michael coates, a pragmatic evangelist
September 25, 2011 1 Comment
Whoops. Note the system time (upper right-hand corner) versus the BIG display time (the one I actually use) .. fortunately, the alarms appear to be connected properly.
I think I’ll set my night stand alarm .. just on case.
HTC Aria on ATT with 2.1.
September 10, 2011 Leave a comment
Wow .. something is broken:
This is an order for 20 2GB USB flash drives .. Hunter keeps losing his. They are listed at $0.76 each .. PERFECT for my need.
But $185.00 shipping? Madness.
Where is the ‘cancel’ button?
September 3, 2011 Leave a comment
“Mostly” because, Pottermore is only open to the first one million, invite-only Harry Potter fans. Sadly, I’m not among them.
I am a fan, though. I have (and have read) both the US and UK versions of the seven-book saga .. in hardback, no less. I have been known to be bemused at the differences between the two.
Pottermore seeks to engage readers and fans in an interactive world of wizards, witches, wands and more (I’m hoping for “wow” as well). The site will open to the public on October 18th, 2011, although public registration will begin earlier (details on the site).
Ms. Rowling describes the experience in the video below. Quite engaging.
Entertainment Weekly posts “Pottermore: First impressions of the new interactive Harry Potter Site“ .. I guess they got a Magical Quill.
Lucky buggers.
August 14, 2011 Leave a comment
I guess you know when you’re from the Northwest when you have a visceral reaction to the latest from the deep-fried set in the flyover states. Pickles (not bad), Twinkies (interesting), Snickers (a bit of a waste of a fine candy).
Based on that, you might ask: “What are they deep-frying this year?”.
Butter.
You heard it right .. it is served drizzled in cinnamon and / or honey, and is making the rounds at the county fair circuits. Eater.com posts “A Deep-Fried Stick of Butter (On a Stick) at the Iowa State Fair” .. which sounds mildly redundant: deep-fried stick on a stick? Please.
Surprisingly, this is actually nothing new: the delicacy debuted at the State Fair of Texas back in 2009 (link to NPR). Not to miss out on the 2009 craze, the mainstream MSNBC posted “Move over, Twinkies, Deep-Fried Butter is here”.
For the calorie crowd .. a stick of butter has 810 calories. 1/3 of a cup of pancake batter is about 150 calories. Add in the oil used to fry it, and I’m guessing it’s conservatively a 1,000-calorie treat.
August 12, 2011 1 Comment
You know about earworms .. that bit of song that gets stuck in your head. Legend has it: the only way to rid yourself of one is to give it to someone else.
I’ve been humming “The Golden Age” by the Asteroids Galaxy Tour lately .. this is the kitschy ditty featured in the Heineken “Entrance” commercial .. the one with the “second most interesting man in the world” (my riff on the Dos Equis commercial series).
Anyhow, Hunter disapproves. His email to me from late last night:
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From: hunter@opsan.com No offense, but dad, I’m getting really sick of you humming that song. I’d love to provide whatever lies in here (look in any of the sections if you have to) or maybe this article. I’ve found examples of okay Ear Worms that I apparently manage to enjoy: Sing A Well from the Guitar Freaks and Drummania series …I’m pretty sure that’s everything. |
In a word: hysterical.
August 10, 2011 Leave a comment
This, from an interesting read in the Orlando Sentinel: “Do flight attendants really hate their passengers?” .. it’s interesting to note that five of the top ten worst-rated companies for customer satisfaction are airlines.
Granted, ‘hate’ is probably too strong a word. I’m not even sure ‘dislike’ applies. People who work in industries that accommodate other people are bound to hit some interpersonal snags, or have some moments they’d like not to repeat.
You can read the original June 2011 report on the American Customer Satisfaction Index site.
August 2, 2011 Leave a comment
A Tacoma man entered a bank with a handgun, robbing two tellers before fleeing.
