February 05, 2012
So, it's Super Sunday...
It's the biggest television day of the year, at least here in the US. This year NBC has the broadcast rights, and they're going to be streaming the game online.
Which is interesting: it means they're directly competing with their own affiliates. Here in Portland, I could watch the game on KGW (if I owned a TV) or I can watch the game directly on the web, missing KGW's ads.
Or I can do what I'm actually going to do: "watch" the game using a flash file at the NFL site, which will graphically display each play as it happens, and otherwise not assault my senses. And I'll do other things while it's going on.
I remember the first Super Bowl. I was in high school. My dad was a Green Bay fan. (Vince Lombardi, and so on.) This year is Super Bowl 46, and just thinking about that makes me feel old.
UPDATE: No one is being sprinkled with glory so far. New England's Safety is pretty scandalous. And now the Giants got a 12 yard penalty for having an extra man on the field. What a bunch of clowns.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
01:45 PM
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Many years ago, scientists invented a fantastic technology and named it "radio." It allows you to experience the game in a more detailed way than television is willing to give you, while allowing you to do something OTHER than watching the television.
That's the way I'll be SuperBowl'ing... until it's time to fold laundry. Then I'll put the game on. Folding laundry and Sunday night sports go hand-in-glove for me.
Posted by: Wonderduck at February 05, 2012 02:27 PM (DxepM)
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I don't own a radio, either.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 05, 2012 02:33 PM (+rSRq)
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Funny, I have three TV sets (though I haven't watched broadcast TV in years), but I don't think I have a radio at all.
No, wait, I think there's one in my cell phone. ... Yep, FM radio on the Multimedia menu. Huh, I can even set it to record programs. It also has a music editor with ten instruments. (This is a cheap "feature phone", not Android or iPhone or anything, but it's just full of stuff like that.)
Posted by: Pixy Misa at February 05, 2012 04:36 PM (PiXy!)
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Annoyingly, I have yet to find a small MP3 Player with an *AM* radio in it. I like to listen to news and talk when I'm occupied with something tedious.
Posted by: Mauser at February 05, 2012 06:56 PM (cZPoz)
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The game is sort of tertiary to the whole thing. (1) get together with friends, outlandish amounts of beer optional. In my case, 2 friends, 2 family members, and no beer. (2) laugh at commercials (M&Ms won the super bowl this year.) (3) watch a football game.
As for cutting out local commercials... I think I saw one for a local business, and a few for the local 10:00pm NBC news broadcast. NBC isn't hurting their local affiliates much by streaming online, based on that.
Posted by: Mikeski at February 05, 2012 08:47 PM (1bPWv)
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You'd be surprised how many radio stations you can listen to live for free online. There are even apps that give you quick access to live feeds from a wide range of stations.
Of course, if you don't have a connection or radio signal of *some* sort, it's fairly moot.
I watched on TV. Protip: Do not throw the ball up for grabs on 1st and 10 while leading with 5 minutes left.
Posted by: BigD at February 05, 2012 08:49 PM (qLkdZ)
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What a bunch of clowns.
I'll point out that New England got the same penalty...
twice. Once on offense, once on defense. Guess that makes them double clowns? And losers, to boot.
Posted by: Wonderduck at February 05, 2012 10:45 PM (DxepM)
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January 31, 2012
Earbugs
I usually have some kind of music ringing around in my head. Maybe it proves I'm crazy.
Could be worse; could be voices. Anyway, these days it's usually something from anime. But for the last week or so, it's been the second movement of Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra. Which at least has the distinction of being classy, as opposed to trash like the OP of AsoIku.
And I hope that posting about it will make it go away.
UPDATE: Seems to have worked. Now it's battle music from Dog Days.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
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I went to youtube to listen to the AsoIku op and thought it was quite nice (which mostly amounts to not skipping it/feeling embarrassed of it when watching anime at the cafeteria)
Posted by: Jaked at January 31, 2012 09:56 PM (jV/tp)
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Oh, I like it a lot. It's complex, and it's jazzy, and it's syncopated, and it has an interesting chord structure that relies on something other that the tonic, dominant, and subdominant.
