Do not expect credit for the work that you do. “Your credit is no good here, we only accept cash…” Expect nothing. Expect to lose out, expect to lose everything, if you break even, be happy. Just create things, create them for the pure joy of creating them, do not expect to be compensated for your work, you won’t be, what you will be is disappointed…

Do not use people, expect people to use you. Get something out of it, learn from it, find some way to benefit from it. Get something out of it, some small thing that you can be satisfied with. Don’t try to change the world, try to change yourself, your view, your position. Make things better, if not for others, than for yourself. Don’t set out to change the world, those who do rarely succeed. Changing the world is not always a good thing. Hitler changed the world…

Adopt our motto of “toiling away in obscurity” and maybe, if you’re lucky, it’ll just be “relative obscurity” or something close to it. What is the difference between famous and infamous? Positives, negatives… All a matter of perspective. Whose side are you on? How many sides are there? Do we have to pick sides? Everybody wants a pony…

Complaining is something that many people like to do, but few people like to listen to… If communication is the key, what is the lock? What is the combination? The meaning of the message will ultimately be decided by the reciever, not the sender. There is no hope…

I think the most important thing of all, the one to remember and not forget, is to keep on truckin’ and by that we mean, keep trying, keep doing, even if you fail on occasion, never surrender, you may have to compromise, you may have to make sacrifices, but even in the face of armageddon, do not give up.

I recently got a bill from a company for 0.31 cents. This is bureacracy at it’s finest…

Consider the costs involved with sending me a bill for 0.31 cents. There is the cost of postage, the cost of the paper, the time it took someone to review it - wait - I wonder if anyone did review it, not to mention the costs to me, as I now have to spend 0.37 cents to put a stamp on an envelope, and use a paper check, and spend my time dealing with it… I suppose if this whole process had been electronic it would have made more sense, what with micropayments and all, but still, even the processing power to deal with all of this probably costs more that 0.31 cents and could have been put to better use…

I mentioned “someone” above, in the thought that perhaps some human was involved in this whole equation… Doubtful eh? And even if there was a human involved, they’d just be following business rules, but would it not perhaps make sense to add something into your business rules that says that if a bill is under a certain amount just forget about it, or if it’s a recurring bill, add it on to the next or, let this one slide, whatever… It’ll never happen you say? Sure it will. It already does. The “take a penny, leave a penny” thing on the counter at the store serves this exact purpose. It keeps things moving, it prevents the wasting of time by customers who dig and dig for that penny they just know they have somewhere, and it allows the store to grab that penny when you don’t have it so they can save the time it would take to give you 0.99 cents in change. This works. It works because in a store they realize that keeping people waiting in line is not worth a penny.

So the next time you’re working on some system that does ridiculous things, consider suggesting that it take the smart approach and not be some dumb computer system that sends out bills for 0.31 cents.

Hey Best Buy, don’t mess with us Wisconsinites!

Wisconsin accuses Best Buy of misleading customers:

The lawsuit accuses Best Buy of promising cash rebates on certain purchases, but instead awarding gift cards for in-store purchases. Consumers who purchased a computer advertised for $1,199, for instance, paid $1,399 and received a $50 manufacturer’s rebate and $150 in-store credit.

Now really, I don’t hate Best Buy… It’s an ok place to browse and touch tech-toys before ordering from Amazon… ;)

In Linux Under the Desktop I had said:

What is Linux under the desktop? It’s the practice of sticking a server under your desk to get the job done…

Over time, these machines become useful, or even critical, and you need to move them into the server room along side all of the Windows boxes…

We just moved two Linux boxes out from under the desk and into the server room… And will probably put one more in there. Progress… it just takes time…

Long ago I mentioned our Canoe Adventure, which at the time seemed like quite a journey, and while we’ve gone further down the river since then, I’ve not properly documented it…

So here’s this:



Our Starting Point (A) was in Fowler Lake, and leads into the Oconomowoc River. We headed over to La Belle Cemetery (B) where we walked around for a bit discussing the tombstones, the dead, and the undead. From there we paddled past Riverside Park (C) opting not to stop this time as we usually do, and kept going all the way to the new Highway 67 overpass (D), which was not on the map, so I added it in with a purple line. (I had to approximate where it was, as I had no GPS handy.) Our ultimate goal is to make it all the way to Lake Oconomowoc (E) and it looks like we made it about 1/2 way. I think we’ll have to set aside most of the day to do this, and it would be wise to bring along a nice lunch to enjoy once we get there. (Of course we could always take a short land detour to the Kiltie!)

