Posts From February 2003

{09:46 PM} Why's that man on that pole?
I laugh at work (scroll to the bottom).
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{10:58 PM} Mail you can eat
This past weekend I went to the post office to pick up what turned out to be a giant box of delicious cookies. Home made by the best robot I know - Ms Hilatron. I was going to take a picture (the box is great.. and the cookies were wrapped in little almost individual packages), but they were devoured before I had a chance. Tasty cookies stand no chance in these parts.

I wonder which says thank you best - a shiny new oil can or a buzz saw replacement hand?
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{12:19 AM} False Fish Fry
The great technology conspiracy continues??
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{12:08 AM} This is all I know / Sitting still to watch the engines come and go
I have to take two buses to get to Caltrain. And then a shuttle from the station to Google. The driver (an elderly man named Gus) said he wasn't the shuttle when we gave him the address this morning. After mentioning 'Google' he realized he was the shuttle. This evening it was raining. We waited inside till we saw him coming... then ran out. He never slowed down.. much less stopped. And didn't see us. Not down the parking lot... across the street... into the other parking lot... and halfway across it. We had to go back and wait another half an hour for it to come round again.

At least I got to read a bit.... The train is relaxing. It's about an hour ride. Not to crowded. Pretty quiet and smooth going. All things considered, I think I'll be taking it again.
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{11:25 PM} More important than all that
Ms Lane is coming back to San Francisco for her birthday. Two weeks starting the 8th (the 9th is the big day). I can't hardly wait. There will be clowns and ponies and dangerous fire stunts and cake and Lane!

You're all invited.
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{11:21 PM} I took a dip last week through the liquid that gathered
Pyra was always busy. Things where happening faster than we could keep up with. Google is busier. There's a lot going on. Most of which doesn't have anything directly to do with me... but it's still happening. People come by to say hi. Our little office overflows with new names and interesting projects and directions to other people to talk with. Some don't really know what we do... but would like to. Others fake it. And some are giddy with excitement. All the while, we still need to finish the new version of Blogger... so we can get started on changing the web (in case you were wondering, for the better).

It's been a little overwhelming. Work plus commute hasn't been leaving much time for wandering. I've spent a good portion of this weekend doing nothing. Decompression was badly needed.

Tomorrow I'm intentionally taking CalTrain there and back. It might provide a little forced quiet time. For reading, working uninterrupted, and maybe a little meditation. I've always found train rides to be extremely relaxing. It might be well worth the extra time and hassle.
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{10:29 PM} Get your trout on
To continue sharing the love... I present to you the single best song about fish you'll ever hear.

Mr. Scruff: Fish
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{09:50 PM} Bald headed bad man makes good.

to me everything is an experiment.everything is fiddling with something to see how it reacts, see how it works, see how i work. timothy leary said he didnt do drugs to see what drugs did, he did them to see what his brain was about. lots of times either im trying to figure out what my heart is about, or my brain, or other people's hearts. - mr. pierce

word.
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{11:10 PM} I'm bonafide

Mostly anyway. Even if that guy who invites me to sit with him at dinner is Larry Page and I had no idea until I asked him what he did. I don't think it helped our chances of getting a window.
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{03:01 AM} I've got a new employer
The news is finally out. Google bought Pyra.

I've got more to say... but a little later.

Some further reading:
Ev's expination
Tony's account of the announcement
Cory Doctrows take on the sale
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{04:01 PM} It should be noted
Despite all my recent complaining... things are good. Very good.
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{12:48 AM} Post Democracy?
Rushkoff drops out.

Yes, I'll keep voting. But, like I said, I'm not going to talk about politics for a good long time. At least not until I have more faith that representative democracy is more than just another distraction.

It's hard to blame him. It seems that manipulation has completely overtaken representation.^* The news media has been lulled into a message that cares very little for actual events. It works. From the top down. Here at the bottom, there's little action of consequence left. When we play in the provided pen, it only serves to further marginalize.

So what's a fine upstanding citizen to do?

I don't know... I don't think jumping around in the streets is it. But neither is burying one's self in work and entertainment.




* For Example:

• Day 1) Draft of Patriot Act II is leaked (in case you were wondering, it's worse than the first).
• Day 2) The national "Security Alert" is set to it's second highest level. Orange.
• Day 3) Suburban mothers call grade school principals to make sure little suzie is protected from Anthrax.
• Day 4) Watch the previously mentioned continued aggressive removal of individual rights fade from any and all public national discussion.