But it ain't Bartok. That's kulchure, you know.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at January 31, 2012 10:35 PM (+rSRq)
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January 21, 2012
Bummer. No Hooters
Was sitting here a little while ago, thinking, "You know? It's been forever since I've gone out for breakfast. I hardly ever eat out at all, in fact. Maybe I should go out for breakfast tomorrow, just for a change. There's a Hooters near here, isn't there? It's supposed to have a good breakfast; maybe I should give it a try."
"Or at least, therer was a Hooters over there six years ago, the last time I walked past. I've never been in it, and I wonder if it's still there?"
So I got onto the web to check out the Hooters site. And it told me I had to install Microsoft Silverlight in order to view the site. No thanks.
Fortunately, the restaurant locater page didn't require that. So I plugged in my zipcode, and it told me that the nearest location was Jantzen Beach. Which is hell-and-gone away from here. It sure as hell isn't walking distance.
Jantzen Beach is where I-5 crosses the Columbia River. Google Earth says it's 10 miles as the crow flies, but the crow would be flying over Forest Park and the West Hills. By road it's more like 15 miles.
Rats. Oh, well; I'm too old for that kind of thing anyway.
UPDATE: There was a pastry shop over in the SW corner of the Beaverton Mall last time I was there, but that was something like a year ago. I wonder if it's still there?
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
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Do you have a specific reason for passing on Silverlight? My company routinely develops Silverlight websites, and our customers don't report any reluctance of their users to it. I'm in the process of setting up my own blog, and I'd been planning on using Silverlight for my animated header images, as I have no interest in touching flash.
And supposedly, Stars Cabaret serves a mean steak. In for a penny, in for a pound...
Posted by: David at January 21, 2012 08:41 PM (Kn54v)
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More a matter of inertia than anything else, plus the fact that every new thing I install carries with it a small but nonzero probability of inducing behaviors I don't like.
I don't fix what ain't broke, and Silverlight doesn't fix any problem I'm interested in solving.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at January 21, 2012 09:03 PM (+rSRq)
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From the subject line, I had thought that you were going to write about something entirely different.
Posted by: Mark A. Flacy at January 22, 2012 12:12 AM (Lbkvv)
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I once installed Silverlight because it was required for NetFlix downloads, apparently for the DRM and streaming. It sucked so badly... it took over the WMP streaming I was using for Radio and couldn't keep up, it degraded performance so severely a simple audio stream was rendered choppy. But it sure did a good job of throwing up the sponsored ads in the player.
Needless to say, I uninstalled it and have never looked back.
Posted by: Mauser at January 22, 2012 03:16 AM (cZPoz)
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"I had thought that you were going to write about something entirely different."
Have you been to Hooters? That is what he was writing about. (Unless you were expecting a screed on spotted owl preservation...)
Posted by: Mikeski at January 22, 2012 08:24 AM (1bPWv)
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I had to laugh, as I scanned over this again, I thought "Bummers" which clearly is a restaurant for guys who are more interested in a nice round butt.
Posted by: Mauser at January 26, 2012 01:52 AM (cZPoz)
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January 16, 2012
Happiness is a fully-stocked larder



Probably it's instinctive to want to keep and stockpile food, and to feel good when your food supply is secure. But having my shelves and freezer full always makes me feel good.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
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The first major snowfall of the year, I always start frantically baking and soupmaking. I think it's a lizard-brain thing.
Posted by: Boviate at January 16, 2012 02:00 PM (q39AX)
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OK, I gotta ask: Why do you store your jars of peanut butter upside down?
Posted by: Tex Lovera at January 16, 2012 04:21 PM (uw3L9)
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Tex, I think it's because the peanut butter is imported from Australia...
Posted by: Siergen at January 16, 2012 05:21 PM (VoVql)
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That's the kind of peanut butter that's made from peanuts and salt, and nothing else. It doesn't contain emulsifiers, so it separates. When you open a new jar which has been stored normally, you'll find a layer of oil on top of a very thick layer of peanut paste. It has to be stirred before you use it, a process which takes several minutes.