Hopefully the next update with a fancy map will show that red line being twice as long, and our arms being twice as tired…

Mark Mallman is someone I’ve known since the early 1990’s. Back when he was a wee lad in Waukesha, he was in Uncle Smooth and the Lost Mayans, and then later did his own thing with an accoustic guitar. He’s always been a bit odd, or visionary, or weird, or nutty, or… well, you get the idea. A little bit crazy, a little big genius - that’s what I liked about Mallman. Oh, and he’s funny too!

But enough sucking up to Mallman, ok, not quite enough… I got to see Mallman perform at Mad Planet this weekend and wow, I was blown away!

I’m not even sure how to describe it other than a peculiar mix of rock and roll, keyboards, crazy lyrics, and that Mallman style, all mixed up into something very unique. I wish I could have seen Marathon 2 last year, where he (and many others) performed for over 52 hours!

Anyway, if you want to see something that’s entertaining, and rockin’ and (possibly) memorable, go see Mark Mallman, and tell him Pete sent ya…

(Oh, Mark get’s some bonus points for this: We haven’t seen each other in over 10 years, and he tells me I look young. Woohoo!)

Finally, after searching and searching we found something we can really get behind… We plan to support this cause with all we’ve got…

If you’re not into infinity like we are, we suggest you check out Support Our Ribbons where hopefully you can find some cause you believe in… or are against… or just make one up…

Is it any wonder that last night’s episode of Futurama (Fear of a Bot Planet) was my favorite?

As someone who deals with data files on an almost daily basis I can appreciate a “large properly-formatted data file” (though sometimes they are improperly formatted, which makes me sad and causes robots everywhere to leak coolant at an alarming rate.)

Oh yeah, so where was I? “Large properly-formatted data files” right. See, a mere 6 hours after the episode (at the inhuman hour of 4 AM) I was working with large properly-formatted data files (my favorite kind) and databases, and diffs, and greps, and perls, and sqls and… I just realized, I think I’m a robot. I mean, I was pretty sure I was a pirate, but I might be a robot, which is ok, because I can still live on Robot Pirate Island.

Anyway, I’m off to plan my Robanukah party!

(Note: Order more lugnuts.)

Wired tells us that Bands Embrace Social Networking, which, um, isn’t really news, as bands have been doing this forever, the just use computers/internet nowadays to do it… (Maybe it should have said “Social Networking Web Sites”)

Traditionally, bands toured cities and played dive bars to create buzz about their music. But with MySpace, bands can host demos of their songs, announce shows and connect with fans without spending weeks on the road.

Well, in my day, bands got promoted by word of mouth, zines, touring, demos, self-released vinyl, the occasional local college radio station, etc… The funny thing about the “without spending weeks on the road” bit is that the majority of bands I saw in the 1990’s were a bunch of guys (or girls!) who were friends, and loved playing music, and managed to get enough shows to do a tour. The tour was usually a “break even” event (if that) where the shows would cover gas, and some food, while most meals and lodging was provided by promoters, or other bands, or just “cool people” you’d meet on the road… I remember hearing at least one band saying they were basically “on vacation driving across the US, playing shows along the way…”

I planned the Trademark tour, and it was a pain involving writing letters, sending out tapes, making phone calls… lather, rinse, repeat… With today’s tools and the internet handy, I can’t even imagine how much easier/more of a pleasure it would be to promote your band and book a tour. (Remember punkcasting?)

Hmmm, what was my point? Did I have one? Oh, it must be that technology, computers, and the internets make things easier, and improve the lives of all who use them. (Yeah, that sounds good to me!)

Good: JK Audio QuickTap. Not so much: RadioShack Recorder Control.

