Project Insomnia

The Daily Tweet

2008-07-08T00:12:00.001-07:00

13:26 Chicken quesadilla & fruit for lunch today. #
13:59 Blocking more random followers. What is the appeal? #
14:00 @cstephens I would, but then LoudTwitter wouldn't work. #
14:16 @DucksChickie Welcome! #
17:16 @cstephens "Hakuna Mascrewyou"? #
17:42 I did not win Madonna tickets. Try again tomorrow! #
20:39 @nomadicoder Aren't those brands of cat food? #

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The Daily Tweet

2008-07-07T15:21:00.001-07:00

16:31 @mrschemdoc Some Krocks to stand there cheering as I walk out of the store with the box? #
17:12 It's awfully pretty. I have named it GJETOST (yeh-tosst) which is a lovely Norwegian cheese that goes especially well with apples. #
17:47 Just so everyone knows, the first thing I'm doing is installing WinXP via Boot Camp. #
17:54 @mrschemdoc The Apple store guy recommended VMFusion. I understand I can share the same Windows installation. #
19:26 How the @!?# do you right-click? #
19:31 @obfusciatrist I found it, but "two fingers on the trackpad + click" is not intuitive. #
13:26 Chicken quesadilla & fruit for lunch today. #
13:59 Blocking more random followers. What is the appeal? #
14:00 @cstephens I would, but then LoudTwitter wouldn't work. #
14:16 @DucksChickie Welcome! #

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And now, the news for Wombats

2008-07-07T12:47:00.000-07:00

I let the domain registration for seeotters.com lapse -- deliberately -- because I wasn't putting any effort into keeping it updated. On the other hand, I'm going to commit to three BoxOfKittens.com posts per week.

Q: What do you get if you spill chicken ramen soup into a Dell Inspiron 600m?
A: I wish there was a punchline, but there isn't really. You get a soupy computer. I pulled this gaffe on Thursday afternoon and spent the rest of the day plus several hours more on Saturday night disassembling and cleaning the innards. Unfortunately, the LCD backlight has died and the keyboard is in very bad shape. The machine does work when external monitors and keyboards are connected, so I'll probably keep it around. But it won't work as a laptop. So, on Sunday we went to the Apple store in Palo Alto and I bought a new MacBook Pro. It's awfully pretty. I have named it GJETOST (yeh-tosst) which is a fine Norwegian cheese that goes well with apples.

We spent Friday afternoon/evening and all of Saturday in SF with Alex & Lani. Stayed at the Fairmont San Francisco, which is completely lovely but does charge $50/day + tax for parking. We walked down to Fisherman's Wharf for the July 4th fireworks and found out what fireworks look like when launched into heavy fog (it looks like glowy fog). Saturday we did a lot of walking, starting at Sutro Baths and the Cliff House, then Crissy Field and Fort Point and finally to Japantown for dinner. Probably six or eight miles on Friday and Saturday combined.

That was the news for Wombats. Now, the news for Parrots.

The Daily Tweet

2008-07-06T00:21:00.001-07:00

16:40 At the Cliff House. One-hour wait for the caf_ side so we'll go somewhere else. #
17:43 Spent some time at Fort Point, now going to Japantown. #
18:27 @obfusciatrist not much, just bored. #
19:32 Jennifer found Barbapapa. I don't know what it is but she seemed very excited. #
21:00 Home, home, it's great to be home (but adventure keeps callin' my name). #

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The Daily Tweet

2008-07-05T00:07:00.001-07:00

02:32 Drunks outside yelling & setting off fireworks at 2:00 in the morning. And they get incensed at me for warning them! #
09:08 @cstephens @JeffGr Funny, Watson did the same thing this morning - he usually only wakes us up on weekends. Can kitteh read calendar? #
10:02 Got the laptop back together (no extra parts) and only problem I see is no LCD backlight. Ext monitor works. Don't know if that's fixable. #
11:39 @obfusciatrist Ok, running some errands then we'll be on our way. #
15:45 Checked in at the beautiful Fairmont San Francisco. Going to wander around the city being tourists. #
19:34 So far: three Obama booths, 0 McCain booths. #
21:32 Waiting for fireworks at beach in front of SF Maritime Museum. Sorry can't make the Small World meet! #
21:33 Boom. Boom. Fog. Fog. #
21:40 @WickedAVP Bummer! The ones we can -see- are fabulous. #
23:16 We've just been RickRolled in the Tonga Room at the SF Fairmont. #

