come to their family's dacha this
12209. sunday.  It should be neat.  After dinner, I sat down and wrote
12210. yesterday's journal entry.  I tried alyosha again.  he wasn't home, but
12211. his mother took my phone number...which you all might want, too...it's
12212. 7-095-201-2216.  He called me later.  We're getting together tomorrow
12213. evening at about 6.  He's now into techno and "ambient trance,"  which i
12214. believe is a sub-genre of techno.  He goes clubbing a lot...he's studying
12215. law at MGLU....oh..and he's gotten it into his head that I need to stay
12216. with his family and not with the family that I'm staying with now.  It's
12217. very nice of him, but I can't seem to convince him to leave it alone.
12218. He's going to try to convince people that I should move in with his family
12219. instead.  I think that I'll probably just have him call katya to plead his
12220. case and make sure katya tells him "no way."
12221.  
12222.  
12223. *hug*
12224.  
12225. jesse
12226.  
12227.  
12228. </lpb@utopia.com></jrvincent@wesleyan.edu></pre>
12229. </content>
12230. </entry>
12232. <entry>
12233. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
12234. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/03/a-letter-home/"/>
12235. <updated>1996-09-03T00:00:00Z</updated>
12236. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/03/a-letter-home/</id>
12237. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;
12238. Date: Wed, 4 Sep 1996 17:02:17 -0400 (EDT)
12239. From: Jesse Vincent <jrvincent@wesleyan.edu>
12240. To: jesse@utopia.com
12241. Subject: september 3
12242.  
12243. Hmm...september 3 was just yesterday and already i can't remember what I
12244. did....hmm...oh yeah....The day started at 8 am (ugh!)  We got up and got
12245. ready for our first "real" day of classes.  Breakfast consisted of rice
12246. and sausage (as usual)
12247.  
12248. Our first class started at 9:30.  There are four of us in what I
12249. think is the more advanced of two groups.  Throughout the day, Alicia,
12250. Lucile, Jocelyn and I got to tell our life stories three times.  Phonetics
12251. was interesting... We learned the proper location for one's tounge while
12252. making "t" and "d" sounds in Russian.  (In english, your tounge will end
12253. up touching your upper teeth.  In russian, it should never move from your
12254. lower teeth)  After that, we had a 20 minute break.  At 11:30,
12255. "conversation class" started.  We got to describe ourselves and then were
12256. forced to ask each other enlightening questions.  It wasn't until
12257. conversation class ended that we realized that we didn't have a lunch
12258. break.  Our final class, literature, ran from 1 to 2:30.  Since we didn't
12259. yet have our texts, we got to tell the professor about ourselves yet again
12260. (sense a trend?)  Some how, we got on to the subject of painting...which
12261. led to a discussion of types of paint...the russian word for oil-based
12262. paint is the same  as the russian word for butter....this _somehow_ got us
12263. into a discussion of vegetarianism...at which point our professor informed
12264. us that "vegetarians don't like butter."  I was impressed, as this is
12265. usually not the direction a russian would err in.  Some day, they'll get
12266. the hang of vegetarianism.
12267.  
12268. After class, we had several hours to screw around.  Alicia,
12269. George, Leslie and I decided that we _needed_ to check out "Russkoe
12270. Bistro"  which is sort of the local answer to McDonalds.  R.B. sells
12271. Piroshki (miniature pie-like things filled with various things), Bublochki
12272. (not sure how to describe them), pies and various other things.  I'd
12273. wanted to try piroshki c gribami (with mushrooms) for several years, but
12274. never happened to see them for sale, so I bought one of those.  I also
12275. went for a piroshok c myacom (w/ meat) and one c kartoshkami (w/ potato.)
12276. They were all very good, but I liked the piroshok c gribami best of all.
12277.  
12278. After that, we went home to the dorm.  Everybody else went off to
12279. pack. (we had about an hour before we met our host families.)  I went
12280. straight for the phone line and hooked up my alligator
12281. clips.  I was delighted to find about 10 responses to my first letter
12282. waiting for me.  One person's gatewaying it to a mailinglist and another's
12283. toying with the idea of putting it up on the web.  I'm quite amused.
12284.  
12285. I packed in about 5 minutes...forgot a bunch of things, but that's
12286. ok because we're trying to keep our dorm rooms for the semester. (just to
12287. have some more crash space.)  Nobody got lost on the metro ride over to
12288. the ACTR offices, where our families were waiting.  All of our families,
12289. that is, except mine and Alicia's.  My host sister showed up before
12290. alicia's, but I saw her the next day, so somebody must have shown up
12291. eventually.  My host sister, Tanya or Anya (it says Anya on the sheet of
12292. paper, but I could have sworn she pronounced it "Tanya") is very ...
12293. western...  her sunglasses were hooked on her shirt, she was wearing a
12294. baseball cap and blue Doc Martens.
12295.  
12296. We took a trolleybus most of the way home and walked the last two
12297. blocks.  She bought a watermelon and some cake/cookie sort of things.