And you'll usually end up with an unstirred bit at the bottom of the jar. If you store the jar upside down, then the oil begins at the bottom of the jar and the paste is over it. That makes it a lot easier to mix it up and to get all of the paste mixed up.
Once I've opened a jar and mixed it, I store it with the lid upwards. But it works better to keep the unopened jars upside down.
By the way, it tastes a hell of a lot better than things like Skippy and Jif, which have added corn syrup and a lot of other things mixed in. The texture is better, too; emulsifiers suck.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at January 16, 2012 05:25 PM (+rSRq)
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As to why the tuna is upside down, well... it isn't, actually. Bumblebee did something weird with the labels on this particular kind of tuna, and I honestly don't know why.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at January 16, 2012 05:27 PM (+rSRq)
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I liked Siergen's explanaton better...
I agree about getting the GOOD peanut butter - it's worth it. It really does taste better without all that sugar/corn syrup added to it.
As for my fridge, it's an ongoing war between me and my wife/daughters. They do not understand how an engineer's mind works re: organizing storage space...
Posted by: Tex Lovera at January 16, 2012 06:00 PM (uw3L9)
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Hey, that's what I do with my peanut butter, too, and for the same reason!
Posted by: atomic_fungus at January 16, 2012 07:57 PM (4deSp)
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January 15, 2012
Snow day

Hope there won't be a problem delivering my groceries tomorrow!
Weather forecast is that we're supposed to get intermittent snow through Tuesday. But it's going to go above freezing each day (and it's above freezing right now, so I don't expect this to hang around).
UPDATE, ten minutes later: It's stopped snowing, and the sun is out. And it's already starting to melt.
UPDATE: It was just a light dusting anyway. It didn't even fully cover the grass.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
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Got a couple inches up here, then another dusting. The streets have mostly melted off, but not the sidewalks in my neighborhood.
Posted by: Mauser at January 15, 2012 03:38 PM (cZPoz)
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That snow is now completely gone. You can't even tell it happened.
Which is pretty typical for snow around here. Snow that sticks, and is deep enough so that you can do snowballs, is maybe one year in three. Snow deep enough to justify shoveling -- maybe one year in ten. It hasn't happened in the six years since I moved back here.
It's ocean effect. Our weather here is more moderate year round than the same latitude 1000 miles to the east: cooler in summer, and warmer (and wetter) in winter. (We're at the same latitude as Ottawa.)
Portland specifically does get some amazing ice storms. Cold wind blows west down the Columbia River Gorge, and rainstorms blow east off the Pacific, and sometimes they meet here. Warm wet air aloft, and cold air on the ground, means ice up to an inch thick on everything.
I remember one ice storm, late 1970's. I stood next to a wooded area, and every minute or two there was a loud crash as some branch on some tree gave up and fell off. It was pretty amazing.
And it's scary to watch people trying to drive on it, especially on the hills.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at January 15, 2012 05:05 PM (+rSRq)
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Either you're forgetting December of 2008 when you say there hasn't been snow worth shoveling in the last 6 years, or your opinion of not worth shoveling is pretty extreme. I had three feet of snow in my yard just South of you in Tigard, and even with chains on the car, driving around Beaverton was pretty scary.
This morning there was a very light dusting in the yard at 8am, and it was mostly gone a couple of hours later, but then just after noon a short but intense flurry dropped enough snow to pile about 3/4 of an inch on my car in maybe 15 minutes. But then the sun came out, and it mostly melted. But there is still some left on the trees and bushes, and pretty much anywhere that didn't get hit by the sun before it went down.
Posted by: David at January 15, 2012 08:53 PM (Kn54v)
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I think that living in Massachusetts for ten-odd years may have changed my standards. I haven't seen anything here like what we got every winter there.