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The Daily Tweet

2008-07-04T00:16:00.000-07:00

09:10 Working from home today. #
09:39 @cyberroo Sweet! #
09:42 @davidrperry I'm sorry, you have failed the "working at home" test. #
11:39 @obfusciatrist Congratulations! #
11:40 @mrschemdoc Glad he's okay -- you'll recover. ;) #
11:55 @seanyodarouse Rabbit. Or duck. #
14:28 @cstephens Who, the Indian chefs? #
14:28 @mrschemdoc I'm pretty sure your travel agent can help you with that. #
15:32 Soup spilled on laptop keyboard. It shut down immediately & I pulled the battery. Have to see if there's any damage. #
16:24 Took it apart and cleaned what I could. Waiting until tomorrow to reassemble. #
17:21 @mistryl eewwww #
18:04 On BART, headed up to SF for dinner w/aunts. #
20:28 @mistryl No, I would be too. #
21:39 @obfusciatrist "It" what? #
23:08 @davidrperry that's what I'm doing. Hope it works - otherwise @mrschemdoc gets a toaster. #

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Files on Ovi now available in beta

2008-07-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

It's been a long hard six months and it's not over yet, but we're getting close!

Files on Ovi now available in beta:

Files on Ovi, which provides access to files on remote computers, is the latest Ovi service and is now available in beta form. After installing a software 'connector' on your PC you can then access files on your computer from any web enabled device (e.g. another PC or your phone). Files on Ovi is the results of last year's acquisition of Avevnu by Nokia.

Nokia Launches Files On Ovi Beta (MobileBurn):

Files on Ovi also offers Anytime Files, with online storage of 10GB or 30GB, each with a monthly subscription fee. When users sign up for Files on Ovi, they get 60 days free of 10GB storage. Anytime Files are available even if the desktop connector software is not running, making it perfect for important documents and other files.

The Daily Tweet

2008-07-03T00:20:00.001-07:00

10:13 @obfusciatrist I'm gonna say FDR #
10:41 Buy-n-Large's Privacy Policy: www.buynlarge.com/disclaimer/disclaimer.html #
12:35 @cstephens Pasta for lunch = sleepy afternoon. #
12:48 @cstephens Maybe it'll wake you up then! #
12:50 Tomato rice soup and a bowl of fruit for lunch. #
13:32 @cyberroo No! /me goes back to look. #
13:49 Debating with self whether to follow Obama's Twitter. #
15:02 Meeting time. Which of the two simultaneous meetings should I go to? Doesn't matter, the booked the same room. #
15:34 @davidperry To see if you know a new follower, check to see who else follows him. #
16:22 @cstephens That's pretty much what happened. #
16:26 So I have the "My Wii Alerts" page open with the fire-drill alert sound that automatically opens the Amazon page when Mario Kart shows up... #
16:27 ...and it's not available. What is the point? #
17:22 @cyberroo You & me both. #
17:38 Trying a *different* Twitter widget in Opera... #
19:07 @fejsez Same from me! #
21:56 @mistryl @darthvader lives in Colorado? #
22:21 Watching "Countdown" on TiVo - Rachel M is guest hosting! #
00:11 @cyberroo I'm sure your red velvet cupcakes would far surpass the ones I had at the fair last weekend. #
00:12 @WickedAVP @cyberroo The new host of Dinner Impossible will be Iron Chef Mike Symon! #

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The Daily Tweet

2008-07-02T00:31:00.001-07:00

09:14 @mrschemdoc I see you! #
09:55 @mistryl into the ether? Though I did get that one. #
10:05 My UPS just came FedEx. #
10:48 Happy Birthday @StanfordSteph! #
11:49 @cstephens @WickedAVP Actually the law only addresses talking, not texting. #
12:24 @WickedAVP (lgm) oooOOOooo (/lgm) #
13:11 @obfusciatrist Why would Brad Bird be a Volvo-driving woman? #
13:25 @cstephens "through" #
13:55 New Bond trailer: www.007.com/ #
15:28 "Race for the White House" is actually quite listenable when Rachel Maddow is guest-hosting. #
16:04 Waiting for Wiialerts to tell me Mario Kart is available. It actually has, three times, but I haven't been able to get there in time. #
17:50 @mistryl :p #
18:33 @mrschemdoc Are you kidding? There's nothing more manly than hooking up the stereo. #
18:48 @WickedAVP Yes, exactly. Not quite what it was meant for but that's what has evolved. #
20:04 @dsnyredhead Jennifer doesn't IM, either. #
20:14 Oh Wiialerts, why must you tease me so? #
21:26 @mox Is that the gourmet burger place? #
21:32 @mrschemdoc Wait. You just told me to JFGI? #
21:34 @cstephens Dunno, I ignore the Lounge. ;) #
21:37 @mox There's one here in Palo Alto, been there a few times. #
22:28 Trying a twitter widget in Opera. #
22:37 ... seems to work! #

