Saturday, October 31, 2009
Happy Halloween!
We'd sort of forgotten about it until just after Halloween, but recently at a pizza joint we bought me a brilliant cosume from a gumball machine. At least, for my own strange values of "brilliant". A fake moustache, to be worn over one's real moustache... for some reason I find that kind of thing very amusing.
But this 25 cent, entirely-convincing disguise didn't stop there. Behold, as the rest of my little family is rendered utterly unrecognizable by its moustachy magnificence!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Approaching Three Oh
For some time, I thought of 30 as a scary age. An age beyond which I would be old and unrecognizable. Given how far along I already am in the feeling-old department, and how little my appearance has changed (I've been fat, bearded, and bald since college at least), I'm less concerned about that. The number 30 still had a bit of psychological weight, though, so I decided I had to look at things differently.
In a week or two, "30" will be the layman's way of describing my age. The finger-counter's perspective. But to me and any other system software engineer, I'll be 0x1e. I'll be 00011110, and that's according to the first computer I ever hacked on. By today's standards, I'll be 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000011110. Just look at all those insignificant digits. How could anybody who knows anything call me "old"? :^)
Point is, I won't need an extra binary digit until I'm 32 in decimal. 0x20 hex. And the extra-bit logic works just fine for me. Time flies when you're young, so you get extra bits pretty frequently. At 2, at 4, at 8... but the next bit you need is at 16, which in my case is still holding out just fine. If I use this reasoning and set my scary "old" age at 32, then I won't have to bother with a midlife crisis until I'm 64! Then I can pop my meds, buy a hotrod hovercar and blast that Beatles song loud enough to drown out the tinnitus.
After that, I can measure life as a countdown to 128. Anything beyond that's an awfully big bonus, at least by modern reckoning. Even with leaps and bounds in medicine and cheese-healthification, I don't see having any chance of overflowing even the trusty ol' Apple II's native integer. And, if by saying that, I'm jinxing my own life upon turning 256, well, so be it.
But thirty? Hardly seems worth mentioning. Multiples of ten are for chumps. In fact, forget I even said anything. ...Thirty. Pff.
In a week or two, "30" will be the layman's way of describing my age. The finger-counter's perspective. But to me and any other system software engineer, I'll be 0x1e. I'll be 00011110, and that's according to the first computer I ever hacked on. By today's standards, I'll be 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000011110. Just look at all those insignificant digits. How could anybody who knows anything call me "old"? :^)
Point is, I won't need an extra binary digit until I'm 32 in decimal. 0x20 hex. And the extra-bit logic works just fine for me. Time flies when you're young, so you get extra bits pretty frequently. At 2, at 4, at 8... but the next bit you need is at 16, which in my case is still holding out just fine. If I use this reasoning and set my scary "old" age at 32, then I won't have to bother with a midlife crisis until I'm 64! Then I can pop my meds, buy a hotrod hovercar and blast that Beatles song loud enough to drown out the tinnitus.
After that, I can measure life as a countdown to 128. Anything beyond that's an awfully big bonus, at least by modern reckoning. Even with leaps and bounds in medicine and cheese-healthification, I don't see having any chance of overflowing even the trusty ol' Apple II's native integer. And, if by saying that, I'm jinxing my own life upon turning 256, well, so be it.
But thirty? Hardly seems worth mentioning. Multiples of ten are for chumps. In fact, forget I even said anything. ...Thirty. Pff.
Labels: iamold, programming
Friday, February 13, 2009
Good News
There aren't enough positive news stories these days. It's all "tumbling economy" this and "damn politicians" that. Well today I feel good. And in true journalistic oversimplifying form, I'll tell you why in three bullet points.
Friends, family, countrymen: don't forget the little stuff. ...And never underestimate the positive psychological effects of good cheese.
- Messaging Architects: To quote another fat balding madman: "I love this companyyyy!"
- Bratwurst Friday: Everyone, from my coworkers to the folks up at Colosimo's Sausage to the fictional Hank Hill, has to crack a little smile at our little tradition.
- Beer: Rand brews a lot of really good stuff, and the double IPA I had today was no exception. I'd go so far as to say this is the bulleted list item that had the greatest effect on my happy mood right now, though the others are surprisingly close runners-up.