The last winter I was there we set an all-time record for snowfall by February, and it kept snowing through April. I moved away in November of that year, and the first major snowstorm happened the day after I flew out. (The moving truck carrying my stuff got caught in it.)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at January 15, 2012 10:36 PM (+rSRq)
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And the snow we get here is a joke compared to what
Duckburg gets.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at January 15, 2012 10:38 PM (+rSRq)
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Duck
ford. We actually just got our first snowfall of the winter this past Thursday. Just over five inches; Duck U. closed early to let the staff go home before the worst of it hit, and to prevent the night class students from having to come in. Considering that the city usually gets 10" of snow in December and we got nothing this year, I'll live with it. Heck, the day before the snow hit, it was 56°.
Actually, in the grand scheme of things, Duckford doesn't get all that much snow; around 40 inches per winter. The first winter I lived in MN, we got that much in one week, though that was with a 28" snowfall on Halloween.
Posted by: Wonderduck at January 15, 2012 11:26 PM (f/6aJ)
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It's sixty degrees here, guys.
At 4 AM.
It hasn't even frozen yet this winter.
Posted by: Avatar_exADV at January 16, 2012 02:40 AM (GJQTS)
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Avatar, we're getting it here. It's a cold and rainy winter down here, and further south they've been getting snow up in the hills.
Only thing is, it's
supposed to be summer.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at January 16, 2012 07:00 AM (PiXy!)
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I live about two hours' drive from the Duck. I got eight inches of global warming during that same storm.
...I was riding my motorcycle two days earlier. That's probably over now until March or April.
Posted by: atomic_fungus at January 16, 2012 07:28 AM (4deSp)
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Dang, Avatar, you've lucked out. There have been several freezes north of you. That said, I think the low last night was supposed to have been in the 50s. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, though--it wouldn't be the first year when winter started in February and more than made up for its tardiness.
Sometimes, I do lust after the climate of the Willamette. No hard freezes (south of the Gorge)? No "northers" bringing in air straight from the Yukon? Summers that rarely--if ever--hit triple digits? Real mountains, that you don't have to drive 12 hours to see on the horizon, and a reliable 40" of rain to keep everything nice and green? Sign me up, please.
Posted by: BigD at January 16, 2012 02:05 PM (u0/7E)
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I'm actually taking a sick day from work. I'm in a VERY narrow convergence zone. at the moment. This morning I had to drive down to Kirkland, and the highways were variable from clear to messy (And it turned out my mortgage broker couldn't get there, so a wasted trip) but up here in Lake Stevens, I've got at least 6-8" of Global Warming on my deck rails. It's not snowing south of Everett or North of Marysville based on the radar map, but this narrow band has just been sliding through lengthwise right over me.
I COULD make it to work in my little Subaru, but I'm very concerned about my ability to make it HOME safely tonight.
Posted by: Mauser at January 17, 2012 01:46 PM (cZPoz)
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BigD, I think I've said this before, but what the hell:
I grew up in Portland, and when we studied history in grade school, we studied the Oregon Trail -- for obvious reasons, I think. And when I was grown up and started working, a couple of times I went out to eastern Oregon to a couple of places where the Oregon Trail ran.
I always wondered why people would go through such a trial. To leave everything they knew, pack a few belongings into a wagon, and travel thousands of miles to a place they'd never seen, in hopes that it might be better than what they left? They must have all been insane. -- or so I thought.
It wasn't until I moved to Massachusetts that I began to understand. The soil there is terrible. It's not very fertile, and it's full of rocks. They used to make fences around their fields out of stones -- not because other materials were scarce, but simply because they needed to put all the stones somewhere that they picked up out of the soil so that they could plow what was left.
The reports going back east from here were unanimous: the soil was wonderful, the weather was favorable, the Indians were not dangerous (and there weren't many in any case), and of course this being the era of homesteading, the land was free. Plus there was lots of game, and the streams and rivers were teeming with fish. After the trials of the trip, it must have seemed like they had reached heaven.
And they, in turn, would have joined the chorus sending messages back east -- hey, it was worth the trip!