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Obama opposes California ban on same-sex marriage

2008-07-01T17:06:00.000-07:00

Obama opposes California ban on same-sex marriage:

As the Democratic nominee for President, I am proud to join with and support the LGBT community in an effort to set our nation on a course that recognizes LGBT Americans with full equality under the law. That is why I support extending fully equal rights and benefits to same sex couples under both state and federal law. That is why I support repealing the Defense of Marriage Act and the 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' policy, and the passage of laws to protect LGBT Americans from hate crimes and employment discrimination. And that is why I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states.

Wow. I had what I might call a strong emotional reaction to this and I am a straight white guy. This man is going to be our next President and it may well be the beginning of a new Golden Age.

The Daily Tweet

2008-07-01T00:55:00.001-07:00

11:20 @WickedAVP I figure this is something Wii Fit related, but I have a morbid curiosity to watch the carnage... #
11:55 @StanfordSteph Nummers! #
12:50 Lunch: crispy buffalo chicken wrap at the Nokia Caf_, with fruit on the side. #
12:53 @meekorouse It is, come by and visit for lunch sometime! #
13:22 @WickedAVP I'm with you. Hummous FTW! #
13:44 @dsnyredhead See tinyurl.com/4ofcar #
14:23 @seanyodarouse Never known a company less likely to turn about, especially when faced with angry customers, than Disney. #
16:19 @fejsez Great, now I have that song in my head. #
16:51 Waiting for 5:00. #

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The Daily Tweet

2008-06-30T00:07:00.001-07:00

10:41 At the AMC Mercado for the Bay Area WALL-E meet! #
14:18 Just got back from the Bay Area MousePlanet WALL-E meet. Much fun, many readers showed up, great *great* movie. #

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The Daily Tweet

2008-06-29T00:11:00.001-07:00

08:01 It's kitty grooming day. That means they get their annual summer haircut. #
13:00 @shersaint1 They may very well have been. #
13:01 @WickedAVP I think they see you coming and hide the good stuff. #
14:36 At the Alameda County Fair. Fried food for all! #
17:28 Apparently I'm watching pig races. #

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The Daily Tweet

2008-06-28T00:13:00.001-07:00

13:57 @WickedAVP Uh-oh. What happened? #
14:11 Waiting for 5:00 #
14:16 @WickedAVP Oh there's a big surprise! I think I'm going to have a heart attack and die of 'not surprise'! Ä/iagoÑ #
16:06 What kind of sadist calls a two-hour meeting at 4:00 on Friday afternoon? #
16:22 ...where the only people actually participating are on speakerphone. Everyone else is silently sitting around the table. #
18:20 @seanyodarouse The story doesn't mention the AC - do you know? #
19:16 @seanyodarouse Wow, that just sucks unbelievably. #

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Dear Disney, if you're going to break my heart at least have the courtesy to do it honestly

2008-06-27T19:30:00.000-07:00

Disney to close Pleasure Island's six nightclubs:

The six nightclubs at Pleasure Island will soon shut down, as Walt Disney World redevelops the adult-focused district at Downtown Disney.

BET SoundStage Club, Mannequins Dance Palace, 8Trax and three other nightclubs that have for years catered largely to young, single adults -- rather than to Disney's bread-and-butter family market -- will close after Sept. 27. Over the next couple of years Disney will reopen the Pleasure Island area with a broader mix of restaurants and shops.

Although not mentioned in the Orlando Sentinal story, the list of clubs to be closed does include the Adventurer's Club.

Disney's official statement includes this verbiage:

Based on Guest feedback, the nightclubs will be replaced by an extraordinary mix of dining and shopping - to be announced in the future - that will entertain Guests of all ages.

"Based on Guest feedback".

Right.

Guests told you they wanted you to close the original, exciting, fun, unique experiences and replace them with yet another fucking high-end mall?

Screw you.

We'll make one last trip to the Adventurer's Club, and then I just don't know if I'll be in a mood to give Disney any more of my money.

The Daily Tweet

2008-06-27T00:12:00.001-07:00

07:55 Very smokey this morning. #
12:32 @cstephens Fires aren't really close, but the smoke is everywhere. tinyurl.com/6qyj9v #

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Of course we eat late. When else are we going to eat?