Friends, family, countrymen: don't forget the little stuff. ...And never underestimate the positive psychological effects of good cheese.
Monday, January 05, 2009
:^) 0x7d9
(That's "Happy 2009", for anyone who doesn't speak Slackware-flavored smileys or hexidecimal.)
What better way to celebrate 2008 being over with than to prattle on about things that took place while it wasn't? ...Don't answer that. Surely there are countless better ways. But that's what I'm going to do anyway.
In 2008 my wrist got a little messed up, having grown a mysterious extra bit of bone or something. I posted a cool x-ray here (see April) and have files from the following inconclusive CAT scan, which I still mean to build a little interactive widget for sometime. I got a shot of cortisone, which helped. It's still not 100%, but it's not bad.
In 2008, I was sent to an artsy/geeky conference in Florence, so the missus and I got to hang out in Italy for a week. Still haven't finished the full online photo album, but we did post some stuff here (see April).
In 2008 my little sister got engaged, reminding me once again that I am very old. I can still call her "little", however, as she's all thin and whispy whereas I am ... not.
In 2008 Kim and I thwarted prescription pet food manufacturer Hills' attempt to murder our cat. They changed her only known compatible food, but we eventually did find one other. Go Eukanuba!
In 2008, Obama got numerous campaign contributions from both of us throughout his campaign. To everyone who thinks we forgot to send a Christmas gift: you're welcome!
In 2008 I won the "ownership" award at work for putting in some ridiculous hours and getting the job done no matter the task thrown at me. At least, that's what somebody thinks I do.
In 2008 the author of the IMAP protocol was hired at my workplace. He and I are building M+Guardian's new IMAP server together, which, I'll be honest, was a bit intimidating at first.
In 2008, I got sent on a business trip to Montreal just before Christmas, where Minego and I demonstrated why engineers shouldn't be allowed to participate in gift-stealing parties: our algorithms are superior to those of salespeople.
This is a rather pitiful way to keep in touch with everybody, but happy late holidays one and all! I hope 2009 treats you well.
:^) 0x7d9!
What better way to celebrate 2008 being over with than to prattle on about things that took place while it wasn't? ...Don't answer that. Surely there are countless better ways. But that's what I'm going to do anyway.
In 2008 my wrist got a little messed up, having grown a mysterious extra bit of bone or something. I posted a cool x-ray here (see April) and have files from the following inconclusive CAT scan, which I still mean to build a little interactive widget for sometime. I got a shot of cortisone, which helped. It's still not 100%, but it's not bad.
In 2008, I was sent to an artsy/geeky conference in Florence, so the missus and I got to hang out in Italy for a week. Still haven't finished the full online photo album, but we did post some stuff here (see April).
In 2008 my little sister got engaged, reminding me once again that I am very old. I can still call her "little", however, as she's all thin and whispy whereas I am ... not.
In 2008 Kim and I thwarted prescription pet food manufacturer Hills' attempt to murder our cat. They changed her only known compatible food, but we eventually did find one other. Go Eukanuba!
In 2008, Obama got numerous campaign contributions from both of us throughout his campaign. To everyone who thinks we forgot to send a Christmas gift: you're welcome!
In 2008 I won the "ownership" award at work for putting in some ridiculous hours and getting the job done no matter the task thrown at me. At least, that's what somebody thinks I do.
In 2008 the author of the IMAP protocol was hired at my workplace. He and I are building M+Guardian's new IMAP server together, which, I'll be honest, was a bit intimidating at first.
In 2008, I got sent on a business trip to Montreal just before Christmas, where Minego and I demonstrated why engineers shouldn't be allowed to participate in gift-stealing parties: our algorithms are superior to those of salespeople.
This is a rather pitiful way to keep in touch with everybody, but happy late holidays one and all! I hope 2009 treats you well.
:^) 0x7d9!
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Vote!
Friday, October 31, 2008
Boo!
Boo! Yes, it's those little cute ghosts from the Super Mario games, lovingly crafted out of styrofoam by yours truly, with no small amount of help from the missus. For reasons unknown even to me, I was compelled to put these little guys together for Halloween decorations.