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at January 17, 2012 04:21 PM (+rSRq)
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January 07, 2012
Half a clue at the grocery store
A lot less crowded at the grocery store just now than it was two weeks ago, I tell you. Much nicer (for me, though probably not for the store).
As I was checking out, the young guy ringing up my stuff complimented me on the fact that I kept all the like items together on the conveyer. It made it easier for him to ring things up.
Then he completely missed the point, by not packing like items together in the plastic bags. Reason I put things together is in hopes they'll be packed together, which makes it easier for me to load up my shopping cart for the trip home.
On the way home, just as I was wheeling into the apartment complex, a paramedic unit with its lights going pulled into the place. It ran down to the mailboxes, and they looked at something there, then backed up and went past me towards the part where I live. And I had this sudden fantasy: I'd finally get to my apartment and see that they were just coming out of it, with my dead body on a stretcher. And I'd say, "But I'm right here!" and no one would hear me, and suddenly I'd realize that I was a ghost.
Turned out they were going somewhere else, different building even. And they didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry, either.
I think I've been watching too much TV.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
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Yu-yu Hakusho had a pretty good riff of that. Unfortunately, that was about all, and the series went off the cliff within 10 episodes.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at January 07, 2012 12:23 PM (G2mwb)
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I didn't even get that far. I think I gave up after ep 4.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at January 07, 2012 12:36 PM (+rSRq)
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Yeah, I gave up on it after it became obvious that it was going to be nothing but a fighting show.
Posted by: atomic_fungus at January 07, 2012 02:39 PM (4X4NQ)
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I can relate to that. I hate going to the doctor, because I always have this mental image where the nurse takes my pulse, and then turns to the doctor and says "Doctor, this man is already dead!"
Posted by: tellu541 at January 07, 2012 02:45 PM (pJ1uW)
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YuYu Hakusho was supposed to be a romcom with supernatural ingredients, but when the studio saw DBZ take off, they changed it after only a half-dozen episodes. I hung with it for about 20 episodes and was disappointed when it left Adult Swim, but by then that was more because I missed making fun of its melodramatic style and called weapon attacks. IMHO, it lost a lot when they all-but-dropped Boton and Yuuske's girlfriend.
And kids at the store have no clue how to bag anymore, and less care to learn.
Posted by: ubu at January 07, 2012 05:35 PM (GfCSm)
Posted by: Jaked at January 07, 2012 08:44 PM (5on7N)
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January 04, 2012
A juxtaposition of spam
Things are usually pretty slow around here. But just now there was an unexpected knock on my door. Just as I opened it, the phone started ringing.
At the door was a couple of Mormon missionaries. I told them I wasn't interested. The phone call? A robo-call from a local carpet cleaning place.
Sheesh.
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December 20, 2011
One of the great mysteries of life
Why is it that when I do my laundry, all the pockets in my sweat pants poof out?
Laundry gnomes, maybe? Looking for spare change?
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
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It's the gremlins that steal socks. They're making sure you didn't hide any in there.
Posted by: atomic_fungus at December 20, 2011 03:11 PM (VTkqk)
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They also seem to be turning my underwear inside out.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at December 20, 2011 04:29 PM (+rSRq)
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They also seem to be turning my underwear inside out.
They can't help it, Steven. They have to work against the current as well.
Posted by: Jaked at December 20, 2011 08:01 PM (57j7z)
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Could be worse. I washed my last load with a piece of gum in the pocket...
Posted by: Avatar_exADV at December 20, 2011 08:52 PM (pWQz4)
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Why is it that when I do my laundry, all the pockets in my sweat pants poof out?
Ducks.
The answer is ALWAYS ducks.
Posted by: Wonderduck at December 20, 2011 09:52 PM (f/6aJ)
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December 16, 2011
The desire for techno-toys
I can feel it building. The urge to buy another technotoy, not because I need it, but just because it would be awesome, or I hope it would be.
Last two times I had this urge I gave in. First one was Uiharu, my iPaq. Second was Saten, the Slate 500 tablet computer which runs Win7 Professional.