2008-06-24T22:11:00.000-07:00

A common weight management tip, most recently noted by the Wii Fit's Body Test module, is to eat dinner no less than three hours before bed. I just don't get how people with jobs and obligations are supposed to do it. We both get home after 6:00 on weeknights and both want to do our fitness stuff before dinner. Then there's work, MousePlanet stuff, cleaning, maintenance, etc. We usually have dinner around 10:00 and go to bed before midnight. Where is the time for an early dinner?

If we lived in San Francisco, I'd vote for it

2008-06-24T09:07:00.000-07:00

Satirists hope to toss Bush a gutter ball of a memorial / 'George W. Bush Sewage Plant' - sounds like a joke, draws ire:

They're the Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco, but don't let the serious name fool you. The group's intentions are in the gutter: They want to rename the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant the George W. Bush Sewage Plant come January when the next president is sworn in.

During the inauguration, the group also wants supporters to participate in a 'synchronized flush'- a way to send a gift to the renamed plant, which supporters say, would be a 'fitting monument to this president's work.'

Perfect memorial for the crappiest president ever. I especially like how the chairman of the San Francisco Republican Party is so upset--maybe he should be more concerned with his membership numbers?

I Can Haz Simba?

2008-06-20T14:07:00.000-07:00

More pictures from the cruise

2008-06-20T13:01:00.000-07:00

These are the last photos from the cruise: scanned pictures from the shipboard pro photographers, plus a few scanned hardcopy photos from port stops. Enjoy!

20 Years Ago Today

2008-06-18T18:02:00.001-07:00

The Concert for the Masses. 80,000 fans pack the Rose Bowl for the 101st and final stop on Depeche Mode's "Music for the Masses" tour. The energy, the noise, the food fights, the rain. Opening acts Wire (really, really bad), Thomas Dolby (not bad), OMD (a lot of fun). KROQ deejays onstage, many proving that radio personalities should stay on the radio.

I was there, my future wife, who I didn't meet until eight years later was there in the front row, friends I'd meet years later were there, it seemed like half of Southern California was there. 20 years later, it remains the single best live music experience of my life.

Today, Depeche Mode's Web site commemorates the anniversary of the Concert for the Masses with audio clips from KROQ's day-long on-site broadcast, exclusive backstage footage and more.

I went looking for the concert shirt, but it's gone. I wonder in which move it was lost.

Who Needs A Reason?

2008-06-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

I love this, but as Christian Finnegan said on "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" last night, "You know, I really love the political far left; if only they could be a bit more smug."

The MALM-LACK super hack

2008-06-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

We'd had an idea to somehow add under-bed shelving to a MALM king bed using the LACK shelving unit. The original thought was to add legs to the MALM and slide one LACK under each side. The problem came when we couldn't find a way of attaching legs that satisfied both my structural/safety concerns and Jennifer's aesthetic sense; either they'd be attractive but too small or not well-attached, or ugly but bulky and secure.

The beginnings of a solution came from an IKEA Hacker post on headboards which linked to aerialsoul's MALM headboard hack. The main inspiration we took from this is that the best way to add to a MALM bed is to just buy another set. We're using the headboard from one set as the footboard, and our headboard is made from the second headboard sitting atop the two footboards. Everything works together to make a cohesive, connected bed. We couldn't be more pleased!

The Hypocrisy Meter is Pegged

2008-06-17T09:41:00.000-07:00

Groups ask court to halt gender-neutral marriage licenses:

Meanwhile, a conservative Christian law firm and a church joined in faxing letters to county clerk offices Monday, telling them that they do not have to do work related to same-sex marriages if it violates their religious beliefs.

Murrieta, Calif.-based law firm Advocates for Faith and Freedom and the Seventh-day Adventist Church State Council said clerk employees are protected from discrimination and entitled to accommodations for their religious beliefs. The letters cited the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the California's Fair Employment and Housing Act.

Surely this is a sign of the Apocalypse: anti-equality, pro-discrimination haters standing on civil rights?

The cruise trip report!

2008-06-09T16:39:00.000-07:00

The cruise trip report, sort of, on MousePad. Includes pictures. Andrew & Jennifer - May 7-26, 2008 - POFQ, Disney Magic Westbound Repo, Hyatt Anaheim - MousePad:

I haven't been able to motivate myself to take my trip report notes and rewrite them into a real, legible Trip Report. I have, however, processed and uploaded all of my photos and am working on Jennifer's, and still have to scan and upload the shipboard photographer photos -- should be pretty soon. But since I can't seem to get the real report written, I'm pasting here my in-progress notes, cleaned up a little bit for publication.