In low light they're not especially easy to photograph without lots of blur, but you get the idea. They hang out on our porch, spinning slowly or quickly depending on the wind, and generally look the other way when I try to line up a nice shot. :^)
The girl boo is probably my favorite. Kim thought we should give one a bow, which she put together beautifully. It's crazy how much personality is added with the slightest modifications. Say what you will of Nintendo's G-rated attitude, their character designs are super-fun.
As much as I hate flash, those pictures had a much higher success rate. It totally gives away the use of fishing line though. :^)
The big guy, the King Boo. My original idea was to make one big King Boo out of paper macche, so we were tooling around a craft store looking for all the supplies I'd need, when Kim found a soccer ball-sized styrofoam sphere, as well as some teardrop-shaped pieces. It was too small, I thought at first, but suddenly instead of one big messy process with a likely-rather-ugly result, I imagined a little swarm of boos, all hanging around their relatively big king. I think it turned out much better this way, and I've already had a blank-check offer from a work buddy to turn these into a mobile for his kid.
I thought I'd throw in some making-of shots, you can see the teardrop-shaped bits and some random shavings of previous pieces here.
They don't know it yet, but these things are arms and a tail of a cute little boo!
Our basement bathroom floor became more interesting as the paint on the boos' faces had to dry. The cat found this all fascinating too; we've had to keep the door shut for a couple weeks now.
The first foam boo and its maker, holding the bits together while the glue dried...
King Boo's crown, after being cut out of a foam cone but before being painted a nice shiny gold.
Progress! The boos, including the girl boo, are finally coming together.Anyway I had a lot of fun putting together these little guys. Tonight is their big night, they're hanging out on our porch ready to greet (or, more true to form, turn away from) trick-or-treat'ers as we get pillaged for candy.
Happy Halloween, everybody!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Human Nature: Annoyance Response
Something odd struck me the other day. No great epiphany, just a few pieces of data falling near each other in my brain.
- domesticated cat meowing for food
- car honking
- baby crying
- television/radio/web advertising
- alarm clock
- telephone ring
Then there's the second layer of annoyance I get from realizing that. I'm annoyed, I'm feeding the cat, and I realize that I've just given in to this ridiculous behaviour, which further annoys me, but what am I going to do about it?
Of course sometimes this is a good thing. If somebody's stopped to send some text messages at a green light, they deserve to be annoyed by honking until they agree to look up at the road and drive. The trouble, of course, is that sound goes off in all directions. Now people in other lanes are also annoyed, whether they deserve it or not.
A crying baby probably needs something, and annoying noises are its only way of communication, so it's hard to get too upset at them. (This coming from a non-parent, your mileage may vary.) But by the time the kid's four years old, if it's throwing a hissyfit in the grocery store until the annoyed parent gives in and buys it whatever toy or candy it was whining about, then we've got a problem.
NOW IT'S COME TIME FOR ME TO TRY THIS OUT MYSELF. SINCE I DON'T HAVE ANY CLEVER ENDING IN MIND FOR THIS POST, I'M GOING TO WRITE IN ANNOYING ALL-CAPS UNTIL YOU STOP READING. THE QUICKEST ESCAPE ROUTE IS TO CLICK THE LINK BELOW, A TOTALLY UNRELATED PAGE SET UP BY MY SOON-TO-BE BROTHER-IN-LAW. CLICK THAT AND STOP READING NOW. WHY HAVEN'T YOU GONE TO HIS PAGE YET? GLUTTON FOR PUNISHMENT EH? WELL, WHILE I'M STILL ANNOYING YOU, I RECOMMEND THAT YOU ALSO POST A LINK TO THIS PAGE. POST IT ANYWHERE, HE'S NOT FUSSY. POST IT WITH THE LINK TEXT AS "ABALASTOW COMPENDIUM" FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT. BUT NOT IN ALL CAPS. OK REALLY I DON'T HAVE ANY MORE TO SAY. JUST CLICK THE LINK AND ALL THIS ANNOYING TEXT WILL GO AWAY. DO IT! DO IT NOW!
Link: abalastow compendium (www.abalastow-compendium.org)