We first tried the Radio Shack Recorder Control, which worked, but gave us a noisy recording. Of course it was done in the presence of a few desktop computers, but even with some noise removal in Audacity, the quality just wasn’t quite there.

As for the JK Audio QuickTap, it is twice the price, but so far it’s showing a lot more promise as far as good quality recordings…

Argh… Firefox has been pretty darn stable for me overall, and I’m pretty loose with extensions, and will install a new one if it sounds useful, but lately I’ve have all these quits.

The nice thing about these quits are that I can see them coming. Actuall, I can hear them coming, because my hard drive starts getting loud, Firefox slows down, and then I’m alerted that Firefox has quit. Sometimes I even get to finish reading a page before it quits, so that’s nice…

Looking at the Talkback history though, I see this:

In theory, Firefox should quit on me 4 more times today. This might not happen as I’ve got a short day today, and if I actually get around to installing Firefox 1.0.4 perhaps all this badness will go away…

A conversation that may or may not have happened while two people were brushing their teeth…

Person #1: Today when I came in the bathroom the cat was licking my toothbrush…

Person #2: Ugh! That’s gross! She didn’t lick my toothbrush did she?

Person #1: No.

Person #2: Good. Because that is completely and totally disgusting.

Person #1: She was sitting on your toothbrush while she was licking mine…

For extra fun, pretend the cat is loved by Person #1 and tolerated by Person #2.

(Just to clarify, this did not happen to me. I keep my toothbrush in a drawer. Besides, my cats are too busy licking themselves and each other to look for random objects to lick…)

My cable company called me today. They wanted to know how my Moxi was working out…

I told them all was well, no complaints, heck, it’s the first time I’ve had a completely positive experience using Flash. (Hey, I’ll even skip the mention of Flash being an Adobe property now, and wondering what that means for SVG…)

Then the guy asked if I had and comments or questions… (Oh boy!) I asked if there was any point in attempting to connect it to my network via the ethernet jack in the back, to which he said “Not at this time…” and I went on to explain that I was a little disappointed that many of the features (photos, dvds, jukebox) built into the Moxi were not yet offered or enabled. He went on to say that it’s mostly a matter of copyright and usage rights, but they are working on trying to enable more features for consumers in the future. He stressed that point, and sounded pretty sincere about it.

I then told him I was strongly considering building a MythTV box because it could do things that the Moxi (as offered by them) currently cannot do, and I wanted to use the media that I have the right to use, as I so desire. I told him I liked the Moxi and it works well, but the limitations concerned me just a bit. He thanked me for my feedback, and seemed pretty surprised by the things I said. (It’s ok, I’m used to that…)

(Crap! I forgot to mention my one complaint - that the remote does not light up for easy use in a dark room…)

The dream is still alive!

1. Start a company,
2. Get aquired by Google, or Yahoo!, or some other larger company…
3. Profit!

(dodgeball.com was acquired by Google…)

Oh, with that Step 2. you’ll want to make sure it’s not a company you despise, whose only plan is to crush you because you present some sort of competiton to them, like say, Microsoft…

Now, while the dream for the creators of the company/service comes true, what about the users and consumers? It seems like every time something neat shows up, it ends up getting gobbled up by a larger company, so that in 10 years time, it will be true that there are 5 corporations that seems to own and control everything we see, hear, and think. The dream quickly becomes a nightmare when choice all but disappears… Oops, there I go getting all dystopian again! (Repeat after me: I’m a Happy Consumer! I’m a Happy Consumer!)

Tired: Fired for blogging… Wired: Fired for podcasting!

Being fired for blogging is so early 2000’s. (Heck, Cam pretty much did it in 1997!) Mark Pilgrim, Dooce, Troutgirl. Old News!

Now we have a Podcaster Fired Over Podcast; Too Naughty for South Carolina:

“If we’ve learned anything from this experience, it’s been to carefully choose an employer, if you plan to make controversial statements anywhere.”

What did we say about representing?

Hey, now that the future is near and it’s a whole new internets, we can await the day when someone who gets paid to blog (or podcast) gets fired for doing something else inappropriate. Won’t that be cool? I can see it now “Blogger Fired for [Insert Undesirable Behavior Here]” or something like that. Mark my words, it’ll happen…