12298. After we got home, we ate.  She works at the local TV station and plans to
12299. school to become a producer or a director (the word's the same and I
12300. haven't yet deduced which she meant...hell, I'm not sure I even know the
12301. difference)  She told me that she had to go to work at 1 am.  She does a
12302. bit of everything, if I understood her correctly.  My family consists of a
12303. babushka (grandma) who's 60, a 45 year old mother who teaches at MGLU
12304. (where I'mstudying,) a 23 year old brother who's a junior at mglu, the
12305. aforementioned 21 year old sister, a 6 year old son, a dog and a cat.  I
12306. have yet to meet the boys (both named oleg), the babushka, the cat or the
12307. dog.  They're all in the country at their dacha.  My room appears to
12308. double as a living room most of the time.  It seems comfy enough....we're
12309. on the 6th floor of a 6 floor apartment building.  We've got 5 rooms...my
12310. room has a balcony.  The only faucet in the house with hot water is the
12311. shower, which has a massive gas heater attached to it.
12312.  
12313. Anyway, they gave me a key and then left me alone to veg for a few
12314. hours.  I ended up going to sleep around 12.
12315.  
12316. hope i'm not boring you too much.
12317.  
12318. jesse
12319.  
12320.  
12321.  
12322.  
12323. </jrvincent@wesleyan.edu></pre>
12324. </content>
12325. </entry>
12327. <entry>
12328. <title>A letter home from study abroad</title>
12329. <link href="https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/01/a-letter-home/"/>
12330. <updated>1996-09-01T00:00:00Z</updated>
12331. <id>https://blog.fsck.com/1996/09/01/a-letter-home/</id>
12332. <content type="html">&lt;pre&gt;From jrvincent@wesleyan.edu Sat Sep  7 11:42:46 1996
12333. Date: Sat, 7 Sep 1996 11:37:02 -0400 (EDT)
12334. From: Jesse Vincent <jrvincent@wesleyan.edu>
12335. To: cmccoy@mail.wesleyan.edu
12336. Subject: september 1 (fwd)
12337.  
12338.  
12339.  
12340. ---------- Forwarded message ----------
12341. Date: Wed, 4 Sep 1996 16:59:56 -0400 (EDT)
12342. From: Jesse Vincent <jrvincent@wesleyan.edu>
12343. To: jesse@utopia.com
12344. Subject: september 1
12345.  
12346. 1 sept 96
12347.  
12348. Well, today we woke up at the wonderfully early hour of 1 pm.  After a
12349. quick breakfast in the dorm's stolovaya (cafeteria,) about seven of us
12350. hopped on the metro to Ismailovsky Park, which is known for being the best
12351. flea market in moscow.  The metro stop opens onto a large hotel complex
12352. which is a major mafia hangout.  Lining the street for about 1/2 mile were
12353. older men and women selling everything from cutesy pull-toys to used books
12354. to car parts and antiques.  Nothing really struck my fancy before we
12355. arrived at Ismailovsky Park itself and I was forced to shell out the 1000
12356. rubles for admission.  Once inside, I noticed that everything within sight
12357. was trinkets aimed at western tourists.  (In the past, there were all
12358. sorts of neat things for sale....it was primarily a _russian_ flea market)
12359. They had a great selection of persian rugs...
12360. I got in a conversation with a bookseller over books of cyrillic
12361. fonts.  The only things he had were things I already owned or which didn't
12362. have full samples of the fonts (I used to be into designing typefaces)
12363. After he realized that I wasn't buying, the bookseller simply gave me a
12364. paperback text on typography.  After surveying the matryoshki, batik
12365. icons, bootleg CDs and works of "art," we decided we'd had enough.  On our
12366. way out of the park, I bought shashlik (sort of a shish-kabob) for 25k
12367. rubles.  I've always been warned about buying food from street vendors,
12368. but it was really tasty.
12369. When we got home, I tried calling my friend Alesha and was
12370. dismayed to discover that "no alesha lives here."
12371. In the evening, most of our group decided that we couldn't
12372. stomach another meal at the stolovaya.  We started walking down the street
12373. with the intention of stopping at the first open restaurant in our price
12374. range.  Once we had walked walked the two miles to the Arbat (a central
12375. tourist/shopping district) we had kind of given up.  There were all sorts
12376. of shaslik and shwarma vendors on the Arbat, but we were appalled by the
12377. prices and kept walking.  By this point we were tired and rather far from
12378. home, so we hopped on the metro.  In several metro stops there are
12379. "Metro-Express" cafes.  These establishments, which started out as "Taco
12380. Bell Express" are run by Pepsi and sell typical overpriced fast food.  We
12381. had to change trains at "Kievskaya" and spent several minutes pondering
12382. whether we were hungry enough to break down and buy food at Metro Express.
12383. We came to the consensus that we would wait until we got to the  "Park
12384. Kultury" metro station.  Well, we should have known better...By the time
12385. we got to Park Cultury, the MetroExpress was closed.
12386.  
12387. Lesson for the day:  If you see something you want buy it.  
12388. It might not be available later. (yeah, I know this was truer in
12389. the old Russia, but it still applies)
12390.  
12391.  
12392.  
12393.  
12394.  
12395.  
12396. </jrvincent@wesleyan.edu></jrvincent@wesleyan.edu></pre>
12397. </content>
12398. </entry>
12399. </feed>
12400.