And the problem is that I didn't really have any use for either one. Over time I've come up with a few things to use the iPaq for, though. I use "notes" on it to maintain my grocery shopping list, which means it's an expensive and high-tech substitute for a piece of paper.
I also run a program called "Simple Timers" on it when I cook a french-bread pizza in my toaster oven, which makes it a substitute for a $15 timer.
As to Saten, the tablet computer, there really isn't anything at all. I turn it on once a day because if I don't then Deneb, the Windows Home Server, starts to complain that it can't do backups. But after that's done, well, Saten gets turned back off again, and usually doesn't get turned on again until the next morning, so it can again be backed up.
There is actually one thing I use Saten for, which does make a difference. It's rare, but Microsoft has been known to release patches which cause trouble. I have a vague memory that the first release of one of the major upgrades to one version of the OS ended up bricking some people's computers.
So when I get around to running Update, I run it on Saten first, and make sure it doesn't get bricked, before I do Alcyone, my main computer. Now they aren't exactly the same; Saten is running Win7-32 Professional and Alcyone runs Win7-64 Professional, but it's close enough to give me peace of mind before potentially sacrificing my main console to the Gods in Redmond.
Arcturus, the old laptop I leave on 24 hours to run uTorrent, runs XP. So how do I eliminate that risk? I use Windows XP Mode on Alcyone and update it first. If it works, then I can risk Arcturus.
Right now I don't have anything like that for Deneb, the Windows Home Server, so for that one I just hope that MS doesn't have it in for me.
So that's a use for Saten. But it's hard to argue that it's an important one, and it sure as hell doesn't justify the price I paid.
Yet the urge rises to buy yet another techno-toy, like an Android tablet or something. But what would I use it for? Fact is, it would be of even less use than the two useless techno-toys I already have. Bummer.
So I'm trying to raise the willpower to not do so. Hear me? I am not going to buy any new electronics this Christmas! Because I don't need it!
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
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I picked up a smartphone that, likewise, I haven't used for a whole lot of smartphone stuff.
I spend most of the day in front of a computer, either at home or at work, so why would I need one? So there aren't all that many actual instances where a smartphone is really useful. On the other hand, some of that's just not being used to my options - for example, asking Mom on the phone what's on my brother's Christmas list when I could have just -read- the Christmas list from my e-mail.
That's the real trick - making the connection between "hey, I need to do this task" and "hey, this device can DO that task"...
Posted by: Avatar_exADV at December 16, 2011 09:23 PM (pWQz4)
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Obviously, what you need is a device that can be remote-controlled from Saten. Sadly, things built with Lego Mindstorms look nothing like CBD Kei, or even Hoihoi-san.
-j
Posted by: J Greely at December 16, 2011 09:45 PM (2XtN5)
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I use my Kindle Fire to listen to Japan-a-Radio mostly.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at December 16, 2011 10:22 PM (G2mwb)
Posted by: ubu at December 17, 2011 08:32 AM (GfCSm)
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I'm trying to hold out until next summer, to see if the Windows 8 tablets are any good.
If I could get a tablet with close to the same horsepower as a laptop from 3 years ago, with GPS and optional keyboard, for current tablet prices... yeah.
Posted by: BigD at December 17, 2011 09:26 AM (u0/7E)
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My Slate (Saten) runs Win 7. Fact is, Windows doesn't really work very well on a system without a keyboard. The on-screen keyboard isn't a satisfactory substitute.
Also, the Slate screen just isn't big enough. It's 1024*600, and when the keyboard is displayed it uses about half of the vertical height.
I mostly use it in landscape mode. It works a lot better in portrait mode, though -- or it would, except that 600 pixels just isn't wide enough.
I can't believe that Microsoft is unaware of all this, and I wonder what kinds of things they're planning to do in Win 8 to make it work better on a tablet?
