Ultranormal

  • When asked, most executives say

    When asked, most executives say they’re not going to be moving to Linux in the near future. That’s funny. What “executive” really knows what OS their web site or infrastructure runs on? Do they care? Here, we’re moving quite a few “essential” systems to Linux, and folks are loving it. The best part is the move didn’t come from an “executive”. The idea was brought up by developers and sysadmins. They proved the case for it, and did it. Gotta love that.

  • In the words of Eve,

    In the words of Eve, “Corporations are bastards.“

  • Pondering the Present

    I wrote a very long post about the people I work with and what I think of them. I just deleted it and am starting over.

    Today, I got to spend four hours in the latest “search summit”, where all the business owners and non-technical people get together and talk about what they do. I got to speak up and talk about open source and open source projects that work. It was interesting getting to talk about something I love at work. I like what I do, but I don’t think I love it as much as I used to. I think Open Source is fascinating, and, while I haven’t actually written any code for any, I support and use a bunch of open-source software. I submit bug reports, use them, compile stuff, etc. I’m a good little open source consumer.

    Open Source Stuff Worth Using:

    • AOLserver: Yes, it’s open source! The server that runs the hardest hit sites on the web. It’s fast, cool, has a tightly integrated Db interface and is as open as you want it to be.
    • Mozilla: Fight Microsoft. Whatever you do… and I know this sounds weird coming from a guy who’s a whore to bad guy , but just do it. Any browser that works on all the OS’es I use and makes my pages look the same on all of them is something worth using.
    • Ximian GNOME: They’re the company arm of GNOME, but they’re one of the reasons I use Linux. They make the hard stuff a little easier for those of us who don’t want to get up to our elbows in debugging conflicts.
    • PostgreSQL: An open-source database that’s close enough to Oracle to make people think twice. It’s easy to set up, and thanks to the folks at OpenACS, works great with AOLserver.
    • OpenACS: I don’t use the software, but anything that gets people using AOLserver is a good thing. A solid community infrastructure platform. And the people behind it are cool too.

    I forget that what I do is unique. There aren’t many people who are the only frontend developer on a site that gets 19+ million hits a day and generates millions of dollars in revenue every year. I forget that I’ve been doing this longer than anyone else in my company. It’s strange that I get so caught up in the day-to-day drudge that I don’t sit back and realize that less than three years ago, I was welded to a headset in Tucson, talking to small businesspeople without a clue and helping them set up websites. I was paid by the hour. Now, I’m the guy people talk to, even when they shouldn’t, about searching and how to build them. It’s scary. It makes me proud.

    Now, if only I could start combining my work with this whole open source thing… Gotta work on that.

  • Take part in the madness

    Take part in the madness that is poodle beat poetry (and bonus: poodle astrology). I love Lynda Barry. It took me the longest time to start reading her comic in the Tucson Weekly. I thought it was sloppy and didn’t make any sense. Then, I woke up, and got hooked on Marlys. Now, she’s unleashed the poodle, and I can’t stop laughing.

  • Inspiration

    I love feeling like I’m on the edge of something huge. I’ve felt kind of stagnant the last few months, and I think I’m finally coming out of it. I’m still frustrated by a lot of what I have to do at work, and some of the people here (ok, a lot of them). But, I think I can get around that by working on this new thing. It’s huge. It’s revolutionary for our group and what we do. It could free me and the other two engineering guys up for bigger and better things.

    I’ve barely started on it other than proving that it can be done. The first round rules. It works! It doesn’t crash anything. It plays well with others and doesn’t break anything (yet). I need to add a bunch of configuration options to it and clean it up, which is the least fun part. But, once I’m done, I may never have to hear anyone say, “Can you move it two pixels over and make it blue? I’ll send you the color later today.”, ever again. Won’t that be nice?

    It’s too bad I can’t tell you all what it is. It’s really cool. It’s revolutionary. It’s counter-culture intuitive. It rocks the socks off the box. It’ll make you cry out my name and beg for more. Ok, maybe not that… but it’s cool. And it’s mine.

  • For a super early teaser,

    For a super early teaser, the Star Wars Episode 2 trailer is very well done.

  • PhotoDude.com has been fascinating to

    PhotoDude.com has been fascinating to read over the past few months. I used to go for the photos. They’re beautiful. Since 9/11, though, he’s turned his blog into a totally different animal. I don’t know quite how to explain the change, because I don’t really know him, but it seems that where there were once soft edges and humor, is all hard corners and harsh words. Interesting.

  • The Good Little Entertainment Consumer Report

    It was a fine weekend for consuming entertainment product. Here are the highs and lows of the weekend:

    • Game 7: Finally, the Yankee’s lose! I hate baseball. I really do. But, that doesn’t keep me from hating the Yankee’s. Plus, Arizona was there, and they deserve a champion in something other than college basketball. If we’re forced to watch the Cardinals every year, we can at least get ONE World Series. (too bad I don’t live there and could take the day off or something)
    • The Emmy’s: I thought they were a little overwrought, but it was great to see Peter MacNicol win for Ally McBeal. He’s the only real reason to watch that show anymore. He’s just groovy.
    • Band of Brothers: It ended much better than it began. They tied up loose ends, and we finally got to see who everyone was! It bothered me that they didn’t put their names next to the old guys in the little interview segments at the beginning. I understand it (what do you think I am, stupid?). If they put their names up, you’d know who survives!! Where’s the fun in that?
    • Fantasy Football: My whole team sucked this week. They really did. I didn’t start who I should have, and my QB was out on a bye. BUT, with one player each left (my kicker, his defense), I’m up by 13 points. I like my chances. If I win, it will put me alone at the top of the board with a crazy record of 7-1.
    • Serendipity: John Cusack, what the hell happened to you, man? This was a piece of crap with a capital S. It was trite, completely predictable, and if it weren’t for Jeremy Piven, and how unbelievably cute Kate Beckinsale was, this movie would have no redeeming values whatsoever. The worst part? Whenever they missed each other, I heard a cascade of female gasps from the audience. DUR, ladies, DUR!! Jeez… what a stupid movie.
    • The Crow: I took a late nap yesterday (I love Sundays), so wasn’t ready for bed when the game was over. So, I flipped over to Cinemax where I got to see most of The Crow. I still love this movie. It’s a little corny, but it’s dark, a little twisted and Michael Wincott is evil incarnate in it. That, and it rings a little too true with Brandon Lee’s death during filming. The end always gets me.

    There you have it, the weekly entertainment roundup. I left out Iron Chef, but you know how I feel about that show…

  • The Whole Story Finally

    Finally, here’s the Pic-couch-nic story. Jen had the great idea this week that she and I should have a romantic picnic in our backyard yesterday during Max’s nap. She went out and got veggie dip, yummy chocolate cake, a rotisserie chicken and fresh sourdough bread. She put Max down while I was in the shower, got the food ready upstairs and put the blanket out.

    Then, things got interesting. When I got out of the shower, I heard Max fussing. I went in to check on him, and it was pretty easy to see the boy wasn’t ready to go down for a nap. So, I took him downstairs. Jen, ever the improviser, decided to scrap going outside. SO, we had a lovely little pic-couch-nic. It was great: no bugs, no hard ground, and Max got to join us!

  • This is a test. I

    This is a test. I am blogging from my AOLTV box. Will it post? Am I wasting my time? We’ll see.