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buzzword compliant

java, developer and web tech news and punditry that sucks less than my css coding.

Recent jargon

The JBoss/Elba/Geronimo story, not continued (for now)	9/29/03
The Ultimate in Moblogging	9/28/03
Microsoft Monoculture meets Monsanto	9/28/03
An immodest proposal: RSS configuration of networked desktops	9/27/03
Of Patches and Potatoes: Windows, Monocultures, and Bad Things Happening	9/26/03
Java: more ground clearance than you could imagine	9/26/03
Samba refreshes	9/25/03
Is Verisign untrustworthy?	9/25/03
JBoss Boss to Geronimo: Fork You	9/24/03
Once again, McNealy disses software (sort of)	9/22/03
Um, there's a difference?	9/19/03
Notes proves to be still relavent...in an odd way	9/17/03
Sendmail bug	9/17/03
Live from Moscone, it's iSight	9/17/03
Patents of Mass Destruction	9/9/03
The Joy is Gone	9/9/03
Copyrights Good, Patents Bad	9/6/03
Termination Dust for Web Apps?	9/5/03
Stick that in your pipe and syndicate it	9/3/03
The pains of a breakup	8/27/03
The last straw	8/25/03
Darl is an anagram for lard	8/22/03
spam-slinging websites from hell	8/22/03
Microsoft Bugs--the military option	8/21/03
Patch, patch, patch	8/20/03
Toward a new syndication format: RASH	8/11/03

Fifteen day cease-fire ends.

After two weeks of downtime, I'm back in the saddle. Work, a brief unwired vacation, and more work have kept me away from the blogging grind, perhaps for the best; I've been living life rather than recording it. I've also been blissfully ignorant of world events for much of that time, only catching glimpses of a USA Today here, a Coastal Times there. Like Paul Simon sang, "I gather all the news I need on the weather report."

So much has happened that I've let pass without comment. The blogosphere is full of comment on these things; I have nothing to add to the parallel monologues of the past few weeks. I read the Wall Street Journal for the first time in 15 days this morning, and I think I feel a tiny bit of what Ken Bowersox will feel when he returns from the International Space Station today--a sudden return to a world that is familiar, yet changed.
9:14:07 AM comment[ so far]

Thursday, April 10, 2003

Host swap complete

It looks like the DNS changes finally took, so I can finally drop-kick Vortech. After prolonged server downtime over the last few days, I decided that it was time to move; I'm now on Powweb. 500 megabytes to fill up at my discretion....
1:41:50 PM

comment[ so far]

Monday, April 7, 2003

When science fair projects go bad

The time had come; all preparations were made, Kevin's science project (a model rocket-powered helicopter) was given a final application of reinforcing duct tape in hopes that it would help prevent the total disintegration of the helicopter's balsa-wood propellers and body. A (hard-boiled) egg passenger was strapped into a sling beneath the rotors. We took the unlikely aircraft down to the local park for its maiden flight, with quite a crowd of neighbors gathered to watch.

We hooked up the rockets to some 20-guage wire with alligator clips. I stripped the other ends of the wires, and conneted them to the lantern battery we had brought and.... No ignition. Too much resistance in the wires, not enough amperage.

That meant there was only one solution: for me to shorten the wires. That meant getting up close and personal with four model rocket engines.

"This is either going to be on America's Funniest Home Videos or Jack-Ass," I said.

"Want me to turn off the tape?" Kevin asked.

"No, we'll need a record for the insurance company."

And here's what happened.

Only one rocket fired, resulting in unbalanced thrust and a spectacular mechanical explosion as momentum of the rocket tore the helicopter apart. Pieces were thrown 10 feet away. No parents (or, for that matter, eggs--amazingly enough) were harmed in the process.
8:54:05 AM comment[ so far]