Also, by next summer the displays will have a lot more pixels, and that will go a long way towards fixing the problems.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at December 17, 2011 01:17 PM (+rSRq)
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I am hoping that the Win8 bow wave brings with it a bunch of lightweight, portable keyboards (I really like the eee Pad Transformer's form factor). Sure, while you're on the go, you'll have to put up with the on-screen keyboard, but if you can whip out a physical one that works reliably enough whenever you sit down at a desk or table...
I will say this--I used the snot out of my Droid X on my vacation this year. I did route planning on the fly, navigated unknown cities in the dark, looked a hundred miles ahead for places to eat, and googled everything from roadside markers to geological formations, all while keeping a close eye on my work E-Mail, just in case something blew up. I've known for years that all that stuff was possible, but actually doing it was really quite liberating. The thought of being able to do all that on a machine that is powerful enough to suffice for the other 50 weeks out of the year? Wow.
Posted by: BigD at December 17, 2011 02:34 PM (u0/7E)
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There aren't going to be many portable keyboards. They are available now for iPad, which runs UNIX after all. But they are not as popular. What you are going to see instead is a generation of keyboardless, and more importantly, mouseless UIs. Android is an example how it happens (Honeycomb was an adaptation for tablets). There's no reason why Windows can't grow one the same way OSX and Linux did.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at December 17, 2011 02:46 PM (G2mwb)
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Apropos that, one interesting trend in Linux UI recently is an adaptation of some ideas pioneered by portables, mostly in Android space, but also iOS. In particular, Ubuntu Unity does some of it. I am not just talking about the removal of the "close" and "minimize" elements. There is a significant amount of OS-level support for so-called "persistent application state" that's necessary to make it work. Unity got a lot of bad rap for using system RAM to retain the persistent state, and the resulting ballooning in memory requirements the likes of which Linux haven't seen ever, I believe (I remember a lot of creeping bloat, but nothing so wholesale). They did it in part because they wanted to experiment with revolutionary UI and deal with the rest of the system later, if possible. Still, the result is remarkably different and Android-like while retaining (most of) desktop usability. I really think that Microsoft is likely to follow a similar path.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at December 17, 2011 02:53 PM (G2mwb)
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I have a keyboard for Saten. The Slate has a USB port, and a USB keyboard works fine. (In fact, when it's in its charging stand, there are three USB ports.) But the keyboard doesn't qualify as "portable" in any reasonable sense.
If you really want a keyboard, then you should get a netbook, not a tablet.
Win7 also has a handwriting mode which you can use instead of the onscreen keyboard. But I haven't tried it, so I have no idea how well it works. (And given my handwriting, all my r's will come out as s's.)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at December 17, 2011 03:05 PM (+rSRq)
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If I'm sitting at a table or desk, I really prefer a keyboard. Maybe I'm just a traditionalist, but they're just too darn useful.
And, yeah, USB ports are excellent multi-taskers--one of my big complaints about current tablets (especially Apple and Amazon) is how they refuse to let you plug much in other than headphones. I want multiple USB ports (ideally, capable of powering devices if I'm plugged in to the wall), mini-HDMI for a TV or monitor, SD slot, etc. Radios can be o.k. at times--I'm typing this on a wireless keyboard that I've used for years--but, at the end of the day, I like having the option to go EMCON/airplane mode and plug stuff in, if for no other reason then to reduce battery drain. And yet, I don't really want to have to own (and upgrade/replace) two different gadgets just so that I have something I can carry in a pocket or use in a car.
I suspect that the next big UI thing will be voice; SIRI is dangling Apple's toes in the pool, and given what MS has been doing with Kinect (which ISTR hits PCs next year), I suspect Win8 will do a cannonball into that field. I find it disrespectful to use voice commands in public, though, and prefer tactile input options whenever practical. It's also a pain to talk to your computer when you've been on conference calls all day long.
