Archive for May, 2007

The family business

May 31st, 2007

Me: So, bud. What do you want to be when you grow up? Son: What are you, Dad? Me: Haha! Me? I’m an entrepreneur. Son: I want to be an entre canoer. Me: Do you know what that means? Son: No. Me: It means I think of ideas and start my own businesses. Son: But [...]

Zooomr update: down for the count?

May 30th, 2007

Zooomr is still not live and the situation doesn’t look good. Their database server crashed just 15 minutes after Mark III launched. In their latest blog post, Kristopher makes a desperate plea for hardware and help. Is this the end of Zooomr? I hope not. But whether it ever comes back online or not, recent [...]

Review: Eragon

May 29th, 2007

Star Wars with dragons. It’s A New Hope complete with a blonde farm boy who starts a journey to become a man following the murder of his uncle, a dark and powerful pursuer who does the bidding of an evil emperor, magic, a hermit who turns out to be more than he seems and makes [...]

Whither Zooomr?

May 28th, 2007

I wish Zooomr the best of luck launching Mark III. At the same time, as a developer interested in their open API, I can’t help but wonder about the cause of the complete failure of Mark III to launch anywhere near on time. It’s now six days late (not counting the aborted attempt in April) [...]

On the brink of five

May 26th, 2007

The Zonbox $99 desktop computer

May 25th, 2007

The Zonbox by Zonbu is a positively tiny desktop computer that makes no sound, makes no pollution after carbon offsets, and will only set you back $99 the first month (more on that in a minute). It’s a fully loaded desktop computer running a Linux operating system and, like most Linux distributions these days, comes [...]

Review: V for Vendetta

May 25th, 2007

Quite good. Surprisingly good, actually, considering I don’t expect very much from comic book translations (There were so many disappointments. Batman 2 through whatever, Elektra, Tank Girl, Daredevil, Cat Woman, The Hulk—the list goes on.). With the exception of one gratuitous scene near the end, it barely earns its “R” rating. V himself (Hugo Weaving) [...]

She bought the scissors anyway

May 24th, 2007

Me: Those scissors say they’re “half the work of regular scissors.” Wife: So? Me: Well, they’re spring-loaded. So by closing the scissors you compress a spring and then when you release pressure the spring returns the energy and opens them again. But springs aren’t 100% efficient. You have to put more energy into closing the [...]

That’s entertainment

May 23rd, 2007

Me: So, there’s this documentary I think we should watch… Wife: Is it depressing? Me: Well, sort of. That’s why I’m running it by you. And it’ll probably make you angry. Wife: Ok. Here’s the thing, I watch movies to be entertained. I don’t want to be depressed or angry. Me: What are you watching [...]

Dear Rookie Web Developer

May 18th, 2007

Dear Rookie Web Developer, I had the task recently of taking over a project from a group of developers (who shall remain nameless) who were unable to finish it. When I saw what they had written, I could see why. The project had clearly been assigned to inexperienced, junior-level developers who did not have the [...]