Deputy Sheriffs followed a tracking signal attached to the loot to a bus stop. A bus pulled up, picked up passengers and pulled away. Noting the tracking signal getting weaker, the deputies stopped the bus and made the arrest. A short foot chase and they took the man into custody.
The Tacoma News Tribune blog headline reads: “Tacoma man charged with robbing two banks”.
Two banks?!?
Seems the defendant is charged with another robbery, just a few days ago. As he escaped the first time, I’m guessing he took a cab.
July 26, 2011 Leave a comment
I am going to keep this issue forever! 
It has everything:
What a week!
This issue is so hot, I’ll be lighting my barbeque with it for the next ten years.
July 11, 2011 2 Comments
I’m never taking this patch off ..
.. I will wear it until it wears out.
I’m a one-day rider of the 2011 Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic. Granted, it took me nearly the whole day (17.5 hours) to complete, but I finished. All 206.44 miles of it (should have been 202, but ..
.. I got lost trying to find the finish line in Portland).
I should have paid better attention to the STP 2011 Route Map (it was quite dark by then).
Endomondo captured my STP 2011 Ride on my Android device.
I was using low-power mode to ensure the battery would make the trip. As a result, some of the GPS is a bit choppy.
The weather was perfect; deliciously cool in the morning and 72 degrees all afternoon. Cascade Bicycle Club support .. thanks to the many volunteers was astounding. The riders were amazing; everyone played nice, collaborating and teaming to make the ride a joy for all.
Special thanks to my 24 Hour Fitness trainer, Dana for the stretching advice and new (and painful) core workout. I am sure it contributed to my endurance and stamina.
I rode The Beast .. a 2008 Schwinn Midtown ..
.. for which I received a number of compliments:
Thanks to all for their compliments .. which they gave right before they passed me. I kept up well enough though, averaging 11.8 miles per hour for the duration (including stops). An amazing experience, overall.
I sent Tweets in real time of my progress, with GPS and a few photos:
It was a very good (and long) day. Considering I am such a fair-weather biker .. and as this year has been the wettest on record, I did very little training.
Endomondo tells part of the tale .. Google Maps tells the rest.
Will I do it in one day again?
While on the ride, I was pretty convinced that I would not. After all, I had proven it to myself.
Next year, I think I’ll do it in two days, seeking shelter in Chehalis on Saturday night .. enjoying a beer, some barbeque and a hot tub.
Of course, something might change .. I might replace The Beast with a more STP-worthy ride .. and then I’ll need to prove it to myself again.
Where do I sign up?
July 6, 2011 Leave a comment
Pretty spiffy, actually; taking it for a test drive tonight.
While it supports text formats, like bold, italic and underline, getting to those enhancements is a little kludgy. They work nicely though, even in edit mode. Drafts can be saved locally and uploaded in a review state (online, but not public). Once approved on WordPress, review posts are visible to all.
Categories are supported, as well as text to voice. Media and images, too .. but I don’t see a way to do formatting on the device. Links are also supported as well, requiring a bit of fine fingering.
What about quotes? yes.
Uploading as review to finish online.
As expected, the image just positioned itself .. in this case, the top of the post at the center. I removed it, but I do see the ability to send the post to the blog as a draft that includes an image as a good thing; gives the author the opportunity to capture the image on the device and position it in the post on a PC later on.
Saving as online draft in the WordPress web client (WordPress calls this ‘pending’). Opening in Windows Live Writer to complete.
I was able to open the online draft, but it was slightly tricky: click the ‘Open Recent Post’ button, and when the ‘Open’ dialog appears, click on the blog on which the draft is saved .. this gives you a list of any ‘pending’ posts you’ve saved. Note: when opening a ‘pending’ post, the content comes down to the device in HTML format .. may make positioning images a bit easier (fine fingering challenges apply).
I’ll do another test when I’m off-offline and send up some text-only posts.
All in all, a very nice tool. Available on the Android Market, and the version I am using is free.
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