Posted by: BigD at December 17, 2011 06:05 PM (u0/7E)
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Rather than USB, I think we're going to see increasing reliance on Bluetooth for things like keyboards and mouses. (Which means they have their own batteries, but it also means the tablet maker doesn't have to power them, which from the point of view of the tablet maker is all to the good.)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at December 17, 2011 07:28 PM (+rSRq)
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From a portability standpoint, cables are the devil. They tangle and get lost. If I were a tablet hardware designer, my dream would be that the tablet has a power cable, and everything else connects wirelessly and is powered by batteries. Ideally AA or AAA, so people just need to bring one charger to keep all the accessories powered, or use disposable batteries.
Posted by: Boviate at December 17, 2011 07:48 PM (RPpft)
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I have owned a pair of portable BT keyboards. One I used extensively with my iPaq, the hx4705. Uiharu is in many ways the next version of the 4705. They have shortcomings, such as sometimes not having a dedicated number row. Mine came with a pair of laptop-style Fn keys, letting each key have 3-4 meanings. Once you get used to it it works fairly well, although it's not going to be a challenge to full keyboards. They fold up small--not much bigger than the iPaq itself--and last a long time on a single AAA battery. I also had an HP I got cheap on closeout, but it never worked right, which was too bad, because it was sturdier than the other one. Since it was a full-on keyboard, even if a minimalist one, it even works with a laptop (or desktop) with BT.
Posted by: RickC at December 17, 2011 08:16 PM (VKVOz)
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Kindle Fire actually has an OTG port, so it can drive a keyboard, but Amazon's software does not support it for some reason. More intriguing, their SoC includes BT, but it's anyone's guess if it can be used or enabled in software. Usually such setups use shared antennas with WiFi, but not always. Again, it would be quite useful. Unfortunately, Amazon do not want me using Fire as a general purpose tablet, and OTG and BT are not needed to consume the content bought at Amazon, hence the situation.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at December 17, 2011 10:59 PM (G2mwb)
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The hassles of security
Bank of America put a hold on my credit card again. They called the number they had on file (my brother's business answering machine) and asked that I call back.
So he emailed that info to me.
Yesterday I scheduled a $250 delivery of groceries from Safeway for today. This morning they called me to tell me the credit card charge had bounced. So we cancelled it, and I apologized to them.
And found the email, and called BoA.
A couple of days ago I bought an upgrade to a program I use quite a lot, Sothink SWF Decompiler. Sothink is a Chinese company, and they do their online sales through a company in the Netherlands. BoA thought that it might be a fake charge, and I guess I can understand that. I confirmed to them that it was really me, and they unblocked my card again.
But my groceries didn't get delivered. I'll probably go over to the grocery store this weekend, to get a few things I'm low on, and to confirm that my card is working again. Then I'll do that delivery again.
(Why do I get groceries delivered sometimes? Maybe every three months I do that, to stock up on things that are bulky or heavy, like canned soup and soda pop. Stuff that I can't really bring home myself using my shopping cart, which is the only other way, since I don't have a car.)
I can't really blame BoA for this. Since my account did get compromised once, I suspect I'm now on a high-suspicion list. And though this is a hassle, it's a damned sight better than if someone spent a bunch of my money illicitly without BoA stopping them.
So deep down, I'm grateful to them. But I thought I was going to get food today! And I've been grumbling about it all afternoon.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
03:21 PM
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There are few things more emotionally comforting than a well stocked larder. (A well stocked banking account being one of those.)
Posted by: Dave Young at December 16, 2011 04:12 PM (ZAk0Z)
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I've had credit cards locked three times.
Once when I left college, and bought a bunch of furniture and household items in a town ~5 hours away from where the card had always been used before (and only once a semester to buy books).
Once when I bought a huge high end gaming computer, back when you had to do such things to play games.
And once when my card number was actually stolen.
It's scary how much data-mining they must do, as 2 online purchases that didn't match my "buying pattern" set the flag. And this was my (domestic) online-shopping card.
I do have another card where, every time I order from CDJapan/amazon.co.jp, they robo-call me with a "log in and verify recent charges, and call us back if any of them look suspicious." Not as safe as locking down the card, but not as tedious either.
Posted by: Mikeski at December 16, 2011 11:38 PM (1bPWv)
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