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{04:36 PM} Other Room Entertainment
I don't mind the work part of working at home. I've got all my music. My kitchen. My nice monitor. It's the home part that's tricky. When I'm not working, it's hard not to be reminded of it. Sitting at that same computer on a Sunday to read some web sites and say hi to my Laney quickly reminds me of all the unfinished work things I have to do. My room has become less my room and more my office.

So now we have a GameCube - to add to the living room distractions. Purchased with Mario Sunshine and Monkey Ball 2. They're both good fun. Bright and surreal. Full of cute things and puzzles. All very not serious or requiring long stretches of play. Just what I needed.
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{02:29 AM} Land of the Free
"Despair set in - democracy was about keeping government close to the people. But this government seemed quite far away from me." - Justin Hall

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{12:04 AM} File Your Taxes Online for Free
For the first time ever, I've filed my taxes before the last possible moment. It took all of 20 minutes to do them online. It's good to be done. I don't think I'm going to miss the traditional frantic lost W2 hunt.

Best of all, I found out Intuit will let you file for free - If you have an adjusted gross income (AGI) of $27,000 or less for 2002. According to their site, 60 Million people qualify.

If that's you.... start here: Tax Freedom Project.
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{03:21 PM} Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
I saw it last night. With high expectations. Quite a few friends have remarked on how good it is. They were right. The already excellent story unfolds in a decidedly post modern, and fairly original, visual style. Right down to a cut that looks like a sloppy reel change. It works nearly perfectly. Who woulda guessed that George Clooney could be an innovative director?
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{10:43 AM} And Maybe Better Best Friends
I've read "Embrace file-sharing, or die" twice now. It's an amazing article on more than one account. It's written by a record exec. It covers all the major points in the argument for and against file sharing. It covers them completely, with contextual links to everything else of note on the subject. It outright accuses the RIAA of "bad science". And it's right.

I like file sharing for all the good things Mr. Snyder has to say about it. And more. Historicly, art ain't easy to come by. Van Gough can stop you dead in your tracks. If your tracks happen to pass through a museum where one of his paintings lives. You could get a book... but it's really not the same. Even if it was, the price of a good "art" book is outside many peoples range. The world is full of people who know the name, but won't ever really know his work.

Meanwhile, I can sit here in the comfort of my own home and tell you (who I may not even know) about some kids from Oakland CA (who you may not even know) that made a piece of music wherein a guy, with a voice so deeply nasal and full of natural reverb it could have only come from inside my own head, says the word "love" like someone who must know exactly what he's talking about. Most of the time it gives me goosebumps.

Maybe it'll do the same for you.

Right now (or in less time than it takes to watch a show on television, if your on a dial-up connection) you can find out for yourself.

Anticon: Pity Party People

Sharing is fun.
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{10:36 PM} I think I need a Backiotimy
They may look awfully nice, but I can't recommend working for an afternoon on a Sony Vaio PictureBook. At least not if you're of human shape and size. Even if you're smaller than usual human shape and size, don't do it.

Awexome Cross.
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{08:03 PM} Product of a North Carolina cat
I think Posdnuos's Dad was on the 24 Divis bus. He had a Streetlight Records bag and a bit of a hanging over gut. He looked good though.
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{03:25 PM} I was going for futuristic funk
I just stumbled upon the BBC Radio 1 Documentary, Blip Hop. It's pretty good. It covers the mixing of hip hop with electronic style production. Told through lots of muisc clips and interviews (including Anti-Pop Consortium, Mike Ladd, and DJ Vadim... to name a few).

Time to listen to Arrhythmia repeatedly.
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{11:53 AM} Neglect = Terrorism ??
MIT Technology Review: Letter from Nigeria.

When the underground oil pipeline burst in this lush village in the Niger River delta last August the workers at Shell, whose subsidiary pumps the crude, were on strike. Two weeks passed before the spill was halted. Many thousands of barrels worth poured into the lowlands, creeks, and ponds that dominate the landscape.

Shell had no safegaurds in place. No sensors. No Security cameras. Not even an alarm. When asked why there wasn't a shutoff valve, a Shell representative said an automated shutoff valve wasn't warranted since the manner of sabotage was, "so unusual, it was like September 11."

Thats literally the worst excuse in the book. Although it's not surprising, coming from a company that sees no harm in executing protesters.
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{09:05 PM} Retail Experience
I went downtown today with a list of three fairly common things to buy. I went to three rather large stores. All specializing in those three things.

I came home with none of them. Nothing was in stock.

I apologize online shopping. I'll never doubt you again.
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